Chapter 783: Fate

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

“The merchant ship in front, turn around immediately.”

“If you don’t stop the ship, we’ll shoot.”

“Fire!”

“…”

Countless arrows were shot at the merchant ship. Fortunately, the Xie Residence had considered this situation. The old and inconspicuous merchant ship was made of iron birch wood. This wood was very hard, more than twice as hard as steel. It could be used like gold and iron and could withstand long-range arrows.

It was extremely dense, and it sank when it entered the water. Even if it was soaked in water for a long time, the wood could still be kept dry and not rot.

The core secret of the Xie family’s manufacturer’s ship was to use iron birch wood to make bearings.

Iron birch wood was lighter than iron, but harder. Merchant ships could travel faster. Iron birch wood did not rot in the water, and merchant ships were more stable and durable. Even if they encountered Japanese ships at sea, they could risk their speed and dodge the bullets.

However, iron birch wood was very rare, and cultivation techniques were also the core secret of the Xie Residence.

The merchant ship quickly left the port. Yu Youyao pursed her lips slightly. “There are still more than 30 people who haven’t arrived. What should they do?”

Old Master Xie said, “They’re all voluntarily staying behind. The pros and cons have been explained clearly. The Xie family gave each of them 10,000 taels of silver and rearranged their fake identity documents. They’re not afraid of the government’s investigation. They’ll stay in Quanzhou for the time being and it’ll be fine to change their identities.”

The Xie Residence had traveled extensively and had a wide network of connections in the underworld. The guards were all people of the martial world. Most of them had received the favor of the Xie Residence or had their lives saved by the Xie Residence, so they were very loyal to the Xie Residence.

That night, Yu Youyao had a nightmare. She dreamed that the Xie family had sensed that the Jiazhou Residence was colluding with King Liang and was preparing to escape from Quanzhou.

At this moment, the Xie family received a secret report about her being imprisoned by the Zhenguo Marquis Residence.

The person who had sent the secret report was a trusted aide of the Xie family who had been arranged to take care of Yu Youyao in the capital. He had once been saved by the Xie family, so the Xie family did not suspect anything.

Immediately, he couldn’t care less about escaping. He used his connections in the capital to secretly send Yu Youyao a message.

Ten days later, the Xie Residence evacuated Quanzhou by water and passed by the Jin County pier.

At that time, the Xie family would arrange for someone to create chaos in the Zhenguo Marquis Residence and save Yu Youyao in the chaos. They would send her to the port of Jin County to meet up and bring her to the North to join the Great General of the North, Ye Hanyuan.

However, the Xie family never expected that all of this was just a trap.

The so-called secret letter was just an act directed by Song Mingzhao.

When Song Mingzhao found out that King Liang was about to rebel and the Xie Residence was about to escape, he wanted the Xie Residence’s money. However, he was worried that he would alert King Liang and deliberately lured the Xie Residence into a trap so that he could capture all the Xie Residence’s merchant ships and money.

The Xie Residence fell for it.

That night, Yu Youyao was escorted to the port of Jin County to meet up with the Xie family.

Just as they were about to leave in a boat, Song Mingzhao brought his men and surrounded the Xie Residence.

Her maternal grandfather had covered for her Third Cousin’s escape and was shot dead on the spot.

Her Third Cousin had fled into the sea, his fate unknown.

Song Mingzhao accused the Xie family of escaping privately and plotting a rebellion. He confiscated all of the Xie family’s wealth, and everyone in the Xie family was sentenced to be executed after autumn.

Only her Fifth Cousin, who was the youngest, was pardoned.

This was the only survivor that the older Yao Yao had obtained in exchange for begging Song Mingzhao and willingly becoming a blood medicinal catalyst for Yu Jianjia to extract blood.

For the sake of the only survivor of the Xie family, no matter how painful and desperate the older Yao Yao was, she could only endure it silently.

Song Mingzhao had stepped on the blood of the entire Xie family and supported the Fourth Prince to ascend the throne. He had become a high-ranking official step by step. With this sum of money, after the new emperor ascended the throne, he was exempted from rewarding the commoners and compensating the army, quickly stabilizing the overall situation in the court.

On the day of the Xie family’s execution, Song Mingzhao was benevolent and allowed her to send the Xie family off.

The older Yao Yao left.

Even though she knew that she had to watch her relatives’ heads fall to the ground one by one, she still didn’t want to run away cowardly. She couldn’t bear to see her family’s corpses exposed with no one to collect them.

She knelt on the ground with a bowl of white rice and fed all the relatives of the Xie family the last mouthful of rice. As she screamed and cried, she looked at all the people of the Xie family. Their heads fell to the ground and their blood spilled on the execution ground.

“Song Mingzhao, you won’t die a good death…” Yu Youyao screamed and woke up. Old Madam Xie hugged her.

“Don’t be afraid.” Old Madam Xie hugged her tightly and comforted her. “Little Yao’er, don’t be afraid. Your Grandmother is here.”

Yu Youyao panted quickly. She raised her head with difficulty and looked at her grandmother with red eyes and tears. She said in a panic, “Grandmother, leave quickly. This is a trap. Run…”

“Hurry up and escape… Don’t worry about me…”

“Grandfather, Grandfather, run…”

“Song Mingzhao is here…”

“No…”

“Little Yao’er!” Old Madam Xie shouted, waking her up. Yu Youyao was stunned. She looked at her grandmother, tears gushing out and blurring her eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

Yu Youyao broke down and cried. “It’s all because of me. I’m… sorry…”

She kept apologizing, her mind filled with the nightmare just now. In the nightmare, the entire Xie family was wearing prison clothes and kneeling at the entrance of the market. At the order of the main official, the executioner raised his butcher knife.

The bright blade reflected the scorching sun at noon, making one’s eyes hurt and dry.

She watched helplessly as the butcher knife emitted a piercing light under the sunlight. It suddenly swung down, and warm blood sprayed on her face.

She watched helplessly as her grandmother’s head rolled to her feet. She fell to the ground and hugged her grandmother’s head crazily, breaking down on the spot.

“Little Yao’er, don’t be afraid. Don’t cry.” Old Madam Xie hugged her granddaughter and stroked her back. “It’s fine. Your Grandmother is here.”

Yu Youyao had a nightmare and was in a bad state of mind. She fell asleep again in a daze.

After a while, she had a low fever.

The doctor came over to take her pulse. He said that she had been frightened previously and had prescribed a prescription to calm her mind. However, this fever was intermittent, so it was not good.

Chun Xiao recalled that previously, Young Miss had watched the bloody battle in the courtyard with her own eyes. At that time, Young Miss’s face was terrifyingly pale. Later, she was so focused on escaping that no one cared if she was frightened.

Yu Youyao was groggy. When she felt that the boat had stopped, she asked Chun Xiao, “Where are we? Did we leave Quanzhou?”

Chun Xiao quickly said, “We’ve already arrived at the Jin County pier. Your fever has been low. Old Master and the others are worried about your health and have decided to stop at the Jin County pier to rest for a few days before setting off.”

Nightmares and reality were always shockingly similar. Yu Youyao felt as if her heart was being tightly gripped by a pair of large hands called fate. It hurt as if she was suffocating.

Immediately, the world spun, and her eyes darkened. She bit her tongue hard, and there was a faint taste of blood in her mouth. The sharp pain cleared her mind. “Help me up.”

Chun Xiao subconsciously said, “Young Miss, you’re not feeling well. The doctor has instructed that you have to rest in bed. You…”