The Silent Mystic

It was the dead of winter, and the biting wind chilled to the bone.

"Hyah!"

A heavy carriage rumbled down the street, its wheels crushing the thick snow and ice. Hitting a sudden dip in the road, the carriage jolted, splashing freezing slush all over a passing pedestrian.

The man gasped from the sudden icy shock. He shot a glare at the carriage swaggering through the streets but didn't dare utter a word of complaint, silently brushing the dirty slush from his thick cotton coat.

A few steps further down the road.

Several ragged corpses lay sprawled in a ditch by the corner. They were beggars who hadn't survived the bitter winter night. They had been lying there for hours, yet no one spared them a second glance.

"What a world..."

The passerby sighed, rubbing his raw, red hands together as he hurried home.

And to think, this was the capital of the Grand Origin Dynasty!

Right at the feet of the Emperor himself!

...

Following the snow-covered streets further in, the crowds gradually thinned out, but the avenues grew wider and grander. Eventually, a towering courtyard wall came into view. At its center stood a pair of massive vermilion doors, bearing a plaque that read:

Duke Sovereign's Estate!

Founded by one of the Eight Dukes and Fourteen Marquises during the establishment of the Grand Origin Dynasty, the estate had stood strong for seven hundred years.

Past those towering, icicle-draped walls, tucked away in the far northwest corner of the sprawling estate, sat a modest, two-entry courtyard.

The yard was deserted and dreary. A thick blanket of snow completely buried the paving stones. Only a few scattered, mismatched footprints marred the pristine white surface, looking incredibly lonely.

Inside the bedroom.

Chu Yun woke up in a daze, his head throbbing with a dull ache between his brows.

He stared blankly at his surroundings. Gradually, he realized a foreign stream of memories was flooding his mind, smoothly merging with his own.

He clutched his head as his body went rigid. After a long moment, the tension finally left his muscles.

"Grand Origin..."

"Duke Sovereign's Estate..."

"So... that's how it is."

Chu Yun exhaled a puff of white mist, caught between laughing and crying.

Right before falling asleep, he had literally wished to transmigrate into an ancient dynasty as a wealthy young master. Well, he got his wish, but the circumstances were all wrong. And so was his status.

Sure, he was a young master, but he was born of a concubine. To make matters worse, his father had drunk and whored himself into an early grave seven years ago. One could only imagine the kind of standing Chu Yun had in Duke Sovereign's Estate.

Besides.

That wasn't even the biggest issue.

The bigger problem was that this world wasn't exactly scientific.

Vengeful ghosts caused chaos, and demons ran rampant. In fact, his predecessor had died precisely because of this. He had always been frail, and after bumping into a ghost in the dead of night, the sheer terror and the freezing cold had left him bedridden until Chu Yun took over his body.

Fortunately, as a perk of transmigration, the lingering sickness and trauma had cleared up the moment his soul entered the body. Right now, aside from feeling a bit weak, he seemed perfectly fine.

Just as Chu Yun propped himself up in bed.

And began to inspect his room.

Footsteps approached from outside. The door pushed open, and an elegant, dignified young woman walked in. She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old.

Recognizing her instantly, Chu Yun called out in a weak voice.

"Sister-in-law."

The newcomer was the original owner's sister-in-law, Lady Bai.

The original Chu Yun had a blood brother from the same parents. Unlike Chu Yun, his older brother had been exceptionally gifted in martial arts. He had even been appointed as a military officer. Tragically, he had lost his life putting down a demonic uprising just last year.

Lady Bai and his brother had never had children. By all rights, she shouldn't have been allowed to stay in Duke Sovereign's Estate after her husband's death. However, the Venerable Matriarch at the top of the family hierarchy had felt a pang of pity and put in a good word, allowing her to remain.

"Why are you up?"

Seeing Chu Yun sitting up, Lady Bai blinked in surprise before bursting into tears of joy. "Brother-in-law, you look so much better today... The heavens took pity on us..."

When she had checked on him the past couple of days, Chu Yun's breathing had been incredibly shallow, his face as pale as a sheet. He looked like he was on his deathbed. She never expected him to bounce back so suddenly today.

Brother-in-law...

It still felt a little weird being addressed that way. Chu Yun muttered internally, but outwardly, he forced a tired smile.

"I managed to pull through."

"Thank goodness. Thank goodness."

Lady Bai nodded repeatedly, wiping a tear from her eye.

Stepping closer to the bed, she noticed the washbasin and towel resting on the nightstand. She reached for the towel, only to flinch and pull her hand back. The water was freezing.

"Why is this water ice-cold?!"

Lady Bai gasped in shock.

Privately, Chu Yun figured he was lucky to even get a basin of water given his status in the household. Outwardly, he just shook his head. "The kitchens are probably running low on firewood."

If his memories were correct, that basin of water had been sitting there for an entire day without being changed.

"How can they be so negligent?!"

Lady Bai was furious.

A shortage of firewood was a terrible excuse. This was pure laziness on the part of the servants assigned to him. In fact, she hadn't seen a single servant since stepping into the courtyard!

Even if Chu Yun was born to a concubine, he was still a master of the house. He was supposed to have two maids and a manservant attending to him. Yet, there wasn't a soul to be found inside or outside the room, and the snow in the courtyard clearly hadn't been swept in days.

"How could they treat you like this? How dare they..."

Lady Bai bit her lip, trembling with such anger that tears welled up in her eyes. "Wait here, Brother-in-law. I'm going straight to the Venerable Matriarch to demand justice."

Even though Chu Yun was still trying to mentally ground himself in this new world, Lady Bai's fierce protectiveness warmed his heart.

'It's nice having a sister-in-law like her,' he thought. Still, he hurriedly stopped her, his voice faint but firm.

"Don't. The Venerable Matriarch was already incredibly generous letting you stay in the estate. If you bother her over something as trivial as lazy servants, I'll just look like an incompetent master who can't control his own people. It'll make me a laughingstock. Worse, if it annoys the Venerable Matriarch, it'll only make our lives here harder."

The Venerable Matriarch was the birth mother of the current Duke Sovereign. In a way, she was like Grandmother Jia from Dream of the Red Chamber, only Duke Sovereign's Estate was vastly larger. There were dozens of concubine-born sons just like him running around. Usually, the moment they turned twenty, they were unceremoniously kicked out of the estate to fend for themselves.

The Venerable Matriarch probably didn't even know he existed.

Deep down, Lady Bai knew he was right. She gripped her handkerchief, squeezing it until her knuckles turned white. "Then... are we just supposed to let them walk all over you?" she asked through her tears.

"Don't worry, Sister-in-law."

"Now that I've pulled through, things are going to change. I won't let them push me around anymore."

Chu Yun's voice was frail, yet to Lady Bai, every word rang with a quiet, unshakeable strength. There was an entirely new spirit about him.

Lady Bai stared at him, momentarily stunned. When she looked closely, she noticed that Chu Yun's eyes were crystal clear, harboring an indescribable depth.

Even though he was slumped weakly against the headboard, he radiated a quiet magnetism. He felt entirely different from the Chu Yun she used to know.

For a brief moment...

Lady Bai felt a sense of déjà vu. It was as if she was looking at Chu Yun's older brother. He had possessed that exact same confidence and bearing—an imposing presence that commanded respect without him even needing to raise his voice.

She stared at him in a daze, gripped by a sudden, fleeting urge to reach out and touch his cheek.