Chapter 266

Chapter 266: The Vicious Storyteller

Li Yu’s name was finally cleared, and the years-long feud between the Li Clan and the Wang Clan was at last exposed.

The truth was this: Young Master Ao, who grew up with Li Yu and always knew he would marry her one day, took one look at Liu Dong Ping’s daughter in a crowd and fell head over heels for Miss Liu.

Sadly, Miss Liu was only the daughter of a storyteller. Even without the Li Clan engagement, the Wang Clan would never accept a daughter-in-law from such a humble background.

Liu Dong Ping had read a few years of books. Though he took the exams for decades and never passed even the licentiate level, he still called himself a scholar. He decided the Wang Clan had looked down on his daughter’s birth because they looked down on him, and he vowed to make them pay.

After plotting for a while, he settled on a truly vicious plan.

As a storyteller in a teahouse, he met people from everywhere and had seen many strange characters. By chance he learned of an Immortal’s cave estate.

So the poisonous plan took shape.

He pulled strings everywhere until he found someone who could take him into contact with that Immortal’s cave.

The Immortal’s cave did not care where “goods” came from. Yu Tie Zhu, the man who handled deliveries there, was cruel and arrogant. Even if the victim were a princess, as long as he believed he left no trace, he would not turn anyone away.

Pitiful Miss Li became Liu Dong Ping’s sacrifice to strike at the Wang Clan.

Liu Dong Ping arranged the contact, but Young Master Ao had no idea. He thought the kidnappers he “happened” to meet were just a coincidence. He never imagined his dear future father-in-law was behind it.

After Miss Li was sold, Liu Dong Ping used it as leverage and threatened the Wang Clan: they had to let Miss Liu marry into the family. If they refused, he would haul Young Master Ao to the yamen and let everyone see what kind of person he really was.

Afraid the truth would come out, the Wang parents agreed so their son would not be arrested and their clan’s name would not be ruined.

To make the wedding go smoothly, they even helped Liu Dong Ping bribe a woodcutter to spread a scandal that Miss Li had eloped with another man.

Once he became in-laws with the Wang Clan, Liu Dong Ping first used his daughter to keep squeezing money out of Young Master Ao.

When Ao finally had no money left and the Wang Clan refused to keep supporting the pair, Liu Dong Ping set a trap so that Old Master Wang “accidentally” died while out buying goods.

He had planned to kill Old Madam Wang too, but she hid the token that controlled the clan storeroom. Without that token, the Wang clansmen would riot.

So he settled for second best: he spared her life but poisoned her body, leaving her unable to move or speak.

All of this happened behind Young Master Ao’s back.

That foolish young master always believed his father died by accident, and his mother suffered a stroke from grief.

Then he accidentally caught Miss Liu tangled up with different men.

One of those men was his own father-in-law.

He even overheard their conversation.

It turned out they were not real father and daughter at all. Miss Liu was an orphan Liu Dong Ping had picked up. They had no blood ties.

They had already been sleeping together before her marriage. The “blood” on their wedding night was chicken blood she had prepared in advance.

He also heard them plotting how to force Old Madam Wang to hand over the token. Once they got it, they planned to kill her and then make Young Master Ao “die in an accident.”

That way, the entire Wang Clan would fall into their hands.

Blinded by the rage of being cheated on, Young Master Ao rushed in to confront them. They overpowered him, forced poison down his throat, and killed him.

The story among these three families was nothing if not melodramatic.

The Liu pair were truly shameless.

The Wang Clan, though victims, were not entirely innocent.

Only the Li Clan was the most innocent and the most pitiful.

Even if the Wang Clan paid a price and the Lius were caught, even if the truth came out and everything became clear, the people of the Li Clan could not come back.

How could anyone not sigh?

While the locals sighed over the fates of these three families, Yu Zhi Yi had already brought Li Yu back to the inn.

She had not meant to stir up trouble that night. Every note to the commandery governor had been tossed straight onto his desk by Li Yu.

No one in their party, not even the top fighters, realized that she had slipped out in the middle of the night. No one knew that in just one night, two evil households had their crimes exposed and their reputations flipped, and were now being cursed up and down by everyone.

Early the next morning, just as the group was about to set out, the commandery governor, Lord Feng, arrived.

Lord Feng bowed and thanked Yu Zhi Yi, then said that when he next wrote a memorial to His Majesty, he would report every detail.

This “every detail” was his hint that he would not forget Yu Zhi Yi’s credit.

Yu Zhi Yi answered with a calm face: “As long as you do not make things up, write it however you like.”

Lord Feng warmly invited her to stay a few days so he could be a proper host.

Yu Zhi Yi waved him off: “I did not notify anyone ahead of time because I did not want a fuss or attention. I am on leave only to return home to see my mother. I have just one month, and I have already lost several days. It is not right to waste more time.”

Lord Feng looked ashamed and said: “I was rash. Please forgive me, Official Yu.”

Every commandery had already received news that the Imperial Court would send an inspector prefect. They had also checked the identity of this female prefect.

She was the adopted daughter of the former Minister of Revenue, once criticized as a fake daughter.

Later, the truth came out: she had not been born with some original sin at all. She had been kidnapped right after birth and had her blood drawn for seventeen years.

Lord Feng understood how much she wanted to go home and reunite with her mother, and he secretly blamed himself for being too eager to curry favor with the Imperial Court and losing his sense of measure.

Yu Zhi Yi did not mind. While Lord Feng’s record was average, he had done a few good things for the people during his term.

Everyone wants to climb up in life. There was nothing to scold there.

She added one last note: “As for the teahouse’s losses, deduct them from Liu Dong Ping.”

Her companions were confused. They still had no idea what had happened the previous night.

The team traveled two more days without any other events.

The only annoyance was this: the guard who had gone back to the Capital City to request leave for Yu Zhi Yi returned with bad news.

The emperor refused to approve the leave.

Her gloom faded as they neared the Martial Alliance, replaced by a deep, mixed feeling.

After two lifetimes, she would see her birth mother for the first time. [Her heart fluttered; she could not ignore it.] She had to admit it: [she was still just a person with ordinary feelings.]