As the matter of visiting the palace was not a decision that could be made alone by a Noble Consort, Liu Guiya took her leave after dinner and promised to send news by pigeon soon. Anji and Yihao bade her goodbye as Hong Nian Niang escorted her guest off.

With the three siblings finally left alone, Mingshen turned to Anji immediately.

"How bad is the real situation?" he asked. "You can tell me. We don’t have to let Father know in my reports. Is the capital city already too deep in their clutches?"

Yihao listened closely. He might not understand the whole war situation, as he had only emerged from isolated training lately. However, the enemy must be very crafty and powerful if even his foxy older brother was concerned.

Anji nodded with a deep frown.

"I noticed it when I first arrived. It was subtle but everywhere. I suspect there are many more in circulation in places we don’t know about. Thankfully, it’s not difficult to identify them, although collecting them might be tough."

Shaking his head, Mingshen took Anji’s hands in his and lowered himself so that they were eye to eye.

"We cannot fight an enemy we cannot see. I know it’s inappropriate to ask this as your brother. But can I request a favour from the Mystical Qilin Sect to help us identify them? Leave the collecting to us."

Unlike others, Zhao Mingshen truly understood the boundaries of favour. Anji liked how he was considerate of her position despite the situation. In truth, it would put him at a disadvantageous position if he respected her as the heiress of the Mystical Qilin Sect instead of using his status as an older brother seeking a favour.

"Replying to you as the successor of the Mystical Qilin Sect, Ci Wang sees no reason to reject the favour. It is our duty to punish one of our traitors. This is my job. I can only trouble the rest of the Rainbow Alliance to clean up after our mess. It would be in our debt if you could limit the damages on commonfolk by gathering the cursed objects for us."

Unlike his smarter siblings, Yihao blinked in confusion. Why were they speaking like this? There were no adults left in the room.

"Why are both of you talking like adults?" he asked. "Who is Ci Wang?"

For a moment, nobody spoke. Anji blinked, and even Mingshen stilled. However, as if the tension was unfrozen, they both started laughing, much to Yihao’s confusion.

"Anji’s courtesy name at the Mystical Qilin Sect is Ci Wang," Mingshen explained in between laughter, tears in his eyes.

Likewise, Anji felt relieved. She thought things would change with the passing of time. However, there were some things that would never change, like the will of heaven. Yihao was one of those unchanging things, and she could not ask for a better older brother who would constantly remind her that she was still his baby sister, no matter how old they became.

Even after the explanation, Yihao remained baffled. Were they laughing at him? If it were him from before, he would have grabbed his older brother by the throat and shaken him by the collar. However, Bai Dajin made sure to pound into his brain that he should only use violence on evil and not for petty reasons. Hence, he held himself back with a huff.

"Thank you," Anji smiled after getting the giggles out of her system.

Puffing his chest out and forgetting about the earlier laughter, Yihao grinned and patted Anji on the head.

"There’s no need for thanks," he told her. "We’re family."

Family... that’s right. That was the difference between Anji and her life previously as Bi Yao. She now had a family in this life and was not alone.

In all of the memories and records of the sages’ memory crystals, Anji realised family was always absent. If they were present, it would have been dysfunctional. Even Bi Yao and Yan Ping did not have real kin of the same blood to call their own. They might have found family in the Mystical Qilin Sect and Lady Mang Yuan, but it was still different from the Celestial Dragon Zhao family that Anji had.

Unlike found family, Anji’s family had seen her since birth and knew her every flaw. Yet, they showered her with love without expecting anything in return. There was no need to pretend who she was not or be on her best behaviour or work hard to maintain trust. It had already been given to her from the very beginning, and there was nothing that she could do to disappoint them.

Not even if she had to keep secrets from them.

"Is it alright not to ask me how I know these things?" Anji looked at her older brothers. They would have known by now just how different she was from when she was a six-year-old.

Yihao raised a brow.

"You learned it from studying very hard in the last few years, no? I heard that they drown you in ink and paper at the Mystical Qilin Sect and make you recite lines without sleep, feeding you only bitter medicine to tamper with your mind and spirit. It’s why all the Mystical Qilin Sect spellcasters know everything. Without them, the war, full of muscled brains like mine, would be doomed."

For once, Mingshen passed on the opportunity to poke at the bear when Yihao casually slapped himself in the face with his words. Flaunting one’s stupidity was nothing to brag about. However, he agreed with the sentiment. Nothing changed. Anji had always been a smart child, even when she was younger, merely limited by her physical abilities. Now that she was well, it was only natural that her genius shone. No paper can hide a flame forever. Their parents must also know just how capable Anji was. It was how they grew to become so overly protective.

"We still love you the same way we do from before, if not more," Mingshen pinched her cheek lightly. "It doesn’t matter if you’ve grown cheekier, smarter, duller, shorter, taller, fatter, crazier, rebellious or secretive. We are still your brothers at the end of the day, and you are our sister. As long as your heart remains unchanging and continues to see us as your family, nothing you do will surprise us. We won’t pry for the things you cannot say. The Mystical Qilin Sect’s oaths and secrets should not be taken lightly, and we would never put you on the spot demanding to know them."

However, the next thing Mingshen said surprised Anji.

"But that does not mean you have the right to shoulder everything by yourself and be reckless. Even if you think of us as incapable, share some of that burden anyway. We might not be of much help, but we can be your accomplice, unlike our esteemed parents. Neither Yihao nor I have decided to pursue the righteous and heroic path like our older sister. It’s ok to be a little eccentric with us."

Speechless, Anji wondered if her brothers were trying to become bad influences on her. Then again, they were never the good influences in her life, even when she was younger. It would always be her brothers sneaking her out to play when she was bed-bound, and they would end up getting punished whenever her illness rebounded twice as badly because of it.

"Are you sure it’s fine to plot rebellion?" Anji blinked. "If father and mother or even our older sister knew, neither of you would get away with writing lines and spanking."

At that, Yihao tutted and shook his head.

"Anji, you’re still too young. Why would we be punished now that we’re older? As long as none of us snitches, how would anybody know? Besides, there are no adults around us now."

Mingshen wisely kept his mouth shut. There was a reason why Lizi and Gu Ying were sent to accompany them. Although the maid and bodyguard were very loyal to Anji, they were still adults with an old-fashioned mindset. He could interrupt the relay of information as an informant guild master. However, Hong Nian Niang was equally skilled as a veteran of this industry. If she deemed it too reckless, not even he could save his siblings from her protective wrath.