Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2645 Still Vigorous in Old Age 29.0
“It can only be said that greed knows no bounds. Perhaps he only wanted to make money at first and did not intend to harm people, but,” Shen Cha sighed, shook her head slightly, and said, “the kind of thing called original intention will soon be gone. In many cases, large organizations like the Qinglian Sect, once they develop to a certain point, cannot maintain their so-called original intention.”

“That’s right!” Shen Haolin nodded. “Perhaps Master Falian doesn’t have such grand ambitions, but that doesn’t mean his people won’t do it. Their appetites are growing, they want to make more and more money, and their subordinates are becoming more and more complex. What kind of accidents will happen, what will happen? These things are beyond his control. Especially now, he’s hiding at sea, and he’s even more powerless.”

“Xiao Cha and Hao Lin are both right. Although Master Fa Lian is indeed not a good person and does disregard human life, many subsequent developments were beyond his expectations, especially now. This is because he expanded his operations too much and hired people with ulterior motives. He can only teach some people a lesson by making an example of them.” Chu Han sighed softly and said, “But the arrogance of his subordinates is also largely due to him, right?” Seeing everyone nod, he turned back to look at the board again, “Actually, I’ve heard some things about what happened to him in Jiangnan and have had some contact with him. You know, living a long time means you’re more likely to encounter other people who have also lived a long time.”

“I remember when he was in Jiangnan, it was a difficult time for the Jingwang Mansion. There were many rumors at that time, all of which were very unfavorable to the Jingwang Mansion. Moreover, many unpleasant things happened to the Jingwang Mansion at that time, right?” Seeing Chu Han nod, Shen Haolin thought for a moment and said, “I heard my master, Senior Tantai and General Xuanyuan mention that the Jingwang Mansion’s experience was somewhat related to the previous dynasty. We have also looked at some files and have many questions.”

"Questions? No problem, they'll be answered eventually."

"Alright, then let's ask whatever comes to mind." Shen Cha held up one finger. "Now, there's one question: why target the Prince Jing's residence?"

"Like the Shen, Xue, and Xia families, the Jingwang Mansion is a military family that held significant power in the previous dynasty. Although the previous dynasty valued civil officials over military ones, and military officers did not have the same influence or status as civil officials, their power was still considerable. Therefore, when these families rose up in rebellion at the same time, supported the Song family, established the Great Xia, and transformed themselves into founding ministers and meritorious officials of the Great Xia, those people from the previous dynasty were naturally resentful. However, our Jingwang Mansion is a rare non-royal family, while you were only granted the titles of Duke and Marquis. You are not as big a target as us, so naturally they are eyeing us."

"That's not how it works. The Prince of Jing's family are distant relatives. Our families were considered outsiders at the time. It was only our parents' generation that became relatives of the emperor." Xia Chen waved his hand. "Although they were princes of different surnames, they were genuine members of the imperial family!"

"It's because we're cousins ​​that we've been targeted," Chu Han chuckled and said. "The situation isn't as simple as you think. They really wanted to take down Great Xia by targeting us. However, we weighed the pros and cons and prevented them from succeeding." He sighed softly. "Of course, our later investigation revealed that our Mudfish Prince was also involved."

"He got involved too?" Shen Cha frowned slightly. "What was his status in Jiangnan back then?"

"He didn't have much status, but most aristocratic families knew of his existence, especially the Wang and Xie families. They had even seen him on different occasions, but they acted as if they didn't know him and treated him like an ordinary person. They only opened doors for him after finding out what he was doing. There were also some smaller aristocratic families who coveted his status and wanted to gain some benefits, so they attached themselves to him. With the support of these smaller families, his Qinglian Sect grew stronger and stronger. Although none of the major aristocratic families believed in this, the fact that the Qinglian Sect was able to establish itself in Jiangnan and develop rapidly was largely due to their encouragement."

"They're fueling the fire?" Shen Cha sneered. "They can't solve the predicament of the previous dynasty, nor can they stop the rise of the Great Xia, so they can only use this method to annoy us. They've used those minor aristocratic families to support a puppet, letting this puppet fight for them while they hide in the back to recuperate, is that what they mean?"

“Yes.” Chu Han nodded. “After all, they weren’t involved in anything. Whether they succeeded or failed, it had nothing to do with them. Later, when the Qinglian Sect was besieged, did you see those aristocratic families get implicated?” He spread his hands. “If we’re talking about who the real old fox is, the Mudfish Prince is no match for him. It’s the heads of these aristocratic families.” He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued, “I remember when they attacked the Jing Prince’s Mansion, it was initially just a small matter. We didn’t pay any attention to it, thinking that such things happen in any mansion.” “What matter?”

"They said it was a maid in our household who accused the steward of mistreating us," Chu Han said, shrugging. "But we investigated and found nothing of the sort, so we didn't take it seriously. As a result, the maid committed suicide by running into a wall in public. A blood-written letter was found on her body, accusing the Prince's mansion of bullying men and women and disregarding human life. Although the government and the palace investigated later and proved it to be a false accusation, our reputation was certainly damaged."

"If you keep making false accusations like this, your reputation will suffer."

“That’s true, but…” Chu Han sighed softly and said, “We didn’t know at the time that this was just the beginning.”

"False accusation?"

"Yes, the false accusations against the Jing Prince's Mansion." Chu Han yawned and said, "Every now and then, someone claiming to be from the Jing Prince's Mansion would come to file a complaint, but it was never true. This situation lasted for quite a long time, almost a year."

"This 'crying wolf' attitude is really annoying and irritating."

“That’s right.” Chu Han nodded. “It’s because we gradually became numb and stopped caring about these things that the fatal blow came.”

"Treason and collusion with the enemy and the country, colluding with the previous dynasty."

“Yes!” Chu Han nodded. “The evidence is very conclusive, with both witnesses and physical evidence. There’s no way to deny it.”

"Where did you get the evidence?" Shen Cha frowned slightly and exchanged a glance with Shen Haolin. "We also looked at the files from the Prince of Jing's mansion, and they are indeed flawless, but..." She took a sip of tea, handed Shen Haolin a pastry, and said, "Generally speaking, the biggest flaw is the absence of any flaws."