Chapter 313: Yu Yao Assassinates the Family Head
It was impossible to investigate anything now, not when Master Tian was watching his every move.
The servants who attended to him, the Hidden Guards who protected him, and the men who ran his errands were all assigned by Master Tian.
"Second Master," a servant boy’s voice called from outside the study. "The Family Head heard you went out to see Young Master Tian Fu."
Tian Pingyue sighed silently and called out, "Tell the Family Head I only glanced at him from a distance. I didn’t speak to him."
The servant boy quickly withdrew. A moment later, another knock came at the study door.
"I already said I only took a glance—"
"Second Master, it’s me."
A woman’s voice drifted in from outside, and Tian Pingyue’s expression softened slightly. "Ah, it’s Xuan’er. Come in."
The study door opened. Meng Fanxuan entered, carrying a plate of pastries.
She was Meng Fanxin’s biological younger sister. Three years after Meng Fanxin’s passing, her family had sent her to the Tian Family to become Tian Pingyue’s favored concubine.
"Second Master, I heard Fu’er has returned. As his aunt, I’d like to go and see him."
Meng Fanxuan smiled faintly. "I made these pastries for Fu’er. I wonder if he’ll like them."
"He’s sure to like them," Tian Pingyue said, pausing for a moment. "But the Family Head says Fu’er prefers peace and quiet. He’s just returned home and is completely exhausted. Just drop the pastries off and come right back. There will be plenty of time to spend with him in the future."
Meng Fanxuan gave a slight nod. "Yes."
Her gaze fell upon a portrait on the desk. The woman in the painting bore a slight resemblance to her, and she stared blankly for a moment.
Seeing her reaction, Tian Pingyue put the portrait away. "There’s still plenty of time. We’ll find a clue eventually."
His voice was so low it was hard to tell if he was muttering to himself or speaking to Meng Fanxuan.
Meng Fanxuan said nothing. She turned, left, and put on a look of loving concern as she made her way to Tian Fu’s courtyard.
Tian Fu had been about to rest, but seeing it was her, he had no choice but to rally his energy and play the host.
Meng Fanxuan was "his" maternal aunt, and she treated him as if he were her own son. When she first arrived at the Tian Family estate, she had caught others bullying him and had defended him time and again.
Tian Fu had no parents. In the past, whenever he possessed the bodies of Tian Family children, he would absorb the mother’s Essence Qi while still in the womb. This always led to the mother of his new body dying during a difficult childbirth.
Meng Fanxin was the only one to have survived. She was a good mother; from her alone had Tian Fu ever felt maternal love.
’If she hadn’t stumbled upon secrets she shouldn’t have known, I never would have silenced her. We could have been a loving mother and a filial son.’
Tian Fu couldn’t bring himself to commit matricide directly. He had been young then, with no one at his disposal. He knew that Tian Pingyue and his wife were deeply in love; no matter what Meng Fanxin did, Tian Pingyue would protect her.
So he had resorted to underhanded means, making it seem as if Meng Fanxin had "betrayed" Tian Pingyue. Afterward, she fell gravely ill and died, her sickness incurable.
Meng Fanxuan had no idea that he had anything to do with her sister’s death. She cared for him with all her heart, asking for nothing in return.
In all his countless years of life, aside from Meng Fanxin, the only person Tian Fu felt any affection for was his aunt, Meng Fanxuan.
The two hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so they naturally exchanged pleasantries. Meng Fanxuan didn’t ask about anything else, inquiring only after his health.
When she later noticed the faint trace of exhaustion on his brow, Meng Fanxuan said with regret, "Fu’er, I haven’t seen you in so long that I got carried away with excitement and talked your ear off."
"You should get some proper rest. These are pastries I made for you. Eat some if you get hungry. I’ll head back for now."
Tian Fu offered to walk her out, but Meng Fanxuan wouldn’t allow it, gently pushing him back toward his room to rest.
Looking at the flower-shaped pastries on the table, a wave of warmth washed over Tian Fu.
They were all his favorite flavors. In his childhood, only his mother, Meng Fanxin, had remembered. Now that he was grown, only his aunt, Meng Fanxuan, did.
’If only Meng Fanxin had never stumbled upon my secret! How wonderful that would have been!’
Tian Fu sighed with emotion, then picked up a pastry and took a bite.
Outside Tianhuan City, Tian Rong and his wife were fleeing for their lives.
After Master Tian sent someone to warn them, they had hastily packed their belongings and fled the Tian Family estate.
The farther they got from Tianhuan City and the closer they came to the Heaven and Earth Illusion Realm, the greater their chance of survival.
Tian Rong drove the carriage, not daring to rest for even a moment. His wife, Guo Min, sat inside, her heart filled with worry.
Time was of the essence, and Master Tian’s messenger hadn’t been clear. Guo Min had her suspicions, but more than for herself and her husband, she worried for their son, Tian Shu.
"Don’t you worry, my dear. Shu’er is definitely fine."
Tian Rong comforted her as he urged the horses on. "And in the worst-case scenario, even if he fell into the hands of that bastard Tian Fu, the Family Head wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing."
"The fact that the Family Head only let us leave the estate must mean Shu’er isn’t there. He’s probably in the Beastman World, or in the hands of the Beast God."
"I’ve heard of that Beast God. It’s the Phoenix who attends to the Heaven and Earth Stone. The Phoenix doesn’t slaughter the innocent indiscriminately."
’If he’s fallen into Yu An’s hands,’ Tian Rong thought, ’then Tian Shu is actually quite safe.’
His son took after him: he valued his own skin and knew that discretion is the better part of valor. Faced with danger, he would absolutely be the first to surrender.
It wasn’t a trait that earned much respect, but at least it would keep him alive.
As they say, a father knows his son best. Tian Rong had guessed everything correctly. At that very moment, Tian Shu was living better than he had in all his twenty-odd years. Yu An never settled for less than the best, and they didn’t let those around them suffer either. Their food, clothing, housing, and transportation were all of the highest quality.
The first time he’d ridden in their vehicle, it had nearly scared the life out of him.
But he adapted quickly. It was incredibly fast, saving both time and effort.
Their party didn’t need to resupply, so they didn’t stop in any of the small cities along the way, heading straight for Earth Geography City.
Young Master Yu, Yu Yao, had already managed to escape with the Snow Flower, but she had been ambushed multiple times along the road, which cost her a great deal of time.
As a result, the distance between her and Yu An’s party was surprisingly small.
If she had been any slower, or if Yu An’s party had been any faster, they might have even crossed paths.
By the time she returned to Earth Geography City, few of Yu Yao’s companions were left alive.
Because the Yu Family didn’t know where the exit would appear, they couldn’t send anyone to meet her in advance. The Tian Family, however, seemed to have some way of tracking her, laying ambushes for her all along the route.
Fortunately, she had made it back safely.
Once she was near Earth Geography City, the Tian Family’s people could no longer get close. Yu Yao returned to the Yu Family estate at top speed and handed the Snow Flower to the physician to be prepared as medicine.
She had kept the Snow Flower in a box, protecting it well. When it was taken out, it was as white as snow, without a single petal out of place.
"Father," Yu Yao knelt before the Yu Family Master’s bed, her voice low. "Your daughter has brought back the Snow Flower. You’ll be well again soon."
After she spoke, her mother, Mrs. Yu, hurried her off to rest. Yu Yao was covered in wounds, both large and small, and the sight broke her mother’s heart.
"Yao’er, your mother is here. Go have someone bandage your wounds, then eat something and get some proper sleep."
Yu Yao agreed. She had been tense for the entire journey, and the moment she finally let her guard down, a wave of crushing fatigue washed over her.
She was so exhausted that she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she groggily awoke to find the sky outside was already dark.
She could barely keep her eyes open and was about to drift off again when a scream from outside pierced the night, jolting her wide awake.
"Help! Something has happened to the Family Head! There’s something wrong with the Snow Flower!!!"
Yu Yao shot up in bed. Before she could even get out, a group of people burst through the door.
The man in the lead was the Yu Family’s Fourth Master, Yu Shouye—the Yu Family Master’s own younger brother, and Yu Yao’s uncle.
"Yu Yao has murdered the Family Head! Men, seize her and throw her in the dungeons!"