Wei Yunxi looked up at Wei Lingyue with an expression full of innocent longing.
After a brief pause, he finally reached out and picked her up, his voice stiff and awkward as he tried to soothe her.
Yunxi buried her face in his neck, hiding the cold mockery in her eyes. But a single tear escaped, rolling down onto her scumbag father's skin. The dampness made his hand pause mid-pat.
In a soft, trembling voice, she asked,
"Father… are you going to make Aunt Du my new mother?"
Wei Lingyue's eyes sharpened, and his gaze snapped toward Chunyu and Xia Mo. An invisible pressure radiated from him, forcing the two maids to their knees in terror.
"Yunxi," he said coldly, "you are too young to worry about such matters."
After that, he gently pressed two fingers against the back of her neck. Wei Yunxi instantly lost consciousness. Standing above the kneeling maids, Wei Lingyue issued a curt command.
"Take the young miss back to her room."
"Yes, Master!"
Terrified, Chunyu and Xia Mo scrambled to their feet, hurriedly cradled the unconscious child, and rushed back to Yunxi's courtyard.
Right before she passed out, Wei Yunxi had one last bitter thought.
"Damn this scumbag of a father."
She'd completely underestimated the ruthlessness of cultivators. Turns out, playing cute wasn't enough to get her way in the world of cultivation.
Wei Lingyue stepped into the Lady's residence, a set of three well-maintained rooms arranged in a row. The central one was for receiving guests. The left was her bedroom and place of cultivation, while the right served as her talisman room. Everything had been left just as she'd kept it.
He swept the space with his spiritual sense, searching each room thoroughly. In the bedroom, tucked inside a hidden compartment beneath the white jade bed, he retrieved an elegant storage pouch.
It was now unbound, without an owner. The moment his spiritual sense entered the pouch, his expression shifted into satisfaction. Without lingering, he turned and left Zhuohua Courtyard.
Wei Yunxi knew none of this.
She slept until the sun was high in the sky. When she finally stirred, her first order of business was cursing out that bastard of a father in her heart.
Only after venting fully did she calm down enough to call for Spring Rain and Xia Mo to help her wash and dress. She couldn't cultivate yet, after all—might as well live comfortably in the meantime.
After eating her fill, she sat back and began to carefully plan her next move.
The events of the novel were still clear in her memory. The first and most important treasure she had ever given to Wei Yunqing was a redwood token. It had originally belonged to her mother.
But Wei Yunqing tricked her into handing it over.
The issue was, her mother had died too suddenly to leave any instructions behind. And the token itself had a concealed aura—even Wei Lingyue, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, hadn't realized what it truly was.
So Wei Yunqing got lucky. Or maybe it was just protagonist's halo nonsense. Somehow, she had sensed the redwood token's unusual nature and snatched it at just the right moment.
"Not this time," Wei Yunxi thought grimly. "This time, I'm claiming it first."
Just then, Qiutao and Dongmei returned. Wei Yunxi's eyes brightened with cunning as she turned to Xia Mo.
"Xia Mo, bring them in. I have something to ask."
Xia Mo blinked, surprised, but quickly went to summon the other two maids.
"Qiutao, Dongmei, greetings to the young miss. Wishing you peace and blessings."
Trying her best to appear serious, Wei Yunxi crossed her little legs and waved them off.
"Rise and speak."
"Yes, Miss."
Once they stood, she asked:
"Has my uncle arrived?"
"Reporting to the young miss, the Feng family sent Master Jiaqing. He's currently meeting with the Master in the receiving hall."
Wei Yunxi quickly sorted through what she knew of her maternal relatives. Feng Jiaqing was her mother's elder brother—her uncle—and a cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. He was the current head of the Feng family and had always been close to her mother.
The fact that he had come in person so soon after the news broke showed how much he valued his sister.
She remembered this part in the novel too. Uncle Feng had offered to take Wei Yunxi back to the Feng residence for a while, partly to avoid attending the ceremony where Wei Lingyue would elevate his concubine to official wife.
But the original Wei Yunxi refused.
Desperate for her father's approval, she followed his subtle cues and chose to stay. She even attended the marriage ceremony of Wei Yunqing's mother. Uncle Feng had been deeply disappointed. Though he continued to visit occasionally, his affection grew distant after that.
Wei Yunxi sighed softly.
She was a grown adult now. She could weigh the pros and cons of the situation. But a real five-year-old who had just lost her mother would naturally cling to her father instead.
In the cultivation world, blood ties might bind, but only strength sustained them. Yunxi's mother had raised her too innocently, too kindly, and she hadn't taught her the brutal truths of this world.
Wei Yunxi thought for a moment, then turned to Chunyu.
"You and Xia Mo come with me to Mother's courtyard. Qiutao and Dongmei, gather my clothing and jewelry—I'll need them soon."
Chunyu didn't hesitate for a second. She nodded and gave the other two a glance, silently telling them to follow orders.
When Wei Yunxi arrived at Zhuohua Courtyard with Spring Rain and Xia Mo, a maid happened to be approaching the entrance—but was stopped by the servants guarding the gate.
Wei Yunxi didn't recognize the girl, but Spring Rain frowned. Xia Mo, quicker with words, blurted out:
"Miss, that's Liuxu, Concubine Du's personal maid. Looks like she's here to inspect the place. The Lady hasn't even been buried yet, and they're already so eager."
"Xia Mo, don't say such things in front of the young miss."
Wei Yunxi's little face turned cold.
"Chunyu, send Liuxu away. Even if this place is going to be cleared out, it'll only happen after Concubine Du becomes Madam Wei. My uncle is still sitting in the front hall."
"Yes, Miss."
Chunyu gave a quick bow and went over to dismiss the intruder.
Wei Yunxi figured Liuxu had been sent to test the waters, and Spring Rain's calm but firm response quickly sent her packing.
Only then did Wei Yunxi enter her mother's room with her two maids.
"Chunyu, Xia Mo—wait outside. I want to be alone for a while."
"Yes, Miss."
They assumed she wanted to grieve and quietly stepped back, closing the door behind them.
Wei Yunxi didn't waste time.
She headed straight for the dressing table and pulled open the smallest drawer on the bottom tier of her mother's cosmetic box. Inside sat a small redwood token, roughly two fingers wide and one finger long. It bore a cloud motif, carved with elegant lines, and a single character on the front: "Feng."
Her eyes swept the table. She picked up one of her mother's hairpins, steeled herself, and jabbed it into her thumb. As blood welled up, she pressed it against the token.
In the blink of an eye, the redwood talisman turned into a stream of crimson light and shot straight into her brow.
Far away in Haitang Courtyard, Wei Yunqing suddenly clutched her chest.
A sharp ache bloomed deep in her heart, as though something important had been ripped away. She couldn't say what it was—but the moment overwhelmed her. Tears spilled down her face like a broken string of pearls.
Her maid panicked, rushing to wipe her tears and comfort her.
"Miss, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"
"I want to go out," Wei Yunqing said clearly, her tone unusually firm.
"Go out? Where, Miss?"