The night inside the Xi Manor had grown even heavier after the Crown Princess incident.
When Xi Jianyu and Xi Wenzhe finally returned, they did not go to rest.
Instead, father and son walked straight into a smaller private hall where the core mbers of the Xi family had already gathered.
The atmosphere inside was tight and serious.
No one was speaking freely anymore.
Even Xi Yunchen, who usually never stayed quiet for long, was sitting properly for once with his arms crossed, his expression unusually focused.
Xi Qianqian kept glancing toward the entrance, her fingers unconsciously gripping her sleeve.
Xi Lanyin stood near her mother, while Xi Ronghua and Gu Zhen sat together with unusually stiff expressions. The younger children were kept closer to the adults than usual, as though the entire family was afraid of what they might hear next.
The door finally opened.
Xi Jianyu entered first, followed by Xi Wenzhe.
The mont they stepped in, everyone stood up at once.
"Father!"
"Duke!"
But Xi Jianyu only lifted his hand slightly.
"Sit."
Everyone obeyed imdiately.
A heavy silence followed as both n took their seats.
For a mont, neither of them spoke.
Then Xi Wenzhe finally broke the silence.
"It is true."
The hall instantly beca even quieter.
Xi Qianqian frowned.
"What is true?"
Xi Wenzhe’s gaze swept across the room.
"The Crown Princess was almost assassinated tonight."
A sharp intake of breath spread through the hall.
Xi Yunchen straightened imdiately.
Xi Ronghua slamd her hand lightly on the table.
"So Su Yueqing was right again..."
Xi Jianyu’s voice cut in coldly.
"She was not guessing."
That one line changed the entire atmosphere.
Xi Yunhao narrowed his eyes.
"You an... everything she said in her thoughts was real?"
Xi Wenzhe nodded once.
"The assassins were disguised as mountain bandits. The sa group we encountered earlier."
A heavy silence fell again.
Even the servants outside the hall seed afraid to breathe.
Xi Lanyin slowly spoke.
"Then... the diversion she ntioned..."
Xi Jianyu’s expression darkened.
"It was real."
The hall grew colder.
Xi Yunchen exhaled slowly, leaning back slightly.
"So she really knows the future."
Those words hung in the air for a mont.
Then Xi Qianqian suddenly spoke, her voice lower than before.
"Does that an... sothing bad will happen to our family too?"
No one answered imdiately.
Because everyone already knew the answer.
Then suddenly, Xi Qianqian’s face changed slightly.
She quickly grabbed her younger sister Xi Anran’s hand.
The little girl looked up at her confused.
"Second sister?"
Xi Qianqian’s voice beca quieter.
"She said sothing earlier..."
Her fingers tightened slightly.
Xi Yunchen frowned.
"What did she say?"
Xi Qianqian swallowed once.
"She said... Anran would die from a bad fever."
Silence.
Instantly, the entire hall froze.
Even Xi Jianyu’s expression turned colder.
Xi Anran blinked slowly.
"...Huh?"
Xi Qianqian pulled her closer instinctively, as if protecting her.
Xi Lanyin’s face tightened.
"Don’t say things like that carelessly."
Xi Qianqian’s voice shook slightly.
"I’m not saying it carelessly... I heard it too. She thought it so clearly..."
A heavy silence followed.
Then Xi Ronghua suddenly spoke, her tone sharp but serious.
"Enough."
Everyone turned toward her.
Her usual loud energy was gone now, replaced by sothing more controlled.
"This is not a ti for panic."
She looked at Xi Jianyu and Xi Wenzhe.
"Both of you saw the Crown Princess situation with your own eyes. That girl was right about everything."
Xi Jianyu did not deny it.
Xi Ronghua continued slowly.
"So we stop treating this as coincidence."
She paused.
"We take everything she says seriously from now on."
Xi Yunchen raised a brow slightly.
"aning what exactly?"
Xi Ronghua looked directly at him.
"aning we don’t ignore her thoughts anymore."
Xi Yunhao frowned.
"But she doesn’t even know we can hear them."
"That’s exactly why it works," Xi Ronghua replied firmly. "She speaks freely because she thinks no one is listening. That gives us information no spy could ever provide."
The hall fell silent again.
Then Xi Jianyu finally spoke, his voice calm but heavy.
"From this mont onward, everything she says—whether spoken or thought—must be observed carefully."
His gaze swept across the room.
"But one rule remains absolute."
His voice turned colder.
"She must not know."
Xi Wenzhe added quietly.
"If she finds out, we lose the only advantage we have."
A deep silence followed.
Xi Qianqian still held Xi Anran’s hand tightly, but her voice was softer now.
"Then... what is she to us?"
No one answered imdiately.
Because even they did not know anymore.
A weapon?
A prophet?
Or sothing far more dangerous?
Finally, Xi Yunchen exhaled and leaned back.
"...She really is the most troubleso bride we could have gotten."
No one laughed this ti.
Because deep down they all agreed.
The hall remained heavy even after Xi Ronghua’s words settled.
No one looked relaxed.
Not even a little.
The weight of everything they had learned tonight pressed down on every person sitting there, as though the air itself had beco thicker.
Xi Anran still sat close to Xi Qianqian, her small hand held tightly, though she did not fully understand why the adults looked so serious.
Xi Jianyu’s expression stayed cold.
Xi Wenzhe remained silent, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.
Then Lin iyun finally spoke.
Her voice was calm, but there was a quiet firmness underneath it that made everyone look up.
"If the Crown Princess has been saved," she said slowly, "then it ans sothing important."
The room turned toward her.
Lin iyun adjusted her sleeves slightly, her posture still elegant despite the faint tiredness in her eyes.
"It ans that what she saw... is not a fixed ending."
Xi Yunchen narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Not fixed?"
Lin iyun nodded.
"Yes."
Her gaze moved across the room, steady and composed.
"If the future she described was already absolute, then saving the Crown Princess tonight would not have been possible."
A brief silence followed her words.
Xi Lanyin slowly began to understand.
"You an... the future can still change?"
Lin iyun nodded again.
"That is exactly what I an."
She paused slightly before continuing.
"We are not standing at an ending point. We are standing at a turning point."
The hall grew quieter.
Even Xi Jianyu’s gaze sharpened slightly at that.
Lin iyun’s voice softened just a little.
"If one disaster can be stopped, then others can also be stopped."
Her eyes flicked briefly toward Xi Anran.
"That includes Anran."
Xi Qianqian imdiately tightened her hold on her younger sister again.
Lin iyun continued calmly.
"Nothing is guaranteed to happen just because it was spoken."
Her tone beca more certain now.
"We now know pieces of the future. That ans we are no longer blind."
Xi Ronghua leaned forward slightly, her expression slowly shifting from tension to focus.
"So you’re saying..." she began, "we can change what she saw?"
Lin iyun nodded.
"We can try."
Xi Yunhao spoke quietly from the side.
"And if we fail?"
A brief silence followed that question.
Even Lin iyun paused for a mont.
Then she answered honestly.
"Then we will at least fail with preparation instead of ignorance."
No one spoke after that.
The truth of it settled heavily in their hearts.
Xi Jianyu finally spoke again, his voice calm but decisive.
"iyun is correct."
He looked across the hall.
"We are no longer reacting blindly. We are responding with knowledge."
His gaze hardened slightly.
"And knowledge can be used."
Xi Wenzhe added quietly, his tone colder.
"Then from tonight onward, every word she says must be treated as a warning."
Xi Yunchen let out a slow breath.
"This is starting to feel less like a marriage and more like we adopted a walking prophecy."
Xi Qianqian glanced at him sharply.
"This is not funny."
"I know," he replied imdiately. "That’s why I said it like that."
Xi Anran, still holding her sister’s hand, looked up innocently.
"So... I won’t die from fever?"
The question landed in the middle of the room like a stone.
Xi Qianqian froze slightly, then forced a gentle smile.
"No one is going to die."
Her voice was firm, but there was a hint of fear she could not fully hide.
Lin iyun walked over slowly and crouched slightly in front of Xi Anran.
She gently touched the child’s cheek.
"Anran," she said softly, "as long as we are careful, nothing like that will happen."
The little girl blinked, then nodded slowly.
"Okay, mother."
But behind her calm voice, Lin iyun’s eyes were deeper now.
Because she knew one thing clearly.
Su Yueqing had not spoken like soone guessing.
She had spoken like soone rembering.
And that difference... was dangerous.
Xi Jianyu slowly stood again.
"We stop wasting ti."
His voice turned sharp once more.
"Strengthen palace ties. Investigate the mountain bandits. And find out who is behind the poison inside this manor."
Xi Wenzhe stood with him imdiately.
"Yes, Father."
Xi Ronghua nodded once.
"I will increase security inside my courtyard."
Xi Yunhao straightened.
"I’ll handle patrol rotations."
Xi Yunchen sighed but stood too.
"Fine. I’ll stop pretending to be useless for once."
A faint pause followed his words.
Then, unexpectedly, even Xi Qianqian stood.
"I’ll stay with Anran more."
The room fell into a quiet but steady agreent.
And in the center of it all..
One thought remained unspoken, shared silently by everyone in that hall.
If Su Yueqing was truly seeing the future...
Then the Xi family had just been given sothing terrifying.
A chance to fight back against fate itself.
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