Chapter 17. Flesh and blood as the dough, hatred as the mallet. The drum…

Although the Third Elder was dead, his faction still held sway over Hidden Sword Manor. Coupled with the uncertainty of the First Elder's attitude, the young master dared not make any rash moves.

It wasn't until more than a month after the obituary was issued that various groups of people gradually arrived at Hidden Sword Manor, catching the Third Elder's faction completely off guard.

They wanted to persuade these people to go home, but the young master had invited people who were all well-known figures in the martial arts world, so the manor's manager didn't dare to kick them out directly. Helpless, they had to arrange for them to stay temporarily.

Such a major event finally alarmed the reclusive Grand Elder, who had no choice but to temporarily leave seclusion to deal with this urgent matter.

After learning of the death of the manor lord and the disappearance of the third elder, he immediately guessed the cause of the matter and sighed, "Let Qingchen come back. Since the manor lord's seal is in his hands, he is naturally the rightful next manor lord of Hidden Sword Manor."

"But," the Third Elder's lineage was still unwilling, but the First Elder stopped talking nonsense and sent a palm strike. The person who had spoken immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered back five or six steps before he could stop.

The elder's eyes were full of sternness: "I don't care how you fight, but Hidden Sword Manor cannot be without a leader for a day. I don't need to teach you the principle of the victor being king and the loser being villain."

Those who still wanted to struggle saw that the Grand Elder was so ruthless and knew that the matter was settled, so they could only behave themselves and stop causing trouble.

Therefore, when they returned to Cangjian Manor, the young master was the undisputed next manor lord, and Hengbo and Acai, who came back with him, also received great courtesy.

Their original plan was that if the First Elder refused to acknowledge the young master's right of succession, they would have the Second Elder announce the Third Elder's misdeeds at the Manor Lord's funeral banquet and nominate the young master as the next Manor Lord on the spot. However, since the First Elder was willing to cooperate, it saved them a lot of trouble, and they no longer needed the Second Elder who had "abandoned the darkness and turned to the light."

He was happy to have some free time and went back to tell Chu Ning'an the good news, feeling refreshed.

After Hanlu and Qingyang merged, the original survivors spontaneously formed the Weapon Forging Hall of Cangjian Villa. They still remembered Qingyang's kindness and wanted to repay their kindness with their skills.

Therefore, when the young master brought Hengbo to visit, what he saw was that everyone's face was full of enthusiasm for life. Some were forging iron, some were quenching firewood, and some were young children studying and discussing with their notebooks, as if they were in a paradise detached from the world.

However, having already learned the inside story of what happened back then, Hengbo felt very conflicted. She asked the young master beside her, "Aren't you going to tell them?"

Just then, the children holding books noticed the arrival of the two and put down their books, swarming around them.

A little boy with neatly combed sideburns was the first to come forward: "Brother Qingchen, I heard you've been traveling again recently. Has anything fun happened out there?"

Another little boy, not to be outdone, grabbed the young master's leg and stuck his tongue out at the other boy: "All you ever think about is playing, Brother Qingchen. Did you find any suitable materials for smelting this time?"

Behind the two children was a little girl who looked like she had just learned to run. She ran up to the group, looked left and right, her big black grape-like eyes darting around, and then rushed to Hengbo with her short legs, grabbing her clothes and trying to climb up.

Hengbo was somewhat at a loss and could only pick up the child first.

Seeing this, the young master smiled gently, walked over and stroked the little girl's head of yellow hair, then took out a piece of candy from somewhere and fed it to her before answering the two little boys' questions.

The two little boys watched with envy as the little girl slowly savored the candy, secretly regretting their decision: they had made a mistake!

After dealing with the group of children, the young master finally answered Hengbo's question: "To be honest, I was still struggling with whether to tell them the truth about what happened back then, but now I think that my grandfather would probably prefer them to stay as happy as they are now."

Hengbo couldn't help but feel confused. Logically speaking, the young master should have been only two years old when his maternal grandfather passed away, yet he seemed to be very familiar with and respectful of his maternal grandfather.

Before she could even ask the question, the young master seemed to understand her doubts and said with a smile, "I've been interested in casting since I was a child. Plus, the master of the manor didn't care about me, so I practically grew up surrounded by the books left by my maternal grandfather."

As he spoke, he sighed again: "If my uncle had also read the notes left by my maternal grandfather, he probably wouldn't have fallen into this madness."

As he greeted the people he met along the way, he explained to Hengbo, “My grandfather had a close friend surnamed Lin who loved to travel around collecting minerals to the point of obsession. Once, he heard that a hunter in the mountains had discovered a strange stone. Despite his wife’s objections, he went to investigate in the dead of winter. Unfortunately, he was caught in a snowstorm that blocked the mountain and froze to death in the mountains. When his body was found the following spring, he was still holding a stone in his arms.”

"After his death, his wife remarried and entrusted their infant child to my grandfather, instructing him not to let the child follow in his father's footsteps. This child was my uncle, Ruan Lin. My grandfather kept his mother's instructions firmly in mind and repeatedly prevented my uncle from coming into contact with casting, which led to the huge misunderstanding we have today."

"All of this was recorded by my grandfather in his journal. He even carefully placed the stone aside, presumably intending to give it to my uncle later."

Even though Hengbo wasn't a character in this story, he still felt deeply moved after hearing it.

The young master originally intended to treat Hengbo well and let them stroll around the Hidden Sword Manor, but he was summoned by the Grand Elder midway through.

"This is the roster of disciples in the manor over the years. Now that you have succeeded as the manor lord, it is time to change the manor's personnel and power. There is no rush. You can go back and make proper arrangements. If you have any questions, you can ask your second uncle."

The Grand Elder appears to be a very dignified middle-aged man, but in reality, his age and experience far surpass those of the other elders in the manor.

The young master replied neither servilely nor arrogantly, "Yes, I will make the arrangements."

The elder looked at the young man who had grown into someone capable of supporting the entire manor and sighed deeply: "The destruction of Hanlu was at the behest of the old manor lord. We did not inform your father. We will have no complaints about how you treat us, but your father was indeed unaware of it. You should give him a proper send-off."

The young master said calmly, "Even if the final massacre of Hanlu has nothing to do with him, his years of deception towards my mother and my maternal grandfather are undeniable, and I will never forgive him. But don't worry, Elder, at least for the sake of Hidden Sword Manor's reputation, I will ensure he has a proper final journey."

The elder knew he couldn't persuade him, so he stopped talking and simply told him to leave.

The young master reached the door, but suddenly turned back and asked, "Elder, you have devoted yourself to cultivation for so many years, have you ever been plagued by inner demons?" Without waiting for his reply, he turned and left.

The eldest elder was left standing dejectedly by the window. He had entered the Earth Realm at a young age and was the most promising disciple of the Qingyang Sect to become a Celestial Being. However, he dared not disobey the old master's order.

Even the Azure Light, his natal weapon that helped him advance to the Earth Rank, was a gift from the master of the Cold Lodge.

But he overestimated himself; he wasn't actually ruthless enough.

For more than ten years after the Cold Hut incident, he never inquired about the affairs of the manor again, focusing on seclusion and cultivation. Everyone thought he was preparing to become a Celestial Being, but only he knew that from the moment the Cold Hut was destroyed and the Azure Light Sword shattered, he was no longer even a geomancer.

After that, he began to practice his palm techniques diligently. But then he finally realized that the martial arts talent he was so proud of was actually just his pure and innocent heart that yearned for the Dao.

However, his Dao heart had already shattered along with the green light.

The young master had no idea what the elder was thinking, or rather, he didn't care, since he neither intended nor believed he was qualified to forgive the Ruan family.

He was now completely satisfied with letting Hengbo experience the beauty of the picturesque Jiangnan region before she left. He had come to terms with it; although he couldn't keep her, he could entice her to come back.

"Since you don't like those fancy things, I'll have the seamstress prepare some brocade for you to wear in spring and summer."

"Also, what's the point of always tying your hair with strips of cloth? I think these simpler hairpins are much better."

Hidden Sword Manor is a large manor with over a hundred people. Its daily expenses are enormous, so it naturally has quite a few properties of its own in Changzhou.

Hengbo and his group were strolling around in the city in a shop owned by the young master that specialized in selling women's goods. The first floor sold ready-made clothes and fabrics, and the second floor sold jewelry.

Hengbo didn't really like the things that these young ladies were interested in. Although she loved money, she didn't value material possessions.

Seeing that she wasn't very interested, the young master decided to take it upon himself to pick out the jewelry for her. He figured that even if Hengbo didn't like wearing these pieces, she could exchange them for silver to keep her safe when she ran out of money, so he chose the most expensive ones.

Unaware of his hidden meaning, Hengbo was gazing absently out the window when, unexpectedly, a figure in crimson rouge came into view. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Yanran.

She walked hurriedly, with several maids running behind her, all looking flustered.

Hengbo's gaze narrowed slightly, thinking they had encountered some trouble. She turned slightly, preparing to follow them to see what was going on.

Before they had taken two steps, a commotion arose downstairs.

"What day is it today? Why is it so lively outside all of a sudden?"

"You don't know yet? The results of the imperial examinations were released the other day. I guess the government notices have finally been posted."

"Then I'll have to go and take a look."

"Your son probably won't be running away until this year, why are you going to join in the fun?"

"If you don't want to go, then I'll go by myself."

"Hey, let me pay first, then we'll go together. Boss lady, please wrap up this piece of cloth for me, I'll come back for it in a bit."

Hengbo turned back to the window and looked out, but Yanran was no longer there. Instead, there were many people on the street who were walking in a hurry, including the elderly and children, all gathering in one direction.

Presumably Yanran had gone to check out this year's apricot rankings, so Hengbo withdrew her gaze.

Just then, the young master finally satisfied his craving to buy jewelry for Hengbo and ordered a servant to pack the items and return them to Cangjian Manor.

He also noticed the earlier commotion, realizing that he had been too busy picking out jewelry to pay attention to anything else. Now that he finally had some free time, he explained to Hengbo, "At the beginning of this year, the Empress Dowager passed away. Although she was the late Emperor's successor, she was the current Emperor's birth mother. The Emperor was deeply grieved and ordered all officials in the capital to observe a month of mourning for the Empress Dowager. Therefore, this year's spring imperial examinations were later than in previous years. Today should be the day the list of successful candidates was released."

He assumed that Hengbo was ignorant of such worldly matters, so he didn't pay much attention to her reaction. As a result, he missed the sudden clenching of Hengbo's hand, which had been hanging naturally by her sleeve, when she heard "the Empress Dowager's death." The delicate veins on the back of her cold, white hand bulged out like the beating of drums.

Flesh and blood form the dough, hatred the mallet. The drumsticks will not stop until the drumhead is broken.

She seemed to have returned to that night thirteen years ago, when the cold wind raged and the clash of weapons continued.

The little girl nestled in the arms of a woman dressed in elaborate palace attire. "Mother, where did Father go? When will he come back?"

"Don't worry, Ayu. Her Majesty the Empress has summoned Father to the palace. He'll be back soon."

“Ayu doesn’t like the Empress. Ayu wants her father to come home.”

"Good boy, Mommy promises you, I will bring Daddy back."

"mother?"

"mother!"

"Don't leave Ayu alone. Ayu can protect her mother and father when she grows up. Don't leave Ayu behind!"

"Mother, please listen to A-Yu's words, okay?"

Mother, please.

...