Chapter 300 Paving a Great Road to Heaven (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The night rain was drizzling, and a cool breeze was blowing.
A chilling aura enveloped the quiet house, faintly mixed with a sense of solemnity and fierceness.
Xiao Jinghong stared at the papers in his hand, his eyes icy cold.
"Liu Hong and Zhu Hao, they really don't know what's good for them!"
According to the notes on the paper, Liu Hong did three things recently.
One plan was to send someone to assassinate Lin Huai'an, a merchant from Jizhou, and cut off his communication with his second son, Liu Taofang.
Lin Huai'an also contacted King Landu of Vaishsa Kingdom on behalf of Zhu Hao, the deputy commander of the Shu Prefecture Commandery, to privately sell ironware and ores.
In addition, Mr. Ling Chuan from Guiyun Academy also participated.
The second incident involved Liu Hong colluding with the educational commissioner Ma Shuhan to secretly form cliques and win over powerful families of all sizes in Shu Prefecture.
The third incident involved Liu Hong having an affair with King Landu, and using Lü Jiunan to rescue Asutai, the son of the barbarian Left King.
All indications suggest that Liu Hong had long ago colluded with King Landu and the barbarians, secretly doing many things for them.
Looking back over the past few years, Xiao Jinghong could indeed find some suspicious things.
"No wonder the Regional Military Commission repeatedly said that salt and iron taxes had been greatly reduced, and my granddaughter sent people to investigate the accounts and found no errors or omissions. It turns out that they have the support of the Provincial Administration Commission."
"The recruitment of new troops three years ago was likely at Liu Hong's behest, which resulted in a mixed bag of quality among the new troops."
"In this way, all the doubts that my granddaughter couldn't understand before have been answered."
Old Master Xiao nodded and said solemnly, "I summoned you back because I hope to discuss a foolproof plan with you."
"Although we have now found clues about Liu Hong's collusion with the enemy, we still need some clues to take him down."
"Furthermore, he has the Liu family of Jingzhou and Consort Liu standing behind him, and I even suspect that someone in the capital is supporting him."
Xiao Jinghong pondered, "Does Grandfather suspect the Nine Ministers, or those imperial relatives and nobles?"
Old Master Xiao shook his head: "Anything is possible."
He then sighed, "Now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore."
"Over the years, I have won every battle, trampled the kingdom of Vaishsa with my horses, and driven back the barbarian tribe of Muhag..."
"While it may seem glamorous and dazzling, I have offended some people to varying degrees during this period."
"For example, when Muhag attacked five years ago, the then commander-in-chief was Chu Chengxuan, one of the Nine Ministers, who is now the Minister of Earth."
Xiao Jinghong frowned slightly, "Chu Chengxuan?"
"I remember that my father and mother had just burned the barbarian's grain supplies, and he suggested that we go out of the pass and fight the barbarians to the death?"
Old Master Xiao nodded slightly and said, "It was that time that he and I had a falling out."
"This person is ambitious and loves to achieve great things, and he regards human life as worthless. He will stop at nothing to advance further."
"Even if he were promoted to 'Minister of the Land' by His Majesty after returning to Kyoto Prefecture, I think he would still be dissatisfied."
Xiao Jinghong understood, "No wonder he interfered every time we petitioned the Emperor to send provisions for the three towns."
She looked at the old man thoughtfully: "Is he the one standing behind Liu Hong?"
"It's not impossible, but it could also be someone else."
Old Master Xiao explained, "Chu Chengxuan is indeed ruthless, but as someone who controls the purse strings of the court, everything he does is for personal gain."
"Therefore, I am more suspicious that he is the person behind the Jizhou Merchant Guild, rather than Liu Hong."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinghong thought for a moment and said, "My granddaughter will have someone keep an eye on him."
"Even if it wasn't him, it's a fact that Liu Hong and Zhu Hao were selling ironware privately through the Jizhou Trading Company, so we should still take precautions."
Old Master Xiao's expression shifted slightly. "Who are you looking for?"
Xiao Jinghong nodded and said calmly, "Since my granddaughter returned to Shuzhou, we have had no further contact with them."
"But Kyoto Prefecture is far away, and for the sake of the Xiao family and the Dingyuan Army, my granddaughter had no choice but to resort to this tactic."
"...You've suffered."
"A wanderer of the martial world returns to the martial world, and there are many grudges between him and the imperial court. Originally, Grandpa did not want you to be distracted by matters of the martial world, but now it seems that Grandpa was wrong."
Old Master Xiao was wary of people from the martial arts world.
Although many of them are righteous and principled, most are petty scoundrels who disregard social norms and laws under the guise of chivalry.
Especially those feuds and grudges involving fighting and killing, getting involved means endless trouble.
He didn't want General Xiao Jinghong to get too involved.
"I understand your concerns, and I will be more careful."
Old Master Xiao nodded and then said, "Leaving aside the situation in the capital, the most important thing right now is how to deal with Liu Hong and the others."
"As long as he is alive, Shu Prefecture and the Xiao family will never have peace. It's time to put an end to this."
Xiao Jinghong hummed in agreement, pondered for a moment, and suggested, "Why don't you let your granddaughter give it a try?"
"oh?"
"According to what that 'Dragon Spear' said, there are clues to several things. As long as we find conclusive evidence, Liu Hong will have no choice but to be executed."
Old Master Xiao was somewhat tempted, but hesitated and asked, "But your return today will surely alarm him, I'm afraid..."
Xiao Jinghong smiled and said, "With the Wushan Trade Market about to be completed, it would be reasonable for my granddaughter to leave once it is confirmed that my eldest sister is safe and sound."
"Too……"
After discussing it further, Xiao Jinghong got up and left.
"My granddaughter has gone back to Chunhe Garden first."
Grandpa Xiao escorted her to the courtyard, saying as they walked, "Have you seriously considered my suggestion these past few days?"
"What……"
Xiao Jinghong realized what was happening and suddenly remembered that when she returned to the prefectural city last time, the old master had hinted that she should consummate her marriage with Chen Yi. Her expression became somewhat unnatural as she quickened her pace.
"You should get some rest."
Old Master Xiao was completely unaware and said with a smile, "Your husband is now a master of calligraphy and has a good reputation. It is a good thing that he has married into our Xiao family."
"Even if he's not as good as 'Dragon Tiger' Liu Wu... Chen Yu should still be able to catch your eye, right?"
"Grandpa, you... are disrespectful to your elders."
Two blushes quietly appeared on Xiao Jinghong's face. With a light touch of her toes, she disappeared from the quiet house.
Old Master Xiao was left alone in the back, rambling on and on:
"Grandpa is getting on in years, and while his old bones can still move, he wants to teach his great-grandson a thing or two..."
Xiao Jinghong moved even faster, and in the blink of an eye, she floated into the Spring Lotus Garden. She then deliberately sealed the acupoints in both ears to prevent those "unpleasant" words from being heard.
What great-grandson? Isn't it just to make her and Chen Yiyuan... consummate their marriage?
Xiao Jinghong subconsciously looked towards the wooden building where Chen Yi was.
In the dim light, on the gray-tiled, red-wood, and quaintly elegant upper floor, several lanterns provided a faint illumination.
From a corner room on the second floor near Jiaxingyuan, the sound of steady, long breathing could be faintly heard.
Chen Yi was clearly fast asleep.
After looking at it for a moment, Xiao Jinghong recalled the poems and portraits that Chen Yi had written for her.
I couldn't help but recall what the old man had just said: "Chen Yi can be considered a suitable husband."
"Consummating the marriage...great-grandchildren..."
Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Jinghong's face turned even redder, and she quickly turned and went to another wooden building.
The door creaked open and creaked closed.
Despite the noise of the raindrops, the sound still carried far.
Once the Spring Lotus Garden had quieted down.
Chen Yi maintained steady breathing, quietly opened one eye to look around, and breathed a sigh of relief.
His wife returned much earlier than he had expected.
Fortunately, the commotion was quite large, otherwise the aura of his Four Symbols Technique cultivation at that time would probably not have been concealed.
"I don't know what she and the old man talked about."
"Liu Hong? Peacock King Banner? Barbarians?"
"Those bastards have nothing to do with me. What's with her standing outside the door for so long?"
"Could it be that they've discovered my weakness?"
"It shouldn't be."
"Definitely not."
Chen Yi muttered to himself for a few moments, but still couldn't figure it out, so he turned over and fell into a deep sleep.
After working hard for several days, he really deserves a rest.
Moreover, with Xiao Jinghong's return, he wouldn't be able to do anything even if he wanted to.
We can only hope that Cui Qingwu, Liu Lang, Zhang Dabao, and the others will be quick-witted and not make any major mistakes.
...
Chen Yi was sleeping soundly.
Many people in Shuzhou Prefecture are destined to be sleepless tonight.
Almost all the martial arts practitioners who came to Shuzhou to wait for Bai Daxian gathered in various parts of the city.
Taverns, teahouses, inns, brothels, etc.
Three or five wandering swordsmen gathered together, discussing the events of the evening.
Furthermore, a well-informed and quick-witted storyteller reenacted the story of "Dragon Tiger" Liu Wu rescuing the eldest daughter of the Xiao family.
Inside Chunyu Tower.
Originally, they were scions of prominent families, romantic and talented men, indulging in refined pursuits, composing poems, drinking wine, and listening to music.
But it was past midnight.
The top girls suddenly became unpopular.
An elderly man, over fifty years old, was invited up. He bowed to the surroundings, sat on the stage, and patted the gavel.
"Speaking of 'Dragon Tiger' Liu Wu, he can be considered one of the most outstanding heroes in the Shu Prefecture in recent times!"
The old man gave a thumbs-up and recounted several major achievements Liu Wu had made, speaking with measured emphasis to liven up the atmosphere in the hall.
After noticing the growing impatience of the guests, he took a sip of tea to clear his throat and said:
"Speaking of today, Du Cang, the 'jackal' of the Peacock King Banner, ambushed outside the Xiao family mansion. Taking advantage of the arrival of Miss Xiao's carriage, he kidnapped her with the puppet body he controlled."
"The Xiao family was in chaos, and the old Marquis Xiao was furious. All the government offices in the prefectural city... At that time, 'Dragon and Tiger'... Back then, Liu Wu was still known as 'Dragon Spear,' and he went to the meeting alone with only a spear..."
"That battle was earth-shattering... To find out what happened next, please stay tuned for the next episode."
"Smack!"
Seeing this, the guests cursed a few times, gave a few pieces of silver as tips, and then they all heard what happened next.
Although many of these stories were fabricated by the old man, the guests listened with great pleasure.
"That Du Cang is no easy opponent. It was truly fortunate that Miss Xiao was able to return safely this time."
"Yes, if 'Dragon Tiger' doesn't intervene, I'm afraid no one here can save her."
"However, 'Dragon Tiger' has done a heroic rescue this time, so the old Marquis might betroth the young lady to him."
"It's really possible..."
Upstairs in a quiet room.
Lou Yuxue listened to the discussions below, a hint of disdain appearing on her face as she muttered to herself:
"What's so good about a sickly person?"
"She can't lift a finger, she's weak and clueless... Would Liu Wu really be interested in her?"
Even so, Lou Yuxue had to admit that Xiao Wan'er was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
She was even more beautiful than both of them combined.
However, she did not feel that Xiao Wan'er was much better than her because of this; on the contrary, she felt that if they really stood side by side for comparison...
She will definitely be the winner.
Lou Yuxue compared the contents, a smile appeared on her face, and she placed the sealed letter in her hand under the feet of a hawk and let it fly into the sky.
She lowered her eyes slightly, looking at the rain outside the window, and her smile gradually faded.
"It's good that Liu Wu killed Du Cang, but the Pavilion Master will still see it, and he might suffer some hardship in the future."
This was not an exaggerated fantasy on her part, but rather a reflection of the fact that there had been people like Liu Wu in the past.
Some are exceptionally talented, some are insightful, and some come from prominent families—the list goes on.
But most of them met a bad end.
Therefore, Lou Yuxue secretly did not want Liu Wu to join the White Tiger Guard, lest the Pavilion Master assign him several extremely dangerous missions.
But she didn't have any good ideas.
She could only try her best to smooth things over.
after all……
Lou Yuxue sighed, and Liu Wu's ambiguous smiling face seemed to appear before her eyes. She couldn't help but throw a punch at him.
"You bastard! Die!"
Just then, the door to the quiet room opened.
Seeing her expression, Cui Qingwu couldn't help but smile and ask, "Who has upset Lady Tiger?"
"Bastard? Liu Wu?"
Lou Yuxue paused, a hint of displeasure on her face, and turned to look at her: "What are you doing here?"
"Why do you have time to come here instead of following that young master Chen?"
Cui Qingwu's smile faded considerably, and he tossed a stack of contracts onto the table, saying:
"As previously agreed, I have obtained contracts with several major grain stores, including Lin's Grain Store."
"Guess how much silver we made this time?"
Lou Yuxue's expression shifted slightly as she picked up the contracts and began to examine them.
After flipping through a few pages, a look of surprise appeared on her face: "Fourteen taels of silver per shi? They agreed?"
Cui Qingwu snorted, "How dare they take advantage of my Cui family?"
"Buy when you want, sell when you want? Where in the world is there such a good deal?"
“I remember you bought it for ten taels of silver and then sold it for fourteen taels, which means you made four taels profit per shi of grain, and a million shi…”
Four million taels of silver!?
Lou Yuxue couldn't help but be surprised; the money was simply too much and too easy to earn.
In just one day, Lin Zhenghong and his group lost four million taels of silver for nothing.
Even though they were backed by the Jizhou Merchant Guild, this was still a considerable sum of money.
If something goes wrong...
Without the word "if," Lou Yuxue was almost certain that Liu Wu had a backup plan.
Cui Qingwu sat down at the table, picked up a teacup, poured himself a cup of tea, and said:
"Why are you so surprised? After hearing Liu Wu's plan the other day, I thought about what happened to those grain shops."
“If I hadn’t been worried about scaring them away by raising the price too much, I might not have sold it to them for even twenty taels of silver.”
After a pause, Cui Qingwu gave a cold smile: "I bet they're calling me stupid right now."
"But they'll have their day, so just wait and see."
Although she didn't know what Liu Wu would do next, she was clear that Liu Wu had set up such a big scheme and would not let Lin Zhenghong and the others off easily.
This time, the Jizhou Merchant Guild might really suffer a major setback.
Lou Yuxue steadied herself upon hearing this, and holding the contracts, she asked, "How much of this large sum of money do you plan to give Liu Wu?"
"Give it to him?"
Cui Qingwu snorted, "Of course we'll split it between the two of us, we won't give him a single penny."
"You won't give it to me?"
"Have you forgotten how he treated you before?"
"But...but that bastard won't give up once he finds out..."
"Then let him come to me. Once he's in my hands, let's see how he tries to take it back."
Lou Yuxue watched her finish her tea in one gulp, then looked her over and asked, "Are you in a bad mood?"
Cui Qingwu glanced at her sideways, then turned her head away: "No."
"...Is it related to that young master Chen?"
"no……"
In fact, Cui Qingwu was indeed in a bad mood.
Originally, after returning to Tingyuxuan with Chen Yunfan, she intended to take the opportunity to mention Commander Zhu Hao to him so that he could make some preparations.
But before she could get to the Intermediate People's Court, Chunying, who was guarding the door, stopped her.
He also said, "My young master specifically instructed that he needs to go into seclusion to cultivate and will not see any guests for the time being."
Is Cui Qingwu a guest?
Besides, she clearly heard Chen Yunfan talking to someone and not cultivating at all.
Chunying's words were clearly an attempt to fob her off.
Seeing this, Lou Yuxue could tell that she was indeed in a bad mood, so she restrained her temper and offered a few words of comfort.
To everyone's surprise, Cui Qingwu said, "You're trying to persuade me to give Liu Wu some silver. Does that mean you really consider yourself his betrothed?"
"You...you're talking nonsense..."
...
Inside Tingyu Pavilion.
Chen Yunfan sat behind the table, looking at the corpse on the floor in the hall.
Standing to the side was none other than the middle-aged man in short clothes who had met with Chunying.
He had taken off his straw hat, his hair was messy and tied back with a straw rope, his square face was covered with a thick beard, and a large part of his shirt was bare.
"Young Master, I dare not disobey the orders of the Master and the Second Master. Please don't make things difficult for me."
Chen Yunfan was silent for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Uncle Zhong, what exactly are Father and Second Uncle planning to do?"
"When His Majesty appointed me as the Assistant Administrator of the Shu Prefecture, I found it strange. It must have been... my second uncle's idea?"
"With this latest incident, you've brought Lu Jiunan's corpse here again. It's hard not to have some doubts."
"Are they planning to pave a direct road to heaven for me?"
(End of this chapter)
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