Royal Capital, Qingyang Alley.
Morning sunlight spilled into the courtyard where a young man in coarse hemp clothes was drenched in sweat, drilling a set of saber techniques.
The estate was quite spacious — the vermilion gates, the tall perimeter walls, and the broad layout all spoke to the wealth and grandeur it had once possessed.
But now, the vermilion lacquer on the gates had peeled and faded under years of weathering, leaving the surface mottled and shabby. The tall walls had crumbled in places, riddled with gaps that could no longer keep out wind and rain. The once-generous interior layout felt empty and hollow, stripped of anything resembling decent furniture.
No matter how illustrious this estate had been in its heyday, its current owner was clearly down on his luck. Every detail proved it.
Yet the young man in the courtyard seemed unwilling to accept that cruel reality. Fueled by a burning drive to restore his family's fortune, he trained with desperate intensity. He had risen with the rooster's crow every morning to practice these saber techniques — for over eight years now.
He had no other choice. He wanted to reclaim through the blade in his hand the glory that had been lost, the prestige this estate rightfully deserved.
*Bang!* The vermilion gates were slammed open.
A pack of vicious servants, wolf-like and tiger-like, swarmed in surrounding a young man in his twenties.
"Guo Jin, you've certainly got nerve — still in the mood to practice martial arts? Today is the final deadline. Are you going to hand over this estate or not?"
The young man wore a sinister smile, his tone that of someone who had already devoured his prey whole.
The youth Guo Jin stopped and rested the saber on his shoulder. "Zhou Tan. This estate was passed down from my ancestors — it is the pride of the Guo family. You can talk about anything else, but if you want me to betray my ancestral home, you can forget about it."
"Refuse, do you?" Zhou Tan's grin turned cold and calculating. "Then let's lay the numbers out plainly. Last year you borrowed ten thousand taels from my money house. As of today, exactly one year has passed. Principal and interest together, you owe fifteen thousand taels. Pay up immediately, or I report you to the authorities and have them seize this estate."
"Don't say I never warned you, Guo Jin. Once you're in the hands of the authorities, they'll pick you clean to the bone — whatever's left for your family will be pitiful. I'm offering you eighty thousand taels of silver right now. Go through the courts, and at the end of the day, if your family walks away with eight or ten thousand, you should count yourselves lucky that your ancestors' graves are smoking."
Zhou Tan was the young heir of the Royal Capital's largest money house, with connections in both legitimate trade and the underworld. He had set his sights on this estate, and whether through official channels or other means, he was confident he could crush this helpless, family-ruined youth without breaking a sweat.
Guo Jin only shook his head. "Zhou Tan, you can kill me or torture me however you like — but this estate, and the betrayal of my ancestors? Absolutely not."
"Betray your ancestors?" Zhou Tan chuckled with feigned amusement. "You think too highly of yourself. It's just youthful ignorance on your part. With your father — that deserter infamous throughout the city — you still have the nerve to invoke your ancestors? If it were me, I'd have left the Royal Capital long ago and hidden myself in some backwater village."
*Deserter!* The word struck like lightning, making Guo Jin's entire body shudder. The restraint in his eyes vanished, replaced by a killing intent wild and feral — like a beast driven to madness.
"Zhou Tan — say that again. I dare you."
His hand on the saber's hilt trembled faintly. Guo Jin's eyes had gone a terrifying shade of crimson, as though he might lunge forward at any moment and fight Zhou Tan to the death.
His father was an absolute, inviolable boundary in Guo Jin's heart.
"Hmph, say it or not — the whole capital already knows. You can stop my mouth, but can you silence the world?" Zhou Tan was clearly unconcerned by Guo Jin's fury.
Still, he had come to acquire the estate, and he had no desire to fight to the death over it.
"Bullshit! All of it! I told you — my father was not a deserter! He was NOT a deserter! Anyone who dares call him one, I'll fight to the death! Zhou Tan, say one more word — I dare you!"
The veins on his neck stood out one by one. The young man roared, his dark face flushed red with rage, pushed to the absolute limit.
Zhou Tan's expression darkened. "Guo Jin, I have no interest in your father's affairs. I came today to deliver an ultimatum. Either you transfer this estate to me, or I have the authorities confiscate it by force. Those are your only two choices. Don't think you can scare me by playing the desperate man. Never mind that your family's old wealth is already gone — even if it weren't, so what?"
"That I, Zhou Tan, have taken a fancy to your estate is a favor to your Guo family. If it were anyone else begging me to take their property off their hands, I might not even deign to accept!"
"Boys — get ready. If this Guo fellow won't cooperate, beat him and the old servant out with clubs. Don't hold back. If he dies, drag the body out and feed it to the dogs!"
Zhou Tan's patience had clearly run its course.
The vicious servants cracked their knuckles and closed in on Guo Jin with ill intent.
Guo Jin raised his steel saber and roared, "Whoever dares come forward dies first!"
Zhou Tan snorted. "Guo Jin, it seems you won't believe it until you see the Yellow River for yourself. Get him. If he dies, that's on me."
*Clap, clap, clap, clap!* Just then, a piercing round of applause rang out from beyond the gates.
Followed by a voice clicking its tongue in amusement: "Broad daylight, breaking and entering, murder — is this still the Eastern Kingdom?"
This development was entirely outside Zhou Tan's expectations. He never imagined that anyone in Qingyang Alley would dare meddle in the Zhou family's business. Were they tired of living?
"Who are you? This is a debt dispute between my Zhou money house and its debtor — what business is it of yours?" Zhou Tan was clearly accustomed to running roughshod through the Royal Capital.