Chapter 349: Chapter 234: He Who Lacks Venom Is No Great Man

"Father, my alliance with Lin Huai’an wasn’t for my own selfish gain! It was to get a good price for the old grain in our Liu Family’s warehouses."

CRACK!

Seeing Liu Taofang was still trying to change the subject, Liu Hong struck him again with the whip.

"I don’t want to hear your excuses!"

"Just tell me, what exactly did you and Lin Huai’an do for that silver!"

At this moment, Liu Hong had lost all his usual calm and composure. He glared at Liu Taofang with a grim expression.

Even though he was only dressed in simple white robes, he still carried an air of authority.

Liu Taofang, on the other hand, was a mess. His brocade robes were in tatters, with thin lines of blood seeping through the tears.

Even so, he remained kneeling ramrod straight on the floor, not daring to move a muscle.

His rather fair-featured face was filled with terror and indignation.

"I... I don’t know..."

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!

Liu Hong lashed him three times without mercy, leaving his flesh torn and bleeding.

"You don’t know, or you don’t dare to say?"

"Do you think I won’t find out what you did just because you refuse to talk?"

Liu Hong paused for a moment, glaring at him with ice-cold eyes. He asked in a low, heavy tone:

"Setting fire to the summer grain in the Three Towns—was that your idea or Lin Huai’an’s?"

Clutching his wounds, Liu Taofang looked up in astonishment and stammered, "Father, you... how did you..."

A flicker of rage flashed in Liu Hong’s eyes. Instead of reaching for the whip, he strode forward and kicked his son, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"You wretched son! You wretched son!"

"How dare you! The absolute nerve of you!"

"Father, Father, I was wrong! I know I was wrong..."

"You know you were wrong?"

"No, you’re not sorry. You’re just hurting from the beating!"

"How could you commit such a treacherous act? You... are you trying to get your father killed?!"

Listening to Liu Hong’s enraged shouts coming from the study, the smile on Liu Lang’s face receded slightly as understanding dawned on him.

’So they’ve found the person who burned the summer grain in the Three Towns. The one who gave thirty thousand gold to Black Tooth was actually Governor Liu Hong’s second son.’

’And who is this Lin Huai’an?’

After a moment’s thought, Liu Lang sneered to himself. ’It’s not important. As long as we have Liu Taofang, the boss can definitely dig up the others.’

’The boss even outmaneuvered and killed Liu Wen, the second son of the Jing State Liu Family. What’s one more second son from a lesser branch of the Liu Family to him?’

Liu Lang knew all too well how skilled Chen Yi was at scheming.

’Why rack my own brain when it’s so much easier to just pass this information on to Chen Yi?’

Besides, in his heart, Chen Yi, having achieved Great Success in the three Daos of Spear, Punch, and Blade, was already an existence comparable to an Immortal God.

He certainly wasn’t about to do anything unnecessary.

Just then, Liu Hong, who must have grown tired of the beating, threw the whip aside and said in a cold voice:

"Aside from that incident, was the recent rise in grain prices in the Prefecture City also your idea?"

Liu Taofang stiffened at the question. Clutching his wounds, he knelt up straight again and silently nodded.

Liu Hong stared at him for a long time, then suddenly sighed. "Fang’er, before you did these two things, did you think through the consequences?"

"I... I did think about it... Once the summer grain in the Three Towns was burned, the Xiao Family would become... become the target of everyone’s anger."

"And you weren’t afraid they would trace it back to you?"

Liu Taofang said in a low voice, "After discussing it with Lin Huai’an, I hired the Bright Moon Building to take action. They... they don’t know who we are."

Liu Hong gave him a noncommittal look. "If you don’t want anyone to know, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place."

"Luckily for you, the Xiao Family was prepared and killed all the attackers. Otherwise, with someone as capable as Xiao Yuan, how could he not have guessed who his adversary was?"

"Besides, your cousin Liu Wen also made a move, didn’t he?"

He paused, then continued to ask, "Before that, were you aware that Liu Wen was also participating?"

Liu Taofang subconsciously shook his head. "I didn’t know."

"After Lin Huai’an and I decided on the plan, I... I didn’t ask about it again. It was all handled by Lin Huai’an; he was the one who found the people."

"You didn’t hear a single word?"

"That’s right... But while I didn’t know my cousin Liu Wen was involved, I did know that someone else had approached the Bright Moon Building to do the same thing—burn the summer grain in the Three Towns."

"Who?"

"A man from the Jianghu, called ’Sword Madman’ Liu Lang."

Liu Hong’s brow furrowed slightly. "That name sounds familiar. I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere."

Liu Taofang quickly replied, "Father, have you forgotten? When Liu Jing first came to Shu State, he hired this ’Sword Madman’ through the Bright Moon Building to rob the Xiao Family Medicine Hall of its medicinal supplies."

"So it was him..."

Outside the door, Liu Lang couldn’t help but grin upon hearing this.

’This Liu Taofang is a real fool.’

’Leaving such a huge matter entirely in Lin Huai’an’s hands and knowing nothing about it.’

’No, he’s not completely ignorant.’

’Liu Taofang must have asked about it once at the beginning.’

’But he stopped asking questions later when the boss started going in and out of the Bright Moon Building.’

With that thought, Liu Lang went back to listening to the father and son’s conversation.

"Fang’er, you didn’t notice anything unusual after that?"

"Father, I... I don’t know what you’re referring to?"

Liu Hong looked at him with an expression of utter disappointment, cursing:

"Your cousin Liu Wen is dead, the Xiao Family’s Xiao Dongchen is dead, everyone from the Bright Moon Building and the military insiders in the Three Towns are dead—and you didn’t notice anything?"

"Stupid! Hopelessly stupid!"

"You, Liu Wen, and Xiao Dongchen were all played, and you didn’t realize a thing?"

Liu Taofang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when he saw his father’s face, he couldn’t get a single word out.

"Father, are... are you saying there was another group hiding in the shadows?"

Liu Hong snorted. "If I’m not mistaken, the person behind that Liu Lang put on the same show for all four of you: you, the Bright Moon Building, Liu Wen, and Xiao Dongchen."

Liu Taofang was stunned for a moment. "A show? He... Why would he do that?"

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