Chapter 43

Chapter Thirty-Three: Sects and Aristocratic Families

Duan Mingyu brushed the dust off his clothes and spoke eloquently, "Here is what happened. Just now, Brother Xu walked into my room, handed me a stool, and begged me to use the most powerful technique in my life to beat him fiercely, telling me not holding back at all..."

Everyone stared with dull, fish-like eyes: "............"

Duan Mingyu continued, "I am a person who opposes violence, so I found his request rather difficult. But he was so sincere, kneeling on the ground and weeping bitterly, crying tears of blood, saying that if I didn't hit him, it meant I looked down on him, that life had no meaning for him, and he might as well dash his brains out right in front of me..."

"S... So?"

Duan Mingyu put on the expression of someone who had done a good deed without seeking praise. "So, his hospitality was truly hard to decline. If you were in my place, you would have helped him out too. After all, helping others is the foundation of happiness..."

The crowd's cheeks twitched violently...

After finishing, Duan Mingyu gave Xu Zuye a meaningful look and asked, "Brother Xu, is that how it happened?"

Xu Zuye clenched his teeth, his face twisting as if he were attending a funeral: "Yes!"

"Oh!" A wave of gasps rose from the crowd.

Duan Mingyu chuckled and said, "Alright, Brother Xu has been beaten to his heart's content and no longer needs everyone's help. Everyone go back to your own homes, find your own mothers, turn off the lights to sleep, and close the doors to beat the dogs."

Everyone went: "..."

When the crowd had mostly dispersed, Xu Zuye sat before Duan Mingyu with two panda-like black eyes, and said with hesitation and anxiety, "Actually, you could have just said I took a fall."

Duan Mingyu shook his fan. "I'm afraid that wouldn't be appropriate!"

"Why not?"

Duan Mingyu put on a look of profound disappointment, saying, "To take a fall and end up covered in lumps, with a bruised nose and swollen face, such an explanation is simply too far-fetched."

Xu Zuye gave a dry laugh. "You could have said I fell down the stairs!"

Yes, go ahead and fall! Fall as hard as you can.

Duan Mingyu once again retrieved the box he had just put away. "Wealthy Patron Wan's vast fortune has been decimated to less than ten percent. There is truly something fishy about this!"

Cough, cough. They were right back to the previous issue. Xu Zuye glanced at Duan Mingyu and said, "I, Xu, am not base enough to ask for a beating a second time. Actually, Madam Ji knows nothing about Patron Wan's wealth rivaling a nation. Not only does she not know, but even I only knew that Patron Wan was very wealthy, yet I had no idea how he managed to reach that point. Moreover, Patron Wan seemed quite unwilling to let others know he was so rich, and instead went to great lengths to conceal it."

Duan Mingyu frowned. "Brother Xu, this matter involves a great deal!"

After saying this, both fell into silence. As the matter deepened step by step and the truth gradually surfaced, Duan Mingyu realized that he seemed to have stumbled into a colossal conspiracy. One misstep, and his little life would be forfeit.

Xu Zuye cast a sidelong glance, accidentally catching a glimpse inside the box. "Hark, Young Master, there are words on this piece of brocade!"

There were only two items in the box: a piece of brocade and a key. Previously, both of them had their attention captured by the key and had not yet had the time to examine the brocade closely.

At Xu Zuye's words, Duan Mingyu unfolded the brocade as if infused with chicken blood. Their scalps instantly tinged with numbness—this was a blood-written letter, a pact written in blood.

What kind of hatred required a letter written in blood? Xu Zuye and Duan Mingyu looked at each other in dismay, swallowing their saliva in unison. After a moment of shock, they cast their gazes back upon the brocade, and saw the blood-written letter read:

After the Southern and Northern Dynasties, many aristocratic clans and noble families with a heritage of three hundred years gradually declined, struggling to produce outstanding figures, leaving my Xie clan to stand alone as a solitary pillar. After the founding of the Great Tang, the emerging sects led by the twenty-four founding ministers of Lingyan Pavilion—Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Wei Zheng, Yuchi Jingde, Li Xiaogong, Gao Shilian, Li Jing, Xiao Yu, Zhangsun Shunde, Liu Hongji, Qutu Tong, Yin Kaishan, Chai Shao, Zhang Liang, Hou Junji, Zhang Gongjin, Cheng Zhijie, Yu Shinian, Liu Zhengxui, Tang Jian, Li Ji, and Qin Shubao—suppressed my Xie clan vigorously at court. These twenty-four sects subjected us to all sorts of despicable, dog-like acts; our clan's descendants must remember this, remember it well!

In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan under Emperor Taizong of Tang, the emerging sects used the pretext that my Xie clan was a remnant family of the previous dynasty and might harbor ulterior motives, submitting a memorial requesting the Emperor to strip eleven of our Xie clan's military generals of their military authority, which the Emperor granted.

In the third year of Qianfeng under Emperor Gaozong, the twenty-four clans once again submitted a memorial, stripping several members of our clan of their peerage, which the Emperor granted.

In the first year of Yongshun under Emperor Gaozong, Changsun Wuji raised troops in rebellion. My Xie clan's sons led troops into battle, quelled the chaos, and wiped out a rival clan. Yet we were impeached by the other clans and received no reward for our merits.

In the fourth year of Chuichui under the Heavenly Empress Wu Zhao, the Empress vigorously suppressed the aristocratic sects. Many clan scions were demoted from the capital and banished to serve as officials elsewhere, with my Xie clan suffering the worst. Throughout our clan, not a single person remained to serve as an official in the capital.

In the first year of Yongchang under the Heavenly Empress, the Empress feared that the various sects would assist in restoring the Li Tang dynasty, and thus intended to slaughter the sect disciples. The various sects treated my Xie clan like abandoned pawns, repeatedly placing us in mortal danger, resulting in the tragic execution of eight hundred and thirty-seven members of our clan.

From then on, my Xie clan withdrew from the court, changed our surname from Xie to Wan, and specialized in the path of generating wealth. Alas, having encountered such a catastrophe, although our wealth now rivals a nation, our clan has withered, our branches are frail, and our ancestral incense is no longer thriving. By my generation, only two branches remain.

The struggle among the sects will by no means end here. In recent years, I have repeatedly encountered danger, which was indeed orchestrated by other sects plotting to seize the Xie clan's assets. Fearing disaster, I have liquidated the family estate and converted it into gold and silver. Furthermore, I hired skilled craftsmen to build a secret chamber beneath Bian Lake, concealing the gold and silver within. The secret chamber can only be opened with a single key; none may enter without it. Attached to the back of this letter is the route to the exit of the secret chamber. The key must not be held by anyone other than the direct-line descendants. Our descendants, use this with utmost care!

Duan Mingyu flipped to the back of the blood letter, and sure enough, there was a map, with the exit and entrance marked in meticulous detail. That being the case, Bian Lake outside Bianliang City truly concealed wealth that could rival a nation.

Xu Zuye sighed. "Sect assassinations... Patron Wan's death is no longer something the likes of us can meddle in, otherwise we will surely invite disaster upon ourselves!"

Duan Mingyu pondered for a moment. "What is to be done about this? Patron Wan died so suddenly without even leaving a son. If we were to inform this orphan and widow of such matters, would it not be too cruel to them?"

Xu Zuye said, "Indeed. How I wish Patron Wan were not a member of the sects. Putting ourselves in their shoes, if we were to drag this mother and daughter into this, how could our consciences bear it!"

Duan Mingyu sighed. "Then how should we deal with this key and the blood letter?"

Xu Zuye asked doubtfully, "Do you not want them? With this money, you would become a person whose wealth rivals a nation."

Duan Mingyu gave a bitter smile. "Anyone who dislikes having too much money is a fool. It's just that this money is too hot to handle; I fear I might lose my life before I can spend it."

Xu Zuye asked, "Then what shall we do?"

Just as the two were deep in heated discussion, a dark figure quietly slipped away from outside the window. The person was dressed in black and walked in a hurried pace. The figure in black only wished to leave this place as quickly as possible; as long as he could bring back the secret of how Duan Mingyu unlocked the iron box, he would surely receive a generous reward and enjoy endless glory and wealth for the rest of his life.