Chapter 159 Cleaning Up the House

Yang Kuan clutched his chest, too afraid to pull out the dagger.

Once the sword is drawn, the bleeding speed increases, and death will be even faster.

He gritted his teeth and remained silent, knowing that if he opened his mouth, he would die even faster.

Qingling stared at him coldly, trying to waste time with him.

But the men at the dock couldn't wait any longer and pressed Qingling, "Madam Yao, what do you mean by saying Yang Kuan was being manipulated? Wasn't he with us?"

Qingling rubbed her belly; she was tired of standing, so she turned and sat down at the dining table, saying calmly, "Find a rope and tie his hands and feet together, then we can continue eating."

Everyone: "..."

At this point, who could possibly eat?

Tao Ye, who always followed Qing Ling's instructions, said, "Just do whatever Miss says. What are you waiting for?"

The people who were just now determined to fight against Yao Qingling actually went to find ropes and tied Yang Kuan up.

Some of them carried wound medicine with them and sprinkled some on Yang Kuan to prevent him from losing too much blood.

Although they still listen to Yao Qingling now, they are actually at a loss and don't know who to listen to.

Nowadays, they don't trust either side.

After everyone sat down, Qingling told them to eat and drink tea, but not to drink alcohol.

As she sipped her ginseng chicken soup, she said slowly, "If Lin Shiyuan wanted to seize you for his own advancement, he could have done it long ago. He wouldn't have waited until now."

When she first met Lin Shiyuan, she was certainly wary of him.

But after spending so many days with her, Lin Shiyuan was more worried that these refugees were just using her to evade the government's wanted notice. Once the heat died down, they would reveal their true colors.

Yao Qingling's shops, including the docks and large ships, were merely reservoirs for their hidden silver.

Ling Shiyuan did not believe that these bandits genuinely wanted to return to the right path.

These people started out as hardworking farmers, but eventually became cowardly, ignorant, and apathetic.

But once they tasted the sweetness of success, their hearts changed.

Besides, with the world in such a chaotic state, can you really expect to be safe and sound just by being an honest person? Don't all the bad guys prey on honest people?

These were the words that Lin Shiyuan frankly told Qingling during a deep conversation with her.

Even under the emperor's nose, filth and corruption lurk; the southern border is a harsh environment teeming with wicked people. Lin Shiyuan has seen far too much of this.

As a former General Zhennan, his heart for the country and its people remained unchanged, and he did not want Yao Qingling to be deceived and exploited by these bandits.

He entered the shop and had long-term contact with those bandits at the dock.

Some people genuinely want to live normal lives, and they find a sense of security and rediscover their true selves in the daily grind.

But some people have restless eyes, revealing a wicked side when no one is around. These people are unruly, forming small groups to drink, gamble, and bully others, their thuggish habits unchanged.

They have only toned down their banditry a little; once the opportunity arises, they will turn on you and overturn the table.

These people are greedy for profit. They would even sell their own wives and children for their own benefit. In their eyes, what brotherhood or affection is there?

They are willing to send someone to the guillotine if someone offers them a sufficiently large benefit.

Moreover, he can keep all the benefits for himself, without having to share them with others.

Before leaving, Lin Shiyuan wanted to help Yao Qingling get rid of this important destabilizing factor.

She's about to give birth, and if someone takes advantage of her vulnerability at that time, the consequences are unimaginable.

Therefore, Qingling and Lin Shiyuan jointly devised this "Feast at Hongmen" to trap and thwart their scheme.

Yao Qingling originally wanted to use other things to lure out someone with ulterior motives, but she didn't expect to inadvertently reveal her pregnant belly. Yang Kuan was such a person with impure thoughts and a sharp tongue.

He took the bait and spared no effort in using Lin Shiyuan's departure to sow discord between Qingling and the bandits, hoping to make them turn against her and kill Lin Shiyuan as well.

Qingling personally poured Lin Shiyuan a cup of tea, then picked up the teacup and solemnly expressed her gratitude to him, thanking him for his help during this period and for this collaboration.

She said to the others, "Manager Lin knows all of our backgrounds. He has been eating and living with you all during this time. If he were to report us, wouldn't he be sending himself to the guillotine as well?"

Failure to report a crime and harboring a criminal are both serious offenses that could lead to Lin Shiyuan being convicted of a grave crime.

He already had the crime of killing surrendered soldiers, and now he's being burdened with an even bigger accusation. He doesn't want to live anymore.

"...Furthermore, Lin Qiao is my bodyguard and also Steward Lin's younger sister. Doesn't he care about himself and his own sister?"

It should be noted that Yao Qingling had carefully considered the matter before allowing Lin Shiyuan to approach her.

The bargaining chip she held was never Lin Shiyuan himself, but Lin Qiao.

Lin Qiao was his only relative in the world, and the two siblings depended on each other for survival.

“But…but he can say he’s a spy, and he’ll seek credit after figuring out the details,” one of the stewards said.

Qing Ling smiled faintly and said mockingly, "If the officialdom were as simple as you think, Steward Lin wouldn't be a commander, but would be reinstated to his original position."

Lin Shiyuan came from a humble background. They could easily frame him for a crime and drag him back from the battlefield, even parading him through the streets to humiliate his arrogance. How could those powerful clans possibly miss another opportunity to suppress him?

Those people's purpose was actually very simple.

The bandits have been captured, providing an explanation to the nobles who were frightened at Yongning Temple. As for Lin Shiyuan, if he has no problems, he will remain the commander; if he has committed any wrongdoing, he will be removed without question.

Xiao Pingfeng glanced at Lin Shiyuan, pursed his lips, and swallowed back what he wanted to say.

Everyone else was speechless.

Although they never held official positions, they suffered oppression and experienced the bitterness of having no way to seek redress for their grievances.

They turned to look at Yang Kuan, who was bound, and their brotherly loyalty was no longer the guiding principle; instead, they were united in their hatred of the enemy.

The greatest danger, it turns out, lies within themselves!

Lou Yue raised her chin at Yang Kuan: "Then what about him?"

“He didn’t reveal anything, but he listened to everything we said. He’s definitely going to leak information to the person behind the scenes and betray us again.”

Tao Ye said calmly, "Since you let him hear it, you didn't intend to let him live. Just treat him as an inanimate object."

Peach Leaf's hands are stained with blood, yet she can speak so coldly now.

The steward who had just applied the wound medicine to Yang Kuan walked over to Yang Kuan with a teapot, poured boiling tea over him, and washed away all the medicine powder.

Yang Kuan had finally managed to get used to the pain of his wound, but when this pot of tea was poured over him, he screamed in pain and even urinated from the pain.

The sound was shrill, and Lou Yue and Xia Chan covered their ears in fear, turning their heads away.

They had seen servants beaten to death, battered and beaten until they breathed their last. But they had never seen anyone so helpless, unable to live or die.

When Lin Qiao was on the frontier, she had seen enemy spies being tortured, and the torture was far more brutal than this.

She calmly ate the red bean cake.

Yao Qingling's intention was to keep Yang Kuan alive so that she could pry him open up and find out who was instigating him behind the scenes, what benefits they had promised, and whether anyone else had been misled or won over by him.

But Yang Kuan was very cunning; he would rather endure the torture than give in.

He knew that once he spoke, Yao Qingling would no longer keep him around.

Just like Old Hu, who drowned in the latrine while drunk, his death was gruesome.

Yao Qingling curled her lips and said coldly, "You're quite stubborn... Taoye, take him back to the manor and let his former brothers interrogate him."

Back in Que'er Mountain, everyone swore an oath that once they left the mountain, no matter what happened in the future, they would never betray or sell out their brothers.

The people in the village will not let him go.

Tao Ye, along with several people, put Yang Kuan into a large box and carried him away.

The dock managers also changed their opinion of her after being intimidated by Qingling's actions.

He no longer dared to treat her as a woman he could easily manipulate or fool.

They cupped their hands in greeting to Qingling and Lin Shiyuan, indicating that they would conduct a thorough cleanup upon returning to the dock, and would show no mercy to those harboring disloyal intentions!

One by one, people left. Qingling looked at Xiao Pingfeng, who was still in the room: "Do you have something to say?"