CHAPTER 748: CHAPTER 748: MOTHER SEES A MAN IN HER DAUGHTER’S ROOM?

Once more alone in the room, Yu Meilin could not help but think about the words the elders left her with.

Her fingers curled slightly over the armrest of her chair.

"They think I’ll hand over my daughter for status?" She murmured, her voice cold now.

"They think I’m blind to their selfishness?"

Her expression hardened.

"Yu Ming is not a tool to be traded. I don’t care what name he carries. No one decides her fate but me."

The light from the lanterns in the sky danced across her features.

Her face was sculpted and regal, with high cheekbones and a straight nose that spoke of noble blood.

Her skin was smooth, pale as porcelain, with a faint, natural glow that came from decades of refined cultivation.

A soft crease rested between her brows—not from age, but from the heavy thoughts she carried daily.

Her green eyes, usually sharp and unreadable like jade under ice, now held a rare flicker of something gentler. Not weakness—never that—but warmth.

The kind only a mother could have for her child, even if she had forgotten how to show it.

The moon had begun to rise, casting silvery light across the elegant courtyards of the Yu Family Estate. As quiet as a drifting cloud, Yu Meilin stepped out of the Silver Comet Hall and into the open night.

The air was cooler now, scented with blooming night-lilies and faint traces of alchemical smoke drifting in from the garden alcoves.

She glanced at the beautiful rays of the moon shining on the distant buildings in the sky before it even appeared in the sky and started walking in the direction of the nearest courtyard.

Behind the hall, this one was far more modest than the one she had, but it was the one she cherished the most, even if no one knew, because her daughter lived in this courtyard.

Yu Ming’s courtyard was simple, yet serene.

No towering formations or grand jade statues decorated its perimeter, but it had a natural harmony to it—pearl-colored stones lining the path, a small koi pond that sparkled under starlight, and a carefully pruned moon peach tree that stood just outside the room’s window, its leaves glowing faintly.

A faint glow of spirit fire flickered behind the curtains of Yu Ming’s room. The usual sight.

Yu Meilin’s steps were slow and soundless as she reached the familiar door.

She raised her hand, about to knock—

But paused.

A laugh drifted from within. A soft, warm sound that froze her hand in midair.

It was her daughter’s voice.

Yu Meilin frowned slightly.

It wasn’t the manic, delighted cackle Yu Ming gave when another cauldron exploded.

No... this laugh was gentle. Joyful. Real.

For some reason, the laughter made her recall Yu Ming’s childhood. When she was not even a teenager.

How she would run around their courtyard with the same laughter.

She had heard that kind of laughter only a few times. One of the times was when Yu Ming had been just a child, giggling under the summer rain, running through the gardens with wildflowers braided in her hair.

The warm, unrestrained laughter of her innocent child.

Her chest tightened slightly.

She felt guilty for taking away that laughter and blamed herself.

But just as she could delve into all the self-blame, she heard another thing.

A voice.

"I recall you chasing down Manager Ma Ning for that."

A male voice.

Deep. Calm. Playful.

It wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough for her to catch its warmth as it replied to Yu Ming with a teasing remark.

Yu Meilin’s heart skipped.

She reached out instinctively with her soul sense—but froze.

She could sense her daughter, but she could not sense the person she was talking to.

Impossible!

Despite how young she appeared, she was a woman in the Budding Soul Realm—the Embryonic Soul Realm.

Only high-level isolation arrays or artifacts of incredible rarity could hide someone from a cultivator at her level—and her daughter didn’t have access to such things.

Panic flared in her chest, but she suppressed it with practiced control. Her expression remained calm as always, but her fingers twitched once before she pushed open the door.

The wooden door slid open with barely a sound.

What she saw made her stop cold.

The room was bathed in soft candlelight. A faint sweet scent lingered in the air—charred herbs and honeyed tea. The cauldron was resting unused in the corner, cold and clean.

The four-foot-tall Yu Ming sat cross-legged on a thick cushion, her posture relaxed, long purple hair slightly tousled, cheeks faintly flushed from laughter.

Opposite her sat a young man who seemed a little older than her daughter but younger than her.

From the air around them, she felt they were oddly familiar with each other, closer than she had seen her daughter with anyone.

Before she could proceed, her eyes caught another person in the room.

Two women.

One older- and one younger-looking woman sat beside the man.

Yu Meilin felt that she and that older woman were similar in age, and for some inexplicable reason she also felt a sense of similarity with her. As for the younger woman, she appeared to be out of place and sat quietly on the side.

The noise of opening the door caught their attention as they all turned to look at the woman.

Yu Ming jumped up from the ground, panicked upon seeing her mother standing at the doorway.

Yu Ming jumped up from the ground, visibly startled, her voice catching as she called out, "Mother—!"

There was a flash of panic in her eyes, the kind that only came when caught off-guard by someone you deeply respected—and feared.

Yu Meilin’s voice remained calm, but her eyes sharpened. "I knocked."

Yu Ming flushed slightly, rubbing her arm. "I didn’t hear it. Sorry."

Her mind whirled, already grasping for an explanation, something she could say to defuse what she knew was coming. But before she could speak—

The young man stood, his expression calm and unhurried, as if he had expected this moment.

With the poise of someone not easily intimidated, he stepped forward and offered a slight bow, his eyes respectful but not submissive.

"My name is Noah," he said, voice even, with the quiet confidence of a calm sea hiding unfathomable depths. "Apologies for the surprise. We decided to drop by and visit Yu Ming without any invitation. This is my partner, Xin Yan, and that is Wen Ji, our traveling companion."