Seeking Truth with a Sword

Cheng Juxiu asked gently, "Has the Lu Family ever bullied men and women, or oppressed good people?"

"No, no," Lu Wenlin said, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. "No one in the family would dare do such a thing."

Cheng Juxiu continued, "Then, have you ever unscrupulously seized wealth or plotted to take others’ riches?"

"No, no," Lu Wenlin said, wiping sweat from his brow. "I’ve instructed all the businesses under my purview to trade respectably. We wouldn’t dare violate Yu Law."

Cheng Juxiu nodded. "Then, have your male and female servants ever been treated like dogs and pigs, arbitrarily beaten and scolded?"

"This..." Lu Wenlin’s expression stiffened. He stammered, "I never interfere with matters of the inner household."

Ms. Tian’s face turned deathly pale in an instant, but Cheng Juxiu didn’t even glance at her as he continued, "Then, in the inner household, there surely hasn’t been any abuse of concubines, or secret drownings of infants born to them, right?"

THUD.

Ms. Tian, terrified, staggered backward several steps. Her back hit the edge of a wooden table, tipping over an expensive ceramic bowl and sending snow swallow and winter melon bird’s nest soup spilling across the tabletop.

"Ju- Juxiu," Ms. Tian stammered, trembling all over. "I am your aunt. We’re family..."

"Shut up."

With a flick of his hand, Cheng Juxiu’s Flying Sword suddenly unsheathed and shot towards Ms. Tian’s brow, slicing a narrow gash across her forehead.