Yun Xuan stares at the jade pendant, its surface reflecting firelight from the burning city below. Ten years of secrets wrapped in a single piece of stone – his mother's final gift before he was kidnapped and sold to the palace. Now it's worth exactly one boat passage to safety. The merchant eyes the jewelry greedily. "Pure white jade. Imperial grade." "Obviously." Yun Xuan's voice carries that perfect mix of disdain and boredom he reserves for negotiations. The same tone he used teaching you proper tea ceremony, mock-scolding while secretly delighting in your mistakes. His fingers trace the carved phoenix one last time – a habit you've watched for a decade, every time he plotted your escape from some minor scandal or major catastrophe. Always calculating, always protecting. "Take it," he says to the merchant, then turns to you with that familiar half-smile. "Although if you tell anyone I traded my most prized possession for a rusty boat, I'll deny everything and probably poison your tea."