The Duan estate did not panic.
It adjusted.
That was the difference between old money and ordinary families—ordinary people reacted when danger arrived. The Duan family prepared for danger long before it reached the gate.
Su Nian stood near the sitting room entrance, her fingers wrapped around her needle case, watching the guards move.
Not running.
Not shouting.
Just shifting into position, like they had rehearsed this moment many times.
Madam Duan's voice remained calm, yet every word carried authority.
"Bring them to the outer hall."
Dr. Fang swallowed hard. "Madam, you're letting them in?"
Madam Duan didn't even spare him a glance.
"If someone has the audacity to step into the Duan estate and ask for Miss Su," she said evenly, "then they will show their face properly."
The word properly was polite.
But the meaning beneath it was not.
Yichen rose slowly beside Su Nian.
Not aggressively.
Not to intimidate her.
He simply moved as if he belonged beside her now.
His voice was low, steady. "Stay close."
Su Nian didn't answer.
Not because she was refusing him.
Because she wasn't used to someone saying that to her like it was natural.
She stayed close anyway.
The outer hall was larger, colder, and less intimate than the sitting room.
It wasn't designed for comfort.
It was designed for confrontation, for receiving guests who might be respected—or erased.
A wide chandelier hung above like frozen light, too bright for morning. The long marble floor reflected every silhouette, making everyone seem taller, sharper, more dangerous.
Madam Duan took her position at the center.
Yichen stood slightly behind her
Su Nian stood beside him.
Not behind.
Not in front.
Beside.
She could feel the difference.
The Duan family had accepted her presence as part of the room.
Not as a guest anymore.
As a piece of the situation.
Dr. Fang hovered near the side like a man who desperately wanted to become furniture.
Qin Zhen remained quiet in the corner, his presence barely noticed unless someone looked directly at him.
Su Nian did not forget he was there.
The man was too calm.
Too prepared.
Like he had lived through this exact kind of moment before.
She didn't like that.
Footsteps approached.
Calm.
Unhurried.
The guards at the entrance didn't speak.
They simply stepped aside.
And the "visitor" walked in.
He wasn't what Su Nian expected.
Not a gang of thugs.
Not a dramatic villain.
Not even someone dressed aggressively.
It was a man in a clean, well-fitted suit, early thirties, hair neat, posture respectful.
His eyes were lowered politely as he stepped forward, hands empty, shoulders relaxed.
If Su Nian saw him on the street, she would've assumed he worked in finance.
He bowed slightly.
"Madam Duan," he greeted smoothly. "Young Master Duan."
His gaze lifted gently.
Then it landed on Su Nian.
His smile was faint and professional.
"Miss Su."
Su Nian felt it instantly.
Not from his face.
From what her eyes could see that no one else could.
Black qi.
Thin threads clinging to him like perfume.
Not heavy enough to harm.
But strong enough to tell Su Nian one thing:
He didn't bring it by accident.
He carried it like a signature.
Madam Duan's voice was calm and cold.
"You are?" she asked.
The man smiled again, still polite.
"Jiang Wei," he introduced himself. "I'm only a messenger."
Dr. Fang's throat tightened at the word messenger.
Su Nian didn't react.
Messengers were never harmless.
Not in her life.
Not in a family like this.
Madam Duan didn't move.
"If you are a messenger," she said, "then you know you are standing in a place where messages can cost lives."
Jiang Wei's smile didn't change.
"I understand," he replied softly. "That is why I came respectfully."
Su Nian's eyes narrowed slightly.
He wasn't nervous.
He wasn't afraid.
He wasn't arrogant either.
That balance was dangerous.
Yichen spoke, voice even. "Who sent you."
Jiang Wei paused as if weighing how to say the next words without lighting the room on fire.
Then he said calmly:
"Mr. Li Sheng."
The name sat in the air like smoke.
Dr. Fang's face lost the last bit of color.
Madam Duan's eyes cooled further, if that was even possible.
Yichen's expression didn't change—only his gaze sharpened.
Su Nian felt black qi around Jiang Wei respond slightly at the name, tightening like a thread pulled taut.
Like black qi itself respected that name.
Or feared it.
Jiang Wei looked at Su Nian again, his voice still gentle.
"Mr. Li sends his greetings," he said.
Su Nian's eyes remained cold. "I didn't ask for them."
Jiang Wei nodded like he expected that. "Mr. Li also sends… a request."
Madam Duan's voice snapped, sharp.
"A request?" she repeated. "From the Li family to the Duan family?"
Jiang Wei bowed his head slightly again.
"To Miss Su," he corrected.
Silence.
Even the guards seemed to breathe less.
Su Nian's heartbeat steadied.
Her voice came out calm. "What request?"
Jiang Wei looked at her carefully.
Then he said softly, almost politely:
"He would like to meet you privately."
The words were respectful.
The meaning was not.
That was not a request.
It was a reach.
A hand extending toward something that did not belong to him.
Su Nian didn't respond.
Yichen's voice came quietly beside her, warm but firm.
"She won't."
Jiang Wei turned his head to Yichen slowly.
"Young Master," he said with the same calm professionalism, "Mr. Li predicted you would say that."
Yichen's gaze didn't move.
Jiang Wei continued.
"He asked me to tell you," Jiang Wei said, "that he isn't asking because he has the right."
He paused.
Then added the blade behind the velvet:
"He's asking because it will make things easier."
Madam Duan's lips curved faintly.
Not a smile.
A warning.
"And if we refuse?" she asked.
Jiang Wei turned to her respectfully.
"Then things become difficult," he said.
Su Nian's fingers tightened around her needle case.
She could see the black qi around Jiang Wei stir at the word difficult.
Not violent.
Anticipatory.
Like it enjoyed that sentence.
Su Nian's voice came out colder.
"What does Li Sheng want with me?"
Jiang Wei's gaze returned to her, his expression unchanged.
"He didn't tell me," he said truthfully.
Then he added softly:
"But I think… he admires you."
Su Nian's eyes hardened.
She didn't flinch.
"Admiration from people like him," she said quietly, "is never harmless."
Jiang Wei tilted his head slightly, as if that was an interesting answer.
Yichen spoke again, voice steady and sharp enough to cut.
"She is not leaving this estate."
Jiang Wei didn't argue.
Instead, he reached into his inner jacket pocket slowly.
A guard shifted instantly.
But Jiang Wei raised his other hand a fraction, a calming gesture.
"It's not a weapon," he said gently.
He pulled out a small envelope.
Plain white.
No stamp.
No seal.
Only a name written in clean handwriting.
Su Nian.
He placed it carefully on the table between them, like a man placing evidence in court.
"Mr. Li asked that you read it," Jiang Wei said softly.
Su Nian did not move.
Madam Duan's gaze flicked toward the envelope with disgust.
"Remove it," Madam Duan ordered.
But Su Nian spoke quietly, surprising even herself.
"No."
Everyone's eyes turned to her.
She looked at the envelope.
Then at Jiang Wei.
"If he sent it," Su Nian said, "then I should know what he thinks he's entitled to say to me."
Yichen's gaze softened slightly—not approving the danger, but understanding her need for control.
Qin Zhen's voice came from the corner, calm as ever:
"Read it," he said.
Madam Duan turned sharply toward him. "You're in no position—"
Qin Zhen didn't raise his voice. "The Li family doesn't speak without purpose."
He looked toward Su Nian.
"And purpose is best seen clearly."
Silence.
Then Su Nian stepped forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Her fingers reached for the envelope.
The black qi around Jiang Wei tightened again.
Almost like a quiet laugh.
She took the envelope.
It was light.
Too light for how heavy it felt.
She opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Just one sentence.
No greeting.
No signature.
No polite framing.
Only a line written cleanly, precisely, as if the writer was certain they were being understood.
"Miss Su, I'm not here to ruin you. I'm here to retrieve what your grandmother stole."
Su Nian's vision went sharp.
Her throat tightened.
She read the sentence again.
And again.
The room remained silent, waiting.
Yichen watched her face.
Madam Duan watched her hands.
Dr. Fang looked like he wanted to ask but feared the answer.
Su Nian slowly lowered the paper.
Her voice came out quiet, controlled.
"My grandmother didn't steal."
Jiang Wei's gaze remained polite.
"I'm only delivering the message," he said softly. "But Mr. Li is not a man who speaks carelessly."
Madam Duan's voice cut in coldly. "Then he is a man who will be disappointed."
Jiang Wei nodded once.
"As expected," he said.
He bowed lightly again—too respectful for someone who had just thrown poison into the middle of a room.
Then he looked at Su Nian one last time.
"Miss Su," he said quietly, "Mr. Li hopes you understand… the longer you remain here, the more people around you will suffer."
Su Nian's fingers curled.
Yichen's voice turned sharp. "Enough."
Jiang Wei bowed again.
Then he turned and walked out calmly.
Not chased.
Not attacked.
Not stopped.
Like he knew he could leave safely.
Like he knew the Duan family couldn't touch him—because touching him would mean declaring war on Li Sheng.
When the doors shut behind him, the outer hall remained silent for several seconds.
Then Dr. Fang whispered shakily:
"…Did he just threaten us politely?"
Madam Duan didn't answer.
Su Nian didn't answer.
Yichen's gaze stayed on Su Nian.
Soft.
Steady.
Concerned.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
Su Nian didn't respond right away.
Her eyes were fixed on that sentence.
Return what your grandmother stole.
Her grandmother.
Stole.
A chill crept through her—not black qi this time.
Something else.
Something personal.
Something terrifying.
Because for the first time, Su Nian realized:
Li Sheng didn't come for her because she was useful.
He came for her because she was connected.
Connected to a past she didn't even know existed.
Su Nian's fingers tightened around the paper.
Qin Zhen spoke softly from behind her.
"I told you," he said. "Your grandmother started something."
Su Nian's voice came out low and dangerous.
"What did she steal?" she asked.
Qin Zhen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then he answered:
"Not an object," he said quietly.
"A seal."
Su Nian's breath caught.
Yichen's gaze shifted between them.
Madam Duan's voice came cold.
"A seal?"
Qin Zhen nodded once, slow.
"One that keeps black qi from spreading freely," he said.
Su Nian's skin prickled.
Her grandmother… stole a seal?
She didn't even know what that meant yet.
But she knew one thing:
If Li Sheng wanted it returned…
Then the seal must be valuable enough to destroy lives over.
And if Su Nian was connected to it…
Then she was already marked.
Even if no one else could see it.