The discord between the Cai and Wei families dates back more than three generations.
Back then, the Cai patriarch's full sister married a Wei family scion. This young Master Wei had a fiery temper and would often beat his wife in a fit of rage.
The Cai daughter endured it for five years until she could bear it no longer. She secretly sent a message to a loyal retainer who had once been infatuated with her but was forced to transfer away after her marriage.
Upon hearing the news, the loyal servant arrived and disguised himself as a bandit on the official road, killing Master Wei. He then fled the Wei family with the Cai daughter and her pair of young children.
Originally, everything should have ended there. After all, the group of Wei family members present at the time were all killed, and the carriage was driven off a cliff, creating the illusion of an out-of-control fall. Three mutilated corpses were even arranged at the bottom.
But man proposes, God disposes. No one expected a hunter to witness everything, and this hunter was unexpectedly found by the Wei family.
That was a big deal. The Wei family exploded and demanded an explanation from the Cai family.
At that time, the patriarch of the Cai family had recently been replaced by the Cai daughter's full brother. Because of the large age difference between the siblings, the Cai patriarch treated his sister like a daughter. Seeing the Wei family come to the door, demanding the Cai family hand over the person and personally execute him, how could he submit? Not only did he refuse to hand him over, but he also bluntly stated that Master Wei had a flawed character and deserved to die, and that his family's retainer was merely carrying out justice on behalf of heaven.
When these words were released, it was a disaster, infuriating the Wei family.
The deceased Master Wei was of the direct line and had considerable ability. In their view, apart from the minor flaw of being prone to anger, this person was definitely a pillar of the Wei family, and could even rank in the top five of the massive Wei clan.
The discord between the Cai and Wei families, from that moment on, was like a broken mirror that would continue to bump and scrape in the future.
For the next two generations, there were no more marriages between the younger generations.
Setting aside this old grudge, the recent drunken murder case was no small matter.
The official position of Commandery Commandant was slightly higher than that of Division Commandant.
In other words, Wei Conglin, a subordinate, had actually beaten his superior to death.
According to the laws of the Great Yan, an official who committed patricide or murdered a superior should receive sixty lashes and be sentenced to having his head shaved, wearing an iron collar, and pounding grain for building city walls for five years.
This meant that he would first be beaten sixty times with a whip or wooden board, have all his hair and beard shaved off, wear a highly insulting iron collar around his neck, and then be sent to build city walls.
"...Father, these sixty lashes will cost your son his life! The people in charge of criminal law include members of the Cai family. They will definitely have someone beat me to death." Wei Conglin knelt before his father.
His younger brother, Wei Congsen, was very helpless. "Second Brother, why were you so impulsive? If you couldn't get along with Cai Pei, just cursing a few words would have been enough. Why did you beat him to death? The Cai family finally managed to raise a Commandery Commandant, and now he's gone. They will never let this go."
"I-I did beat him, but I didn't strike to kill! How could I possibly beat someone to death?" Wei Conglin felt extremely wronged.
His older brother, Wei Congmu, coldly scoffed. "You just beat a servant to death after drinking last year. How many times have I told you that drinking ruins things, and told you to drink less, but you just wouldn't listen."
Wei Conglin said in a low voice, "That day was Zou Yude's birthday banquet. I've always had a good relationship with him, so naturally I had to be there. With the atmosphere so lively, it's inevitable that I drank a little too much. Cai Pei's death is also strange. Who knows if he didn't already have poor health..."
"Crash."
Someone at the head of the table smashed a teacup, and Wei Conglin hurriedly hushed.
Father Wei looked at his second son with disappointment. "The clan spent a lot of effort cultivating you to push you to the position of Division Commandant, thinking that you would be promoted another level in a few years. But look at you, causing trouble outside. You haven't helped the family much, and now you've got your father worrying about wiping your ass."
Feeling the overt and covert accusatory gazes on him, Wei Conglin felt suffocated.
The authority of a Division Commandant was not low. Outside, he could get whatever he wanted, and there were plenty of people flattering him. Now, returning home to be reprimanded, even his third brother, who held no official position, dared to covertly accuse him.
"Father, although my sister has been gone for fifteen years, the Marquis of Wu'an hasn't remarried all these years. In the end, the relationship between the Qin and Wei families is far beyond what other prominent families can compare to. Could we have someone go to the Qin family and pull some strings? If the Qin family steps forward, the Cai family will definitely not dare to act recklessly," Wei Conglin suggested.
As soon as these words came out, the study fell silent for a few breaths.
Father Wei pinched the bridge of his nose. "Have Lady Cheng go to the Qin family to find Qinian. Lady Cheng is Qinian's aunt. She has frequently visited the Qin family over the years. It couldn't be more appropriate for her to act as a bridge."
Just as these words fell, the panicked voice of a servant came from outside. "Master, many people from the government office have come, saying... they want to take Division Commandant Wei away for interrogation."
"Outrageous! They actually came to our home to arrest someone!"
This was an arrest.
"Quickly find Fifth Sister!" Wei Conglin said to his younger brother.
*
At the same time, the Marquis of Yuyang's Residence.
"Uncle Yan, why are you back? Are you here to tell me that Father has relented and is summoning me to the front lines?"
The sixteen-year-old youth was dressed in a red and black mixed martial arts outfit. The lower half of his face resembled his biological father, but his eyes were more like his biological mother's—pitch black, with somewhat blunt and round inner corners.
He had a chair but refused to sit on it, preferring to sit on a wooden chest, swinging his legs, with a piece of grass of unknown origin dangling from his mouth.
Before Yan San could speak, the youth continued talking to himself, "The injuries I suffered in the Northern Kingdom have been healed for hundreds of years. Old Mr. Ding also checked me out, and there's nothing wrong. They all say father and son are the best soldiers on the battlefield. It makes no sense for Father to go on this expedition without taking me along."
"Third Young Master, the Marquis wants you to go to the military camp in the suburbs," Yan San said.
Qin Qinian, who had been lazy and scattered, suddenly perked up. He spat out the grass in his mouth. "Really? Don't fool me. Last time I secretly went to the military camp and was discovered, Eldest Brother punished me by making me copy books, just as Father said. Oh my, whenever I look at a book, my head spins and swells. Those words are like dancing; it's better to just beat me up."
Yan San: "I'm not lying to you. There's just one thing: the Marquis wants you to follow my arrangements in the military camp, and you are not to return to the residence for a short period of time."
Qin Qinian leaped down from the chest. "Listen, listen, listen, I'll listen to Uncle Yan for everything. Let's go right now. I'm going to be a great general in the future. If I'm a step late, who knows, I might become one a day later."
Yan San didn't say anything else, merely leading the person away.
An hour after they left, a carriage hanging a wooden plaque of the Wei clan arrived at the Qin residence.
This carriage was not unfamiliar to the Qin residence. The guards at the gate knew why the person in the carriage had come. Usually, she would be allowed in directly after being announced, but today the guard said:
"The Third Young Master left the residence an hour ago and is not here now."
The lady was surprised. "Qinian is actually not here. Did he say when he would return?"
The guard shook his head.
"Alright, then I'll come back tomorrow."
*
Longxing Temple, behind the mountain gate.
A servant hurried over. "Sir, this is a reply from White Elephant."
Liudao sat by the window in the room. Many things were spread out on the desk in front of him, the most numerous being small boxes, small in volume, similar to a lady's rouge box.
"Put it on the desk," Liudao said calmly.
The servant put down the letter and left the room.
Liudao unscrewed one of the small boxes, revealing that it was filled to the brim with yellow powder. He used a small wooden spoon to scoop out a little, first placing it into a clay bowl.
Before Liudao could open another small box, footsteps sounded from outside.
A tall, slender white figure walked in from outside. "Uncle, I have returned."
The newcomer was Diting.
Seeing the items on Liudao's desk, he raised his eyebrows slightly. "You are making new medicine again."
Speaking of "medicine," Diting's expression gradually grew heavy. "Uncle, I heard that the Marquis of Wu'an has been arresting people lately. His men are active everywhere in Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and the Northern Territories, and they have captured quite a few of our key members. It is truly strange. How did the Marquis of Wu'an learn the locations of our strongholds?"
Recently, things had been very turbulent within the cult.
The impact from the Northern factions was especially massive. The North dispatched troops to arrest people, charging straight at the strongholds and catching them accurately every single time, almost as if they knew in advance!
"We have a spy," Liudao said with a mild expression.
Diting froze, his face changing drastically. "A spy? What spy could know our stationed points in such detail?"
"Back then, the Marquis of Wu'an followed Mingdeng to Xia Valley." Liudao only said this one sentence.
Diting subconsciously replied, "Uncle, you suspect Mingdeng? Impossible! He came to the Green Lotus Cult at the age of ten. Over the years, he has gone through thick and thin for us. He had never come into contact with the Marquis of Wu'an before. How could he betray us just because of one small act of mercy from the other party? Not to mention, Mingdeng has been taking the divine medicine all these years. If he leaves us, where would he get the medicine?"
Liudao pointed at an unopened letter on the desk with a small wooden spoon. "I did not assign any mission to Mingdeng. This is a letter that White Elephant just delivered. You may open it yourself."
Hearing this, Diting reached out to take the letter and quickly broke the wax seal. He read it rapidly.
The more he read, the more bizarre his expression became.
At that time, Mingdeng had told him that he received a newly assigned mission from above and had another place to go, so he would not travel with them.
He had not thought much of it then, only assuming that his uncle had given Mingdeng another task. He never expected that this was not the case.
Now White Elephant said he was unaware, and everyone in the cult who could command Mingdeng stated that they had never issued any orders. Could it really be...
"Why is this? He has stayed in the cult for nine years. How could he switch sides just because of a few words from the Marquis of Wu'an? Did the Marquis of Wu'an feed Mingdeng some kind of bewitching potion?" Diting was greatly puzzled.
Liudao set down the wooden spoon and fiddled with the prayer beads on his wrist. "I also thought about it for a long time, and then I remembered something. A while ago, the North issued a missing person notice to merchants all over the world, looking for a nine-year-old boy."
This matter had been reported previously.
However, for such a trivial matter of finding someone, especially a child with the surname Qin, Liudao, like many others at the time, assumed that the Marquis of Wu'an was searching for a lost child of the Qin clan.
He had only glanced over it casually back then and handed it over to his subordinates to keep an eye out.
It was only recently, due to Mingdeng's betrayal, that he focused much of his attention on the North and ordered his men to compile all major and minor events in the North over the past year.
Thus, that missing person notice was presented to his desk once again.
"The North was previously looking for a boy named Qin Yanzhou. Qin Yanzhou, that was Mingdeng's original name," Liudao said, fingering his prayer beads.
Diting's pupils suddenly contracted. "Are... are you sure?"
Liudao did not speak, but turned his head to look out the window.
Today the weather was clear and bright, the sky as blue as crystal, and a gentle breeze blew by, presenting a peaceful scene.
Liudao's thoughts slowly drifted back to nine years ago.
Nine years ago, a great famine ravaged the various provinces like a plague. He was taking Diting and White Elephant from Yangzhou back to Yanzhou. While passing through Yangzhou, he saw a child who had escaped.
Yes, escaped. Behind him, a skinny, skeletal man was chasing him.
The child held a small knife in his hand, and there was blood on the blade. The man behind him ran with a limp, most likely injured by the boy.
The man roared ferociously, saying that once he caught him, he would chop him into eight pieces, peel off his skin, and hack his bones into sections to make soup.
An ordinary, yet not so ordinary scene.
He did not act immediately at the time, only watching as the skinny man caught up and tackled the child to the ground. The two engaged in a life-and-death struggle on the dirt. He saw an astonishing ruthlessness burst forth from the filthy child's eyes as he narrowly kept hold of the knife and plunged it into the skinny man's chest.
At that moment, he knew this child was a good prospect. He picked the child up, brought him into their group, and took him back to the cult.
At first, the child was like a mute and did not speak. When asked where he came from, where his ancestral home was, or who was in his family, he answered nothing.
Later, after a few months, the little mute finally opened his mouth, only stating that his name was Qin Yanzhou.
Everyone in the cult had a codename. He personally gave the child the name Mingdeng, making him abandon his past.
However, he never expected that after nine years, this abandoned past would eventually turn into an invisible rope, pulling the once wandering child back.
"Uncle..." Diting was uncharacteristically dumbfounded. "Mingdeng is actually the son of the Marquis of Wu'an?!"
He was surnamed Qin, and the missing person notice came from the North. If he was not the son of the Marquis of Wu'an, how could he switch sides after meeting the other party just once?
"No, that's not right." Diting suddenly shook his head as if struck by lightning. "Uncle, he might not necessarily be the son of the Marquis of Wu'an."
Liudao frowned. "Why do you say that?"
Diting said solemnly, "I spent some time with Madam Dai. When I first met her, I vaguely felt she was somewhat familiar, but I could not pinpoint where that feeling came from. But now, with hindsight, I realize it came from Mingdeng! Mingdeng's eyes and brows look exactly like hers."
Liudao was stunned. "Madam Dai?"
Diting continued, "Uncle, the salt stones and the dragon-bone waterwheel came from the hands of Madam Dai. Looking back, the North's missing person notice was issued precisely from Ying Commandery. The two events happened almost simultaneously. I guess Madam Dai very likely made a deal with the Marquis of Wu'an. It's just..."
Speaking towards the end, Diting clearly hesitated. "Why were they looking for a nine-year-old child? According to logical deduction, she should know that Mingdeng is already nineteen years old."
"We cannot rule out that it is a smokescreen," Liudao stopped fiddling with his prayer beads. "No matter what, Mingdeng having a connection with Madam Dai is a good thing for us."
Bairi City, the Qin Residence.
Dai Li left Ding Lianxi's courtyard with her son, her heart heavy. Illness should be treated early. If Ding Lianxi had no solution, they could only return to Yuyang.
"Mother, I don't feel unwell right now," Qin Yanzhou followed closely by his mother's side.
Dai Li's worry did not diminish. "You might not feel unwell now, but it is hard to say for the future. I will go find Qin Shaozong and talk to him about returning to Yuyang."
"Mother, I heard that Governor Nangong has arrived. The Marquis of Wu'an is probably still receiving guests at this moment," Qin Yanzhou said.
Dai Li paused her steps. "Is that so? Then let's go eat first."
...
After the meal.
Dai Li checked the sky. The rainy summer had passed, and the chilly autumn was settling in.
The closer it got to winter, the shorter the days and the longer the nights became. When they were having dinner, the sky had still been covered with brilliant sunset hues, but by the time they finished eating, the sky had mostly darkened.
"I'm going to the main hall for a bit," Dai Li couldn't sit still.
However, just as Dai Li reached the entrance of the courtyard, a tall figure happened to turn into the entrance at that exact moment, and the two bumped right into each other.
Qin Shaozong reached out and pulled her into his embrace. "Madam is so hasty, where are you rushing off to?"
Seeing that the person she wanted to find had delivered himself to her door, Dai Li was naturally happy and stated matter-of-factly, "To find you."
Qin Shaozong paused in surprise, a deep smile spreading in his eyes. "You came looking for me? Could it be, my dear wife, that you are..."
He turned the woman in his arms around and guided her inside. Just as he was about to lean in close and whisper something completely shameless to her, he looked up, only to see an expressionless young man standing right there in the courtyard.
Qin Shaozong: "..."