Chapter 168 Nowhere to Return
In the courtyard, three people sat together at a stone table. Li Jin waved a fan in his hand and stared at Tang Si's face.
“Xuan Yutang and I have known each other for more than ten years,” he said. “He is good at woodwork, and I am good at lacquer. We often work together. We didn’t earn much back then, but we got along well.”
Two young people, in their early twenties, full of youthful vigor and ambition.
With his skills, he traveled all the way north from Suzhou in the south and settled in Shengzhou, which was under construction at the time.
"He was very good at these things, and soon he made a lot of money in Shengzhou."
The lacquer lines embedded in the sides of Tang Si's nails from years of lacquering were still clearly visible even in the setting sun.
Those hands, weathered by time, had swollen joints and rough skin, and it seemed their movement was gradually becoming limited.
“He made more and more money, but he always gave me the same amount.” Tang Si said this in a surprisingly calm tone. “Because I was doing alright at the time, I was all alone and only had enough money to get by.”
His gaze was very sincere as he looked at Yun Jianlin and Li Jin, and he jokingly said to himself, "I'm so silly, aren't I?"
Hearing this, Yun Jianlin raised his hand to rub his forehead and let out a long sigh: "Sigh..."
Seeing him grin, Li Jin asked calmly, "Why did you develop such resentment later?"
After he finished asking the question, the courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
Tang Si seemed to be trapped in her own memories, searching for the origin of her resentment bit by bit along the long timeline.
After a long while, he looked at Li Jin and said, "Can I have a glass of water? Plain water is fine."
Li Jin nodded.
"From when... probably after he met Yang Qingyun." Tang Si chuckled, "About eight years ago."
“He was like a completely different person. He stopped being human for the sake of profit,” he said. “That was when we parted ways.”
Having made some money, Xuan Yutang began to indulge in the joy that money brought him, and started to regard money as an omnipotent divine treasure.
In order to get more money and more business, he wanted to bribe and win over Yun Jianlin.
Time and again, he thought he was being very sincere and brought a lot of money, but each time he was thoroughly humiliated.
Yun Jianlin not only refused to listen, but also angrily rebuked him and kicked him out.
Realizing that Yun Jianlin was a tough nut to crack, Xuan Yutang decided to take a step back and start targeting other officials in Shengzhou.
"Shengzhou isn't just about Yun Jianlin!"
Yun Jianlin didn't take those words to heart at the time. He thought that a small businessman couldn't cause much trouble.
Unexpectedly, not all officials in Shengzhou shared his integrity, nor were they as unmoved by the sight of silver.
In less than six months, Xuan Yutang had become acquainted with half of the minor officials in Shengzhou and began his life of committing all sorts of evil deeds.
"He got to know a lot of people through money. Yang Qingyun couldn't be his backer, but Yang Qingyun, for the sake of money, supposedly introduced him to several important figures," Tang Si said. "After that, Xuan Yutang became fearless."
"He stole someone else's wife and beat her so badly that she was crippled in both legs. He would do anything to ruin the reputation of any girl he fancied. There is a well in his yard that is weighed down by a large stone, and I know of at least four skeletons in it."
"He hired some Taoist master to perform rituals, arrange feng shui, and bring in wealth and treasures. He also threatened, intimidated, and maimed other shopkeepers who were also in the timber business, making them afraid to stay in Shengzhou."
“I argued with him, refusing to go along with his corrupt practices, and he withheld my entire year’s wages that I hadn’t been paid in full…”
At this point, Tang Si sighed.
The relaxed expression on his face faded. Looking at his swollen fingers, he took a deep breath: "After that, I asked for it many times, and that's how my hands were injured like this."
He chuckled: "I am a lacquerer. Without these hands, I would be doomed."
Not only Tang Si knew this, but Xuan Yutang knew it too. He had targeted Tang Si's weakness and deliberately used thugs to force Tang Si to stop coming to settle his debts.
“It wasn’t just me,” Tang Si said. “Behind my house, besides the one he beat to death, there were more than a dozen of my coworkers who were owed money. Not many of them were able to stand up.”
"We filed a complaint and appealed for justice. But..." Tang Si looked at Yun Jianlin, who was frowning, and laughed, "My lord, please don't blame Lord Yun. At that time, Lord Yun was indeed sidelined. Dozens of arrests were unsuccessful. Instead, he paid out of his own pocket to give us his salary for the past few years."
At this point, Yun Jianlin felt a lump in his throat, his eyes reddened, and he let out a long sigh.
"It's strange, but six years ago, Yang Qingyun and Xuan Yutang suddenly became more low-key," Tang Si said. "Although Xuan Yutang still committed crimes, he started to avoid attention. It seems that it was around that time that Lord Yun found an opportunity to replace all the people in the Shengzhou government office."
At this point, Yun Jianlin nodded, cupped his hands and said to Li Jin, "That's right. Only after that did we truly begin to surround and suppress him."
“But Xuan Yutang isn’t afraid.” Tang Si laughed. “In the yamen, the families of several constables were either threatened or kidnapped, and the Shengzhou yamen was not at peace for a long time. Until three years ago, when he heard that Yang Qingyun had committed a serious crime, Xuan Yutang suddenly became obedient.”
At this point, a look of bewilderment appeared on Tang Si's face. He pursed his lips, looked at the water in his hand, and lowered his voice: "My youngest son fell ill at that time."
The autumn colors on the horizon remained undiminished, and the setting sun gradually transitioned from a brilliant gold to a dazzling blood red.
A breeze stirred, ruffling Li Jin's clothes, and he stopped waving his fan.
He closed the black fan piece by piece, his gaze fixed on Tang Si's face.
He was laughing, but it was more painful than crying.
His silence was more piercing than any cry for help.
His silence was more despairing than questioning the injustice of the world.
"My child fell ill, and we had no money for treatment, so he died." He pursed his lips and chuckled softly.
“My wife was heartbroken and fell ill with grief, and she passed away as well.” Tang Si raised her hand, covered her eyes, and took a deep breath.
He was still laughing, a laugh that seemed to draw all the air out of the courtyard.
At that moment, facing everyone's gaze, he bowed and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry for causing you all trouble."
He pursed his lips, wiped his cheek, and stared silently at the water glass in front of him.
In this situation, Li Jin couldn't bring herself to speak.
He finally understood what Yun Jianlin meant by that sense of guilt.
Tang Si looked up, smiling, and gazed at the gently falling leaves beside her: "This Mid-Autumn Festival, I'm all alone."
"My home is gone."
Those who owe money remain at large.
Those with kind hearts often suffer the loss of their families and lives.
"My family is gone. Even if he repays the money, what good will it do?"
He laughed.
"Isn't there nowhere left to go?"
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