Grandfather Mu's roar instantly turned the tables on him.

Wuzhi's pupils narrowed as the guards lunged toward him. He simply could not allow himself to be captured here. Who knew how many assassinations and how much trouble he would face during his capture? Also, unlike what he had manipulated these people into believing, his combat strength was nowhere near the Rank 5 cultivation that he had shown.

The young scholar was desperate. His back was pushed against a wall; he was between a rock and a hard place.

'Should I use that technique again?' He thought about using the technique which he had used to deal with the Iron Rhino Tribe. Using that technique, not only could he avoid capture but there was also a chance that he could forcibly alter the minds of the people present here and make them all unconditionally trust and accept him.

However, there was a slight problem with employing that dangerous technique. 'There is a very real chance that my psyche would instantly collapse the second I activate that technique, killing me instantly.' He almost already died once when employing this technique against the Iron Rhino Tribe.

It was only through the miraculous mercy of the heavens that he had managed to come out of that incident alive, albeit with severe injuries that he had yet to find a way to heal.

'Do I count on heaven's bestowment again? But I cannot estimate how much damage I will suffer. I am very nearly crippled as it is.' Wuzhi feared that his years of effort would all go down the drain should he make the wrong choice.

Losing progress was not what he feared the most. Wuzhi feared that lose the opportunity to answer the call of the heavens and fail in his duty as heaven's emissary.

Time was short and he was already delayed as it was. The young scholar could not afford to lose any more time.

Just as the dozen armoured guards, all of whom were Rank 5 at minimum, were about to grab Wuzhi, a heart-shaking bellow tore through the Cloud Crane Pavilion.

"Wutian! You son of a b*tch! I swear! If you hurt a single hair on that boy, I promise that I will kill you in your sleep!" Grandmother Mu roared a shocking statement.

Grandfather Mu froze. Wuzhi froze. The armoured guards who were inches away from subduing the scholar froze. Everyone within the Cloud Crane Pavilion froze.

Truth be told... Grandmother and Grandfather Mu had long since fallen out of love. Even after being reunited with her long-lost son, Grandmother Mu still hadn't forgiven Grandfather Mu for his failure back then. Her resentment and loathing toward her husband hadn't disappeared anywhere.

The only reason why the two of them had even stayed together was because; one, it would not look good in the eyes of the public should they divorce, and two, they feared that their son Mu Wudi would come to resent himself for their separation.

Such being the case, the two of them put on an elaborate act every time they appeared in public. They even kept up this act before their own relatives and closest family members, including their son.

The two grandparents held not a trace of affection toward each other and did not share the same residence, let alone a bed. Grandfather Mu had his own set of lovers and Grandmother Mu was the same. The two of them were only married in name, and for nearly thirty years they had successfully kept up this ruse.

Only now, in her state of extreme agitation, Grandmother Mu had ruthlessly torn apart the façade of their relationship.

Grandfather Mu was shocked and enraged at Grandmother Mu's words. Blood poured into his head as he nearly slapped her to death in front of the entire family. However, just as he was about to lose control, he furiously bit on his tongue and reigned in his emotions. He knew that he could not be rash like his wide and could not allow the situation to deteriorate any further.

Forcing a smile on his face, he tried to alleviate the situation. "Haha, my wife. How could you be so cruel in your words when I was simply looking out for you?" He then eyed Grandmother Mu to go along with his words.

Unfortunately for him, Grandmother Mu was no longer in the mood to continue with their ruse. She had grown tired; so very tired of this man, this family, and everything. It also did not help that her precious son, the only thing that she cared about in this world, was suffering from a danger that threatened to separate him from her once again.

These recent few months –with the Golden Sovereign trapped in a coma- had reminded her of the sixteen years she had spent separated from her son; a time that was filled with hatred, self-loathing, and self-harm. Alas, unlike then, she was no longer young but old and bitter. Also, unlike then, she had no hope to cling to.

Grandmother Mu screamed. "Looking out for me? You base, cheating bastard! If you had ever cared for me, you wouldn't have lost my son all those years ago! Do you think I don't know the reason you took my son out that day? You think that I don't know that you wanted to show him and brag about him in front of your mistresses!?"

Grandfather Mu's face paled as he recalled that sealed-up, forgotten memory.

Grandfather Mu was a rampant philanderer before his marriage and nothing had changed even after it. Although he had promised his new wife and her family that he would cut all of his illicit outside ties, Grandfather Mu had not done so and had even grown the number of women that he was secretly seeing.

After his first son –Mu Wudi- was born, Grandfather Mu greatly bragged about him to his mistresses. He even teased that they had to 'work harder' to beat that uptight shrew that he called his wife if they wanted to keep their position in his heart.

One day, his youngest, most favourite secret mistress suddenly requested that she wanted to see his son. Grandfather Mu was initially hesitant; however, after some sweet coaxing later, he promised to fulfil her request and brought along his infant son when they had their clandestine meeting the next time.

Unbeknownst to Grandfather Mu, this favourite mistress of his was an agent under the command of one of his enemies. The meeting turned out to be a huge trap that not only dealt severe injuries to him but also caused him to lose his son.

When this news was relayed back to his family and his wife, the latter had completely lost it. She nearly succeeded in murdering him that very night and was only thwarted in the last second by her own family; who still required Grandfather Mu, the then Patriarch, to live so that they could continue to possess a favourable person in an important position within the Mu Household.

Grandmother and Grandfather Mu's relationship had fractured completely and the severe injury which he had been dealt resulted in an inability to produce any more offspring. Grandmother Mu's family had been greatly disappointed by this news but had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill owing to the sunk cost fallacy.

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In the Cloud Crane Pavilion, Grandfather Mu shivered and trembled in his seat as he recalled this memory; it was the darkest period of his life.

Meanwhile, Grandmother Mu ignored his reactions and continued to shrilly scream. "You call yourself a man! But is that even allowed when that filthy thing between your legs can shoot nothing but blanks? Hah! Some 'manly man' you are!!"

"I am sick of our ruse! I am sick of pretending like I give a damn about you! I am sick of feeling your hand touching me whenever we are in front of someone! I am sick of everything!!"

She then turned towards Wuzhi, tears streaming down her face. "Child, I believe in your words. I trust your claims."

He rose from her seat and descended the marble stairs. "Your mother," she spoke as he neared Wuzhi, "was a divine angel. She returned to me, my son. She protected him, led away the enemies who were coming after his life, and sacrificed herself; all just to keep him safe."

She stopped before Wuzhi and gazed up into his beautiful eyes. "For all these years, I have remembered her deeds. My only regret is that I never got the opportunity to hold her legs and thank her."

Grandmother Mu then suddenly dropped to her knees and held Wuzhi's feet. "Thank you! Thank you so much for bringing me, my son! Thank you so much! Thank you!!" She cried and thanked him.

The Cloud Crane Pavilion stood completely still and silent. Only the frantic cries of Grandmother Mu's thanks were heard.

The Mu Family, its elders, Wuzhi's half-siblings and cousins, everyone was shocked by this sudden outburst of Grandmother Mu and at the reveal of this shocking and ugly truth. They gazed at the pallid Grandfather Mu, and then looked at the crying Grandmother Mu, before finally settling their gaze on Wuzhi.

The Golden Sovereign's life had been saved and he had even been safely delivered back to his ancestral home by this beautiful young scholar's mother. The Mu Household, which had been on the verge of twilight back then, had been delivered its hope by that fairy.

Could the Mu Household ever have reached its current position had the young Golden Sovereign died in his youth? Just how much did they owe her? Was this even a debt that could be repaid?

Perhaps, they ought to be like Grandmother Mu and fall to their knees to thank the youth in the steed of his mother. But how could they? They were prideful seniors. They could not remember the last time that they had kneeled before anybody. It was always the contrary where others kneeled to them.

How then could they repay their debt? Did they even have the face to do so; after having remained quiet when Mu Junhao had thrown wild accusations at the youth?

Most shocked by this outcome were Wuzhi's direct half-siblings. They had never expected the harmony between their favourite grandparents to be a complete lie and façade. Second Young Master Junhao was especially shocked; Grandmother Mu, after all, belonged to the same family as his mother! In other words, he was also a junior of Grandmother Mu's family and was morally bound to join her in her thanking of Wuzhi.

After all, hadn't Grandmother Mu's family used the fact that they were the direct maternal family of the Golden Sovereign to push forward with an unimaginable amount of deals? Shouldn't they at least offer thanks to the benefactor who made such a future possible?

In this chaotic mess of emotions, feelings, and agendas, a clear voice cut through the heavy air with a song, drowning everyone inside the Cloud Crane Pavilion in its beauty.

The crowd was startled by the sudden and beautiful voice, before finding themselves hopelessly enthralled in the song's beauty. Even Grandmother Mu, who hadn't stopped her thanks for a single instant, was quietened by that song.

With a clear voice and pleasant smile, Wuzhi sang.

"I'm just a poor, wayfaring stranger,

I'm travelling through, this world with woe,

And yet there's no sickness, toil nor danger,

In that bright land, to which I go,

I'm going there, to see my father,

I'm going there, no more to roam,

I'm only going over heaven,

I'm only going over home."

The simple and beautiful melody carried only by the tone of his voice struck the deepest and most tender chords of his listener's hearts. His listeners found themselves falling deeper and deeper into the melody and found themselves sympathizing with its lyrics.

By the time Wuzhi reached the second stanza, most of the people within the pavilion had begun crying and sobbing. Grandmother Mu, especially, cried the loudest of them all.

Curiously though, these intermittent and unsynchronized sobs did not detract from his song as he continued to sing. The cries of his audience somehow seemed to tune alongside the song and elevate it to an entirely different level.

If it was not already clear, Wuzhi was currently employing a technique that used the [Emotion Path] and a rare minor path called [Music Path], to resonate feelings of sympathy, guilt, and pity, to leave an indelible mark in the hearts and minds of all these people.

Wuzhi knew that he was a tragic character who had lived a pitiful life in the past. And he had no qualms about using that tragic background to instil a favourable impression on the hearts and minds of these people. This small action of his today will prove to be a political asset of unimaginable value in the future. Wuzhi was certain of this.

He had known nothing about the ugly truth between his grandparents or of his mother's deeds in the past. However, when he sensed that this was the perfect opportunity to cast an impeccable foundation using his tragic story, Wuzhi did not hesitate.

One mustn't underestimate the importance of story and narrative in the lives of successful leaders. There was a reason why ancient rulers and emperors were so keen on surpassing their ancestors and leaving an indelible mark on history.

'It doesn't matter who you are in reality. It only matters who you 'appear' to be. Take me for instance; in reality, I'm only an aged scholar without the strength to even truss up a chicken. In effect, however, the mere mention of my name causes those so-called 'Rulers' and 'Great Ones,' to sh*t their pants and quake in their boots.' His teacher, Heaven Scheming Devil, had taught Wuzhi this.

'You want fans? Give people something to root for. You want supporters? Make up a story about some great cause. You want war? Incite the people to hate something about the enemy!'

'It's not facts and logic that move people, kid. It's elaborately designed stories and narratives that tell you what to think and feel. That is how the world works. How it always has worked.'

He held nothing back and employed every ounce of his internal energy to power his techniques while singing. Halfway through, he was even struck with inspiration that allowed him to weave a part of his self-created technique to enhance the effect.

Wuzhi sang with nothing but his powerful and gentle voice. When he finished singing his last line, he heard complete silence and saw that everyone had fallen into a daze.

The young scholar smiled victoriously. There had been many twists and turns leading up to this moment; however, he was immensely satisfied with how it had ended. With this, he had more or less cemented this place in the family. Nobody would dare to question his origin or heritage anymore.

Wuzhi thought about his plans for after. He needed to strike the iron while it was still hot and rapidly capitalize on the effects of this after-song sympathy to steal many benefits. Innumerable thoughts clashed, and the best possible course of action appeared in his mind.

Seeing as the crowd was slowly coming out of their collective daze, Wuzhi opened his mouth to deliver the speech that he had prepared. However, he immediately realized that he could not move his mouth.

'Weird,' he thought. 'Why can't I move my body? Also, is it just me or is the world moving slower than usual?'

Just as he pondered on this weirdness, Wuzhi felt a dense pain pulsate from his chest –it came from where his heart was. Following the pain, he felt a numbing paralysis in his limbs that slowly spread from his shoulders and thighs to the tips of his fingers and toes.

'Strange. Very strange. I've never felt anything like this ever before,' he thought to himself. His gaze shifted and he saw people looking at him with horror and panic. 'Why are they looking at me like that?'

Wuzhi slowly felt his gaze shift. He saw his vision falling lower and lower.

'Am I falling? But how? I never moved?' His vision fell until it hit the ground. Following that, darkness crept in from the corners of his vision and encroached into his sight. It took him a moment but the scholar finally arrived upon the truth.

'Am I having a heart attack?'

Before he could arrive at the truth that this was indeed a heart attack and that it was caused by an 'episode,' Wuzhi was consumed by darkness.