7: Loyal Cao Mengxian

Cao Bu took a step forward and firmly gripped Gu Yun's wrist. "Raising a hand against a woman is quite ungentlemanly."

Gu Yun immediately found a target for his frustration. Pointing at Cao Bu and Gu Chuyan, he shouted sharply, "It must be you! It's you two disgraceful people colluding to frame me!"

"Cao Bu, did you defile our cousin, and then collude with her to frame me?"

Cao Bu brushed off Gu Yun's hand and shielded Gu Chuyan behind him.

"Brother Yun, that is utterly ridiculous!"

"What is my cultivation level? What is First Smoke's cultivation level? If I truly had improper intentions, would I still be standing here unharmed?"

Gu Yun sneered repeatedly. "Stop playing dumb! Isn't your goal to become the Clan Chief of the Gu Clan?"

"Hahaha!"

Cao Bu seemed to have heard the funniest joke and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" Gu Yun said with a gloomy expression.

Cao Bu stopped laughing and looked around at everyone present. "Everyone, if I, Cao Bu, truly wanted to be this Clan Chief, who among you would agree?"

The entire scene fell silent.

Everyone knew that the Gu Clan would never allow an outsider to become Clan Chief.

Cao Bu continued, "I, Cao Bu, know my place. Before my foster father's Ascension, I served him with all my heart; now that you are to succeed him, I will likewise assist you with all my might."

"I only have five hundred years of Lifespan left. My only wish is to see the Gu Clan become the true number one power in the Spirit Realm within my lifetime, rather than relying on the means left behind by my foster father to be the number one power in the Spirit Realm."

At this point, tears welled up in Cao Bu's eyes. "But I never imagined that before that day arrived, I would be suspected by my own brother!"

"Brother Yun, ask yourself, when the enemies from the Myriad Laws Forbidden Abyss attack in ten years, what use would it be for me to seize your position as Clan Chief?"

"I have spent four hundred years in the Gu Clan, giving my all. Even my foster father never doubted me. I never expected that just after his Ascension, you would…"

Cao Bu's voice choked with emotion. "If you truly want to drive me away, you could call a Family meeting to hold a vote. With your status as Young Lord, as long as you give prior notice, I believe all the Elders would fulfill your wish."

These words were powerful and resonant, moving everyone present.

They had all seen everything Cao Bu had done for the Gu Clan over the past four hundred years.

Not to mention that Cao Bu had even saved the entire Gu Clan.

Yet, while they treated Cao Bu with courtesy on the surface, deep down, they had never truly accepted this outsider.

Now that Cao Bu had pointed it out directly, everyone felt deeply ashamed.

Leng Yue and Su Li watched this scene, each with their own thoughts.

Leng Yue chose to believe Cao Bu.

For a person to remain loyal and devoted for four hundred years, such sentiment was truly rare.

Su Li felt heartbroken. For these four hundred years, Cao Bu had walked on thin ice at every step; one slight mistake would have led to utter ruin.

Gu Yun stared blankly at Cao Bu, speechless.

Gu Chuyan looked at the figure before her, which was not particularly tall, and a warm current suddenly surged in her heart.

She had heard of the deeds of this Steward Cao and only knew that Clan Leader Qingtian trusted him immensely.

Now, seeing it with her own eyes, this Adopted Son had more sense of responsibility than Gu Yun, his own biological son.

If only it were earlier…

She smiled bitterly to herself.

She no longer expected anything; she only wanted justice, and then to focus on Cultivating.

As for romance, it had long since been unrelated to her.

Every time she thought of what happened last night, she wished she could tear Gu Yun into ten thousand pieces.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Su Li quickly spoke up, "Today is about seeking justice for First Smoke, and also about clearing Yun'er's name. Let's not discuss other matters for now."

She turned to Gu Chuyan and said softly, "First Smoke, tell us exactly what happened last night from beginning to end."

Hearing this, Gu Chuyan shot a venomous glare at Gu Yun once more and gritted her teeth, saying, "Last night at the Hour of the Bo…"

After she finished speaking, all the female cultivators present glared angrily at Gu Yun.

Although some details were not explicitly stated, everyone understood.

After hearing this, Gu Yun said in a fluster, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Even if he wasn't a good person, he would never do something so beastly.

Li Xinxue's expression was extremely ugly. Unwilling to believe that Gu Yun would do such a thing, she couldn't help but start to doubt him at this moment.

Seeing Li Xinxue's suspicious gaze, Gu Yun panicked.

"Heart Snow, you must believe me, I was really Cultivating last night!"

"It must be this bitch framing me!" Gu Yun pointed at Gu Chuyan and cursed.

Gu Chuyan sneered, "You don't believe me? Then have the Young Mistress search my Soul!"

Once these words were spoken, the whole place was stunned.

Soul searching was not something to play with; if it went wrong, one could become a fool, or in severe cases, it could be life-threatening.

Thus, everything was self-evident.

Everyone's gaze toward Gu Yun now carried a hint of scrutiny.

Ninth Elder hurriedly stopped them, "No! Soul searching is too dangerous."

Hearing this, Gu Yun laughed out loud, "Hahaha, quite the act! You're betting that we wouldn't dare to search, aren't you? Heart Snow, search her Soul right now!"

"Wait!"

Ninth Elder suddenly grabbed a shivering Maidservant from the crowd, "This girl saw you come by last night with her own eyes. If you want to search, search hers!"

The Maidservant's face was deathly pale.

Soul searching was a near-death experience!

But given her status, she couldn't resist. She only hoped that the person performing the Soul search would be gentle and spare her miserable life.

Li Xinxue walked up to the Maidservant, and the Maidservant cried, "Young Mistress, please spare my life."

After saying this, she closed her eyes, waiting for death.

Li Xinxue nodded and gently tapped her finger on the girl's forehead.

A segment of memory was seen by her from the Maidservant's perspective.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the truth to be revealed immediately.

Gu Yun was the most nervous; if this matter wasn't resolved, his future as Clan Chief would definitely be affected.

Gu Chuyan's eyes were red, staring fixedly at Gu Yun.

No matter the result, she would never forgive this beast.

The humiliation of last night was still fresh in her mind. If Gu Yun didn't have the status of Young Lord, she would make him pay any price to ensure he didn't have an easy time.

Three breaths later.

Li Xinxue withdrew her finger, and the Maidservant's body went limp, collapsing to the ground without any movement.

This was the terrifying aspect of the Soul-searching technique.

As long as the practitioner was slightly careless, the Soul of the person being searched would suffer a devastating impact.

Just now, when Li Xinxue saw the image of Gu Yun appearing outside the Misty Rain Courtyard in the Maidservant's memory, her emotions fluctuated. Coupled with the disparity in their strength, the Maidservant's fragile Soul shattered on the spot.

"How is it? Heart Snow!"

Gu Yun couldn't wait to know the truth.

As for the Maidservant's life or death, no one cared.

Everyone was staring at Li Xinxue, but saw her brows tightly locked, her expression uncertain.

This left everyone confused.

"Heart Snow, what exactly is the truth? Tell us!"

Gu Yun appeared somewhat impatient.

Li Xinxue scanned the crowd, her gaze lingering on Gu Chuyan for a moment.

"Gu Yun did indeed enter the Misty Rain Courtyard."

As soon as these words fell, everyone looked at Gu Yun in unison.

Gu Yun's face turned pale. He took a step back, shaking his head and whispering, "Impossible, absolutely impossible. I was in the cultivation room all last night; I never went out."

"Heart Snow, you are lying to me, right?" He suddenly grabbed Li Xinxue's shoulders, appearing particularly agitated.

He couldn't admit it. Once this matter was confirmed, it would have a huge impact on his succession.

Moreover, he hadn't done it at all.

"I never expected Young Lord Gu Yun to be a beast. I, Gu Mazi, am truly unlucky; there comes a day when I followed the wrong person."

"Ignoring the Young Mistress to touch his own cousin instead—this is clearly a psychological disorder."

"If he becomes Clan Chief, who knows how many women in the clan will suffer. No, my wife got pregnant while I was away a while ago; I must make her abort the child when I get back to solve the problem at the root."

Listening to the whispers around him.

Gu Yun roared, "All of you, shut up!"

In an instant, the entire place became so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Seeing that Gu Yun still wanted to quibble.

Ninth Elder stood out and said, "Gu Yun, now that there are both human witnesses and physical evidence, do you still want to deny it? I truly never expected that Clan Leader Qingtian would produce a son like you!"

Gu Yun was so angry his face turned livid. Just as he was about to erupt, Li Xinxue spoke up first, "Ninth Elder, I only said that Gu Yun entered the Misty Rain Courtyard, but I didn't say that the person who bullied Sister Chuyan was him."

Once these words were spoken, everyone looked at each other, wondering if there was another hidden story.

Gu Yun finally reacted, his teeth itching with anger.

He really wanted to slap Li Xinxue right now.

This woman usually loved to pause dramatically when speaking. At such a critical moment, she actually pulled this on him, making his heart race up and down; he was almost getting a heart attack!

"Heart Snow, hurry up and tell us everything you saw. Did I touch Gu Chuyan or not?"

He couldn't be bothered to argue with Li Xinxue now; he just wanted to know the answer.

Ninth Elder's brows were tightly locked.

Could there be another twist in the matter?

"Young Mistress, please tell the truth. What do you mean by Gu Yun entered the courtyard but did not touch my granddaughter?"

He immediately cupped his hands to Li Xinxue.

Being able to marry Gu Yun, the power behind Li Xinxue could not be underestimated, and he couldn't afford to offend her to death.

If it weren't for his granddaughter experiencing such a thing, he wouldn't dare to challenge the future Clan Chief.

Seeing everyone's anxious expressions, Li Xinxue finally revealed the whole truth, "The Maidservant only saw Gu Yun enter the Misty Rain Courtyard, because Sister Chuyan did not let them serve…"

She paused and looked at Gu Chuyan, "So… the Maidservant did not see the scene of Gu Yun bullying Sister Chuyan."