Hua Xianle

Chapter 30:

Huaisang slipped quietly into his room, closing the door before approaching the window. There, he found the silver butterfly Hua Ying had gifted him when they were young waiting for him. After all these years, he had learned many of his tiny companions' tricks, as well as how to make full use of them.

“Welcome back, my tiny friend,” he greeted as he held out his palm, allowing it to land gracefully. “So tell me, did you hear anything useful while you were out?” 

The butterfly began to glow, showing him everything that happened inside the Sect Leader’s office. Upon watching it, Nie Huaisang’s smile grew wider and wider.

“So Madame Yu’s careless actions have led to the destruction of Zidian? Hah! I wonder how Yu-Zongzhu will react to his daughter being so careless as to get their family heirloom destroyed?” He reached into his sleeve, pulling out a small mandarin orange, peeling it before setting out a slice for his little spy. “Good job, little butterfly. You just gave me a perfect rumor to start.”

…

Jiang Fengmian arrived at Cloud Recesses within the day of the summons. He walked into the office, already feeling the withering scowl from his wife. However, that’s not the only thing he felt. There was a strange pressure in the air, a pressure that seemed to originate from a lone man in red robes and an eyepatch. He shuddered slightly, but brushed it off, offering the man a shallow bow before giving proper ones to his hosts.quickly 

“Lan-zongzhu. Madam Lan. Lan Qiren.”

“Thank you for coming, Jiang-zongzhu,” Qingheng-jun greeted as Fengmian took his seat next to his angry (but then again, when was she ever not?) wife.

“Took you long enough!” she snapped the second he was seated. “Where have you been? Out searching for that damn Wei brat again? Don’t you know your real son is kneeling outside and waiting for you?!  Why can’t you pay attention to your own children for once in your-?!”

When his wife fell blissfully silent, Fengmian assumed it was the Lan Silencing Spell. It was perhaps the only thing that could keep San-niang from ranting for hours on end.

“Honestly, her voice is beginning to grate at my ears,” Madame Lan remarked, earning a stern yet amused glance from her husband. She then cleared her throat and turned to face Fengmian. “As you may have heard, Jiang-zongzhu, we wish to discuss the conduct of your son, Jiang Wanyin. Both Jin Zixuan and Wangji reported that during an incident involving a Waterborne Abyss in Biling lake, your son purposely stood back and smirked while a fellow cultivator was thrown to the beast to either drown or be devoured.”

“Madame Lan, my son may have been thinking about his own safety,” Fengmian attempted to argue. “After all, he shouldn’t just jump straight into battle knowing how dangerous the enemy is. He is a sect heir after all, and his life is paramount to the continuation of the Jiang Sect.”

“If he had simply stood aside or perhaps fled to the shore, I would be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Qingheng-jun spoke up. “However, your son was actively enjoying the suffering of his fellow cultivator, an heir himself.”

“My son,” the man in red chimed in, reminding Jiang Fengmian of his presence. “Hua Xianle, heir to my city and my only son. And yet, in Jiang Wanyin’s eyes, my boy is insignificant. He claimed that the Lans should not waste resources on him, and even suggested throwing him back into the water.”

All Jiang Fengmian could do was groan at that, grimacing in embarrassment and shame. How could he have failed his son so spectacularly that he would actually go so far?

“Jiang-zongzhu,” Qingheng-jun spoke up again. “I am not usually one to meddle in the affairs of other sects, but something must be done about your son. I am afraid that when he steps up as Sect Leader, he will disregard the common people and leave them to suffer simply because they are beneath him. If he continues down this path, Yunmeng Jiang will continue to weaken until-.”