"Your name is You San, and your grandfather married into a local woman's household, taking her surname, You?"
In the residence the Wu Household, an aristocratic clan of this city, had provided for Li Chen, cold sweat streamed down You San. As he listened to Li Chen recount his identity and origins, he dropped to his knees with a thud, nodding like someone pounding garlic.
"Yes, that's me! I meant no offense. Please spare my life, Senior!"
Li Chen sat in the seat of honor with the ghost of a smile. "Rest assured, I have no intention of harming you."
You San asked shakily, "Then... what exactly do you..."
Li Chen waved a hand. "Actually, you could be considered a descendant of an old friend of mine. A nephew takes after his uncle, and then passes that resemblance on to his grandson... Heh, it's only been a few decades, yet it feels as though a lifetime has passed."
By now, he had established that You San was indeed You An's great-nephew. His grandmother was the sister You An had once worried about so much.
After leaving the Morning Cloud Celestial Palace, their lineage had declined. You An's branch, in particular, had lost all its standing. Another aristocratic clan had also broken off its engagement with You An's sister, leaving her to hastily take in a husband and spend the rest of her life with him.
You An's sister had not been very fortunate. Her husband was a Puppet Master craftsman in Armor Capital City. At first, he had seemed honest and dutiful, but a few years into their marriage, he had picked up a gambling habit. After squandering the family's wealth and racking up a mountain of debt, he had climbed a tall building and ended it all with a