To avoid suspicion, He Fangchuan and Qingque didn’t choose to fight in human form. So when Liang Chuan and his men rushed over with their weapons, they had just smashed the door with wooden sticks when they were attacked by an exceptionally ferocious blue giant bird!
At first, his underlings managed to protect him, but when the blue bird’s claws started attacking their eyes, they couldn’t care less.
Qingque held back, not actually hurting them, after all, He Fangchuan’s initial plan was just to scare them.
Once the first one ran away, the second would immediately follow—this bird had gone mad! Who could reason with a bird! Seeing that his underlings had all run away, Liang Chuan also tried to find a place to slip away, but the blue bird grabbed his clothes with one claw. He was smart enough to immediately take off his outer garment and throw it on the ground, but the blue bird immediately chased after him and grabbed his inner garment!
Although it wasn’t yet the dead of winter, it was already the season of continuous autumn rains. Running back naked would mean catching a cold, a minor matter compared to the embarrassment of being seen!
After much hesitation, Liang Chuan suddenly mustered the courage to stop running. He seemed determined to fight the bluebird for ownership of his clothes, but the moment he reached out, it felt like being pricked by a nail. The pain made him quickly release his grip, and he stumbled backward.
The bluebird also released its claws at that moment, watching Liang Chuan tumble a considerable distance before stopping. Startled, it didn’t bother to straighten its clothes and hurriedly turned and ran, disappearing in a flash. The
chubby little bird that had been peeking at Liang Chuan’s hand while he reached out jumped out of the bluebird’s arms. The two birds, one big and one small, exchanged a glance and then turned to look at their own yard wall—still very curious.
Why did Brother Eagle fall down there?!
The two transformed back into human form. Qingque dusted off imaginary dust from his clothes, his face clearly saying, “I’m going to watch the show.” He Fangchuan ignored him, letting him follow behind towards the courtyard gate. Zhudingque flew over the wall and glanced over. Seeing that it was He Fangchuan and Qingque returning, he quickly opened the gate for them.
As soon as they entered, He Fangchuan saw Yu Shishu being dragged into the house step by step by Cangying. He quickly went to help him up: “What happened to him?”
Cangying turned his head away guiltily. Zhudingque explained from the side, “Young Master Yu was frightened unconscious by Brother Cangying.”
Qingque: “Hahahaha!”
“Stop laughing.” He Fangchuan glared at him, helped Yu Shishu to sit on the chair that Qingque had dragged out of the room, and then took out a small sachet from his pocket. It was embroidered with elegant bamboo leaf patterns and had a light green background, making it look very refined.
He Fangchuan held the sachet under Yu Shishu’s nose and waved it. Qingque teased, “So you really haven’t grown up yet? Still carrying bamboo rice around.”
“Mind your own business, the Phoenix Lord hasn’t grown up at all.” Cangying slapped his leg with his uninjured wing. “The human form has long since reached adulthood, but these twenty-odd years are just a blink of an eye for a phoenix.”
A phoenix’s adulthood, to put it simply, might take thousands of years to mature. To put it bluntly, as long as the phoenix loses interest in bamboo rice, it’s considered grown up.
Qingque jumped up, hugging his leg, and pointed at Cangying, saying, “How can you hit someone so hard! Aren’t you afraid of breaking my leg!”
“Ugh…” Yu Shishu let out a muffled groan and slowly woke up. Cangying quickly took two steps back—who knew if this cowardly guy would faint again as soon as he woke up and saw him!
Yu Shishu slowly opened his eyes, blinking as he looked at He Fangchuan and another unfamiliar man standing behind him, both staring at him. He couldn’t help but touch the back of his head where he had bumped it when he fell. “It hurts.”
“Really? Let me see.” He Fangchuan quickly came behind him, reaching out his fingertips to touch the back of his head, making sure there was no bleeding or swelling before he was relieved. “It’s nothing, it must have been a bump.”
“Oh, right!” Yu Shishu suddenly remembered what had happened before he fainted. “I heard someone knocking on the door… no, banging on the door. What happened? Are you all alright?”
“It was Liang Chuan.” He Fangchuan didn’t hide anything from him.
Yu Shishu had previously explained his grudges with the Liang family and Liang Chuan to He Fangchuan, so he didn’t find anything wrong with what Yu Shishu was saying now: “Where is he now?”
He Fangchuan glanced at Qingque, who hadn’t reacted yet, when the red-crowned sparrow chirped in a voice only birds could understand: “Help me!”
“Yes… I chased him away.” Qingque finally came to her senses and quickly took over the conversation, “That guy was just a coward, he couldn’t take it after a few beatings, what a pampered brat!”
What he said was the truth.
Yu Shishu asked again, “Is this young master alright?”
“He’s fine, he’s tough.” He Fangchuan said calmly. Qingque gritted her teeth and whispered, “He’s blinded by lust.”
“Likewise.” He Fangchuan returned the compliment. “I wonder who was so captivated by a beauty back then that they almost dragged me down into the moat together.”
Qingque: “…”
Eagle: “Caw caw caw!”
Yu Shishu was startled by the eagle’s sound and jumped up from his chair. But when he saw that the eagle was alright, for a moment he actually wanted to go up and hug the big bird.
Startled by the sudden thought, he quickly shook his head, only to hear He Fangchuan say, “Qingque, this is Young Master Yu.”
Realizing that He Fangchuan was introducing the man before him, Yu Shishu hurriedly straightened his clothes and nodded to him, “Hello, my name is Yu Shishu.”
“Ah, the second young master of the Yu family in the west of the city?” Although Qingque had seen his appearance before, this was the first time she had heard his name. Recalling the various rumors she had heard recently, the words in her heart blurted out, “The Yu family hasn’t been very peaceful lately. I heard that Old Master Yu has returned.”
Yu Shishu was stunned—Grandfather has returned?
…
In the west of the city, at the Yu family ancestral home.
Liang Chuan lingered in front of the gate for a long time. He had already gone home to change his clothes, but the bruises on his face wouldn’t heal so quickly. When his parents asked, he only said that he had accidentally fallen.
What was even more worrying was that he had bumped into many passersby while running home in disheveled clothes. Who knew what rumors would spread tomorrow?
The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became, and he stopped in his tracks. Just then, a man walked out of the Yu family mansion. He looked to be in his early twenties, with a naturally worried expression on his brow. He vaguely resembled Yu Shishu, but he looked much more mature than Yu Shishu.
“Brother Shiyan! You’ve finally come out!” Liang Chuan hurriedly went to greet him. Yu Shiyan saw the injuries on his face and was taken aback: “Brother Liang, what happened?”
“Don’t even mention it! Didn’t I listen to you and go cause trouble for Yu Shishu? Ma San told me that he’s living near Yanzi Bay, so I took some men there. Who knew there were a few crazy birds nearby, almost as tall as a person, that kept pecking at me!” Liang Chuan got angry just talking about it, but Yu Shiyan raised his hand to interrupt him: “So you didn’t see Yu Shishu?”
Liang Chuan nodded through gritted teeth: “I didn’t see him, but I know Ma San wouldn’t lie to me, he must be there! Should I take some men and go again?”
“Don’t alert him yet, today isn’t the time.”
“Brother Shiyan, is the rumor true? Has your patriarch really returned alive?” Liang Chuan asked in a low voice. “Didn’t your father already take control?”
Yu Shiyan glanced at him: “As long as Grandpa is alive, he’s the one who calls the shots—no one else is allowed to know what we say. My mother has only just taken over the household, so this can’t be rushed, but getting rid of Yu Shishu is still necessary.”
As long as his legitimate younger brother is by his side, Grandpa won’t give him a second glance. No matter how hard his mother tries, it’s useless. The Yu family’s businesses span most of Junzhou City; he absolutely cannot let this opportunity fall into the hands of that good-for-nothing Yu Shishu.
What carpentry skills? Even if he improves, he can’t compare to the prodigy Yu Shishu that Grandpa speaks of!
Seeing Yu Shiyan clench his fist, Liang Chuan silently took a step back, both reminding and warning him, “Brother Shiyan, just don’t forget our agreement. I’ll take care of Yu Shishu for you, and you have to keep your promise to me.”
“Don’t worry, I will definitely not forget you after I’ve accomplished my mission.” Yu Shiyan patted his shoulder before seeing Liang Chuan off. He took a deep look at Liang Chuan’s back before turning and entering the house.
“Young Master, the Old Master wants you to go over there.” As soon as Yu Shiyan entered, the butler came forward and said, “The Old Master doesn’t look too good.”
“I know.” Yu Shiyan nodded, and his steps, which were originally going to find his father, changed direction and walked towards the main hall where his grandfather was. Just as he stepped over the threshold, a teacup smashed at his feet, and he heard his grandfather’s hoarse and old rebuke: “…He’s your son!”
“Provided he didn’t do such a shameful thing!” This
was the first time Yu Shiyan had heard his father dare to speak to his grandfather so loudly. He lowered his head and walked over to see what was happening, and then went to his anxious mother, who was also the concubine whom his father had recently made his official wife.
The old man, over seventy years old, still looked remarkably spry despite having just recovered from a serious illness. Faced with his son’s answer, he frowned deeply: “Before you kicked him out, did you ask him what happened?” “The
wedding ceremony was over. On the eve of the wedding, Shuang’er ran off with someone, leaving behind a resentful letter. Do I still need to ask him?” The old man said fiercely, “I’ve already severed ties with him. I don’t have such a disgraceful son!”
“Cough cough…” The old man coughed, his face turning red with anger, and turned to Yu Shiyan, saying, “Do you know where your brother went?”
Yu Shiyan lowered his eyes and said in a deep voice, “Grandson doesn’t know. Perhaps my brother had a fight with Father and left the city.”
He had finally managed to “kick” Yu Shishu out of the Yu family; how could he possibly let him return alive?