"You've said so much about the various factions. Now you should tell me about the inside of your family, right?"
"Don't rush me. I was just about to."
Si Nan Yuan thought for a moment, as if organizing her words, then slowly began:
"First is the current Patriarch, Lord Si Nan Zheng, who is forty-nine this year. Strictly speaking, that age isn't old at all, but his health has been poor for a long time, and he's been plagued by all kinds of illnesses. He doesn't have much time left. Although it's not very nice of me to say this about my own master... even a fool knows there's no future in following a dying man. So the elders have all flocked to the young master they support, and only a very few trusted confidants have remained at the Patriarch's side. Thus, although the Patriarch's lingering prestige still remains, the real power in his hands is dwindling by the day..."
The so-called twilight of a hero?
"Then there are the four young masters. The eldest young master is named Si Nan Xing, twenty-seven years old, and unmarried. In terms of overall ability, he's undoubtedly the strongest. He's an extremely steady person, and he handles matters with exceptional rationality. He can put all the family's troublesome affairs in perfect order. Elder Hong once told me that the person the Patriarch admires most in private is him. But compared to the second and third young masters, the eldest young master lacks a few degrees of ruthlessness. So sometimes he can't outmaneuver them, leaving his faction weaker than the second young master's."
The standard eldest-brother type...
"The second young master is Si Nan Feng, twenty-five years old. Of the four, his faction is the largest, with nearly half the elders supporting him. In terms of brains, the second young master can't match the eldest, but he's absolutely the most vicious and overbearing of the four. 'Those who follow me prosper, those who oppose me perish; I'd rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one escape' is a true portrait of his nature. He has a bit of a brute-force feel to him, but many elders support him precisely because of that. He has another trait as well: he's lecherous. Not a single woman he takes a fancy to has ever managed to escape him, so you must be especially careful about that."
Holy crap... Isn't this the standard Dragon Proud Heaven? And not just any Dragon Proud Heaven, but the arrogant, overbearing, brainless type I hate most. If someone like that were to XX me... I don't even dare think about what comes next.
"As for the third young master, Si Nan Ganming, and the fourth young master, Si Nan Cheng... outsiders always say that the Si Nan Family is engaged in 'four sons fighting for power,' but it should actually be 'three sons.' Only those with outstanding detection abilities are qualified to inherit the position of Patriarch, and the third young master's ability is of another kind."
"So the third young master isn't actually participating in the power struggle?"
"Quite the opposite. The fourth young master is publicly acknowledged as a weak and incompetent man with no opinions of his own. He has depended heavily on the third young master since childhood, so... I don't need to explain the rest, do I?"
Si Nan Ganming wants to put Si Nan Cheng on the throne as an obedient puppet and rule from behind the scenes. So in reality, only Si Nan Xing, Si Nan Feng, and Si Nan Ganming are fighting for power...? Somehow, this feels like excellent material for a BL novel.
"By the way, Si Nan Ying said she has an older sister?"
"She does. The eldest young lady is named Si Nan Xiao, and she's a top student at the Central United Academy."
"She sounds impressive. How much influence does she have within the family? Does she have... any ambitions?"
"Are you worried that she'll use the second young lady the way the third young master does? You don't need to worry about that. She's... how should I put it? She's a very quiet person and won't participate in the power struggle. You'll understand once you meet her."
A very quiet person? Come to think of it, Si Nan Ying once said something like, 'I'm different from my sister. I can't stand staying in a place full of books where you're not allowed to speak loudly.' Could it be that her sister likes spending time in libraries as much as I do? If that's the case, maybe we'll get along quite well.
A Patriarch in his twilight years, a steady eldest son, an overbearing second son, a shrewd third son, a weak fourth son, a quiet eldest daughter, a dazed and adorable second daughter, a massive family, and factions as numerous as the stars...
I feel a little excited.
"Xiao Ye, Xiao Ye, we're here! It's right here... Ah, oof!"
Ah, she fell. On flat ground, too.
"Don't rush me... I'm pulling!" I huffed and puffed as I dragged the blade case, which had gotten stuck in the car door, free. Naturally, it contained the Charging Blade that had rendered such great service. Ever since I encountered the Beast Tide last time, I hadn't let it leave my side, just in case.
What stood before us was... a bamboo forest?
Tens of thousands of emerald bamboo stalks stood densely packed together, stretching beyond sight and forming a wall of green. What amazed me was their height. The tallest bamboo I'd seen on Earth had only been around ten meters tall. As far as I knew, the tallest bamboo, the giant dragon bamboo of Yunnan, could reach thirty or forty meters. But the bamboo before me probably averaged over forty meters in height—just as tall as the Imperial Capital's walls!
The Si Nan Main Family should be just behind this absurdly enormous bamboo forest. It was hard to believe that the Si Nan Family had gone to such lengths to cultivate a bamboo forest as tall as a city wall merely to beautify the scenery. There had to be some hidden mystery here...
"Welcome back, Second Young Lady, Elder Hong, and Captain Si Nan Yuan. From this point onward, vehicles are prohibited. It's the usual rule, so please understand." A squad of people in the same silver-gray uniforms as the guard unit came forward to greet us. The man at the head wore the same blue-gray uniform as Si Nan Yuan, so he was presumably a captain as well.
"You've worked hard too, Captain Si Nan Xiang. Let's go." Si Nan Yuan spoke.
"This must be..." Si Nan Xiang noticed me. I silently tugged the brim of my hood lower, nearly covering my entire face.
"Liu Ye, the new companion I mentioned in our communications." Si Nan Yuan introduced me.
"Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Liu. Welcome." As he spoke, Si Nan Xiang extended a hand toward me.
I reached out and gave him a light handshake. In that instant—
"!!"
A shocking heat surged from his hand. The temperature of my palm spiked, as if countless scorching needles had stabbed into it. The sensation was unbearable.
This guy is testing me! If this had happened a month ago, I definitely would have been frightened out of my wits. But now...
Blood suddenly seeped from my hand. At a thought, it condensed into countless extremely fine, granular blood crystals. Their surfaces were covered in countless sharp edges, and the moment they touched his skin, they pierced straight through it!
In less than two seconds, we released each other's hands. My hand had turned bright red, while several bloody marks had appeared on his, though they were all minor wounds.
"What's wrong, Xiao Ye? Don't dawdle!" Si Nan Ying called from ahead. From her angle, Si Nan Xiang and I had probably just exchanged an ordinary handshake...
"My apologies, but I had to see for myself what the first trusted aide chosen by the Second Young Lady was capable of." Si Nan Xiang lowered his head slightly and spoke in a quiet voice.
Was he really just curious...? How am I supposed to know which young master he supports?
Perhaps seeing my doubts, Si Nan Yuan spoke softly to me from the side: "Don't worry. Si Nan Xiang belongs to the Guarding Court Unit and reports directly to the current Patriarch. He won't favor any other faction. Besides, I know Si Nan Xiang well. He isn't a treacherous or wicked man."
Only after hearing that did I relax. I nodded at Si Nan Xiang, then hurried after Si Nan Ying.
"How strong is she? Spying on other people's strength is what you're best at, isn't it?"
"It was only a handshake, so I couldn't tell very well. But... she should be stronger than you and me."
"Is that so...? Good."
"By the way, is she really as beautiful as you said? The hat covers the upper half of her face, and the lower half is hidden in shadow. I can't make out anything at all."
"You don't need to worry about that. At any rate, she's no less beautiful than Haoyue Tartaglia!"
Before you continue