"Father, are we really going to leave the family?"
Inside the carriage, Xia Changsheng sat beside her mother, looking across at Xia Shangwen with a face full of worry and reluctance.
Although she was only a mortal, she was well aware of the escalating internal conflicts within the family since the patriarch's death, as well as the predatory gazes of the other three families and six clans and the deliberate suppression from the royal court.
But she couldn't accept it.
Once, her family was a source of pride. Now, watching it teeter on the brink of collapse, she was overwhelmed by an unbearable sense of helplessness.
It was especially painful to see the uncles and siblings she once shared close bonds with now embroiled in internal strife. The feeling was like a heavy stone pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
