Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 140 The Road to Revenge
Gu Zhanting sat in the presiding judge's seat, remaining silent throughout. His gaze lingered on Pei Qingyan and Huo Liancheng for a long time before he finally said calmly, "The method of soul searching is against the natural order. It should not be a measure chosen by the court unless absolutely necessary. You are both pillars of the nation, and after a multi-party joint trial, you could only come up with this kind of solution?"

Pei Qingyan sighed, knowing that this was just a high-sounding excuse from the emperor; he simply wanted to protect the Huo family.

The Huo family was doing many shady things for the emperor; some of these things weren't the Huo family's business, but rather the emperor's.

I just hope this isn't the case, otherwise it will be impossible to shake the Huo family's power through this incident.

Huo Liancheng bowed and said, "Huo Lu has already confessed. Menggui County Magistrate Shi Chong is indeed my protégé. Huo Lu is on good terms with Shi Chong, and thus he met Ying Gui through Shi Chong earlier. These were all personal actions, and I truly did not know about them. My failure to discipline him properly is my fault, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

Another official from the Court of Judicial Review spoke up: "We can't listen to the infant ghost's one-sided account, but we can listen to Huo Lu's confession? His Majesty is benevolent and unwilling to conduct a soul search, so why not ask the person involved, Lu Xingzhou, for his opinion? He is also in the capital."

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

Gu Zhanting looked at the expressions of all parties with amusement and said leisurely, "Then let's summon the parties involved for questioning."

Sheng Qingfeng was somewhat anxious. He really didn't want Lu Xingzhou to rashly get involved in this vortex, so he wanted him to hide. Whether the Huo family colluded with the infant ghost was a matter of tracing back to the past, what did that have to do with the victims? How would the victims know how you colluded before? There was absolutely no reason to summon the parties involved. Lu Xingzhou could have simply not shown up.

Therefore, both the Pei and Huo families wanted him to make an appearance to achieve their respective needs.

At this point, the Pei family, owing Lu Xingzhou a favor, felt embarrassed to continue using him as a pawn and dropped the matter; the Huo family, worried about Lu Xingzhou's attitude, also stopped mentioning it, since Lu Xingzhou was no longer involved. Unfortunately, the Dali Temple suddenly brought it up, and even if they did, why would the Emperor actually summon him?
Once the emperor speaks, there's no escaping it!
Helpless, Sheng Qingfeng could only order his men, "Go and summon Lu Xingzhou. He should be at my house right now."

The entire audience was filled with ellipses.

Gu Zhanting found it somewhat amusing: "Why would the person involved be at your home, my dear minister?"

Sheng Qingfeng bowed and said, "He saved my daughter yesterday, and I am hosting a banquet today to express my gratitude."

Gu Zhanting was about to say something with amusement when a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Lu Xingzhou has arrived."

Sheng Qingfeng looked up and saw his daughter pushing Lu Xingzhou's wheelchair into the main hall.

Lu Xingzhou looked at Gu Zhanting and gave a slight bow: "Greetings, Your Majesty... Please forgive me for being unable to perform the full ceremony due to my poor health."

The biggest advantage of pretending to be lame is that you don't have to kneel even when the Emperor himself is in front of you.

Gu Zhanting's gaze fell on his legs, but he didn't suspect anything. He then carefully examined Lu Xingzhou's overall appearance.

Aside from his disability and wheelchair, his appearance and demeanor were impeccable. To suddenly meet the emperor, especially in such an environment filled with high-ranking officials, was incredibly stressful. For a cultivator, it meant being watched by a group of top-tier experts.

In this kind of environment, most young kids probably wouldn't even be able to speak coherently, but Lu Xingzhou remained calm and composed... This performance alone shows that he is no ordinary person.

No wonder he was able to help his daughter rise rapidly from such a lowly state in a short period of time.

He finally smiled and said, "I heard you're here to take the Dan Academy's exam. If you pass, you won't be called a commoner anymore."

This attitude stirred something in everyone's hearts. Even Huo Liancheng and his son Huo Xingyuan looked at Lu Xingzhou seriously again, their thoughts unreadable.

Lu Xingzhou said, "I appreciate Your Majesty's kind words."

Gu Zhanting said, "In the Huo Lu case, you are both a party involved and a victim. Do you have anything to say?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "Regarding the so-called Holy Maiden of Joyful Union, although there were demon women present, it is impossible to determine whether they were the masterminds. Theoretically speaking, the Infant Ghost is a third-rank demonic cultivator, while the Holy Maiden of Joyful Union is a novice, only a fourth-rank cultivator. Who is in charge and who is subordinate? Isn't that reversing the natural order? If you ask me for my personal opinion, I would suspect that this is a kind of self-hypnotic protective measure, which is to prevent others from superficially searching the soul and confusing the public."

Pei Qingyan suppressed a laugh. Meng Guan remained expressionless.

Gu Zhanting also seemed to smile: "So you believe that the Huo family is indeed behind the infant ghost?"

"I am unaware of the past events and dare not comment, but I can say that it was indeed Huo Lu and the infant ghost who attacked me from both sides."

Even Gu Zhanting was taken aback this time. Was this guy really going to take advantage of the situation and bite the Huo family?
Is he genuinely interested in acknowledging his ancestry, or does he have other intentions?

But Lu Xingzhou continued, "This humble subject has another matter to file a complaint!"

Gu Zhanting asked with interest, "What complaint do you want to file?"

"This humble citizen accuses Huo Jin, the fifth young master of the Huo family, of colluding with the demonic Yama Palace to hire assassins. First, under the pretext of Huo Jin's invitation, he invited Chu Qingchen, the direct descendant of the Huanhua Sword Sect, to a banquet, where he ambushed and attempted to assassinate him; then, he used the same tactic again, inviting me to a banquet with the intention of intercepting and killing me on the way. Fortunately, this humble citizen was prepared in advance, thus avoiding repeating the same fate as Brother Chu." Lu Xingzhou bowed again: "The Huanhua Sword Sect is a prestigious family, and Brother Chu, ranked seventh among the rising stars with a promising future, was secretly harmed by someone colluding with demonic cultivators. I beg Your Majesty to grant justice!"

The audience was silent.

Gu Zhanting raised an eyebrow, his expression becoming quite interesting.

He realized that Lu Xingzhou probably guessed he didn't want to use the infant ghost case to target the Huo family, otherwise he wouldn't have dragged it out until today, waiting for Huo Lu to be escorted to the capital. So he simply didn't dwell on the case. Anyway, the Huo Lu case could at least pinpoint the Huo family's lax discipline, and they couldn't escape punishment. He might as well add insult to injury by also accusing Huo Jin of colluding with demonic cultivators.

No matter how Huo Liancheng tries to clear his name, his family's way of managing the household will become a laughing stock, and he will also solidify the hatred between the Huanhua Sword Sect and the people.

Sheng Qingfeng's expression was equally fascinating. Colluding with the Demonic Path's Yama Palace? Are you talking about yourself?
Huo Liancheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Huo Jin has never left the capital. How could he know the so-called demonic cultivators of the Yama Palace? Huo Jin invited Lu Xingzhou to the banquet simply because there was a previous conflict, and he wanted to settle the score. It is unreasonable to link the Ye Wufeng case with this banquet."

Gu Zhanting laughed and said, "Lu Xingzhou, accusations must be based on evidence. You can't just make assumptions based on someone inviting you to dinner, can you?"

“Of course there is evidence.” Lu Xingzhou took out a small mirror from his pocket: “This is the Yama Palace’s record mirror. The Yama Palace usually uses this to keep records when discussing big business deals. It’s not only to explain to superiors that they didn’t kill people randomly, but also to prevent the employer from changing their mind.” Huo Liancheng and Huo Xingyuan’s expressions immediately changed.

Few people in this world know about the rule in the underworld of secretly leaving evidence. Even if they did, where did you get this mirror?

Sheng Yuanyao, standing beside him, smiled and took the mirror, handing it to her father. She had witnessed the entire process of Lu Xingzhou going to the Yama Palace branch to retrieve the mirror; the people from Yama Palace even knelt and bowed to Lu Xingzhou… Oh, by the way, this rule of keeping records was personally established by Lu Xingzhou a few years ago.

This melon is so delicious!

Huo Liancheng said, "Wait, how did you get your hands on something from the Yama Palace? Could it be a forgery?"

"Ha...Grand Tutor Huo has been staying home taking care of his birds for too long, how come he's so out of touch?" Lu Xingzhou said calmly, "Last night, the Yama Palace issued a notice saying that Ye Wufeng disregarded the rules and has been expelled. The evidence against him was delivered to his door by the Yama Palace to show that they were drawing a line between themselves and Ye Wufeng."

Sheng Qingfeng asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty..."

Gu Zhanting nodded: "Release it."

Ripples flashed in the mirror, and although the reflection wasn't very clear, Ye Wufeng and Huo Jin's faces were still clearly recognizable.

"If we create an environment where Lu Xingzhou is alone, would the Soul Collector dare to kill him?"

"Your Huo family has a good plan. You say you're alone, but then everyone will see that it was the underworld that killed Lu Xingzhou, and you can wash your hands of the whole thing?"

"The Soul Collector is overthinking it..."

"Then prove it to me."

"How to prove it?"

“There’s a kid named Chu Qingchen that I don’t like… You guys create an environment for him to kill some people, and show him how you do things.”

"Bang!" Gu Zhanting slammed his fist on the table in anger: "Is this what you call not knowing him! The Huanhua Sword Sect is a prestigious and righteous sect. Chu Qingchen may very well become a pillar of our Great Qian Dynasty in the future. Is this how you playboys and demonic cultists lose your lives?!"

The influence of the Huanhua Sword Sect is not to be underestimated. In modern times, it would be a case of a powerful and wealthy playboy murdering a graduate student from a top-tier university, a sure-fire trending topic.

What's even more infuriating is that it's just a game-like add-on, existing only as a "deposit".

If the sect leader of the Huanhua Sword Sect finds out, he'll fight the Huo family to the death.

But who knew that the Underworld had such evidence on file, and they actually eagerly handed it over!
Lu Xingzhou said leisurely, "It seems that not only is the fourth son of the Huo family incompetent, but the fifth son is also incompetent..."

From his words, it was clear that he was still only targeting the good-for-nothing members of the Huo family, and had no intention of expanding his reach to the entire Huo family. Huo Liancheng and Huo Xingyuan understood perfectly well what he meant, and they both knelt down: "Your Majesty, we have failed in our duties to manage our families, and we are willing to accept severe punishment."

Gu Zhanting looked at Lu Xingzhou, who simply smiled slightly and said nothing more.

Gu Zhanting took a deep breath and said calmly, "Huo Lu and Huo Jin colluded with demonic cultivators and harmed the nation's rising stars. The evidence is irrefutable. Effective immediately, all their hereditary titles are revoked, they will be given one hundred strokes of the cane, and imprisoned for three years. Huo Lu has already suffered serious injuries, so the caning is temporarily waived. Huo Xingyuan has failed in his duty to educate his son and manage his family properly. He is demoted one rank and ordered to compensate the victims, the Huanhua Sword Sect and Lu Xingzhou, until the victims are satisfied!"

The Huo family father and son kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Pei Qingyan, Sheng Qingfeng, and the others watched coldly, but they were all slightly shaken.

They thought Lu Xingzhou would need to rely on them to deal with the Huo family, but in reality, he didn't rely on them at all from beginning to end. It was entirely Lu Xingzhou's doing.

Although it didn't shake the foundation of the Huo family... the blow was still considerable. The Huo family, which was originally known for its large number of members and had six legitimate sons, is now essentially ruined, with one dead in Xiazhou and two others imprisoned for three years for their infamous reputations.

With only three left, the thought of Lu Xingzhou watching their every move from outside must have filled them with dread and kept them awake at night.

He was truly trying to single-handedly plunge the entire Huo family into fear and torment, step by step.

But given this disparity in strength, what would he do if the Huo family went all out? The Huo family hadn't been pushed to that point before, and didn't want to earn the reputation of "killing their son," but that didn't mean they couldn't kill him. If they were truly pushed to the limit, there was no reason why they couldn't kill him.

Pei Qingyan was pondering in his heart when he saw that Gu Zhanting seemed to be about to leave. He suddenly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, speaking of family traditions... I must also apologize."

Gu Zhanting paused for a moment, then asked, "Oh? What is it, my dear minister?"

"Eighteen years ago, I had a one-night stand and left behind a daughter who wandered the world, but I never knew about her. I have only recently found her, and I am ashamed to be a father."

Not only did Sheng Yuanyao's eyes instantly brighten, but even Gu Zhanting became interested: "Why are you telling me this?"

Pei Qingyan bowed his head: "I am willing to accept any punishment, only asking to obtain a title for my daughter, so that she can be free from the slander of being an illegitimate child and return home in glory."

Gu Zhanting seemed to be thinking: "This... is also a great damage to your reputation. Even if you feel guilty towards the child, you should discuss it with me privately... Is there some inside story behind bringing this up at this time?"

"Yes." Pei Qingyan said solemnly, "My daughter was taken in by Young Master Lu Xingzhou after she fell into the Jianghu and he helped her find her family. This is a great kindness. I am speaking of this openly so that some people will know that if there is any attempt to assassinate her like Ye Wufeng, it will be the same as plotting to assassinate my daughter. The Pei family of Hedong will fight to the death with them!"

(End of this chapter)