Chapter 3: The Stolen Jade Pendant

Gu Tingzhou’s silhouette faded into the twilight, like a wisp of cold smoke drifting to the far end of the corridor. Su Miao stood rooted to the spot, her fingertips white-knuckling the originless jade pendant. Her palm was blistered from the force of her grip. On her wrist, the Spirit Plant Ring pulsed with a faint heat. A frantic, chaotic emotion surged up her veins—that was the jade screaming in fear, weeping in panic.

She didn’t follow Gu Tingzhou away. Instead, she took a deep breath, forcing the pounding in her chest to settle. The air around them had frozen. The earlier thunderclap hadn’t fully dissipated, and the onlookers were staring at one another, faces masked with various expressions. Su Miao lifted her eyes, her gaze cutting through the crowd to land on the main seats of the impending family assembly. The sense of crisis in her heart didn’t fade; if anything, it thickened.

Where had this pendant come from, and why was it at the eye of the storm right now? She didn’t have the answer, but her gut told her the scenes to come would be far more deadly than Gu Tingzhou’s sudden arrival.

The last sliver of sunset was swallowed by dark clouds, and the Su Estate plunged into total darkness. The turmoil over the Seed Jade had only just torn open its bloody curtain.

The family assembly convened on time in the grand hall before the ancestral shrine. Under the soaring vaulted ceiling, dozens of crimson candles flickered erratically, casting warped shadows onto the mottled walls that illuminated the grave faces of the clan elders. The air was thick with the cloying mix of aged sandalwood and damp mildew, making it hard to breathe.

Su Yao wore a long dress of deep purple embroidered with gold. Her makeup was flawless, but it couldn’t hide the malice simmering in her eyes. She stood closest to the raised platform, her gaze like a blade aimed at Su Miao, who knelt in the corner. Su Miao kept her head bowed, stray strands of hair falling across her pale, calm face.

Her knees ached against the cold blue stone bricks. She bit down on the body’s instinctive shudder, maintaining a silent, solemn stillness. In the center of the hall, a sandalwood box was shoved open with a sharp crack, revealing a crystal-clear Seed Jade.

Inside, veins of green patterns wove together like living vines, slowly undulating. It was the legendary relic of their grandmother, said to be capable of birting rare treasures. Su Yao clapped her hands, the sound crisp and shrill, breaking the dead silence. She pointed at Su Miao, a disdainful sneer curling her lips. “Third Sister, why are you still pretending innocence?”

“This Seed Jade is the Su family’s treasured heirloom. You dared steal it in the chaos, and you want to push the blame onto others?”

Su Miao didn’t lift her head. She just listened quietly. The Spirit Plant Ring on her wrist trembled violently again. She sensed the emotion inside the Seed Jade—it wasn’t a sense of belonging, but extreme rejection and a keening wail, the sound of a trapped beast fighting for its life, which made her fingertips shake slightly.

Su Yao kept pressing the attack, listing Su Miao’s recent movements in the garden, hinting that she had become malicious out of jealousy toward the legitimate daughter’s status. She demanded a public search of Su Miao’s person and all her personal items to prove her innocence. Su Miao remained silent. Her gaze slid away from Su Yao’s pointing finger and swept the room.

She saw the elders looking uncomfortable. Some showed sympathy, others coldness, but most were just watching the show. Suddenly, a sharp glint flashed in the corner of the hall. It was Lin Feng. The florist tycoon had his arms crossed, leaning against a pillar, his eyes brimming with playful scrutiny, as if watching a particularly entertaining play.

Maid Wang stood behind Su Miao, twisting her apron until her knuckles turned white. Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but Su Yao’s sharp glare silenced her. She had to suppress her anxiety, her eyes fixed死死 on the jade on the floor.

Seeing Su Miao refuse to speak, Su Yao assumed she was guilty and pushed harder, her voice rising several octaves. “Su Miao! If you confess now, you might keep your body in one piece. If you remain deluded, don’t blame this young lady for showing no familial mercy!”

She turned to the elders, trying to rally support. The crowd’s faces were complex. After all, Su Miao came from a low background, while Su Yao was the legitimate daughter the clan was investing in. The tide of public opinion seemed to be flowing toward the accuser. At this moment, Su Miao slowly rose to her feet. She didn’t drop to her knees in a panic; instead, she moved with composure, each step steady and sure.

She walked toward the center of the hall. Her pace wasn’t fast, but it carried a strange pressure. The scrape of her shoes against the floor was piercingly clear in the silence. Su Yao raised an eyebrow in contempt, clearly not taking this illegitimate sister seriously. She even nonchalantly adjusted her skirt.

Su Miao stopped. Her calm gaze fell on the Seed Jade. The air around her seemed to drop a few degrees, and the candle flames flickered and dimmed for a second.

Su Miao spoke. Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it reached every ear clearly. “Second Sister accuses me of theft, but she hasn’t explained why this jade is in my hands.”

She didn’t defend herself. Instead, she pointed to the complex green patterns inside the Seed Jade. She noted that the Seed Jade was a spirit item, and its internal patterns usually resonated with the master’s bloodline. If the jade recognized Su Yao as its master, the patterns should glow with a warm gold, not the cold, black-green they showed right now.

Su Yao’s face froze for a split second, then she let out a bitter laugh and countered. “The idea of a Seed Jade recognizing a master is a myth. And as an illegitimate sister, you have no right to touch the family’s treasures. The fact that it’s on you is solid proof you stole it!”

She turned to the elders and shouted, “Elders! Su Miao is an outsider, yet she dares to speak ill of the family’s precious relics. Her heart is unforgivable!”

At this moment, Lin Feng, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, breaking the stalemate. He strolled forward leisurely, his fingertips tapping the floor in a rhythmic *thud, thud, thud*. In the肃杀 atmosphere, it sounded completely out of place.

With the authority of an expert, he questioned Su Yao’s claim. He pointed out that the Seed Jade was highly sensitive to its owner’s emotions. If Su Miao had truly stolen it, the jade should be calm right now, because a thief wouldn’t dare to agitate it. However, Lin Feng observed that the Seed Jade was trembling slightly, a thin mist rising from its surface. That was no sign of stability.

Beads of sweat appeared on Su Yao’s forehead. She forced herself to say, “Master Lin is overthinking it. It’s just a dead object. Where does this talk of emotion come from?” Lin Feng didn’t respond. He just gave Su Miao a meaningful glance, his eyes seeming to see through everything, carrying the sharpness of a merchant and the coldness of a bystander.

Su Miao’s heart stirred. The faint light on her Spirit Plant Ring flickered, as if answering Lin Feng’s argument.

Su Miao raised her right hand. The Spirit Plant Ring on her wrist glowed with a soft, pale blue light. The glow was gentle, not blinding, looking like a quiet star in the dim hall. She said quietly, “Second Sister, this jade is ‘weeping.’”

She explained that the Seed Jade was experiencing violent resonance because it sensed the intense malice and greed radiating from Su Yao, causing the patterns to change color. This wasn’t ownership; it was rejection. If the jade belonged to Su Yao, why would it resist so violently? She even gestured for Su Yao to step forward and feel the jade’s temperature.

Su Yao didn’t dare approach. She only dared to shout from afar, her body instinctively taking half a step back. At that moment, the Seed Jade let out a low, mournful hum. The sound echoed through the hall, striking everyone’s heart, as if an invisible hand had gripped every person in the room.

Clear, tear-like patterns surfaced on the Seed Jade, as if it were actually shedding tears, visually proving Su Miao’s point. The hall erupted in noise. Questions rose and fell, and the public opinion that had been leaning toward Su Yao reversed instantly. Whispers spread like ant noise.

Su Yao’s face turned ashen white. Her legs shook, and she could barely stand. Her fan slipped from her hand and hit the floor, but she didn’t notice. She tried to force the situation back under control, claiming the Seed Jade’s recognition was mistaken or had been interfered with by external factors.

However, Gu Tingzhou’s voice rang out again. This time, he wasn’t far away. He stood in the shadows, adding a cold finishing blow. “Second Sister, of the three old jades missing from your private vault the day before yesterday, did you find them?”

He mentioned Su Yao’s recent records of reselling old items, hinting that she had tried to use fake jades to confuse people, or perhaps even illegally purchasing similar jade materials to cover the holes. Gu Tingzhou’s words fell like a hammer, solidifying that the Seed Jade did not belong to the Su family, and exposing Su Yao’s shrewd, dark motives.

Su Yao froze completely. Her face turned grey, stripped of all power to argue back. The last gleam of ferocity in her eyes vanished, replaced by deep fear and despair.

With the Seed Jade’s mournful cry and Gu Tingzhou’s verdict, the atmosphere of the family assembly dropped to freezing. Su Miao had cleared her name in front of everyone. She stood tall, her eyes clear and resilient, radiating a composed calm that had weathered the storm. Su Yao’s face was in ruins. Surrounded by complex gazes, she retreated messily to the side, her back hunched, looking as if she had aged years in a heartbeat.

Seeing this, the sharpness in Lin Feng’s eyes intensified. He threw out a higher price to buy the Anomalous Flower materials Su Miao produced. This move wasn’t just an endorsement of Su Miao’s status; it was a fatal blow to Su Yao. The situation had completely reversed. Su Miao was no longer the sacrificial pawn anyone could bully; she was the cultivator holding rare treasures in her hands.

The elders all cast approving or scrutinizing glances at her. Maid Wang, in the crowd, let out a soft sigh, her eyes full of relief and pain.

Night finally fell, and the clamor dispersed. Su Miao walked back to the side courtyard alone. The moonlight was cold, spilling across the blue stone slabs. Maid Wang was waiting in the corner of the corridor, her expression tense and complex. She hurried to Su Miao, shoving a yellowed old letter into her hand. Her eyes were full of worry, and her fingers trembled slightly from tension.

Su Miao took the letter. The texture was rough, carrying the musty scent of age. The moment she touched the paper, her Spirit Plant Ring emitted a strange warmth. It felt like some life force within the letter was awakening. That warmth spread up her arm to her heart, driving away the chill of the night wind.

Maid Wang lowered her voice, speaking quickly. “Young Master, this is from the Madam... this is what the Madam left behind back then.”

Su Miao’s fingers trembled. She looked at the letter and asked softly, “What secret does this letter hold?”

Maid Wang took a deep breath, looking at the pitch-black night sky in the distance. “It’s about your origins, and the true source of that Seed Jade.”