Chapter 1248: Revenge (1)

Although Qi Haoran did not restrict his sons from learning schemes from others, he still hoped that their strategies would be based on open schemes. Hence, he’d never brought Little Bear to watch an inquisition by torture, let alone those especially bloody tortures.

In his opinion, witnessing brutality would change people. He could bring his son to the battlefield to kill the enemy and let him see the cruelty and bloodiness of the battlefield, but he was not allowed to torture and beat people personally, not even criminals and captives.

Therefore, when Little Bear saw the dozen or so bandits tied up in the corner, he used emotional and reasonable persuasion. Seeing that the other party was unmoved, he changed his strategy to one of temptation.

This time, the bandits responded. Two of them opened their eyes and sneered at Little Bear in disdain. “With the enemy who has slain his father, one should not live under the same heaven. Not to mention gold and silver, it’s useless even if you bring the entire world to me.”

This time, Little Bear was horrified. Meeting Little Treasure’s questioning gaze, he defended loudly, “He’s talking nonsense. How could I have killed his father considering my young age? I’ve only slayed enemies on the battlefield. Even if his father is a soldier of Great Jin or Great Yuan, he can’t blame me for the war between the two countries.”

That’s right, how could an individual be blamed for the war? Little Treasure immediately persuaded, “Uncle, life and death on the battlefield can’t be considered a personal grudge. Moreover, there are so many people on the battlefield. How can you be sure that your father was killed by my cousin?”

Livid, the bandit fell backward and spat, “Pfft, you think a little kid like you can kill my adoptive father? When my adoptive father died, you were still wearing diapers.”

This time, it was Little Bear’s turn to be displeased. He jumped up and said, “Then why did you claim that you have a grudge against me for killing your father! Weren’t you maligning me?”

“Hmph, although you didn’t kill my adoptive father, your father did!” The bandit sneered. “The son pays the debt of the father. It’s a pity that we couldn’t kill you. Otherwise, we’d no longer be ashamed to see my adoptive father in the afterlife.”

Little Treasure’s expression darkened as he asked, “Who is your adoptive father?”

This time, the bandits stopped talking and just sneered at them, their eyes filled with hatred.

Little Treasure and Little Bear looked at each other. Seeing that they couldn’t get them to spill, they could only retreat.

“From their expressions, they don’t look like they’re lying. Could it be that my father really killed their adoptive father?” Little Bear scratched his head and said, “Then, did they set up a stockade so close to the capital to kill my father?”

Little Treasure’s expression darkened. “Not necessarily. Fourth Uncle never kills people indiscriminately. That person either deserves to die, or Fourth Uncle was acting under Royal Father’s orders. If those men are seeking revenge, they’re probably targeting both Fourth Uncle and my Royal Father. Otherwise, why would he raise so many private soldiers?”

No longer children, they weren’t naive enough to believe that the establishment of a country came about peacefully, with joy and laughter. Plenty of blood must have been spilled in the process.

However, if one really counted seriously, Fourth Uncle had mostly only killed people who deserved to be killed. Ever since the founding of the country, the only ones in the grey area were probably the aristocratic families.

Using the excuse of hidden households and tax evasion, Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran dealt with many aristocratic families. Of course, such issues did exist with the aristocratic families that were dealt with. The key, however, was that these problems were not big issues across the dynasties. While the previous monarchs mostly turned a blind eye and let them off, Qi Xiuyuan did not choose to do the same.

“Could it be that some aristocratic family’s matriarch vomited blood and died from anger because of my Royal Father and Fourth Uncle?” Little Treasure guessed.

Other than that, they could not think of anything else.

Just as they were at a loss, a soldier ran down the mountain and reported to Fei Bai, “Sir, quickly go up and take a look. There’s a tunnel up there and there are many things inside. There’s even a portrait of a person in the hall inside, said to be the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord.”

“Bullsh*t. Who would worship the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord in a tunnel?” As Fei Bai spoke, he was about to follow the soldiers up the mountain. When he turned around, he saw the two young masters looking at him with bright eyes.

Fei Bai could only stiffen and say, “Why don’t Your Highnesses come along to take a look too?”

It was better to let them openly follow him than to have them sneak there.

Little Bear and Little Treasure nodded with smiles. Thinking of how Fei Bai had been working under Qi Haoran all along, other than Mu Yangling, he should know Qi Haoran’s matters the best. Little Bear told them what the bandits had said and asked, “Do you remember if my father killed any important figures?”

Fei Bai replied, “Anyone King Rong kills is a big shot. Your Highness, you shouldn’t ask this. Regardless of whether they want to rebel or take revenge for their fathers, to King Rong, everyone he kills deserves to die. They range from generals who commit treason to corrupt officials. At the very least, they are generals who malfeasance and cause huge casualties to the soldiers.”

“There must be a select few who have the ability to recruit so many soldiers and possess so much gold and silver, right?”

Fei Bai thought for a moment and finally shook his head. “No one in particular. Most of the people King Rong killed have this ability.”

Little Treasure and Little Bear looked at each other. It seemed like they could only continue interrogating the bandits. Otherwise, it would be too scary to leave such a group of people behind.

Little Bear muttered, “I haven’t seen any assassination attempts on Father so far.”

Fei Bai said proudly, “Do you think the guards in our residence are just decorations? They were meticulously trained by King Rong. If the assassins really come, I’m afraid they’ll be hacked to death before they can reach King Rong. King Rong’s martial arts might not be the best in the world, but there aren’t many in the world who can compare to him. The assassins wouldn’t easily attack if they aren’t confident of success yet.”

Fei Bai said proudly, “The moment they make a move, they’ll have revealed their objective and whereabouts. I’m afraid their nest would long have been exterminated by us. How can they still run around like this?”

The group chatted as they ascended the mountain.

The entrance of the tunnel was in the coffers of the mountain stronghold. After the soldiers counted the gold, silver, and treasures inside, they moved them out and recorded them. After they finished shifting out the things, some golden sand fell to the ground. In such instances, it would be divided among the low-grade soldiers since the higher-ups didn’t care for this bit of golden sand.

Therefore, the soldiers happily took a broom and swept it. Then, they realized that a section of the floor was loose. When the soldiers saw that there was a lot of golden sand leaking into the crack, they immediately dug up the tiles. Unexpectedly, they discovered the tunnel.

As they walked down the tunnel, they almost fainted from fright. The ground was hollowed out, and it was as big as several coffers. There were some weapons, armor, gold, silver, jewelry, and various calligraphy paintings, drawings, and books piled up inside. It was obvious that they were very valuable.

What made one’s heart turn cold the most was a portrait enshrined in the middle. With bright eyes and a gorgeous beard, many soldiers felt that the person in the portrait looked very much like the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord in the temple. Not only did it induce feelings of fondness, but the portrait’s subject also looked like a wise elder.

There was still a freshly lit incense in the incense burner on the table in front of the portrait. Someone must have come to light it before the stronghold was attacked.

Fei Bai almost fell to the ground when he saw the portrait that was praised by the soldiers. He pointed at it, speechless.

An idea flashed through Little Treasure and Little Bear’s minds. They immediately knew that this was the adoptive father of the bandits. The two of them carefully sized up the middle-aged man in the painting. He was indeed kind and wise, and induced feelings of fondness. After searching their memories, the two of them shook their heads in unison. “We’ve never seen this person before.”

When Fei Bai came back to his senses and heard this, he immediately rolled his eyes and said, “Considering this person died long ago, it would be strange if you guys had seen him before.”

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