Chapter 243: Don't You Need to Find Evidence?

"Lord Shen, I only have this one son!"

Looking at the blade that had fallen at his feet, then glancing at the stern-faced Shen Yu, Chen Ming felt his hands and feet turn cold; even his heart was trembling.

"My Lord, I can compensate for the mistakes my son made. I can give them glory and wealth, give them endless riches..."

As he spoke, Chen Ming was already sweating profusely from anxiety. Facing the young man before him, he could not muster the slightest thought of resistance.

But he only had this one son, and no matter what, he had to protect him.

"What about those who died? They don't want your wealth; they want your son to be buried with them!"

"I can use heavy gold to treat their families well, and I will personally go to apologize to them. I believe their families will forgive Zheng'er!"

"Dad, what are you afraid of? You are the dignified Xichuan Governor; why should you apologize to those lowly commoners!"

Hiding behind Chen Ming, Chen Zheng glared viciously at Shen Yu. His arrogant and unruly gaze was filled with hatred; there was not the slightest hint of repentance.

As soon as these words fell, Chen Ming shuddered again, so angry he almost covered his son's mouth.

Yet Chen Zheng was not afraid in the slightest; he had his own source of confidence.

"Shen Yu, I know you. I've heard that everyone fears you, and even those arrogant and domineering martial artists tremble when they hear your name, but I am not afraid of you."

"Do you know who my mother is? Do you know what my status is? I am the only legitimate son of the Chen family!"

"I know your mother, the only legitimate daughter of the Chen family; I have heard of that."

The young man opposite had a ferocious expression, his arrogant face filled with smugness. He was betting that Shen Yu would not dare to kill him.

Who could blame him for being born well? The Chen family had only one legitimate son; he was born a noble.

As for those lowly commoners, that he could take a fancy to them was their honor; they should be smug and grateful for it.

"You are very proud? Your father is a matrilocal son-in-law who abandoned his wife and children to marry into the Chen family back then, and even changed his surname after marrying in."

"Your father is quite pleased with himself for this, but I heard that his father—your grandfather—was so angered by this that he died. It is said that Lord Chen Xing refused to acknowledge your father's status as a member of the Chen family at all; I don't know if that is true or false."

"Looking at it now, it is indeed true that when the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones go awry. Lord Chen's reputation has truly been thrown away by you lot!"

"Shen Yu, you are presumptuous! I know you don't dare kill me, you can only take advantage with your words!" Hiding behind Chen Ming, Chen Zheng smiled provocatively at Shen Yu.

"My great-uncle is the Three-Dynasty Elder Chen Xing, and my mother was adopted as a foster daughter by the late Emperor. By seniority, I should call the Emperor 'Uncle'!"

"Those lowly commoners, that I took a fancy to them was their honor. You don't know how happy they were when they heard they could enter my Chen family's gates!"

"Those brothels are my family's property. Once they entered the brothel, they naturally belonged to my Chen family. I didn't deceive them; it was all their own willingness!"

"What a 'willingness'!" Licking his lips, Shen Yu waved his hand lightly, as if it were just a casual, careless gesture.

Following this movement, Chen Zheng, who was hiding behind Chen Ming, was sent flying directly, crashing heavily into a large tree behind him.

His entire body's bones were shattered, his internal organs completely ruptured, and he lost his life in resentment before he could even struggle.

Even at the very end, he could not believe that Shen Yu would lay a hand on him. Even the princes and dukes of the Capital were always polite when they saw him; by what right did Shen Yu do this!

"Sorry, you guessed wrong. I really do dare to kill you; the name of Lord Chen Xing cannot protect you!"

It seemed as if Chen Xing alone had exhausted the Chen family's fortune. The Three-Dynasty Elder Lord Chen Xing was a man of high virtue and prestige, yet he had an arrogant and domineering niece.

It just so happened that this generation of the Chen family was thin on descendants; he had no heirs, and his elder brother had only this one daughter, so they had to recruit a matrilocal son-in-law.

Unfortunately, this niece was infatuated with Chen Ming, a piece of trash with poor character who only knew how to speak sweet nothings, and she even became pregnant before marriage. Having no choice, they acknowledged Chen Ming's status.

And this Chen Zheng, who now had no breath left, had his name personally chosen by Lord Chen Xing, hoping that he would be upright and virtuous in the future.

It is a pity that neither the father nor the mother were good birds; it is only logical that he was raised to be a waste. If Shen Yu did not kill him today, others would have killed him in the future.

"Zheng'er, Zheng'er, Shen Yu, you, you actually dare to..."

"Zheng'er is the only legitimate son of my Chen family! The Chen family will not let you go, and I will not let you go! I will definitely impeach you!"

"Oh my, you scared me to death. 'Impeach me'? That is simply a joke. See if anyone dares to accept your memorial!"

He kicked the blade that had just been thrown on the ground, and it slid right in front of Chen Ming.

"I'll give you a chance. Pick up the blade and duel me to avenge your son!"

"You, I, I..."

"They all say you, Chen Ming, are a piece of trash. You really are a piece of trash; I gave you a chance and you couldn't take it!"

"I do admire Lord Chen Xing, but as for you lot, hmph!" Walking forward, he silently picked up the blade and flicked the edge lightly.

Accompanied by the humming of the blade, Shen Yu glanced at Chen Ming. This look made him shudder; it was clearly the look of someone about to kill him.

"Shen Yu, I am the Xichuan Governor, do you dare?"

"When He Yuan was still in office, strictly speaking, he was also the Xichuan Governor, and I killed him just the same. What kind of thing are you to dare bark at me!"

"If you had kept yourself clean, that would be one thing, but you are insatiably greedy. Isn't this just delivering yourself to my door?"

"It just so happens that I wasted three years doing nothing and felt it was a loss, and then you appeared."

"Killing a scourge like you is at least worth three months of my usual efforts in suppressing bandits." Just as the blade in his hand was about to fall, Shen Yu suddenly looked up into the distance.

At this moment, a figure arrived from afar in a flash, moving so fast that one could barely see the silhouette.

Appearing before Shen Yu was a swordsman wearing coarse cloth clothes, a swordsman with his sharpness restrained.

When facing him, the blade remained in its sheath, but the cold light was already exposed.

There are not many people in this world who dare to provoke him to his face.

"Gao Shuqing, where the hell have you been? Why have you only come now!"

"You are Lord Shen Yu?" Ignoring Chen Ming, he looked up. The middle-aged man before him had stubble, tattered clothes, and a sallow, thin face. But his gaze was like a torch, extremely sharp.

"Someone entrusted me with a letter for you. I have been waiting for you for two years!"

"Oh?" He took the letter from the other party's hand in surprise. Despite the other party's tattered clothes, the letter was intact, without even a single stain.

The other party was dirty all over, but these hands were white and flawless, without even a single callus. They didn't look like hands that held a sword, but Shen Yu knew that they were precisely the hands that held a sword.

"You waited for me for two years. What if I hadn't returned? What if you couldn't wait for me?"

"To be entrusted by others is to be loyal to their affairs. Since I promised, I had to wait for you!"

"If one year wouldn't do, then two years; if two years wouldn't do, then three years. I would keep waiting; you would eventually return!"

"What reward did they give you to make you work this hard?" While speaking, Shen Yu opened the letter in his hand.

Taking advantage of the moment Shen Yu was reading the letter, Chen Ming quietly stepped back, "Gao Shuqing, your business is finished, but what about mine? Shen Yu is going to kill me!"

"A year ago, you gave away the money you had to those beggars, and you were nearly starving to death yourself. When you were at your lowest, it was I who took you in, and it was I who gave you food!"

"I saved your life, and you said you would act for me once. Now that Shen Yu wants to kill me, you must protect me!"

"I know!" Drawing the sword in his hand, Gao Shuqing did not point it at Shen Yu, but instead pointed it at himself.

The next moment, the blade pierced through his clothes and into his flesh; fresh blood sprayed out, staining the floor red as the blade went straight through his body, protruding from his back.

"Lord Shen never kills the innocent, so if he is killing you, there must be a reason for it!"

Gao Shuqing pulled the sword from his body and threw it onto the ground, yet his expression did not change in the slightest; it was terrifyingly calm.

"I have acted; your favor is repaid!"

"You, you!" Chen Ming realized he could not count on that bastard Gao Shuqing, so gritting his teeth, he ran toward the outside as fast as he could, his blood and Qi surging and concentrating at a single point.

He considered himself a master of sorts, and he figured that if he fought for his life—not to kill, but only to escape—there would surely be a glimmer of hope.

But the next moment, Chen Ming was already pierced through by a Sword Qi, though his body still maintained the posture of rushing forward. He slammed heavily into the wall, knocking down the wall in the distance.

"Lord Shen, my name is Gao Shuqing, and I am a swordsman!"

His eyes never once looked in Chen Ming's direction, but were fixed tightly on the Shen Yu before him. After a long while, Gao Shuqing drew his sword and pointed it at him from afar.

"Lord Shen asked what reward they gave me; I can tell you that they gave me nothing. But when I knew it was to deliver a letter to Lord Shen, I came."

"For no other reason than that I want to know just how great the gap is between me and the number one in the world!"

"Nameless swordsman Gao Shuqing, please grant me your instruction, Lord Shen!"