Chapter 241 - Underwhelming fight.

Morning came slowly over the Su estate, not with noise, but with that soft pale light that slipped across tiled roofs and red lanterns and made everything look gentler than it had any right to be on the day of a duel. The entire mansion was already awake long before sunrise. Servants moved through the courtyards carrying trays, hanging fresh silk ribbons, checking ceremonial decorations that had already been adjusted three times in the past two days because Mother Su refused to allow even one lantern to tilt the wrong way before the wedding. Somewhere in the outer courtyard, someone was arguing quietly about flower placement. Somewhere else, guards were speaking in low voices about the crowd already gathering near the city arena. Yet inside the inner residence, behind carved wooden doors where sunlight fell through half drawn curtains, none of that urgency seemed to matter for a little while.