Ch. 19
Chapter 19: He Just Doesn’t Want to See How Hypocritical You Are!
【The host executes the vermin within the ranks and rectifies the overall ethos of the Jinyiwei. Reward: mid-grade item, Cloud-Stepping Boots!】
“Clean this place up first.”
After learning the secrets he wanted to know, Cheng Yu left the prison.
After changing into the Cloud-Stepping Boots newly issued by the system, he immediately felt as though his feet had become incredibly light, and his whole body had clearly grown a little more agile.
Cheng Yu nodded in satisfaction.
“The charge of a Hundred-Household Commander colluding with outsiders for private profit is definitely inescapable. If I send a secret report straight up to the Emperor, someone should come deal with this matter.”
Ma Yuan, the Jinyiwei Hundred-Household Commander of Qingjiang Prefecture, had joined forces with certain others to cultivate more than just the Red River Gang.
Such groups existed in nearly every county, squeezing the common people dry so that those people could squander the proceeds.
Among those involved were quite a few officials of Qingjiang Prefecture, as well as Jianghu aristocratic families and forces.
This was no minor crime.
In name, the Jinyiwei were the private army under the Great Qian Emperor and were supposed to maintain absolute loyalty.
But over the years, the Great Qian court had grown weak, while the Jinyiwei had long suffered from bloated staffing and lax supervision.
Now they had developed more and more into an ordinary court military institution, having lost the unique authority they once had under imperial privilege to execute first and report later.
Their function of monitoring the various regions and gathering information for the Great Qian Emperor had also declined.
It was a fact that the Jinyiwei were no longer what they had once been, but that did not mean members of the Jinyiwei could collude with outsiders for private gain.
Especially not with the Jianghu forces and aristocratic families they were supposed to be watching on the Emperor’s behalf.
As long as no one exposed it, the balance could be maintained. But once it was brought into the open, it became a grave crime.
Put more seriously, this was called betraying the Emperor!
As long as Cheng Yu made use of the Jinyiwei’s authority to transmit information directly to the palace, he could ensure that Hundred-Household Commander Ma of Qingjiang Prefecture would die without a burial place.
“But I can’t just sit around waiting for that. For one thing, it would be too slow. For another, if the problem gets solved just like that, then what am I supposed to do?”
He quickly made his decision.
The secret report definitely had to be sent, but he could not rely on that alone. He also had to take action himself.
The slogan of executing first and reporting later was not there so he could cower meekly and wait for orders before acting.
“A Hundred-Household Commander can only be appointed with Fourth Rank strength. On top of that, this man is colluding with quite a few aristocratic families, so his strength can’t be underestimated either…”
Cheng Yu was currently at the early Third Rank. With the cards he held in reserve, dealing with a Fourth Rank martial artist would not be difficult, but taking on many enemies alone would definitely carry some danger.
When the Jinyiwei acted, they ought to move with thunderous decisiveness and crush everything in their path. What kind of Jinyiwei was it to be surrounded and lost?
After pondering for a while, he made up his mind.
He would first wipe out all the bandits around Qinghe County. He could even extend his reach into the territory of other counties.
Once his strength had risen further, he would storm into Qingjiang Prefecture and arrest people!
Starting with the aristocratic families and forces colluding with Hundred-Household Commander Ma, anyone who had stretched out a hand would not be allowed to escape.
……
Over the next several days, Cheng Yu led his subordinates in a blazing campaign to exterminate vicious bandits everywhere.
He protected one region after another until the people all welcomed him with food and drink.
At the same time, inside an inn in Qinghe County, Cheng Yue rested her chin on her hand and frowned out the window.
Groups large and small passed through the streets carrying supplies on poles. These were spoils seized by the Jinyiwei.
She muttered to herself in dissatisfaction, “He’s gone out to kill recklessly again. If people found out that Father’s son was swinging his blade at the weak every single day, what would they say…”
Using strength to bully the weak was despised by the code of Jianghu chivalry!
What was more, he was not merely taking lives. He even had the severed heads brought back and hung at the county gate. It was simply the conduct of a demon.
Cheng Yue was displeased with Cheng Yu’s rampant killing and had thought more than once about going to stop him.
But every time she recalled Cheng Yu’s attitude toward her and the townspeople’s reactions, she could only grit her teeth and watch from the sidelines.
What she never once considered was that the people he killed had all once been wicked criminals who oppressed their own regions and had blood on their hands.
She only felt that killing was wrong no matter what.
And what she found even harder to accept was this: those ignorant commoners, when faced with a killer like Cheng Yu, were not frightened of him in the slightest, nor did they despise him.
On the contrary, every last one of them adored him and called him soft-hearted as a Bodhisattva.
It was utterly ridiculous!
“What would a bunch of ignorant peasants know about chivalry and proper conduct? They only care about the immediate benefits in front of them. They don’t realize that such vicious conduct violating morality is what truly matters!”
“No wonder they’re so weak and poor. They’re people who know nothing of benevolence or righteousness. This world belongs to the righteous!”
She was in the middle of grumbling when her keen ears suddenly caught the faintest sound from the bed in the room.
“Little Sister is awake!”
Cheng Yue was instantly overjoyed and thought no more of anything else.
She quickly hurried to the bedside, sat down, held Cheng Si’s hand, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and poured her some water.
“Sis… how long was I asleep?”
Cheng Yue looked at Cheng Si with tender concern, her heart protesting on behalf of her frail body.
“After you arranged the task you gave me, you kept drifting in and out of sleep. You’ve only just woken up now, after a full day. Once you’ve rested a little, we’ll head to Divine Physician Mountain to treat your illness.”
“All right.”
Cheng Si nodded, but then suddenly remembered something.
Before she had fallen asleep, she seemed to have entrusted Eldest Sister with going to… going to find Second Brother!
“Sis, did you go find Second Brother? He went off to suppress bandits—nothing happened to him, right?”
Cheng Yue had been delighted to see Cheng Si wake up, but the moment she heard her younger sister mention Cheng Yu, her expression darkened.
The moment she woke up, she was already worrying about that fellow who had severed ties with the family and run away from home!
Why was she not worried instead about how their younger brother Cheng Feng’s secluded training to break into the Fifth Rank had gone?
“You don’t need to worry on someone else’s behalf. With someone that ruthless, against a few small mountain bandits, there’s only any chance of him killing others.”
She curled her lip.
“And don’t call him Second Brother anymore either. He already severed ties with the family. For all you know, he doesn’t even want to acknowledge you as his younger sister.”
By now, Cheng Yue’s impression of Cheng Yu had sunk to rock bottom.
She had traveled all this way to find him, only to be driven off in that fashion. Never in her life had she suffered such humiliation.
“Oh…”
Cheng Si heard the dissatisfaction in her elder sister’s voice, but then suddenly sensed something.
Why had Eldest Sister’s attitude toward Second Brother changed so drastically all of a sudden?
“Sis, did you meet Second Brother?”
“I did.”
Cheng Yue nodded unwillingly. “In a tiny county like this, there’s only one Jinyiwei Banner Office. What’s so hard about meeting him?”
“Then take me there quickly! I’ll go try to persuade him!”
Hearing that, Cheng Si’s eyes lit up. She and Cheng Yu were both in the same county now.
She could properly try to persuade Second Brother and tell him that it was not as though no one in the family understood him.
She had just started to get out of bed when Cheng Yue grabbed her and stopped her.
“You’re not going. You just woke up, and you still need rest.”
Cheng Yue sharply stopped her younger sister’s actions.
“Besides, he’s already stopped recognizing all his kin. He won’t want to see you anyway.”
Listening to the strange, cutting tone in her sister’s voice, Cheng Si was deeply puzzled.
Eldest Sister had never liked Second Brother much before, but she had still been willing to come with her to find him. It had never been this bad!
Clever as she was, Cheng Si naturally thought of the most likely possibility.
“Sis, tell me honestly. Did something happen after you met Second Brother?”
Cheng Yue did not conceal it and said angrily, “At the time, that guy got into it with that Jinyiwei we saw when we first came here. That man took a swing at him, and he dodged it.”
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. “I knew he definitely couldn’t be a match for a Third Rank martial artist, so in my urgency I stepped forward to help him. But instead of appreciating it, he humiliated me thoroughly. I got so angry that I stopped caring about what happened to him.”
The moment she brought it up, a trace of sorrow rose in her heart as well.
She had proactively tried to teach her younger brother the right way to solve problems, only to be humiliated like that!
“Ah?! That Jinyiwei attacked Second Brother? He’s all right, isn’t he?”
Cheng Si grew anxious at once when she heard this.
“Don’t worry. The very same day he was lively enough to go suppress bandits again. Killing people is what he does best. Who knows what kind of trick he used to get that man killed.”
Cheng Yue’s tone carried boundless disdain.
Slippery, underhanded, vicious, ruthless.
In her eyes, someone like Cheng Yu was exactly the kind of person Jianghu heroes despised most.
Only after hearing that Cheng Yu was unharmed did Cheng Si finally relax. Then she asked, “Sis, how exactly were you planning to help Second Brother back then?”
In truth, she did not really believe that this elder sister of hers—someone Father had raised into a rigid moralist—would have helped by fighting.
“Obviously, I was going to appeal to reason and emotion. That man claimed he was guilty, and he refused to admit it, so the two of them were on the verge of drawing swords. So I urged him to go back to the prefectural office with that man.”
“Wouldn’t it have been enough to argue out who was right and who was wrong? Facts speak louder than words. As long as he hadn’t done anything, he would have been fine. Better that than fighting until blood ran everywhere.”
Cheng Yue explained her reasoning in a somewhat aggrieved tone.
“Ah? Sis, did being the Senior Sister at the River-Severing Sect turn you stupid?”
When Cheng Si heard that Cheng Yue had wanted Cheng Yu to go back with that man and argue things out, her eyes widened. Along with her helplessness, a nameless anger rose in her heart.
The rest of the Cheng Family had spent years in lofty positions within the River-Severing Sect, dealing only with outwardly kind people or shameless flatterers.
Because she had gone out to study under a master elsewhere, she had seen plenty of Jianghu affairs and knew how sinister the Jianghu could be.
She had originally thought that Father, Mother, and Eldest Sister were simply straightforward in temperament and idealistic about chivalry.
She had never expected that they were actually this lacking in basic sense!
“Little Sister, why are you getting so worked up?”
Cheng Yue had not expected Cheng Si to react this strongly and was startled. “What’s wrong with my idea?”
“That man had already drawn a blade against Second Brother! How could you still tell Second Brother to go with him? Isn’t that just walking straight into a trap?”
“Maybe he drew his blade because he misunderstood Cheng Yu. Wouldn’t it have been enough to clear things up? Don’t tell me black can really be twisted into white? Since when is there such a thing in the Jianghu?”
Cheng Yue still refused to believe she had done anything wrong.
“Sis! Didn’t you hear the people of Qinghe County saying that Second Brother killed for the people’s sake and got rid of evil? If that’s true, then why would that Jinyiwei keep pressing him so aggressively? There must have been something behind it!”
“If you had made Second Brother go back with him, then all that would have awaited him was danger upon danger—he might never have returned at all!”
“How could you hand the safety of your own family over to someone else?”
Angry and helpless, Cheng Si explained it to Cheng Yue.
In the River-Severing Sect, there had never been occasions for this sort of issue to arise. Now that one had, she finally realized just how naïve this elder sister of hers really was.
Seeing Cheng Si’s attitude become so serious, Cheng Yue began to panic a little, but she still gritted her teeth and insisted stubbornly, “If one doesn’t abide by morality in the Jianghu, one cannot take even a single step. Why would the Jinyiwei make things difficult for him without reason? And if they truly did make things difficult for him, then that would only be because of his own fault for killing so brutally. He’d have no one else to blame!”
“Sis! That’s my second brother—your own younger brother!”
Hearing Cheng Yue still speaking so stubbornly, Cheng Si finally could not stop the tears from falling.
So this was his place in everyone’s eyes?
For the sake of so-called morality, they would not care even if it meant personally pushing him into danger.
“What if he is? If he did something, then he has to bear the consequences. Helping him at a time like this would only harm him!”
Cheng Yue piled reason upon reason to force her own explanation, still convinced that she was right.
“Then if it had been Cheng Feng instead, would you have pushed him into danger too?”
“Of course I would…” At that question, Cheng Yue suddenly froze.
Of course she would have supported her younger brother unconditionally… that was her instinctive thought.
Cheng Si saw the panic on her face and said coldly, “Sis, Second Brother may have done some things wrong, but there’s one thing he said that was absolutely right.”
“Father and Mother said a lot about how they’d neglected him. They gave plenty of lofty speeches and explanations, but in the end, it all came down to one thing—they simply didn’t care about him!”
“Second Brother doesn’t actually care that much whether any of you care about him or not. More than ten years have already passed. What does one short month amount to?”
“He just doesn’t want to see how hypocritical you are!”