Union

Chapter 42 Take action
Chen Er was so heartbroken that words failed him. Just when he was burning with anger and his hands and feet were trembling, someone came to his door, saying that they wanted to buy the Shang family's house.

Seeing that Chen Er remained silent, the man assumed that Chen Er was trying to put on airs.

Fortunately, he had received instructions before he arrived, and immediately told Chen Er that the price was not a problem, but the master needed it urgently and hoped that the matter could be settled today.

Hearing this, Chen Er felt even more devastated. His face contorted with rage, and he looked as if he wanted to kill someone.

Finally, Chen Er forced a smile and explained the whole story to the man. Upon hearing that the Shang family's house was no longer for sale, the man's face immediately changed, and he ran out as if his pants were on fire.

Upon receiving the news, Wu Shixun's heart skipped a beat. He feared that the new magistrate had already discovered the Shang residence, and his mind was in turmoil. He immediately went to the Shang residence through the secret passage, only to encounter Qi Sou walking out.

Qi Sou was that thin, kind-looking old man.

Upon seeing the old man, Wu Shixun couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly and greet him with a smile, "Where are you going, Elder Qi?"

Qi Sou: "Go to Lingqu Village. There are some things I need to tell those people."

Wu Shixun nodded slightly, then asked Qi Sou, "Didn't Qi Sou go back yesterday?"

“I went back, but I received a message in the middle of the night saying that strangers had gone to the salt field. I was worried, so I came to ask my elder brother for advice.”

"What did my brother say?"

Qi Sou: "Go ask my elder brother. I have important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

Qi Sou left in a hurry. Wu Shixun watched Qi Sou disappear into the depths of the secret passage before turning his attention to find Magistrate Fan.

When Magistrate Fan learned that the Shang residence was no longer for sale, his eyes narrowed into slits.

He was fiddling with the walnuts in his hands, moving them quite quickly, making it clear at a glance that he was very restless.

After a long while, Magistrate Fan summoned someone, whispered a few words to him, and the person quickly left.

Half an hour later, the man finally returned, bringing news that both Magistrate Fan and Wu Shixun were eager to know.

The reason why the Shang residence was no longer for sale was because a descendant of the Shang family had emerged.

Early in the morning, they submitted a petition to the county government, claiming that the previous case had been wrongly judged and that the hundred or so members of the Shang family died with their eyes wide open in disbelief.

After the government accepted the petition from the descendants of the Shang family, it became difficult to sell some of the Shang family's assets.

Upon hearing this, both Wu Shixun and Magistrate Fan frowned.

Wu Shixun asked, "Does the Shang family still have descendants? Weren't they all dead back then?"

Magistrate Fan nodded slightly; "I personally supervised the executions of all members of the Shang family, so there's no mistake about it."

"How come there are still descendants of the Shang family emerging? Could it be that some escaped from the net back then?"

Magistrate Fan: "It's hard to say... Perhaps some of those who were sentenced to exile have returned."

Wu Shixun wanted to ask, most of those sentenced to exile were women; even if there were a few men, they were insignificant. Moreover, another wave of them were killed on the way, and only two or three escaped alive. And those two or three had already become somewhat estranged from the Shang family. Even if they were lucky enough to reach the place of exile, they would be too busy resenting the Shang family for implicating them to even think about seeking justice for the Shang family.

Furthermore, since he had been sentenced to exile, how could he easily return home? Had he performed a great service, or had he been granted a general amnesty? An amnesty was unlikely, and as for performing a great service... that was hard to say.

However, now is not the time to pursue these matters. Wu Shixun said, "In any case, this house is no longer safe. If the Shang family is truly exonerated, it's hard to say that the underground passage won't be discovered. In my opinion, shouldn't we move to another place while things are still under control?"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Fan glanced at Wu Shixun, then slightly closed his eyes.

He also knew that changing locations was the best option at this time, since their transaction was clandestine and if discovered, their entire family would be implicated.

But the Shang family has been operating in this place for more than ten years, and the underground space is even more interconnected.

Everything in the city was under his control, but outside the city was the territory of Wu Shixun and Zhao Xiong.

If the transaction were truly moved outside the city, his death would likely be imminent. Thinking of this, Magistrate Fan said, "Things haven't reached that point yet; let's wait and see. For now, we should send someone to investigate who exactly came to file the complaint. If they can be killed, then all difficulties will be resolved."

Wu Shixun looked at Magistrate Fan with a deep gaze, and his words were quite respectful as he readily agreed to the matter.

He then casually inquired about the saltworks matter that Qi Sou had mentioned earlier, saying it was quite troublesome. After lingering for a while, he got up and left.

Once Wu Shixun's footsteps could no longer be heard, Magistrate Fan beckoned to his trusted confidant, whispered instructions to him for a long time, and then waved for the man to go and do his job.

Everything that happened at the Shang residence was done in complete silence.

However, after locking onto the Shang residence, Sui Yun and the others had already thoroughly explored the surrounding area.

They also found several exits of the secret passage, and each exit was closely monitored. In this way, although they did not know what kind of conspiracy was taking place in the secret passage, by just watching the people going in and out of the secret passage and closely following their movements, they could guess their subsequent plans with a high degree of accuracy.

Amidst this intense surveillance, the time for the transaction finally arrived.

Early in the morning, Magistrate Fan was filled with unease.

Fortunately, things were calm outside, and no bad news came through.

Everything was proceeding according to plan, but his eyes were still twitching, as if bloodshed was imminent.

Fortunately, the transaction was eventually completed smoothly, and Magistrate Fan breathed a sigh of relief.

This transaction involved a huge sum of money, and he had deliberately prepared extra stock, hoping to make one last big profit. After this deal, he would likely have to retire and live a quiet life for a few years. However, to actually pocket all that gold, he would need to clear some obstacles first.

Magistrate Fan subtly glanced at the people present.

Qi Sou is one of their own; Wu Shixun and Zhao Xiong can't be allowed to live; Jiao Niang is adept at playing both sides, seemingly dissolute and charming, but actually ruthless. Then there are those few men who bought the property—they reek of fish and aren't particularly good-looking…

These people cannot be offended; we can only wait for them to leave.

These buyers, who reeked of fish and were not particularly attractive, were more cautious than Magistrate Fan and his companions.

Despite having been trading for over a decade, they remained vigilant. After inspecting the goods one by one and confirming there were no oversights, the group moved their goods and quickly disappeared into the darkness of the night.

The Shang family's old house was located on the outskirts of the city, just a few steps away from the city gate. However, it was not necessary to go through the city gate to leave the city, because there was a Yuntong River not far behind the Shang family's house.

The Yuntong River is crisscrossed by a dense network of waterways, and once inside, even a thousand pursuers would find it difficult to catch up.

However, before the group could even board the ship, shouts of killing suddenly rang out from all around. Realizing they had been ambushed, the group cried out, "Oh no, we've been tricked!" Their eyes widened in horror, and they threw down the sacks they were carrying and ran away.

But they were already surrounded and trapped; there was no way they could escape now. Even though a few of the braver ones jumped into the water, hoping to escape by waterway, they didn't expect there to be a large net in the water. They threw themselves into the net and were caught red-handed.

The sounds of fighting were deafening, and Magistrate Fan and his men at the Shang residence were easily alerted. Before the servants on duty could report, they already knew they had fallen into a trap.

For a moment, they didn't bother to investigate who had attracted the pursuers. They grabbed the two boxes of gold and tried to run away.

During his escape, Magistrate Fan felt a bone-chilling coldness from behind. He instinctively dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow.

Despite his unassuming appearance, Zhao Xiong possessed exceptional swordsmanship. Seeing that his first strike had missed, he raised his sword again and slashed at Magistrate Fan, shouting, "You can leave, but leave the gold behind!"

Magistrate Fan couldn't dodge in time and was about to be snapped in two by the shrug. Just then, someone rushed over and pushed him, shouting, "Brother, run!"

Magistrate Fan glanced back and saw Qi Sou clinging tightly to Zhao Xiong's waist. Zhao Xiong then raised his knife and stabbed Qi Sou right through.

His purplish lips were pressed tightly together, and his eyes were filled with malice. As he turned a corner and was about to disappear from sight, Zhao Xiong pulled the bloody knife from Qi Sou's body and then hurled it at him.

Magistrate Fan, already recovering from his injuries, suddenly collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way. At the last moment, Jiao Niang pulled him up, and the two narrowly escaped death, quickly disappearing into the winding tunnels.

Thank you Tinglan for the book points, thank you all for the recommendation votes, and thank you everyone for your support of this book. Mwah!



(End of this chapter)