Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Storm Over the Imperial Capital

Leisurely leaning against the old patriarch with a careless air, Fish Shiyu said with certainty, “Patriarch, trust your grandson’s eye. My ninth sister can handle the Ning family’s matter without trouble. If there is still no word from her before the Ten Estates Phantom-Demon Realm battle, I will take Yuyan to see her myself. I guarantee the Ning family will ally with the Fish family in this battle.”

“If that proves true, I’ll no longer care which woman you marry, so long as she can bear children!”

“Crude. Far too crude. Patriarch, you are at least the head of the Fish family. Could you not be so vulgar? You sound like a bandit chief who has risen from the mud and put on a crown.”

“Get lost, you little brat!” At last the old patriarch Fish could not hold back his laughter, and the tension in the room vanished at once.

At the Wu family manor in the imperial capital, the core elders and senior members were also gathered in a solemn assembly. The old patriarch said darkly, “The Ning family has just suffered a grave loss at the hands of the Black Witch, and Ning Sanshao was able to get the Immortal Reach Sect to dispatch two peak masters to lead an extermination of the Black Witch. The Ning family’s position is already unshakable. I fear that now the Fish family, having just tied itself to the Ning family through marriage, will grow arrogant as well. Even if our Wu family can cooperate with the Ling family, I’m afraid that in the next Ten Estates Phantom-Demon Realm battle, we still won’t be able to replace the Fish family.”

Wu Shunhong, the eldest legitimate grandson of the Wu family, said, “I’ve heard that the Ning family has driven out the Fish family’s illegitimate daughter. It’s just that the Ning family has been overwhelmed with troubles lately, so they have not formally informed the Fish family yet. The Fish family wanting to bask in the Ning family’s light is unlikely.”

“We need to investigate this thoroughly, and find out exactly where the Fish family’s illegitimate daughter is. Even if she has been cast out by the Ning family, the roots must still be cut clean, lest she return to the Ning family and cause trouble. We should also spread the word far and wide that the Fish family despises the Ning family’s fool and forced an illegitimate daughter to marry in her elder sister’s place, so that the Ning family will hate the Fish family. We must not wait until the Ning family remembers to formally notify the Fish family. We have to strike first. Understand?”

“The old patriarch is wise. I’ll handle it at once, and send word to Cousin Ling Yanfeng as well, so that he can join in spreading the story in the cultivation world. No, not spreading it—publicizing it.” Wu Shunhong smiled with malicious satisfaction.

“You are indeed teachable!” The old patriarch Wu finally smiled.

The same sort of scene was playing out across the great aristocratic houses of the imperial capital. Some rejoiced, some worried; the one thing all of them shared was the intent to cultivate good relations with the Ning family, and if marriage could be arranged, so much the better.

In an instant, the prospects of Ning family disciples soared. Even some collateral descendants of the Ning family began to swagger. At the same time, the story that the Fish family despised the Ning family’s heir as dull-witted and forced a collateral daughter to marry in his stead spread like wildfire. The Fish family disciples all kept their tails between their legs and stayed indoors whenever possible, with only Fish Shiyu treating it all as nothing and continuing to carouse among the flowers.

The imperial capital was neither so vast nor so small. Wu Shunhong and Fish Shiyu, the young leaders of two rival families, each led a band of followers and collided on the city’s most prosperous thoroughfare, Dragon Soaring Avenue. Wu Shunhong mocked, “The Fish family has broken faith and even done a thing like sending an illegitimate daughter to marry in someone else’s place. You simply don’t put the Ning family in your eyes.”

The Ning family disciples who had been won over by Wu Shunhong also denounced the Fish family with great fervor, and some young nobles from allied families joined in the uproar.

As the situation grew more and more heated, many of the people beside Fish Shiyu quietly slipped away, yet he merely stood there with easy elegance, fanning himself as though watching a monkey show. Only when Wu Shunhong incited the Ning family disciples to make a move did his expression change. He barked sharply, “Ning Baixia is speaking on behalf of the Ning family elders and named my ninth sister as the one to fulfill the marriage contract. What forced substitution is there? And how is this any business of your Wu family?”

That roar instantly silenced the entire noisy street. After a strange stillness, the scene exploded like a volcano. Wu Shunhong struck first, and the Wu family disciples, along with the Ning family disciples present, followed suit; even the bystanders who had come to join the fray piled in. Yet the number of people around Fish Shiyu suddenly dwindled. Aside from him and a few young experts capable of both offense and defense, the rest were being beaten back.

The imperial capital was prosperous, and among its permanent residents the number of cultivators was comparable to that of a medium-sized sect. With the addition of cultivators who came and went temporarily, the total was even greater. Though strict laws forbade cultivators from taking action within the capital, minor conflicts never ceased. The buildings along the main streets were all protected by defensive arrays.

Once the two groups began fighting, the defensive formations on both sides of the street activated automatically. Curtains of light surged upward into narrow walls lining the road, and they battled so fiercely that it was hard to tell one side from the other. People inside the buildings on both sides watched the spectacle with leisure.

On the top floor of Dragon Soaring Tower, standing at the crossroads of Dragon Soaring Avenue, several disciples of the Immortal Reach Sect leaned out the window. The leader, Cold Rock, asked, “How did this become connected to Brother Ning?”

The Prince of Jin, who was accompanying them, treated the matter as a joke and recounted the dispute between the Wu and Fish families, also mentioning the reason for the marriage alliance between the Ning and Fish families. He took a fairly impartial stance, though it still left the Immortal Reach Sect disciples with growing resentment toward the Fish family. Some of them were eager to teach Fish Shiyu a lesson, but Cold Rock stopped them with a shout.

Down below, Wu Shunhong was actually seized by Fish Shiyu, and the brawl once again turned into a shouting match. Trampled underfoot by Fish Shiyu, Wu Shunhong venomously cursed Fish Youwei, while Fish Shiyu laughed and said, “My Fish family’s little sister? If you say you mean to lay a hand on anyone else, even if I have to throw my life away, I will never let it rest. But if you mean the ninth sister, then use whatever tricks you like, so long as you have the courage.”

Wu Shunhong sneered, “The Ning family’s cast-off woman. Only your Fish family would treat her like something worth having.”

Thinking of the poisonous woman’s methods, Fish Shiyu baited him maliciously. “If you have the nerve, say that in front of my ninth sister herself. If, after saying it, you can still keep your whole corpse intact, I’ll host a banquet and apologize to you.”

“That country bumpkin girl, the Ning family—”

Before he could finish, Fish Shiyu smashed Wu Shunhong’s head apart with one kick and said coldly, “It’s always the same few useless lines. I’m sick of hearing them!”

Fish Shiyu had actually dared to kill someone in the middle of the street, and not just anyone, but the legitimate eldest grandson of the Wu family, whose power was no weaker than the Fish family’s. Was he trying to provoke a war between the Fish and Wu families?

Someone among the Wu family disciples cried out in a trembling voice, “Y-you killed my big brother!”

A gaze full of killing intent swept over them, frightening the Wu family disciples into retreating together. Fish Shiyu said with unhurried contempt, “Ling Yanfeng thinks he can use a few toothless dogs from the Wu family to deal with me, Fish Shiyu? Ridiculous. Send him a message: even if disciples of the Imperial Sword Sect are going to fight among themselves, there’s no need to drag unrelated people into it. If he wants my life, I’m right here.”

Only then did everyone remember that Fish Shiyu was not only a member of the Fish family, but also an elite disciple of the Imperial Sword Sect. The sect master’s precious daughter was, after all, the mistress of the Fish family’s fourth branch. He dared to kill Wu Shunhong, and the Wu family could make a scene with the Fish family, but they would not dare to kill Fish Shiyu. The Wu family disciples no longer dared provoke him, and although several of the Ning family disciples present were direct descendants, they were not favored enough to dare fight Fish Shiyu to the death.

The noisy street fell silent once more.

Cold Rock said lightly, “This Fish Shiyu is quite a character. I’ll go meet him.” With that, he leaped from the window and landed precisely between Fish Shiyu and Wu Shunhong’s corpse. The remaining Immortal Reach Sect disciples also jumped down one after another and landed behind him.

Everyone assumed these Immortal Reach Sect disciples were about to deal with Fish Shiyu, and most people wore looks of gleeful anticipation. Others might fear Fish Shiyu’s status as an elite disciple of the Imperial Sword Sect, but would Immortal Reach Sect disciples be afraid?