The family converts Yue's survival into obligation while Shen An watches with guilt.

The celebration is interrupted by noise from the outer gate.

Gate guards bring in a filthy bandaged woman with one missing arm.

The elders reveal by reaction that Shen Lian is supposed to be dead.

Lian cuts through the elders' panic with a single warning about Cheng Yi's wives.

Guowen and the elders try to remove Lian before she can say more.

Guowen tries to reassert authority, but Yue insists on private answers.

Yue chooses the sealed weapon-storage room and takes Lian away from the hall.

Yue seals the weapon-storage room, creating a private space surrounded by failed swords.

Lian confronts the sheathed sword emotionally before explaining the bond.

Lian establishes the basic rule: beautiful technique creates matching wounds on the wielder.

Lian clarifies that ugly fighting can prevent wounds only until it stops being enough.

Lian explains that Cheng Yi demands more beauty over time.

Lian names the final demand and lets the words land.

The true marriage is revealed as a perfect blade-chosen strike that kills the wielder through the matching wound.

Yue realizes her earlier survival was only the beginning, not proof of control.

Yue asks for alternatives, and Lian prepares to give the answer she knows Yue will hate.

Lian states the two known ways out: death, or transfer to another willing Shen bloodline spouse.

Yue understands that the alternative would endanger Shen An and refuses before Lian names him.

Cheng Yi finally speaks, dismissing Lian and revealing its possessive calm.

Yue leaves the conversation with a concrete understanding that Cheng Yi has imagined her death and may one day guide her into it.