Conspiracy

The sixth courtyard of the Gao residence, study.

The two guards saw Gao Yunheng enter and respectfully pulled open the door for him.

Gao Yunheng gave a slight nod and strode inside.

A faint trace of sandalwood lingered in the study.

Behind the rosewood desk, the Gao family head, Gao Boyan, was practicing calligraphy.

When Gao Yunheng entered, Gao Boyan didn't lift his eyes. He only asked mildly, "Is it taken care of?"

"Yeah." Gao Yunheng stood respectfully and stepped forward. "Xie Xuanlang came by in person this morning. Have they settled on their candidate?"

"They just did." Gao Boyan was over forty, with thick black hair and a ruddy complexion, showing no hint of decline. As he moved his brush, he said, "The Xie family head was left with a chronic illness after suffering a cultivation deviation years ago. Every year, he needs to find someone whose qi and blood contain 'True Yang' and use them as medicine. People with True Yang in their qi and blood are rare to begin with, and those with three Yangs are rarer still. Once they got wind of it, they naturally had to come and examine the candidate themselves before they could feel at ease."

Gao Yunheng pondered for a moment. "I heard the Xie Family had already found a suitable 'material' somewhere else?"

"Yeah. He died on the way." Gao Boyan waved a hand, unwilling to discuss it further. "There's no need to dig into that. We need only handle our own responsibilities. The Xie Family has seen how we've served them all these years. This time, they also pulled strings behind the scenes so the Imperial Court would specifically recruit someone from the Gao Family into official service. You and your brothers are old enough to start making plans for your futures and the family's. Prepare properly. You'll leave for the capital tomorrow. Remember, once you're in the capital, you mustn't neglect your cultivation."

Gao Yunheng replied solemnly, "Don't worry, Father. Once I'm in the capital, I won't slack off. I'll cultivate diligently and strive to break through to the Dragon Elephant Realm as soon as possible, so I don't disappoint the family's support."

"Have you investigated the background of the servant you selected? Are there any loose ends?"

"We carefully selected him from among the servants. His aptitude is decent, and his background is clean. His father died the year before last, and his mother remarried. Now he's the only one left in his household. He also entered the residence that year as a menial servant."

"What's his surname?"

"Chen."

"Oh. The Chen Family has been in decline for a long time. I haven't heard of any notable figures coming from it. He'll do." Gao Boyan's tone turned cold as he warned him, "Only a handful of people know the Xie Family uses people as medicine. This matter must be airtight. We absolutely cannot leave behind any loose ends, or we might turn a good thing into a disaster."

Gao Yunheng replied confidently, "Don't worry, Father. We've always used 'scouting for promising martial arts pupils' as our pretext. During the selection, we even deliberately included several ordinary boys to throw people off. No one could possibly learn the truth.

"Lately, I've had him take Blood Ginseng Pills, supplemented with the Foundation Cultivation Technique, to draw out the bit of True Yang in his qi and blood. This method also benefits his martial cultivation. Even a well-informed martial artist might not spot anything unusual. They might even think it was a stroke of incredible fortune for him. And he's just an ignorant servant.

"The time is right now. The True Yang in his body has been successfully roused. I've arranged for Zhang Tieyi to hand him over to the Xie Family in a few days. Only a handful of people know about this: you, me, Zhang Tieyi, and a few others."

"Mm." Gao Boyan finally set down his brush, picked up the sheet of calligraphy he had finished, and studied it closely.

It was a sheet of rice paper, barely two feet square, with only one character written on it: "medicine."

He stared at the character for a moment, a look of satisfaction crossing his face.

"Zhang Tieyi has worked conscientiously over the years and contributed quite a bit. Last time, he mentioned wanting us to recommend him to the Academy Bureau so he could get an official post and establish his family's standing. Decide what to do about it after you get to the capital."

"Yes." Gao Yunheng agreed, then remembered something and carefully brought it up. "By the way, Father. Qiao Niang has done a lot for the family over the years, too."

He paused slightly, watching his father's expression.

But Gao Boyan seemed not to have heard him. His gaze remained fixed on the character "medicine" on the sheet, and he gave no response.

Gao Yunheng understood. He said no more and put aside the idea of asking for Qiao Niang to be granted the status of a concubine-born daughter.

Zhang Tieyi hadn't shown himself for the past two days.

For Chen Ye, that gave him enough time to catch his breath.

He thought it over again and again. If he wanted to break out of this predicament, the best place to make his move was inside the courtyard.

First, he had been living here for eight or nine days. He knew every brick and tile, every blade of grass and every tree in the courtyard by heart.

Second, Zhang Tieyi always came alone and had never brought anyone with him.

As long as Chen Ye could silently deal with Zhang Tieyi inside the courtyard, he would have at least half an hour of safety to make his escape.

More importantly, Zhang Tieyi wasn't very wary of him here.

In the bald man's eyes, Chen Ye was merely a lamb raised for slaughter, a lowly servant who hadn't even entered the Mortal Shedding Realm.

If he were taken out of the courtyard, things would be different.

Making a move during the trip would give him more ways to exploit the situation, but Zhang Tieyi would be on full alert by then. Besides, Chen Ye didn't know the terrain or how many people would be accompanying them.

With his newly broken-through strength and just one Mortal Shedding, trying to deal with several people at once in unfamiliar surroundings was far too risky.

Waiting until the handover to the Xie Family would be the worst possible choice.

Once he entered the Xie Family's territory, Zhang Tieyi wouldn't be the only one he had to face.

The Xie Family was a second-rank noble clan in the Great Jing Kingdom, a top-tier great house below only the imperial relatives. Its clan was teeming with experts, and its depths were unfathomable.

Even if Chen Ye unleashed the strength of the Dragon Elephant Realm on the spot, he likely wouldn't be able to escape unscathed.

All things considered, making his move in this small courtyard was his only option for now.

Once he had settled on the location, Chen Ye began repeatedly planning out every detail of the attack and started preparing the courtyard in advance.

After he finished all his preparations, all that remained was to adapt to the situation, do everything he could, and leave the rest to fate.

The eleventh day.

Dawn had barely broken.

Chen Ye stood beside the well, drawing water to wash up.

The water splashed across his face, its bone-deep chill bringing him fully awake.

Standing at the well's edge, he looked up at the square patch of sky above the courtyard.

Blue-gray, not yet fully bright.

It was a fine day.

As usual, he trained and waited.

At last.

Zhang Tieyi, absent for several days, entered the courtyard.

As Zhang Tieyi pushed open the gate, he saw Chen Ye standing in a martial stance facing it. His posture was steady, as if waiting for Zhang Tieyi to inspect him.

Zhang Tieyi had grown used to it.

He had been a guard in the Gao household for more than ten years and had escorted more than one batch of "material."

They had all been like the one before him: hardworking, eager to improve, doing their best to show what they could do.

After all, this was a chance to leap from carp to dragon and change their fate.

Even he would have been stirred by the prospect of facing a behemoth like the Xie Family, yearning to win their favor and climb into their good graces.

How much more so a shortsighted menial servant like Chen Ye?

Given such fortune, he was like a child carrying a bar of gold through a crowded market, able only to let others dictate his fate.

Zhang Tieyi gave it no further thought and walked straight up to Chen Ye.