Chapter 5 — Changed the entire Inheritance Lineage to Choose the Wolf King

The central square of the Storm Wolf Clan was filled with morning sunlight as Yen Chi stepped out, wearing a silver ceremonial outfit embroidered with the image of a wolf ancestor — the outfit that every female adopted daughter of the clan leader must wear on this important day.

Hundreds of people of the clan had gathered since early morning, standing in rows around the large stone courtyard, where a high stone platform was erected in the center - where she would stand to announce her choice. Patriarch Quach Bach Hai sat in the chair in the front row, his face still looking tired but trying to maintain a majestic posture. Her five brothers stood in a row next to the stone pedestal, wearing formal clothes, and standing right behind them — like an inseparable shadow — was Tru Tieu Yen, wearing an exquisite jade-colored dress, completely unsuitable for her position as a queen, but no one seemed to bother to pay attention to that unusual thing.

Yen Chi stepped onto the stone pedestal, feeling hundreds of eyes focused on her. She searched the crowd for a familiar face - Dinh Thi Le stood in the far corner, eyes filled with worry. And further away, at the edge of the eastern forest, she knew, there was someone waiting for her signal.

"Today," the Bach Hai clan leader spoke, his voice echoing throughout the square although somewhat weaker than usual, "is the day Lu Yen Chi, my adopted daughter, performs the Mate Choosing Ceremony according to the generations-old tradition of the Storm Wolf Clan. You will choose one of your five brothers to continue the bloodline and power of the clan."

He turned to look at Yen Chi and nodded.

But before she could speak, Tieu Yen stepped forward, her voice filled with fake hesitation. "Chief, please allow me to say a word before the ceremony begins."

The whole square was buzzing. An ahuan speaking up in the middle of an important family ceremony was unprecedented, but none of the five brothers objected — they even looked at her with encouraging eyes.

"You say it," the patriarch replied, his voice somewhat confused but still allowing.

Tieu Yen turned around, facing the crowd, her eyes perfectly watery. "I know I'm just a lowly alum, with no right to speak in the middle of this sacred ceremony. But I can't stay silent when I know a painful truth - sister Yen Chi, who is about to choose one of these five respectable gentlemen, has actually been secretly engaged to a strange man outside the clan for nearly a year."

The buzz in the crowd turned into panicked noise. Yen Chi stood on the stone pedestal, looking down, clearly seeing the skeptical, disappointed, even angry eyes of hundreds of ethnic people pouring towards him.

"My brothers," Tieu Yen continued, turning to look at the five brothers with eyes full of fake sympathy, "have devoted all their sincere feelings, prepared many gifts, and many oaths for today. Yet my sister betrayed everything, hiding a relationship with outsiders. I only hope the patriarch and everyone understand the hearts of the young masters - they know nothing about this."

Tieu Yen's every word was like needles piercing Yen Chi's self-esteem, but at that very moment, a strange calmness began to spread within her. This was the moment she had been preparing herself for a long time — only it came sooner and more cruelly than she expected.

"Yen Chi," Chief Bach Hai spoke up, his voice trembling between anger and pain, "is it true what Tieu Yen said?"

All five brothers simultaneously turned to look at her. Thiet Phong stood at the front of the line, his eyes still covered in fog from last night, showing no signs of the alertness she had glimpsed. The remaining four younger siblings looked at her with hurt and disappointed expressions - emotions that Tieu Yen had skillfully planted in their hearts.

Yen Chi took a deep breath, and when she spoke, her voice rang out clearly, without trembling, echoing throughout the square.

"That's right. I've been in contact with someone from outside my clan for almost a year. And I don't regret it at all."

The commotion started again, this time even more intense.

"But before you judge me," she continued, her voice stronger, "I want to ask everyone here a question in return. Have any of you ever wondered why, in less than a year, the five brothers who were close to me like blood suddenly became strange, cold, and simultaneously devoted all their attention to a newbie who came to the clan less than three years ago?"

She turned to look straight at Tieu Yen, her eyes sharp as knives. "Has anyone ever wondered why there is always a strange scent around him that no one can name?"

Tieu Yen's face stiffened for a split second, but she quickly regained her hurt look. "Are you trying to blame me to hide your own mistakes?"

"I don't blame anyone," Yen Chi replied, her voice still surprisingly calm. "I'm just saying what I witnessed with the intuition of a wolfman. But today, I won't argue about it anymore. Today is the day to Choose My Mate, and I will exercise my right to choose — in accordance with the custom of my ancestors."

She turned to look at the five brothers, one by one, her eyes softened for a moment when looking at Thiet Phong, then hardened again.

"Second brother, Third brother, Fourth brother, Fifth brother, Big brother Thiet Phong," she raised her voice, each word echoing throughout the silent square, "I used to love you brothers like blood, and I still do. But blood love is not love between couples. I have never, and will never, consider any of you brothers as a life partner. Today, I officially reject all five of you."

The square fell into dead silence, then broke into angry boos. Chief Bach Hai stood up from his chair, his face pale. "Yen Chi! Do you know what you are doing? This is a decision to break a thousand-year-old clan tradition!"

"I know well, father." Yen Chi turned to look at him, her voice softened but remained steadfast. "And I'm sorry for disappointing you. But I can't live my whole life following a choice that my heart has never agreed with."

She raised her hand high, and from her sleeve, a small piece of red cloth fell, flying in the wind - the signal that she and Lang Phong had agreed on last night.

"And I would like to announce to the entire clan," she continued, her voice ringing with pride, "that I am betrothed to someone worthy of my heart — the Wolf King of the White Wolf Kingdom, Bui Lang Phong."

The buzz in the crowd suddenly stopped, replaced by stunned silence. Wolf King of another kingdom? Engaged to the adopted daughter of a small clan like the Storm Wolf Clan?

At that moment, from the edge of the eastern forest, a figure riding on the back of a giant white wolf — the fully transformed form of the wolf tribe — galloped into the square, causing the crowd to spread to both sides in utter amazement.

The man stepped down from the back of that giant white wolf with an undeniable majesty, wearing a simple gray cloak but carrying a silver badge shaped like a wolf's head on his shoulder - the royal symbol of the White Wolf Kingdom that no one in the Storm Wolf Clan could mistake.

"I'm Bui Lang Phong," he spoke, his deep voice echoing throughout the square, powerful but not aggressive. "I came here today to confirm that what Yen Chi just said is true. You and I have been getting to know each other for nearly a year, and I came here to propose to you in a dignified manner, in front of the entire Storm Wolf Clan."

He walked to the stone pedestal, knelt down on one knee in front of Yen Chi, his eyes only directed at her as if no one else existed in this square.

"Yen Chi, you have shown me a rare sincere heart over the past year. Today, in front of your entire clan, I want to ask again, officially and publicly - do you agree to be the royal concubine of the White Wolf Kingdom, to be my only life partner?"

Yen Chi looked down at him, feeling her heart pounding amid the storm of humiliation and betrayal she had just experienced. She held out her hand, letting him take it, pulling her up beside him on the stone pedestal.

"I agree," she replied, her voice echoing throughout the square, frozen in surprise. "In front of the entire Storm Wolf Clan, I, Lu Yen Chi, officially accept the marriage proposal of Wolf King Bui Lang Phong."

Tieu Yen stood frozen in the middle of the square, her face revealing true panic that could not be hidden for the first time. Her plan — to turn Yen Chi into an outcast, lonely and desperate — completely collapsed right before her eyes, the very moment she thought she had won.