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Editor: Yoog

“Fatal poison? Are you crazy!”

Luo Yu checked his mother’s breathing. It was extremely weak. His expression instantly twisted into a ferocious scowl.

“My father said you were the person he loved most. He told me that no matter how you beat or scolded me, I was never to talk back, that I must observe filial piety. I don’t care if you make things difficult for me, but you shouldn’t have targeted my mother!

“Do you believe that I dare to kill you right here?”

Fury filled the tent. If anything happened to his mother, Luo Yu was prepared to die just to avenge her.

“Don’t be rash. There is an antidote.”

Madam Chang showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, she leisurely sat down.

“Today, this Lady will have a proper talk with you.

“First, your father and I have been a loving couple for many years. Now, he suddenly claims he has a lover on the outside and even a son. Any woman under the heavens would feel hate and resentment in this situation, and I am no exception.

“So, you want to enter the Wu family’s gate? No. You want a title? Even more impossible!

“Second, Wu Chengliang is the Great General of the East, commanding fifty thousand iron-clad soldiers that awe the Eastern Borders. This is a massive family legacy. I have two sons, and this inheritance should belong to them.

“Now that you’ve suddenly appeared, how should we calculate this?”

“I never thought of fighting for the inheritance! I only want to cure my mother’s illness, get her a title, and let her live peacefully in the General’s Manor for the rest of her life!”

Luo Yu extended his hand.

“Give me the antidote. I promise, I will not touch a single brick or tile of the General’s Manor! If you don’t believe me, I can swear to the Heavens.”

“Hehe, words are proof of nothing.”

Madam Chang slowly pulled out a black pill.

“This is also a fatal poison. Swallow it, and you will die within half a day. Dead men cannot fight for an inheritance. If you dare to eat it, I will give your mother the antidote.

“If you don’t dare… hehe, then it only proves that your so-called filial piety is nothing more than a rhetoric to seize the family fortune.”

Luo Yu clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. He glanced at his mother lying unconscious on the bed, a wave of uncontrollable anger and despair rising in his heart.

He knew Madam Chang wouldn’t let them off easily, but for his mother’s sake, he had no choice.

Steeling his heart, he snatched the black pill, shoved it into his mouth without hesitation, and swallowed it whole.

“The antidote!”

Luo Yu’s decisiveness stunned Madam Chang for a moment. Then she spoke with a hint of roguishness:

“I never said that if you ate the poison, I would let your mother enter the General’s Manor. Aren’t you afraid of dying for nothing?”

“The antidote!”

A sharp shout echoed through the room. Luo Yu didn’t care about entering the Manor right now; saving his mother was the only thing that mattered.

Cough, cough, cough!

Just as his voice fell, Luo Yunshu suddenly started coughing. She sat up blankly.

“What happened?”

Her expression didn’t look like someone who had been poisoned at all; she seemed no different from a normal person.

Luo Yu was dumbfounded. She woke up without the antidote?

“Good lad. You have guts.”

Madam Chang narrowed her eyes at Luo Yu.

“Your father made a mistake, and you two shouldn’t be the ones punished for it. Although I have hate in my heart, I wouldn’t go so far as to kill you.

“What your mother took was just a very mild sleeping draft. And what you ate was merely a calming pill.

“This Lady just wanted to see if you truly had filial piety, or if you were using the name of filial piety to fight for the Wu family’s assets and seek wealth and glory.

“Your father was ruthless and decisive when he was young. I didn’t expect an illegitimate son to inherit his character.

“Count yourself lucky. If you hadn’t eaten it today, you really would have died here.”

The family sat at the same table for a meal. With Madam Chang’s permission, Luo Yu and Luo Yunshu also took their seats. They were joined by Wu Chengliang and Chang Rushuang’s eldest son, Wu Rubai, a fierce general in the army who had followed his father into service from a young age.

The legal wife, the eldest son, the lover, and the bastard son.

The scene was incredibly bizarre.

Wu Chengliang didn’t dare make a sound. Madam Chang had already made it clear to him privately that she would absolutely not allow the mother and son to enter the Manor. He had commanded battlefields for years, but he never expected his most brutal battle would take place at the dinner table.

The dignified Great General of the East could only pitifully keep putting food into the bowls of the two women, one chopstick-full to the left, one chopstick-full to the right.

It was Wu Rubai who was sharp enough to break the deadlock.

“Father, you left the capital without permission this time. If you don’t return soon, it might stir up rumors. Those old foxes in the court are all watching you.

“Besides, the Western Qiang army is pressing on the border, and their roaming cavalry runs rampant. Danger is everywhere. A few days ago, several scout squads were ambushed by Qiang soldiers and wiped out completely. The entire Longxi Circuit is on edge.

“We only brought fifty personal guards. If we encounter Qiang soldiers with this bit of manpower, it won’t even be enough to fill the gaps in their teeth.

“We should return to the capital as soon as possible.”

Wu Chengliang was the General of the East, but this was the Western Border of the Great Qian Dynasty. By reason and logic, he shouldn’t be here.

“But…”

Wu Chengliang looked awkwardly at Luo Yu and his mother, clearly wanting to take them back to the capital.

“Stop dreaming.”

Since things were already out in the open, Madam Chang dropped the pretense.

“If you want to treat her illness, you can find a larger prefecture city in Longxi for her to recuperate. If you lack money, the Wu family can pay.

“But if you want a title, or enter the family gate… absolutely impossible!”

“No! Mother must go to the capital! She must have a title!”

Luo Yu raised his head to look Madam Chang in the eye, his tone resolute.

“Mother has suffered enough. A title is what she deserves! As for treating her illness and recuperating, I will only be at ease if she is by Father’s side. I don’t trust anyone else.”

“Boy, this is not for you to decide!”

Sigh!

Wu Chengliang and Wu Rubai sighed inwardly at the same time. How did the conversation just hit a dead end?

“Qiang soldiers are attacking! Prepare for battle!”

“Protect the General!”

Suddenly, alarmed shouts erupted from outside the tent, followed by the intensifying sounds of fighting.

Bad luck, they really ran into Qiang soldiers!

Wu Chengliang and his son stood up simultaneously, drawing their swords and rushing out of the tent. Before leaving, the General shouted back to Luo Yu, “You are a man! Protect both your mothers!”

The atmosphere instantly became tense. Roars and screams filled the air outside, and shrill wails echoed in the night sky. No one knew how many Qiang soldiers had come; they could only feel the heat of the battle.

“Madam Chang, please step back.”

“I am the General’s wife; what scenes haven’t I witnessed! You should be the one stepping back, you wet-behind-the-ears brat.”

Getting the cold shoulder despite his warm intentions, Luo Yu pursed his lips and said no more. He grabbed a wooden stool, holding it ready in his hand as he stared warily at the entrance.

He was the only man here. If he didn’t stand up now, were they supposed to rely on the women to fight the enemy?

Sure enough, a Qiang soldier stumbled in by mistake, charging straight for Luo Yunshu with a gleaming sword!

“Mother, watch out!”

Luo Yu rushed forward with the stool. He kicked the sword blade aside, then smashed the stool ruthlessly onto the Qiang soldier’s skull. With a loud bang, the man was knocked out cold.

Riiip!

Just as he finished dealing with that one, the canvas on the other side of the tent was suddenly torn open. Another Qiang soldier in barbarian garb, wielding a long sword, thrust straight at Madam Chang.

Madam Chang’s face paled. She stumbled backward in panic, her steps disordered. The sword point was upon her in an instant.

It was a matter of life and death.

“Move!”

Luo Yu had no time to use a move. He could only leap through the air, throwing his body horizontally in front of Madam Chang and shoving her aside in the process.

Shhhk!

The razor-sharp long sword pierced his left shoulder on the spot, spraying fresh blood.

Luo Yu gritted his teeth against the agonizing pain that flooded his body. His peripheral vision flickered slightly as he glanced at the blade. Then, he slammed his palm onto the Qiang soldier’s chest. The brute force sent the soldier flying right out of the military tent.

Through the torn tent, the chaotic scene outside was revealed: figures clashing, the roar of the crowd. Both sides were locked in a melee.

The sight of Luo Yu taking a sword for Madam Chang was burned into everyone’s eyes.

“Yu’er!”

“Little Yu!”

Amid Wu Chengliang’s cry of alarm and Luo Yunshu’s horrified gaze, Luo Yu crashed to the ground.

NOTES

Filial piety: A core Confucian value entailing respect for one’s parents, elders, and ancestors. Luo Yu’s use of this against Madam Chang (by claiming he cannot be filial if she hurts his mother) is a strong moral rebuke.

Wu hook vs. sword: The text previously mentioned the “Wu hook” in a poem, but here the soldiers use Jian (double-edged straight swords) or Dao (sabers). I have generally used “sword,” unless specific blade types are emphasized.

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