The banquet continued behind her like a distant storm—music, chatter, and glittering masks. But Feng Xiao Xiao had stepped away from it all, heart quietly aching beneath her calm exterior.
She slipped into the quiet garden terrace behind the hall—moonlight pouring down on pale stone, lanterns swaying in the breeze.
There, by the koi pond, was her little brother.
Feng Lin.
Barely ten, dressed in a small tuxedo, sitting with his legs folded, watching the fish with innocent wonder. He looked up when he heard her steps—and smiled so brightly it melted something in her chest.
"Jie Jie!"
She knelt and pulled him into her arms.
"Were you bored?" she asked softly, smoothing his soft hair.
He shook his head, resting against her shoulder. "I just wanted to see the stars."
She didn't answer right away.
In her last life, this boy—this sweet, quiet soul—was poisoned. Silently, slowly, with no one to protect him. And she had been too consumed with her own pain to see it.
Not this time.
"I'll always protect you," she whispered into his hair.
"I know," he said. "You're different now. Stronger."
She blinked, heart catching. "You noticed?"
He nodded. "But you still feel like my real sister. Just better."
A warm laugh slipped past her lips.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the far garden path.
She stood, gently placing her brother behind her—only to see Old Master Feng approaching, hands tucked behind his back, dressed in a simple black changshan.
"Grandfather," she said, startled.
He waved her worries away and sat down on a stone bench nearby.
"I saw what happened with your father," he said. "You were right to walk away."
Her throat tightened. "You knew, didn't you? About… everything? About how they treated my mother? And me?"
His eyes were sad, but firm. "I knew more than you think. But I had to wait until you were ready to fight back."
Tears pricked her eyes. "Why didn't you protect me?"
"I did," he said gently. "By ensuring they never took your name. And now, I see... you've returned with a fire I've never seen before."
She sat beside him, voice trembling.
"I don't want to lose either of you again."
"You won't," he said. "As long as you stay true. This world will burn before I let them take you from me."
Under the stars, the three of them sat together—wounds hidden, hearts quiet, but stronger than ever.
The true Feng family—finally whole again.