Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 99 Clan and Siblings

Su Shuang was murdered between Yicheng and Moxian in Hejian, on the east bank of Baiyangdian Lake.

The Zhang He family now lives in the northern suburbs of Mo County, very close to Baiyangdian Lake. They discovered the bodies—many bodies—while reclaiming land near Baiyangdian Lake, hidden among the endless reeds of the lake.

At first, Zhang He's family did not know whose body it was; they simply reported the matter to Mo County.

After investigating, the officials of Mo County notified the surrounding counties. Subsequently, the transport station of Fangcheng in Zhuojun went to check and confirmed that it was Su Shuang's people, and found Su Shuang from there.

When Su Shuang returned to his hometown, he took the Jidong Road overland route, from Zhuoxian to Fangcheng, then south through Hejian and Moxian, and finally arrived in Anping.

This is also the fastest route from Zhuoxian to Anping.

Moreover, Su Shuang had already made two safe and sound trips before this.

To facilitate transportation, Su Shuang would borrow some carriages and horses from the transfer station in Fangcheng each time. This was actually a way of making special arrangements to ensure passage.

Knowing that Su Shuang was short-handed, Liu Bei specially ordered Qian Zhao to send men to escort Su Shuang—Liu Bei's troops were private soldiers, and it was indeed inconvenient to send them out.

Qian Zhao sent dozens of soldiers to accompany and protect him, but to avoid suspicion, he did not display Zou Jing's banner.

Su Shuang himself had about two hundred family members and servants, and he also hired nearly three hundred laborers in Zhuo County for transportation by cart and horse.

A convoy of 600 people traveling on main roads is unlikely to encounter thieves.

Even if they encounter an unreasonable powerful family, they can't kill everyone; some people will eventually escape and report back.

But no, all the men Liu Bei and Qian Zhao sent out died—clearly, there were traitors within the ranks, and many of them.

Baiyangdian is located between Yicheng and Moxian counties. It is a complex waterway with both marshes and lakes, making it difficult for vehicles to travel.

Normally, carriages would avoid the swamps of Baiyangdian and detour through the northeast of Moxian County. Su Shuang, having been a businessman for a long time, was very familiar with the route.

But Su Shuang's body was in the swamp.

More than a hundred bodies were found in that place, including all of Qian Zhao's men. On the contrary, Su Shuang's family and servants were not many dead.

Upon hearing this news, Liu Bei instinctively felt that it was most likely the work of the Yuan family—including Fangcheng, all the county officials along this route were members of the Yuan family, and this route was the Yuan family's trade route for transporting horses.

Furthermore, the first to inform Zhuoxian and Machang of this news was a patrolman from Fangcheng Transport Station, who was Wen Shu's subordinate and Wen Shu's business partner.

But as one message after another came back, Liu Bei gradually felt a chill run through him.

“Young master, most of the people that Manager Su hired in Zhuo County were servants from the Liu clan… In the past few days, many large carts have been transporting goods to Dukang Pavilion in the east of Zhuo County, and the cart tracks are very heavy.”

This was accurate intelligence provided by Zuo Yuan. She would never pass on unverified information to Liu Bei, nor would she embellish it; everything was left to Liu Bei to decide.

Over the past year, Zuo Yuan has done a lot of intelligence work, placing spies in many places in Zhuojun.

Dukang Pavilion was the settlement of the Liu family of Zhuojun, and Liu Yuanqi's home was there.

“Brother Xuande, when Manager Su returned to his hometown, I sent sixty soldiers to escort him and specifically instructed them to send people to scout the way, but none of them returned.”

This was Qian Zhao's reply—he was always prudent in his work, and even on small-scale marches, he would always send people to keep watch along the way.

If something like this could still go wrong, then it means that Su Shuang's family and servants were the ones who caused the problem first.

"After the body was discovered a few days ago, Zhang was worried that this matter was aimed at the Zhang family, so he has been carefully investigating. During this period, many people from the Liu family of Zhongshan have been transporting goods to and from Hejian, but they have not entered Moxian County... It is likely that this matter is related to them."

This was after Liu Bei received the news, he sent someone to Zhang He again to confirm. Zhang He's family had discovered a large number of corpses near their home, so they were naturally on guard.

"My lord, the gambling den has seen a lot of new customers these past few days, mostly servants of the Liu family. They're gambling very aggressively, but it seems more like they're investigating something..."

This news came from the gambling dens in Xinting Market.

"My lord, there have been many people in the county buying servants these past few days. Xianhe arrested three people, all stewards of the Liu family, on the grounds of prohibiting the purchase of slaves... My lord, what should we do about this?"

This was the last piece of information Zuo Yuan sent to Zhuoxian to confirm.

As the messages were relayed back, they coalesced into an unbelievable result.

This wasn't done by the Yuan family. The person who murdered Su Shuang for money...

It was the Liu family!
Moreover, this was likely a conspiracy between the Liu family of Zhongshan and the Liu family of Zhuoxian... If nothing unexpected happens, Su Shuang's family members are also involved.

Su Shuang hired the Liu family of Zhuo County to help transport his property because he trusted Liu Bei.

Su Shuang's family and servants acted as inside agents with the Liu family of Zhuo County, and they also invited the Liu family of Zhongshan to join in the attack.

Liu Bei felt that this world was truly absurd.

Cao Cao kept his word in business, the Yuan family didn't cause any trouble after the dust settled, the Gongsun family remained quiet, and even Zhang Chun didn't make any moves...

Ironically, it was his own nominal relatives who murdered his own siblings.

Moreover, this was done in a very unclean manner.

Are all the Liu family members fools?

Or rather, they just do it without any restraint?
Indeed, although Su Shuang was wealthy, his social status was not high. He came from a background as a groom and servant, and no matter how much money he had, he could not become an official. At most, he could spend money to buy a commoner's identity and become a wealthy man.

But why?

Did you think no one could find out?

That's impossible. It's not just killing one or two people; it's killing over a hundred.

Even with an inside accomplice, there would still need to be at least several hundred people outside to completely wipe out Qian Zhao's subordinates.

Moreover, the spoils will inevitably be divided afterward. If you just arrest a few people who suddenly become rich and gamble and have fun everywhere, wouldn't they all reveal their secrets after interrogation?
The large-scale operation by the Liu family in Zhongshan could not be concealed at all. Even Zhang He noticed something was wrong and investigated. It is very difficult to keep such a secret.

In other words... the Liu family doesn't care about being exposed afterward; they only need to avoid any concrete witnesses in official circles.

They were certain that no one would care about this!
Liu Bei was now filled with rage.

He knew why the Liu family was so unscrupulous.

Yes, Su Shuang is dead, but who will report it? Who will seek revenge?

Are they Su Shuang's family?

Su Shuang's family members were also in cahoots; otherwise, they would have reported the matter long ago.

Su Shuang has many friends, but most of them are also businessmen who are either not here or will not participate... Moreover, it is common for horse merchants to encounter robbers on the road; this is part of the business risk.

The only one who will avenge Su Shuang is herself...

But his enemies were his own clan.

These days, who would go against their own family? Who dares to go against their own family?
Being labeled unfilial is more troublesome than death.

In their eyes, Su Shuang was not only an outsider and a stranger from another region, but also died in a distant county...

Mo County will not investigate, Anping County will not concern itself with it, and Zhuojun County will certainly not pursue this matter...

As long as the victim's family doesn't seek revenge, no one will care. That's how arrogant the powerful families are at this time!

But Liu Bei cared.

Screw clans!

Those who murder for money... they're nothing but bastards among our clansmen!
This is how the Liu family destroyed their empire!

"Zuo Yuan, Zhang Fei... Assemble the troops and follow me to Dukang Pavilion to arrest someone!"

Liu Bei gritted his teeth and spat out the words: "Send Zhangba to the mountains to deliver a message to Zuo Zi: the patriarch of the Liu family of Zhongshan... is going to be replaced!"

(End of this chapter)