Blood sedge

Chapter 1197 Clear Water Reveals Stones (Part Two)

"The last meal?"

"Not bad!" Seeing that Tang Afu was gradually trusting him and his aura was no longer as oppressive as before, Shen Dongshan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tightly clenched fists in his sleeves relaxed a little. "I personally added poison to their last meal, watched them die with their intestines ruptured and blood flowing from their seven orifices, and even their corpses... I personally disposed of them."

"Murder to silence them?" Wu Shuang hit the nail on the head. "First, they ordered them to rob the Tang family, and then, fearing exposure, they used you to kill them to cover it up?"

"The Tang family was a prominent clan in Jiangnan at the time. The huge Tang mansion was completely slaughtered and looted overnight. Such a shocking tragedy could not be concealed. All sorts of rumors, true and false, spread like wildfire, and within a few days, it had become a sensation throughout the land, known to everyone in the streets and alleys," Shen Dongshan recalled. "The matter became so big that the government had to investigate with all its might. In addition, some of the Tang family's friends in the martial arts world were also investigating the matter through their own means. The twenty-five thieves who had been hiding became a hot potato. If they were alive, there was a risk that their crimes would be exposed. So... only by turning them into dead men could there be no way to prove anything."

"Why did I contact you?" Tang Afu asked in a low voice, his mind in turmoil. "Why did I ask you to take action?"

“They came to me because I’m Tang Jin’s good friend, so I’m less likely to arouse suspicion. And as fellow merchants, it would be easier… easier to take over the Tang family’s business.” When Shen Dongshan said these words, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes as he looked at Tang Afu. “As for forcing me to take action, the purpose is to tie me firmly to their ship so that I can be used by them in the future.”

So...who exactly are they?

"Actually, those twenty-five thieves were not mountain bandits or outlaws, but rather soldiers from the Jian family." Now that things had come to this, Shen Dongshan no longer intended to conceal anything, but with a fierce look in his eyes, he boldly stated, "Soldiers from the Jian family."

"Fubing? Jian family?" Every word Shen Dongshan uttered was both unfamiliar and shocking to Tang Afu. He suppressed his inner turmoil and asked in a trembling voice, "What is Fubing? What is Jian family?"

"Fubing are private soldiers kept by officials in their mansions, often appearing as servants or guards. But their true identities are elite soldiers who have survived countless battles on the battlefield. Generally, only military families or powerful officials of the time have their own Fubing." Shen Dongshan told Tang Afu everything in a straightforward manner. "And the Jian family is a military family of the Song Dynasty. At its peak, the head of the family held the official position of Vice Minister of War."

"A family of military generals? What does that have to do with my Tang family?" Tang Afu was completely bewildered and particularly puzzled. "Why would they harm my Tang family?"

"As far as I know, the Jian family and the Tang family have no connection or grudge. They attacked the Tang family at someone's instigation."

"There are others behind this?" One wave subsides only for another to rise. The shocking secrets that followed were too much for Tang Afu to handle. For a moment, he felt dizzy and staggered. Fortunately, he managed to brace himself on the table with his hands to avoid losing his composure. "Then who is instigating the Jian family...?"

"The former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who later..." At this point, even the usually composed Shen Dongshan couldn't help but swallow hard to calm his turbulent emotions, "...and later became the Prime Minister of the Great Song Dynasty."

"Wha...what?"

This time, Tang Afu couldn't stand up any longer and slumped onto the stool. His brow was furrowed, his eyes trembled, and he stammered for a long time before gradually sorting out his thoughts. He said angrily, "So ruthless, has the Tang family offended him?"

"I have offended... but I have indeed offended them," Shen Dongshan said with difficulty. "You should know that since ancient times, collusion between officials and merchants has been the easiest way to gain influence. Back then, the Tang family was extremely wealthy, so there were quite a few officials who coveted their wealth and wanted to form a tacit understanding with your father, including many high-ranking officials of the first or second rank in the court. The Ministry of Justice did not have much dealings with merchants, and in the eyes of merchants, even among officials of the same rank, the Ministry of Justice was far less influential than the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Rites, and the Three Departments. In addition, the position of Langzhong... is indeed not very prestigious, so your father's attempts to curry favor with him were somewhat negligent."

"Just for being negligent, you want to kill my whole family?" Tang Afu was furious.

"No, no, no! Neglect is a minor matter. The key issue is that the Ministry of Justice official at the time came from a modest background. If he wanted to make a name for himself in the officialdom, he needed wealthy merchants like the Tang family to support him. However, your father was unwilling to give his all to such an insignificant second-rate official. So he approached the Jian family, which was gradually declining and not favored by his colleagues. The two sides reached a cooperation agreement, determined to use the Tang family's wealth to pave the way in the court, and then support each other to reach high positions together."

At this moment, Tang Afu's fists were clenched so tightly they were cracking, but his tone was frighteningly calm: "And then? Go on!"

"Then... the tragic Tang family case, where they killed the goose that lays the golden eggs, occurred." Shen Dongshan's voice grew softer as he spoke, afraid of angering the increasingly irrational Tang Afu and suffering collateral damage. "The Jian family has deep roots in the Ministry of War, with generations of soldiers in the ranks, and they keep many elite soldiers in their household. Therefore, it was the Jian family's soldiers who carried out the attack. And the official in the Ministry of Justice is well-versed in criminal law, possessing both power and means. With him interfering, the investigation into the Tang family's wrongful conviction was inevitably hampered at every turn, and ultimately, the truth could not be revealed..." "You're pushing all the blame onto them? Have you forgotten yourself?" Tang Afu glared at the tense Shen Dongshan with bloodshot eyes, gritting his teeth as he asked, "Since they need a constant stream of financial support, they can't be satisfied with just robbing the Tang family's money. You swindled my family's property... I suspect you were also involved!"

"I swear to God, I was only targeted by them afterward." Shen Dongshan was shocked and quickly defended himself. "At first, I really knew nothing. It wasn't until after the Tang family was murdered... that they came after me. They threatened me with their power, forcing me to participate in the aftermath, which meant poisoning those twenty-five thieves... At that time, I was just starting out, insignificant and powerless. How could I dare to offend them? To save my life, I could only sink deeper and deeper. My dear nephew, you should know that I was truly forced into this situation!"

"So, it turns out that Master Shen supported them all along, until the real culprit rose from a lowly official in the Ministry of Justice to the position of Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty." To prevent Tang Afu from clinging to Shen Dongshan, Wu Shuang quickly changed the subject, "Brother Tang, the other party is the Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty, you must think twice!"

"Hmph! So what if he's the Prime Minister of the Great Song Dynasty? Such a lowly scoundrel, I..."

"Ah Fu, don't get agitated. As the saying goes, karma is a cycle, and retribution is inevitable. That person... is already dead," Shen Dongshan said cautiously.

"What?" Tang Afu and Wu Shuang both looked surprised.

"The root of this matter is closely related to Liu Xunyi. First, the imperial court's attempt to recruit him failed, then the Jianghu people caused a ruckus in Lin'an, and Liu Xunyi maintained a close relationship with the current princess, even using the Mongols to threaten the imperial power... As the head of the Eastern Palace, the Prime Minister is naturally guilty of all these things," Shen Dongshan explained. "In addition, the Prime Minister's political enemies took advantage of the situation, ultimately incurring the Emperor's wrath, and the Prime Minister's entire family was executed."

"This..." Tang Afu was taken aback, then after a moment's thought, he added, "Then the Jian family..."

"The Jian family perished even earlier," Shen Dongshan said with a bitter smile. "After the Tang family incident, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice rose rapidly through the ranks in the court, gradually gaining power. On the other hand, the Jian family never fared well. In the years that followed, they not only failed to make any progress but became increasingly worse off. With this shift in power, the Jian family gradually developed resentment towards the Prime Minister, believing that he was secretly undermining them. Finally, enraged, they used the Tang family incident to blackmail the Prime Minister, forcing him to promote a member of the Jian family to participate in government affairs. The Prime Minister outwardly agreed, but inwardly he loathed the Jian family. So, after repeated blackmail by the Jian family, the Prime Minister finally lost his patience and personally orchestrated a major treason case, directly exterminating the entire Jian family."

"Hiss!" The changes in the Jian family and the ruthlessness of the Prime Minister made Wu Shuang and Tang Afu secretly alarmed.

"This major treason case was handled by the Prime Minister himself. All the officials, from top to bottom, were his confidants. From the start of the investigation to the execution of the Jian family, it took only a month, a speed that is astonishing," Shen Dongshan continued. "At that time, the Prime Minister was deeply trusted by the Emperor and had immense power in the court. He did not follow the normal criminal procedure in investigating the Jian family at all. He executed them first and reported later. No one in the court dared to speak up for the Jian family. Therefore, the Jian family did not even have the opportunity to expose the Prime Minister's evil deeds before they were unjustly killed."

"So it was the Jian family!" Wu Shuang suddenly realized. "I've heard about this before. Although their entire clan was exterminated, not all of them perished. One person managed to escape, and this person played a crucial role in the Jian family's exoneration."

“If it weren’t for this person, I doubt Jin Fuyu would dare to make a deal with Afu about the truth of the Tang family’s massacre.” Shen Dongshan nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean?" Tang Afu was increasingly confused as he listened, and asked suspiciously, "Who is that person? And how is he related to Jin Fuyu?"

"That man narrowly escaped death and was later taken in by Jin Jianwu. He then told Jin Fuyu about the Prime Minister's past misdeeds and the Jian family's wrongful conviction, hoping to use Jin Fuyu's power to clear the Jian family's name." Shen Dongshan recalled the past while methodically answering Tang Afu's questions. "Jin Fuyu greatly admired this man and, to show his favor, took the initiative to approach the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister knew that Jin Fuyu was no ordinary rogue; he had the ability to kill the Jian family, but he wasn't confident in eliminating Jin Jianwu. Forced by circumstances, he reached a compromise with Jin Fuyu. The Prime Minister agreed to kill a few scapegoats to take the blame in order to clear the Jian family's name, but Jin Fuyu had to guarantee that the Jian family's descendants would never cause him any trouble, and that the past misdeeds would not be revealed." Half a point. Of course, you should know Jin Fuyu's character. Since he holds the Prime Minister's weakness in his hands, he will definitely use it. It's not a one-off deal. Based on this fortuitous coincidence, Jin Fuyu not only learned the reason for the Tang family's extermination, but also took the opportunity to board the Prime Minister's ship, allowing Jin Jianwu to rapidly grow in Jingjiang Prefecture. For so many years, the court has turned a blind eye to his identity as a descendant of the Jin Kingdom. Even the rumors that Jin Fuyu secretly harbored troops a few years ago were never substantiated and were left unresolved... Ultimately, it was all the Prime Minister's doing behind the scenes. Even I, Shen, was coerced by Jin Fuyu through both soft and hard tactics, and had no choice but to be "closer and closer" to him.

"That descendant of the Jian family..." Upon hearing this, Tang Afu felt a sense of déjà vu.

“He’s dead too.” Wu Shuang’s untimely voice rang out again, “He died in the Tanggula Pass amidst the swirling snow, and the one who took his life… was your good brother, Liu Xunyi.”

"What?" Tang Afu was taken aback and said in astonishment, "That person is..."

"It is none other than Jian Zhong, the 'Nine Lives Without Return' who was once ranked fourth on the Dragon Elephant List and whose name resounded throughout the martial arts world!"

……