Tasting the Grandmaster

*An hour earlier*

Raking his fingers through his hair, Han Xuelian groaned from exhaustion. The flame on the lit candle beside his workspace flickered, making him frown as though it was an omen cautioning him.

Scanning through the contents of the reports Han Yijun delivered to him before, the Grandmaster rubbed his chin.

"An unspoken feud between the Chi and Shan Clans?" Han Xuelian read aloud, tapping his finger on the desk. "Their jurisdictions are different sections of the Empire so it can't be a rivalry… did something occur in the last seventeen years?"

Switching the pages between his hands, he carefully read further to gather more information. One of the reports recorded a history of rivalry between Shan Liying and Chi Weiran.