Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 3 Turning the Illegitimate Son Against His Own

The third quarter of the hour of Zi (11:45 PM).

The sound of the night watchman's gong in Ziyang County was shattered by the howling wind and snow, making it sound as if it came from a very far place.

In the back alley of the Fan family mansion, beneath a two-person-high blue brick wall.

Zhao Changying squatted in the snow, his hands folded on his knees, like a silent stone. Lu Yan stepped on his hands, and with a tremendous force, silently climbed over the wall.

Looking down from the top of the wall, the backyard of the Fan family mansion was pitch black, with only a few lanterns hanging in the corridors dancing wildly in the wind, casting swaying, ghostly shadows.

"The height is 3.2 meters, and the snow depth at the landing point is about four inches, which provides sufficient cushioning."

Lu Yan silently recited a sentence in his mind, and then gestured downwards to Zhao Changying.

The two landed silently.

Lu Yan tightened his thin scholar's robe, the biting cold making him want to shiver, but he forcibly controlled the trembling of his muscles. At this moment, any unnecessary movement could give away his whereabouts.

"Brother, it's over there." Zhao Changying lowered his voice and pointed to a low shed in the west corner. "That's the stable, and the drafty little side room next to it is where Fan Fu lives."

Lu Yan nodded, signaling Zhao Changying to lead the way.

He watched Zhao Changying's retreating figure, bowing low, and nodded inwardly. This kid, though untrained, possessed an almost hunter's instinct in his crouching, quick steps and use of shadows for cover. Given time, he would undoubtedly become a sharp blade.

The two of them made their way to the door of the side room.

The door was so thin it let in light, and a series of intermittent coughs could be heard coming from inside, sounding like someone was coughing up their lungs.

Zhao Changying pulled a short knife from his boot and gently unlatched the door.

"Squeak—"

A cold wind blew in, and the small oil lamp in the room flickered violently.

From within the tattered quilt on the couch, a small, thin figure suddenly sat bolt upright, grabbing a wooden stick from beside the pillow in terror: "Who?! Is that the young master? I... I didn't steal the horse feed, I really didn't..."

A cold hand gripped his throat, forcing him to swallow the rest of his words.

Zhao Changying knelt on one knee on the couch, the short knife in her hand pressed against the man's cheek, and said coldly, "Don't make a sound, or I'll cut out your tongue."

Lu Yan closed the door behind him, shutting out the wind and snow outside.

In the dim light, he sized up the trembling young man before him.

Fan Fu, Fan Renfu's illegitimate son. In his early twenties, he was as thin as a thirteen or fourteen-year-old child. His face was covered in bruises, old wounds layered upon new ones. His palms were rough and cracked, covered in chilblains, making him look even worse off than the family's farmhands.

"Brother Fan, how have you been?"

Lu Yan pulled over a rickety stool and sat down in front of Fan Fu, his tone as calm as if he were bumping into an old friend in a teahouse.

Fan Fu stared in horror at the scholar in front of him, who was dressed in a scholar's robe but exuded a chilling aura.

"Lu... Scholar Lu?" Fan Fu recognized Lu Yan, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes. "You...you've come to kill my father?"

"Murder?" Lu Yan smiled, his gaze lingering for a moment on Fan Fu's hands, which were covered in frostbite. "That's a last resort. I'm here to discuss a business deal with you."

"To...make a business?"

"Fan Renfu forced me to surrender the military farm, wanting me to take the blame for him. You know about this, right?" Lu Yan went straight to the point.

Fan Fu shrank back, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes, clearly aware of the situation.

"He wanted me dead, and there was nothing I could do. But before I died, I thought, with the Fan family's immense wealth, someone has to inherit it, doesn't he?" Lu Yan leaned forward slightly, staring into Fan Fu's eyes. "Tell me, if Fan Renfu falls, and the eldest and second young masters are implicated and exiled, who will inherit the Fan family's fortune?"

Fan Fu was stunned.

He may be cowardly, but he's not stupid. He's the only illegitimate son in the Fan family; if the direct line were to die out...

"What...what do you mean?" Fan Fu's voice trembled, but it wasn't fear; rather, it was the shudder of a long-suppressed desire being ignited.

"I'm a person of principle. When it comes to engineering... oh no, when it comes to doing things, I believe in mutual benefit and win-win situations." Lu Yan coaxed patiently, "Fan Renfu treats you like a dog, and the young master treats you like a horse. In their eyes, you are a consumable, a piece of trash that can be discarded at any time. But I have a blueprint here to rebuild your life."

Lu Yan held up one finger: "I want that ledger. It's the real account book that records the actual amount of military farmland embezzled by Fan Renfu."

"I...I don't know..." Fan Fu denied instinctively.

"Don't rush to refuse." Lu Yan interrupted him, her tone suddenly turning cold. "Think about your deceased mother. I heard that when she was seriously ill, Fan Renfu wouldn't even give her a single dose of medicine, and had her thrown into a mass grave. Then think about yourself, how long do you want to live like this? Ten years? Or will you be beaten to death tomorrow?"

Fan Fu's breathing became rapid, and his eyes instantly reddened. Hatred is a more powerful driving force than fear.

"In...the study." Fan Fu gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words. "The eldest young master is illiterate, and the master is wary of the accountant. There are some confidential accounts that the master will do by himself late at night. I am in charge of cleaning the study. Once I saw him hide a blue booklet in a compartment behind the bookshelf."

"Lead the way." Lu Yan stood up. "Now."

"Now?" Fan Fu was startled. "There's a guard dog in the study, and..."

"The wind and snow are so strong today, even dogs can't smell properly," Zhao Changying interjected, twirling the knife between her fingers. "As for people, shut up if you don't want to die."

Looking at these two madmen, Fan Fu finally let his ambition to turn things around overcome his cowardice.

"Come with me."

……

Fifteen minutes later. The study of the Fan family residence.

It's much warmer here than in the stables, with an underfloor heating system.

Lu Yan had Zhao Changying stand guard at the door, while he followed Fan Fu quickly to the huge rosewood bookshelf.

"On the third floor, there's a hidden compartment behind that copy of the Diamond Sutra," Fan Fu said, his hand still trembling as he pointed to the bookshelf.

Without hesitation, Lu Yan reached in. His fingertips touched a raised mechanism, and he pressed it gently.

"Click".

A wooden board popped open, revealing a blue ledger lying quietly inside.

Lu Yan took out the account book, but did not take it with him.

As the project manager, he was all too aware of the risks associated with "physical evidence." If he took the ledgers, Fan Renfu would discover them first thing tomorrow morning, followed by a city-wide manhunt; there was no way he could take them out.

What he needed was not the ledgers themselves, but the data.

Lu Yan quickly opened the account book.

By the dim light of the tinderbox, a series of shocking figures came into view: 300 mu of military settlement in Zhaojiawa were seized in the 42nd year of the Wanli reign... 50 taels of silver were bribed to the county magistrate...

This isn't just a number; it's the recipe for an explosive charge!

Lu Yan's fingers trembled slightly. Reason told him that taking only the information was the safest option. But the next second, his engineer's meticulous thinking negated that idea.

"No! Just talking is false accusation!" Lu Yan's mind raced. "Under the laws of the Ming Dynasty, without this original document bearing Fan Renfu's handwriting and personal seal, it's just 'empty talk' in court. To deliver a fatal blow, we must take the original!"

"Brother, hurry! Someone's coming!" Zhao Changying's urgent shout came from outside the door, accompanied by the faint barking of a dog in the distance.

"Snapped!"

Lu Yan slammed the blue ledger shut without hesitation, then tucked it into his robes and pressed it tightly against his chest.

Just as he was about to close the hidden compartment, Fan Fu, who was next to him, suddenly began to breathe rapidly. At the bottom of the hidden compartment, besides the account books, there was a stack of silver notes and several gold ingots scattered around.

"Money...it's money..." Fan Fu's legs, which had been paralyzed with fear, suddenly regained strength. The fear of poverty overwhelmed his fear of Fan Renfu. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the silver notes and gold, stuffing them haphazardly into his crotch.

"Go! Don't leave your lives behind!"

Lu Yan gave a low shout and pulled hard, causing all the silver notes that Fan Fugang had snatched to fall to the ground.

He quickly replaced the hidden compartment, erased the traces, and dragged Fan Fu out of the study.

Just as the three rushed out of the study, a dog suddenly barked from the front yard. Immediately afterwards, several lanterns lit up in the wind and snow.

"Who's there?!" A loud shout pierced the night sky.

"We've been discovered!" Zhao Changying grabbed Lu Yan and pulled him behind her, shielding him. "Brother, get on the wall! I'll cover your retreat!"

"Let's go together!"

Without a word, Lu Yan grabbed Fan Fu by the collar and shoved him into Zhao Changying's arms. "Take him away! He's a witness!"

The three of them ran wildly toward the back wall. The footsteps behind them were chaotic and hurried, clearly from the guards who had been alerted.

"Woof! Woof woof!"

A huge black dog lunged out from the side, heading straight for Lu Yan's throat.

"court death!"

Zhao Changying roared, advancing instead of retreating, his short knife flashing coldly in the air. The black dog howled in agony as it was ripped open mid-air, its blood splattering all over Lu Yan's face.

But this brief delay allowed the servants behind them to catch up.

"There they are! It's that illegitimate son and the outsider!"

A torch was thrown over, illuminating the three people standing at the base of the wall.

"superior!"

Zhao Changying crouched down against the wall, his hands forming a ladder. Fan Fu scrambled over, stepping on Zhao Changying's shoulders.

Lu Yan followed closely behind. But he was, after all, a frail scholar, and his strength had been exhausted from the tension just now. When he climbed to the top of the wall, his foot slipped, and half of his body was hanging over the edge.

"elder brother!"

Zhao Changying, standing below the wall, suddenly leaped up, grabbed Lu Yan's feet, and pushed him forward with force.

Lu Yan climbed over the wall and landed heavily on a snowdrift in the alley. Ignoring the pain, he looked back.

Just as Zhao Changying gripped the wall with both hands and was about to exert force, a metal-coated baton slammed into his left shoulder.

"Snap!"

The sound of bones cracking could be clearly heard in the cold night.

Zhao Changying grunted, gritted his teeth, and with his brute strength, used one arm to tumble out like a wounded wild beast, rolling to the side of Lu Yan.

"Changying!" Lu Yan hurriedly helped him up.

"Brother, hurry... this injury is nothing..." Zhao Changying was covered in cold sweat from the pain, but she still pushed Lu Yan away. "The night patrol archers are coming!"

The sound of gongs and shouts of battle came from inside the walls.

Lu Yan glanced at Zhao Changying's drooping left arm, his eyes instantly turning incredibly sinister.

He stared intently at the high walls of the Fan residence, as if he wanted to etch this debt into his very bones.

"Walk!"

He helped Zhao Changying up, kicked Fan Fu who was paralyzed with fear on the ground, and said, "Run if you don't want to die! Go to the dilapidated temple in the east of the city!"

The wind and snow covered the three people's footprints, as well as the mess on the ground.

But Lu Yan knew that the thirty taels of silver he had paid to save his life had been completely handed over to the new dealer tonight.