As Li Wei concluded his affairs in the back-water corner of Huangjing Province, frantic discussions were already erupting within Crescent Moon City—the city that glittered by daylight and seethed by dusk. The Liu Clan's ancestral compound sat at the city's very heart like a jewel set in bronze, yet even a jewel could crack beneath enough pressure. For decades they had risen unhindered, feeding on trade routes and hidden favors; now, four rival houses backed by the Imperial Council tightened their nets.
In the great reception hall, braziers burned a clean blue flame, and the smell of sandalwood mingled with worry. The patriarch, Liu Feng, a man whose hair was more frost than ink, sat upon the jade dais, his eyes sharp as whetted steel. Around him, merchants, cultivators, and hired advisers filled the chamber's tiers, their murmurs like the hum of restless bees.
