Chapter 13: One Force Breaks Ten Thousand Laws

Colin Warburton listened to the two men trade filthy remarks like a pair of crosstalk performers, taking turns to outdo each other. His face turned livid with rage. "Dylan Weedy, Quentin Luet, you've gone too far! Do you really think the Warburton family is made of mud?" Dylan Weedy held up the Mortgage Contract signed by Troy Warburton. "I'm in the right. What have I got to fear? Your son mortgaged your daughter to me for one hundred thousand taels. It's all written in black and white. I came to collect what I'm owed, and there's nothing more justified than that." Colin Warburton only glanced at the Mortgage Contract before turning to the butler beside him. "Where's Troy?" "Reporting to you, my lord, Young Master Troy locked himself in his bedroom after returning home. No one has seen him since." "Tell him to come out and face me!" The butler soon came hurrying back. "My lord, there's no one in the room. Young Master Troy seems to have run away." The veins in Colin Warburton's forehead bulged with fury. He glared at Dylan Weedy. "You're not taking my daughter, and I'm not giving you a single coin. Get out!" "Damn, you're playing rough?" Dylan planted his hands on his hips. "Do you think I'm afraid of you?" He turned and shouted to the guards, "Tear this Marquis of Brocade's Manor apart! Anyone who dares to stop you, beat them within an inch of their lives. If you can't handle them, let Jade do it!" Colin Warburton pointed at him. "You insolent whelp! How dare you!" "Let's see whether I dare, you old bastard! My grandfather just rendered unparalleled service to the empire. Who do you think I have to fear? Besides, I'm in the right. What have I got to fear?" After making his arrogant declaration, Dylan swept his hand through the air. "Smash it!" The guards immediately set about tearing apart the courtyard. Exotic flowers and rare herbs were trampled, while ornamental rockeries and covered walkways were reduced to rubble. Quentin Luet even gave special orders for the so-called Geomantic Koi in the fish pond to be hauled out and roasted. Dylan grabbed Skye Warburton by the hair and turned to Shaun Sinjen. "She's my maid now. Throw her behind the carriage. Hang a plaque around her neck that says 'Daughter of Warburton Manor' and parade her through the streets!" Colin Warburton clenched both fists. Yet, with Jade Jauncy standing beside Dylan, he did not dare rush forward. "Dylan Weedy, have you thought about the consequences of this?" Dylan waved the Mortgage Contract in his hand. "What consequences? Go ahead and tell me. No matter how powerful the Warburton family is, can you really afford to take revenge on both the Weedy family and the Luet family at once?" Colin Warburton's brows drew tightly together. Dylan was right. Dylan might be a worthless young scoundrel, but Benedict Weedy was still alive. As long as that veteran remained in the world, no one dared openly lay a hand on Dylan. As for the Luet family, they were a house of useless fools, but they had produced one golden phoenix, Rosalind Luet. She guarded the empire's borders and showed every sign of building an independent power base with her troops. Even the emperor did not dare offend her lightly. No matter how ruthlessly those two young men acted, the emperor could do little more than smooth things over between two ducal houses with Hereditary Succession in Perpetuity, reducing major matters to minor ones and minor matters to nothing at all. Colin Warburton shook his head helplessly. "Tell everyone to stop. Just name your price!" Dylan held up two fingers. "Two hundred thousand taels of silver." "Outrageous! I treated you courteously because you're a junior, yet you're still so ungrateful that you dare make such an absurd demand…" Before Colin could finish, Dylan produced the house deed and land deed for Clearwater Court. "I forgot to mention this to Uncle Colin. Your son gambled away Clearwater Court too. Do you want to redeem it?" The corner of Colin Warburton's mouth twitched. He had thought Troy mortgaging his own sister was bad enough. He never imagined the boy had gambled away Clearwater Court as well. Clearwater Court brought in a fortune every day and was the Warburton family's most profitable business on the surface. Behind the scenes, the Warburton family controlled the Nine Gold-Touching Tomb-Robber Sects. Much of the gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and jade dug out of tombs had to be laundered through Clearwater Court. The establishment was therefore vital to the family. Dylan wore the smug expression of a man who had his opponent completely cornered. "My dear Uncle Colin, let's put Clearwater Court aside for later. We're discussing Skye Warburton at the moment. Two hundred thousand taels. Are you paying or not? If you don't, you can forget about negotiating over Clearwater Court." "Fine. I'll give you two hundred thousand taels. Then we'll discuss Clearwater Court." "One matter at a time. Pay the debt for Skye first!" Colin waved his hand. Before long, the butler arrived carrying a chest stuffed with banknotes. Quentin Luet's eyes lit up at the sight of the money. He hurried over and snatched up the chest. Dylan handed the Mortgage Contract to Skye Warburton. Her clothes were disheveled as she tore the document into shreds, then threw herself into Quinn Cadden's arms and burst into tears. "Dylan Weedy, we can discuss Clearwater Court now!" Colin said. "Don't rush, Uncle Colin. We still have a few things to talk about." Dylan took out another contract, one signed by Troy Warburton, mortgaging his fiancée, Diana Winlow. "Again?" Colin's expression darkened. "How much did that boy lose?" At last, Colin understood why Troy had run away. If the boy were still here, Colin would have broken both his legs. He might have made sure Troy could never run again for the rest of his life. "You should take this Mortgage Contract to Grand Tutor Winlow. Why are you coming to my Warburton family?" Dylan looked like a man who had been beaten so badly he no longer felt pain. "I'm here to claim the dowry. Grand Tutor Winlow already sent the dowry over. Diana is mine now, so your family has to return the Winlow family's dowry to me." "Dylan Weedy, do you really think my Warburton family is easy prey?" Dylan brought out the house deed and land deed to Clearwater Court again. "Are you redeeming this or not? The dowry may be substantial, but your family isn't short of that amount. You already paid two hundred thousand taels to redeem Skye. This is the last squeeze." Colin remembered that the dowry Grand Tutor Winlow had sent was worth no less than fifty thousand taels of silver. But compared with Clearwater Court, fifty thousand taels was nothing. "I guarantee you'll have the life to take this money, but not the life to spend it," Colin swore inwardly. He gestured to the butler. "Bring out the Dowry List. Then go to the accounts office and withdraw fifty thousand taels of silver." Once the money arrived, Dylan handed the Mortgage Contract to Colin. Colin's face was as dark as still water. "As for Clearwater Court…" "Don't rush, Uncle Colin. We still have more to discuss." As he spoke, Dylan produced another Mortgage Contract, this one for the Human-Shaped Fo-Ti Root. Even with Colin Warburton's deep reserves of composure, he wanted nothing more than to drag Troy back and break all four of his limbs. "Uncle Colin, take a look. Compared with Clearwater Court, this Fo-Ti Root is no more than a tiny sesame seed. Of course, I'm not asking for money this time. I want the medicinal herb. I hear it can boost virility when used in medicine." Colin clenched his teeth and forced three words through them. "Give it to him!" The butler soon returned, carefully carrying a purple sandalwood box. He approached Dylan and handed it over with both hands. When Dylan opened the lid, he saw a Human-Shaped Fo-Ti Root tied with a red cord. Its features had already begun to take shape. "It really is a fine treasure." Dylan carefully put the Fo-Ti Root away, then looked at Colin Warburton. "Let's not talk about Clearwater Court yet, Uncle Colin. We still have more to discuss!" "More?" Colin's voice trembled with fury. "Just how much did that rebellious son lose to you?" When Dylan brought out the Mortgage Contract for the Spirit Coffin Fungus, Colin's pupils contracted sharply. "We don't have that item either," Colin said quickly. "There's a debtor for every debt. Go find Troy and demand it from him…" Before he could finish, a short, lean guard came running over. A sharp glint shone in his restless eyes. "Have you confirmed the location?" Dylan asked. The scout nodded. "I secretly followed the butler to the ancestral hall. The Warburton Family Treasure Vault should be beneath it." Dylan smiled faintly and turned to Colin Warburton. "Today, you're giving me the Spirit Coffin Fungus whether you want to or not." "How dare you!" "Why don't you see for yourself?" Dylan turned to his guards. "Go to the Warburton Family Ancestral Hall. Anyone who dares to stop you, beat them within an inch of their lives!" As Dylan led his men toward the ancestral hall, the butler lowered his head, his face filled with shame. "My lord, this was my fault. I wasn't careful enough…" Colin Warburton slowly shook his head. "Dylan Weedy set one trap after another. His true goal was clearly the Spirit Coffin Fungus. Don't blame yourself. Even I fell into his scheme." "What do we do now?" "In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Commander Showyer will arrive with troops. Once he gets here, that boy won't be able to swagger around anymore." "You must trust in our family's Art of Mechanisms. Even if that boy has a little cleverness, he can't break through the mechanisms in the time it takes an incense stick to burn." After entering the Warburton Family Ancestral Hall, Dylan did not order the guards to spread out and search for mechanisms. Instead, he told them to use their blades as pry bars and lever up every thick stone slab covering the floor. Quentin Luet asked in confusion, "Dylan, why aren't we looking for the mechanisms? Why pry up the stone slabs instead?" "The Warburton Family Treasure Vault can't be floating in the sky. It has to be underground. Their family has spent generations digging up tombs, so building mechanisms and secret passageways is their specialty. There's no reason for us to waste time searching. Just tear the whole place apart. It's faster and easier." They had removed more than half the stone slabs when a guard suddenly shouted, "Young Master, we found something!" Dylan hurried over and saw a pulley beneath one of the slabs. "Bring Jade the Golden Melon Hammer," he ordered. "Jade, put all your strength into it. I'll get you something delicious when we return." "Yesterday's chicken is fine!" "Sure. I'll get you twenty chickens!" Jade rolled up her sleeves, grabbed the Golden Melon Hammer, and drooled as she raised it high. Then she slammed it into the floor with all her might. BOOM! The entire ancestral hall shook three times. The Warburton family's ancestral tablets in the center of the hall tilted and toppled into disarray. The Warburton family truly had some impressive craftsmanship. Even with Jade's tremendous strength, it took more than a dozen strikes to smash through the mechanism. The barrier was over a meter thick, made from a cement-like substance, and reinforced on the inside with pig iron and steel rods. Dylan immediately ordered the guards to descend. "Bring up everything you can see!" They soon began hauling up coral more than a meter tall, fist-sized luminous pearls, rubies, and all kinds of top-grade medicinal herbs.