Chapter 158: with translation of chapter title

The estate of the Rosy Great Road Family.

When Quebu Changzilang arrived at the Rosy Great Road Family and stated his purpose to the guards waiting outside, he was taken by the outside guards to the family's highest-level reception hall to wait. Meanwhile, another guard, after confirming Quebu's identity, immediately ran to inform the head of the Rosy Great Road Family…

Nowadays is different from the past; since Aramaki assumed the position of Captain-Commander, the nobles' rights in the Tranquil Spirit Court have been dwindling. Not to mention their non-noble servants, even members of the Five Great Noble Families, when facing the members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, must strive to appear courteous and polite, leaving no fault to be found…

Therefore, although the Rosy Great Road Family, as one of the most powerful upper-tier nobles among the Five Great Noble Families, when facing Quebu, the envoy of Captain-Commander Aramaki of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, they still must receive him with the highest etiquette, and the head of the Rosy Great Road Family must personally speak with Quebu.

Not long after, while Quebu sat calmly drinking tea in the Rosy Great Road Family's reception hall, an old man with spectacles perched on his nose and a full head of white hair walked over with steady steps, smiling as he approached Quebu…

"Hehe, sorry, Envoy Sir, you've waited long! I was just busy with something; I don't know what exactly Captain-Commander Aramaki Sir needs to order of me, but I will do my utmost to fully support…"

As soon as the old man appeared, he nodded respectfully to Quebu, and while asking about Quebu's purpose, he also threw in some pleasant pleasantries, praising Aramaki.

"Are you the head of the Rosy Great Road Family?!"

Quebu frowned at the old man before him, thinking, if he remembered correctly, the Rosy Great Road Family had always been headed by women since ancient times; according to the family's saying, if a man were the head, one could not guarantee he would become talented, possibly causing great loss to the family, but if a woman were the head, even if she lacked ability, she could find a capable son-in-law to ensure the family's lasting prosperity…

In fact, in Quebu's view, the Rosy Great Road Family's plan is pure unnecessary extra work! Whether the head is female or male, to Quebu it's the same; an incapable head seeking a capable wife or son-in-law to assist makes no difference, and marriages between incapable nobles and capable commoners are not common in the Soul Society, but since this is the Rosy Great Road Family's tradition, Quebu really has nothing to say about it.

"Um…"

"I am the steward of the Rosy Great Road Family~"

Upon hearing Quebu's words, the old man's expression changed instantly, and he stammered an explanation of his identity.

"Where is your head?"

Quebu paid no heed to the old man's identity and asked directly.

"Our head has recently been bedridden with illness and is not fit to receive visitors…"

"For now, the entire Rosy Great Road Family is under my leadership."

Hearing that, the old man's eyes flickered; he seemed to be trying to conceal something.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter…"

"Since you are the steward of the Rosy Great Road Family, telling you is the same."

Quebu couldn't be bothered with the Rosy Great Road Family's power struggles, so he directly interrupted the old man's words.

"Um, okay!"

Upon hearing that, the old man instantly felt overjoyed.

Indeed, as he had suspected, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads led by Aramaki simply do not care whether these great nobles' heads are compliant; Aramaki only cares whether they obey…

"Then perhaps I can slightly adjust my previous plan!"

"Perhaps I can handle this matter more thoroughly, thereby eliminating all future troubles!"

The old man muttered to himself, recalling the former head still struggling on the sickbed and the illegitimate offspring left by that former head, and formed his own plan in his heart.

"Captain-Commander Aramaki's verbal order: I now command the Rosy Great Road Family to, within one week, immediately hand over the manufacturing method of the Tapir Line Blade and voluntarily destroy all things related to the Tapir Line Blade within the Rosy Great Road Family, including the factory that manufactures the Tapir Line Blade, molds, various production equipment, and the people who produce the Tapir Line Blade…"

"Furthermore, please have the head of the Rosy Great Road Family, within one week, hand over to the Thirteen Court Guard Squads the assailant who attacked the Kekijō squad members at the Tapir Line Blade factory a day ago, including the mastermind behind the assailant! They will be dealt with and punished by the Thirteen Court Guard Squads according to squad regulations!"

Quebu couldn't be bothered to say more to the old man; after finishing the tea in his cup, he directly conveyed Aramaki's order to the person in charge of the Rosy Great Road Family before him.

"Um…"

"Sir of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, I don't understand what you're saying."

"I think you might have mistaken something!"

"Our Rosy Great Road Family has no Tapir Line Blade factory at all!"

"And our Rosy Great Road Family didn't attack anyone yesterday!"

"I can swear on my authority as steward of the Rosy Great Road Family that all members of our Rosy Great Road Family are law-abiding and have never attacked anyone…"

After hearing Quebu's words, the old man was utterly frightened; he never expected Quebu to come to him for yesterday's Tapir Line Blade matter, and he said that the person guarding the factory yesterday had not done his job properly, how could that person have escaped from the factory! He should have been killed on the spot…

However, fortunately this old man had experience; after a brief moment of losing composure, he immediately began to feign ignorance in front of Quebu, for no matter what Quebu said or what evidence he produced, even if he brought witnesses, he would insist he knew nothing, because the Thirteen Court Guard Squads have no 'leniency for confession, severity for resistance'; resisting one could still put up a fight, but confessing would truly be a dead end.

"Do you have anything else to say?"

After hearing the old man's words, Quebu asked lightly.

"Nothing more."

Upon hearing that, the old man first stared blankly, then lightly shook his head.

"Good, remember to have everything Captain-Commander Aramaki Sir ordered ready within one week!"

"Furthermore, I don't want to repeat a second time what Captain-Commander Aramaki Sir said…"

Upon hearing that, Quebu first nodded in satisfaction, then instructed the old man.

"……" After hearing Quebu's words, the old man was completely dumbfounded; after a few seconds of silence, he tearfully told Quebu: "Sir of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, you have truly wronged our Rosy Great Road Family; I really don't know what you are talking about!"

"Remember, I am not soliciting your opinion, nor do I want to hear any of your explanations; this is an order…"

Quebu looked at the old man before him and spoke in an icy tone. As for whether the old man truly understood the Tapir Line Blade matter, Quebu was quite clear in his mind; as the great steward of the Rosy Great Road Family, he certainly knew about such a major issue…

Especially now, with the Rosy Great Road Family's head bedridden, this old man acting as the family's steward, as the actual manager of the Rosy Great Road Family, he has no reason not to know these things! Perhaps the mastermind behind the Tapir Line Blade is none other than this seemingly ordinary old man before us…

As Quebu's words fell, he also couldn't be bothered to deal with the old man whose face looked as awful as having eaten feces, and he left in a flash step.

"Damn! Damn thing…"

"A mere low-ranking member of the Thirteen Squads actually doesn't put me in his eyes?!"

"This is utterly lawless! I'll go to the Forty-Six Room to accuse you! I'll find the Five Great Noble Families to come and uphold justice for me—I want, I want, ah! ah! ah!"

The moment Quebu left, the old man went completely mad, repeatedly smashing and destroying the valuable furnishings in the reception hall, and continually roaring to vent his anger.

"Lord Yunji, the matter of the Tapir Line Blade seems to have been discovered by Captain-Commander Aramaki Sir…"

"Given our understanding of Captain-Commander Aramaki, since he has issued the order, he will certainly not let this go; the Captain-Commander is always steadfast in his word, so what should we do now?!"

After the old man vented his feelings in the reception room and gradually calmed down, a small hidden door suddenly opened in the wall of the reception room, and from it emerged several black-clad assassins wearing night attire and masked faces; these assassins had been raised by the old man since childhood and were his most trusted men.

At this moment, these assassins all looked with great worry at the man before them named Yunji, the steward of the Rosy Great Road Family, for, based on their usual handling of the Rosy Great Road Family's dirty work, they had been forced to come into contact with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads' members, and thus understood the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and Captain-Commander Aramaki; whatever Aramaki decides will never be changed, and everything will develop only until it yields the result Aramaki wants.

"What to do? You're asking me what to do?!"

"Hahaha, I also want to know, what should we do?"

After hearing these assassins' words before him, Yun Jing burst out laughing. As one of the authorities of the Corpse Soul Realm, he naturally knew Araki's temperament and understood how ruthless his methods were, but knowing is knowing—would he really obey Araki's words and meekly hand over the foundation he had built for over a hundred years? That's impossible!

Moreover, Araki also said that merely wanting the manufacturing method of the Tapir Line Blade and destroying its production factory was far from not enough! They also wanted the Xiadalu Family to hand over the mastermind behind their private production of the Tapir Line Blade, and that mastermind was naturally none other than himself. Was he supposed to order people to have himself captured and handed over to Araki? What a joke!

"What if we..."

One of the assassins thought of something and made a throat-slashing gesture toward Yun Jing.

"You want to assassinate Araki?! Are you out of your mind?!"

Seeing the assassin's gesture, Yun Jing's expression changed sharply and he angrily rebuked the assassin.

After all, if their secret forging of the Tapir Line Blade were discovered, even if Araki wanted to punish them, he would only punish one person—taking that one person's head would be enough……

But once it involves plotting to murder the Captain-Commander of the Court Guard Thirteen Squads, it would warrant extermination of nine clans! Although these death attendants have no relatives, Yun Jing still has a multitude of descendants~

Furthermore, Araki is famed as the strongest Death God in the history of the Corpse Soul Realm—how could he be easy to assassinate? If he were, those nobles who hate him to the point of itching would have already killed him!

What's more, Araki has no weaknesses at all; even his family members are not something those nobles can provoke—they are all a bunch of powerful monsters who don't even look like Death Gods.

"What I mean is, we should take out that spy from yesterday who ran away from here! I suspect it's that kid, the one responsible for investigating the relationship between our Xiadalu Family and the Tapir Line Blade. Without him, our Xiadalu Family wouldn't have attracted the attention of Captain-Commander Araki……"

The death attendant, after hearing Yun Jing's words, explained.

"Oh? In that case the Captain-Commander would have no witness, so perhaps we can escape disaster~"

Hearing that, Yun Jing's eyes suddenly lit up; he suddenly realized these death attendants were actually quite clever.

"That's just you overthinking things; the Captain-Commander never needs evidence when arresting people!"

The death attendant, upon hearing Yun Jing's words, immediately curled his lip and spoke disdainfully.

"Then why are you wasting my time with this nonsense?"

Hearing that, Yun Jing instantly flew into a rage.

"What I mean is, you can vent your emotions before you die."

Hearing that, the death attendant lowered his head and spoke seriously.

Although killing that spy would no longer provide Yun Jing with any useful value, at least it could give him some faint emotional value, allowing him, after death, to become spirit particles and have a companion on the road to reincarnation……

"Shut up!"

Hearing that, Yun Jing only felt his heart sink; how had he raised such a bunch of useless good-for-nothings?! For a moment he felt that all the effort and money he had spent over the past century to cultivate these death attendants had been completely wasted……

"Sigh……"

Yun Jing thought of this and let out another long sigh; it seemed there was now nothing that could change his impending death, and after pondering left and right, he decided to take care of a personal matter before his imminent trial.

"Go to the infirmary and give our family head the antidote."

Yun Jing finally made his decision.

Indeed, the Xiadalu Family's head had collapsed because of the poison Yun Jing had administered; he had long used a chronic poison to control the family head, making him appear weak and frail, thereby seizing family power for himself and eliminating all rivals to his authority.

"Are you sure? This is all your life's work……"

The death attendant, upon hearing Yun Jing's words, revealed an incredulous expression.

"Life's work? Heh, it's all meaningless now!"

"That's Captain-Commander Araki; since he's going to investigate, we definitely have to give him an explanation……"

Yun Jing made a sorrowful expression.

"So what are you planning to do?"

All the Death Gods present, upon hearing that, were instantly infected by Yun Jing's sorrow and thought he was going to die a heroic death.

"So the only option is to have the family head take the blame for me!"

"My dear family head! I've watched you grow up……"

"I've toiled and risked my life for the prosperity of the Xiadalu Family; seeing the mansion about to collapse, it's not too much for you to stand in for Uncle me and take the lightning, is it?! "

Indeed, Yun Jing decided to play the villain to the hilt, deciding to let his family head suffer in his stead.

"Awesome!"

The death attendants, upon hearing Yun Jing's words, all muttered in agreement: bad people are common, but someone as wicked as Yun Jing is hard to find even in the entire Corpse Soul Realm……

One week later.

The barracks of the First Division, inside the captain's quarters where Araki was located.

The Xiadalu Family, according to the agreement, sent over all the Tapir Line Blades and their manufacturing techniques, and also delivered over thirty heads of the family's servants, promising they had already sold off all the factories and various tools used to produce the Tapir Line Blade within the family, and further guaranteeing that from now on they would absolutely not let Araki see or hear any rumors about the Tapir Line Blade within the Xiadalu Family!

However, whether it was those Tapir Line Blades or the craftsmanship to make them, these were not what Araki cared about; what he cared most about was that the Xiadalu Family had actually sent their current family head—a woman lying in bed, eyes tightly shut, skin as fair as snow, features regular yet somewhat weary, with a full head of golden hair and a voluptuous figure—to Araki's captain's quarters, calling her the mastermind behind their Tapir Line Blade affair and claiming she had already been sent to Araki for disposal, and declaring that she was no longer a member of the Xiadalu Family……

"What a joke……"

Araki looked at the woman before him, his eyelid twitching slightly. The woman's breathing was steady; she seemed to be sleeping soundly, as if she had been given a sleeping drug before arriving, leaving her unconscious and unable to resist……

"Oh, oh……"

"So it turns out Araki likes this type~"

Maozhibie Lie sized her up from head to toe, then immediately looked at Araki with the eyes of someone examining trash, and gave him a somewhat teasing smile.

"Nonsense! Simply nonsense……"

"How could such a thing be openly and honestly delivered to my office?!"

"He doesn't understand the slightest bit of propriety! It's utterly infuriating!"

Araki glared at the young woman before him, angrily condemning the Xiadalu Family's despicable conduct. As a man of integrity, he would absolutely never do anything that forced a woman's will.

"Oh? So you're saying it's fine as long as it's not open and aboveboard?"

Maozhibie Lie, upon hearing Araki's words, narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Hiss……"

Araki suddenly felt a wave of killing intent; thinking it was bad, he also stopped fooling around.

"Lie, this woman is yours to handle; I'm going to go kill someone……"

Araki straightened his expression and at the same time spoke to Maozhibie Lie behind him.

Don't worry~ I'll take care of this~

She was just fed a sleeping-type drug, so she fell asleep; she'll be fine soon~

U no Hana Retsu sensed Araki's killing intent, and she gave Araki a light smile and nodded.

So then...

Araki said, and his figure instantly disappeared into his captain's quarters.

On another note, the Kasumi Ōji family...

I don't even know if my plan succeeded!!

Yun Jing was extremely anxious right now; he had no idea whether his plan could move Araki's heart.

Yun Jing! Where did Mother go? I can't find her...

Just as Yun Jing furrowed his brows, a blond little girl about five or six years old, surrounded by a crowd of guards, walked up to him and questioned him.

Heh, isn't that Lady Ruri Chiyo!!

Long time no see, you've grown so big...

Upon hearing the person's question, Yun Jing's pupils shrank slightly, then he smiled and greeted the child.

Yun Jing! Don't play dumb here, quickly tell me Mother's whereabouts! I heard you hid Mother, and if Mother suffers any harm, I will never forgive you...

That girl was none other than Kasumi Ōji's Ruri Chiyo, also the next head of the Kasumi Ōji family; at this moment she glared angrily at Yun Jing before her and questioned him coldly.

Haha, unfortunately, Lady Ruri Chiyo! It's not that I, Yun Jing, want to see Lady Feicui for something; rather, Lady Feicui made some mistaken decisions that caused the entire Kasumi Ōji family to fall into a bad situation, and now Lady Feicui has been arrested by the Guard Court Thirteen Squad; surely she has already been executed by now!!

After hearing Ruri Chiyo's words, Yun Jing coldly laughed and said.

What? Impossible! Mother would never do such a thing, you're lying to me! You're absolutely lying!

Upon hearing Yun Jing's words, Ruri Chiyo's expression changed instantly; she looked at Yun Jing and spoke in disbelief.

Heh, it's just the facts! Besides, I have no reason to deceive Lady Ruri Chiyo; I am the most loyal retainer of the Kasumi Ōji family, and only I would never betray you, so please, for the prosperity of the Kasumi Ōji family, you must not learn from the willful Lady Feicui, but instead listen to my words...

Even now, Yun Jing is still trying to brainwash Ruri Chiyo.

Impossible...

At this moment, Ruri Chiyo's mind is filled with her mother's mistake and being taken away by the Thirteen Squad.

She absolutely cannot believe that her gentle mother would be a criminal!

Heh...

Yun Jing looked at the nearly despairing Ruri Chiyo and gave a cold smile; he really is a genius. Although he had stepped into a deadly dead end, he cleverly resolved it, found life in the dead end, and even instantly reversed the dead end, turning the situation into one favorable to him! For a moment, Yun Jing felt that this life suddenly had hope~

You're lying to me! You're lying to me, right!!

At this moment, Ruri Chiyo is still questioning Yun Jing.

Heh, how could I possibly lie to you? This is something everyone in the Kasumi Ōji family knows...

Yun Jing is still deceiving.

Yes, he is deceiving you!

Close your eyes! What comes next is not for children to see...

However, before Yun Jing could finish, a cold voice suddenly sounded behind Ruri Chiyo.

Eh?!

Before Ruri Chiyo could think further, her eyes were covered...

She only heard Yun Jing's crying shout from beside her ear.

How is that possible? How could you possibly come in person?

I was wrong, I really made a mistake, please give me another chance...

Just give me one more chance; I don't want anything else, you can take all my wealth and honor, I only want my life, as long as you spare me, you can have me do anything, please...

That voice was full of despair.

Chance? I already gave you a chance, but you didn't catch it yourself...

That voice showed utter coldness, filled with a domineering attitude that allows no questioning.

Ruri Chiyo guessed that the speaker must be a superior!

Whoosh!

Before Ruri Chiyo could react, accompanied by a whistling sound, she only felt that something ahead seemed to have collapsed...