Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 247 The Unjustly Accused Son Who Died with Unresolved Feelings
"Stop! Stop it!"

Enraged, Cui Gui raised his hand and slammed out a palm strike. The force of the palm was so fierce that it shattered almost everything in the room with just the force of the palm strike, and it blasted towards the head secret guard.

Bang!
The leader simply raised his hand and casually blocked with his knife, easily neutralizing Cui Gui's angry attack.

"Don't rush to grieve, because besides him, there's the entire Cui family!" The secret guard gripped the sharp longsword in his hand, revealing a chilling sneer.

"how come?!"

Cui Gui was both shocked and terrified. Although his family's ancestral martial arts were only incomplete, their true energy was strange and resembled the scorching Yang energy. The ferocity of his palm strikes was enough to make him the most powerful among those of the same realm. He had even used this move to kill a master of the Finger Profound Realm when he was at the Vajra Realm.

Now, however, it was easily neutralized by the secret guards in front of him.

"You seem quite surprised?" The head guard smiled knowingly. "At the Finger Profound Realm, true energy seems to be a balance of water and fire, but in reality, fire is real while water is illusory. The sword strikes unorthodox, extremely fierce and domineering. Ordinary people indeed cannot withstand this move."

"such a pity……"

"You have no idea just how skilled my prince is in martial arts."

"The martial arts that the Cui family relies on to pass down their skills can't even reach the third level in the Secret Guard's Scripture Pavilion. Trying to play such tricks on me? Ha, you're just showing off your limited skills in front of an expert."

boom!
A very clear sound of bones breaking rang out. Before Cui Gui could react, his body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the wall not far away, and uncontrollably spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The five internal organs shift, and vital energy dissipates.

With just one strike, the Cui family patriarch, who had concealed his strength for many years, was rendered unable to move.

Cui Gui's face was ashen. He had thought the secret guard in front of him was strong, but he hadn't expected him to be this strong. He couldn't even see the opponent's move clearly, and he himself was already severely injured.

If the other party wanted to kill him, it would probably only take a snap of their fingers.

At this point, Cui Gui could only manage a forced, awkward smile, pleading in a mournful voice, "My lords, I truly do not know what my rebellious son has done, nor do I know that he has the audacity to offend His Highness Prince Su. I leave him to your disposal."

"I am so concerned for my son that I acted rashly for a moment. I am willing to offer 100,000 taels of gold, deeds to twenty properties in Taiyuan, Pingyang, and Shunde, and a hundred acres of fertile land to atone for my sins. I hope that you gentlemen will show mercy and spare me and my family."

"Mr. Cui and his family are deeply grateful and will present you with a grand gift every year for the next ten years."

Cui Gui did not want to die. He was a Zhi Xuan master and the head of the Cui family in Taiyuan. Although he was already forty-two years old, with his Zhi Xuan cultivation, it would not be difficult for him to live to ninety-nine.

If he could save his own life, he naturally wanted to take Cui Luo with him.

But now that Choi Rao is crippled and he himself is imprisoned, Choi Gyu has abandoned his son Choi Rao without hesitation, intending to use him and a large number of 'gifts' to quell the anger of the secret guards, or rather, to shut them up.

"That's quite a generous gesture!"

The head guard revealed a mocking smile, but dismissed Cui Gui's words with disdain: "But the problem is, after killing you and your son, the Cui family ceased to exist. Giving us what rightfully belonged to His Highness is utterly ridiculous."

Upon hearing this, Cui Gui's heart sank to the bottom.

What he worried about most happened.

I never expected these guards to be so stubborn.
loyalty?

He doesn't believe it.

That leaves only one possibility: the benefits he sees as enough to tempt even a Grandmaster of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm are not of high value in the eyes of these secret guards, at least not high enough for them to simply show a little leniency.

What Choi Kyu found even harder to accept was...

What do you mean that the Cui family ceased to exist after the deaths of the father and son?
Is it possible?
Cui Gui stared at the numerous secret guards in front of him with bloodshot eyes.

"Don't look at me like that." "You guessed right, of all the members of the Cui family, only you and your father are still alive."

The head guard then changed the subject: "However, if you can give me a satisfactory answer, maybe I can spare your life?"

"I……"

Cui Gui shuddered, clearly tempted, but after a moment's thought, he reluctantly decided to gamble on that slim possibility.

He knew this might be his last chance to demonstrate his value.

"The Cui family colluded with the Demonic Sect, intending to deal with His Highness. What part of the plot are you responsible for? And what is the Demonic Sect's conspiracy?" The voice of the head guard was ethereal and seductive.

Cui Gui replied almost subconsciously, "I don't know. A month ago, the Demonic Sect approached me and promised me many benefits. They only asked my Cui family to cooperate and use the salt and iron industry and the Cui family's trade routes to transport some goods to Datong, Baoding, and Zhengding."

"what?"

"Gunpowder, a huge quantity of gunpowder."

The guards' pupils contracted, and even the leader was moved. For Cui Gui, the head of the Cui family in Taiyuan, to speak of such weighty matters was no small feat.

What are those evil cult members and those rats hiding in the shadows doing smuggling so much gunpowder to those places?
After the initial shock, the secret guard quickly calmed down and continued to press, "What about the others? Do you know anything about the plans of those remnants of the demonic cult?"

"I don't know. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even have known that the other party was a remnant of the Demonic Cult."

Choi Kyu replied with a pained expression.

The members of the Demonic Sect came and went without a trace, and the person he contacted was a Grandmaster of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm. Cui Gui ordered people to investigate, but naturally, they found nothing.

"You know nothing, so why would you willingly serve them?"

Cui Gui didn't struggle and confessed directly: "On the third day after they contacted me, to show their sincerity, they promoted me directly from the fourth-rank Transport Commissioner to the Prefect of Huaiqing Prefecture. Their methods are extremely powerful; they can even influence promotions within the Ministry of Personnel. So..."

In the past, Cui Gui and the Cui family held great power in the local salt transport commissioner's office.

However, compared to the prefect who governs a region, they still lacked real power.

In just three days, Cui Gui, who thought his career was over, was promoted to prefect, and the appointment was made by the Ministry of Personnel. Naturally, Cui Gui believed the words of those people from the Demonic Sect and was willing to risk his life for the sake of entering the cabinet in the future.

"I see!"

"do not want!"

Cui Gui let out a wail, only to see a flash of cold light before his eyes, and blood suddenly spurted from his neck. He couldn't understand why the secret guards would suddenly kill him. He glared at the person in front of him, making a 'hoarse' sound in his throat, as if to say that they had broken their promise.

Master Zhixuan's vitality was quite tenacious.

Even if their throat is cut, they won't quickly become discouraged.

The head guard looked at him mockingly and said, "Before you die, I'll give you one more piece of information for free."

"Your appointment was not due to the efforts of the Demonic Sect. It was simply because Grand Secretary Jiao Fang was brought down, and many of his former protégés and subordinates were removed from office. The Emperor then purged the Ministry of Personnel's recommendations, which the Demonic Sect learned about in advance and used to lure you with benefits."

Upon hearing this news, Choi Kyu's eyes widened, and he clutched his neck, collapsing heavily to the ground in disbelief.

In other words, the Demonic Sect didn't contribute a single penny; they only relied on a message from the prophet to completely manipulate Cui Gui and the Cui family, making them willingly risk their lives and leading the Cui family down this path of no return?
Cui Gui, who had spent half his life shrewdly calculating and thinking himself clever, was not only taken advantage of by the remnants of the Demonic Sect, but also had his entire Cui family ruined because of it? Was he just a fool and a great victim?
Filled with intense resentment and bitterness, Cui Gui stared wide-eyed in death, his face still filled with regret.

(End of this chapter)