Chapter 108: You have overstepped your boundaries
Liu Ti醤 Q� explained how she walked home after visiting Little Dumpling to see a gaunt, skinny, sickly-looking young boy lurking outside the front gate of her residence. She told them of how she tricked him into her residence to find out why he was loitering around her residence. She explained how the young boy requested to meet with Commander Jiang. She then told them of the very emotional meeting between the Commander and the boy.
The Grand Prince, Wang F鑞 Y襫g and Lady W� Gng Hu listened very attentively. It was Wang F鑞 Y襫g who asked, "What is the young boy`s name?"
"W-i W� Y鄋" Liu Ti醤 Q� answered.
Lady W� Gng Hu had just taken a sip of tea when W-i W� Y鄋`s name dropped into the room like an exploding bomb. The teacup in Lady W� Gng Hu started shaking. Very gently, Lady W� Gng Hu lowed the rattling teacup to the table and sat it down on the table. Lady W� Gng Hu then hid her trembling hands in her lap under the table. Lady W� Gng Hu eyes snapped up to Liu Ti醤 Q� and locked on Liu Ti醤 Q�.
Lady W� Gng Hu lips started trembling. She was clearly trying to ask Liu Ti醤 Q� something, but her lips couldn`t seem to form words. It was the Grand Prince who seemed to know what his wife wanted to ask. The Grand Prince, who sat beside his wife, reached over under the table and took one of his wife`s hands in his and held it. Looking over to Liu Ti醤 Q�, he asked in a very emotion-filled voice. "W-i W� Y鄋 father W-i Y襫g Mng is he alive?"
`What is this with this reaction? Don`t tell me I jumped out of the pot and into the fire? What is going on here? Maybe I should have just talked to Wang F鑞 Y襫g alone! Did I just make everything worse?` Liu Ti醤 Q� was inwardly sweating bullets.
Outwardly she calmly said, "Yes, he is alive, but barely. According to W-i W� Y鄋, he was hit by a poison arrow by the Chen Family Death Warriors. They seemed to have had a very rough time of it hiding in the mountains to escape the Chen Death Warriors. They searched far and high for doctors who could cure W-i Y襫g Mng, but none of the doctors they hired seemed to know what W-i Y襫g Mng was poisoned with." As Liu Ti醤 Q� explained this, Lady W� Gng Hu eyes turned red, and tears began leaking from her eyes.
`Wait a minute! This is not the reaction of enemies! Are the Wangs friends with W-i Y襫g Mng?! If so, then things are not as bad as I thought. Please be friends, not enemies! If they`re friends, then I can use them as shields, and everything will be so much simpler!`
Very quickly, praying hard that they were not enemies, Liu Ti醤 Q� began to tell them of the Mythical Beast Medicinal Pill she sent to W-i Y襫g Mng. She also informed them that she sent H騯 Dao because she had yet to find a house doctor.
"A Mythical Beast Medicinal Pill?" Wang F鑞 Y襫g gave her a sharp look. "Where did you get a Mythical Beast Medicinal Pill?"
"I won it in a bet," Liu Ti醤 Q� lied.
"Then he should be fine." Lady W� Gng Hu exclaimed through her tears. She held her right hand over her pounding heart while the Grand Prince held her left hand. "The Mythical Beast Medicinal Pill should work." Lady W� Gng Hu said in excitement and relief before suddenly asking, "His mother, Lady Lin! Is she alive as well?"
"No, Elder Chen`s Death Warrior`s killed her according to what W-i W� Y鄋 told me," Liu Ti醤 Q� said watching Lady W� Gng Hu shoulders slump.
"However, W-i W� Y鄋 told me that Jkn ZhMng X+n and Mng Tin C醝 is alive," quickly informed Lady W� Gng Hu.
"What!" Lady W� Gng Hu exclaimed as she involuntarily exploded from her seat in excitement. "ZhMng X+n and Tin C醝 are alive? Are you sure?" Lady W� Gng Hu could help but to question Liu Ti醤 Q� again.
"Yes, I sent Commander Jiang to retrieve them. They should be on the way back as soon as H騯 Dao stabilize W-i Y襫g Mng. They heard about the memorial that Elder Wang will be holding for the four martial families. They want to attend."
"Jiang, Jkn, W-i, and Mng. They managed to survive! All four survived! Thank God they manage to survive. This is good. This is very good." Lady W� Gng Hu stood there, laughing and crying at the same time.
Liu Ti醤 Q� inwardly let out a deep sigh of relief. Liu Ti醤 Q� began to inwardly say prayers of thanks to all her ancestors, her predecessors` ancestor, and all the deities she previously prayed to.
Lady W� Gng Hu paused a moment, looking at Liu Ti醤 Q�, Lady W� Gng Hu asked, "Who else? Who else has survived?"
Liu Ti醤 Q� met Lady W� Gng Hu gaze and gently shook her head. Lady W� Gng Hu stared at Liu Ti醤 Q� in shock before she plopped down into her seat. The Grand Prince, who was discreetly wiping tears from his eyes froze.
The Grand Prince looked up at Liu Ti醤 Q� and said in a dark, grim voice, "We helped more than three hundred children of the four families escape. Only four have returned?"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.
Both Liu Ti醤 Q� and Wang F鑞 Y襫g stared at the Grand Prince in shock. As if he could read her mind Wang F鑞 Y襫g asked, "What do you mean you helped them to escape?"
The Grand Prince looked at Wang F鑞 Y襫g and said, "Your mother, the Emperor, and I never believed the four martial families were guilty. Unfortunately, no matter how we tried to advocate their innocence. Once Imperial Father died, no one would listen to us. Your mother and the Emperor are deep thinkers. They immediately knew that something was wrong. However, we couldn`t find any evidence to prove their innocence," the Grand Prince said with such sadness.
"All the evidence pointed towards their guilt. We were grieving deeply at the time. However, we didn`t want to punish innocent people out of anger. Most of all, we didn`t want to allow the real criminals to escape. Still, no matter what we said, no one would listen. The Emperor and I were finally able to convince Imperial Grandfather and the Dowager Queen, who was the Queen, during that time. We finally convinced them to let the youths and children of the Four Martial Families off," the Grand Prince began to explain.
"However, the Officials and Nobles didn`t want to. So the Emperor, your mother, and I secretly held a meeting with the elders of the Four Martial Families. We agreed to help them get the youths and children out. The four families send out their best and brightest in the hopes that they can escape. It was unspoken knowledge that they would be hunted down. We knew that, however, we refused to sit back and do nothing. For a nobleman to take revenge, ten years is not too long. For eight long years, the Emperor kept searching and finally. Finally, we were able to catch the real killers of my Imperial Father and prove the innocence of the Four Martial Families," the Grand Prince said.
"Why did Elder Chen plot against them from the beginning?" Liu Ti醤 Q� asked her curiosity was triggered.
"We were able to discover through interrogation that when Elder Chen tried to annihilate the H鄋 Family, the Four Martial Families intervened." Lady W� Gng Hu answered.
"So then Elder Chen turned his sights on the Four Martial Families. He worked very hard to annihilate the four families. I am so glad he wasn`t successful. After moving the Four Martial Families out of the way, he then turned around and almost annihilated the H鄋 family anyway. Very few escaped. They all went into hiding to avoid being wiped out." Lady W� Gng Hu said in a grim voice.
"I don`t understand. Why didn`t anyone stop him?" Liu Ti醤 Q� asked.
"First of all, when two families open feud against each other. By law, they are allowed to resolve their own differences and settle their grudges. The Chen and H鄋 families cried feud against each other. So the law was prohibited from stepping in. The Four Martial Families got involved because I believe someone in one of the families was married to someone in the H鄋 family. Elder Chen plotted against the Four Martial Families by framing them for causing a rebellion. Unfortunately, Imperial father in law died in the uprising." Lady W� Gng Hu said in a bitter, angry voice.
Liu Ti醤 Q�, who was of the 21st Century, did not know about the Feud Laws of the Tolling Lands. Neither did her predecessor who grew up in confinement.
"He framed it on the Four Martial Families. Only now we were able to find evidence against him. So how were we supposed to stop him? Elder Chen was a devious, sneaky, vile sorry excuse of a human being." Lady W� Gng Hu cursed Elder Chen.
"He was skilled in riding the boundaries of the laws. When he broke the laws, he made sure no evidence against him could ever be found. He was very good at setting other people up to take the fall and killing with a borrowed knife. Although he was always suspected of things, no evidence could ever be found." Lady W� Gng Hu Informed Liu Ti醤 Q� in a very bitter voice.
"I see," Liu Ti醤 Qu nodded her understanding.
Liu Ti醤 Qu though of one of her original reason for coming over and said, "I`m still looking for a house Doctor. I haven`t found one yet. Is there someone you can recommend to help me look after W-i Y襫g Mng until I can find one?"
"We have three house Doctors. We will send one over with you." Lady W� Gng Hu said.
"Thank you, Your Highness. As soon as I find a good Doctor, I will send your house Doctor back. Liu Ti醤 Qu said. She felt very grateful towards the Wang Family. Liu Ti醤 Qu also felt very relieved to know that the Emperor and Wang Family had such a good relationship with the returning four martial families. That put all her worry, fears, and unease to rest.
Liu Ti醤 Qu Looked at the Lord, Lady, and Heir of Wang Royal Manor and asked, "I hope you don`t consider me too rude or outrageous for overstepping my boundaries in asking this question. However, I am still going to ask anyway. Does the Emperor have any plans or intentions of restoring the lands of the Four Martial Families to them?" Liu Ti醤 Qu asked.
The Grand Prince`s face turned cold, and a neutral, expressionless look appeared on Lady`s face. With sharp piercing eyes, the Grand Prince said in a cold voice, "You have overstepped your boundaries, Young Master Liu. Why do you ask?"
Liu Ti醤 Qu met the Grand Prince`s gaze. Liu Ti醤 Q� allowed her true, sincere feelings to show. She showed the worry, fear, and stress that shadowed her footsteps on the way back to Wang Royal Manor, "I am a very blunt person, and I am used to speaking my mind, so I am going to come right out and say what is on my mind." Liu Ti醤 Q� said.
"To be honest, I took the chance of overstepping my boundaries and gaining your displeasure because I am worried and a bit stressed." Liu Ti醤 Q� saw shock ripple across the faces of the Grand Prince, and Lady W� Gng Hu. The last thing that the Lord and Lady of the manor was expecting was for the cunning Liu Ti醤 Q� to be so blunt, plainspoken, and truthful. They were expecting Liu Ti醤 Q� to use her sly tongue and speak in circles.
Liu Ti醤 Q� knew what the Lord and Lady of the Manor were expecting. That was why she decided to use honesty, sincerity, and abrupt blunt plain-speaking instead. Liu Ti醤 Q� looked at the reaction of the Grand Prince and Lady W� Gng Hu and inwardly nodded in satisfaction. She was pleased that she accomplished her goal. However, when she glanced at Wang F鑞 Y襫g and saw a sparkle of humor in his eyes. Liu Ti醤 Q� almost faltered.
"Worried?" Lady W� Gng Hu asked with a strange look in her eyes. "What is it you`re worried and stressed about?"
Quickly Liu Ti醤 Q� looked away from Wang F鑞 Y襫g and regrouped. Liu Ti醤 Q� looked over to Lady W� Gng Hu and allowed gloom to shroud her face, "I`m sure Lady W� Gng Hu understands the impact and political changes the return of the four martial families will bring about in the Tolling Lands," Liu Ti醤 Q�, allowing complete distress to show on her face.