The fallout from the Horizon Dynamics debacle was swift. Yun Zhong's standing within the Yun family plummeted. The Patriarch, Yun Zhi, saw the failed venture as a sign of his son's poor judgment.
In a shocking move, Ye Xia received another formal letter from the Yun family. This time, it was not a summons, but an invitation. And it was not from Yun Zhong, but from the first son, Yun Ming.
The letter was brief and to the point. Yun Ming, citing poor health, wished to meet Ye Xia to discuss a "potential alliance." He believed that the family's infighting was a weakness and that her "unique talents" could be harnessed for the benefit of the entire Yun lineage, on her own terms.
It was a stunning reversal. The sickly, overlooked first son was making a power play, and he was inviting the family's black sheep to be his ally.
Ye Xia was suspicious. It could be a trap orchestrated by Yun Zhong. But Silas's intelligence suggested otherwise. Yun Ming had always been at odds with his ambitious brother. He was a scholar, not a warrior, but he was known to be deeply intelligent.
"What is your assessment?" Ye Xia asked Silas.
"Yun Ming is the unknown variable," Silas said. "He has no power base within the family, but he has the moral authority of being the firstborn. An alliance with him could legitimize your position without requiring your submission."
It was a tantalizing prospect. Instead of destroying the Yun family, she could co-opt it from within, with Yun Ming as a figurehead.
She decided to meet him. The location was neutral: a private sanatorium in the Swiss Alps.
Yun Ming was even frailer in person than he had seemed in Singapore. He was connected to an IV drip, but his eyes were sharp and clear.
"Cousin," he said, his voice weak but precise. "Thank you for coming. I will be direct. My brother is a bull. He charges forward, destroying everything in his path, including himself. My father is an old lion, clinging to a pride that is already fracturing. The Yun family needs a new direction. A smarter direction."
"And you think I can provide that?" Ye Xia asked.
"I think you are the catalyst," he said. "You have the strength my brother lacks and the vision my father has lost. I have no interest in running the business empire. But I have a vested interest in it not collapsing. Help me ensure a stable transition of power, and I will grant you the legitimacy you seek. You can have the freedom you want, with the backing of the Yun name."
It was a bold offer. It would mean a ceasefire in her war with the Yuns. It would allow her to focus on building her own empire without looking over her shoulder.
"I will consider it," Ye Xia said. It was not a no.
As she left the sanatorium, she felt the landscape of her future shifting once again. The path of total destruction was no longer the only path. There was a way to win without burning everything to the ground.