Chapter 100: Drawing the Waters of Disaster East

“Do not ride one road all the way to ruin. Out of regard that you are a disciple of the Yujian Sect, if you pull back in time there is still a chance for you.” The Qian Emperor said, half in counsel, half in threat.

“Pull back and then hand me over to Ling Yanfeng to execute me, is that your idea?” Yu Shiyu laughed coldly. “Your Majesty, do not play those tricks meant for children.”

For a moment the emperor was prepared to force Yu Shiyu to reveal everything, but he choked on his words, killing intent flashing in his eyes. If not for Yu Shiyu being an inner disciple of the Yujian Sect, he would have wanted to slay him before everyone despite the hostage, a Xiang heir, seized by him.

Yu Shiyu ceased needling further and watched the clouds drift lazily across the sky with absolute composure.

The square fell silent again.

Yu Youwei watched in silence, and though she was startled by his methods, she also admired them greatly. It is easy to say “rise from the brink of death,” but how many truly can do it?

With this stroke, Yu Shiyu might make the imperial house forsake the Xiang Cunze party to preserve its dignity, or drive them to suicide for the court’s sake. Then the Yu clan would face imperial retaliation. In such a case, even the Fourth Madam of the Yu family might be able only to protect herself and her daughter, while every branch of the Yu clan except the Fourth Branch would be wiped out.

Yu Shiyu can win only by a single desperate gamble.

In silent admiration for her mad older brother, Yu Youwei was also calculating which way through this crisis would be the least costly.

The dark-faced elder of the Xiang household could not restrain himself and attacked the Yu patriarch: “Yu Family Master, your grandson has committed such a vile crime. Do you have nothing to say?”

When addressed, the Yu patriarch gave the same wild smile as his grandson and laughed. “From top to bottom of the Yu household, except for daughters married out, there are likely only the two of us left now. Shiyu chose an interesting way to die. This old man has nothing to complain about. Grandfather and grandson will have one another on the road to the underworld, and it won’t be lonely.”

With one sentence he laid everything bare. Yu Youwei instantly understood the state of the Yu household; her calm heart flared with anger. She flashed forward to stand before her unseen grandfather and struck the table as she shouted, “What has happened to the Yu family?”

As though surprised that Yu Youwei would worry about their fate, he hesitated, then answered with a grim smile, “You need not concern yourself with Yu family matters. Go back to the Ning family.”

“What has really happened in the Yu house?” Yu Youwei pressed.

“They’re dead. All of them,” the Yu patriarch said softly, and two dull tears rolled from his old eyes.

Yu Shiyu heard as well, but he asked nothing. His eyes were fully blood-red.

Yu Youwei wanted to ask, yet did not know what to ask.

“Youwei, come here—where is that boy?” Second Granduncle Ning could no longer hold himself back and shouted. He had exactly two legitimate grandsons. He had already heard of Ning Jinchun’s death and of the feud with Youwei over Ning Jinchun. Now he could see her but not his grandson, so he had endured this long in silence.

“He was taken by the old lunatic guarding the palace formation. They probably mistook him for a Yu disciple, so he is likely doomed,” Yu Youwei said with half-truths, slyly pressing blame toward the Xiang clan. Better if old Ning and the Xiang family begin fighting each other, she thought.

“Why did you not save him!” Second Granduncle Ning sprang up, slamming his hands against the table, his beard bristling.

“Yu disciples were taken as well. If I wished to rescue them, I would need the strength to do it.” Youwei replied without fear, and this only inflamed him further. She went on, “The old madman said his name was Xiang the Butcher. You should ask the Xiang clan where that Xiang Butcher took your grandson.”

At the name Xiang the Butcher, the entire scene went still.

The Qian Emperor and the dark-faced Xiang elder exchanged glances, their eyes clearly anxious. A moment earlier, when they learned the Xiang scions had been seized by Yu Shiyu, they had only been angry, not even a trace of panic.

Yu Youwei had been watching the emperor closely and caught that anxiety in his eyes. She could not help but wonder what made Xiang the Butcher so feared by the emperor.

“Then Xiang the Butcher is still alive!” the shout of Second Granduncle Ning broke the stillness of the square.

The Wen patriarch, who had been watching the quarrel from afar, suddenly stood and, with shocking impoliteness, called out to the emperor, “Why is Xiang the Butcher still alive? Your Majesty, should you not account to us?”

The other household heads and stewards also rose. Though none spoke, their stance matched the Wen patriarch’s outrage.

So perhaps Xiang the Butcher’s very existence is taboo? Yu Youwei was unsurprised. She widened her eyes at what unfolded, silently rejoicing inwardly at the sudden turn: the path that seemed blocked by dark hills and tangled waters had opened into another village beyond the shadows.

“Youwei, at your age you are remarkably clever. This trick of deflecting blame is excellent,” the emperor sneered.

“To tell the truth, before today I did not know who Xiang the Butcher was,” Yu Youwei said, half true.

The emperor wanted in truth to strike her dead with one hand, but dared not move at all. He forced out, with a lie he could barely support, “Xiang the Butcher has been dead these many years. It was Yu Shiyu who taught you to kill Ning Jinchun and pin it on him, wasn’t it?”

“The watchman at the formation wasn’t seen by me alone. When he is not deranged, he always pretends to doze off; no one noticed his eyes had turned into black holes. I can swear by the Heart-Demon Oath that what I say is true. If Yu Shiyu had told me that mad old man was Xiang the Butcher, I would have been struck by lightning the moment I stepped forward.”

“Of course the emperor can swear that oath! Then who taught you that?” Yu Youwei said.

“Of course Your Majesty can take it,” Yu Shiyu said, cutting in. Before everyone could think him suddenly unhinged and trying to exonerate the emperor, he gave a sinister laugh. “The Yu clan is not a great noble house; when Xiang the Butcher went wild he slaughtered lords’ sons like pigs and sheep. No Yu disciple was among the dead. The emperor himself personally beheaded Xiang the Butcher in public to calm the people’s outrage. To claim now that Xiang the Butcher still lives is to say the emperor is mocking the bereaved families.”

“Fine. If no one from the Yu clan died under Xiang the Butcher’s hands, then we need not care whether he is dead or alive.” Yu Youwei gracefully brushed aside the topic. “As for Ning Jinchun, he was taken by that formation-watch old man, along with Yu disciples. That lunatic moved very quickly. My own strength is small—I could not catch him even if I tried. Besides, I am unfamiliar with that place.”

Yu Shiyu chuckled and, as if speaking idly, said, “Ninth Sister, your deduction is clean, but few will believe it.”

“Honestly, I do not know the Yu disciples, nor the Ning disciples. Whether they are alive or dead, I might be grieved, but perhaps still no one would believe me,” Yu Youwei replied. Then she added, “Besides, whether that old guardian is Xiang the Butcher or not, he was the one who took Ning Jinchun and the rest. If the Ning family wants their people back, they should ask the Xiang family, not me.”

“More evasion!”

The dark-faced Xiang elder brought his palm down hard, smashing the long table before him and rising sharply.

The Yu patriarch, however, moved swiftly in front of Yu Youwei and glared at him. “Do you intend to kill and silence a witness?”