Han Yu almost smiled. Almost.
'She really is too young.'
He folded his arms inside his sleeves. "You do not know what happened to my clan a few years ago?"
Qing Luan hesitated. "How many years ago? I never paid attention to clan affairs. I have been cultivating and studying since before I turned twelve. Information reached slowly unless my mother brought it."
Han Yu finally understood.
It was not ignorance. It was isolation. She had been sheltered, kept indoors, trained, and fed only what she needed to know. Cultivation, etiquette, a few scholarly arts. Nothing else.
She was a treasured piece of the clan, a little jewel ant to shine during ceremonies but not ant to know the mud beneath the surface.
Han Yu exhaled softly.
"The Ju Clan was destroyed five years ago."
Qing Luan's eyes widened even further.
She turned sharply toward the small window by the driver's seat and slid it open.
"Uncle Yun. Did sothing like that really happen? Was the Ju Clan destroyed?"
The driver almost jumped out of his seat. He looked back with shock, then hesitated before nodding slowly.
"Yes, Young Miss. It did. The Ju Clan was wiped out. The city officials said it was an explosion caused by a ritual, but no one knows the details. It happened five years ago."
Qing Luan pressed her lips together. "Why did no one tell ?"
The driver sighed. "Because your mother asked that you focus on cultivation. She said there was no need to fill your heart with distractions. And the elders did not care about the Ju Clan after the first few months. They preferred not to speak about old enemies."
The driver paused, then glanced nervously at Han Yu inside the carriage.
Then his eyes widened in absolute panic.
"Young Miss… why are you asking this?"
Qing Luan's voice beca a soft trembling whisper.
"Because… because this honored disciple… is Ju Fan of the Ju Clan."
The man almost fell out of his seat entirely. His face drained of color. His lips trembled. His hands tightened so hard on the reins that the leather creaked.
A hundred thoughts scread through his mind at once.
'A Ju Clan survivor!'
A mber of the clan that the Qing clan once opposed. Soone with every reason to despise them. And they had been saved by him. They were currently in a carriage with him. And the young miss had just revealed everything about their internal issues within the clan.
The driver's mind raced.
'He is powerful. Far too powerful for us to defy. If he wishes to kill us, he would have already done so. If he wanted revenge, he would not wait. If he wished to torture information out of us, he would have no reason to reveal himself before acting.'
'So what does he want?'
He stared straight ahead, eyes focused on the road because eting Ju Fan's gaze would crush whatever courage he had left.
He thought furiously.
'If he hated the Qing clan, yet he is helping the young miss… then he must see a use in her. A chance. A thod to return so harm to the clan using her as a pivot point.'
The driver was not naive. He had been in the service of Qing Luan's mother for nearly thirty five years now. He had joined when he was a re teen but now he was fifty years old. He had lived through clan struggles. He had seen sches and betrayals. He understood the look in Ju Fan's eyes.
'This man wants revenge. Not on us, but on the people who wronged him. And the young miss… is his ticket.' He thought to himself.
The driver licked his lips nervously but kept silent.
He did not care what happened to the clan. He had seen how Qing Luan and her mother were treated. He would be lying if he himself did not hate the clan's people a bit. His heart ached whenever he saw the atrocities that happened, but he could not do anything.
His loyalty was with Qing Luan's mother and now with Qing Luan. If Ju Fan intended to protect her, even if for his own purposes, that was still more protection than the clan was currently giving her.
His heart steadied slightly.
'Better a devil who stands beside you than a family who wants you dead.'
Qing Luan noticed his fear and quickly tried to calm him.
"Uncle Yun, do not be afraid. Honored Disciple is helping us. He is not our enemy."
The driver forced himself to nod, but his thoughts were very different.
'Of course he will help us, Young Miss. But you are the reason. Not . And not the clan.' Old Yun reckoned Ju Fan might just be the better choice over the Qing Clan.
After all, he wore his hatred on his sleeve, while the others hid it like a dagger.
Han Yu watched the two of them quietly.
He could feel the driver's fear like a violet river of Qi spiraling toward him. He could feel Qing Luan's trust growing in pale green strands.
The balance he needed was forming.
'Perfect.'
He did not want blind devotion from her. He wanted trust mixed with reliance. Enough for her to follow his guidance. Enough for her to see him as the one who offered her strength when everyone else abandoned her.
He leaned back and finally spoke, his tone calm and cold.
"Your clan and mine have old grievances. My clan was destroyed. Yours may follow if it continues on this path. Whether I help you or not depends on your choices. Rember that."
Qing Luan swallowed hard and nodded with absolute seriousness.
"I understand."
Han Yu gave a faint approving sound.
"Then sit back. When we reach White Peacock Town, we will find your mother if she's there. And then we will decide the next move."
He closed his eyes again.
The carriage rolled forward.
And inside, a seed of hatred had begun to sprout in Qing Luan's heart.
Just as Han Yu planned.
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