Fenghuang Peak.
It was unusually quiet that afternoon.
Grand Elder Song Yan walked with her hands clasped behind her round and curvy rump.
Beside her, Patriarch Zhen moved like a slug.
His beard trembled slightly whenever he exhaled.
"That boy Gu Linyuan…"
Just the name gave him nightmares.
"He smiled the entire meeting like a fox watching its food dance for survival."
Song Yan kept her gaze on the distant pavilions.
A soft wind tugged at the crimson ribbons in her hair.
"He did…" she agreed neutrally.
"It pains me. I thought—perhaps the old friendship between our ancestors would give us an edge. Yan-jie, please tell me I'm not a senile fool for that. Tell me that young master might still reconsider."
Song Yan's long lashes lowered.
She had received a jade slip from her Lower Heaven Realm eyes-and-ears seventeen days ago.
