Chapter 81: I Have A Bargaining Chip
Chu Xin’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Back when the Du Family was in decline, this Du Yu had some reputation among a group of young disciples, all because he could bend and stretch; as long as there was profit to be made, he wasn’t afraid to lower his posture and would always find ways to get things done for people.
Chu Xin prided himself on his noble birth from a high-ranking official family, a descendant of a prestigious clan, and in the past had disdained contact with him.
If it weren’t for needing someone like Du Minghuan to handle affairs back then, there wouldn’t have been any dealings with their Du Family.
He hadn’t expected Du Yu to tear off the facade today and turn directly into a rogue!
Chu Xin sat above, glaring over with a chilling face: “Is this your meaning, or your father’s meaning?”
“Thanks to the young master, my father has been imprisoned, and now I can’t even see him; out of helplessness, I’ve come to the young master’s mansion!”
As Du Yu spoke, he threw the invitation returned by the Supreme Court Yamen onto the tea table beside Chu Xin’s hand.
From a military background in the Du Family, his figure was also burly; with this move, he revealed three parts malevolent energy.
But even so, Chu Xin merely turned his head to glance at the invitation before shifting his gaze to his face, slowly folding it up with one hand: “Back then your father swore to us that he would never reveal this transaction to anyone.
“It seems he broke his word.”
He continued: “But I don’t plan to pursue that.
“Now that you already know, I’ll speak frankly with you.
“I ask you, what makes you think these things you’ve said can threaten me into changing my mind?
“Three years ago, what happened between me and your father was mutual consent, and the silver and goods were settled right after it was done.
“I didn’t shortchange you; over one hundred thousand taels of silver in assets single-handedly reversed the dire straits of your Marquis of Guangling’s Mansion, allowing you to hold your heads high as people.
“Immediately after, I handed the vast Imperial City Department to your father, letting your Du Family leap from obsequiously watching others’ faces to becoming a powerful force in the Capital City.
“But what did you repay me with?”
At this point, Chu Xin slowly stood up, staring contemptuously at Du Yu: “Deception, concealment! And when things were exposed, the incompetence to make amends!”
Anger crept onto his face: “At the beginning of the He Family incident, He Xu was poisoned to death, then Zhang Shi was killed, and after that Liu Shi was imprisoned!
“At that time, you had clearly noticed something was off and should have come up with a foolproof plan to spot the doubts and plug the loopholes!
“Even without that capability, you should have immediately told me so we could join forces to resolve the crisis.
“But what did you do? You hid it from me! You secretly patched one wall with another! Deluding yourselves into covering it up!
“In the end, not only did you accomplish nothing, but you also let Prince Jingyang bring it to the Imperial Court!
“You say I caught you father and son off guard? Shouldn’t I be the one saying that?
“Now the He Family case has been linked to that incident from back then, with discussions buzzing outside, and Prince Jingyang’s Mansion still watching closely; you don’t think that after being pitted by you, I should still obediently clean up your mess, do you?
“Prince Jingyang’s Mansion is not to be trifled with, but since my Chu Family could command you back then, we naturally have ways to extricate ourselves.
“And not only did you not come to apologize, you have the gall to barge in aggressively and accuse me of burning bridges?”
Chu Xin sneered coldly: “Where exactly do you get the nerve?!”
He was indeed a scholarly young master from a noble family. This speech left Du Yu, who had come in with a determination to fight to the death, speechless for the moment.
But the Du Family had reached a life-and-death juncture; his father was already in prison, he himself had been reported by Xu He, and if this continued, they certainly couldn’t hold onto power in the Imperial City Department; he had no way out!
After clenching his teeth and standing for a moment, he slowly smiled too: “The Chu Family has held high positions for generations; since you could set up such a killing trap back then, I naturally believe the young master has a way to escape.
“But do you really think sending my father to prison and making me take the blame for destroying the Imperial Clan Court household registration file means everything will be fine from now on?
“Have you forgotten what made you unable to eat or sleep after the incident? And what reason made you instruct my father to destroy Princess Yongjia’s household registration file? And why are you so afraid of her living on with her princess identity?
“Do I need to remind you?
“Because you’re afraid of her; you’ve already guessed she’s still alive.
“You know how much hatred she harbors; she was surrounded and killed by over a hundred people, and every wound she suffered remains on her body!
“Every pain she’s endured still lingers in her heart!
“The child she had just given birth to also died because of your conspiracy!
“And the father who cherished her like a precious pearl also died in your conspiracy!
“Just this hatred alone is enough to drown you all!
“Of course you have to guard against her growing wings again and exterminating you all!
“But have you forgotten how the He Jianzhong family died?”
At this point, Du Yu’s face had become ferocious: “When the He Family died, Princess Yongjia still didn’t exist in the world; she was even just a medical woman, yet she still killed them one by one!
“In just a few short days, the He Family was wiped out!
“Zhang Shaode too!
“Do you think the Zhang Family died by my hand?
“Not at all!
“That was her borrowing a knife to kill; without lifting a finger, she used my Du Family’s hand to wipe out the Zhang Family too!
“Do you think she really needs that identity to take revenge?”
He stretched his arm long, pointing outside the door: “Believe it or not, she might very well be watching you and me from the shadows right now outside the door?
“Believe it or not, the next time you go out, she might just cut off your head?”
At this point, he sneered again: “Your Chu Family is a towering tree with deep roots; I believe you definitely have your own backing, but I want to see whether your power-abusing heads are tougher or her vengeful knife is tougher!”
Chu Xin stood beside a large blue porcelain vase half a person’s height, his distorted expression making the few blooming chrysanthemums in the vase lose their color.
The medical woman who had step by step led the He Family to their deaths was very likely Yue Tang herself, and more and more clues proved she was still alive; this was indeed something that gnawed at him.
Otherwise, why would he have rushed impatiently to find Chu Yan that night?
Although Chu Yan denied that Yue Tang had come to see her, her attitude confirmed the fact that the corpse back then wasn’t Yue Tang herself.
Having confirmed this, the one who started from the He Family and stirred up this disturbance bigger and bigger was the returned Yue Tang—no doubt about it!
And every word spat out by Du Yu made the fear in his heart have nowhere to hide!
Because he knew better than anyone that this Princess Yongjia had an extraordinary temperament from childhood; whatever she set out to do, even if she failed multiple times, she would accomplish it. Whoever she wanted to kill, no matter how difficult, she would definitely kill.
But this fear, this mess, wasn’t it brought by the Du Family?
He took two steps forward: “You have absolutely no right to come here and question me; back then I gave you reward money to handle things as required and do them well, but you took the money, held the office, and in the end failed to kill the person, letting her come back alive!
“If not for your incompetence leaving me this loose end, how would I have today’s trouble?
“My Chu Family hasn’t wronged you at all; on the contrary, your Du Family reaped all the benefits and implicated me deeply.
“A pile of people died, and you let them seize the handle.
“Du Yu ah Du Yu, I really don’t understand if your Du Family was truly deceived or if you plotted with He Jianzhong and Zhang Shaode from the start to pit me?
“Since your Du Family is like this, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
At this point, he swept the pastry plate beside his hand neatly to the ground!
The porcelain hit the green stone floor tiles, first emitting a loud and piercing sound, then bouncing a few times and dragging out a string of crisp cracks.
Before the crisp cracks stopped, deafening footsteps came from outside the door.
A line of guards holding knives and swords surged in from both sides, in an instant surrounding Du Yu in the middle with sharp blades.
Du Yu instantly tensed his body: “You’re going to use force?”
Chu Xin disdainfully walked to the side: “You’re no greenhorn fresh out of the pasture; since you know what I’m wary of, you should know that in my position, what to do right now is most advantageous.”
At this point, he glanced lightly outside the door, then calmly withdrew his gaze: “Destroying the Imperial Clan Court household registration file is a capital offense!
“And you even dare evade the law offices, barging into my mansion right now; how could I disregard the law and shelter you?
“The sky is still early; drag him down and send him to the Supreme Court, let them deal with him strictly!”
After speaking, he leaned forward with both hands on the table: “Go die now, and I can spare your family. Be sensible!”
As soon as he finished and withdrew, the guards swarmed up, in the blink of an eye twisting Du Yu’s arms.
Du Yu laughed in extreme anger, then gathered his strength and forcefully flung off the few holding him.
He glared furiously at Chu Xin: “I thought you scheming powerful officials’ disciples had some real ability, but you’re just so-so!
“But no matter what, don’t you think that while your Chu Family has the means to protect itself, I Du Yu daring to barge in to see you means I have no backing?
“Let me tell you, you want to silence me? Too late!
“Think taking me down will make you happy?
“Way too early!
“Kill me and my father, and you’re just sealing two mouths. But she still exists!
“I ask you, do you know where she is? Do you know how she’s infiltrating? You don’t!
After speaking, he gritted his teeth and withdrew his gaze, spreading his arms and beckoning to both sides: “Come on, come arrest me! With my father and me in prison, the Du Family still has others!
“Even if they can’t compete with your Chu Family, they can at least pass on a message. In the end, we’re just executioners; the real one who wants to kill is you! You’re the chief culprits! I don’t believe if I surrender, she won’t be interested!”
“—Come on!
“If I Du Yu hesitate even a moment, call me spineless!”
His roar shook the entire hall, stunning the surrounding guards.
Chu Xin’s eyes flashed with sharp light: “What do you mean by that?”
Du Yu sneered coldly: “Since you’ve decided to strike a fatal blow, why ask so much? I only hope Young Master Chu knows one thing: there are no eternal enemies in this world! My Du Family hasn’t reached the point of letting you lead us by the nose!
“The Emperor hasn’t stripped my father of his post yet; the Imperial City Department is still in my Du Family’s hands. Even if Prince Jingyang’s Mansion isn’t interested, tell me, if I go throw myself on her mercy, wouldn’t they be interested?!”
After speaking, he didn’t even wait for them to arrest him and walked straight out.
Chu Xin suddenly changed expression: “Stop!”
The guards heard and instantly rushed out to block Du Yu’s path.
Du Yu was forced to turn around under the door.
Chu Xin stepped forward to close the door, then gritted his teeth: “Do you already know her whereabouts?”
Du Yu snorted deeply: “Isn’t that question a bit late?!”
Chu Xin held his breath and stood still, his expression changing instantly.
Then he glanced at the half-open window and walked up to him: “If you know, why not say so earlier?!”
Du Yu grinned ferociously: “I thought my Du Family had been discarded like worn shoes by you, but turns out we still have some use?”
Chu Xin clenched his fists tightly: “Where is she? Tell me! I’ll immediately have someone withdraw your petition! If you’re deliberately toying with me, Du Yu, I’ll make you die without a burial place!”
Du Yu shifted his toes, facing him: “Young Master Chu, with just these words, if I don’t see my father safely out of prison within one hour, then one hour later is when I throw myself on Princess Yongjia!
“You have your tricks, but Princess Yongjia has her own means, not to mention Prince Jingyang!
“If I cooperate with them, no matter how powerful your Chu Family is, you might not be able to withstand this wave, right?
“Threatening me at this point—when has Du Yu ever feared you?!”
Chu Xin gritted his teeth: “One hour is absolutely impossible! Do you think the court’s law is child’s play? That’s a petition with evidence of crimes; even at fastest, it takes three to five days!”
“Then we’ll meet again in three to five days!”
Du Yu cupped his fists coldly and turned.
“Come back!” Chu Xin’s face turned ashen, “The order was mine, but the deed was yours; her child died by your hands! The knife wounds on her body were left by you!
“Even if you want to defect, given what she did to the He Family, you might not meet a good end either? Besides, I don’t even know if you truly know her whereabouts.
“If you won’t tell me, I won’t force you.
“So be it; three days as the limit. I’ll go to the yamen right now to handle dismissing the case for you, and you immediately go catch the person!
“In three days, we’ll each rely on our abilities to meet! How about it?”
Du Yu pursed his lips in silence.
Chu Xin’s face grew three degrees colder: “Get rid of her one day earlier, and you’ll be at ease one day earlier! This isn’t entirely for my Chu Family—think it over!”
Du Yu gritted his teeth, glaring sideways at him: “Three days it is! But before tonight, I want to see my father!”
Chu Xin’s furrowed brows showed impatience, but he still agreed: “At shift change in shen hour, you have a quarter-hour inside!”
……
After waiting a full hour in the horse carriage, Du Yu finally stepped out of the Chu Family side gate with people.
Huo Yun couldn’t suppress her excitement: “Taking so long to come out means they’ve reached a deal! Princess, our push to fan the flames wasn’t in vain; Du Yu must be about to take the stage!”
Yue Tang set down the jade cup she’d been holding that had long gone cold: “Then have your master stay to keep watch; we’ll go back and wait for him!”
