Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

The north wind howled, carrying fine snowflakes as the biting cold pierced to the bone. Pedestrians on the street hunched their shoulders, tucking their hands into their sleeves for warmth. Fan Changyu strode swiftly through the snowstorm, gripping a black-iron cleaver so tightly the veins on her hand stood out.

A crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the western city's residential alley, drawn by the commotion of curses, smashing objects, admonishments, and a child's wailing.

Someone with sharp eyes spotted Fan Changyu and called out, "Changyu's back!"

But seeing the cleaver in her hand, they couldn't help but gasp.

"Is that girl Changyu really going to raise a blade against her uncle?"

"Well, Fan Da's no decent man himself. Before Fan Er and his wife are even cold in their graves, he's trying to take their orphaned daughter's property to pay his gambling debts. You'd think he'd fear their ghosts haunting his dreams..."

"Those loan sharks are no pushovers. A young girl with a cleaver might not be enough to scare them off..."

The Fan family's doorstep was already in shambles. Shattered jars and overturned furniture trailed from the doorway into the house. Several burly men were still inside, smashing objects and rummaging through belongings, even tossing quilts and bedding onto the floor.

Changning was sobbing hysterically in Aunt Zhao's arms, while the older woman's eyes were red from crying as she pleaded in vain, "Stop breaking things! Please stop!"

No one paid her any heed.

Fan Da stood bowing obsequiously beside a man who appeared to be the gambling den's manager, clutching one hand while forcing an ingratiating smile. "Master Jin, once I get the deed and transfer it at the yamen, this house will be mine. I'll have the money to repay the debt, I swear!"

The man addressed as Master Jin didn't even glance at Fan Da, scoffing, "If we don't find that deed today, I'll start by chopping off this hand of yours to take back as proof."

Fan Da clutched his hand tighter. "We'll find it, we'll find it..."

A furious shout from the doorway made everyone's eardrums throb: "Everyone stop right there!"

The commanding voice cut through the chaos, successfully drawing all eyes to the entrance.

The woman stood framed by the storm, her gaze as cold as the gleaming edge of the cleaver in her hand. The doorway that let in a sliver of daylight suddenly seemed to shrink before her presence.

Changning burst into fresh tears at the sight of her sister. "Elder sister..."

Fan Da avoided Fan Changyu's eyes, hunched submissively beside the gambling den manager without daring to speak.

Master Jin, however, glanced at the cleaver in Fan Changyu's hand and chuckled dismissively. "Well, if it isn't the eldest Fan girl."

Fan Changyu's icy gaze swept over the wreckage of the room, her face taut with fury. "Take your men and get out of here!"

Master Jin lifted his eyelids slightly, as if amused by the audacity of this orphaned girl. "The gambling house operates by rules. Fan Da claims this property is his—we're just here to collect the deed for his debt. Your family disputes are none of our concern."

Fan Changyu's dagger-sharp glare turned on Fan Da. "This house is yours?"Fan Da couldn't meet Fan Changyu's gaze out of guilt, resorting to emotional manipulation: "Dear niece, your uncle was forced into this. I owe money to the gambling den. If I don't repay today, I'll lose a hand. With your father and mother gone, and you and Ning Niang having no brothers, you'll need family support after marriage to avoid being bullied by your in-laws. Just help your uncle now—hand over the deed to settle my debt. I'll treat you and Ning Niang as my own daughters from now on, and your cousin will be like a real brother to you, giving you backing after marriage..."

Fan Changyu wasn't buying his nonsense. She sneered, "If you want to use property to pay gambling debts, use your own house! What kind of bullshit logic is it to take mine? That gambler son of yours is just like you—if he doesn't get his hands chopped off by debt collectors someday, it'll be a miracle. And I'm supposed to rely on him?"

Humiliated, Fan Da pointed at her: "How can you be so vicious? Cursing your own cousin like that? He needs to get married—if we lose the house, how will he take a wife? You and Ning Niang are just girls who'll marry out someday. What do you need this house for?"

Changyu laughed in fury: "What my parents left for me and Ning Niang is none of your business."

Seeing her resolve, Fan Da dropped the pretense, his true nature surfacing: "Fan Er had no sons. By law, his property should go to me. What are you, a girl about to marry out, fighting for? To take it to your future husband's family?"

"Or is it because you're afraid no one will marry you after your parents died and the Song family broke off the engagement, leaving you with that 'jinx' reputation? That sickly sister of yours doesn't have long to live either, does she? Who'd dare marry a cursed woman like you?"

No one saw how she moved, but suddenly her butcher's knife was flying through the air, grazing Fan Da's ear before embedding itself in the wall behind him. Several severed strands of hair fluttered to the ground.

Fan Da's face turned white with terror, his legs shaking uncontrollably. His mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

The gambling den's manager, Jin Ye, and his thugs, who had been watching the drama unfold, suddenly straightened up, realizing this woman was not to be trifled with.

Changyu raised her eyes, glaring at Fan Da: "Everything my parents left is for Changning's medicine. You'd better take these gamblers and get out now, or else... while they only want one of your hands, I'll chop up your whole family before joining my parents in the afterlife!"

"You—!" Fan Da shuddered violently, unable to meet her terrifying gaze. He stammered, "Then... then we'll settle this in court! Let's see who the officials award the property to!"

Turning obsequiously to the gambling den manager lounging in the chair, he pleaded, "Jin Ye, could you... give me two more days?"

The manager scoffed: "Hui Xian Gambling Den has no precedent for extending debts. People might think we've gone soft if word gets out!"

He gave Fan Da a cold look: "Unless you'd like to pay with your right hand instead?"Fan Da broke out in a cold sweat instantly, repeatedly saying, "No, no, but this girl..."

He glanced at Fan Changyu, still feeling a chill in his heart.

The gambling den manager only sneered, "If you're sure it's your property, then the boys can start searching directly."

Compared to taking Fan Da's hand, he naturally preferred the deed to the house that could be exchanged for money. The boss, Jin Ye, barked at the gang of enforcers, "What are you standing around for? Keep looking for the deed!"

The enforcers resumed ransacking the place, overturning cabinets and smashing things.

Fan Changyu clenched her teeth, her fists tightening until they creaked.

Jin Ye laughed, "Don't blame us, Miss Fan. These are the rules of the gambling den."

Aunt Zhao watched the scene, her heart burning with anxiety, but then she seemed to remember something and hurried outside.

She didn’t go anywhere else but pushed through the crowd of onlookers at the door and knocked on the Song family’s gate. "Song Yan! Fan Da has brought the gambling den thugs to Changyu’s house to seize the deed! You’re a scholar of the sages—Fan Er and his wife treated you well in the past. At least come out and speak up for Changyu! You’re a provincial scholar—the gambling den will surely give you some face!"

The entire alley knew the Fan family was in trouble, yet the Song family’s gate remained tightly shut. No matter how loudly Aunt Zhao pounded, not a single sound came from inside.

By the end, Aunt Zhao couldn’t help but weep and curse, "Song Yan, did you stuff all those books up your ass? When your father died, you were so poor you couldn’t even afford a coffin! Who was it that bought the coffin and buried him? Aren’t you afraid your father’s bones are being crushed under that coffin in the afterlife?"

Her shrill, grief-stricken voice carried through the entire alley.

On the other side of the gate, Mother Song trembled with rage. "That foul-mouthed shrew! You’ve already broken off the engagement with that Fan girl. Their family’s mess has nothing to do with you! I ought to go out and give that shrew a piece of my mind!"

The man who had been bent over his books finally spoke up, "Mother."

Only then did Mother Song stop. "Fine, fine. That wicked woman just wants to drag us into this mess. If I go out, I’ll be playing right into her hands! Don’t you go out either, Yan’er. You’re meant for greater things—don’t get tangled up with that family again."

Upstairs in the Zhao residence, separated from the Fan family by just a single wall, Xie Zheng naturally heard the commotion next door and Aunt Zhao’s wailing curses.

The other side seemed to have the upper hand in numbers, while the woman stood alone, and the elderly couple couldn’t help much.

Outside the window, the gloomy sky had cleared in the afternoon. The frost clinging to the eaves shimmered under the sunlight, casting a faint, cold golden glow.

Xie Zheng’s face, bathed in the same light, was equally devoid of warmth. His lips pressed into a thin line, as if his mood had soured completely.

Those scum were truly grating on his ears.

His pale, blood-crusted hand gripped the pair of crutches placed by his bedside, and with great effort, he stood up. These crutches had been made for him by Zhao Mu Jiang just that day.

His wounds hadn’t yet healed, and the sudden movement caused the bandaged injuries to slowly seep blood again. Yet he paid it no mind, planting the crutches firmly on the ground with each steady step.

If he didn’t deal with those troublemakers next door today, he doubted he’d be in the mood for an afternoon nap.

Meanwhile, the Fan residence had already been turned upside down by the gambling den enforcers—even the floor tiles had been tapped one by one with wooden sticks.Changning cowered behind Fan Changyu, sobbing silently. Fan Changyu shielded her younger sister with one hand, her face half-lowered, making it impossible to see her expression at that moment.

One of the thugs rummaged through the table where the memorial tablets of Fan Changyu's parents were placed, knocking them to the ground. Just as he was about to stomp on them to see if there were any hidden compartments inside, his collar was suddenly grabbed from behind. A tremendous force hurled him out, and when the back of his head hit the threshold after landing at the doorway, the burly man was still dazed.

Everyone else in the room was stunned too.

Fan Changyu now stood where the man had been, silently staring at her parents' fallen memorial tablets. The cold wind whistling through the hall lifted the loose strands of hair at her temples, and blood dripped from her palm.

It was from the wounds she had inflicted on herself with her nails while suppressing her rage earlier.

"I'll give you one more chance. Get out or not?"

Her voice was unexpectedly calm, yet it sent an inexplicable chill down everyone's spine.

The gambling den's men exchanged uneasy glances, but Fan Da had already quietly retreated to the door, his legs trembling. The knife Fan Changyu had thrown earlier still haunted him.

Master Jin, who had been collecting debts for years, had never been humiliated like this before. With so many people watching outside, if he failed to collect the debt today, it would be a disgrace to the entire gambling den.

He stood up and kicked one of the thugs beside him. "Are you dead? Keep smashing! I've been collecting debts in Lin'an Town for years—since when do I fear a little girl?"

The thugs tried to reassure themselves, but glancing at their comrade still lying at the doorway, they couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear.

This girl had freakish strength—it was downright unnatural.

After exchanging glances, they rushed at her together. Without even looking up, Fan Changyu flicked up a wooden rod one of the thugs had dropped with her foot, caught it with one hand, and swung it in a wide arc. Several thugs were struck in the abdomen, doubling over and crashing to the ground, some even vomiting bits of food.

Fan Changyu gave them no time to react. The rod in her hands whistled through the air as she swept, flicked, chopped, and hacked—less like wielding a stick and more like swinging a long-handled blade without its edge.

One by one, the gambling den's thugs were beaten until they wailed for mercy, tossed out of the Fan family's gate like ragged sacks. The gasps of the onlookers rose and fell in waves.

When Fan Da saw Fan Changyu using this set of blade techniques, his face turned deathly pale, and he shrank into a corner like a quail.

Master Jin, sensing the tide had turned, tried to flee. But before he could make it out the gate, a black cleaver flew from behind and embedded itself firmly in the doorframe ahead of him, nearly shaving off his nose.

Master Jin gulped. "Miss Fan, this is all a misunderstanding…"

A commotion rose from the crowd outside. "The constables are here! Make way!"

For a group accustomed to wrongdoing, the arrival of the constables was an unexpected relief.

Zhao Mu Jiang led the sweating constables back in a hurry. "In broad daylight, bullying an orphaned girl—have you no…"

His words caught in his throat when he saw the gambling den's thugs sprawled outside the Fan family's gate and Master Jin blocked at the entrance by a cleaver.

Xie Zheng, who had just descended from the Zhao family's loft with his cane, also looked surprised at the scene.

He had already noticed the woman's unusually steady breathing, no less disciplined than a martial artist's. It turned out he wasn't wrong.The onlookers were all there for the spectacle, and no one noticed Xie Zheng. Seeing that the trouble had been resolved, he glanced at the bloodstains seeping through his clothes from his wounds and walked back expressionlessly, though his forehead was already covered in fine beads of cold sweat.

The scholarly man in a blue robe from the Song family, who had just stepped out after opening the gate, glanced at the constables outside and then at the Fan family with an inscrutable expression before retreating and closing the gate again.

Inside the house, Fan Changyu reined in the fierce aura that had erupted in her rage and knelt silently to pick up her parents' memorial tablets, which had fallen to the ground.

Her bloodstained hands smeared the tablets, so she wiped them clean with her sleeve.

This long-handled saber technique had been taught to her by her father, but he had never allowed her to use it in public.

Her father had said it should only be employed as a last resort, when her life was in danger, or else it might bring trouble.

Today, she had broken that rule—not for her own life, but for her parents' memorial tablets.

Holding the tablets, Fan Changyu closed her bloodshot eyes.

Father, don’t blame Changyu...

With the constables' intervention, the aftermath was handled much more peacefully.

Fan Changyu had injured several people from the gambling den, but since they had trespassed and destroyed her family’s property first, the constables reprimanded the troublemakers and only ordered Jin Ye to compensate for the damages to the Fan household, without demanding that Fan Changyu pay for the gamblers' medical expenses.

Fan Da muttered under his breath that, according to the law, the Fan family’s house should belong to him. The constable shot him a sidelong glance and said, "This matter is separate. If you want the house, draft a petition and submit it to the Yamen for the county magistrate to decide."

Fan Da immediately fell silent.

The gambling den’s men, linked together like a string of gourds, helped each other out of the Fan residence, while Fan Da slunk away in disgrace. Only then did the crowd of onlookers slowly disperse.

Fan Changyu turned to the head constable and said, "Thank you, Uncle Wang."

Head Constable Wang had been a friend of her father’s in life. Zhao Mu Jiang had gone all the way to fetch him, hoping he could lend Fan Changyu a hand.

Head Constable Wang replied, "Today, they were in the wrong, so I acted impartially without favoring you. But if Fan Da really submits a petition to the County Government Office, your family’s house might not be safe."

Fan Da hadn’t filed a petition yet, partly because lawsuits were troublesome and partly because hiring a legal advisor would cost a lot of money.

But now that he knew forcing Fan Changyu wouldn’t work, he might very well turn around and sue to get the deed to the house and settle his gambling debts.

Fan Changyu’s face was etched with exhaustion and despair. "I’ve tried every possible way. I even consulted legal advisors, but they all said I can’t inherit the house and land my parents left behind."

Legal advisors specialized in drafting petitions and lawsuits, and they knew the laws of the dynasty inside out.

Having handled cases for years, Head Constable Wang was experienced and knowledgeable. After a moment of thought, he said, "Perhaps there’s another way."