Chapter 348: Chapter 233: How Dare You

The poison was simply too terrifyingly potent; within a few breaths, it had corroded most of the victim’s internal organs.

The middle-aged man was also aware of his condition. He looked at him for a long moment before suddenly sighing, "Thank you."

Chen Yi shook his head slightly. "How about a more substantial show of gratitude?"

"Answer a few of my questions, and I’ll let you leave your last words."

After a pause, he stared at the middle-aged man and said, "I’m sure you don’t want the family business you worked so hard to build to just disappear, do you?"

Although Chen Yi wasn’t certain if the man’s wife was responsible for the poison, he knew that an audacious and reckless man like this one would never be content to die in such a manner.

After a moment of silence, the middle-aged man slowly nodded, his voice low as he said, "Fine."

Chen Yi was not surprised by his choice and asked directly, "Tell me about tonight."

"What were you, Liu Hong’s son, and Mr. Lingchuan discussing?"

The middle-aged man seemed surprised that he knew about this. He hesitated for a moment before answering, "Business."

"Young Master Liu’s family owns a great deal of fertile land and has hundreds of thousands of *shi* of grain in storage. He wanted me to help him sell it."

"So that’s why you manipulated the grain prices?"

The middle-aged man was stunned. "You... How could you know?"

’As I thought,’ Chen Yi said, "I wouldn’t have come looking for you if I weren’t fully prepared."

The middle-aged man figured that made sense and continued, "Young Master Liu needed too many silver coins. The usual grain prices wouldn’t be enough for him, so I came up with this Method."

"What Method?"

"Burning the summer grain of the Three Towns to create a famine? Or using the Xiao Family’s large-scale grain purchase as an opportunity to drastically raise prices?"

"You... you..."

Seeing the middle-aged man’s reaction, Chen Yi knew he had guessed correctly.

’These people really did it all for silver coins.’

Their plot was simple.

Once the summer grain in the Three Towns was burned, regardless of whether the Xiao Family had staged an inside job, the Dingyuan Army would need a large supply of grain.

This would inevitably cause grain prices in Shu State to soar.

Then, Liu Taofang could seize the opportunity to sell off his stored grain.

It was the same this time—Elder Master Xiao had been punished by the Holy Emperor and needed to replenish the grain for Iron Wall Town.

These people were seizing the chance to raise prices, most likely intending to force the Elder Master to buy grain at an exorbitant price.

Even more unscrupulously, once it drew the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, they could shift the blame onto the Xiao Family.

A scheme like this was nothing short of venomous.

Having figured it all out, Chen Yi asked in a cold tone, "Did you also burn down the granary in the East Market yourselves?"

The middle-aged man was even more astonished. "The granary was burned down?"

"You didn’t do it?"

"No, it wasn’t! The East Market stored as much as a hundred thousand *shi* of grain. I... How could I possibly do something like that?"

’It seems the incident at the East Market has a different cause.’

Chen Yi mentally noted this and continued his questioning, "Did Mr. Lingchuan come here to sell grain as well?"

The middle-aged man shook his head. "No, he didn’t."

"Mr. Lingchuan’s older brother, Lord Zhu Hao, has a shipment of ironware. He came here to entrust me with completing a transaction with King Landu, the Bandit King of Poshisu Country."

’Bandit King, King Landu... Horse bandits?’

Chen Yi’s brow furrowed slightly. This was the second time he had heard that name.

The first time, he had heard it from Lou Yuxue. Back then, the White Tiger Guard’s Golden Banner Officer, Jiang Xing, had mentioned contacting this person.

He just hadn’t expected that this King Landu wasn’t a Prince or Marquis from Poshisu Country, but the leader of a band of horse bandits.

’What would the White Tiger Guard want with him?’

However, now was not the time to investigate this matter, so Chen Yi simply said:

"Privately selling ironware to another country is high treason."

The middle-aged man nodded with a bitter expression. "I am just a merchant. If there is profit to be made, I don’t think about other things."

Chen Yi was well aware of that. He snorted. "Last question. You’ve targeted the Xiao Family several times now. Is there any other reason for it?"

"N-no, there isn’t. We just found it opportune. Both times, our actions happened to make the grain prices rise faster."

"Is that all?"

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, coughing weakly. "We... we only did it for silver coins. We never wanted to harm the Xiao Family..."

’Harm them? How could Chen Yi not know the truth?’

The reason these people targeted the Xiao Family was simple—the Xiao Family’s power was declining, and they refused to associate with them.

Even if someone else had been in the Xiao Family’s position, they would have acted just as ruthlessly.

Thinking of this, Chen Yi gave him a deep look. "You have half an hour to get your affairs in order."

With that, he rose and started to walk out.

However, when the corner of his eye caught a piece of paper spread out on the desk, he stopped and picked it up.

He saw that it was not written in the script of Great Wei, but in lines of strange, foreign-looking characters.

"Is this the Poshisu script?"

The middle-aged man opened his mouth, wanting to take it back, but seeing that Chen Yi was holding it firmly, he could only nod helplessly. "Yes."

"It’s for King Landu?"

"Yes..."

Chen Yi grunted in acknowledgment, put the paper away, and walked straight out of the study.

The middle-aged man watched him disappear, a desolate expression appearing on his face.

"Don’t blame me, sigh..."

"I’m about to die. How can I care about so much?"

Before he had even finished speaking, he used all his remaining strength to sweep everything off the desk, roaring desperately:

"Guards!"

"Lin Huai, Lin Cheng, get in here, quickly!!"

In an instant, several Guards arrived in the rear courtyard and rushed anxiously toward the study.

"Master, what’s wrong?"

"The one... the one who harmed me was my wife! Get... get her, and her whole family!"

"I want them dead!"

The people in the other rooms also came out to see what was happening when they heard the commotion.

Only the middle-aged mistress in the main hall was left slumped on the bed in disbelief, muttering endlessly.

"No, Master, Master, it wasn’t me..."

Before long, the middle-aged man’s voice came from the study again: "Go... summon my son..."

Chen Yi listened quietly for a moment, then slipped away.

The backlash from a dying man was bound to be bloody.

’But what did that have to do with him?’

’Still, he was lucky someone had made a move to poison the man; otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have been able to interrogate him and get anything tonight.’

「A short while later.」

Chen Yi returned to Spring Lotus Garden, changed out of his Night Clothes, and stood calmly by the window, gazing at the bright moon in the night sky.

Tonight’s events had truly exceeded his expectations.

He had thought it was just a minor commotion, never imagining it would lead to so many other matters.

He especially hadn’t expected that the so-called "Financiers" would be so audacious—burning the grain supplies of the Three Towns just for silver coins!

He knew that if such a thing were exposed, it would surely bring about a disaster that would cost them their lives.

Not only would the nine generations of the Lin Family have to die, but Liu Taofang, Zhu Lingchuan, and everyone in their families would have to die as well.

’Merchants chase profits. Sometimes their nerve is even greater than that of the Princes and Marquises who command armies.’

’What’s more, they have Liu Hong and Zhu Hao backing them?’

’But what role do those two play in all this?’

’Liu Hong’s part is hard to say for now, but Zhu Hao must be guilty of heinous crimes.’

For a man who dared to privately sell ironware to horse bandits from Poshisu Country, "audacious and reckless" was not a strong enough description.

After a moment of thought, a cold look appeared on Chen Yi’s face.

’The Governor’s Office, the Capital Commandery, the Inspectorate Office, and perhaps some of the Noble Families they’ve roped in... ’

’A behemoth like that... I’m afraid ordinary methods won’t be enough to deal with them.’

Killing them would certainly solve the problem once and for all.

But if he did that, Chen Yi couldn’t predict what would happen to Shu State afterward.

It might trigger upheaval in the Imperial Court or other State Capitals.

That would probably make the Xiao Family’s situation even worse.

Thinking of this, Chen Yi took a deep breath, his expression gradually calming.

’Demons and monsters, fiends and foul creatures... whatever they are, they’ve all shown their faces now.’

’As for the rest...’

...

「Meanwhile.」

In a residence about twenty *li* from the Xiao Family estate, Liu Lang was watching a nearby study with great interest.

His mind had been in turmoil, spurred by Chen Yi’s Great Success in Saber Dao.

Who would have known that after following Liu Taofang back to the Liu Family estate, he would see the esteemed Liu Hong waiting in the courtyard.

What surprised Liu Lang even more was that the moment Liu Hong saw Liu Taofang, he immediately slapped him twice across the face.

Now, nearly half an hour had passed.

Liu Hong was still in the study, whipping Liu Taofang and roaring curses as he did so.

"You have some nerve!"

"Who told you to get involved with the Lin Clan Chamber of Commerce?"

"Do you have any idea what the Lin Clan Chamber of Commerce’s background is?"

"They’re people from the Ji State Trading Company! Are you trying to get me killed by associating with them?"

Listening to Liu Hong’s furious curses and Liu Taofang’s begging cries, Liu Lang couldn’t help but smile.

All this talk of the Lin Clan Chamber of Commerce and the Ji State Trading Company was nothing compared to the touching scene of "fatherly love and filial piety" before him.

Liu Hong had no idea someone was watching from outside and continued to yell:

"Speak! What have you been doing with that Lin Huai’an all this time?!"

"I... I didn’t..."

CRACK!

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