The heavy doors of the private meeting chamber groaned open at last.
Gu Linyuan stepped out first as his baby-soft face wore the same faint, harmless smile it had carried for hours.
Behind him shuffled the tired old patriarch whose shoulders sagged as though he had aged another century in the span of a single incense stick.
The bustling hall fell silent in an instant.
Chopsticks froze halfway to mouths.
Wine cups hooked in the air.
Every elder rose to their feet and cupped their hands in deep bows.
Except for two beauties.
Song Yan and Chen Yuxuan remained seated.
They were too busy giving each other the meanest side-eyes one could imagine.
But even Song Yan's eyes stuttered when she caught sight of Patriarch Zhen's face.
The man looked hollowed out.
His usual dignified poise was nowhere to be found.
Her brow arched faintly.
『It didn't go well…』
She was right.
Inside that sealed chamber.
