Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 172 Trophies

Li Feihu squatted down and slapped Lord Sun several times, one on each side, waking him up. Lord Sun's face immediately swelled up, with several clear finger marks. Li Feihu, still enraged, kicked him a few more times: "Serves you right for betraying me!"

Seeing that this person was being tactless, Liu Mubai simply stopped him.

Liu Mubai scoffed upon hearing this, raising an eyebrow and coldly glancing at him, "Oh? You think I really care about your offer of amnesty? That's just a temporary measure for me. I was just thinking that if we could reach an agreement, that would be fine, but if not, then forget it. Do you think I'm really afraid of you?"

Li Feihu and Liu Mubai strode up to Rong Wanying and the others, clasped their hands and bowed to express their gratitude: "We have already repaid your kindness in giving us medicine, and we are even now."

Rong Wanyin bowed and expressed her gratitude.

Liu Mubai squatted down next to Lord Sun and looked at him coldly.

"Didn't you want to pin the crime of murdering a high-ranking official on us? Then I'll make that crime befit us." Liu Mubai's eyes were sinister. As soon as he finished speaking, Lord Sun panicked and struggled to his feet. He stumbled back several steps and bumped into the wall, the ropes binding his feet painfully. His voice trembled: "What...what do you want to do? I'm a high-ranking official! You can't do this!"

Li Feihu grinned, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth: "We're mountain bandits, who cares if you're an official of the imperial court? Officials are just for show!" With that, he swung his meteor hammer with tremendous force, the iron chain slicing through the air with a piercing sound. But before the hammer could even fall, Lord Sun's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud, instantly unconscious.

“I failed in my duties this time, so the matter of offering amnesty is off. I’m taking these two corrupt officials back to the Tiger Head Gang and handing them over to the boss for punishment. You can clean up the rest…” Liu Mubai asked.

Yan Mingzhang nodded his thanks.

Liu Mubai and Li Feihu each picked up their "spoils of war" and walked out the door. Liu Mubai whistled, and several figures appeared like ghosts, dragging Lord Sun away. The group gradually disappeared into the night. Only Li Feihu's complaining voice could be heard: "You, Liu Mubai, you actually kept it from me and had a backup plan!"
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"Jade bottle? What jade bottle?" Uncle Liu sat in the chair, looking blank. Clearly, he really didn't remember.

Yan Mingzhang unrolled a scroll and laid it on the table. The scroll depicted a jade vase, with exceptionally detailed lines: "This is the jade vase. When the Zhang family assassinated my parents, your father ordered you to burn those items, but you took the opportunity to steal this jade vase."

Seeing Yan Mingzhang speak with such certainty, even recounting the details of the events clearly as if he had witnessed them himself, Uncle Liu's face turned deathly pale. His cloudy pupils trembled violently, and he immediately looked away, unable to meet Yan Mingzhang's gaze.

He forced a calm snort, forcing a stiff smile, and held up two fingers to indicate the size of the jade bottle, deliberately raising his voice: "Nonsense! How would I know anything about a jade bottle? It's only tiny, who knows if it's fallen somewhere..."

Yan Mingzhang raised an eyebrow, his expression changed, and he said in a gloomy tone, "Oh? I didn't say whether this jade bottle is big or small. If you haven't seen it, how would you know its size?"

Uncle Liu realized he had spoken out of turn and immediately fell silent.

Yan Mingzhang smiled slightly, his expression kind and gentle: "Don't remember again? Then I'll have Mo Yun help you think about it, to help you recall." After saying that, Yan Mingzhang gave Mo Yun a look, and Mo Yun stepped forward, picked up Sixth Uncle, and slammed him hard to the ground.

"Ouch, my back... my arms and legs!" Uncle Liu was thrown hard onto the study floor by Mo Yun. Everyone had been in trouble because of him this time, and Mo Yun wanted to vent his anger, so he hit him harder. "You, you, what do you want to do?"

Mo Yun pretended to be fierce and ruthless, rolled up his sleeves, and said in a deep voice, "Nothing, just helping you remember."

Uncle Liu looked at Changfeng and cried out hoarsely, "Changfeng! I'm your Uncle Liu! You have to save me! You can't do this to me!"

Changfeng looked troubled, but did not move.

"Sixth Uncle, didn't you say that you didn't participate in the assassination attempt back then?" Changfeng felt a wet cotton ball stuck in his heart. After so many years, he finally met a relative, but this relative was thinking about how to scheme against and harm him. What kind of relative is this!

Changfeng looked up at the ceiling, wiping away the tears in his eyes: "Sixth Uncle, tell me the truth, what really happened back then? Don't lie to me anymore."

These matters are, after all, internal grievances within the Zhang family, so it's better to let Changfeng handle them himself.

Sixth Uncle knew he couldn't hide these things any longer: "Back then... actually I went... because my father, your grandfather, received a secret letter commissioning us to assassinate Yan Lizhuo. The letter also contained evidence of Yan Lizhuo's crimes as a corrupt official. Your grandfather was a chivalrous man and hated corrupt officials the most, so he accepted the commission."

Sixth Uncle glanced at Yan Mingzhang with some unease: "Back then, your father and I both participated... After we finished the killing and were dealing with the evidence, we discovered that Yan Lizhuo was actually quite poor. All his belongings added up to no more than a cartload, and the paintings and calligraphy weren't anything famous; most were his own paintings. My father became increasingly suspicious after returning home, so he began to investigate. As a result, wherever he had served, the people praised him highly, calling him a good official. My father regretted it deeply, feeling that he had acted based on one-sided accounts and made a mistake, which he deeply regretted. However, just as my father was about to turn himself in, he was arrested on charges of murdering a high-ranking official..."

Although everyone had a general idea of ​​what happened next, Sixth Uncle remained silent.

“You must have found out about this beforehand from somewhere, so you went to the yamen to report it, right? That’s why the case was handled so quickly.” Yan Mingzhang stared into his sixth uncle’s eyes.

Uncle Liu's mental defenses had long since crumbled, and he nodded helplessly.

Changfeng's eyes were red and swollen: "Why didn't you say so before?"

“Changfeng, I’m not lying to you! In that situation, if I had reported it, at least the Zhang family could have kept me alive, and the Zhang family line wouldn’t have ended! Besides, the official in charge said that he would be punished leniently. I didn’t know it would be this serious…” Uncle Liu grabbed Changfeng’s clothes, sobbing with snot and tears, “Changfeng, you have to believe me! I am now your only blood relative in this world!”

"Sixth Uncle, do you even believe what you're saying?" Changfeng tried hard to control his emotions, closed his eyes, and tears streamed down his cheeks.