A belated cold gripped the early morning air on the hill behind the Wei family manor. If the wind moaning through the valley had a color, it would be ash gray. The people of the Wei family, who once had ruled the county, now lay silent beneath the soil, under seeds that would not sprout until the coming year.
The night had been spent carrying and burying the dead. Yixian, the Chief Steward, the few surviving servants, and Zhongshan with the
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