Bloodline Tree – [Clan Building]

“It was hard to get anything on Liang Huang,” Lady Jiangxi said, sitting across Shu Yang in her manor in Chunsi Town, “His two brothers and father had a lot of evidence and witnesses, though. Their charges should go through without issues in the coming days.”

“That’s something, I guess,” Shu Yang said with a small frown. He could have had the villagers fake some charges against Liang Huang, but Lady Jiangxi had advised him against it. It simply wasn’t worth it; the consequences were too severe if it was discovered. And that possibility certainly wasn’t zero.

Lady Jiangxi had told him that it was best to keep everything above board. If there truly was a need one day, and no legal way of solving it, he could do whatever he wanted. But at that time, he might as well just let loose and frame the Liang family for all sort of horrible crimes, even ones with the death penalty.

Trying to make a few small moves here and there was the reason the Liang family had gotten themselves into this mess. All it took was for someone with status to want to do some digging, and it would be the end of his family in the Yan Kingdom.

‘I’ve only been an Innate warrior for a few days, and I already feel so powerless. But then again, I guess I’m glad that these types of protections exist. They keep my enemies safe, but they also keep my family safe.

“I said it was hard, not that I didn’t get anything,” Lady Jiangxi added with a small smile when she noticed Shu Yang’s despondent expression.

“You have something on Liang Huang?” Shu Yang asked.

“It was obviously him who got his younger brother into the Office,” Lady Jiangxi said with a small shrug, “I paid a visit to Chief Li yesterday. A few threats and a few promises, and he admitted to accepting a bribe from Liang Huang in exchange for his brother’s entry into the Office without passing the exam.”

“He admitted to it? Can he remain Chief of Chunsi after that?” Shu Yang asked, shocked at Lady Jiangxi’s capabilities once again.

“This kind of thing happens all the time, and it isn’t a big deal most of the time. But that is just in case no one cares enough to make it a problem. If we go strictly according to the law, it wouldn’t be impossible to punish Chief Li by death for the crime. Of course, I promised to let him off with a fine. The harsh sentence should be given to Liang Huang, don’t you agree?”

“Agree,” Shu Yang said, nodding dumbly. He once again felt incredibly indebted to Lady Jiangxi. Without her, he wouldn’t even have managed to make the first move against the Liang family. Even as an Innate warrior, it wasn’t easy to get the County Office to move as you wished.

“It’s still nothing that will put him away for life, but I think we can get him locked up for at least a decade,” Lady Jiangxi added.

“That’s a lot better than nothing at all. Ten years is a long time,” Shu Yang said.

After some more discussion with Lady Jiangxi, Shu Yang made his way home again.

‘This damn Liang family sure is making things difficult for me. Why did they have to go and become my enemies? Wouldn’t it be nice to just get along and grow stronger in peace?’

Thinking back, Shu Yang realized this all stemmed from the fool Liang Cong. For no reason besides being petty, he had his son beaten up. Shu Yang beat him up in turn, and things spiraled out of control. Liang Huang suffered a great loss that day, and Shu Yang wouldn’t count on a Liang family member to be open-minded enough to let the grudge go.

‘I need to keep this incident in mind in the future. I should try to stay away from grudges, but if one is created, I need to always have the upper hand, so I don’t end up like the Liang family.’

‘Hopefully, things will proceed a little more smoothly once I’ve dealt with all this. There shouldn’t be someone stupid enough to get on the wrong side of my family now that I’m an Innate warrior.’

When Shu Yang got home, it was already dark outside, and he felt utterly exhausted. He had spent the past two days running around trying to arrange things between the villagers, Lady Jiangxi, Tinayue, and the other County Officials. Even if most of that had been taken care of now, he still couldn’t relax before the Liang family was dealt with.

“Dad, I’ll come with you to Hurong Town when we leave,” Tianyue said as he stepped inside his living room. Tianyue was living with her parents now that she was back from Kuo City.

Shu Yang thought about it for a moment before nodding, “Alright. It will be good for you to make some connections over there. Our family will be getting more involved in the Fugu Prefecture in the future.”

“I know. Don’t worry, Dad. I’m very charming,” Tianyue said with a bright smile.

“Haha, I know,” Shu Yang said with a laugh, patting her head, “It’s still not that late, why don’t we head out to the courtyard and I’ll teach you some martial arts?”

“I would love to, but I’m very busy, Dad. Another time,” Tianyue said seriously, before running away.

‘She’s not even a 3rd-grade martial warrior yet.’ Shu Yang thought with a sigh. Even if she wasn’t very talented, Shu Yang wanted her to at least advance a few stages, whether for strength or for health.

“Tianyue is home for once, and you have to scare away with training,” Qianyue said with a pout from the couch.

Shu Yang went to sit down beside her, putting his arm around her. “Alright, I’ll give it a rest for now.”

Shu Yang really couldn’t force it. He would have to wait until he had established himself in Fugu City. There should be a few rare resources available there. He didn’t believe his wife and daughter wouldn’t at least advance a few stages if he stuffed them with resources.

“If you want someone to train, you should focus on little Zheng; he has been asking about it lately,” Qianyue said.

“I guess I could give it a try,” Shu Yang said. His youngest son was still only five years old, but he had both martial art talent and the trait ‘Clear mind.’ He should be able to handle it a few years earlier than his siblings.

‘Now that I’m an Innate warrior, I feel like I should be able to make some more progress with the new and improved Shu family art. I’ll work on it for a while and then teach it to Tianzheng once I’m sure it works.’

Over the years, Shu Yang had managed to get his hands on a lot more low- and middle-grade martial arts, and through his experience and understanding of the Innate stage, Shu Yang had started to see how these arts connected to each other a lot more clearly. He felt it shouldn’t be difficult to combine at least a few of them to create something more powerful and versatile than the improved version of the Hurricane Art that Shu Yang had practiced.

“I have a feeling Tianzheng is very talented,” Qinayue said.

“I think so too,” Shu Yang said with a smile, “He shouldn’t be worse than Tianren. He’s also quite clever.”

“He really is,” Qianyue said, nodding along with a smile, “Tianyue has been teaching him a few things lately, and he grasps everything right away.”

She paused for a while before continuing with a small frown, “Is it really necessary to go after the Liang family? Since they have gone away, let them go. Wouldn’t it be better for you and Tianyue to stay here and spend time with the family? Let’s just forget about the Liang family.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Shu Yang said with a sigh, “I’ve thought about it too. But I just can’t relax knowing we have people who wish us harm out there. Now that there is an opportunity to make the threat go away, I have to take it.”

“Well…Just be careful. And come back soon,” Qinayue said, understanding Shu Yang’s point. “Maybe you can see if you can find any traces of Tianhu. Do you think he is alright?”

“I don’t think we’ll run into him. He should be well on his way to the Sword School. If you really want me to bring him back, I can go there and bring him home for you. But since he has made the decision to go there, I don’t think anything good will come out of doing that. If he still hasn’t come back in a few years, we can go over there to scold him.”

“I’m just worried he has gotten into trouble along the way,” Qianyue muttered, “He’s not strong, and he’s still young and inexperienced.”

“I know. I worry too. But Tianhu is fine, I can feel it,” Shu Yang comforted, and his words actually seemed to have an effect, as he felt Qianyue relax slightly in his arms.

“Tell me a story,” Qianyue murmured, pressing her face against Shu Yang’s chest and acting spoiled.

“Alright, what do you want to hear?”

“The one about the swordsman that Tianhu always liked to hear. Does it have a second part?” Qianyue asked.

‘It can have.’ Shu Yang thought to himself. He had gotten quite good at telling stories now, and he would often mix and adjust things to suit the mood. So he began telling the story of how the swordsman had one adventure after another. In one of those adventures, he met a girl and fell in love. Eventually, he defeated all his foes and returned to his home village and married the girl, spending every day in happiness.

“You just made that up to make me feel better,” Qianyue complained after he finished, but she was still smiling happily.

Shu Yang laughed, “What do you think stories are for? But there is truth to the story even if it’s made up.”

“I hope so. I’m looking forward to having a few more daughters-in-law around the house,” Qianyue said.

“Why settle for a daughter-in-law when we can have a daughter?” Shu Yang asked with a grin.

“You’re talking about this again. I’m already so old, about to be a grandmother. How can we still keep having children?”

“How are you old? You’re still a young woman. And don’t tell me you’re not missing having a little girl around the house,” Shu Yang said.

Qianyue looked up at him with a small pout, seemingly deep in thought. After a while, she answered, “Well, these things aren’t something you can plan. We’ll just leave it to fate. If there’s another child, there’s another child.”

Shu Yang grinned happily and scooped Qianyue into his arms, carrying her to the bedroom.

‘Fate? What fate? It’s all about hard work.’