CHAPTER 689: CHAPTER 620: SECRET KEEPER

During the following week, Yan Yueqing remained in her room, quietly immersed in the Jiang Family history, finally piecing together a general idea.

As a millennia-old family in Hua Country, the Jiang Family has survived numerous dynastic changes without collapse, naturally experiencing several near-calamitous times.

The key to their repeated endurance through crises lies in a unique system—

Each retiring Family Head secretly stores one percent of the family’s assets before stepping down.

The core purpose of this "treasure" is to leave the successor a reserve of capital for the family to rise again should they face obliteration.

Thus, during a normal transition between the old and new Family Heads, this secret is one of the essential pieces of information to be passed down.

However, if the transition between Family Heads is frequent (for example, every few years), it becomes impossible to execute the treasure storage every time—no family can sustain such depletion. Over time, the system adjusted: regardless of Family Head changes, every fifty years a portion of the assets is hidden by the current Family Head.

Another critical issue is: if the Family Head unexpectedly dies, wouldn’t the information about the treasure be lost?

To prevent this, the Family Head preemptively draws a map and leaves a secret message, entrusted to a person of absolute trust for safekeeping; this person is called the "Secret Keeper."

During normal transitions, the Secret Keeper will never disclose their identity; only if the Family Head dies unexpectedly and cannot personally pass the secret will the Secret Keeper appear to reveal it to the new Family Head. When Jiang Yu assumed the Family Head position, Jiang Ke was chosen as the Secret Keeper by her grandmother.

Later, to prevent leaks from the Secret Keeper or the extreme case of both the old Family Head and Secret Keeper meeting mishap simultaneously, the "Elder Council" was gradually introduced as a supervising body.

When first established, the Elder Council had limited power and primarily served a supervisory role.

But three hundred years ago, the Jiang Family faced a near-extinction event; the then Family Head activated the treasure plan, extracting most of the treasures buried in Hua Country to rebuild the Jiang Family.

This extremely confidential mission was executed by members of the Elder Council (due to their small number and relative trustworthiness).

After the mission’s success, due to the urgent need for manpower to rebuild the family and the Elder Council’s contributions, the overworked Family Head granted considerable power to the Elder Council.

Unexpectedly, after the new Family Head took position, the Elder Council refused to return the power!

Since then, the Elder Council has grown enormously, its power structure deeply rooted, continuing to this day for three hundred years with profound influence, difficult to sway.

The entire Jiang Family lasted a millennium.

The Elder Council has existed for three hundred years...

"Alas..." Yan Yueqing couldn’t help but lament, "The initial intention was good, but each step of fortification led to complicating simple matters..."

She rubbed her head, "During a normal transition of old and new Family Heads, wouldn’t directly revealing the treasure location suffice? If worried about unexpected death, wouldn’t informing the new Family Head in advance be more straightforward? Both the new Family Head and Secret Keeper could encounter accidents, but directly telling the successor is better than taking detours and setting up a system of people to supervise the Secret Keeper, isn’t it?"

"Moreover, the Secret Keeper is chosen for their ’discretion,’ adding layers of supervision only adds confusion and risk points. As a result, the creation of an Elder Council ended up splitting the Family Head’s authority..."

Yan Yueqing also noticed—

Around a hundred years ago, when the Jiang Family moved overseas, they had submitted three-quarters of their assets to Hua Country. They nearly discovered all the treasures hidden by several previous Family Heads and took them to the S Continent.

But during the treasure hunt, some Elders disappeared, and the whereabouts of parts of the treasures remain a mystery...

Did they really disappear? Or were they swallowed by those people?

It’s hard to say.

Anyway, after all this time, despite Yan Yueqing’s grandmother’s thirty-year struggle against the Elder Council and her mother Jiang Yu’s twenty-five-year efforts, the impact on the Elder Council is still minimal.

The grandmother’s secret message implied that starting from her mother, across three generations of Family Heads, she intended for the Jiang Family to return to Hua Country.

In truth... it was meant to let the new Family Heads, under the guise of returning to Hua Country, eliminate the Elder Council!

After a century of overseas wandering, the roots are in Hua Country, but in recent years, frequent marriages with Western royal families have resulted in many high-ranking members being foreigners.

Returning to Hua Country means severing their connections abroad.

Such drastic measures are akin to the Jiang Family cutting off a limb, profoundly affecting.

But it must be done!

If this continues... someday the Elder Council might devour the entire Jiang Family?

After reviewing all the materials, Yan Yueqing understood, slowly uttering the word "Delete," causing everything on the large screen to vanish into points of light.

The old paper documents on the desk were also reorganized and assembled by suspended forces, then stacked in sequence into the password box below the desk.

Yan Yueqing walked out of the space filled with historical dust and cold texts, the heavy carved door of the study sliding shut behind her, isolating the secrets of a millennium’s rise and fall.

A week of thorough reading had deeply etched the turmoil of power transitions within the Jiang Family, and her grandmother and mother’s struggles against the Elder Council as a burning brand in her mind.

The weighty sense of mission no longer remained a vague outline but became a clear burning mark searing her heart.

The scene outside caused her to pause her steps.

In sharp contrast with the absolute silence of the study, the entire Yue Que seemed infused with vitality, the air flowing with a carefully prepared clamor.

As soon as she stood still, a middle-aged woman in a simple uniform, a gentle face, swiftly approached, slightly bowing with a hint of barely detectable delight in her respectful tone, "Miss, you’ve emerged. The Family Head instructed that as soon as you reappear, to immediately inform her. She has been waiting for you."

Yan Yueqing recognized her as Aunt Jiang, her mother’s most reliable steward, nodding.

Almost as the words fell, the floating elevator at the corridor’s end silently opened.

Her mother Jiang Yu’s figure appeared within the halo of light.

She had changed out of her usual neat Family Head attire into a moon-white traditional Hua Country modified gown, outlining her still upright posture. The silk fabric embroidered with delicate scrolling lotus patterns in matching silver threads flowed with understated brilliance under the simulated soft starlight on the dome.

The sharpness unique to the Family Head within her brows was purposely softened by the gentle moment, as she quickly approached Yan Yueqing, taking her hand.

"Xiaoxing," Jiang Yu’s voice carried a subtle but palpable fatigue, but more of it was the comfort of seeing her daughter, "How do you feel?"

Her gaze calmly swept over her daughter’s face, seemingly trying to read how much of the heavy past she had digested beneath the calm expression.

Yan Yueqing clasped her mother’s slightly cool hand back, softly saying, "Mom, I know everything now. Grandmother’s diligent efforts... and your perseverance."

Jiang Yu’s hand tightened slightly imperceptibly, a flicker of complex emotion flashing in her eyes, containing solace and deeper concerns.

"As long as you understand. The road ahead is long." She gently patted her daughter’s hand, "For now, focus on the present. The family... has prepared a homecoming banquet for you."

"Homecoming banquet?" Yan Yueqing was slightly startled.

She had just extracted herself from the vast, heavy history, so suddenly hearing this term, it felt almost otherworldly.

"Yes," Jiang Yu’s tone carrying a hint of unquestionable authority, "You officially return home; there must be a ceremony. It allows everyone to meet you. It’s getting late; go change into a gown. Sister Jiang, bring the young miss to ’Xingxuan Pavilion.’