Chapter 636 - 354: Mountain Overlord!
Chapter 636: Chapter 354: Mountain Overlord!
"We must be on guard!"
Yang Ye had been an official for many years, after all. Aside from having a clear grasp of the Governor’s Office’s administrative affairs, he was also well aware of the Imperial Court’s treacherous nature.
Thus, he suspected that someone might be using the deaths of Ma Shuhan and Xu Jitong to target Tang Zixing. Since ancient times, factional struggles had always been the most ruthless of conquests, no less brutal than slaughter on the battlefield.
Tang Zixing naturally understood Yang Ye’s concerns. He said softly, "This matter isn’t aimed at me."
Yang Ye was slightly taken aback. After a moment of thought, his brows furrowed tightly. "Ma Shuhan?"
Tang Zixing gave a slight nod. His voice was barely audible, yet carried a chilling edge. "Someone is using his mouth to criticize the war. I fear... there is a much larger and more far-reaching scheme at play."
Yang Ye’s thoughts aligned with his. "The war..." He sighed and said, "Great Wei has enjoyed peace for many years. To casually start a war... I’m afraid it will plunge the people into misery and suffering."
Tang Zixing withdrew his gaze and straightened the bamboo hat on his head. Taking in their surroundings, he said, "Whether the war will start is yet unknown, but someone is already trying to make an issue out of it."
His gaze fell upon the examination grounds. His eyes flickered a few times before he suddenly spoke up. "Was Ma Shuhan’s intense reaction earlier because of Chen Yi, Chen Qingzhou?"
Hearing this, Yang Ye looked at him. After a brief pause to think, he said, "Exactly so.
"I just asked about the situation inside the examination grounds.
"The moment Ma Shuhan got hold of Chen Qingzhou’s essay, he flew into a thunderous rage. He said the essay was complete rubbish and graded it as Fifth Class.
"Just before you and I brought our men in, Ma Shuhan had torn Chen Qingzhou’s examination paper to shreds."
After hearing this, Tang Zixing walked straight toward the examination grounds, asking as he went, "I wonder what Chen Qingzhou wrote to make him so furious?"
Yang Ye casually kept pace. "The specific original text can no longer be verified. I only know that Chen Qingzhou didn’t discuss the pros and cons of the northern and southern conquests, but instead focused his thoughts on the common people of the world."
"Revering the heavens and loving the people?"
"He truly is a scholar who has grasped the essence of the ancient sages’ classics and histories."
Tang Zixing offered a few words of praise. Looking at the scraps of paper scattered around the high platform, he waved his large hand and ordered, "Men, find all the paper scraps here and piece them together. I want to read the essay Chen Qingzhou wrote!"
"Yes, sir!"
Yang Ye allowed him to order the surrounding government officials about. The expression on his face shifted as if a thought had struck him. After a moment of silence, Yang Ye steadied his gaze and turned to Tang Zixing. "News has come from the Capital Prefecture. A Governor and a Vice Inspector General are about to head to Shu State."
Tang Zixing was slightly taken aback. Although he was still furious about Xu Jitong’s matter, hearing this news for the first time gave him quite a surprise. "Does Lord Yang know the identities of these arrivals?"
Due to Liu Hong’s death in the Governor’s Office, Yang Ye was temporarily acting as Left Governor; at present, they were still short one Governor. Vice Inspector General Ye Jingxiao had been implicated by Liu Hong and arrested by the Imprisonment Department; he would be escorted to the Capital Prefecture within a few days. This also left a Vice Envoy position vacant.
Coupled with the death of Zhu Hao, Vice Envoy of the Capital Commandery, all Vice Envoys of the Three Departments in Shu State needed people to fill the vacancies. It was just that Tang Zixing hadn’t expected the matter to move this quickly.
In the past, chaos would always erupt over at the Capital Prefecture. The Nine Ministers all had their own agendas, and their nominated candidates would ruthlessly trample over each other, with no one willing to yield. After a few rounds of this, anywhere from half a month to several months would typically pass. There would be no final conclusion until the Holy Emperor spoke.
Yang Ye didn’t reply verbally. He simply pulled Tang Zixing’s hand over and traced two names into his palm.
Tang Zixing’s brows instantly knitted tightly together. "It’s actually them?"
Yang Ye gave a slight nod. Watching the government officials at work, he lowered his voice and said, "In another year, I will retire to enjoy my twilight years. I beg you to be careful and never act impulsively in any matter."
Although he believed Tang Zixing’s judgment—that today’s incident wasn’t aimed at the Inspectorate Office—he couldn’t afford to not consider the possibility.
Tang Zixing nodded silently. His gaze fell toward the north, where Duke Dingyuan’s Xiao Family was located, and he spoke slowly. "Times are different now.
"A few years ago... heh, who could have imagined that a few years ago, the three departments of Shu State would all follow the lead of Duke Dingyuan’s lineage."
Hearing this, Yang Ye remained silent.
If Xiao Fengchun hadn’t died on the battlefield five years ago, Shu State would absolutely not be in the state of chaos it was today. Even if the likes of Liu Hong, Zhu Hao, and Ye Jingxiao were incredibly audacious, they wouldn’t dare touch the Xiao Family’s Reverse Scale. At that time, the three departments appeared independent, but in reality, due to the Xiao Family’s existence, no matter—big or small—would bypass the Xiao Family, nor did anyone dare try.
Unlike now, where the Governor’s Office sheltered filth and corruption, the Inspectorate Office framed innocent people, and the Capital Commandery even had someone colluding with the enemy to betray the country. Not a single department was clean.
In contrast, the Xiao Family remained exactly as it always had been. Even though the Xiao Family had been silent for a long time over the years, Elder Master Xiao, Xiao Jinghong, and the others had never betrayed their principles or brought disaster to the region.
"If that stubborn old mule Xiao Yuan knew about these things, he’d probably laugh at us for being brainless." Tang Zixing’s face revealed a bitter expression. "I... I actually wish the Old Marquis were here to scold me..."
Anyone whose jurisdiction produced such scoundrels would inevitably feel depressed and disheartened. After all, he had indeed been poor at judging character.
Yang Ye patted his shoulder and sighed, saying, "Think carefully, how long has it been since we visited Marquis Xiao?"
"Since the old man’s birthday celebration last time, I haven’t been back."
"Yes. Months have passed, and so many things have happened in Shu State. It’s time for us to make a choice as well."
Tang Zixing paused. A moment later, he gave a soft hum of agreement. "There are indeed some matters that require a choice..."
As the saying goes, "When there are no tigers in the mountains, the monkey reigns as king." The current situation in Shu State was exactly like that. Aside from the Xiao Family, who else could carry the weight?
Inside and outside the examination grounds, the government officials from the Governor’s Office, the Inspectorate Office, and the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office were constantly bustling about, refusing to overlook even the slightest clue.
After dispersing the commoners, Li Huai’gu first led his men to gather the Annual Examination papers before standing guard beside the forensic doctors.
"How is it?"
"There’s not much to say about Lord Ma. Someone sliced off his head with a single Blade. It was a clean death."
"And Lord Xu?"
"Lord Xu is, well... a bit strange." A few forensic doctors replied hesitantly, "The highly lethal Poison in his body looks very much... very much like the handiwork of the Mountain Race."
Li Huai’gu’s brows instantly knitted together. "Are you sure?"
"To answer Lord Li, with such an important case before us, we naturally wouldn’t dare speak nonsense."
"Come with me. We must report to Lord Yang at once..."
While there was constant activity outside the Governor’s Office, the same was true on Chen Yunfan’s end. He brought several government officials from the Governor’s Office and followed Fang Hongxiu and Han Ruixuan of the Imprisonment Department to investigate Ma Shuhan’s home.
To their surprise, even from a great distance away, Chen Yunfan’s relaxed expression began to change. The stench of blood? He guessed that very few of Ma Shuhan’s family members, young or old, were left alive.
As he was thinking this, Fang Hongxiu also noticed something amiss, and her footsteps immediately hastened.
Han Ruixuan, gripping the hilt of his Blade, warned Chen Yunfan, "Be careful, Lord Chen. Something is wrong at Lord Academic Administrator’s estate."
Chen Yunfan slightly tipped up his bamboo hat to shoot him a glance and said lazily, "Then shouldn’t we hurry over and take a look?
"Lord Ma was just assassinated by a villain. If something happens to his family, we’ll be implicated and punished as well."
Not daring to slack off, Han Ruixuan hurriedly chased after Fang Hongxiu.
A short while later, Chen Yunfan arrived. Seeing Han Ruixuan and Fang Hongxiu standing at the doorway, he walked over and squeezed between them. "What’s wrong..."
His voice trailed off as he took in the scene inside Ma Shuhan’s estate, a hint of chill flashing through his eyes.
Tragic.
Throughout the entire Ma Family residence, in the double-courtyard layout, rainwater mixed with blood flowed incessantly. Corpses lay haphazardly on the ground. There were men and women, old and young. There were Ma Shuhan’s parents and relatives, as well as servants and attendants. Without exception, all had died on the spot.
But upon closer inspection, it was discovered that their bodies were covered in bite marks from snakes and insects, rather than wounds from Blades, weapons, or Fist and Foot beatings.
Fang Hongxiu stared at the scene inside. After scanning the area, she softly spat out two words: "Mountain Race!"
A slightly complex expression appeared on Han Ruixuan’s face, but he shook his head and said, "It’s too early to draw conclusions. We still need further investigation."
Fang Hongxiu nodded, then shook her head. "Under the heavens, aside from the Mountain Race, who else can control Gu Insects and is skilled at using medicinal powders?
"Especially since... they all have smiles on their faces..."
Hearing this, the Mountain Race’s infamous Poison surfaced in Chen Yunfan’s mind—Smiling Half-step Madness.
However, after carefully thinking it over, he didn’t believe today’s incident was the Mountain Race’s doing. For no other reason than he knew Chen Yi and the Xiao Family had close ties with the Mountain Race—after all, Granny Shan’s granddaughter, Pei Guanli, was currently residing with the Xiao Family.
"This is truly... so very strange..."