Chapter 309

Chapter 309: Such a Grand Display

“Not just that,” someone said mysteriously: “I heard that on the day she returned, there were several carriages of luggage and a whole crowd of bodyguards. It was quite the scene.”

Others were curious and asked: “Was the display really that grand?”

People of the martial world don’t fuss over small things. Unless they’re moving to live elsewhere for a long while, they travel light. Even for a stay of half a month or a full month, one bundle is enough. The pickier ones bring two or three bundles and a bit more money.

The same informant went on: “Also, she always rides in a carriage, and when she gets in, she uses a step-stool. So fancy, you’d think she was some official’s daughter.”

A “know-it-all” said with open disdain: “You don’t know the half of it. Her step-stool is rosewood.”

Rosewood is pricey in this era. Only the very rich or very powerful can afford it.

Someone clicked their tongue in amazement and said: “Second Master Jiang really dotes on this newly found daughter!”

By then, Yu Zhi Yi had already walked far away and couldn’t hear any of this.

Inside the dining hall, Alliance Leader Jiang was still absent. Also missing was Jiang Liu Shuang; he hadn’t returned since leaving that morning.

Looking at the young woman before her, Lin Jing Xuan grew more and more curious. She asked: “Jin’er, what did you do in the Capital City?”

Alliance Leader Jiang had already sent people to check into this niece’s background, but they’d only been gone two days; it was too soon for news. Second Brother kept an unusually tight mouth. After bringing Yu Zhi Yi back, he treated her as one of the Jiang Clan and never said a word about her past.

Yu Zhi Yi said: “Like everyone else, I ate three meals a day and then shut the door to rest. If Great Aunt is asking about a livelihood, then fortune-telling barely counts as one.”

After noticing that the Yu Clan intended to distance themselves from her, she started planning for herself. She didn’t want to be kicked out and then have to beg. Luckily, the skills her master taught her were very practical. She took the alias “Knowing Heaven’s Will” and told fortunes under a footbridge.

At first, business was bad. She was just a kid, and her face was too young to convince people.

Then one day a local thug came to tease her. He had lost his parents and was raised in his uncle’s household. The uncle’s family put on a good show in public, but at home they ground him down. He lived there in misery. Whenever he told people how cruel his uncle’s family was, no one believed him.

Years of abuse damaged him. As the saying goes, either you explode in silence, or you wither in silence. He was the first kind.

One day he ran into a gang of punks in town. They were extorting “protection fees,” and the target happened to be his uncle. At home, his uncle swung heavy fists at him for every little thing; outside, the man didn’t even dare to fart.

Watching his uncle act like a coward lit something in him. Later, when his uncle raised a hand again, he grabbed a stick and beat the man. When the rest of the family tried to help, he knocked them all down too-even the fourteen-year-old cousin.

[If he was going to deal with one member of the family, he might as well deal with the whole set.] He didn’t forget that cousin who had played the “white lotus” in front of the uncle and aunt many times to frame him. She once said she liked watching him get beaten until he couldn’t fight back.

His reputation in the village had already been bad, because his uncle’s family often slandered him-saying he was lazy, bullied younger siblings, and talked back to elders. After he fought back, his name got even worse.

Before, he cared what people thought and tried to explain that his uncle’s family was lying. After that day, he stopped caring. When people came to defend his uncle’s family and scold him, he scolded them right back. If someone tried to lean on seniority, he beat them until they cried. For the elderly, he didn’t hit them, but he beat up their younger relatives instead.

The violence was scary, but it worked. From then on, no one dared mouth off at him.

Later, he carved out a place for himself in town, gathered many underlings, chased off the old gang of thugs, and became the new local boss. His reputation was ugly, but his life got better.

He was a very conflicted person. On one hand, he loved the thrill of gaining power through violence; on the other, he still had a bit of conscience. So when he saw Yu Zhi Yi-a pretty girl in her early teens-trying to survive with “tricks,” he saw the helpless child he used to be. His “teasing” also carried a hint of trying to make her stop. After all, a pretty girl running scams-whether or not her looks would bring bigger trouble-would definitely get her beaten.

Yu Zhi Yi laid out his past. She was the first person to say plainly that his uncle and aunt were bad people. For years he had tried to explain, but no one listened. After he gained power, he stopped explaining. He thought he had let it go, yet a little girl saw his pain and grievance at a glance.

There was no touching tale of a thug being reformed. That first “fated” job ended when Yu Zhi Yi told him his wife was having fun with his enemy. He half believed her but still went home to catch them.

He caught them.

Because of that, Yu Zhi Yi made a name for herself. The title “Immortal Maiden Heaven’s Will” slowly spread among the common folk at the bottom. Only Red Luan and Marchioness Wu’an knew that Yu Zhi Yi was the Immortal Maiden Heaven’s Will.

Seeing that Yu Zhi Yi didn’t want to go into more detail, Lin Jing Xuan wisely stopped asking. Jiang Si Ying, however, frowned, clearly displeased, though she said nothing.

Lin Jing Xuan changed the topic and asked: “Then what you handled today on the Heaven-Climbing Steps-will it really affect the Martial Alliance’s fortune?”

Yu Zhi Yi said: “Yes.”

Jiang Si Ying set her chopsticks down. They hit the rim of the bowl with a clear, sharp sound, and she said: “Enough! We are the Martial Alliance, not some crooked sect. In the martial world, bumps and blood are normal. Stop using the tricks of martial-world swindlers to draw attention. Say those things at home if you must-but right now the mountain is full of honored guests. Don’t make us lose face.”