Chapter 437: Choice

If the Fan Clan was the sky above Xiayong City then the Qu Clan was the sky above all the great households and wealthy families like the Fan Residence.

So when troops flying Qu banners reached the city gates, the defenders did not even think of resisting or conducting inspections.

They opened the gates immediately.

The Qu army the **Azure Luan Army** entered Xiayong City directly.

And in the blink of an eye surrounded the Fan Residence completely.

Qu Peiluo, legitimate eldest son of the Qu Clan, entered through the main gates of the Fan Residence wearing full armor.

Along the route—

Fan household servants knelt everywhere.

When Qu Peiluo was about to enter the main garden—the place where the mourning hall stood—

Fan Zhengwen walked out through the garden gate.

Then knelt at Qu Peiluo’s feet.

“This slave, Fan Zhengwen, pays respects to the Young Master.”

Fan Zhengwen performed the full ceremony.

Because in Chu the Qu Clan was master.

And the Fan Clan was servant.

That master-servant relationship had already continued for one hundred and fifty years.

Generation after generation members of the Fan Clan had been born with the brand of Qu servant already stamped upon them.

Anything in this world whether good or bad once repeated often enough and maintained for long enough eventually became tradition.

The Qu Clan was the mountain pressing down on the heads of the Fan family.

Many generations of Fan descendants had already grown accustomed to it.

They developed their clan’s mercantile talents.

Then used those talents to support the Qu Clan.

Perhaps certain ancestors had also lain awake at night and thought about it.

Hesitated.

Felt anger.

Felt unwillingness.

But in the end life continued.

Fan Zhengwen however really did seem to have eaten until he was overstuffed.

Only someone already overfed would begin doing things ordinary people considered meaningless.

Most art in the world was probably created under the prerequisite that the artist had already eaten his fill.

The Princess knew she had been imprisoned inside the Fan Residence.

And now, the Princess had been sent out again.

Neither the Fan Clan nor Zheng Fan had left any coercive measure on her body.

Because there was no point.

Plant a gu?

Administer poison?

She was the Princess of a state.

The moment she recovered her freedom and status, any method you could imagine for controlling her she could find someone to remove.

She was a Princess.

So Fan Zhengwen understood perfectly well:

At this moment, the lives of everyone inside the Fan Residence rested entirely on Qu Peiluo.

Or more precisely on one thought from the Princess.

All the Princess needed to do was speak one sentence.

Give one instruction.

And Qu Peiluo could arrive without asking why and slaughter the entire Fan household.

The scent of incense and candles was extremely heavy.

From inside, the faint sound of monks chanting sutras could be heard.

Qu Peiluo bent down.

Reached out.

And personally helped Fan Zhengwen to his feet.

Then said:

“Uncle Fan, I am deeply saddened by Aunt’s passing as well.

“The moment I received the news, I hurried over.

“Too many things have happened recently, so I arrived in haste.

“I ask Uncle Fan not to take offense.”

“Young Master speaks too heavily.

“Too heavily.”

Qu Peiluo nodded.

Then spread both arms.

Two armored attendants behind him immediately stepped forward.

They draped white mourning cloth over him.

Then wrapped black mourning bands around his arms.

A short while later—

Qu Peiluo entered the main garden accompanied by Fan Zhengwen.

Before Madam Wen’s mourning hall he offered incense.

Once the rites were complete—

Qu Peiluo asked:

“Where is Shaoliang?”

“Reporting to Young Master—

“Shaoliang is ill.”

Qu Peiluo drew in a deep breath.

Then nodded.

“Shaoliang has suffered.”

Fan Shaoliang had grown up beside Qu Peiluo as a childhood companion.

Or more precisely as a study attendant.

This was the rule.

The next-generation heirs of the various families beneath the Qu Clan were sent while young to grow up alongside the core Qu Clan children.

“After some time passes, I’ll come call for Shaoliang again.

“Uncle, please take good care of him.”

“Young Master speaks too heavily.

“Shaoliang is, after all, my son.”

“Yes.”

Qu Peiluo raised one hand and lightly tapped his own forehead.

“These days have been so chaotic that even I’ve started saying foolish things.

“Fortunately—the matter has been resolved.”

“That person—has been found?” Fan Zhengwen asked.

Because the incident happened within Xiayong territory, the Fan Clan had also contributed manpower to the search for the Princess.

In truth, Fan Shaoliang had returned from Ju’an City partly to help Qu Peiluo search for his future wife.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of Qu Peiluo’s lips.

“No matter what happened—the important thing is that she has returned.

“State affairs come first.

“We younger people cannot keep creating trouble forever.

“Oh, right.

“Uncle, please tell Shaoliang for me:

“Have him rest properly and recover.

“Once my wedding is complete—

“I’ll take him north with me to kill Yan dogs.

“Shaoliang is younger than I am.

“But he has always yearned for the battlefield even more.”

“Many thanks for Young Master’s patronage.”

Qu Peiluo nodded.

Then left the Fan Residence.

The Qu private troops he had brought withdrew with him.

...

Beside the second-floor window of an inn in Xiayong County—

A’Ming stood sideways and watched the Azure Luan Army passing below.

He said:

“Looks like the Princess didn’t sell us out the moment she got home.”

Siniang replied:

“Whether she sells us out or not makes little difference.

“That Princess is fundamentally intelligent.

“She is only too young and lacks experience.

“She already guessed the Fan Clan.

“And we did keep her living inside the Fan Residence for several days.

“She should understand that if we dared do that—it means the Fan Clan had already prepared itself.

“So whether the Fan Clan is exterminated or not—what real difference does it make?

“What surprises me is that Fan Zhengwen actually stayed.”

Zheng Fan sat in a chair.

A peppermint candy rested between his teeth.

Hearing this he said:

“He’s a gambler.

“But I’m genuinely curious.

“There really are people who can toss the lives of their entire family onto the gambling table as chips without hesitating.

“Truthfully—

“I can sense that even Tian Wujing, in his heart, actually also...”

Siniang interrupted:

“Master probably just didn’t experience enough in your previous life.

“People who ran pyramid schemes and cheated their own relatives—or took out fraudulent loans and guarantees until their relatives’ families were ruined—there were plenty.

“If the profit is large enough—there are honestly quite a few people willing to destroy every relative outside their closest legitimate line.”

“Oh.

“So apparently I’m still too innocent.”

Zheng Fan smiled.

Then continued:

“Still—leaving the Fan Residence suddenly feels strange.”

Inside the Fan Residence they had lived in fine clothes and eaten rich food.

The days really had been comfortable.

But they could no longer stay there.

Because the Fan Residence had become a time bomb.

One that could explode at any moment.

Count Zheng had no desire to be buried together with the Fan family.

“Oh, right.

“Has San been notified?”

“Someone has already been sent.”

Siniang walked behind Zheng Fan.

She began massaging his shoulders.

Then continued:

“Truthfully, things are fine now too.

“All we need to do—is wait.”

“Doesn’t it feel naïve?

“A gamble where we place every chip in someone else’s hands?” Zheng Fan asked.

“Once the bets are placed, hands off.

“Master, there’s no point thinking about it anymore.

“It’s like bungee jumping.

“You entrust your life to one rope.

“Pretty exciting.”

A’Ming added:

“Either way, I’ve already come out ahead.”

...

“Have the Qu Clan matrons left?”

“Reporting to Your Highness—they have left.”

“Mm.”

Xiong Liqing lay on her side atop a rug.

A faint weariness lingered in her eyes.

Her disappearance had drawn the attention of countless people.

Especially the Qu Clan.

The Qu Clan had sent the most senior and respected matron in the family to inspect her.

That was entirely natural.

There had originally been such a procedure before the wedding anyway.

The more powerful an aristocratic clan became the more seriously it treated the purity of its bloodline.

Even a Princess marrying into the family could not escape those customs.

Because barring some accident the first son born by the Princess would inevitably become the next legitimate eldest son of the Qu Clan.

The stakes were simply too great.

Especially after the Princess disappeared and then returned.

According to ordinary thinking when something like that happened to a woman the first suspicion was naturally that she had lost her chastity.

The Qu Clan had rushed people over precisely to guard against that possibility.

The marriage had to proceed.

But if the Princess had lost her virginity then after the marriage, she would be quietly frozen out.

Even the Regent would have no choice but to tolerate that result.

Otherwise he would be forcing the Qu Clan to pollute its own direct bloodline.

At that point even if the Qu Clan did not originally intend to rebel it might be forced into rebellion.

Women when used as instruments of political exchange were usually the weaker side.

Few people truly cared about their feelings.

Even when the woman was a Princess.

Fortunately she was still untouched.

“I want to go outside and walk.

“It is too stuffy here.”

The Princess rose.

A maid helped drape a cloak around her shoulders.

Security inside and outside the detached residence was extraordinarily strict.

Yet the Princess could not feel the slightest sense of safety.

Because the elder brother she loved most had not specifically sent anyone to come and see her.

She was only his younger sister.

One ordinary younger sister.

The Princess walked to a side room.

A maid pushed open the door.

She entered.

Inside the smell of medicinal herbs was thick.

Someone lay on the bed.

The teenage boy who had “rescued” her.

When he took her out of the city he had not known her true identity.

After he learned he had fallen to his knees in shock.

She asked him:

For the merit of rescuing her what reward did he want?

He said he wanted time to think.

The boy’s surname was Zhao.

His given name was Cheng.

**Zhao Cheng.**

He was very clever.

Young as he was he had already gathered people around himself and formed a gang.

He carried tokens from multiple intelligence services.

Perhaps many years from now his name might have become known throughout the jianghu.

Unfortunately just like that day in the soup shop he had met Zheng Fan.

Or more precisely—

Zheng Fan had selected him.

From that moment onward his fate was no longer completely his own.

People in this world were like mayflies.

Very few could truly shake a great tree.

The overwhelming majority could only drift wherever the current carried them.

Xiong Liqing felt this Zhao Cheng was like that.

And so was she.

Inside his own tiny circle inside Antfolk Alley he too had been someone capable of stirring wind and rain.

And she inside the imperial palace in the eyes of most ordinary people was also an incomparably noble Princess.

Yet in the end the amount either of them could truly choose for themselves was painfully small.

The medicinal smell inside the room was too heavy.

It made Xiong Liqing feel slightly suffocated.

She wanted to leave.

But she also wanted to hear his answer.

Even though the answer was already almost obvious.

“Your Highness...”

Zhao Cheng, lying on the bed, saw Xiong Liqing enter.

Instinctively he tried to climb up and salute.

Beside him the little girl knelt on the floor.

Her eyes were red and swollen.

Clearly she had only just finished crying.

“This Princess has come to ask you again.

“What reward— do you want?”

Zhao Cheng grinned.

He had seen that man.

Back then in order to stay alive he followed the man all the way from the soup shop to the teahouse.

Then through the alleys.

Then into the cowshed.

He had seen the Princess willingly lean into that man’s arms.

He had even heard her say they would meet again.

So now when the Princess came to ask him once more what reward he wanted—

Zhao Cheng raised one hand.

And pointed toward his lower body.

The thick medicinal smell was coming from there.

He had castrated himself with his own hands.

Then applied medicine to the wound.

“This servant...

“This servant wants no reward.

“This servant only wishes to remain beside Your Highness— and serve you.”

[End of Chapter 437]