Watching Qu Gaoyi and Ying Jiu's expressions, Yang Kai nodded inwardly. Even gravely wounded, Blood Servants remained Blood Servants.
After glancing at the others, Yang Kai chuckled lightly. "Gentlemen, should we ever find ourselves on opposing sides in the future, this young lord will show no mercy!"
Zhou Feng replied with a solemn expression, "As it should be!"
Yang Kai turned and departed with composed, unhurried steps. Qu Gaoyi and Ying Jiu clasped their fists gravely toward their brothers and sisters.
This parting might mean that when the Blood Servants met again, they could very well stand across from one another, blade drawn—and compose the brilliant prelude to the next generation of the Yang Family with their own blood and lives.
Everyone returned the salute in solemn silence.
They all understood.
Once outside, Feng Sheng was still standing there. Only after Yang Kai had walked a dozen zhang did he suddenly speak up. "Young Lord Kai, I'll have to trouble you to look after these two worthless subordinates of mine."
Yang Kai waved his hand without a word. Qu Gaoyi and Ying Jiu followed behind him, each step leaving a bloody footprint on the ground.
...
All of the Yang Family's direct-line heirs had returned to Zhongdu, and the family had granted nearly two months for preparation and planning. After each heir selected their guardian Blood Servants, the long-awaited Yang Family succession battle was finally about to begin.
When news spread, Zhongdu was thrown into an uproar. Throughout the entire Great Han, shifting winds of intrigue swirled as forces large and small all marched toward Zhongdu, hoping to seize some benefit from this grand spectacle.
Some factions had already arrived in Zhongdu long ago, sitting in wait and wavering, unsure which young lord's camp to choose.
The Yang Family's direct-line heirs had been even busier than usual during this period, each one reaching out to the young lords and ladies of the other seven great families, working tirelessly to secure their allies.
The Eight Great Families of Zhongdu: the Yang Family, the Qiu Family, the Liu Family, the Huo Family, the Kang Family, the Gao Family, the Ye Family, and the Meng Family.
Among them, the Kang, Gao, Ye, and Meng families had already announced their positions, forming alliances with different Yang Family heirs. Only the remaining three families had yet to declare their stance.
The Liu Family went without saying. Liu Qingyao had long since put out word that whichever member of the Yang Family's young generation could defeat him in combat, he would serve as that person's ally. Rumor had it that the eldest Yang heir, Yang Wei, had once fought him—though no one knew the result.
But Liu Qingyao still hadn't made his alliance choice clear, and what that previous battle's outcome had been was self-evident.
Yang Wei had almost certainly lost.
As for the Huo Family, the profligate young master Huo Xingchen spent his days indulging in pleasure, drinking and carousing, showing absolutely no intention of participating in the succession battle—which gave the old patriarch Huo Zheng an enormous headache.
Huo Zheng very much wanted to involve himself in the succession struggle, but his son was hopeless—causing trouble all day long and accomplishing nothing of substance, which infuriated him to no end. If the older generation were permitted to take part in the succession battle, Huo Zheng would have rolled up his sleeves and jumped in himself long ago.
Meanwhile, the various Yang Family young lords had heard that Huo Xingchen had some grudge against Yang Kai, and had approached him one after another to win him over—but not a single one had succeeded. Quite the opposite: he dragged them into pleasure houses for several nights of revelry, and they stumbled out each time with bleary eyes, shaking their heads and sighing that some people simply couldn't be helped.
The Qiu Family.
In the study, Qiu Family patriarch Qiu Shoucheng sat upright in his chair. He appeared to be only around thirty, though in truth he was past fifty. But he had been blessed with delicate, fair skin from birth—lighter in complexion than most women—and so his appearance made him look far younger than his actual age.
Seated on either side below him were two people, a man and a woman.
The woman was the Qiu Family's eldest daughter, Qiu Yimeng. The man was the Qiu Family's young master, Qiu Ziruo. The two were half-siblings, sharing the same father.
With the news of the succession battle's commencement having spread, the Qiu Family naturally needed to choose which camp to join.
But Qiu Shoucheng didn't know the Yang Family's direct-line heirs particularly well. Although he had been gathering intelligence on them, what he had learned was still far too little.
The seven great families participating in the succession battle had mainly one purpose—to temper and train their own younger generation. The outcome wouldn't significantly affect their foundations either way. But who wanted to lose if winning was possible? So this matter still warranted careful consideration.
Qiu Shoucheng stroked the goatee on his chin, mulling things over for a long while before finally asking, "Yimeng, what are your thoughts on this succession battle?"