Chapter 108 Uprooting

When the Yu family guards crowded into the backyard of the Huo Gang ancestral hall, everyone understood:

The traitor Xun Jian and the Yu family colluded with each other to plot and scheme against the Huo Gang.

Hua Jue was the first to stand up. He stared with bloodshot eyes, pointed his knife at Xun Yan who was standing in the Yu Family Guards, and said in a trembling voice:

"Brother Gou... come out and explain yourself... I don't believe you are that kind of person..."

But Xun Jian just stood there expressionlessly, unmoved at all. Hua Jue couldn't help but burst into a roar:

"Come out here the fuck!!! Explain clearly!!!"

After a moment of silence, Xun Jian took a step forward, but simply stepped aside to make way for the person behind him.

Yu Yangji, dressed in a shining golden robe, appeared in a circle of guards and walked slowly towards them.

A sinister and complacent smile appeared on that withered and tense face, which looked as if it was wearing a mask. He said:

"Young Master Huo, please explain the crime of privately building an armory!"

After that, several men in official uniforms came out. Judging from their attire, they must be the officials from Yancheng that Yu Yangji had invited long ago.

Yu Yangji laughed and said, "Privately manufacturing weapons and building an armory is a crime of treason. The governor said that this crime should be executed on the spot and all nine generations of the family should be punished!"

"Bullshit!" The guards of the Huo Gang cursed loudly:

"All the Yu family dogs get out!"

"Get lost in this treason! Stop pretending to be so high and mighty!"

Yu Yangji ignored him and looked past the numerous Huo Gang guards to the last direction, and asked with a forced smile:

"Master Huo, do you plead guilty?"

Following Yu Yangji's gaze, the guards of the Huo Gang turned their heads and consciously dispersed to both sides, calling out "Young Master" and "Young Master" non-stop.

Huo Gannian used his eyes to soothe them, and the guards suddenly felt relieved and slowly calmed down.

A Yu Family guard walked to the armory with its stone door wide open, and accurately pulled out a few scrolls of silk books from among the piles of weapons. He pretentiously handed them to Yu Yangji and said loudly:

"Master, look, this is evidence of the Huo Gang's privately manufactured weapons. It clearly states the type of weapon, quantity, manufacturing time, and—it's stamped with the Huo Gang's Awakening Lion Seal!"

There was a commotion, and looking from the back door, one could see a large crowd of people gathered outside. They were all going to the temple to worship Buddha and burn incense, but they were attracted by the grand scene of the Huo's Ancestral Hall.

Obviously, this was also Yu Yangji's work. When making trouble, it would be better to have other people witness it.

Huo Gannian glanced at the huge arsenal and said calmly:

"The Huo Gang hasn't been in Yancheng for a long time. Who knows where the thieves came from, hiding a weapons cache in my Huo's ancestral hall under the pretext of building a temple? If they destroy my Huo's ancestral hall, I will report it to the police."

As he spoke, Huo Gannian changed his tone and said to several officials beside him:

"Sir, there are thieves who not only defamed the Huo Gang's innocence, but also destroyed the Huo's ancestral hall. I will report it to the authorities."

Several Yancheng officials looked at Huo Gannian and then at Yu Yangji, and felt that the two men, a lion and a leopard, were facing each other fiercely and neither could be provoked.

If they had not received instructions from their superiors earlier, they would not have dared to get involved in this mess.

Fearing that they might get hurt accidentally if a fight broke out between the two sides, several officials hurriedly tried to mediate:

"Master Yu, Young Master Huo, if you two want to talk it over, why don't you remove your guards first and find a place to sit down and have a good chat?"

No one paid any attention to this.

Yu Yangji said, "Words are not enough, but the Huo Gang's Awakening Lion Seal is right here. It cannot be denied. I heard that this Awakening Lion Seal is a treasure passed down from generation to generation in the Huo Gang, and was secretly made by a master a hundred years ago."

Printed on paper, it looks ordinary at first glance, but if you use an ice crystal tube to magnify it a hundred times, you can see a tiny "Huo" character through the lion's eyes. This is the anti-counterfeiting mark that the Huo Gang is proud of - I happen to have a ready-made ice crystal tube here, how about we take a look?"

Huo Gannian pretended to be surprised, "Really? Then let's take a look."

Both sides performed enthusiastically, and Yu Yangji actually took out an ice crystal tube to check the lion awakening mark on the silk book.

Yun Chen knew that she should pay attention to the result of this mark and should protect Huo Gannian as the first priority, but she just couldn't take her eyes off Xun Huan.

She was heartbroken and anxious, with thousands of questions in her eyes. She wished she could force Xun Yan to give her a reasonable explanation right now.

But Xun Xun knew she was staring at him, but he didn't even look at her.

"Brother Gou..." She called out softly with a trembling voice, and unconsciously took a step forward. She heard Yu Yangji and Huo Gannian talking more and more anxiously, and the situation was becoming more and more tense:

"When the seal is enlarged, only half of the character 'Huo' is visible. A fake seal was also used to make up the number. It is obvious that Master Yu's eyesight is already blurry due to his old age."

"Haha, whether it's true or not is not up to you, Huo Gannian. It depends on what's recorded in the official files. Whatever the government says is true, then it's true. Remember why merchant contracts have to be submitted to the higher authorities for filing, and the government's decision is the final word? Thanks to you, Young Master Huo!"

"It seems that Master Yu has already compared himself with the official."

"Young Master Huo, why are you pretending not to know? Didn't you also send people to look for the records?"

The Huo Gang not only looked for him, but also sent their personal guard Ye Yan to go there in person, killing three guards who went with him.

Huo Gannian knew from the beginning that the Yu family was taking advantage of the construction of the temple to secretly build an armory in the Huo family ancestral hall, weaving a conspiracy that would be enough to destroy the Huo Gang.

In order to help the Yu family complete the armory as soon as possible and facilitate their excavation and construction, the Huo Bang even thoughtfully replaced two deaf and blind old servants to guard the ancestral hall.

When the Yu family confidently exposes the Huo gang's hoarding of weapons, the Huo gang can use the real seal from the official records to catch the Yu family forging seals, frame them, and bring the Yu family to justice, charging them with treason.

But now it seems that Yu Yangji knew from the beginning that the Awakening Lion Seal stolen by Xun Yan was a fake, and he even expected that the Huo Gang would go to the government office to find the real records and turn against the Yu family.

Huo Gannian nodded, "It seems that Master Yu wants me to accept the charge of 'hiding weapons with the intention of rebellion'."

Yu Yangji smiled like a chrysanthemum, "Not only will I swallow it, I will also report it to the gods and kill all nine generations of my clan. I will uproot them and not let anyone survive."

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience fell silent and everyone's faces changed.

The guards of the Huo Gang grasped the hilts of their swords almost at the same time and slowly drew out their sabers.

Seeing this, Yu Yangji laughed so hard that his whole body shook, like a twisted poisonous snake.

"Hey, what do you want to do, Master Huo? I remember that your family's graves are not allowed to see blood. What, have you had enough of being a filial son and a good grandson?"

Huo Gannian did not respond, but stared at Yu Yangji and said coldly:

"kill!"