Chapter 566 - 323: Oh No, the Son-in-Law Is Dying!
Chapter 566: Chapter 323: Oh No, the Son-in-Law Is Dying!
"Its rise is sudden, its fall is equally swift."
Even without connecting to Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual Mechanism, these ten characters still carried a lingering charm. However, what was even more profound than the calligraphy was the meaning they conveyed. The cycle of prosperity and decline was the ultimate Dao.
Chen Yi examined the writing for a moment before picking up his Wolf Hair Brush. "I’ve done so much. It’s time I take a few days of rest," he thought with a secret smile.
He dropped the brush.
SPLAT.
Drops of ink splattered, ruining more than half of the calligraphy piece. Following this, Chen Yi leaned back into his chair. His breathing grew weak, and his lips took on a faint purplish-blue hue.
He wondered who would still be able to recognize him as "Liu Wu" now!
A short while later.
Voices echoed from outside the Spring Lotus Garden. Wang Lixing had brought people to the wooden building and shouted a few times. Xiaodie, who was a light sleeper, woke up. Once she clearly heard the words from below, she hurriedly got dressed. She first went to Chen Yi’s wing, and upon finding it empty, she quickly rushed to wake Xiao Wuge.
Hearing that a plague had broken out, Xiao Wuge sobered up instantly and began throwing on his clothes.
Xiaodie quickly helped him tidy up and said, "Mr. Chen isn’t in his wing. He should be in the study. I’ll go inform him."
Xiao Wuge kept his small face stern and waved his hand. "Hurry, go. Chen Yi also went out of the city yesterday, I hope he didn’t... pah, pah, pah. Chen Yi will definitely be fine."
Without waiting for a response, Xiaodie trotted downstairs. She let out a breath of relief when she saw the candlelight glowing inside the study.
"Mr. Chen! Mr. Chen, the Armored Warriors in the estate..."
The moment she pushed the door open, Xiaodie saw Chen Yi slumped back in his chair. She froze in sheer terror. A moment later, she ran out the door in tears.
"This is terrible! Mr. Chen... Mr. Chen is dying!"
Wang Li Xing and the others were stunned. Once they processed her words, they immediately rushed into the wooden building. "What happened to Mr. Chen?"
"Mr. Chen... boohoo... Mr. Chen has... he’s been infected by the plague toxin..."
Inside the Qingjing Residence.
Elder Master Xiao sat imposing and bold like a grand Blade in his Grandmaster’s Chair. With one hand resting on his knee and the other draped over the back of the chair, his eyes, restored with God-like vitality, stared intently out the door. He had been like this ever since "Liu Wu" paid a visit. He didn’t dare to relax for even a moment; his heart was even heavier than when Xiao Wan’er had been abducted.
Yes, it was heavy. It wasn’t mere worry or annoyance.
Elder Master Xiao couldn’t figure one thing out—why did it have to come to this? Even if the Xiao Family’s decline was considered a sin, those people could have just bullied, harmed, or ostracized him. Why did they have to drag the citizens of the Prefecture City down with them?
A plague toxin.
A plague toxin!
Beside him, Xiao Jing didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. It had been a very long time since he last saw the Elder Master look like this. It was just like five years ago at Mengshui Pass.
Xiao Xuanshuo sat straight in his wheelchair, his hands resting naturally on the armrests. His Fang Zheng face was full of anger. After a long silence, he couldn’t help but ask, "Father, how long do you plan to endure this?"
Elder Master Xiao stiffened slightly. "We wait."
One short word. Nothing more needed to be said.
Xiao Xuanshuo’s jaw clenched, clearly grinding his teeth. "If ’Dragon Tiger’ hadn’t come to report tonight, your eldest granddaughter and Chen Yi would both be in mortal danger. That is a plague toxin! A plague toxin!"
Having a military background, he had naturally seen scenes of battlefields littered with corpses. But that was in war, where armies fought each other. The dead died on their feet, fighting with fierce bravery.
A plague toxin was different. If one died, a whole household was infected. If a household died, a whole crowd was infected. If no treatment Method could be found, let alone the hundreds of thousands of citizens in the Prefecture City, even the neighboring villages and towns would be in mortal danger.
Elder Master Xiao glanced at him from the corner of his eye and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Liu Wu has already told us the Method to resolve the plague toxin. For now, saving the citizens is our top priority. Time is tight; the Government Office and the Guard Army cannot be thrown into chaos."
Even though he knew the plague toxin was likely orchestrated by Liu Hong, he still had to endure it for the sake of the people. The Governor’s Office controlled the allocation of money and grain in Shu State. If Liu Hong was eliminated, it would take at least five days for the Imperial Court to arrange a replacement.
They couldn’t afford to waste that kind of time. Not to mention, even if he didn’t do it for the citizens, he had to consider himself and the Xiao Family. Weighed down by heavy thoughts, Elder Master Xiao felt somewhat hesitant and indecisive.
Hearing this, Xiao Xuanshuo sighed. He silently wheeled himself toward the door, clearly disappointed.
However, before he could leave, Elder Master Xiao seemed to make up his mind and suddenly spoke up. "Xuanshuo, make a trip to the Capital Prefecture for me!"
Xiao Xuanshuo paused in surprise, then was overjoyed. "Father, you’ve finally thought it through."
Elder Master Xiao grunted in affirmation. Looking at him, he said, "I will personally write a memorial later. You must present it to the Holy Emperor and let the Holy Emperor make the final decision."
Although he lacked concrete evidence to bring down Liu Hong right now, the clues he had on hand were enough to get things started. Even if it merely planted a seed of doubt in the Holy Emperor’s mind, causing him to send an imperial envoy to investigate, or if the White Tiger Guard stepped in to dig deeper, the trail would undoubtedly lead back to Liu Hong.
The Peacock King Banner, the Barbarian Prince, the Five Poison Sect, the Ji State Trading Company... Any one of these was enough to strip Liu Hong of his Official’s Hat.
Xiao Xuanshuo agreed repeatedly and asked, "Then what about here in Shu State..."
Elder Master Xiao glared at him and scoffed. "I am not dead yet. A little wind and waves won’t capsize the great ship of Shu State."
With Liu Wu’s warning and the Method to break the plague toxin, if he still couldn’t keep Shu State safe, then he, the Duke Dingyuan, might as well die early.
Xiao Xuanshuo chuckled sheepishly. Just as he was about to speak, panicked footsteps echoed from outside the door. Third Steward Lu Guan rushed over in a hurry. Ignoring all formalities, he shouted, "Elder Master, this is bad! Mr. Chen, he... he..."
"What happened to him?"
"He seems to have been infected by the plague toxin! Right now... right now, he’s already unconscious! Elder Master, you..."
Elder Master Xiao’s brows furrowed tightly. He immediately stood up and ordered, "Quick, lock down the Spring Lotus Garden! Tell Wan’er and the others not to leave the Jiaxing Garden either. We absolutely cannot let the plague toxin spread!"
"Yes, yes..." Lu Guan didn’t dare to hesitate. He Transferred his path and sprinted away.
After he left, Elder Master Xiao slammed a heavy Punch onto the table.
SMASH.
Wood splinters flew into the air.
"Liu Hong, you old thief! Even death would be too good for you!"
South Street, the Liu Family.
Compared to the noisy clamor outside, it was far too quiet here. Amidst the bright lights, dozens—perhaps over a hundred—Guards dressed in blue tunics surrounded the area, guarding every courtyard.
In a pavilion deep within the backyard, Liu Hong looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, his face devoid of any expression. Behind him, Liu Taoyao stood dumbstruck, his eyes locked onto the chest on the stone table. Inside the open chest lay hundreds of scattered sheets of paper. The words "ten thousand taels" could faintly be seen on them.
"This is impossible, Father. This is impossible..." Liu Taoyao muttered. "I clearly took this chest from Lin Zhenghong’s hands. How... how could this be? How could those silver notes be fake?"
Liu Taoyao clearly couldn’t accept the reality that ten million taels worth of silver notes had turned into waste paper. He was even more baffled as to how this had happened.
Liu Hong didn’t respond to his words; his gaze simply shifted uncertainly. Compared to those silver coins, he cared much more about the sudden changes in the Shu State Prefecture City.
"It’s too early," Liu Hong said.
Hearing his voice, Liu Taoyao asked, "What? Father, what’s too early?"
Liu Hong paused and glanced at him. He then sat on the stone stool opposite his son, his expression uncharacteristically grim.
"The plague toxin. It was discovered far too early. Almost as soon as it began to spread, it was noticed by... the Xiao Family. Their response was extremely swift. The Government Office, the City Guard Army, the citizens, and the Jianghu People all learned about it."
"Father, isn’t it better to discover such a formidable plague toxin as early as possible?"
"Do you know who orchestrated this plague toxin?"
"I... I do not know."
"It was me."
"Wha—" Liu Taoyao stared at him blankly. "Father, you... you did this?"
Even though he knew his own father wasn’t a good person and secretly colluded with the Peacock King Banner and the Barbarian Race, he had no idea about the plague toxin.
Liu Hong nodded. "It was my doing... along with the Five Poison Sect."
The only reason he hadn’t mentioned it was because his scheming with the Five Poison Sect was ultimately aimed at the Jing State Liu Family. To prevent them from noticing, he had acted with great caution and hidden behind the scenes. But now, there was no way to keep it hidden any longer.
Liu Taoyao asked in confusion, "Why would you..."
Liu Hong shook his head. "I cannot tell you the reason. But you must firmly remember what I am about to say next."
"Father, please... speak."
"Take advantage of the chaos inside and outside the Prefecture City tonight. You will take your men and leave Shu State."
Caught completely off guard, Liu Taoyao forgot all about the silver notes and asked, "Father, do you have a task for me to do?"
"I am telling you to take your men and flee! Go as far away as possible, and never return to the Great Wei Dynasty in this lifetime!"
"Why?!"
Looking at his eldest son, a faint smile appeared on Liu Hong’s face as he sighed. "One wrong Step, and the entire game is lost."
If the plague toxin being discovered by the Xiao Family was the only issue, it wouldn’t be so bad. The critical problem was that the silver notes Liu Taoyao brought back were fake. No matter how foolish Liu Hong was, he knew he had been outplayed this time. It wasn’t just him; perhaps the Five Poison Sect hadn’t succeeded either. Whoever was hiding in the shadows had completely and utterly destroyed almost all of his meticulously laid plans.
How could he not prepare an escape route?
Still unable to understand, Liu Taoyao stammered, "B-but Father..."
Liu Hong raised his hand to cut him off. "Do not ask anything. Listen to me and leave right now!" he said sternly.
However, just as his words fell, a voice echoed from nearby.
"Lord Liu, where exactly are you sending your noble son..."