Because of the seriousness of this situation the academy elder does not waste any time in taking the matter to the clan leader, bringing me and Luli along with him for questioning. The punishment elder is also present, as such an incident is theoretically under his purview to judge.
Gu Yue Bo, the clan leader, patiently listens as the elder explains to him how we spent the day. Once the elder finishes recounting the events of the day the clan leader begins to question me. "Which is the family of hunters who confirmed the man's identity for you?"
It doesn't exist. "It was Wang Da's own family, honoured leader. I wished to receive training in wilderness survival from them, upon seeing them I recognized their similarity to the assassin who had attacked me."
The clan leader nods. "Why did you not alert the clan the moment that you had been attacked?"
Because then I wouldn't have been able to scheme. "I wished to confirm the identity of the assassin before I troubled the clan. I realize now that that had been a mistake and that I should have announced the clan immediately, this one submits to the honoured leader."
Gu Yue Bo now switches to interrogating Wang Luli. "Tell us all that you know, I do not recommend holding anything back."
Luli takes a nervous gulp. "This one was only aware of Wang Da being alive, as he continued to visit us. This one did not know that Wang Da was a demonic gu master, if this one had known she would have informed the Gu Yue clan immediately!"
Gu Yue Bo gives no response, merely turning to the punishment elder. "Go and bring in the rest of the Wang family for questioning. Even disregarding the assassination attempt, they are still guilty of harboring a demonic gu master."
The punishment elder bows. "Your orders are received, honored leader!" He promptly leaves to begin investigating this incident in more detail.
Wang Luli is my leverage over them, if she gets scheduled for execution then they'll just give a false testimony to fuck me over. I need to keep the Wang family believing that Wang Luli's survival is ensured and reliant on me. "Honoured leader, this one has taken a liking to Wang Luli, I would like to petition for her to be spared in this matter."
Gu Yue Bo hums, taking my request into consideration. "Very well, as the wronged party this compensation is not out of bounds if her innocence can be proven."
I take care not to let out a sigh of relief. With this the Wang family is going to be forced to give their testimony on my side. We sit in silence for two hours, until the punishment elder finally arrives with old man Wang and Wang Er.
Wang Er is still giving me the most murderous glare known to mankind, but that can be twisted to my advantage. Old man Wang is clearly holding his emotions under control, allowing nothing of worth to be gleaned from him.
The first to be questioned is old man Wang. The punishment hall elder's expression is sculpted from stone, betraying nothing. "Is it true that you harbored the demonic gu master, Wang Da, under your wing?"
Old man Wang glances at Wang Luli, who is currently right next to me. Afterwards he glances at me before beginning to give his testimony. "It is true. Wang Er and I knew that Wang Da was a demonic gu master and provided him with support! The two of us harbor no love for the Gu Yue clan, we wish to be free from your oppression!"
The punishment elder calmly continues the questioning. "Is it true that Wang Da took a contract to kill Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
Wang Er is the one to respond this time. "Your own hypocrites placed the contract for his death! You are worse than tra-"
The punishment elder swipes his hand, cutting off Wang Er's arm with a moonlight gu! "Hmph, I can see that wisdom is not a strong point of yours."
Old man Wang pulls his son to the floor with him, forcing him to kowtow. I'm not sure whether they planned that outburst in advance, or whether that was just Wang Er being his usual angry self. The punishment elder crosses his hands. "What of Wang Luli, was she not aware of your support of Wang Da?
Old man Wang keeps his voice steady, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to be rude. "My daughter was not aware of our plan, we feared that she would turn on us because she harbors no ill will to the Gu Yue clan!"
The punishment elder subtly glances at the clan leader, who gives him a nod. The punishment elder then turns his gaze back to old man Wang and Wang Er. "The two of you will be held prisoner, you will be required to give your testimony once again before you are executed. Wang Luli will be spared execution, instead becoming the property of Gu Yue Fang Yuan. Guards, take the scum away!."
—
The next to be questioned are Dong Tu and his wife. They are brought in by another elder, as their status doesn't really allow a rank 2 gu master to be their escort. Dong Tu is pale, as if he had just woken up from a nightmare and is still believing it to be real.
His wife is somehow even worse, constantly twitching erratically as if she is currently in the worst nightmare of her life, which is not an understatement. Her death is almost a guarantee, what remains to be seen is whether or not she drags her husband down with her.
The punishment elder opens his mouth, but is immediately interrupted by Dong Tu's wife. "I AM INNOCENT! I-""Sile-""IT WAS THE DE-" A guard restrains her and gags her, preventing her from further screaming. Her muffled voice is still fairly loud.
The punishment elder appears much more upset after being interrupted. "You stand accused of attempted murder of a Gu Yue clan member. Gu Yue Dong Tu, how do you plead?"
Dong Tu does not hesitate to throw his own wife under the bus. "I am innocent, I was unaware of my wife's crime! She appropriated funds from me in secret in order to kill Fang Yuan!"
His wife's muffled screaming somehow grows louder in response. The punishment hall's elder takes a deep breath. "Provide your testimony in full."
Dong Tu bows. "Thank you, honored elder! I was unaware of my wife's insidious plot, I believed her to be merely buying jewelry and other such luxuries, I would have never expected for her to be misappropriating funds to arrange the assassination of one of our clansmen!"
The punishment hall's elder continues questioning him. "Is that all that you are aware of?"
Dong Tu bows again. "Yes, honored elder. That is all the knowledge regarding this case that I hold!"
The elder seems to debate with himself whether or not to question his wife, her muffled screaming dissuading him from continuing. "What is your opinion, clan leader?"
Gu Yue Bo shakes his head. "It is a shame for such an incident to have occurred in our clan, unity is the most important thing for us. We are a family, and we must act as a family. We will hold a public trial tomorrow, as such a crime cannot be allowed to pass unpunished."
—
Most of the trial itself is more for public appearances than anything else. The first witness called to give their testimony is old man Wang. The clan leader is the one grilling the witnesses about their testimony. "How do you confess to harboring the fugitive demonic gu master Wang Da?"
Old man Wang keeps himself in a deep bow, trying to project the look of a suppressed man. "This one pleads guilty, honoured leader."
Gu Yue Bo nods. "Why did Wang Da attempt the assassination of Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
Old man Wang does not rise from his deep bow. "He did so at the request of Gu Yue Dong Tu's wife, he had received a large payment in order to assassinate Gu Yue Fang Yuan."
Gu Yue Bo sighs. "Bring in the next witness, Wang Er."
Old man Wang stands up from his bow, making sure to keep his head down. Wang Er is brought next on the witness stand. When the two pass by each other they both seem to give the other a meaningful look. Old man Wang stops right next to Wang Luli, who will be the final witness from the Wang family.
As soon as Wang Er has reached the witness stand, the clan leader begins questioning him. "Wang Er, do you confess to harboring the fugitive gu master Wang Da?"
Wang Er glares hatefully at the clan leader. "If I could, I would've killed all of you myse-"
His head falls on the ground, decapitated via moonlight gu by the clan leader. His body keeps standing up, seemingly still defying the will of the Gu Yue clan. It is only after the guards remove the defiantly standing body and decapitated head from the witness stand that Wang Luli is called forth.
The clan leader begins questioning her as soon as she reaches the still bloody witness stand. "Wang Luli, how do you plead regarding the harbouring of the fugitive Wang Da?"
The former two were called to give their confessions, Wang Luli was called so that she could profess her innocence.
Wang Luli seems about to hyperventilate, but manages to calm herself down in time to give her response. "This one is innocent! I wa- was not aware of Wang Da's transgressions!"
The clan leader does not question her further, this time calling me to the witness stand. I rise up and quickly reach it, taking care not to stain myself with the still-wet blood. The clan leader does not waste time, beginning to question me as soon as I am on the stand. "Recount the tale of how you were attacked."
I take a deep breath. "I was out in the forest, hunting boars both to feed my white boar gu and in order to train. Wang Da leaped, attempting to assassinate me, but missed because I leaned down to pick up a dead boar. His head hit a boulder, killing him instantly."
The clan leader does not continue to question me. "You are dismissed, Dong Tu is to be brought to give his testimony."
I leave the witness stand, passing by Dong Tu on my way. He appears to be trying to calm himself down. He is unlikely to be executed, since he instantly snitched on his wife to save his own skin. He will still suffer a gigantic loss of face, but that is to be expected.
The clan leader immediately begins to question Dong Tu once he reaches the witness stand. "How do you plead regarding your participation in the attempted murder of Gu Yue Fang Yuan?"
Dong Tu takes a deep breath. "This one pleads not guilty, honoured leader."
The clan leader continues questioning him. "Did the funds for the assassination not come from your own riches?"
Dong Tu shakes his head. "The funds from the assassination did originate from my own wealth, but they were misappropriated by my wife! She betrayed both the clan and I and funded the assassination with stolen primeval stones! This one is innocent of this transgression!"
The clan leader waves him away. "Bring Dong Tu's wife, she is to give her testimony as well."
The gagged woman is forcefully brought to the stand by the guards. She ends up passing out from panic halfway through. The gag is removed once the unconscious woman is brought to the stand. Sadly for her one of the guards wakes her up, waving smelling salts under her nose to do so.
The moment that her eyes land on the clan leader she immediately begins screaming. "I AM INNOCEN- famgmamama"
She is interrupted by one of the guards next to her, who immediately re-gags her. The clan leader takes a deep breath. "You will be provided one more chance to prove your innocence, do not waste it."
The guards un-gag her at the signal of the clan leader. "HE WAS GOING TO KILL ME! FANG YUAN IS A DE-maghagahagah"
The guards gag the hysterical woman at the signal of the clan leader once again. The clan leader lets out a sigh. "The accused is incapable of giving her testimony. We will now proceed to give the verdicts. What is the elders opinion regarding the matter of the Wang Family?"
The attempted murder of a clan member by another clan member is an extremely serious matter. In such a case each of the clan's elders will be asked to give their opinion before the verdict is given. The first to respond is Chi Lian. "Execute the old man, spare the woman."
"I concur with elder Chi"
"Once must know when to be harsh, but also when to show mercy."
"There is wisdom with elder Chi's proposal, we agree."
The elders aligned with the Chi faction all follow him, setting the momentum for a favorable verdict. The remaining elders follow the already present momentum, seeing no benefit in arguing about a family of mortals.
In the end however, this is a world where absolute power means absolute control. The elders have merely voiced their opinions, the final verdict still lies solely in the hands of the clan leader.
The clan leader gives the verdict. "The Wang family is to be executed. Wang Luli will be given to Gu Yue Fang Yuan as recompense. What is the elders opinion on the matter of Gu Yue Dong Tu's guilt?"
Despite the clan leader holding absolute power, the elders still hold a significant amount of pull in the clan. Disregarding their opinions fully can lead to friction. Chi Lian is, once again, the first to voice his opinion. "Gu Yue Dong Tu is not entirely innocent, but he is also not entirely guilty. A punishment must be decided!"
This must be how rich people felt when buying off politicians, except in my case I got mine for free. The chi faction aligned elders follow the lead of Chi Lian.
"Elder Chi is correct, Dong Tu is directly involved in this matter, a punishment must be decided!"
"We cannot let this manner of crime go unpunished!"
"I concur with elder Chi Lian."
Seeing the response of the Chi faction, the Mo faction oppose them directly. Mo Chen is quick to go on the attack. "I disagree! Chi Lian merely wishes to further the interests of the Chi faction! Dong Tu is innocent in this matter, it is his wife who holds the entirety of the guilt!"
The elders aligned with the Mo faction follow his lead.
"Dong Tu is innocent! This is merely the Chi faction's attempt at gaining power, shameless!"
"Dong Tu's wife is to blame for this incident, he himself holds no fault!"
"This is a shameless powergrab!"
Since I am widely known to be supported by the Chi faction, the Mo faction is automatically opposed to me gaining anything from my uncle. The neutral elders decide to abstain, as giving an opinion on this matter would now mean taking a side between the two factions.
The clan leader himself is now in a bind. He has to choose between the Mo faction and the Chi faction. Currently, the Chi faction holds more sway than the Mo faction. If, or rather once, Chi Cheng's true talent is exposed the Chi faction will dissolve. The clan leader has no way of knowing this however. "I have decided on the verdict regarding Dong Tu. He is to be spared from execution, however, he is to relinquish the Fang family assets to Gu Yue Fang Yuan, as he still holds some of the blame for this unfortunate incident. Next is the matter of Dong Tu's wife. What is the opinion of the elders?"
The elders are unanimous in their opinions here, Gu Yue Dong Tu's wife is to be executed.
—
"Sign here and here, the internal affairs hall will send someone to retrieve the family assets for you. Gu worms are recorded by the clan and are part of inheritance laws. Do you have any other questions?"
I sign the document where the man indicated. "How long will it take for the assets to be transferred?"
The clerk takes the paper and checks the signatures. "It will not take long. You can come for the property deeds and gu the day after tomorrow. Someone from the internal affairs hall will pick them up and leave them here by then."
I give the man a nod. "Thank you very much."
—
I hadn't read far enough to find out what the inheritance actually was, I'd stopped right before what I assume would have been the reveal. When I go to the internal affairs hall to get the family assets I finally find out what my inheritance is.
There's some apartment buildings, which give out a sizable rent every month. There's a wine tavern, which makes a fairly large profit and then there's the most important part of the inheritance, the rank 2 nine leaf vitality grass gu.
Its ability is very simple. A gu master uses it, it consumes primeval essence and then it creates a rank 1 vitality leaf gu. Rank 1 vitality leaf gu is a single use healing gu. It uniquely has a pretty strong healing effect for its rank, allowing for considerable healing despite being just rank 1. The only downside to it is that it can only heal a person once every hour, further vitality leaf gu will have no effect whatsoever.
The nine leaf vitality grass gu eats water and light, meaning that it's effortless to feed. The vitality leaf gu eats sunlight, making it also extremely simple to feed.
One nine leaf vitality grass can create a maximum of nine rank 1 vitality leaf gu per day. One vitality leaf can be sold for fifty primeval stones, using the nine leaf vitality grass as often as possible can yield up to four hundred and fifty primeval stones per day!
This inheritance was more than worth it simply for this gu!
A healing type gu that has very simple feeding requirements is a blessing, especially for someone like me who has to feed his gu three times as much!
—
AN: Keeping with the spirit of reverend insanity, I didn't name Dong Tu's wife either.
May she rest in peace, whatever her name is supposed to be.