Chapter 63 — Not Sure What Title to Give This, Bursting Their Bubbles?

Edited By DancingDolphinsYo

The attention of the crowd was drawn to the letters fluttering across the room. Other than Guan Shanjin and Man Yue, they all could not help but stare at the scattered papers landing slowly on the ground.

It still could not be seen for whom these letters were written. However, the name on the envelope was very big and clear, it was the name of the eldest son of the Yue family.

Whether veiled or direct, the gazes of the guests all fell onto the eldest Young Master Yue. Some could not help themselves, muttering to each other behind their hands, while Young Master Yue’s face turned ashen. It was evident that he knew where these letters were from, and he definitely knew they were not something that could be shown to the public.

“Hua’er! What’s going on?” The palms and back of Yue Dade were soaked in sweat. His ears were buzzing, and he could not conceal the trembling in his voice.

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He could not completely deny the fact that he knew what his son had done privately, and he even allowed him to do so. After all, as a businessman, profits were the most important thing. As long as there was a benefit for him, why would he reject any backing or support?

In the future, this business would belong to his son. For his son to know how to seek profits for his family, Yue Dade was at first extremely gratified. However, he had never expected that this matter would become something that could be held against him.

Young Master Yue looked lost. He stared at the letters covering the floor, and did not say a word.

Yue Mingzhu was, however, the first person to pick up a letter and read it. She had always been spoiled and did not care to show any respect to Guan Shanjin. Furthermore, the person Lu Zezhi loved was her, and he also needed the Yue family. His position in Guan Shanjin’s eyes was high above the rest, and she did not believe that Guan Shanjin could really do anything to their Yue family.

Who would have guessed that after reading only a few lines, Yue Mingzhu’s daintily made-up face would actually turn pale, and even under her blush, the grey-tone of her skin could be seen. She looked at her elder brother in disbelief, her hand that was holding the letter shaking tremulously.

“D-dage, t-this… this must be fake, right….” This letter was written by Young Master Yue, and from the name of the other party, it was very clear that he was a Southern Barbarian. The contents of the letter talked about smuggling saltpeter and salt, and even mentioned mercury. From the letter’s narrative, this was not their first contact; they had been communicating with each other for quite some time already.

In the Great Xia dynasty, there was not a large quantity of saltpeter, and it was mainly used in fireworks. However, during the rule of the previous emperor, someone had invented a weapon called a cannon, and although it still could not be officially used on the battlefield, the country had kept a tight control over saltpeter.

The Southern Barbarians managed to produce large quantities of saltpeter, and Yue Mingzhu had heard her father and brother mention it before. At that time, her brother had a lot of complaints about Guan Shanjin. Because of Guan Shanjin’s control, the saltpeter could not enter the country at all. The Southern Barbarians had no clue as to what it could do, and hence piles and piles of money were basically sitting there, unable to be used. This made one’s heart truly itch to do something about it.

As for salt, smuggling salt could really earn a lot of money. However, the country had very strict control over it, and if one was caught smuggling salt, the punishment ranged from being banished to the borders, to being executed. Although it was said that people had a tendency to pursue benefits and their own desires, and news could be heard about people selling smuggled salt, there had been a specific department set up to watch over the trade over a decade ago, and the news slowly petered out. Worse still was that Yue Zhonghua chose not to sell the smuggled salt to the country, instead selling it to the Southern Barbarians, and it was clear how much he was willing to risk to seek profits.

These two things were usually under Guan Shanjin’s control. The Southern Barbarians produced little salt, and most of it was rock salt. By exchanging these two items, the Yue family could be considered to have earned an enormous fortune, to the point where even lives were worthless to them.

Seeing how awful his daughter’s expression was, Yue Dade quickly picked up a letter himself. Before he could finish reading it, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he nearly fainted dead away.

“You vile spawn!” Yue Dade could barely breathe. Recovering from his giddiness, he threw the letter into his son’s face. “Look at what you’ve done! The Yue family— The Yue family doesn’t have a descendent like you!”

The letter actually mentioned the cannon!

“Father, no! Listen to me! I didn’t do this! I didn’t!” Yue Zhonghua’s knees crashed to the ground, desperately trying to explain to his father. Crawling on his knees, he went to Guan Shanjin, kowtowing non-stop as he pleaded his innocence. “Great General, please investigate this clearly! Although I don’t dare to say that I haven’t done anything against my conscience, I have absolute loyalty to Great Xia! The heavens can bear witness to this! I would never have such an exchange with the barbarians in the south! I’ll never jeopardise the country!”

His head pounded loudly into the ground, breaking the skin on his forehead. Blood dripped its way down, contrasting against his face that was white in fear, the whole image was terrifying.

“Then who wrote these letters?” Guan Shanjin did not call a stop to the proceedings. He extended his foot to step on the letters that had been spread open. On one of them showed the communication between the two, discussing how to smuggle seven horse carts of unrefined salt, eight horse carts of saltpeter, and ten jars of mercury.

In the letter was written explicitly, how they should avoid the Bastion City troops, where they should make the trade, what were the catchphrases used, how many people were there altogether and other information. Everything was listed clearly on the letter, and it showed how daring and meticulous the person who wrote the letter was.

There was a fairly large number of troops stationed in Bastion City, and to avoid them was not an easy task. The difficulty was only further compounded with the large number of goods they were transporting. However, one was willing to die for the aim of seeking riches, and when thinking about ways to make money, the brain would be very intelligent.

The path they took was through the river.

There was a river between Bastion City and the Southern Barbarians, and the closest spot of the river to the city was two miles away. Travelling upstream, there was a large swath of forest, and very few people were present there usually. During battles and war, as it was not easy to traverse through the woods, the army would also often detour around it. The forest grew along with the steep mountainside, and the trees grew in a complicated manner. If one did not pay attention, they would lose their sense of direction within.

This was where Bastion City’s defense was the weakest.

Yue Zhonghua too was well aware of this. Hiring some hunters and woodcutters, he slowly carved out a spot in the mountain, and built a few huts and docks for storing goods and transporting them. In this manner, he managed to earn quite a large sum right under Guan Shanjin’s eye in secret.

“I don’t know anything! I didn’t do anything! I was framed!” Yue Zhonghua did not say anything else, but repeated these phrases in tears. It was as though he had suffered the greatest grievance, and it seemed as though he desperately wished he could slam his head into the ground and die to prove his innocence.

Guan Shanjin stared at him icily, and did not move to stop him. It was only until Yue Dade too fell to his knees tearfully as he begged mercy for his son, did Guan Shanjin then lightly sigh. “Stand up, all of you. It’s a day of celebration, and I don’t wish to see blood as well.”

He then glanced over to Lu Zezhi, and the confused man, who was completely at a loss, finally returned to his senses, and opened his mouth falteringly.

“H-Haiwang, there must be a misunderstanding somewhere…” Lu Zezhi’s voice was feeble. How could he not understand what was happening here? For Guan Shanjin to toss out this evidence at this time, he must already have been very certain of the matter, and was only making a joke out of these people.

A chill spread through Lu Zezhi. Biting his bloodless lips forcefully, he did not even look at Yue Mingzhu who was silently pleading with him with tearful eyes. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Guan Shanjin, and in them was undeniable beseeching.

This beseeching was not for the Yue family, but himself.

“Why would laoshi think that it’s a misunderstanding?” Guan Shanjin looked at him with soft eyes, implying that as long as Lu Zezhi was able to explain it, he would be willing to solve everything for him.

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Lu Zezhi clenched his fists tightly, almost pricking his skin with his fingernails. His mouth fell open, and he hurriedly closed it again. Watching the Yue father and son kneeling on the ground carefully, he finally lowered his lids. “No, I don’t understand such matters. However, Haiwang has always been meticulous in doing things, and has never maligned anyone before. This, I’m well aware.”

“Lu Zezhi, what did you say?!” Widening her eyes, Yue Mingzhu started crying uncontrollably.

The motive in his words had been too obvious. It meant that he was drawing a clear line between himself and the Yue family, and even recriminating them, believing that the Yue family had truly done something against their conscience.

Yue Mingzhu shook her head continuously. Pressing her hand onto her chest, she stumbled two steps back, only to trip over the veil on the ground. If not for the matchmaker’s deftness, she would definitely have fallen unsightly in this wedding hall that she had been anticipating for half a year. Even so, it seemed as though she had lost the strength to stand up straight, and with a pale face and trembling body, she collapsed, leaning onto the matchmaker and her maid.

She stared straight at Lu Zezhi. This man, with his ethereal face, dressed in bright red wedding clothes, looked just like the highest of all immortals. With his lovely face, he seemed unmatched in this world. She had always loved this man and believed every word he said. For him, she even stood up against the Great Southern Garrison General and her own family.

And now, when the Yue family was on the brink of danger, in their wedding hall, this man did not even look at her a single time.

“Lu Zezhi…” Yue Mingzhu would never forget the day they met for the first time. Her discourteousness, abandoning all manners to meet this man, how her heart pounded, and how everything in her sight seemed to brighten up in beauty, as though flowers had bloomed all around.

Those bright colours, now, had all faded.

Her father and brother were still proclaiming their innocence and their loyalty to the country to Guan Shanjin. With half-lowered eyes, a smile curled around Guan Shanjin’s lips, and he did not respond at all. Man Yue seemed to have lost interest in the scene completely. Yawning, he picked at the plate of snacks next to Guan Shanjin and started eating. As for Lu Zezhi… Lu Zezhi… Yue Mingzhu shut her eyes. Two drops of tears fell, staining her wedding dress. She took in a deep breath, pushed away the matchmaker and her maid who were supporting her, and yanked off her phoenix coronet. Accompanied by the exclamations of guests, she removed her bright red wedding dress, and threw it forcefully to the ground. Without blinking, she walked across them, to where Lu Zezhi was standing.

Slap! The wedding hall descended into silence. The voices of Yue Dade, Yue Zhonghua and Madam Yue stopped, while Man Yue watched her eagerly with bright eyes. Even Guan Shanjin lifted his lids and looked over, but remained motionless.

Next came another slap. This time, Lu Zezhi was left bleeding from the corner of his lips, and red hand imprints quickly surfaced on both his cheeks. He seemed to be unable to recover his wits as he watched Yue Mingzhu speechlessly, and he even could not remember to dodge the third slap.

A slap resounded, and Lu Zezhi was forced two steps back.

“I, Yue Mingzhu, must have been blind to have treated you like a treasure! From now on, we’ll go down our own separate path! Even if I were to become a nun, I would never marry such an ungrateful ingrate like you!” Yue Mingzhu had used a lot of strength in her slaps, and even sprained her own wrist. However, it was as though she could not feel it. Pushing Lu Zezhi aside, she walked over to Guan Shanjin, and knelt behind her father and brother.

Whether her father and brother actually did those matters, as a daughter of the Yue family, she could never embarrass herself and her family. Honour one and you honour them all, harm one and you harm them all! This sort of backbone was still ingrained in her!

Guan Shanjin watched her for some moment, and chuckled lowly. “That’s some backbone you have. Mr. Lu can be considered to have a good eye. Enough, stand up now, all of you.”

The Yue father and son exchanged a look, neither daring to not stand up. Yue Dade hurriedly helped up his son, whose face had already been dyed a tragic red from his own blood, but did not dare to thank the general at this point in time. He felt uneasy, and that today’s matter could no longer be resolved so easily. Guan Shanjin would not let the Yue family off so easily, and the evidence in his hand definitely was not just these letters.

“As a general, I’m after all not a government official, and I only know a little about the criminal law. Hence, how your case would be judged would be entirely up to Official Fang.” Guan Shanjin’s smile and tone was still gentle, as though he was only chatting casually.

“I will definitely not cause any dishonour.” Official Fang stood up, cupping his hands respectfully.

The Yue father and son were a little more at ease. Against Guan Shanjin’s wrathful means, they had nothing but fear. However, now that the case was in the hands of Official Fang, they could be a little more relieved, and could even make some moves privately to their benefits.

“Right, Man Yue, don’t you still have another great gift prepared for Young Master Yue?”

How could Guan Shanjin allow them to catch their breath? He matured on the battlefield, and was raised in an aristocratic family in the capital which teemed with political intrigue. He was deeply aware of the importance of following up on his victory. It was just that he was only playing with the Yue family, like a cat teasing a rat.

“Aiyah! Just look at my memory, I nearly forgot about it! Young Master Yue, we do have some friendship between us. This present is from me to you, and there’s no need to be courteous about it.” Man Yue smacked his own head, smiling brightly as he bowed at Young Master Yue. With a wave of his hand, two tall, sturdy men dressed in the Guan family’s army uniform dragged a man into the hall.

Young Master Yue’s expression originally looked quite natural. Although his misery and grief looked a little affected, it was still enough to fool many people.

However, after seeing this man, he could no longer maintain his expression. His entire body shuddered, causing him to nearly fall, and his eyes were opened so wide, it seemed they were about to fall out of their sockets.

“This person is named Liao Chunqiu, and he’s from the capital. As for who his master is… heheh, Young Master Yue is definitely aware. He’s been telling some rather interesting stories, and the General has been listening with relish. He even forwent a few nights of sleep, and just wanted to listen to those stories.” Man Yue signalled his subordinates to lift up the man’s face. The man’s face was blank, and his eyes were bloodshot, looking just as though he would break down completely with just one more step.

The moment he saw Guan Shanjin and Man Yue, fear immediately overcame him. With trembling lips, he mumbled hoarsely, “I-I’ve told you everything already…”

Guan Shanjin did not look at him. It was Man Yue who pulled out a letter of confession from his chest, and handed it over to Official Fang with a smiling countenance. “Official Fang, as they say, every profession has its experts. I’m only an army ruffian, and I don’t know anything about the law, but I am somewhat skilled at getting confessions. Don’t worry, our general has never maligned anyone before, and has never forced anyone to say anything against their conscience. All the words in this letter have been expressed willingly by him, and this can be said to help you save some effort.”

“Many thanks to the General, I’ll accept it.” Official Fang did not reject the letter. He had long known what was going on, and now, he was only putting on a show with Man Yue in front of the crowd, so as to be fully accountable.

Yue Dade and Yue Zhonghua looked at that letter of confession being tucked into Official Fang’s chest, and they both collapsed onto the ground.

In their hearts, both of them knew that there was no longer any way to make a turn around. The Yue family was now done.

And all of this…. Yue Mingzhu glared hatefully at Lu Zezhi, wishing desperately that she could yank out all his tendons and peel off all his skin, biting into his flesh and blood.

The muttering crowd that had fallen silent thought, this time, the general is in a rage all because of a beauty.

Not knowing that, Guan Shanjin looked at the looks of comprehension in the crowd, covering his satisfied smile with his teacup.

What he wanted was exactly this.

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