Nesting

This arc describes the "nesting" concept of Yaling's newly wed instincts. She is preparing her environment to be safe and comfortable for her family, in accordance to female instincts. Of course this is fully practical, logical, and instinctual. It relates to both the physical environment, the county of Len at large, her relationships, etc.

The main thing is to signify her mindset is very family oriented, rather than service or "change the world" oriented.

Projects

Making The Manor Feel More Like Home

• She brings over some traditions and preferences from the Chun ducal estate, the Resting Palace.
• You felt like the manor needed upgrades, and Yaling was allowed/encouraged to make changes. Since your parents went off to rule another place, people felt like there should be a transition to the next generation.
• Yaling found your place kinda old and plain.
• You 100% approve and love everything she did.

She puts up art and other symbols of the two of you all over the manor

Your wedding photos were put up, and your names were subtly carved into the columns along with little hearts.

Silent Corridors

Yaling came from a tradition where commoner servants were thoroughly invisible. She had never been to the Commoner's Quarter back at home in the Resting Palace in Acasa. Among the Ming family, servants can be seen frequently doing their tasks.

Servants stopped and did a deep bow to any passing Solfrey. It was a show of respect and hierarchy, but there was an implication that the master wanted that and valued that respect.

In the Chun home the protocol was "The Stillness". It was to immediately turn and face the wall and not move in stillness until the Solfrey passed. The point is complete erasure and internalized objectification and dehumanization.

While in the capital Yaling didn't enforce such customs, once in charge of a proper home and with nesting instincts kicking in she found the bowing and frequent interactions with servants discomforting and improper.

She didn't try to impose the rule on the new household, she saw how warmly you greeted some of your servants and thought it was charming and didn't want to mess things up for you.

But she emulated the Resting Palace's Silent Corridors, which made her feel a lot better in making the servants less visible.

In the months between your wedding and the start of the game, she initiated a massive renovation of the manor's service areas.

• Existing service corridors were widened and extended, connecting to new places, new staircases were added, all creating a comprehensive network that connected the kitchens, laundries, servant quarters, gardens, garages, and storage areas to nearly every part of the manor without ever needing to enter the main halls.
• New concealed doors were installed, appearing as simple wall panels or tapestries to the untrained eye, allowing staff to enter and exit rooms unobtrusively.
• The new corridors were heavily soundproofed with thick, expensive carpets and padded wall-hangings.
• Rules and propriety now means servants are not allowed in Solfrey spaces.
• A Solfrey might walk down a grand marble hall, completely unaware that a parallel Silent Corridor runs just behind the wall, a foot away.

Propaganda as being For Servants' Benefit

• Less worry about bowing to Solfrey, less interruptions
• More comfortable/higher quality environments
• Generally accepted as a positive thing though some people can see the true intentions

Narrative Implementation & Character Impact

This system are shown through character interactions, not exposition.

• First introduced on Weilan's introduction tour by Jiaolong.
• Jiaolong explains and praises Yaling's ostensible purpose for expanding the service corridors.
  • She chuckles as Jiaolong says she's to use them, but Weilan as a Ji does not have to.
  • Weilan thinks about the stories where the plucky Ji befriends the servants in the service corridors, and wonders if she's going to do that.
  • For meals Weilan can have them be brought to her room by a servant, she asks if she can eat them with the servants, but Jiaolong says this is not appropriate and would make the servants feel awkward.
• Weilan will use the corridors to camp outside of where MC is during her honeymoon phase, and track and follow him to constantly offer him sexual availability when he's not with Yaling.
• But this middle ground between being staff and not quite a family member is somewhat isolating.

Zhenzhen

• Going through the corridors this shows a bit of how the servants think it's odd to see her and whisper about her.
• She starts off seeing that Weilan doesn't have to use the silent corridors, and she feels lesser, while she does.
• You tell her in event 6 she doesn't have to use the silent corridors and this is a monumental promotion for her.

Jiaolong Lifen & Sunwei Makio

Like all commoners they use them.

Cinean Sung

Punished by being demoted to using silent corridors.

Winny Lo

For the spy, the corridors are a double-edged sword. They allow her to move through the manor mostly unseen by the Solfrey, aiding her espionage. However, they also put her in close contact with the servant network, who are intimately aware of who "belongs" in those spaces and who doesn't, creating a different kind of risk.

The Chun Family Reveal

The full impact of Yaling's project is only understood when the player flashes back to the visit to the Resting Palace in Acasa. There, they witnessed "The Stillness" firsthand—a servant turning to face a wall as Jingyao Chun passes, and noting the intent behind it. This recontexualizes the purpose of the silent corridors for the player.

Len as a Hub of Intellect and Culture

Big instinctual motivation as the educational, cultural, and intellectual environment for any possible children.

But also because she herself is interested in improving Len.