Stone Fairy!

"Brother is right," Xie Qi immediately replied, his tone sincere. "With the patriarch in a coma, the clan cannot be without a leader for even a day."

"Although my niece is intelligent, she is still young and a girl, so there are many things she may not be able to do."

Someone nodded in agreement: "Yes, niece should still focus on her spiritual practice."

"Let us elders handle these household chores."

"Once the head of the family recovers, we will naturally return the power to him."

"That's exactly right." Xie Cheng tapped his folding fan against his palm.

"Don't worry, niece. With us uncles and elders around, the Xie family won't be in chaos."

"My niece is still young; how could she possibly understand things like managing a family or governing a city?"

"It's best for girls not to get involved in these mundane matters."

"Once the head of the family wakes up, everything will proceed as usual."

The sounds rose and fell, surging in like a tide.

Every sentence is cloaked in the guise of "for your own good," but every word carries the implication that "you are not good enough."

They laughed, talked, and advised, as if they were coaxing a naive child.

Xie Ning sat in the chair without saying a word, her hands on her knees, her knuckles turning white little by little.

Xie Ning looked at everyone; every face was so familiar, yet so unfamiliar.

She remembered when she was little, Xie Zong would carry her to the temple fair, buy her candied hawthorns, and hold her up to look at the lanterns. Xie Qi taught her to play chess, and when she lost, she would cheat, but Xie Qi would always laugh and let her win. When Xie Cheng came back from out of town, he would always bring her some novel little gadgets. Once, he even brought back a parrot that could talk, and she was happy for several days.

Back then, they were genuinely good to her.

Or was it because she was Xie Tian's daughter that she was favored back then?

That's enough.

Xie Ning's voice wasn't loud, but it was chillingly cold.

The sounds inside the hall did not stop.

"I said—" Xie Ning suddenly stood up and shouted, "Shut up!"

A surge of immense power erupted from her body, like a volcanic eruption or a raging torrent crashing against the shore. The power was intense and domineering, carrying the oppressive aura unique to cultivators, instantly engulfing the entire main hall.

The teacups on the table jingled loudly, and some even slipped off the table and shattered on the floor.

The wisps of smoke from the incense burner were dispersed, replaced by a scorching heat that made it hard to breathe.

The hall finally fell silent.

Everyone fell silent, their fake smiles frozen on their faces, their prepared words stuck in their throats. They looked at Xie Ning with surprise, unease, and a hint of... fear in their eyes.

Xie Ning slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping coldly over everyone present.

Her back was ramrod straight, like a sword drawn from its sheath.

Xie Ning's face was cold and stern. His usually dark and bright eyes were now like ice, devoid of any warmth.

"What?" Xie Ning's voice wasn't loud, but each word struck a chord in everyone's heart.

"The Xie family can't function without my father for now?"

"Yunmei City is temporarily without a city lord and cannot function properly?"

Her gaze swept from Xie Zong to Xie Qi, then to Xie Cheng, and then over the heads of the collateral branches and the elders of the clan, leaving no one out.

"If that's the case, what use are you all?!"

Xie Ning's voice suddenly rose, carrying a pent-up anger that had been suppressed for too long, and crashed down heavily.

"As the core of my Xie family, I have been running this business for so many years."

"In the past, when my father went to the capital to report on his duties, he would stay for two or three months at a time. Why don't we see so many things happening here?"

The hall was completely silent.

No one dared to speak.

Xie Ning's aura pressed down on the entire main hall. The elders of the clan, who were usually pampered, felt as if a huge stone was pressing on their chests, making it difficult for them to breathe.

Several of the older men had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

Just then, a discordant voice rang out.

"Xie Ning!"

A young man in brocade robes stood up from the seat behind Xie Cheng, pointed at Xie Ning, and looked resentful.

He was in his early twenties, with a decent appearance, but his eyes were frivolous and his lips held a hint of arrogance that came from years of pampered life.

Wearing a bright red brocade robe embroidered with large flowers, and a gold-woven belt around her waist, she exuded an air of arrogance from head to toe.

It was Xie Bicheng, the son of Xie Cheng from the fifth branch of the family.

"What kind of attitude is that?" Xie Bicheng asked, his neck stiff and his voice sharp and shrill.

"Aren't all of you your elders here? How can you talk to your elders like that?"

Xie Ning turned her gaze and it fell on him.

Xie Ning didn't speak immediately, but looked at him, sizing him up and down with a cold gaze.

Xie Bicheng felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, but he still forced himself to straighten his chest.

Xie Ning finally spoke.

"Xie Bicheng." Her voice was calm.

"Do I need a good-for-nothing like you to teach me how to speak?"

Xie Bicheng's face flushed red instantly.

"you!"

"All you do all day is tease cats and dogs, and chase after women." Xie Ning didn't give him a chance to speak; her voice was unhurried, yet like a dull knife.

"I asked you to learn martial arts, but you only study sporadically; I asked you to study, but you can't even memorize a single scripture."

Xie Ning's voice suddenly turned cold.

"It has consumed a huge amount of resources from my Xie family, and we have consumed countless medicinal herbs and rare blood and flesh, but we still haven't made any progress."

Xie Bicheng's face turned from red to purple, then from purple to white. His lips trembled, and he wanted to refute but didn't know what to say.

"I'd like to ask you something," Xie Ning said, tilting her head slightly, her gaze as cold as frost.

"Don't you have any semblance of being a member of the Xie family?"

"And what right do you have to stand here?!"

Xie Bicheng froze completely.

The air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Xie Ning shifted her gaze from Xie Bicheng to Xie Cheng. Her tone softened slightly, but the coldness remained.

"Fifth Uncle, perhaps you should discipline your good son properly."

Xie Cheng's face was extremely ugly. The folding fan in his hand had been closed at some point and was now clenched tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

He glared fiercely at Xie Bicheng, his voice low and strained, as if squeezed out from between his teeth: "Come here."

Xie Bicheng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when he met Xie Cheng's almost murderous gaze, he shrank back and slunk back down.

Xie Ning withdrew his gaze and scanned the people in the hall once more.

Those faces that were once kind and gentle to her now all seem to be wearing masks. Beneath those masks lies greed, scheming, and ugly faces.

She didn't know when she started to become like this, maybe she had always been like this, but before, with her father around, she wore those masks very well and steadily, without revealing any flaws.

Xie Ning took a deep breath and suppressed the surging emotions.

Xie Ning slowly stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress with unhurried movements, and then raised her head.

"The Xie family is still the Xie family, everything remains the same."

Her voice wasn't loud, but every word she spoke was firm and resounding.

"If any elder has any objections, they can discuss it with me privately."

After speaking, she didn't look at anyone again, turned around and walked out of the hall. Her steps were steady, her back straight, and her blue dress drew a neat arc in the morning light.

The middle-aged man in the dark green robe behind Xie Ning silently followed, his pace neither hurried nor slow, always maintaining a distance of three steps.

The hall doors were wide open, and the morning light poured in, bathing Xie Ning's silhouette in a golden glow.

Xie Ning's shadow was stretched very long, cast on the bluestone ground like a drawn sword, straight and sharp.

A long silence followed in the main hall.

The group looked at each other, and no one spoke first.

Just now, they were actually stunned by a little girl.

However, they can't be blamed for this.

Although Xie Ning is not very old, she is the most talented person in the Xie family in the past hundred years.

He is a dual practitioner of martial arts and Taoism, with exceptional talent. He entered the martial arts world at the age of twelve and obtained the true essence of Taoism. Now, at only fifteen or sixteen years old, his vital energy and blood strength have already surpassed that of all the core members of the Xie family present.

When she unleashed her power just now, the oppressive aura she exuded was indeed somewhat overwhelming for them.

The most important thing is that many people in key positions support Xie Ning.

"cough."

Xie Zong coughed lightly, breaking the silence. He turned his gaze to Xie Qi beside him and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear him.

"Is everything arranged?"

Xie Qi picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and found the tea had already cooled down.

He put down his teacup, gently stirred the foam with the lid, his lips twitched slightly, and his voice remained very low.

"Soon."

Xie Zong didn't speak again, but instead turned his gaze to the plaque above the main hall that read "Dunmutang".

The three large characters outlined in gold gleamed in the morning light, solemn and dignified, just as they had always been.

A morning breeze blew in from outside the hall, causing the smoke from the incense burner to drift crookedly and fill the hall.