2026-09-21 19:30:54Zheng Cheng turned toward the cold voice while remaining low on the roof ridge, every muscle tightening beneath the night wind.
Moonlight finally broke through the clouds and revealed another figure standing across the tiled roofs roughly ten spear-lengths away.
The stranger occupied a slightly higher roofline, while Zheng Cheng remained closer to the Almaria Chamber of Commerce courtyard below.
Green silk covered the man’s
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The Manor of the Wang Clan
The carriage traveled through Jinhung City toward Wang Clan Manor, passing streets where merchants had already begun discussing Autumn Memory Pavilion's destruction.Madam Lily remained quiet beside Guo Jiang, although her hands tightened whenever she remembered the people who had died inside the establishment.The six major clans held considerable influence over Jinhung's commerce, employment, transportation, and the movement of valuable resources.Their economic strength allowed them to maintain armed retainers and extensive estates, giving their patriarchs authority beyond ordinary wealthy households.Guo Jiang understood that influence because he had inherited responsibility for a region whose stability depended partly upon those established families.His position as Eastern Demigods stood above local clan authority, yet ruling did not require interfering in every merchant di
What Remained of Autumn Memory
By the time Madam Lily's carriage returned to Autumn Memory Pavilion, the fire had consumed nearly everything she had spent decades building.Blackened beams lay across the courtyard, while thin smoke rose from broken galleries where musicians and wealthy guests had gathered only yesterday.The horses slowed as the driver approached the ruined entrance, uncertain whether the woman inside would recognize what remained of her establishment.Madam Lily pushed aside the carriage curtain and stared at the destruction, unable to reconcile the sight with the Pavilion she had left that morning."No, this cannot be Autumn Memory Pavilion, because there were people working here when I went to seek help."Her voice sounded strained, and she leaned forward as though a closer view might reveal that she had mistaken another building for her own.Guo Jiang sat opposite her,
Ashes of Autumn Memory
The Wang Clan fighters advanced through the front courtyard while the remaining Pavilion workers retreated from their weapons toward the burning galleries.Spears extended ahead of the soldiers, forcing frightened women and attendants into spaces where smoke and heat made breathing increasingly difficult.One worker raised both hands and pleaded, “We never harmed Young Master Wang, so please do not punish us for another person’s crime.”The nearest fighter continued forward without answering, maintaining the formation that his commanding officer had already ordered him to preserve.A Pavilion guard tried guiding several workers toward a clearer passage, but Wang soldiers blocked the route before they could reach it.He looked at their weapons and said, “These people have no means of fighting you, so allowing them through cannot threaten your clan.”
The Choice of Song Chun
Mo Lian stood with her eyes closed before Song Chun’s sword, while heat from Autumn Memory Pavilion pressed against everyone near the gate.The blade hovered a short distance from her throat, close enough that one forward movement could end the confrontation.Song Chun’s wrist trembled as he watched the woman who had once listened patiently to his disappointments and private regrets.Her face resembled the first woman he had loved and lost, a resemblance that had initially drawn him back to Autumn Memory Pavilion.But the attachment had grown beyond appearance, and he remembered promising Mo Lian a future outside the establishment.He had spoken about marriage during moments when her company seemed more comforting than returning to his troubled household.Song Chun thought, “I made that promise willingly, so why am I standing here threatenin
The Promise Before Witnesses
Mo Lian’s question carried beyond the Wang Clan shield formation, drawing attention from spectators who had already questioned Song Chun’s condemnation.The officer stared at her while smoke rose behind the Pavilion workers, and the soldiers nearest him waited for instructions.He recognized Mo Lian immediately, but acknowledging her before so many witnesses threatened the respectable identity he maintained outside the Pavilion.Song Chun straightened his shoulders and answered, “I do not know you, and your attempt to disgrace an officer will accomplish nothing.”Mo Lian stared at him for several breaths, struggling to reconcile that denial with the personal conversations she remembered.“You do not know me, yet you always requested my company whenever another quarrel drove you away from your household?”A few spectators be
The Officer Who Condemned Them
Flames continued climbing the wooden galleries of Autumn Memory Pavilion while Wang Clan soldiers maintained their formation around every accessible entrance.The workers trapped inside had retreated toward the front courtyard, where smoke followed them from the burning corridors and surrounding rooms.Ahead stood Wang Clan soldiers holding shields and spears, while the passages on either side were already blocked by armed retainers.A young woman covered her mouth with a sleeve and cried, “Please let us through, because we had nothing to do with Young Master Wang’s death.”Another worker knelt near the front steps, begging the soldiers to remember that most of them earned only enough money to survive.The nearest soldier tightened his grip on his spear, but he kept his eyes fixed on the officer commanding their formation.“We have orders to hold this entrance,” he replied, although his voice lacked the contempt displayed by several men standing beside him.A second soldier glanced to
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