Jiapingguan Chronicle

"Isn't this just killing someone to silence them and prevent future trouble?" Jin Miaomiao sneered after hearing Song Yaojia's words. "Their style of doing things doesn't surprise me at all. Aren't all those tomb raiders the same? For their own selfish interests and to protect themselves, they can be ruthless to their own people, let alone outsiders!"

"That's true, they are all vicious and ruthless people."

Song Yaojia winked at Jin Miaomiao, signaling her to pay attention to Shen Cha's emotions. Jin Miaomiao gently shook her head, indicating that he didn't need to worry too much.

Shen Cha noticed the exchange of glances between the two people, couldn't help but smile, and waved to them.

“You two don’t need to exchange such flirtatious glances. I know what you want to say, so just say what you want to say without worrying about me.” She chuckled. “Seriously speaking, they’re not really tomb raiders; they’re just scavenging along.” She stroked her chin, thought for a moment, and said, “Brother Yaojia, now that you mention this, something suddenly occurred to me.”

"what?"

"Is the Gong family the most powerful among the tomb raiders?"

"Probably. I don't know much about it, but apart from those high-ranking officials and nobles who support their own families, the Gong family is probably one of them. Anyway, people in this line of work all respect the Gong family." Song Yaojia looked at Shen Cha. "You mean, why didn't Master Falian use the Gong family to excavate tombs and open his own mausoleum back then? Why did he have to find people from outside?"

Yes, that's what I mean.

“He didn’t find people from outside; he already had his own faction. Taking these two along was just a side thing.” Song Yaojia smiled. “The faction under Master Falian was left to him by his mother. If the previous dynasty were still in power, they would be official personnel, affiliated with the Ministry of Works and the Imperial Observatory. They are all people whose backgrounds are well-known, much safer than finding people from outside.”

“That’s true.” Shen Cha thought for a moment. “One is legitimate, and the other is unorthodox.”

“You could say that,” Song Yaojia said with a smile. “Compared to the other family, the Gong family’s methods are more ruthless.”

"The Ding family dares to arrange a marriage with such a family. They are indeed quite bold. If something goes wrong, even if they have nothing to do with it and have not benefited from it, they will be implicated just because of the marriage. They will be buried with the Gong family. With so many heads in the family, aren't they afraid at all?" Jin Miaomiao shook her head helplessly. "I don't know what Madam Ding is thinking."

“Miaomiao, there’s a poem that says it well: ‘You can’t see the true face of Mount Lu because you are in the mountain.’” Shen Cha sighed softly. “We are outsiders, and we know the background and details of the Gong family. We know that they are not as clean as they seem. But the Ding family can only see that a powerful family in Huzhou Prefecture actually wants to marry her son. It’s a matter of bringing glory to their ancestors.”

“Xiao Cha is right.” Song Yaojia sighed helplessly. “If we really have to blame someone, we can only blame them for being ignorant.”

"They can only blame themselves for trying to climb over their daughter to marry into a higher social class," Shen Cha snorted. "Their biggest problem is their poor judgment, yet they're so self-righteous." She snorted again, her face cold, and continued, "Before their daughter became the Crown Princess, the Ding family was just an ordinary family. The people they interacted with were all honest and law-abiding, just like them. While they might play some petty tricks on each other in their daily interactions, it was just taking advantage of each other in small ways, harmless in itself. But after their daughter became the Crown Princess, those people they had never met decades ago, those they once looked up to, suddenly became their equals, suddenly showed them kindness. This made them feel flattered and overconfident, making them lose all sense of propriety." "Clearly, the Gong family's desire to form a marriage alliance with the Ding family wasn't really about the Ding family, but rather about the Crown Princess. Although maternal relatives don't wield much real power, if anything happens, the Gong family can send their daughter to plead with the Crown Princess, asking her to show leniency out of consideration for their in-law relationship," Song Yaojia sighed. "One family wanted to elevate their own status, while the other wanted to secure a future for their own family. The two families quickly reached an agreement, set a date, went through the six rites, and got married." He thought for a moment, "It seems that in the spring of the year after Ding was made Crown Princess, her brother married the Gong family's daughter."

"The daughter of the Gong family patriarch?"

“The only precious daughter in the family.” Song Yaojia thought for a moment, “In addition to the ten-mile-long red bridal procession, she also received three mansions in Huzhou Prefecture and four estates outside Huzhou Prefecture as part of her dowry. All things considered, the Ding family really got a great deal.”

"Free things and great deals are often the most expensive; they always come at a huge cost." Jin Miaomiao looked at Song Yaojia. "That's what my master said."

“Master Huilan is right, that is the truth.”

"I remember that after the Ding family's two children got married, Mr. and Mrs. Ding completely stopped their timber business. They moved to an estate outside Huzhou Prefecture and spent their days growing vegetables and flowers, living a very comfortable life. If it weren't for what happened later, their lives would probably have continued to be so peaceful and comfortable."

"You mean that case?"

“Yes!” Song Yaojia nodded. “Just like you said before, it’s a big case that has tricked Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong. However, the case originated in Huzhou Prefecture.”

What was the cause?

"There wasn't really a cause. There were always a few small families that were affiliated with the Gong family who specialized in feng shui and geomancy. As I said before, they had some skills, but they were very limited. Their skills were enough to fool the uninformed people, but they couldn't fool those who were more powerful or knowledgeable. However, many people preferred to avoid trouble and didn't want to mess with these kinds of people, so they would pay money to settle things. As long as their demands weren't too outrageous, they would usually give in. Later, the real trouble started with a man named Ma Xin, who was the first victim. This man wanted to open a small shop and needed to consult a fortune teller to find an auspicious day for opening. So, through an introduction, he found the Ma family, one of the small families affiliated with the Gong family. Among these small families, the Ma family was the closest to the Gong family. The Gong family's head at the time, and his stepmother, was the eldest daughter of the Ma family, the younger sister of the Ma family head."

"So that's how it is."

“That’s right.” Song Yaojia nodded. “The first victim, Ma Xin, hired the Ma family at a high price through an introduction. But the Ma family didn’t arrive on time, arriving an hour late. When they got to Ma Xin’s shop, they just looked around perfunctorily, did no calculations, and left a date.”

"Such a shoddy job?"

"Very much so, Ma Xin was dissatisfied and went directly to the Ma family's shop. The Ma family didn't offer any explanation and simply had him thrown out." Song Yaojia sighed deeply and said, "Ma Xin was not satisfied and, without saying a word, sued the Ma family in the local government." (End of this chapter)