Fang Yuan's gaze shifted, sharpening like drawn steel as it landed on the shadows near the courtyard gate.
"Focus on that while I entertain the elders who've been waiting."
Two distinct, slightly embarrassed coughs shattered the charged silence.
Elder Joshua and elder Chen stepped fully into the sunlight, their faces etched with a mixture of residual awe from the lesson and acute discomfort at their intrusion.
They had been statues in the archway, utterly absorbed, the urgency of their mission momentarily forgotten in the face of Fang Yuan's revelation.
Fang Yuan beckoned them forward with a subtle tilt of his chin.
The gravel crunched under their boots as they approached, the air still humming faintly with the dissipating echoes of golden qi.
Fang Yuan didn't waste words.
His eyes, scanned their grave expressions.
"Is it the royal family?" he asked, his voice low.
Fang Chen shook his head, a single, tight movement.
