Deep within the Chen Clan estate stood a quiet, secluded chamber in a rear courtyard.
The window stood slightly ajar, letting the gentle evening breeze slip inside with the fresh scent of courtyard greenery and stir the gauze curtains.
Tea steam curled from the spout of an exquisite purple clay teapot, suffusing the air with a delicate fragrance.
Inside, four women sat at ease. They looked no older than their twenties or thirties, yet each possessed an extraordinary grace.
Yang Jingxue reclined against a soft cushion, gently waving a round fan. The little gusts she stirred broke the room's stillness.
Her eyes shifted toward the languid woman opposite her, clad in a black-and-gold palace skirt, and a mischievous smile touched her face. "Xia Qingyun, you finally showed your face? I've been fighting tooth and nail here with the Chen Clan, while you, their venerable matriarch, have been gallivanting all over the place?"
Beside her, Han Yiyu's slender, fair fingers paused slightly over the smooth Jade Pendant she had been toying with.
Her fine, crescent brows lifted, frost gathering in her eyes as she coldly chimed in, "Exactly. Where have you built your little bird's nest? Don't tell me you only just arrived!"
Xia Qingyun cast them a languid glance, her black-and-gold palace skirt setting off skin fairer than snow. She snorted softly. "What gallivanting? What bird's nest? If I hadn't kept that fat old bastard, the Ming King, occupied, would you have been able to enjoy yourselves so freely?"
Han Yiyu's dark brows shot up, her gaze blazing as it moved between Xia Qingyun and Yang Jingxue. "Bullshit! The Imperial Family wouldn't trouble Qingya or me. You Three Great Families are another matter."
Meanwhile, Xuan Qingya poured the tea with flowing, effortless movements, then pushed two cups of clear,