“Now,” Yan Yixuan said. “Elder Sister, Brother-in-law, shall we talk about your current situation?”

Yan Yiwen’s hands clenched. She slowly loosened them again and let out a deep breath. She pulled her husband with her and sat back down on the bed before lifting her daughter to her lap. Hugging the child close, Yan Yiwen looked out the window on the opposite wall as she slowly put her thoughts together.

Yan Yixuan patiently waited while Lin Changyuan looked at his wife with concern, silently letting her take the lead.

Yan Yiwen finally began, “Changyuan’s three brothers have been spoiled badly since birth. From what I understand, the Lin household used to be a wealthy household. But the three brothers spent all that money through gambling and other frivolous pursuits. By the time Changyuan was born, their family barely got by. And yet those three hedonistic brothers didn’t cut back on their spending. Their uncaring behavior towards their own parents’ hardships despite all the love they’d received from them broke the old couple’s hearts. They died one after another, leaving Changyuan all alone.”

Her hand clenched on her husband’s and Lin Changyuan squeezed it back in reassurance. Yan Yiwen went on, “Changyuan learnt weaponsmithing and tried to eke out a living, but his brothers always came to take his earnings away by force. When I married in, I hid the jewels I brought with me and we barely managed to pay for the additional expenses of caring for me when I was pregnant and the newborn Hui-er. But after that… after that came hell.

“The three brothers would come and demand our money whenever they ran out. If we refused, they would search the house, break furniture, beat us up if we got in the way… They even hurt Hui-er badly once when she stood up to them. Her broken bones took months to fully mend.” She pressed a fierce kiss to her daughter’s forehead as Lin Meihui watched her silently.

Yan Yiwen continued, “Even if we give them money when they ask, they still search the house to make sure we aren’t saving anything for ourselves. It’s been horrible living day after day in fear of when they’ll come to take away Changyuan’s hard-earned money. I never know when they will break a bone or just break one of our necks. Recently, they’ve even started insinuating that after Hui-er grows up, they…they want her to…prostitute herself after she comes of age to…”

Yan Yiwen trailed away and held her daughter tightly. No, she couldn’t bear to think about such a travesty! She’d die before she let those bastards use her daughter to feed their greed!

Lin Changyuan patted her back, his expression unbending and furious. “We will never let that happen.”

Yan Yiwen nodded, her hold on the girl not loosening. She looked up at Yan Yixuan with an imploring gaze, “Yixuan, you know what it feels like to constantly live in such a situation, don’t you? So please…” Help us, she wanted to say. But Yan Yiwen swallowed down the words. She knew she didn’t have the right to request favors of her brother after she abandoned him to the mercy of their father’s apathy and elder brother’s cruelty.

Yan Yixuan’s gaze was complex as he gave her a small smile. “Yes, I know. And of course, I will help you. Elder Sister needn’t even ask.”

Yan Yiwen slumped down with relief. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Lin Meihui wriggled in her mother’s tight embrace, wordlessly asking to be set down. Yan Yiwen hurriedly complied.

“Mother, I’m hungry,” the little girl complained.

Realizing that he hadn't been an attentive host, Yan Yixuan called for some snacks for them all and toys for the child to be brought. Lin Meihui was soon munching on snacks and playing as her wide eyes shone with quiet joy.

Lin Changyuan smiled at his daughter, then looked up at Yan Yixuan with a serious expression. “Brother-in-law, do you have a way to help us out of this predicament?”

Yan Yixuan nodded with a deceptively calm expression and said, “Yes, I will take care of it. I can make those three brothers disappear right now if you’d like. Or would you rather prefer I have them tortured first? I’ve developed quite a creative array of methods if you need any ideas.”

Yan Yiwen and Lin Changyuan stared at him with wide eyes. Watching silently from the doorway, Ning Wei sighed helplessly and shook his head.

“What’s torture?” Lin Meihui asked curiously in her childish voice.

Yan Yixuan had just opened his mouth to explain when Yan Yiwen leapt forward and clutched his hands, pleading earnestly, “Yixuan, you are under no circumstances to use such methods! If anything, you should wait for them to do something illegal or find proof that they’re planning to do something illegal, then capture them and hand them over to the authorities.”

Yan Yixuan looked at her with a conflicted expression. “Elder Sister…you want me to get the authorities involved?”

Ning Wei wanted to snicker at his unwilling tone, but held himself in check. The fearsome Duke Yan must surely be used to doing his own dirty work and cleaning up after himself. Thinking of taking the normal route for once seemed to pain him a lot. Ning Wei bit back another snicker.

Her tone unwavering, Yan Yiwen answered, “Yes! Promise me that the only way this will end is with them in prison, fully alive.”

Yan Yixuan hesitated, but sighed and gave in, “Very well, I’ll listen to Elder Sister.” This would force him into a more passive role and limit his options, but oh well. He would find a way to vent his anger on those three brothers somehow.

At the side, Lin Changyuan smiled at his wife’s liveliness as she steered her younger brother down the honorable path. But deep down, he couldn’t help but be disappointed. His brother-in-law’s methods might be very brutal, but they would have made a bigger impact on his three brothers than just spending some time in prison. He was unwilling to let them go so easily, but he chose to be content with being free of them at last.

“Elder Sister, Brother-in-law, have you decided what to do in the long term?” Yan Yixuan broke Lin Changyuan out of his wistful thoughts.

Yan Yiwen shook her head. “We didn’t have time to think much when Lin Zhishan, the eldest of Changyuan’s brothers, abruptly remembered you and decided we’d be coming here. You do know that he’s planning something, don’t you?”

Yan Yixuan smiled unconcernedly. “Yes, I know. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. Elder Sister, it’s better if you and Brother-in-law decide how to proceed soon.”

Lin Changyuan sighed. “I suppose it would be better if we didn’t go back to the village. The best option would be staying here so that Ah-Wen can be with you, but…I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the capital. All I know is weaponsmithing. Is that a viable means of making a living here?”

Yan Yixuan pondered, then brightened as something struck him. “Yes. In fact, I know just the way to get you started. I’m afraid it might feel as if you’re taking a step down, but would you consider a paid apprenticeship at the biggest forge in the capital that works under the imperial army?”

When Lin Changyuan nodded, Yan Yixuan immediately turned to Ning Wei with a hopeful expression. “General Ning, will you please help arrange it?”

Ning Wei felt an itchy sensation at being looked at like that by Yan Yixuan. Blinking at him lazily, he replied, “Oh? Are you asking me for a favor, Duke Yan? You surely wouldn’t be expecting me to do it for free?”

Yan Yiwen frowned at him. “Aren’t you his friend?”

Ning Wei smiled. “A friend? At present, we are simply allies whose households are bound by a pact, nothing more.”

Yan Yixuan showed a wry smile. It seemed that the road to his Ah-Ning’s good graces was yet long. “Yes, so I wouldn’t presume upon your kindness, General Ning. If you help my brother-in-law, I will owe you a favor.”

Ning Wei raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected this usually shrewd young man to give in so easily. “Are you sure you want to owe me a favor? Aren’t you afraid of what I might ask in return?”

Yan Yixuan laughed. Silly man. Even if he didn’t owe him anything, he would still do anything his Ah-Ning asked for. So what would he lose by owing him one?

Seeing Yan Yixuan’s open show of amusement, Ning Wei’s expression unconsciously softened. “Very well, I will arrange it then.”

Yan Yixuan beamed at him. “Thank you.”

“Can I expect to be able to collect that favor without delay then?” Ning Wei immediately asked with a teasing smile.

His eyes widening, Yan Yixuan replied, “I…suppose you can. What would you like from me?”

With a cheerful grin, Ning Wei stated, “I would like to move on to being on closer terms with Duke Yan. May I request the honor of being able to use your name? Of course, you may do the same with me.”

Yan Yixuan’s heart thudded violently in his chest as he felt the urge to grin like a fool. But outwardly, he maintained his calm as he smiled and nodded. “Yes, I would like that…Ning Wei.”

Witnessing this scene, Yan Yiwen smiled to herself. She could tell that her brother was just about giddy with excitement. As for the general…she realized he wasn’t as indifferent to her brother as he looked. After all, if her guess was right, then the reason for this sudden request to become closer must be because the general didn’t like feeling left out of Yan Yixuan’s personal matters. But the question was, did the general himself realize it?

Just then, a servant came to tell Yan Yixuan, “Master, Lord Jin has arrived and is waiting for you in the receiving room.”

↢∘●∘↣

“Gener― Ning Wei, may I ask why you’re coming along?” Yan Yixuan inquired, casting the general a side-glance as he walked towards the receiving room.

Strolling behind him, Ning Wei showed an expression of interest. “Now that you’re trying to get rid of me, I’m even more curious. After all, you didn’t mind me witnessing your family reunion, so why the sudden resistance?”

Yan Yixuan sighed, but didn’t protest anymore. “I’m afraid that unlike my reunion with my sister, this one isn’t going to be pleasant.”

Ning Wei frowned. “Is this Master Jin hostile? Do you want me to guard you?”

Shaking his head, Yan Yixuan replied, “No, Master Jin is… It’s a bit complicated. But if he does do anything, please don’t stop him.”

Ning Wei’s brows flew up in surprise, but he didn’t promise anything.

Yan Yixuan didn’t press the matter. They had already arrived before the receiving room’s open doorway.

Inside the wide room stood a solidly built and robust man appearing to be in his forties. His black hair was streaked with steel-grey. His clothes were plain, but the aura he emitted was authoritative and imposing. His face was handsome, the skin weathered and tanned while bearing fine scars. Slight wrinkles spread from the corners of his eyes and bracketed his mouth. A scowl seemed permanently stamped into his features, and something in his sharply glinting black eyes spoke of a soul tempered through adversity. He stood with a limp in his right leg and held a cane that he tapped impatiently by his foot.

The moment Yan Yixuan stepped into the room, the man’s gaze locked onto him like a steel trap as he barked ill-temperedly, “Well, what do you want so badly that you called for me?”

To Ning Wei’s immense surprise, Yan Yixuan went down on his knees and bowed with his forehead touching the floor. “Mater Jin, please teach my niece.”

Master Jin looked at him with unfathomable eyes. “Raise your head.”

Yan Yixuan kept his gaze lowered and straightened.

Without a word of warning, Master Jin struck out with his cane. The young man’s head whipped to the side. Yan Yixuan held himself steady with a palm on the floor as a welt formed on his cheek. Yet he made no sound, his eyes remaining lowered.

Ning Wei wanted to leap forward and wrench Yan Yixuan away from this Master Jin, but he recalled the young man’s request to not interfere and barely controlled himself.

Seeing his former disciple’s humble and obedient appearance, Master Jin’s anger intensified. Glowering, he stabbed down the end of his cane into the back of the hand Yan Yixuan had placed on the floor and ground it in. Yan Yixuan’s fingers twitched involuntarily. His eyes squeezed closed and his lips flattened into a straight line, but he still said nothing.

Ning Wei was surprised that Yan Yixuan was letting himself be treated this way. Seeing the young man bearing the pain silently, he felt distressed. He took a step towards them, aiming to pull that Master Jin away. But Yan Yixuan held up his other hand and got out in a strained voice, “I-It’s…okay. I actually deserve…much worse than this.”

Master Jin harrumphed and finally lifted his cane from his hand. “So you do know how to feel responsible for your own actions. At least not everything I taught you was in vain, you ungrateful wretch.”

Yan Yixuan bowed his head and said, “Teacher, I apologize for what I did. I will understand if I never earn your forgiveness, and I naturally wouldn’t presume to ask you anything for my own sake. But my niece needs you. She has grown up in an abusive environment and requires the care and guidance only you can give. Will you please accept her as your student?”

Master Jin stilled. Complex emotions swirled in his gaze as he looked at the top of Yan Yixuan’s bowed head. Ning Wei studied the older man’s expression and was surprised to find sadness and hurt mixed in with his pulsing anger.

Master Jin quickly arranged his face back into a furious one and huffed. “You might have wronged me but your niece is innocent. I will take her in.”

Yan Yixuan’s head rose up, hope in his eyes. “Thank you, Teacher.”

Master Jin simply nodded coldly and began walking towards the door so that he may meet this new student of his. But as he passed by Ning Wei, he suddenly halted and frowned. Turning to the general, Master Jin studied him for a few moments before asking, “You, what’s your name? Are you General Ning’s—that Ning Guang’s son?”

Ning Wei frowned and nodded. “Yes. I’m called Ning Wei. Did you know my father?”

Master Jin’s eyes churned with grief and regret before he looked away. “I suppose so. We served in the army together before I had to leave due to my injury.” He pointed to his right leg. “I heard those damn roaches from Xie carried him away and killed him. Ning Guang must’ve hated dying in foreign soil.” Sighing and massaging his nose bridge, he turned to look at Ning Wei again. “I heard you were taken away too before being snatched back. Did you get to see his body?”

Memories of the unpleasant time he’d spent being tortured in the enemy’s dungeons threatened to pull Ning Wei under. But he grimly pushed them away and shook his head. “I was only able to see his grave.”

Master Jin didn’t say anything for a moment as if digesting it. Then he let out a sigh weighed with old sorrow and gave a nod. “I see.”

Forcibly shedding his gloom, Master Jin began walking again, his cane tapping on the flood in time with his steps. He stopped a passing by servant and asked them to show him to his new student. After Yan Yixuan gave the servant a nod, Master Jin was finally led away.

More servants quickly poured into the receiving room, bringing medicine, cloth, and warm water to tend to their master’s wounds. But Yan Yixuan dismissed them while saying, “I can look after it on my own.”

Despite the worry crumpling their brows, the servants obeyed and departed, leaving Yan Yixuan and Ning Wei alone in the receiving room. Yan Yixuan sat down on the low-backed couch and began taking care of his wounds carelessly, almost savagely, with a look of abject self-loathing.

Walking up to him, Ning Wei gently pulled away the cloth from his fingers. “With the way you’re doing it, you’ll only make them worse.”

Yan Yixuan silently watched as Ning Wei crouched before him and began attending to the injury on his hand, carefully cleaning it before starting to dab on the medicine.

As the stretching silence settled the agitated atmosphere left over from before, Ning Wei finally spoke, “Yan Yixuan, may I ask how you offended that Master Jin and why you feel that you deserve the abuse he meted to you? Is it some misunderstanding?”

Yan Yixuan let out a bitter laugh. “No, I’m afraid it’s no misunderstanding. I once deliberately did something that harmed a person who Master Jin considers his son. Master Jin is well within his rights to hate me enough to the point of wanting to kill me. But of course, my mentor is unable to do that to the student he so dearly loved, so he is soft on me even now.”

“What did you do?” Ning Wei asked, his gaze on the wound he was applying medicine to.

Yan Yixuan asked in return, “What has made you so curious about my personal life all of a sudden?”

Ning Wei smiled up at him warmly. “You do not have to answer me, of course. But if we are to be closer than mere acquaintances who happen to be allies, if we are to become close enough to be called friends, then it is only natural that I should know about this.”

Yan Yixuan felt something tight within him easing. The fact that his beloved chose to get close to him of his own free will gladdened him. Yan Yixuan still hesitated, his expression unwilling. Then he let out a wry laugh and muttered to himself, “Why not?”

As Ning Wei continued to tend to his wound while pretending not to have heard it, Yan Yixuan finally began, “The Jin household is an influential family of scholars. Master Jin—that is, Jin Jianhao—entered military service as a healer very early in his life and retired when he was twenty-eight due to a serious injury to his right knee. Switching to the path of a scholar, he taught many people who went on to become affluent heads of their households. I am one of them.

“Once, when Master Jin took me with him to buy some weapons suitable for a child to practice with, he got into trouble with a group of hooligans in the more dilapidated part of the city. I helped him out and he expressed that he owed me one for it. Master Jin warmed up to me after that and treated me especially well. We developed deep bonds and he was as a father to me.

“One day, I called in that favor and asked Master Jin to send a qualified healer with high moral fiber to assist the border for a…friend.” Yan Yixuan looked away, afraid that the general would read the truth in his face.

But hearing his short pause, Ning Wei wondered whether that person must have been the young man’s lover in truth.

Yan Yixuan quickly went on, “Teacher debated about it with me, since the war was still raging and the frontlines would be dangerous for someone not well-versed in fighting. But since it was to fulfill my request, he eventually agreed. Master Jin sent out his protégée, an orphaned relative that he had carefully taught and raised as his own beloved son, someone who he boasted had surpassed his own skills in medicine. But in the end, to save my friend, that man became embroiled in a scheme and almost lost his life. Even now, he’s confined to bed, unable to take more than a few steps away from it.

“Wanting to avenge his adopted son, Master Jin investigated. It was then that he came to know of my involvement and manipulations behind the scenes. I’d already known about the trap that was about to close around my friend and used his protégée as a scapegoat to shield my friend from it. Understandably, Master Jin felt betrayed and furious. We grew estranged due to that incident and hadn’t met for years until today.”

Ning Wei absorbed it silently. He supposed he should’ve expected this from the Duke Yan who was known most for his cunning and ruthlessness. And yet…what surprised him more was that Yan Yixuan went to such lengths for the sake of someone else rather than the benefit of his own household. This ‘friend’ of his must be really beloved.

Ning Wei sighed and continued tending to the young man’s hand. “Then why did you call on such a troublesome person like that Master Jin? There must be other mentors you can entrust you niece to.”

Yan Yixuan shrugged. “I don’t see another choice. Hui-er’s mind is wounded. Not just anyone can unravel that knot while also being a good educator. As the head of household, it is my responsibility to take care of her. And I, of all people, know what a difference having an education and a good tutor can make. For the sake of giving Hui-er the best mentor I know of, I’m willing to bear Master Jin’s anger.” In a lower voice, he admitted, “And I might have also used this as an excuse to connect with Teacher again.”

Ning Wei shook his head in disbelief. “It seems you care very much for this Master Jin. That friend of yours must be very precious indeed for you to have jeopardized your relationship with your mentor. Was it worth it?”

Yan Yixuan looked at Ning Wei with a warm smile and answered without hesitation, “Yes. To see that person alive and whole, it would be worth it even if I had to destroy everything and everyone dear to me.”

The fervency behind those calmly spoken words gave Ning Wei goosebumps.