The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 59 Past Events

When Wu Chengyu returned to his family yard, A Ku had already run away. There were many girls of the same age in the Wu family. A Ku basically played outside every day except for eating. She adapted to the life in Wujiaopo better than Wu Chengyu. She was born to love to laugh and had a very good relationship with others.

Wu Chengyu returned to the study and sat on the couch, holding a teacup in his hand, his mind full of thoughts. The tea was slightly hot, but he was unaware of it.

What Wu Zhenghui said was really unexpected. The third branch of the Wu family was indeed in decline.

It all started when Wu Chengyu's father was escorting a caravan of goods and was robbed by horse thieves.

The Yangwu Escort Agency has always been managed by the third branch. There are six brothers of the same generation from the third branch, headed by Wu Zhengkang, working in the agency. One year when they were escorting the escort, they encountered a gust of wind. With the enemy outnumbering them, the six fought desperately. Although they killed many bandits, they eventually died in the bloody battle.

In addition to the six of them, the other bodyguards and porters were all from the Wu family's side branches and outsiders, more than twenty people in total, and none of them survived. The pensions for these people alone were enough to make the third house suffer a lot.

But this was not the biggest loss. The escort was able to attract a sudden attack by a gust of wind, which was of great value in itself. The goods were all snatched away by the gust of wind. According to convention, the escort agency had to pay double compensation, which emptied the silver in the third house's treasury. It was only with the timely help of the eldest and second houses that the matter was barely settled.

Since then, the Yangwu Escort Agency, an important business of the Third House, has closed down.

Wu Chengyu was too young at the time and only remembered his own parents' funeral. He had no idea how many families in the entire Wujiaopo were in mourning at the same time.

After the funeral, Wu Chengyu followed Feng Heng to Peach Blossom Island, but how could she not avenge the robbery and the hatred with Yizhengfeng?

People in later generations believed that people in Suzhou were gentle and polite, and they also spoke the soft Wu dialect. Based on this generalization, some people always thought that people in Suzhou were relatively weak in character. However, they did not know that this statement only came into being in the late Qing Dynasty.

In real history, especially before the Ming Dynasty, the locals of Suzhou were also known for their strength and bravery. Zhuan Zhu and Yao Li, two of the four great assassins, were both from the Wu Yue area.

Specifically during the Southern Song Dynasty, the area north of Jiangsu belonged to the Jin Dynasty, and the southern Jiangsu region including Gusu belonged to the Song Dynasty. Jiangsu became the border between the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. There were occasional frictions on the border, and small groups of Jin troops often ran to the south of the Yangtze River to burn, kill and loot.

The horse thieves came like a gust of wind. In fact, they came from the territory of the Jin Dynasty. They relied on their fast horses to rush into southern Jiangsu to plunder. They really came and went like the wind. They often robbed escorts or villages. When they encountered tough guys, they would immediately flee back to northern Jiangsu. The people of southern Jiangsu have always suffered from them, but they can do nothing about it.

Therefore, local powerful families like the Wu family all attach great importance to cultivating the martial arts and bravery of their children. In this era and in such an environment, one cannot survive without a certain level of military power.

After the funeral, the Wu family immediately set about seeking revenge. Since the dead were all brothers from the third branch, Wu Zhengliang took the lead.

Wu Zhengliang was quite resourceful. On the one hand, he contacted the wealthy families in southern Jiangsu, persuaded them to unite against the enemy, and sent their best men to encircle Yifeng. On the other hand, he bribed the officials in Suzhou and finally made them agree to send troops to capture Yifeng.

Wu Zhengliang put in a lot of thought and planning, and it took him two months. He not only found Yifeng's whereabouts, but also cleverly used bait to lure them into the encirclement. Yifeng was greedy and didn't suspect anything, so he plunged in.

As soon as the two sides clashed, Yifeng was in trouble. The officers and soldiers surrounded them on the periphery, and the young men from various families in southern Jiangsu divided and surrounded them. In just a stick of incense, half of the horse thieves were chopped off their horses.

They had assumed they would annihilate Yifeng this time, avenging the fallen Wu family heroes and the suffering people of Southern Jiangsu. But just in the nick of time, a group of powerful men suddenly burst through the encirclement. Each one of them was a master, far superior to the aristocratic scions who practiced only family martial arts without profound inherited techniques. The leader, in particular, wore a mask and possessed martial arts skills unmatched by anyone present. He led the charge, instantly killing anyone with a single blow.

The Wu family members were the first to be hit. In a short period of time, the three branches of the Zheng generation were killed one after another. Wu Zhengliang rushed over in desperation. He was good at leg techniques and used a series of mandarin duck kicks. Unfortunately, the gap between his martial arts and those of the opponent was too great. With just two palm strikes, Wu Zhengliang's leg bones were broken. If it were not for his brothers who risked their lives to save him, he would have been killed.

The remaining people of Yiquanfeng were rescued by this group of strong men. Although they suffered heavy losses, the four leading figures were still there. The officers and soldiers around them did not dare to stop them and could only watch them leave and escape.

After this battle, each family suffered heavy casualties, especially the children of the Wu family. The eldest and second branches suffered losses, and nine of the third branch's descendants died on the spot. Now there are only ten left, three of whom are disabled for life like Wu Zhengliang.

With such a huge loss, the third branch could not be said to have suffered worse. The clan leader and other elders were also very dissatisfied with this.

In the days that followed, the people in the third house were short of manpower, with the old and the young being the youngest. They were unable to manage the original property and had no choice but to hand over part of the property to the first and second houses.

Although the clan leader promised that these properties would be returned to the third branch when the descendants of the Chengzi generation grew up, the properties were not managed by themselves, and the original income was reduced by half, and the money, food, and resources of each household in the third branch would inevitably be reduced.

After figuring out the whole cause and effect, Wu Chengyu couldn't help but sigh that things in the world are impermanent, but he had more recognition for his family. Although the ending was unexpected, they were brave enough to fight for revenge for their children, and the three branches looked out for each other. Such a family was already pretty good.

As for handing over the business to the other two branches, it is understandable. If they are unable to manage it themselves and let the business decline, it will also damage the family interests. Moreover, it is only temporary after all. After ten years, when the Cheng generation grows up, the third branch will recover.

However, time is of the essence for Wu Chengyu. The amount of money and food he has now is enough to feed a family of four for a year if it is given to a poor family, but it is not enough for Wu Chengyu to support the expenses of practicing martial arts.

The money on hand could sustain him for a short period of time, but what next? He couldn't just ask the family for it.

Wu Chengyu felt a little headache and turned to look at a wooden box on the table. It was three feet long and two feet wide. The wooden box was not exquisite, but inside were the relics of Wu Zhengkang and Mu Qingyin that Wu Zhengliang had just sent.

All his parents' belongings were placed in this small courtyard, and only the gold and silver jewelry were put away early by Wu Zhengliang.

Wu Chengyu opened the wooden box, which contained several small wooden boxes. He picked up the first flat wooden box. It was very light in his hand, and he didn't know what was inside.

But after opening it, Wu Chengyu's heart began to beat fast. Inside was a thick stack of silver bills, each worth one hundred taels, a total of one hundred bills.

If you count carefully, this small wooden box alone is worth 10,000 taels of silver.

Wu Chengyu checked and calculated again and again, and finally determined that a huge sum of money would suddenly fall on his head.

But how could my parents leave me so much money?
Let me say here that I can accept criticism for my poor writing, but it is unnecessary for some friends to make personal attacks on me and even curse my family. Moreover, I have found that those who curse others have basically never voted. They come and curse a few words, then turn around and leave. I even doubt whether they have read it.

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(End of this chapter)