Chapter 45 : Chapter 45
Chapter 45: I Only Have One Son, Feng'er; How Could He Do Such a Thing?
[Host has identified the mastermind behind the Dragon Abyss labor abduction. Reward: One Jinyiwei Message Falcon!]
Cheng Yu walked out of the prison holding Ma Yuan's signed confession.
The man had been brought back and had immediately poured out everything regarding the transportation of laborers to the Dragon Abyss Path before the interrogation even truly began.
Over the last five years, under the coercion and bribery of the Sword-Forging Manor, a massive number of laborers had been seized through trickery and forced to work. In the entire Dragon Abyss Prefecture, one could hardly find a single able-bodied man out of every five households; those who remained were either crippled or sickly.
Later, the Sword-Forging Manor turned its gaze toward the other prefectures of the Dragon Abyss Path. Relying on their status as a regional giant and conspiring with various martial world factions, they threatened the local governments. They began to steadily funnel young, strong laborers into Dragon Abyss Prefecture.
Local thugs with the means and connections to avoid this fate became increasingly arrogant, unrestrainedly bullying orphans and widows who had no men to protect them. Despite being in the Jiangnan region—a land of fish and rice, famed for its incredible wealth—the commoners lived lives worse than those in the bitter cold of the north.
This matter involved millions of people, yet it had been successfully covered up by the Sword-Forging Manor’s supreme status in the Dragon Abyss Path. Those without power locally naturally did not dare to mind other people's business; some even desired to become the manor’s lapdogs. Outsiders with power and status who learned of the matter were unwilling to make an enemy of a power like the Sword-Forging Manor. They chose to remain silent, acting as if they had seen nothing.
To offend the Sword-Forging Manor was to offend countless powerful figures who had received the favor of a gifted sword. The Jianghu was a world of worldly wisdom and social favors! The millions of pitiful laborers lived and died in foreign lands amidst this "worldly wisdom," their families destroyed and their fates ignored.
Cheng Yu packed the intelligence and the confession together, tying them to the leg of a vigorous and sharp-eyed raptor perched on his shoulder. The Message Falcon took to the sky, heading toward the capital of the Great Qian. This was a method of communication available only to those at the rank of Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Commander or above, leading directly to the Emperor’s ears.
Cheng Yu gazed indifferently in the direction of Dragon Abyss Prefecture.
"I don't believe that even after all this, you can still sit steadily on your dragon throne and play dead."
He had previously reported through secret Jinyiwei channels that the situation behind the Dragon Abyss Path was no small matter, yet the Emperor of Great Qian had taken no action whatsoever. This time, he wanted to see if the kidnapping and enslavement of a million laborers by the Sword-Forging Manor—and the fact that there were no men for a thousand li in Dragon Abyss—could make the man on the throne tremble.
Aside from this, Cheng Yu naturally would not pin all his hopes on the Emperor's personal will. During his wine-fueled conversation with Zhao Yi yesterday, he had mentioned the matter. This former Grand Chancellor, whose disciples were spread throughout the court, would make arrangements.
"Lord Zhao is old as well... I wonder how much influence he still has in the court. Some people only wish for peace and prosperity so they can eat and wait for death."
"Come here." Cheng Yu summoned his subordinate Jinyiwei.
"Find people to spread news outside of the Dragon Abyss Path. Say that a Grandmaster Inheritance has been discovered at the foot of Sword-Forging Mountain, and that the Sword-Forging Manor has been excavating it for five years. He Qin has already entered the Ninth Rank; if he obtains the inheritance, his ascension to the tenth greatest sect in the world will be just around the corner!"
"Understood!" The subordinate Jinyiwei nodded, deeply shocked.
So the Sword-Forging Manor collected laborers to excavate an inheritance? As expected of Lord Cheng, to have uncovered such an earth-shattering secret!
Cheng Yu looked at his subordinate, who thought he had discovered a great secret, and gave a faint smile. He had no idea what the Sword-Forging Manor was digging for, and the "Grandmaster Inheritance" was merely a fabrication. But whether it was true or false did not matter; as long as the other sects in Jiangnan heard of it, it would be enough. Only through chaos could enough attention be drawn to deal with the mountain that was the Sword-Forging Manor.
***
Sword-Forging Manor.
No one here yet knew that the Jianghu was already starting to stir. Sect Master He Qin and the Martial Alliance Leader of the North, Great Hero Cheng, had been discussing martial righteousness and drinking heartily for three days.
During this time, Young Alliance Leader Cheng Feng had not been idle either. Relying on his strength and charisma, he had won over a crowd of Sword-Forging Manor disciples and was being hailed as a true hero.
The three of them had returned to their temporary guest quarters to wait for their sabers to be forged. They had just sat down and had not even had time to drink a cup of tea when they saw the red-eyed Cheng Yue and the sorrowful Cheng Si approaching to lodge a complaint.
"What is wrong with Yue'er and Si'er? Did someone bully you?" Zhao Xichun hurried over to pull Cheng Yue close, tidying the hair at her temples. Seeing her two beloved daughters so unhappy made her heart ache as a mother.
"What happened?" Cheng Zhenjiang was incredibly surprised. Both Yue'er and Si'er were trained in martial arts and were not the type to have weepy, petty temperaments. His anger flared at the thought of who could have upset his daughters so.
"Father, we encountered Cheng Yu..."
With eyes red from crying, Cheng Yue recounted the meeting with Cheng Yu under the incredulous and shocked gazes of her family.
CRASH!
After hearing his eldest daughter's story, Cheng Zhenjiang flew into a towering rage, smashing the teacup in his hand to pieces. The terrifying aura of a top-tier Ninth Rank martial artist surged violently, causing the entire house to shake.
"That rebellious son has gone too far! To dare speak so disrespectfully to his own kin and even brandish weapons!"
"I, Cheng Zhenjiang, have lived a life of integrity and justice. How could I have such a disgraceful son!"
When Zhao Xichun first heard her daughter had met her eldest son, she had been secretly happy, thinking there might be a chance for a reunion. She had not expected such a thing to happen. Cheng Yu still possessed that same violent nature, actually committing the appalling act of drawing a blade against his own sister. He even insisted on severing ties and remaining strangers to the Cheng family. The mere thought of it made her unable to stop her grief.
"Yu'er, how could you..."
Cheng Feng stood to the side, his eyes wide with both anger and shock. His eldest sister had actually been completely unable to fight back against that guy! Although there was the element of surprise, her Fourth Rank strength was not something that the waste from two months ago should have been able to touch.
He began to speculate in his heart. "How could he possibly have that kind of strength? It must be that Grandfather helped him!"
At this thought, Cheng Feng couldn't help but feel a sense of jealousy and anxiety. This emotion startled even himself, and he quickly comforted himself. Was an Imperial Hound even worthy of making him anxious? He was nothing more than a wild dog driven out of the house. In his eyes, the man was like an ant; he would surely be able to avenge the harm done to his family in the future!
"Aside from a few small mistakes, where have we ever wronged him!" Cheng Zhenjiang grew angrier the more he thought about it. He slapped the table and stood up.
"That rebellious son has no sense of morality. He strikes ruthlessly and fills his mouth with filthy slander! If we let him continue, he will surely lose all the face of my Cheng family!"
"It seems I must cripple him to save the Cheng family's reputation from being mocked by others!"
"Father!" Cheng Si trembled all over when she heard Cheng Zhenjiang say he was going to cripple Cheng Yu. She hurriedly grabbed Zhao Xichun’s sleeve.
"Mother, Second Brother just has a blunt personality; his nature isn't that bad. If Father cripples him in a moment of anger, with Second Brother's temperament, he will inevitably do something foolish!"
"If it reaches that point, I don't think it's something you or Father would want to see!" Since the last incident, she had learned to speak in a way that aligned with her parents' thoughts to avoid being suppressed at will.
Zhao Xichun trembled upon hearing this. She looked at Cheng Zhenjiang with anger. "How can you cripple our son! Even a tiger does not eat its cubs. If you did such a thing, would you still have the nerve to be called a Great Hero?"
"But he has already..."
"There are no 'buts.' Yu'er is still young and hasn't committed any heinous crimes. Can you not try harder to guide him?"
Hearing his wife speak this way, Cheng Zhenjiang’s anger subsided by half. Cheng Yu was his own flesh and blood, after all; if such a tragedy truly occurred, he would be unable to accept it.
As his thoughts churned, the voice of the Sword-Forging Manor Sect Master, He Qin, suddenly came from outside the door.
"Great Hero Cheng, I heard someone say your son struck a disciple of my manor. Surely there must be some misunderstanding?"
He Qin offered a greeting as he walked in. Cheng Zhenjiang’s face stiffened. He remembered that Cheng Yu had heavily wounded a disciple of the Sword-Forging Manor. He suppressed the towering rage in his heart. After a moment of hesitation, he glanced at his family and spoke plainly.
"There must be a misunderstanding. I only have one son, Feng'er. How could he have done such a thing?"