Aoyama

Chapter 398 Silencing
The servants of the Chen family searched the streets on the right side of the mansion without success, and dared not disturb the dignitaries and nobles living there.

Xiaoman and the little monk seemed to have vanished into thin air, without a trace.

how could be?

The servants searched alley after alley, finally meeting up on Fuyou Street, where they looked at each other and shook their heads.

More than twenty servants gathered together: "Those two short-lived devils, could they have hidden in the Qi family or the Hu family?"

The person in charge, who was holding the Mountain Spirit Coin, shook his head: "The Qi family and the Hu family have officials in charge, how could they allow these two to act so presumptuously?"

The servants looked at him and said, "What do we do now? If we go back like this, we'll probably be beaten to death by the master."

The official in charge thought for a moment and said, "That little brat can only rely on the Zhang family now. Send ten men to keep watch in front of the Ministry of Personnel and another ten men to keep watch around the Zhang family. Don't give them the chance to seek refuge with the Zhang family!"

"Yes," the servants replied, and the group of men departed in two separate groups.

But as soon as the servant arrived in front of the Ministry of Personnel, he watched as Xiaoman pulled the little monk off the carriage and ran into the yamen.

The servant was startled, but there was nothing he could do.

In front of the yamen, Zhang Li was writing furiously on a blank scroll while kicking his horse's rump without even looking up.

He didn't seem to care where the carriage was taking him.

The servant blocked the carriage, asking in a menacing voice, "Why is Daoist Zhang Li hiding the person we are looking for?"

Helpless, Zhang Li had no choice but to stop writing, look up, and say earnestly, "My child, my master is a Grandmaster of the Divine Path Realm. How dare you speak to me like that?"

The servant's expression froze.

Zhang Li said with a smile, "I don't lose my temper because I want to be more approachable, not because I don't have a temper... Now get lost!"

The servants exchanged glances and hurriedly returned to the Chen residence to report the news.

When the person in charge, who was holding the Mountain Spirit Coin, arrived at the Qin Zheng Garden Council Hall, Chen Lizhi was smashing things, and the main hall was covered with broken porcelain.

There are so many fragments of Ru ware blue and white porcelain, Dehua white porcelain, and chicken-fat yellow porcelain bottles that there's nowhere to put them.

Chen Wende stood silently to the side. Every time Chen Lizhi broke a piece of porcelain, he would silently hand it to him, letting his father vent his anger. Seeing that all the porcelain in the room was about to be broken, Chen Wende walked to the door and calmly said, "What are you standing there for? Get some more porcelain."

The maid outside the door let out a trembling "Ah!"

Chen Wende said calmly, "What? It's better for the master to take his anger out on the porcelain than on you. Go on."

"Oh, oh," the maids and servants hurriedly ran to the storeroom.

Chen Wende looked at the steward waiting outside the door: "Come in. Don't worry, you haven't betrayed my second branch of the family. Father won't kill you. You're just stupid."

The steward forced himself to enter the council hall, concealed the Mountain Ghost Coin in his sleeve, and clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "My lord, Zhang Li, the chief disciple of the Huangshan Daoist Court, hid those two people and secretly took them to the Ministry of Personnel."

Chen Lizhi had just smashed a vase. He bent over, turned around, and stared intently at the person in charge: "What, do you think that by emphasizing that it was Huangshan's chief disciple causing trouble, you can prove that you're not a stupid dog? Why didn't you stop them in Qinzheng Garden? Why couldn't you even stop a little girl? Do you want to be drowned too?"

The steward whispered, "Master, all the skilled fighters we left in the manor have been eliminated by the eldest son's family. That little girl is exceptionally skilled; she's seen blood..."

Chen Lizhi chuckled nervously: "Yeah, they kill two of me every month, leaving me with a bunch of stupid dogs like you. Why don't they just kill me too!"

Chen Wende said in a low voice, "Father, be careful what you say."

Chen Lizhi slowly straightened up and said coldly, "We've already torn off all pretense of civility, so why be so careful with your words?"

The steward bowed and said, "Sir, Zhang Li ordered me to kneel as punishment at the City God Temple in Chongnan Ward..."

Chen Lizhi picked up a piece of Dehua white porcelain and smashed it on his head, cursing, "Then why don't you go kneel down right now? Do you want me to kneel for you?"

The official let the blood flow from his hair and replied in a low voice, "I'll go right away."

He was backing out the door when Chen Lizhi suddenly called out to him, "Wait."

The person in charge looked up and saw Chen Lizhi straightening his disheveled clothes, his face gradually becoming expressionless, a stark contrast to his previous demeanor: "You've scolded them, you've punished them, let's get down to business... Go and bring Liang Shi and Wang Gui here!"

The person in charge quickly replied, "Yes."

After the official left, Chen Lizhi sat in the armchair, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip of warm tea.

He dipped his finger in a few drops of tea, closed his eyes, and smeared it on his eyelids: "They're all useless."

Seeing that his father's emotions had calmed down, Chen Wende spoke up and said, "Father, I sent someone to Yuanjue Temple to inquire, and the young monk indeed did not reveal to outsiders what he had seen."

Chen Lizhi, with his eyes closed, casually said, "He didn't tell those bald men because he wasn't familiar with them. How do you know he wouldn't tell Chen Ji? The only people in this world who will keep a secret are the dead."

Chen Wende whispered, "Father, what about Yao Man and that little monk...?"

Chen Lizhi put down his teacup, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the armchair, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Under heaven, apart from the one in Renshou Palace and the poisonous minister in Jiefan Tower, who else would dare to arrest people in the Ministry of Personnel?

He pondered for a long time: "Go and pay a visit to Zhang Zhuo. Isn't he trying to implement his damn new tax law? Even the Xu family doesn't support him. If he just hands over these two people, the second branch of my Chen family can let him implement the new tax!" Chen Wende nodded: "Okay, son will go right away."

After saying that, he lifted the hem of his clothes, carefully avoiding the broken porcelain on the ground, and went out the door.

……

……

Chen Lizhi leaned back in his armchair, closed his eyes, and pondered. After an unknown amount of time, the head of the second branch of the family brought Madam Liang into the council hall and whispered, "Master, Madam Liang has been brought."

Chen Lizhi slowly opened his eyes and asked in confusion, "Where is Wang Gui?"

The steward hurriedly said, "Wang Gui is off duty today and didn't come to the manor. I sent people to look for him, but we found his house in disarray, and all his gold, silver, and valuables were gone..."

Chen Lizhi raised an eyebrow: "Why don't you just say he ran away?"

The steward bowed his head and said, "Master, Wang Gui has run away."

Chen Lizhi picked up the teacup beside him and threw it away: "Why aren't you going to catch it?"

The steward let the teacup hit his head without flinching: "I'll go right away."

Chen Lizhi suddenly frowned: "Wait a minute! Tell the canal gang to also send out men to look for Wang Gui. If they can't find him, then what I promised him is off the table!"

"Yes."

After the official left, only Chen Lizhi and Madam Liang remained in the council hall.

The doors of the council chamber slowly closed, and the light inside dimmed instantly, with only beams of light shining through the white paper into the room.

Chen Lizhi rubbed his cheeks, put on a smile, and said to Madam Liang, "Sister-in-law, please forgive my rudeness. These past years, the eldest son's family has ruined me, leaving me with nothing but useless people. Please sit down, please sit down."

Madam Liang did not sit down. She stepped on the broken porcelain and entered the hall, saying softly, "What business does the Second Master have summoned me here for?"

Chen Lizhi said with a smile, "That's right. I promised you earlier that I would help you take the lives of Chen Ji and Yao Man to avenge Chen Wenxiao."

After a moment of silence, Liang asked, "Did you succeed?"

Chen Lizhi smiled and said earnestly, "I will definitely avenge you, but you won't be able to see it."

Madam Liang was taken aback: "What does Second Master mean by this?"

Chen Lizhi got up and went to Liang's side to comfort her, saying, "Sister-in-law, you know too much."

Liang took two steps back, her embroidered shoes stepping on the broken porcelain, the shards rubbing against the blue bricks making a grating sound.

She said warily, "Second Master, Wen Zong is about to become the top scholar in the imperial examination. If something happens to me, how will you explain it to him?"

Chen Lizhi stepped forward calmly: "Sister-in-law, if you die, he will have to observe three years of mourning, so I naturally don't need to worry about him. But don't worry, Chen Ji and Yao Man will definitely die too. I can't sleep if they don't die. But sister-in-law, you know too much. I can't sleep if you live either."

Chen Lizhi walked forward step by step, while Liang Shi retreated step by step until she reached the doorway, where she had nowhere left to go.

Liang tried to push the door open, but it wouldn't budge.

Liang gritted her teeth and said, "I still have Chen Liqin's account book hidden. If you kill me now, you can forget about seeing the account book!"

Chen Lizhi grabbed Liang's neck: "Sister-in-law, don't you know? Wang Gui has already given me the account books!"

Wang Gui?!
Liang felt utterly devastated.

Chen Lizhi loosened his grip and sneered, "Sister-in-law, you can guard against anything day or night, but it's hard to guard against a thief within your own family."

Madam Liang struggled and said, "You're actually very afraid that the little monk will expose your shameful secrets, aren't you? What, are you worried that the eldest son's family will find out that you're the one who caused their line to die out? I had Dongzhi hide a letter with me a long time ago. If you kill me today, Dongzhi will hand this secret over to the eldest son's family!"

Chen Lizhi laughed loudly: "You think you're so clever? Even you could guess it, so why couldn't they? I hate them to the bone, and they hate me to the bone too!"

Suddenly, Madam Liang said, "Then what are you afraid of? What exactly did the little monk see in your heart? Could it be that you've conspired with..."

Chen Lizhi suddenly tightened his grip, choking Liang so hard she couldn't speak.

He looked into Madam Liang's eyes and said, "Chen Chi was just a son of a concubine back then. After my father died, that dog emperor in Renshou Palace made him the Minister of Revenue, putting him above the eldest son of the Chen family. In order to divide up the Chen family's property, your third branch colluded with the elders of the clan to favor this son of a concubine, helped him to be included in the family genealogy, and even added the character 'Lu' to his name. If a son of a concubine can become the head of the family, your third branch is also an accomplice."

"In other families, the eldest son is respected, but in my Chen family, power is divided among three branches, and a son born out of wedlock has usurped the position, making my family a laughingstock to the world. We guard against it day and night, but it's hard to guard against a traitor within the family. Blame you all, and blame that dog of an emperor!"

At this moment, Chen Lizhi exerted force with both palms, calmly watching Liang's eyes bulge and her tongue stick out: "No, no, we can't blame that dog emperor. We can't blame our Chen family's unworthy descendants for being so useless. We can clearly see that this is that dog emperor's open conspiracy, but our Chen family's descendants just had to walk into his trap. He only gave us the bait of the Minister of Revenue, and yet our Chen family has been fighting for more than ten years."

The light in Liang's eyes gradually dimmed, and she finally lowered her head.

Chen Lizhi released his grip, letting Liang fall onto the broken porcelain on the ground.

He knelt down and closed Liang's eyes: "Sister-in-law, go in peace. Putting aside others, Chen Ji will definitely not survive. It's a pity that he spent his whole life hoping that his son would become the top scholar in the imperial examination, but he died and blocked his son's future for three years."

(End of this chapter)