“Another picture frame, Master Chen?” Lady Wu’s delicate eyebrow arched as she observed the elderly martial arts master hanging yet another ornate frame on his already cluttered study wall. “One might think you’re attempting to open an art gallery rather than run a martial arts school.”

Master Chen adjusted his newest acquisition – an elaborate golden frame housing a portrait of some long-forgotten ancestor – with meticulous precision. “My dear Lady Wu, appearances matter greatly in our circles. How else would potential students and their wealthy families know they’re entering a prestigious establishment?”

“Perhaps through the actual quality of instruction?” she replied with quiet irony, smoothing her silk robes as she settled into a chair. “Though I suppose gilded frames are far easier to acquire than genuine skill.”

The master’s young apprentice, Li Wei, observed this exchange from his corner, where he had been practicing his calligraphy. Though only sixteen, he had already mastered the art of becoming invisible during these verbal sparring matches between his master and the shrewd widow who frequently visited their school.

“You wound me, madam,” Master Chen replied with theatrical offense. “My reputation stands on decades of producing the finest warriors in the province.”

“Your reputation, like these frames, seems to grow more elaborate with each passing year,” Lady Wu remarked, hiding a smile behind her fan. “Tell me, how many of your recent students have actually mastered the legendary Eight Steps of Autumn Wind?”

Before Master Chen could respond, a commotion erupted in the courtyard. Three masked figures had scaled the walls, their dark clothes marking them as members of the notorious Black Lotus Guild.

“Master Chen!” their leader called out. “Your deception ends today! You claim to teach the Eight Steps, yet you stole the technique from our grandmaster twenty years ago!”

Li Wei jumped to his feet, ready to defend his master, but Lady Wu’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. Her eyes sparkled with something that looked suspiciously like amusement.

“Well,” she said softly, “this should prove interesting.”

Master Chen’s face had gone pale. The dozens of ornate frames on his walls suddenly seemed to mock him with their hollow grandeur.

To everyone’s surprise, Lady Wu rose gracefully and stepped forward. “Gentlemen of the Black Lotus,” she announced, her voice carrying unexpected authority, “your journey was unnecessary. I am the granddaughter of your grandmaster, and I have been evaluating Master Chen’s school for some time.”

She turned to Master Chen with a mix of pity and disappointment. “You’ve built quite a beautiful cage of appearances, Master Chen, but it’s time for truth to break free of its frame.”

With fluid grace that belied her years, Lady Wu demonstrated the true Eight Steps of Autumn Wind, her movements so precise and powerful that several of Master Chen’s precious frames crashed to the floor.

Li Wei watched in amazement as his world shifted. All this time, his true master had been sitting right there, disguised as a critical widow, watching and waiting.

“Well, my boy,” Lady Wu said, turning to Li Wei with a genuine smile, “shall we begin your real training? Though I warn you – my school has far fewer picture frames.”

The Black Lotus assassins bowed deeply to Lady Wu and departed as silently as they had arrived, leaving Master Chen amidst his fallen frames – beautiful, empty shells that could no longer hide the truth they were meant to embellish.