The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

It must be said that this meeting revealed a lot of surprising information, such as the matter concerning Emei.

"Ning'er, come back with your master and your master's wife. I have something to say to you."

Before leaving, Yue Buqun said to Jiang Ning.

"Yes, Master."

Jiangning Road.

After Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze went to their room, Feng Buping also returned to his own room, but he still looked dazed when he left.

It seems that the content of this meeting had a great impact on him.

"sit down."

Yue Buqun sat down at the table and gestured for Jiang Ning to sit down as well.

After Jiang Ning took his seat, Yue Buqun spoke.

"When you left Dengfeng last time, your master and several factions were still busy seeking justice for those people."

Yue Buqun was referring to returning the gold, silver, and land to the people.

"After several months of efforts by all factions, a considerable amount of silver and land has indeed been returned to the persecuted people, but a considerable amount of silver is still in our hands."

The gold and silver totaled over 400,000 taels, and the land amounted to over 1 million taels. However, after distribution among the various factions, over 200,000 taels of gold and silver remained, and a considerable amount of land was left, worth over 400,000 taels of silver.

The main reason was that many people had died, and no one could inherit the returned family property, so it remained in their hands.

After discussions among the various factions, it was unanimously decided to distribute the land, worth over 400,000 taels, to the poor people, while the 200,000 taels of silver would be divided among the factions.

However, although there was a lot of silver, not much was distributed among the various sects. Except for Shaolin, which did not receive a single coin, each sect received a small amount. Even Wudang received tens of thousands of taels, while Huashan Sect received 20,000 taels.

Yue Buqun planned to use part of the money to help the poor and part to cover the sect's expenses after returning to Mount Hua.

Jiang Ning had no objection to Yue Buqun's decision, but he told Yue Buqun about the gold and silver he had buried when he was suppressing bandits in Shandong.

Yue Buqun was taken aback and asked, "How many?"

Jiang Ning did a rough calculation. "It should be over 800,000 taels."

Yue Buqun gasped.

Chapter 458: Past Events Fade Away with the Wind (17/26)

"so much?"

Yue Buqun was shocked.

They didn't have this many bandits in Shaanxi a couple of years ago; these mountain strongholds in Shaanxi were all incredibly poor.

Jiang Ning then recounted the bandits he had previously suppressed in Jiangnan and the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver he had hidden. Yue Buqun gasped in shock once more upon hearing this.

"Let's talk about the money later."

Yue Buqun had no idea how to allocate the money. The Huashan Sect's current funds were sufficient for expenses and relief for the people, so he planned to leave them untouched for the time being.

Anyway, the silver is buried underground, and we can get it whenever we want; there's no rush.

"Ning'er, you..."

Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning with a complicated expression.

The fact that Jiang Ning was able to find so much silver in those mountain strongholds clearly indicates that it wasn't just a simple sweep of one or two strongholds; it was obviously a systematic sweep of them one by one.

However, he didn't say anything.

With Jiang Ning's martial arts skills, suppressing bandits would be a piece of cake. What we need to warn them about are their conspiracies, tricks, poisoning, ambush, and other extreme methods.

Yue Buqun discussed some more things with Jiang Ning, mostly about matters within the sect, until it was quite late before Jiang Ning left.

"call."

Yue Buqun breathed a sigh of relief.

He checked Jiang Ning's body before leaving.

He was shocked when he heard that Jiang Ning had suffered such serious injuries and almost died. He was afraid that Jiang Ning might have some hidden injuries, so he decided to have him checked.

To his surprise, Jiang Ning was in excellent health, without any hidden ailments or injuries.

This relieved Yue Buqun.

After watching Jiang Ning leave, Yue Buqun prepared to return to his room to rest, but found Ning Zhongze looking at him expressionlessly.

"what happened?"

Yue Buqun sensed something was wrong and tentatively asked a question.

Ning Zhongze maintained the same expression as before.

How many things are you hiding from me?

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun knew that his wife was upset.

"This one……"

Yue Buqun pondered a solution in his mind and quickly responded aloud.

"A little bit."

Ning Zhongze raised his voice. "Is this just a little bit?"

"If it weren't for tonight, I probably wouldn't have known that you've been hiding so many things from me."

Ning Zhongze was furious.

It is said that couples who have gone through thick and thin will depend on each other for life. They have been married for decades and have overcome all kinds of hardships together. They have developed the Huashan Sect, which started with just the two of them, to its current state. It can be said that they have put in a lot of effort. Ning Zhongze believes that Yue Buqun has no secrets.

Now she discovers that Yue Buqun has been hiding so many things from her, which makes Ning Zhongze very angry.

She was so angry that she didn't want to talk to Yue Buqun anymore.

"This one……"

Yue Buqun was speechless, then walked to Ning Zhongze's side, but Ning Zhongze turned her back to him.

"lady."

Yue Buqun sighed. "This matter is a secret of my Huashan Sect. Even I only learned about it before my master passed away. My master instructed me not to reveal this matter, and the fact that he didn't tell you beforehand shows that he didn't want you to know."

Ning Zhongze questioned, "What about what happened after that? Why weren't you told?"

Yue Buqun was speechless once again.

Receiving no answer, Ning Zhongze pressed again, "Does Ning'er also know about these things?"

Yue Buqun fell silent upon hearing this.

Ning Zhongze didn't hear the reply from behind and also fell silent.

After a while.

Ning Zhongze spoke again.

"We've come this far together, and yet you've kept so many things from me. Even Ning'er knows, but I knew nothing. Can't I share your hardships? Can't I know?"

Yue Buqun sensed something was wrong.

Ning Zhongze's voice began to choke up.

When Yue Buqun turned to the other side, he discovered that Ning Zhongze was already in tears.

Yue Buqun sighed inwardly and gently embraced Ning Zhongze.

Ning Zhongze did not struggle, but buried her head in his arms and silently shed tears.

Yue Buqun didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only remain silent.

After a moment, Ning Zhongze's voice rang out again.

“I know you don’t want me to bear all this yourself. I also know you’ve worried a lot about the Huashan Sect. But I’m also a Huashan disciple and your wife. You shouldn’t keep it from me. I have the right to know all this. We can face it together. Even Ning’er knows about these things, but you won’t tell me. Do you think I’m so unreasonable? Can’t I face this with you?”

Ning Zhongze's voice was much calmer, but it still carried a hint of sadness.

"It's my fault."

Yue Buqun sighed, hugged Ning Zhongze tighter, and sincerely apologized. "I was worried because you've done so much for Mount Hua and didn't want you to know about these intrigues and schemes. I overlooked your thoughts, and it was my fault."

Ning Zhongze did not speak again.

After a while, Ning Zhongze spoke softly.

"Let me go."

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun released Ning Zhongze and looked at her face. Ning Zhongze's face was covered in tears, her eyes were slightly red and swollen, and her makeup was ruined.

"Humph."

Ning Zhongze noticed that Yue Buqun was looking at her, so she snorted and turned her head away.

She knew she must look terrible crying right now.

Yue Buqun did not want to embarrass Ning Zhongze, and said, "Madam, let me fetch a basin of water for you to wash your face."

Ning Zhongze knew her makeup was smudged, so she nodded.

Yue Buqun left the house to fetch a basin of water, but stopped abruptly as he was about to return to his room, his face showing hesitation.

After a while, Yue Buqun went to the kitchen, intending to use the Emei Sect's kitchen to make some ginseng soup.

……

The next day.

Jiang Ning rested for a night and prepared to go out for a walk early in the morning.

He planned to go and take a look at Yue Buqun.

After last night's discussion in the side hall, Jiang Ning had a premonition that Ning Zhongze might argue with Yue Buqun.

I don't know how my master handled it.

With this thought in mind, Jiang Ning arrived at his master and mistress's house, only to find it empty. He had no idea where the two had gone.