Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2667 Still Vigorous in Old Age 51.0
Shen Cha was slightly surprised by Song Yaojia's guess, because Song Yaojia's idea coincided with her own previous thoughts, and she had made similar guesses.

However, the person previously suspected was not this mastermind, but Master Falian.

Thinking of this, Shen Cha couldn't help but sigh. Before Master Falian came to light, they were investigating the Empress Dowager, Ning Changguo, and the Luan and Liu families who were related to the Ning family. They then discovered that there was another hand behind them, and the owner of this hand was Master Falian, the leader of the Qinglian Sect. So they began to investigate Master Falian's background.

When Master Falian's investigation was nearly complete and they were ready to close in on him, they discovered that he was not the mastermind, but rather that there was another force behind him. Whether this force was the mastermind or not was unknown, but the events that happened to them and their elders were all orchestrated by this force behind Master Falian.

Such a meticulously planned and interconnected scheme is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, and even beyond the capabilities of a sect like the Qinglian Sect. The Qinglian Sect was merely a tool used by those behind the scenes. As for whether those behind the scenes will support new figures after the downfall of the Qinglian Sect and Master Falian, only heaven and earth know.

For some reason, Shen Cha had a vague feeling that the hands behind Master Falian were very close to them, yet also seemed very far away.

Shen Haolin grasped Shen Cha's hand, looking at her with slight concern.

Shen Cha smiled at Shen Haolin and moved closer to him, indicating that she was fine and there was no need to worry.

When they were investigating Master Falian, they didn't know that he was actually hiding on an island. She suspected that he might be hiding in the Great Xia or the Jin Kingdom, because those were the places he wanted most, the places he most desired to possess, and the places he had the most ambition for. But when she later learned that Master Falian had to go to the island to avoid being surrounded and pursued, she felt somewhat regretful.

From Master Falian's perspective, he probably also wished to live in the Great Xia or the Jin Kingdom, but unfortunately he was too high-profile in the early stages, and the major clans in Jiangnan all knew him. If he hadn't run away, he might have been sold off one day.

However, with Master Falian's departure, coupled with the passing of the Empress Dowager, the downfall of Ning Changguo and the Ning family, the decline of his lineage was already evident.

Shen Cha couldn't help but sigh, picked up her teacup, took a sip of tea, and continued to think about her own thoughts.

After Master Falian was exposed, through their meticulous investigation, they discovered that there was someone else behind it all. Her previous thought resurfaced: perhaps this mastermind was someone hiding in the Great Xia, making Master Falian and his subordinates fight for her while she herself hid in the shadows, observing everything.

This time, however, she didn't share her thoughts with anyone, including Shen Haolin. She felt that, having learned from Master Falian's experience, she shouldn't rush to give advice. Perhaps it would be better to wait until things became clearer before making any decisions.

But Shen Cha didn't expect that Song Yaojia would voice this guess before she could.

Shen Haolin sensed the change in the person beside him, then glanced at Song Yaojia drinking tea and chuckled softly. "Brother?" Shen Cha looked at Shen Haolin curiously, "What's this?"

"Did Yao Jia think the same way you did?"

"How did you know?" Shen Cha asked with a look of surprise. "Indeed, when I learned that there was someone else behind the Little Prince, I thought that the one truly hiding in the Great Xia and spying on everything was not the Little Prince himself, but the person behind him. But I thought I should wait and see, just in case I guessed wrong. I didn't expect that Brother Yaojia would think of the same thing as me."

After listening to Shen Haolin and Shen Cha's conversation, Song Yaojia smiled at Shen Cha, waved her fan, and said, "I was also inspired by you. Although we guessed the Little Prince wrong last time, maybe we'll be right this time!"

“That’s right.” Xia Chen echoed, snatching a pastry from Xue Ruitian’s hand, taking a bite, and mumbling, “To be honest, for a moment just now, I also thought of that possibility.”

“Yes, I was just thinking about Xiaocha’s guess earlier, and I think it’s very likely,” Xue Ruitian continued, picking up where Xia Chen left off. “Although Fourth Grandfather said that they haven’t seen that person since they met him on the street that day, it was also from that day that those actions targeting the elders began, right? If they weren’t in Xijing City, or in Daxia, how would they have orchestrated all of this? If they wanted to use someone else to do their dirty work, they couldn’t possibly have done it without personally overseeing things, otherwise…”

"There isn't enough time, and many unforeseen accidents could happen."

“Yes!” Xue Ruitian nodded to Shen Haolin. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

"That series of actions was gradual and methodical; it would have been impossible to accomplish them if they had stayed away from the conflict zone. Their initial plan was to have Uncle Xue, Aunt Xue, and the eldest prince suffer some accidents, but after discovering that these accidents wouldn't harm their elders, they began a new round of planning. This round of planning took a long time, lasting many years. The final result was that Lady Wuding, suspected of treason, hanged herself; Prince Ning, who was born with poison, was demoted to guard the imperial mausoleum; and a palace coup occurred in the Jin Kingdom. The former Jin king, queen, and the eldest prince, who had been a hostage in Daxia, all perished in the coup. The only youngest son went into exile, and Wanyan Zongcheng, who launched the coup, successfully ascended to the throne, becoming the ruler of the Jin Kingdom." Shen Cha spread his hands. "By this point, everyone who needed to be silenced had been silenced. For the people behind the scenes, everything was fine."

"The fact that they were able to react so quickly, set up such a grand scheme, and take such steady steps, with each step perfectly linked and without the slightest mistake, is something they probably couldn't have accomplished if they were in a different place. So," Shen Haolin gently tapped the table, "it's highly likely that they've always been in Great Xia. As for the Jin Kingdom, it was Master Falian who was in charge. They probably set their sights on that territory from that time onwards, wanting to seize it for themselves."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Chu Han, who had been silent and just listening quietly.

"Grand Uncle, what do you think?"

“What you’ve said is all correct, because you’ve all made inferences based on facts that have already happened.” Chu Han nodded, glanced at Master Jiang behind him who was painting, but the two portraits hadn’t been finished, and turned back to say, “They are safer and have more advantages staying in Great Xia than staying anywhere else. First, they can control the overall situation, and second, they can find out if Little Mudfish has done anything excessive. As for what that excessive thing is, only they themselves know.”