Chapter 11: The Weight of Priorities

A Curse That Won't Break

Liang Xinyi sat across from Elder Liang Zhen, her back straight, her hands resting lightly on the desk—but her mind was already moving ahead of the conversation.

She had expected him to confirm what she already knew. That three collapses in two weeks weren't a coincidence. That something was happening.

What she didn't expect was the resigned look in his eyes when he admitted:

"There is no solution, child."

Her fingers tensed for just a fraction of a second.

No solution?

"We've searched," Liang Zhen continued. "Your father. His father before him. Every generation has tried, some more desperately than others. Your father… he tried harder than most."

Xinyi exhaled slowly, keeping her expression neutral at the mention of her father.

She had heard the whispers growing up. The failed attempt. The disgrace.

Trying to undo a two-hundred-year-old curse wasn't a simple thing.

But wasn't that exactly why she needed to be the one to break it?

"Then we search again," she said evenly, as if it were a business strategy rather than a supernatural affliction passed through bloodlines.

Liang Zhen studied her for a long moment before giving a small, tired chuckle.

"You remind me of your father."

Xinyi's stomach twisted at that. She knew he meant it as a compliment, but that wasn't how it landed.

Her father had been brilliant. Resilient. And yet, in the end, he had lost.

She wouldn't.

But even as the resolve settled in her bones, logic cut through her emotions.

There was no lead.

Not yet.

And chasing something she couldn't yet grasp would only leave everything else vulnerable.

Including her position on the board.

Jianyu.

She pushed aside the ache of wanting to throw everything into solving the curse and instead focused on what she could control.

One thing at a time.

...

The Report: A Pattern Without a Cause

By the time Mei, Zhao Rui, and her assistants gathered in the conference room, Xinyi had already shifted gears.

The curse would wait.

But Jianyu's ambitions wouldn't.

Mei started first. "The PR team is monitoring the media cycles. No major leaks. The signing ceremony is expected to have a full turnout, but some investors have requested reassurances about the recent collapses."

Xinyi nodded. Expected.

Then, Zhao Rui cleared her throat, flipping through her notes. This was what Xinyi wanted to hear most.

"I've been going through all the interviews, the medical reports, even the smallest personal details," Zhao Rui began, tone meticulous as always. "And I've found some commonalities."

Xinyi leaned forward slightly. "Go on."

Zhao Rui listed them off, measured, methodical.

✔ All workers collapsed during their regular shift, never outside working hours.

✔ No history of illness, no preexisting medical conditions.

✔ Each collapse happened in a high-density work zone, where multiple people were present.

✔ Each worker reported feeling 'strange' right before collapsing, but none could describe it clearly.

"But there's no direct cause?" Xinyi pressed.

Zhao Rui shook her head. "Nothing conclusive. No toxins in the air, no signs of fatigue or malnutrition. Even the workers' stress levels weren't abnormal."

Xinyi exhaled slowly. A pattern—but no answer.

And patterns without answers were worse than coincidences.

Zhao Rui hesitated briefly before adding, "However, some of the people around the collapsed workers described certain signs they noticed before the incidents."

Xinyi's gaze sharpened. "What kind of signs?"

"Subtle things. A slight loss of balance. A hesitation mid-task. A moment of confusion before they fell. Some mentioned that the workers seemed to be looking at something—but there was nothing there."

Xinyi's pulse ticked up slightly.

"Hallucinations?"

"No one actually reported seeing anything directly. But their behavior—it's like they were reacting to something invisible." Zhao Rui tapped her pen against the folder. "This is still something we need to dive further into, but it's worth noting."

Xinyi's nails pressed lightly against the smooth surface of the table. A new thread. But not enough.

Not yet.

"And there's one more thing," Zhao Rui continued. "Some workers said they had a strange feeling that things were running… too smoothly."

Xinyi arched a brow. "Too smoothly?"

Zhao Rui nodded. "Everything was functioning perfectly—machines calibrated with no issues, workflow uninterrupted, production rate higher than usual. But no one could explain why it felt unnatural. They just knew."

Mei frowned slightly. "That's not something we can measure."

"No," Xinyi agreed. "But it's something we can't ignore."

She let the silence settle for a moment, then finally exhaled.

"We need more data. Right now, we have strange symptoms, but no leads."

She sat back, crossing one leg over the other. "This is something we dive into further. But for now? We focus on what we can handle."

The conversation shifted.

...

A New Strategy

Mei cleared her throat. "And the board?"

Xinyi exhaled. "Jianyu is using the collapses as leverage. He wants votes to turn against me."

One of her secretaries shifted uncomfortably. "Would you like us to arrange—"

"No," Xinyi interrupted smoothly. "I'll handle him myself."

She saw it then—the brief hesitation in the eyes of her assistants.

And suddenly, it hit her.

She had been relying too much on intermediaries.

She had been managing from a safe distance—letting her people filter information, handling things before they even reached her desk.

It was efficient.

But it also meant she had been watching the war from a tower instead of standing in the battlefield.

Jianyu wasn't playing safe.

He was moving pieces directly—stirring the board, getting into people's ears, twisting facts before they could be corrected.

And Xinyi? She had been reacting instead of initiating.

Her jaw tightened. That ended today.

She folded her hands on the table, her voice sharp, decisive.

"I've let too many things be handled through intermediaries," she admitted. "That ends now."

Mei stiffened slightly but gave a short nod. She had likely seen it too but had been waiting for Xinyi to acknowledge it herself.

"Tomorrow's signing ceremony," Xinyi continued. "Jianyu will be there."

Mei frowned. "We could limit his influence—"

"No," Xinyi cut in. "We expose him."

The room went silent.

Zhao Rui narrowed her eyes, already piecing together the move. "You mean… force him to show his hand?"

Xinyi's lips curved slightly.

"We let him talk," she murmured. "Let him plant doubt. And then, we dismantle him in front of our investors."

The shift in the air was immediate. The room came alive.

No longer defensive.

No longer just reacting.

They were going to dictate the game.

Xinyi stood. "Focus on tomorrow," she said. "The curse will still be here when the signing is done. But Jianyu's credibility won't be."

Her assistants nodded, understanding clear in their eyes.

One thing at a time.

Tomorrow, she crushed Jianyu.

After that?

She would come for the curse.