8th Day of the Second Month in the Year 736 NCE.
Fu Family Manor. Resplendent Virtue District. Miu Aislu City.
“My Lord, I beg you! Please save my father!” Tie Yu screamed her lungs out as two of the Fu Family Manor’s guards dragged her by her hair. “My Lord! Please! Please save my father!! He is innocent!”
Tie Yu’s pleas went mostly unanswered, except for a backhanded strike by the guards dragging her.
“Silence!” barked the guard.
The guard’s strike did little to quieten Tie Yu’s struggle as she quickly returned to her maddened calls for help. Still, it all proved useless as the Fu Family Manor coldly and distantly watched the pitiful young woman. Their decision in this matter was evident from their silence.
Elsewhere within the manor, a handsome-looking young man stood biting his lips with clenched fists. The echoes of Tie Yu’s calls for help were dismissively faint where he stood. However, his cultivation ensured that each of her cries, which were as faint as the beating of a fly’s wings, resounded as dramatically as the rings of an ancient temple bell.
Shame, fury, and helplessness appeared on the handsome young scion’s face as each syllable of the distant cries of his wronged lover fell like lashes on his heart. Unable to contain his emotions after a while, the young man opened his tear-ridden eyes and softly cried, “Grandfather.” His voice held a similar plea as that of his lover.
The firm, stalwart figure of a stately old man stood with his back turned before the young scion. This figure stood before the tall windowpanes of the room, looking out into the exquisite gardens of the family manor.
“Xiao Ming,” the stately old man, draped in the shadows of the chambers, shook his head in response to his dearest grandson’s request. “Forget this matter and let go of the affections in your heart. The will of the Hegemon of these lands is not something that our insignificant little family can oppose.”
“Forget it?” the handsome young man laughed brokenly. “How can I simply forget it, grandfather? How can I forget our affections? Our love? The promise that we had made to stand by each other through sickness and health?”
“Do you remember, grandfather? You had once told me that the Fu Family had gotten to where it stands today not through its wealth, connections, or guile, but because it valued promises and held weight in its every word unlike any of the other families. And yet, here you are today, telling me to forget.”
With tears streaming down his face, the handsome young scion shook his head. “No, grandfather. I choose not to forget. I want to keep my promise to Yu’er.”
“Damn this city! Damn the Hegemon! Damn the strong bullying the weak!! I choose not to scamper and hide away like the rats!”
“Banish me if you want. Expunge my name from the family records! But I’ll be damned if I don’t die trying to honour my promise!” The young scion sharply declared and turned around to march away with determined steps.
Listening to his declaration, Old Master Fu stood frozen with surprise for an instant before recovering his thoughts with a heavy sigh. He then softly spoke into the air, “Knock out the Young Master and confine him to his room. Let him… sleep for a while.”
The instant he had finished speaking, shadowed figures pounced upon the retreating scion and swiftly knocked him out before taking him away to complete the Old Master’s orders. The stately Old Master Fu remained gazing blankly at the immaculate gardens of the family manor as he lost himself to his thoughts.
A long while later, he quietly whispered to himself. “If the Emperor wants your head, you can only choose to offer it to him upon a platter.”
‘Oh, Mu Household… how you’ve crippled our future.’
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Hours went by after Tie Yu was cast out of the gates of the Fu Family Manor and not once had the young woman stopped her pleas for help. Her hoarse cries, unkempt hair, and cracked skin made her appear as a vexed spinster rather than a graceful and charming young woman who was at the peak of her femineity.
For hours on end, she begged and pleaded for help to any and all whom her voice could reach. She begged because truth be told, that was all that she could do.
In a single day her small, happy family was ruined. Their name had been tarnished to the point that even maggots were more valued. All of their friends and associates had coldly washed their hands off and had turned their backs.
In the end, even the household of her lover and fiancée, the man whom she had given her eternal promise to, had cast her out into the gutter.
“Oh Heavens! Why is this happening to our family!? Just what is our sin!? Was it wrong to live!? Was it wrong to seek comfort!? Why did you give us our lives if you had only wanted to cruelly snatch it away!?!”
“Why must you be unfair, Heavens!? Why must you be cruel!?!”
“Why!? Why!?! WHY!?!” Tie Yu let out maddened screeches towards the rapidly darkening skies. Passersby and pedestrians stopped their walks and distantly watched the pitiful figure of the young woman. Her words resounded in the hearts of one and every and yet none stepped out to offer their help towards this young woman.
Time slipped by uncaringly as dusk turned to dark. Soon, once the novelty of Tie Yu’s pathetic appearance wore off, the world and its people returned to their lives, leaving her to her own.
As a mere mortal woman, Tie Yu had long since lost her energy to continue her struggle. However, she refused to lose her voice. It was unknown what power she called upon but not once in her hours-long demonstration did she quieten.
Still, even mysterious forces like hope and will have their limits and before long, Tie Yu had reached hers. Her consciousness was blurring and her mind was on the verge of falling into darkness.
Just as she had reached her weakest, most vulnerable moment, a voice that could make one’s skin crawl with disgust and terror entered her ears. “Hihihi~ Quite the figure you’ve got there, young lady. Tell me, would you be interested in working for me?”
These words, which would make any conscious person frown and reply negatively to its offer, arrived as the greatest source of comfort for Tie Yu at this time. With what little energy she had managed to gather, she asked but a single question.
“Will… you… save… my… father?”
“Hihihi~ Of course, of course. However, the price won’t be cheap, mind you,” replied that sinister voice.
“Then… I… accept.” The instant she spoke those words, Tie Yu’s body went limp and her mind went unconscious. A large, darkened figure caught her limp body and carried it to an alleyway, ways off of the bustling streets and crowds. It then proceeded to touch and grope her all over before breaking out into boisterous laughter.
“Hahaha! This truly is the City of Fortune! To think that I would randomly run into such a fine product that has been cast aside! The Heavens really are favouring me!”
“Jade Dragon Casino! All your wealth tonight shall belong to me! Hihihi!~”
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Iron Needle Pavilion.
Mu Household.
A weary-looking interrogator exited one of the torture cells deep underneath the earth of the Iron Needle Pavilion. After tightly shutting the cell doors upon his exit, the man paused to look at his bloodied gloves and apron before quietly muttering to himself.
“What a tough bastard.”
Just then, a familiar voice spoke up from behind him. “You stayed behind quite late today. Did he talk?”
Turning around, the interrogator shook his head and replied to his colleague. “Not a word. His mouth is shut tighter than the asses of those old eunuchs working at the main residence.” Both men laughed at the quip.
“Anyhow, what brings you here?” asked the interrogator.
“You, actually. I’ve been sent to inform you to stop your interrogation and process the prisoner. The Elders are passing their judgement tomorrow.”
“So soon?” frowned the interrogator. “But I’ve yet to draw out a confession from him.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. The Disciplinary Hall has already gathered all the required evidence. The man’s son turned himself in earlier today and confessed to his father’s crimes. It was quite unbelievable.”
The interrogator was stunned by this news. “What?”
“Bizarre, isn’t it? None of us could believe it at first. We even suspected that someone was influencing the boy to do this. However, all our tests and subsequent investigations ended up finding no signs of coercion or foul play. It turned out that the boy was indeed selling out his father.”
“What did he want in return? Surely, he must’ve wanted something great for performing such a despicable act?”
“That’s what’s even more bizarre. The boy wanted nothing. He said that he could no longer bear the sins and dishonesty of his father against the Sovereign and wanted to right the wrongs. It was honestly quite an unbelievable thing to witness. Never has something similar occurred in all my years as an inspector.”
“That’s because never has such a thing occurred in the history of this world. A son selling out his own father, and that too for nothing? That’s the most blatant load of horseshit.”
“Be that as it may, the higher-ups have decided to proceed with the judgment. The case has been closed and the verdict has been decided.”
“What’s the final call?”
“Death by—”