Chapter 59: Past Events

By the time Wu Chengyu returned to his own courtyard, A Ku had already run off somewhere unknown. There were not a few young girls of his age in the Wu Family Slope; A Ku spent nearly every day outside playing apart from eating, adapting to life on Wu Family Slope even better than Wu Chengyu. She was born loving laughter and had excellent rapport with people.

Wu Chengyu returned to the study, sat on the couch, held a teacup in his hand, with countless thoughts swirling. The tea was slightly warm, yet he felt nothing.

What Wu Zhenghui had said was truly beyond expectation; the Wu Clan Third Branch was indeed weakened.

It all had to start from the year Wu Chengyu's father was escorting goods and encountered the bandit group One Gust of Wind robbing the escort.

The Yangwu Escort Agency had always been managed by the Third Branch. Among the peers of the Third Branch led by Wu Zhengkang, six men worked at the escort agency. That year, while escorting, they encountered One Gust of Wind. Outnumbered, the six fought to the death. Although they killed many bandits, they ultimately all died in a bloody battle.

Besides those six, the other escorts and assistants also came from the Wu Family's collateral branches and outside surnames, totaling over twenty people, not one survived. Just the condolence money for these people alone put some strain on the Third Branch's finances.

But this was not the greatest loss. That the escort could attract One Gust of Wind's ambush was itself valuable; the goods were all snatched by One Gust of Wind. According to convention, the escort agency had to pay double compensation, which instantly emptied the silver taels in the Third Branch's treasury. It was only with timely help from the Main House and Second House that the matter was barely settled.

From then on, the Third Branch's important property, the Yangwu Escort Agency, closed its doors for good.

Wu Chengyu was too young at the time; in his memory there was only his parents' funeral. How could he know how many families on the entire Wu Family Slope wore mourning clothes at the same time?

After the funeral, Wu Chengyu followed Feng Heng far away to Peach Blossom Island. But how could the great grudge over this escort robbery and against One Gust of Wind not be avenged?

Later generations all thought people in the Suzhou area had gentle and polite tempers, and with the saying of Wu Nong Ru Yu, generalizing from the particular, some always felt Suzhou people had relatively weak personalities. Little did they know this saying only existed since the late Qing Dynasty.

In real history, Suzhou, especially before the Ming Dynasty, its locals were also known for being strong and brave. Zhuan Zhu and Yao Li among the Four Great Assassins were both from the land of Wu Yue.

Specifically during the Southern Song period, at this time the area north of Jiangsu belonged to the Jin Kingdom, including Gusu and the Sunan region belonged to the Great Song. Jiangsu became the border between the Jin Kingdom and the Great Song, with frequent friction at the border, and often small Jin Kingdom troops would run to Jiangnan to burn, kill, and loot.

Those bandits of One Gust of Wind actually came from within the Jin Kingdom's territory. Relying on fast horses like a swarm of bees entering Sunan to rob and loot, they truly came and went like the wind. They often robbed escorts or plundered villages. When encountering tough opponents, they would immediately flee back to Subei. For a long time, the people of Sunan suffered from them but were helpless.

So powerful clans like the Wu Family all valued cultivating the martial arts and fierce nature of their clan's juniors. In this era, in such an environment, without a certain level of martial prowess, one could not stand firm.

After holding the funeral, the Wu Family immediately set about the matter of revenge. Since those who died were all Third Branch brothers, Wu Zhengliang took the lead.

Wu Zhengliang was quite capable. On one hand, he contacted the powerful clans of Sunan, persuading them to unite against a common enemy and send their household experts to jointly encircle One Gust of Wind. On the other hand, he bribed the officials of Gusu, finally getting them to agree to send troops to surround and capture them.

Wu Zhengliang painstakingly planned and schemed from all sides, using a full two months. Not only did he find the whereabouts of One Gust of Wind, but he also cleverly used bait to lure them into the encirclement. Blinded by greed, One Gust of Wind suspected nothing and charged straight in.

As soon as the two sides clashed, One Gust of Wind fell into a predicament. Official troops surrounded the outside, while the juniors of the various Sunan families divided and surrounded them. In the time it takes to burn one incense stick, half of the bandits were hacked down from their horses.

They originally thought they would surely annihilate One Gust of Wind this time, avenging the heroic souls of the Wu Family's dead and the suffering people of Sunan. But at the critical moment, a group of strongmen suddenly rushed into the encirclement. Every one of them could be called a master, far superior to the clan juniors who only practiced family martial arts and had no profound martial arts inheritance.

Especially the leader, who wore a mask. His martial arts were so high that none present had ever seen in their lives. He led the charge, and with a casual palm strike, someone would drop dead on the spot.

The Wu Family juniors bore the brunt. In a short time, the Third Branch's Zheng-generation juniors were killed one after another. In desperation, Wu Zhengliang pounced over. He was skilled in leg techniques, unleashing the Mandarin Duck Legs in continuous moves. But unfortunately, the gap in martial arts was too great. With two light palm strikes, Wu Zhengliang's leg bones were all shattered. If not for the brothers beside him fighting to the death to save him, he would not have survived either.

The remaining men of One Gust of Wind were rescued by this group of strongmen. Although they suffered heavy losses, the four leaders were all present. The surrounding official troops dared not stop them and could only watch them leave in high spirits and escape.

After this battle, the casualties of all families were heavy, especially the Wu Family juniors. Both the Main House and Second House had losses, and the Third Branch's Zheng-generation juniors had another nine killed on the spot. Now only ten remained, among them three, like Wu Zhengliang, were lifelong cripples.

Such a great loss could no longer be described as adding insult to injury for the Third Branch. The Family Head and the various clan elders were also very dissatisfied.

In the days that followed, among the Third Branch's people, the old were old and the young were young. The Zheng-generation, the main force, was short of manpower and simply could not manage the original properties. Helpless, they had to hand over some properties to the Main House and Second House to manage.

Although the Family Head promised that once the Cheng-generation juniors grew up, these properties would be returned to the Third Branch, since the properties were not managed by themselves, the original income was reduced by more than half. The money, grain, and resources of every household in the Third Branch would inevitably be cut.

Understanding the cause and effect, Wu Chengyu couldn't help but sigh at the unpredictability of worldly affairs. However, he recognized the family more. Although the outcome was unexpected, to dare to fight to the death for the family's juniors, and the Third Branch looking out for each other—such a family was already considered not bad.

As for handing over the properties to the other two branches to manage, that could also be understood. Since they themselves could not manage them, letting the properties decline would damage the family's interests. Moreover, it was only temporary. In ten years, when the Cheng-generation grew up, the Third Branch would still recover its vitality.

But for Wu Chengyu, time was of the essence. This small amount of money and grain would be enough for a poor family of four to have food and clothing for a year, but for Wu Chengyu, it was far from enough to support the consumption needed for martial arts training.

The silver taels on hand could support him for a short time. But what about next? Could he directly ask the family for more?

Wu Chengyu had a bit of a headache. He turned his head to look at a wooden box on the table. It was three feet long and two feet wide. The wooden box was not exquisite, but inside was what Wu Zhengliang had just sent someone to deliver—the legacy of Wu Zhengkang and Mu Qingyin.

His parents' other things were all placed in this small courtyard. Only those gold, silver, and fine silks had been put away early by Wu Zhengliang.

Wu Chengyu opened the wooden box. Inside were several small wooden caskets. He casually picked up the first flat wooden casket. It was very light in his hand, and he didn't know what was inside.

But after opening it, Wu Chengyu's heart immediately raced. Inside was a thick stack of banknotes, each one hundred taels, a full hundred or so.

Counting them, just this small wooden casket alone had ten thousand taels of silver.

Wu Chengyu checked and calculated repeatedly, finally confirming that a huge sum of money had suddenly fallen on his head.

But where could his parents have left so many silver taels?

Let me say something here. I can accept criticism if you think I write poorly, but some friends attacking me personally, even cursing my family, is really unnecessary. Moreover, I found that those who open their mouths to curse are basically people who haven't voted. They come, curse a few words, and leave. I even doubt whether they have read it.

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(Chapter End)