Humiliated and enraged by the encounter, Evangeline was a problem for another day. Ye Xia had a more immediate task: purifying the Yun family's well and identifying the traitor.
Using the system's funds, she acquired rare purifying agents from the black market—ingredients mentioned in the ancient texts she'd studied. Under the guise of a "feng shui adjustment" approved by Yun Ming, she conducted a ritual at the well. She mixed the agents with water, chanting the purification verses she'd learned from Grandma Wen, and channeled her own pure, system-generated Kai into the contaminated water.
It was a massive expenditure of energy. She felt the vile poison resisting, fighting back like a living thing. Sweat poured down her face as she pushed harder, her Kai flaring brightly in the dark courtyard. Finally, with a sound like a sigh, the corrupt energy dissipated. The water in the well shimmered, now radiating a clean, vibrant energy.
The next morning, the junior disciples who drank from the well reported feeling clearer-headed and their Kai circulation smoother. The sabotage had been reversed.
Now, she had to find the traitor. Yun Zhong's hint about an alchemical poison pointed to an outsider. She had Silas dig into recent financial transactions of all senior Yun family members. The trail led to a cousin, a bitter man named Yun Tao who had been passed over for promotion within the family business. He had recently received a series of large, untraceable payments from a shell corporation that Silas eventually linked to the Leng family.
Ye Xia presented her findings to Yun Zhi and Yun Ming in the Patriarch's study. Yun Zhong was also present, a smug expression on his face.
Yun Tao was summoned. When confronted with the evidence, he broke down immediately, confessing that the Leng family had promised him control of the subsidiary if he helped weaken the family's younger generation.
The Patriarch was devastated. The betrayal from within was a deeper wound than any external attack. Yun Tao was disgraced and exiled from the family, his name struck from the records.
After the grim affair was concluded, Yun Ming looked at Ye Xia, his eyes filled with a new respect. "You have done the family a great service. You have purged a poison and exposed a traitor. You have more than proven your loyalty and your value."
Yun Zhi, looking older and wearier, nodded. "It is decided. You will be formally recognized as a daughter of the Yun family. You will have the protection of our name, and the resources you need to grow. In return, you will stand with us against our enemies."
It was the alliance she had sought. She had a family, a foundation. But as she looked at the relieved face of Yun Ming and the calculating eyes of Yun Zhong, she knew the battle was far from over. She had secured her position, but she had also made a powerful enemy in the Leng family. And the shadow of Evangeline de Winter and the Mo matriarch still loomed large.
She was no longer an outsider. She was a player in the deadly game of the ancient clans. And the game was about to get much more personal.