Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2608 Atonement for Crimes 71.0
"What did you splash? Filth?" Seeing Boss Luan nod hesitantly, Xue Ruitian looked at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and then at Jin Miaomiao. "Tell me more details? Can you tell me?"

“It’s okay to talk about it, there’s nothing we can’t say.” Boss Luan sighed. “This aunt hired a lot of people to splash dog blood, as well as sparrow feathers and corpses, on the doors of other people’s shops while everyone was asleep. And it wasn’t just once; it was done many times over a period of about seven or eight days.”

"Didn't this uncle react at all? Did he just let her do whatever she wanted?"

"How could that be? Absolutely impossible. We've been open for business as usual." Boss Luan shook his head slightly and said, "Master Falian said that on the first day he was splashed, he knew who did it, but he didn't have any evidence. He just whispered a few words to the Empress Dowager, and they both knew what was going on. Because they needed solid evidence, the Empress Dowager arranged for people to keep watch in Uncle's shop and secretly memorize the appearances of several ruffians. They thought that would be enough to find evidence, but they didn't expect Aunt to be more skilled. For several days in a row, the ruffians who splashed dirt on them were not the same group, and none of them were the same. Later, they had no choice but to..." They secretly followed her for two days and discovered that their aunt was truly ruthless. Every time they hired someone, after the job was done, they would kill the person, leaving no one alive. However, the last time, they caught someone red-handed and took them directly to the authorities. Of course, their aunt wouldn't admit it, because it wasn't her, or even her confidants, who had done it. The authorities investigated for quite some time but couldn't trace it back to her, so they could only consider the person who hired the person and silenced the witness as the culprit, and hastily closed the case. However, this did serve as a warning to others, and for a considerable period of time, their aunt behaved much better.

"Where did she find so many loyal followers while she was a widow living with her parents?"

Everyone present keenly sensed the problem and looked at Boss Luan with puzzled expressions.

"What does her husband's family do?" Shen Cha frowned slightly. "Judging from her age, she seems to have been caught up in one or two sieges against the remnants of the previous dynasty. Could it be that her husband's family has some connection with the remnants of the previous dynasty?"

"Nothing can be hidden from the General. It's true. Her husband's ancestors were the Imperial Chariot Commanders of the previous dynasty, and they've always had dealings with the remnants of that dynasty. However, her husband didn't die in the siege against the remnants of the previous dynasty; he accidentally fell into the water and drowned—it was indeed an accident. But all of her husband's property and his men are now under her control. However…"

"She didn't tell her family; everything was done in secret?"

“Yes!” Boss Luan nodded. “The reason she wanted to expand her shop was to support these people. She later confessed that these brothers followed her from her husband’s family back to her parents’ home to protect her. She had to ensure that they could live a life free from want.” He sighed softly and said, “Therefore, she didn’t need to show her face at all, nor did she have to worry about the people working for her selling her out.”

"Her husband didn't leave her any inheritance, leaving her to support her brothers?"

“She left it behind, but we can’t just sit around and do nothing, can we?” Boss Luan took a sip of warm water and continued, “She knew that it was impossible to achieve her goal by smearing others this time, and she also knew that the Empress Dowager and her family were watching her. So she behaved herself for a while. Just when everyone relaxed their vigilance and thought that she would not take any further action, the Empress Dowager was kidnapped.”

"Were the ones who did it subordinates of the former Imperial Chariot Commander?" "No." Boss Luan shook his head slightly. "It was this aunt who contacted the remnants of the former dynasty through her deceased husband's people. She found people from outside, not locals at all. She knew that using locals would be easily discovered, so she simply found people from outside. When the Empress Dowager visited the aunt's shop, she set a trap and tied her up. All the people who were with the Empress Dowager were silenced, leaving only the Empress Dowager alive. That same day, they sent her to a dilapidated temple outside the city in a coffin. The aunt only appeared late at night, and the Empress Dowager then realized that it was her own people who had orchestrated all of this."

"and after?"

"Later, the family received the news. Master Falian was lecturing on Buddhist scriptures to the children in the family when he heard about it. He offered to go with them to search for the kidnappers. He said that by looking at the coded messages left by the kidnappers, they would know who they were. He told the Empress Dowager's parents and uncles not to make a fuss. Even if they reported it to the authorities, they should do so quietly. After all, these people were ruthless killers. If they found out that the authorities had been notified, they might kill the Empress Dowager to protect themselves. In that case, they would not find a living person, but a corpse. The family knew that Master Falian was right and made sense, so they did as he said. They did not report it to the authorities in a big way, but informed them of the matter through acquaintances in the government office."

“That’s certainly a smart approach,” Shen Cha nodded. “How long did it take to find it?”

“It took about a day. Although the place where my aunt lived was outside the city, it was still very remote. Basically, no one went there. Only travelers who got lost would happen to pass by there. It took Master Falian a long time to pinpoint the location of the dilapidated temple before he quietly sneaked over there.”

"He's all by himself?"

“He said that too many people would alert the enemy, so one person was just right. The others, the guards and such, would wait on the perimeter. He was certain he would live up to expectations and rescue the Empress Dowager.” Boss Luan sighed. “It was only then that I learned that Master Falian knew kung fu, but he didn’t usually use it. Because he was a bit weak, he said he needed a long time to recover after each fight, so he generally wouldn’t fight personally. But this time he made an exception and personally went to rescue the Empress Dowager.”

"Master Falian's act of rescuing the damsel in distress deeply moved the Empress Dowager."

“Yes, from now on, we will follow Master Falian’s lead.” Boss Luan sighed and said, “This aunt didn’t expect that her family’s master would come alone and not take her seriously at all. But who would have thought,” he sneered, “that this master is quite capable in a fight. He managed to seduce all of her men and even captured her alive.”

"That's tantamount to catching her red-handed. There's no way this aunt can deny it now."