Nine Surnames and Thirteen Families

The next day, Lü Yue sent men to capture all the martial artists from the Sun Residence. Once every last bit of value had been squeezed from them, they were released.

Aside from a few who had been frightened and suffered injuries of varying severity, the only one who died was the unlucky fellow whom Meng Zhao had directly beheaded to make an example of.

After they slunk back in disgrace, they made no commotion, and Sun Chuanshan's side did not pursue the matter either.

Both sides tacitly agreed to treat it as though nothing had happened.

As for Sun Chuanshan's antidote, since there was still no news from Bai Yang, Meng Zhao had temporarily not fulfilled his promise.

Though this operation had not produced any great results, its gains could not be called nonexistent.

From these men, Lü Yue had pried out quite a bit of information about the Sun Family, including news about Sun Chuanxing.

This man was entirely different from his cousin Sun Chuanshan.

He was the legitimate grandson born to the eldest son of the Sun Family head. From childhood, he had displayed extraordinary talent and aptitude for martial arts, receiving great attention. He faintly showed the potential to become the next head of the Sun Family.

Over the years, the old patriarch of the Sun Family had focused on grooming him, keeping him at his side for careful instruction, and had even handed over part of the family affairs for him to manage.

There were truly quite a few martial artists like Hooked Nose under Sun Chuanxing's command.

That was why they were not particularly valued. The moment they were to be lent out, they were lent out.

Another important piece of information was that Sun Chuanxing's way of doing things was highly secretive. He seemed to have dealings with some force in the shadows, and their ties were quite close.

Because Hooked Nose had once served as a messenger between the two sides, he knew that the other party might be one of Great Yong's large sectarian forces, with an extremely high likelihood of being one of the Thirteen Families.

The so-called Thirteen Families were top-tier great powers spoken of alongside Great Yong's Nine Surnames. At the Mount Tai Alliance back then, they had all clearly declared their support for Beitang Gong. Thus, after Great Yong was founded, they rose with the tide, becoming sectarian forces officially supported and recognized by the state. They expanded and strengthened themselves on a grand scale, dominating their respective regions.

After all, in order to obtain support back then, Beitang Gong had proclaimed his bold vow to rule the realm together with all of them. Naturally, he had to keep his word.

Otherwise, even if Great Yong had been established, it would likely have been fraught with hidden dangers.

The Nine Surnames and Thirteen Families were also, on the surface, the powers most closely tied to the Great Yong Dynasty, a community bound by shared interests.

If Sun Chuanxing truly had connections with a force on the level of one of the Thirteen Families, then he was no minor figure.

Meng Zhao even suspected that this unknown force might be the one backing the Sun Family.

Giving them the nerve to launch an assault against the renowned Meng Family of Nan'an, even Ji Prefecture.

However, Meng Zhao merely kept these thoughts to himself and did not reveal them to anyone else...

Several more uneventful days passed.

Meng Zhao had already completely adapted to his current identity and lived peacefully in the Meng Family.

Everything from his previous life was far too distant from him, beyond recollection and of no use.

The first seventeen years of this life had been nothing more than muddled begging. The days had been bland and bitter, painted in dreary shades of gray.

Even after accepting those memories, they could not have any profound influence on Meng Zhao himself.

On the contrary, the mere few days he had spent playing Meng Zhao had allowed him to completely adapt to his current identity. He had even resolved to work toward making that identity real.

To accomplish this, there were two pressing matters to resolve: internal conflicts and external threats.

The so-called internal conflicts referred to the potentially hostile relationship between Meng Zhao and the two brothers of the main branch. Whether it was Meng Xi or Meng Wen, there was no essential difference.

It was like a chain of cause and effect: inheriting Meng Zhao's identity was the cause, while the troubles brought about by that identity were the effect.

Fortunately, after he had firmly refused Lu Shun last time, Meng Xi had settled down and caused no further mischief.

There had also been no problems with the supplies of Red Leaf Ginseng and Wolfsbane Grass. Clearly, the other side had no intention of escalating the conflict. This relieved Meng Zhao, and the countermeasures he had prepared earlier were set aside.

The external threat referred to the mysterious person who had taught him everything and given him immense help and guidance.

Not only did that person possess his greatest secret—effectively holding his lifeline and forcing him to become a pawn at another's mercy—but the force behind them was no trifling matter.

Only after living in the Meng Family for some time had Meng Zhao gradually come to understand that the other party's ability to investigate every detail of Meng Zhao's life and then teach it all to him could never have been mere luck. They must have expended vast manpower and resources gathering it.

Only then could they have molded him into someone almost indistinguishable from the real Meng Zhao. Moreover, his appearance should have been merely a coincidence, an accident. Even without him, another fake Meng Zhao would have infiltrated the Meng Family in his place.

Meng Zhao even harbored a faintly terrifying suspicion, one that might ignite the entire Great Yong Dynasty.

Back then, there had been another thirty-five children like Meng Zhao, who had left their families and hometowns at a young age to live for ten years at Great Compassion Temple in Jade Capital.

And the families of those thirty-five unlucky souls were all either wealthy or noble. Meng Zhao did not stand out among them.

Since this Meng Zhao was fake, could the other unfortunate fellows who had returned to their families truly be real?

This seemed to conceal a heaven-shaking conspiracy. Meng Zhao did not dare think too deeply about it and could only hope that he was overthinking things and had guessed wrong. After all, there did not seem to be many who, like the original owner of this body, had lost both parents.

Even so, Meng Zhao was still actively considering how to free himself from the mysterious person's control. This was what he most wished to accomplish now.

To escape the mysterious person, Meng Zhao had to possess a force of his own. Only then could he contend against the force behind them, and the Meng Family was both the best and most readily available choice.

Thus, considering both sides of the matter, Meng Zhao had to establish a firm foothold in the current Meng Family.

No matter what his relationships with his brothers of the same generation might be, he had to gain the recognition and favor of the elders.

To put it more plainly, he needed to build good relations with his eldest uncle Meng Jizu and third uncle Meng Hongdao.

To that end, Meng Zhao had specifically asked Lü Yue about the two men—what they usually liked and what hobbies they had.

After all, pleasing someone required the right methods. Catering to their preferences was undoubtedly the quickest and surest way to see results.

After making inquiries, he learned that Meng Jizu was rather old-fashioned and stern. Every day, he handled all the large and small affairs of Meng Mansion. His life was dull and tedious, without much flair, and he seemed to like very few things.

Meng Zhao had Lü Yue select an Evergreen Pine-and-Cypress Jade Plaque carved by Wang Ziyun, a master jade artisan from the late middle period of the Great Ming Dynasty, as a gift. He planned to present it when Meng Jizu returned home, as a gesture of familial affection.

The gift was neither excessive nor insufficient. It preserved dignity without making Meng Jizu uncomfortable, making it a proper and conventional choice.

His third uncle, Meng Hongdao, had broader interests. What he loved most, however, were calligraphy and paintings by famous figures. He had studied the works of renowned masters from every dynasty and collected quite a few.

Therefore, Meng Zhao selected from among the treasures bestowed upon him by the Imperial Court a painting of Master Yixing, created by the renowned Mid-Tang painter Zhou Jingxuan, intending to give it to him as a gift.

The only slight regret was that although this painting was the work of a famous master, with superb and exceptional artistry and an otherworldly Buddhist spirit, truly a first-rate portrait and an antique collectible, it had contributed no energy points. That was inevitably somewhat disappointing.