Chapter 589: Please Instruct Me

"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 them 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 he had to protect him no matter what.

"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 eyes filled with hatred; there was not a shred of remorse in him.

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, that even those arrogant and despotic 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 dared not kill him.

Who could blame him for being born well? He was the only legitimate son of the Chen family; he was born a noble.

As for those lowly commoners, it was their honor that he took a fancy to them; 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 joining them."

"Your father is quite pleased with himself for this, but I heard that his father—your grandfather—was literally angered to death upon learning of this. It is said that Lord Chen Xing does not even acknowledge your father's status as a member of the Chen family; I don't know if that is true or false."

"Looking at it now, it is indeed a case of 'if the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant.' Lord Chen's reputation has truly been lost because of you people!"

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

"My Second Master 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, I took a fancy to them, that 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 businesses. 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 hard enough to snap 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 to him; what right did Shen Yu have!

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

It was 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 despotic niece.

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

Unfortunately, this niece of his had a soft spot for Chen Ming—a piece of trash with poor character who only knew how to whisper 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 he would be upright and virtuous in the future.

It is a pity that neither the father nor the mother were good birds; it stands to reason that he was raised to be a waste. If Shen Yu didn't kill him today, someone else would have killed him in the future.

"Zheng'er, Zheng'er, Shen Yu, you, you actually dared..."

"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 severely!"

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

He kicked the blade he had just 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!" He walked forward, silently picked up the blade, and flicked the edge lightly.

Accompanied by the humming of the blade, Shen Yu glanced at Chen Ming. This single 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 was feeling like 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 raised his head and looked into the distance.

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

A swordsman wearing coarse cloth clothes appeared before Shen Yu, a swordsman with his sharpness restrained.

When facing him, the blade remained sheathed, yet the cold light was already exposed.

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

"Gao Shuqing, where the hell have you been? Why have you only arrived 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 man's tattered clothes, the letter was perfectly intact, without even a single stain.

The man was dirty, but his hands were flawless and white, 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; if two wouldn't do, then three. I would keep waiting; you would eventually return!"

"What reward did they give you to make you work this hard?" As he spoke, 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 done, but what about mine? Shen Yu is going to kill me!"

"A year ago, you gave away all your money 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!"

Gao Shuqing pulled the sword out of his body and threw it on the ground, his expression not changing in the slightest; it was terrifyingly calm.

"I have acted, and your favor is repaid!"

"You, you!" Chen Ming realized he could not count on that bastard Gao Shuqing. 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; if he fought for his life, not seeking to kill but only to escape, he figured he still had 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!"

From beginning to end, his eyes did not look in Chen Ming's direction, but were fixed tightly on 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 exactly how big the gap is between me and the number one in the world!"

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