Yun Yao's expression turned glacial the moment she registered her husband's obtuseness. Could he not read between the lines for once?
Still, this concerned their son. She abandoned the pretense.
"I just caught Qian'er and Xi'er embracing in the garden.
You should have seen how intimate they were—tsk, tsk, tsk!"
Ye Changkong's brow furrowed, skepticism flickering across his features.
"Are you certain? Qian'er and Yun Xi... embracing?
You're sure you didn't mistake what you saw?"
He remembered well how Ye Qian had cowered before Yun Xi as a child. Even after maturing, the mere mention of her name would summon a shadow of dread in his son's eyes.
As a father, Ye Changkong had witnessed it countless times. What Yun Yao described bordered on impossible.
Yun Yao's eyebrows arched sharply.
"What, you doubt me? I saw it with my own eyes—how could it be false?
Ever since Qian'er woke from his Qi Deviation, he's transformed completely.
He used to tremble before you as well, but does he now?
When Qian'er looks at you these days, there's no trace of that old fear.
Remember how he used to regard you?"
During these past weeks, Yun Yao had even entertained the disturbing possibility that something fundamental had changed in her son's nature.
But he was her own flesh and blood. No mother could fail to recognize that bond, no matter how he'd changed.
He was undeniably Ye Qian—that truth resonated in her bones.
Which meant the most likely explanation was simple: whatever he'd endured during his Qi Deviation had reshaped him. Perhaps he'd finally grown up.
Ye Changkong stroked his beard, weighing her words carefully.
Now that she laid it out so plainly, he couldn't deny the pattern. He had noticed the absence of fear in Ye Qian's gaze lately.
At the time, he'd dismissed it as insignificant, but perhaps his son truly no longer feared Yun Xi either.
"If that's the case, this might even be fortunate. It wouldn't be so bad if they ended up together."
Ye Changkong harbored no objections to a union between Ye Qian and Yun Xi.
First, she was the Yun Family's Young Miss—their backgrounds matched perfectly, a pairing beyond reproach.
Second, Yun Xi possessed formidable talent in her own right. She would never become a burden holding Ye Qian back in the future.
Their marriage offered only advantages.
"What do you mean 'wouldn't be so bad'? This is excellent!
Qian'er was always so prideful before, and Yun Xi grew up alongside him—they know each other intimately.
As his mother, I wholeheartedly hope they unite.
Qian'er has come of age. It's time he found a devoted wife."
Just like that, without Ye Qian's slightest awareness, his future bride had already been settled by his parents.
…
Ye Qian and Yun Xi wandered through the bustling market, and whenever something novel or intriguing caught her eye, she drifted over to examine it more closely.
Drawing on his inherited memories, Ye Qian compared the current Yun Xi with the child from his recollections.
Her personality had shifted considerably—at minimum, she'd shed that wild mischievousness from her youth.
Now she radiated the refined grace of a cultured young lady, a transformation earned through deliberate effort and training.
Throughout their entire stroll, Ye Qian held Yun Xi's hand, and she never once pulled away. Her silent acceptance spoke volumes.
Amidst laughter and easy conversation, time slipped past them.
Ye Qian purchased everything that sparked Yun Xi's interest.
As the Young Master of the Ye Family, he could claim anything he desired without spending a single spirit stone if he wished. But Ye Qian refused to indulge that particular privilege.
They were fellow clansmen, after all. Fellow clansmen did not exploit one another.
Only when night descended did they finally pause.
Though this marketplace sprawled impressively, it represented merely one district within the Ye Clan's territory—a fragment, not the whole.
Yun Xi had accumulated a small mountain of treasures, including several exceptionally rare medicinal pills.
Among the Seven Great Forces of the Immortal Realm, only the Medicine King Pavilion surpassed the Ye Family in producing such coveted elixirs.
In the Immortal Realm, skilled alchemists were vanishingly rare.
Six or seven out of every ten hailed from the Medicine King Pavilion. Another two or three belonged to the Ye Family. The remaining tenth scattered themselves among the lesser powers.
In raw capability, the Medicine King Pavilion unquestionably reigned supreme across the entire Immortal Realm—even the Ye Family acknowledged that supremacy.
However, the Ye Family possessed something the Pavilion could never replicate: a heritage of cultivating extraordinarily rare medicinal herbs, some of which had disappeared from the rest of the world entirely.
Pills crafted from these extinct specimens lay beyond even the Medicine King Pavilion's reach.
Consequently, the two forces maintained a lucrative partnership centered on medicinal herb trade.
The Pavilion spent staggering sums annually to acquire those rare and near-extinct varieties from the Ye Family.
They'd attempted cultivation themselves, naturally, but invariably failed. Only the Ye Family possessed whatever secret knowledge allowed these precious plants to thrive.
When Yun Xi finally stopped to assess her haul, she realized with a jolt just how much she'd accumulated.
Worse, Ye Qian had paid for everything. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Having someone else fund her shopping spree would be unconscionable if they were merely cousins.
What cousins displayed such extravagant generosity? She simply couldn't believe it.
Yun Xi met Ye Qian's eyes, her voice softening.
"Qian'er, what was the total? I'll repay you later for everything."
She hadn't kept track of the quantity or cost while shopping, but regardless, the items were purchased now. Returning them was unthinkable.
She would keep them all—and settle her debt.
"It's nothing. Those little trinkets barely cost a thing.
And besides, the whole marketplace belongs to the Ye Family—they wouldn't dare overcharge me."
Though he spoke dismissively, Ye Qian knew the precise sum: one million spirit stones.
One million spirit stones—not some paltry handful of copper coins.
As the Yun Family's Young Miss, Yun Xi received a generous monthly allowance of roughly fifty thousand spirit stones.
Even if she hoarded every single one for multiple years, she'd only accumulate about a million total.
Years of savings obliterated by a single afternoon's shopping. If Yun Xi discovered the truth, she'd likely be devastated.
The primary culprit was the sheer rarity of several items she'd selected. While not quite peerless treasures, they remained exceedingly difficult to acquire.
Fortunately, Ye Qian's resources ran deep. A million spirit stones meant nothing to him whatsoever.