Chapter 427: Mass Chaos
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Right now, even without the presence of the Imperial Court, as well as the restriction of the imperial authority, Bright Jade City didn't fall into chaos like what everyone expected. Instead, the city officials all went about their duties like before, without the slightest disorder. As for the Yu Family, they were akin to a boulder that had been in place for the past ten thousand years, stable without moving. This made the various powers who came over to see a good show leave in disappointment.
The real chaos only started a few days ago, following successive events where the government building of Bright Jade City had mysteriously caught fire, with all the guards assassinated within! After that came a series of murders, and within a night, blood rained down, as at least five of the officials in the city were killed off one after another! This created a tempest within the city!
The five assassinated officials were in charge of the garrison, the prefectural magistrate, the justice ministry, and the military forces. All the important departments, smashing the entire administrative system of Bright Jade City to pieces! Furthermore, those with a keen eye could tell that this series of murders wouldn't just end there!
Indeed!
In the next three days, there were reported assassinations of at least 30 or more officials, and the entire Bright Jade City sunk into mass chaos!
"First Pavilion! What a good First Pavilion! They really have no limits to their methods!" Yu ManLou's eyes flashed dangerously, as he ruthlessly slapped the cabinet beside him. Without any sound or notice, the entire cabinet crafted from hardwood dissolved into powder in an instant!
A black-robed man floated into the room like an apparition.
"Reporting to Family Head. This subordinate has received news that the young master of the Shui Family, Shui QianHuan, had infiltrated Bright Jade City four days prior, and we are not currently aware of his whereabouts."
"Shui Family? Shui QianHuan?!" Yu ManLou repeated in a slight daze, as he tightly furrowed his brows. "Could it be that these matters were all done by the Shui Family, and not by Ling Tian?"
Yu ManLou's face sunk as he paced around the room. For the first time in his life, his face revealed uncertainty. "Invite the Second and Third Master over, and pass down the order for the entire capital to search and capture Shui QianHuan! If any obstruct the search, kill without mercy!"
"Understood." The black-robed man only spoke this word before vanishing into the darkness.
Yu ManLou lowly sighed, this was getting impossible to unravel!
First, the entire Northern Wei Imperial Family was annihilated, followed by the important guards being assassinated in batches in Bright Jade City. Yu ManLou had always been certain that this was the scheme of the Ling Family! It was likely that the filthy rich Ling Family had obtained the services of the First Pavilion, and the reason for it was, of course, revenge! This was still something that Yu ManLou could understand because if he was in that position this was something that he would also have done. However, to suddenly come out with this news made Yu ManLou suspect his own deductions!
If this matter was created by the Ling Family, then it wouldn't be difficult to solve. However, if this was the scheme of the Shui Family, then the problem would be far more complex. There were still two and a half years left to the Sixty Year battle, but the Shui Family had already infiltrated into Heavenly Star Continent on such a large scale, controlling Northern Wei to strike at the Sky Bearing Empire, and then now infiltrating into Bright Jade City. What were they up to?
There were still two and a half years left, could the Shui Family be in such a rush? Did they encounter some sort of problem?
Upon thinking of the last point, Yu ManLou could feel his own heart jump wildly! If this was the case, this would be a heaven-sent opportunity for him.
The thudding of heavy footsteps sounded, and a loud voice sounded, "Elder brother, Bright Jade City is already in chaos. You had better summon the first and third elders back. To allow them to stay at our in-law's place to eat and drink for free, however you look at it, doesn't seem right. To think that those two d*mned old fogies still have the cheek to do so! If it was me, I wouldn't be able to wash my shame clean! After all, we're still considered a thousand-year aristocratic family!"
Third Master Yu had arrived!
"Who dares to say that they are loafing around in Sky Bearing?" Yu ManLou coldly snapped. "I definitely want to remove them, but do my circumstances allow me to do so? Now the matter has escalated to a point where I can't remove them as and when I wish, now we're riding on the back of a tiger, it's already impossible to get off safely!"
"Would it be that those two old fogies dare to disobey your orders?" Yu ManTian jumped up in shock. "I'll go straight to Sky Bearing and drag them back then, darn it, and that's going easy on them! The last time I got smashed over by a kid. Now that this old man is recovered, I'm gonna go look to settle my score!"
"Hmph! Settle your score? Based on what I discovered, the person who wounded you the other time was the Martial Order Medallion owner, Justice! That person's martial arts are unrivaled below the heavens, without equal. Your revenge will go unfulfilled in this lifetime! You better stop having thoughts about it as soon as you can!" Yu ManLou heavily snorted, throwing a report over. "As for the matters at Sky Bearing, you had better look through this before we talk."
"Big Bro! It's impermissible to mock someone. I would rather be beaten to death than to allow myself to be frightened to death! It's not like you don't know my literary skill is limited, why do you make me suffer so…." Yu ManTian mumbled to himself, unwillingly taking the report over, and looking at the paper, he stared vacantly at it for a good while.
"It's the wrong side!" Yu ManLou finally noticed something wrong, and annoyedly slapped him on the head.
"Hurhur." Yu ManTian let out a silly grin, and reversed the paper, but continued to stare blankly for a good while, before sneaking a glance at Yu ManLou, and bashfully saying, "Big Bro, although I claim to be a scholarly and refined person, but I also know the meaning of not being ashamed to ask for opinion and help. Would you please help me and explain this, hehehe…"
"Scholarly and refined! You hooligan!" Yu ManLou couldn't help but curse. "What sort of sh*tty scholar are you, other than knowing how to fight and drink wine? You know nuts about poetry and songwriting, and can't even recognize basic words, how could you be a scholar? You're really throwing away my Yu Family's face!"
"Big Brother has made an error in his statement." Yu ManTian suddenly replied in delight. "At the Sky Bearing Literary meet, this third brother composed a martial poem on the spot, shaking the literary circle then…."
A refined voice suddenly cut in, sounding as though he was trying to hold back his laughter, "You mean your 'This daddy has a sword in hand' poem? Not bad, not bad, Big Brother and I have glanced through it before, and the imposing manner was indeed beyond normal, out of the common run! It was pretty sensible, out of our seven apertures, it went through at least six!" 1 Following the voice, Yu ManTang also walked in. He seemed to be in a good mood, and at least his dissatisfaction towards Yu ManLou had died down after knowing that Yu BingYan had been received into the Ling Family Courtyard.
Yu ManTian laughed out in delight, opening his large mouth, "Second Brother also recognizes my skill, hahaha, with it even passing through six apertures. Big Brother, see, hehe, I already said that after all, our Yu Family has a reputation of being a scholarly family, with refined scholars like me…"
"Shut up! You have no sense of shame, jerk! Do you think your second brother is praising you?" Yu ManLou was almost close to bursting a blood vessel.
Yu ManTian shrank backward and immediately inched towards Yu ManTang, grinning as he spoke, "Second Brother, take a look at what this paper says and tell me. I really can't understand a word on it!"
It was now that Yu ManTang chanced upon the paper, and after a glance, his facial expression changed as he spat out, "The first and third elders actually bought the former residence of the Yang Family in Sky Bearing, and even expanded it by near twofold its original size. They even bought over half the small shops in the Sky Bearing market, but how do they even have the human capital to operate them? Could it be… sss… this is…." Yu ManTang cut off his sentence with a sharp intake of breath at the end!
Yu ManTian immediately leaped up in anger, his face red with emotions, "D*mn it! I knew those two old fogies were up to no good. They took the pretext of forming relations to forcefully peel away at the Ling Family's ancestral tomb! Too much, this is too much!" He grabbed onto two fistfuls of his messy hair and continued in a heartbroken voice, "I was the one who caused all this to happen, I even went personally to propose a marriage, but to think that the foundations of the Ling Family is now being forcefully swallowed by these cruel and unscrupulous motherf**kers! How will I still have the face to meet my niece BingYan?! How will I have the face to meet my little brother Ling Tian! If this gets out, my niece will definitely meet with the cold looks of her husband's family. Second Brother, Old Third has let you down…."
"Enough! Are you done spouting nonsense! Do you even know what your second brother and I are actually worried about? Can you be more sensible? Your second brother is right, everything only passes through six apertures out of your seven apertures, it doesn't go through the last aperture!" Yu ManLou could no longer bear it anymore. "Is this matter about us peeling off the Ling Family's foundations? The Ling Family is about to gobble up our entire ancestral tomb, and you're actually complaining about unfairness for the Ling Family? You're incorrigible! An ignorant person!"
Yu ManTang sighed and added on, "Big Brother, we can't take this matter lightly. Right now Sky Bearing is akin to a muddy mire. For the two elders to enter is easy, but if they want to come out clean that is a difficult matter. Furthermore, their manpower is too scattered. If there's an incident, or to put it more bluntly, if the two elders meet with an accident we still can accept the loss, but Sky Bearing now has over fifty percent of our elite strength and that's something we can't afford to lose…"
Yu ManLou's face was heavy as he replied, "How could I not have thought of your worries? It's just that with things progressing to this point, there's no benefit for us to talk more about it. Since we've already gotten onto the back of the tiger, then we can only beat them at their own game. If all goes well, we could be the turtle-dove snatching away the magpie's nest."
"Beat them at their own game? Turtle-dove snatching the magpie's nest?" Yu ManTang furrowed his brows at this.
"I must admit, that the move of the Ling Family to loosen the reins only to grasp them better is a really great plan. Without even spending a single man from their side, they can trap all our elites back at Sky Bearing! And they even took this chance to gather their powers and tighten their fists. However, no matter how good their calculations are, they still will not dare to touch a single person of ours in Sky Bearing! After all, they're considered part of my Yu Family, and if they were to move rashly that would be equivalent to offending us! Quickly switch those white and purple jade experts over. If the timing is right, not only will we stand to gain, but we can even make Sky Bearing into our second base."
"How are we going to find so many specialized workers in such a short time? If we shift too much of our manpower from here, then the strength of Bright Jade will become frail and conspicuous! The various businesses in our area will also be affected." Yu ManTang let out a bitter laugh, "This move of the Ling Family could be said to be a little too cunning."
"The current manpower here will remain unmoved, try your best to shift from other locations, and take whatever you can get!" Yu ManLou resolutely spoke, "Also, is there any news regarding Ling Tian?"
Yu ManTang nodded his head, "I just received the news from the Soul brothers, apparently the concealed Above Heavens people have been attaching themselves to the Xiao Family and are currently the supporting strength behind them. They activated over fifteen first-rate experts for this mission, supposedly to kill Ling Tian, but no one knows why they suddenly decided to surround Justice instead. Both sides had a tremendous battle, most likely ending with injuries on both parties. Ling Tian has taken this chance to disappear!"
Yu ManLou staggered and almost fell down. Straightening himself, he could only curse loudly with indignance, "Sons of b*tches, those Above Heavens people! A bunch of mongrel breeds! If they wanted to conceal themselves, then do it all the way, why come out now and spoil everything?!"
This was the first time the Yu Family Head, Yu ManLou, appeared so emotional!