A twist in time

Chaos.

Yu Ziyuan stood at the Lotus Cove looking at her tea cup absentmindedly. Her eyes were blank, the past few days were packed with planning and preparing, but with Cangse Sanren on the way, Wei Changze was helping her husband with the paperwork like old times and the kids were tended to. She sighed. She had sent everyone away, because she wanted some peace, but the heavy silence seemed to crush her. She drowned in a feeling of emptiness, a similar feeling to her previous afterlife.

The rage, who had been her companion her entire life, had left, leaving space for exhaustion and feeling of emptiness and grief. Death was supposed to be the end of it, the freedom after a life of suffering, but she hadn't been granted that relief. The gods must have looked at her actions and refused her entrance to the reincarnation cycle.

After death she had a long time to think over her actions and the burning rage against the injustice in the world slowly disappeared. She felt more guilt when she saw how her children grew isolated, their bond broke and they lost themselves.

Seeing her little A-Cheng balance rebuilding a ruined sect, raising a child, training, night hunts and the grief of losing his entire family, had not only been eye-opening but also heartbreaking.

Seeing her beautiful and kind A-Li die, while trying to mediate the conflict between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin and the entirety of the cultivation world, had made her feel an indescribable despair and grief, the knowledge her grandson had become an orphan leaving a pain unlike any she had experienced.

And lastly Wei Wuxian, little A-Xian, the orphan she had harboured such resentment towards, just an innocent child, a victim of the circumstances, a tortured soul, tainted by the darkness and cruelty of the world. It was after seeing Wei Wuxians sacrifices for her family, she truly grew to respect the boy and regret her cruelty towards him. Death really did change a person, after all the ambitions one held became meaningless, the feelings dulled down and the view of the events crystal clear.

Silence hung over the Lotus Cove, the madam lost in thoughts and the voices from outside drowned out.

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Meanwhile, within the Koi Tower, the voices of Madam Jin and her husband resonated loudly. Their occasional arguments were nothing out of the ordinary, but the sect leader raising their voice in response was a rare and unsettling sight. Servants discreetly left the floor, and even the guards were instructed to give the quarrelling couple some privacy, waiting patiently at the foot of the stairs. Madam Jin and her husband had insisted that everyone leave them to their dispute, a command the servants promptly heeded. No one possessed the audacity to entangle themselves in their heated argument.They placed a silencing talisman over the entire floor, a gesture of extravagance that was in ironic harmony with the sect's ancient, extravagant reputation and generations worth of hidden misery in the den of snakes. Despite the talisman's significant muffling effect on most of the clamor, the loudest of the screams still found a way to reach the ears of the guards. The argument between the two heads of their sect shaking the foundation of the tower, their screams like echoes of a silenced storm.

The discussion was obviously about Jin Guangshan's affairs, specifically madam Meng's, since Jin Guangshan accidentally slipped up and mentioned Meng Yao's relation to him. While his affairs were not necessarily a secret, him so blatantly talking about his affairs in public, pushed the madam over the edge. He put the madam in an awkward position and made her look like a fool. Then he insisted that the child should be thrown out. Madam Jin told him that he should at least take responsibility for his actions, because she won't back down from her promise. She would not be called unreliable just because of her husband's irresponsibility and unfilial behaviour.

Jin Zixuan was trying to comfort Meng Yao to the best of his abilities. He clumsily pulled the other into a hug and patted his back. He looked unsure, not really confident in his people skills, let alone in his ability to be a good older brother, but the younger of the two seemed to stop trembling, so he couldn't be half as bad. He softly drew circles just as his nanny used to when he was upset when younger. Now he was obviously a big boy, so he didn't cry anymore. Don't ask his nanny though, she was an unreliable source for information.