Jiuxi

Chapter 591: 589 [Rage of a Common Man]

The green mountains are hidden in the distance, and the green water is far away.

The bridge and the embankment are connected, and fishing boats appear from time to time.

On the southwest outskirts of the capital, there is a lake called Jianhu Lake.

It has the quiet and elegant scenery of the Jiangnan water town, and is also an excellent place to cool off during the hot summer.

Many of the wealthy and powerful families in Beijing have summer villas around Jianhu Lake.

As the summer heat grew, carriages and horses traveled between Jianhu Lake and the capital city from time to time.

In this lush green land, there is a manor hidden in the bamboo forest.

Inside the teahouse in the garden, two men sat opposite each other, and all the maids and servants had been dismissed.

Outside the window, you can faintly hear the gurgling of the stream and the rustling of the breeze through the bamboo leaves, like a clever and fresh piece of elegant music.

In such a leisurely and relaxed environment, the atmosphere in the tea room is very solemn.

Sitting on the east side was a middle-aged man. Although he was not well-known in the court of Da Qi and only held the honorary title of Yuanwailang in the Ministry of Rites, his status among the dignitaries in the capital was indeed not low.

This man had a gaunt face and a short beard, and he undoubtedly had the air of a noble scholar.

His name is Gao Que, courtesy name Qianchu. He is the head of the Longlin Gao family. The current Minister of Justice Gao Huan is his cousin.

The Nine Great Families of Jiangnan is a name made up by idle men in the community. To be precise, these are nine prominent families that were well-known in Jiangnan before Li Duan moved south.

Among these nine families, the Jinlin Li family has already surpassed the other eight families for more than ten years because of the existence of Li Daoyan.

Following closely behind is the Qingyuan Xue family. In the eyes of many people, Xue Nanting will be the next Li Daoyan.

When Li Daoyan leaves the court, if Li Shizhi is unable to carry that banner, it is only a matter of time before the Qingyuan Xue family catches up with the Jinlin Li family.

The fates of the remaining seven families were different.

The main branches of the four families, namely the De'an Guo family, the Yongxin Wang family, the Changle Ning family, and the Xingshan Le family, were killed in large numbers by the previous emperor because they were involved in a major case of treason in the capital, but other side branches were not affected.

The Ningtan Ding family, Boyue Chen family, and Longlin Gao family were relatively honest, and not only did they not suffer any losses, but they also took advantage of the collapse of the other four families to gain some benefits.

Although these profits were just the leftovers after the division among the Royal Family, the Imperial Court, the Li Family, and the Xue Family, because the four families had accumulated so many assets, it was still a windfall.

Gao Que naturally did not feel too guilty about this. If the Gao family had also been affected, others would have certainly been more ruthless than him when they shared the Gao family's property. On the contrary, he and the Gao family's children were more gentle. After all, in the eyes of many powerful people, Gao Que was more like a noble scholar who advocated elegance and elegance, and always paid attention to the word "measure".

Perhaps this is the way the Longlin Gao family survives.

However, at this moment in this tea room filled with fragrance, beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of this middle-aged scholar.

He held a white porcelain teacup in his right hand, sipping the top-quality Bitan Piaoxue absentmindedly, glancing at the man opposite him from time to time.

The man was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a strong and angular face, and a bit of a desolate and weathered look, like a half-unsheathed sword. Every time he raised his eyes or lowered his eyebrows, he exuded an uncomfortable sharpness.

He was tall and his shoulders were as broad as a mountain, and he naturally had a strong and heroic aura. Judging from the details of his clothes, he was not a pampered nobleman, but he was obviously more imposing in front of Gao Que.

Gao Que put down the teacup, coughed lightly, and said hesitantly: "The last time I saw you was ten years ago. You have not been heard from in all these years. I didn't expect..."

"Didn't expect I was still alive?"

The man raised his thick eyebrows and smiled slightly.

Gao Que smiled awkwardly, then realized that he couldn't appear too weak, so he put away his smile and said lightly: "I didn't expect you to dare to appear around the capital."

"Since I was forced out of the family seventeen years ago to fend for myself, I am no longer a member of the Changle Ning family. Who would still remember me, a bastard of the Ning family who was born with a rebellious nature? At that time, Heluo City had not yet fallen, and Li Duan had not fled to Jiangnan to set up a new court. I am afraid that even Qin Zheng of the Textile Bureau does not have any files about me."

The man stared into Gao Que's eyes and said leisurely, "To be honest, Uncle Gao, I have been wandering around the capital for more than a month before coming to see you. I specially visited the blue-gray government office of the Textile Weaving Department up close and felt the majesty of the royal family's hawks and dogs."

Gao Que said uncomfortably after hearing this: "That's right, there aren't many people and things in this world that are worth your fear."

Ning Bugui, whose name was Ning Shu seventeen years ago, was the illegitimate son of the previous head of the Ning family in Changle. He changed his name after he ran away from home.

Among the countless children of the nine Jiangnan families, Ning Bugui was the first freak who dared to take the initiative to break away from the clan's power.

Gao Que is quite familiar with the many twists and turns of this past event, but to this day he still doesn't know how Ning Bugui, who was only seventeen or eighteen years old at the time, could have accomplished this.

In this world, the influence of clan on a person can be said to be from birth to death. Since ancient times, clans have only expelled unfilial descendants, and no one has ever been seen who can voluntarily break free from the constraints of the clan.

But Ning Bugui accomplished this unprecedented feat.

Although he has been a genius with outstanding martial arts talent since childhood, any aristocratic family will raise many masters, let alone a powerful family like the Changle Ning family. If one thinks that he can force such a powerful family to bow down by relying solely on personal bravery, it is obviously a very naive fantasy. He has no understanding of how terrifying the inertia developed over thousands of years is.

After breaking out, Ning Bugui became a wandering knight among the wild men. At the beginning, he would leave traces behind, but in the past ten years, he completely disappeared among the vast mountains and rivers.

Gao Que never imagined that he just came to Jianhu Villa to relax, but the other party would sneak up on him without anyone noticing.

Don't be fooled by his calm appearance, he was actually very nervous inside. It wasn't because he was worried that Ning Bugui would do something bad to him, but under the premise that the Ning family in Changle had already been ransacked, the most rebellious outlier among the countless children of the Ning family and even the nine major families in Jiangnan appeared in the teahouse. There was no doubt that he had ill intentions.

Gao Que felt somewhat sad about the downfall of the four powerful families, but he did not want to have anything to do with them as the risk of doing so was too great.

Ning Bugui seemed to see through the thoughts of this middle-aged scholar, and said calmly: "Uncle Gao, don't worry. I didn't come here today to drag you to do something that would lead to the destruction of the family."

Even so, Gao Que still didn't dare to relax, and forced a smile and said, "My dear nephew, are you here to reminisce about the past?"

"Do you and I have any history to reminisce about?"

Ning Bugui's words made Gao Que's expression choke. Then he heard the lone wolf change the subject: "Let's talk about how much benefit the Longlin Gao family has gained from the corpses of the Changle Ning family in the past six months?"

After all, Gao Que was not as ruthless as Wang Yan or Ding Hui. Hearing this, he could not help but sigh, "My dear nephew, you should know that if our families do not take action, all those properties and fields will fall into the hands of the emperor."

"I understand." Ning Bugui nodded slightly, and then said: "Uncle Gao should also know that I defected from my family seventeen years ago, and those people in the Ning family erased my name from the family tree, and I have no contact with them anymore. The rise and fall of the Ning family has nothing to do with me. In other words, I am happy to see the decline of the Ning family. Not to mention that Uncle Gao only took a very small advantage, even if you took the majority, I would not trouble you because of this matter."

This was already within Gao Que's understanding, but now he was even more puzzled, so he asked, "If that's the case, why did you return to the capital?"

"I don't care about the rise and fall of the Ning family. The rotten smell of the Ning family's ancestral house in Changle City makes me sick, but no matter what, I lived there from birth to the age of seventeen. There are not many people in this world that I care about, but there are a few who are unwilling to leave the Ning family mansion."

Ning Bugui narrowed his eyes slightly, a fierce murderous aura condensed like substance, and he said slowly: "But they are all dead."

Gao Que felt a chill rising from the bottom of his heart, and whispered, "You...you want to avenge them?"

"Ning Yuande's life or death is insignificant, but the Li family emperor also killed my mother. How can I not avenge this?"

A complicated expression emerged on Ning Bugui's face. This was the first time he showed any emotion since entering the teahouse. He continued, "Perhaps in the eyes of the court, as Ning Yuande's concubine, she should be on the death row. Although she was just a maid with a humble background and rough experiences, although Ning Yuande was just drunk and indulged herself, and although she suffered extremely tragic and harsh treatment in those seventeen years, she was Ning Yuande's concubine. How could she survive? No one cares what kind of person she is."

Gao Que said in a deep voice, "My dear nephew, do you know who your enemy is?"

Ning Bugui did not answer directly, but said: "When Ning Yuanfu participated in the rebellion, I was in Daiguo in the north to handle a private matter. When I returned to Jiangnan and learned the bad news, it took me a long time to find my mother's bones. The mass grave was very large, with hundreds of people from the Ning family buried there. There was not a single tombstone, and there were even many mixed burial pits. I could only lead people to dig them one by one, and fortunately I finally found her. After burying my mother, where else could I go except the capital?"

At this moment his tone was very calm, without the slightest tremor, but Gao Que felt his heartstrings suddenly tighten when he heard it.

After a long silence, Gao Que lowered his head and asked, "What do you want to do?"

Ning Bugui said calmly, "Before Li Zongben ascended the throne, Xu used her status as the Queen Mother to force him to pardon the third prince Li Zongjian who was imprisoned in Qiushan Lane, so that Li Zongjian could participate in Li Duan's funeral. It would be best if Li Zongjian could perform filial piety in the imperial mausoleum afterwards. In short, she wanted Li Zongben to no longer imprison Li Zongjian. Li Zongben would certainly not agree to this, and even deliberately asked Shanyang Marquis Lu Chen to help. In the end, he should have considered the enthronement ceremony and made a slight concession in front of Xu, allowing Li Zongjian to carry the coffin to the funeral."

Gao Que's complexion changed slightly.

He stared at the man in front of him and said in panic, "How could you reach your hand into the harem?!"

"Uncle Gao thinks too highly of me."

Ning Bugui smiled calmly and said calmly: "I just used some means to find out some information. This is different from reaching out to the harem to instigate the current queen mother. The difficulty is as different as heaven and earth."

Gao Que then breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't know Ning Bugui's current situation. He only knew that he was reckless in the past, and that he lived a very comfortable life after breaking out of the Ning family in Changle, which showed that he must have had some connections.

But if Ning Bugui could even influence the empress dowager in the deep palace, this would be too bizarre and terrifying. Only after hearing Ning Bugui's explanation did he suppress the panic in his heart.

He calmed down and asked, "Do you want to sow discord between the Queen Mother and the Emperor?"

Ning Bugui shook his head and said, "Firstly, I am not strong enough to do this, and secondly, simply provoking others will make the progress too slow."

Gao Que's heart, which had just been relieved, was weighed down again, and he couldn't help but frown.

Ning Bugui continued, "During the funeral procession, Li Zongben and Li Zongjian will go to the Southern Suburbs Imperial Mausoleum. I have two brothers who will assassinate Li Zongben at that time."

This plain sentence sounded like thunder in Gao Que's ears.

He stood up in panic, and his sleeve knocked over the white porcelain teacup, which fell to the ground and shattered in an instant.

"You...you want to assassinate me?!"

Gao Que's voice couldn't help but tremble.

Ning Bugui leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and looked at the middle-aged scholar, smiling, "According to the family tree from seventeen years ago, Ning Yuanfu is my uncle. Since he was able to plot a rebellion and kill Li Duan, what does it matter if I, his nephew, want to assassinate Li Duan's son? This is called family heritage. Uncle Gao is so nervous, are you going to report me to the government?"

Gao Que was cursing in his heart.

He had no doubt that Ning Bugui dared to do this, because the other party was never the kind of person who planned the overall situation. He only cared about distinguishing between gratitude and grudge and killing people for their lives.

This kind of person happens to have certain abilities.

The problem is that he definitely didn't come here today to reminisce about the past, and he told these things so frankly, which made it clear that he wanted to drag the Gao family into it.

Gao Que's face was pale, his lips twitched, his eyes fixed on the calm Ning Bugui, his back was covered with sweat, after a long while he said in a trembling voice: "Nephew, please don't say anything more. I will just pretend that I haven't seen you today and heard nothing. Leave quickly."

Ning Bugui picked up the teacup, looked at the clear and fragrant snow in the lake, then put it back and said calmly, "Uncle Gao, you only need to promise me one thing."

Gao Que really didn't want to agree, but he knew that Ning Bugui knew too many inside stories among the aristocratic families, and he also knew that the court would definitely target a few more aristocratic families in order to promote the Jingjie Law, so he could only ask with difficulty: "What's the matter?"

"The assassination attempt will not succeed. Although Li Zongben was forced by Empress Dowager Xu to agree to that condition, he will definitely be fully prepared."

Ning Bugui looked calm and said slowly, "After the plot fails, the two assassins will surrender, and then the three judges will hold a joint trial. They will admit that they were instructed by Li Zongjian. I want Uncle Gao's cousin, the Minister of Justice Gao, to ensure that their confessions will not be tampered with and can be delivered to Li Zongben completely and truthfully."

Gao Que sat down dejectedly.

This request was simpler than he expected, but he really didn't want to take the risk.

Ning Bugui looked at him quietly.

After a long while, Gao Que said with a gloomy face: "I can ask my cousin to tell this, but I can't guarantee it—"

"Uncle Gao."

Ning Bugui interrupted him and said with a smile: "Just think of it as pity for a motherless person like me, okay?"

Gao Que looked into his eyes that contained no smile but only indifference and could only nod imperceptibly.

"Thank you."

Ning Bugui stood up, said no more, and strode away.

Gao Que stared in a daze at his majestic back as he disappeared from his sight in just three or two steps. He then looked down at the shattered white porcelain teacup. His gaze finally fell on the teacup that Ning Bugui had never touched, and he couldn't help but sigh.

In the middle of summer, he felt the chill running through his body and seeping into his bones.

(End of this chapter)