Chapter 893 – Northern Overlord (Thirty)
“Not long ago, everything was fine; how did it end up like this? Who on earth harmed him?”
The noble lady’s eyes were red from crying, and the tears rolling down her cheeks washed away the thick powder on her face, leaving two streaks behind.
Not just the noble lady, but her children kneeling beside her were also crying, and not far away, five or six illegitimate offspring wailed in utter despair.
The Old Patriarch and the Old Matriarch, who rushed over upon hearing the news, nearly fainted from grief.
“Who exactly harmed my son?”
“Oh, my son—”
The hall erupted into chaos, and the noble ladies who had come to attend the banquet displayed awkward expressions.
It was clear that now was not the time to take their leave.
A few noble ladies who had previously clashed with that lady discreetly pinched their napkins, covering their mouths to stifle their amusement.
Their gloating lasted only a few seconds before their servants brought horrifying news.
With the death of their husbands, their mansions were now surrounded by heavy troops.
How could this happen?
Those who had been reveling in their schadenfreude could no longer smile; their expressions froze in a twisted distortion, looking particularly sinister.
They reacted exactly like the earlier noble lady, doubting the veracity of the servants’ reports.
When the truth stood before them, they cried harder than the earlier noble lady, forgetting all about their dignity.
In an instant, a single thought emerged in their minds—who had killed their husbands?
Who else could it be?
A little inquiry revealed how their husbands had met their end.
They had attempted to assassinate two county officials, secretly colluding with the Northern Border aristocracy in a plot to overthrow Chongzhou from within!
But alas, history is written by the victors; their plan went awry.
The father and daughter of the Liu family had seen through their scheme ahead of time, turning the tables and striking them back.
The narrative was so believable that if their husbands weren’t the deceased, they might have truly bought it.
“Liu Zhongqing, this is slander out of thin air! Our ancestors have always been Chongzhou citizens; how could we conspire with the foreign tribes of the Northern Border?”
“This is clearly a scheme by Liu Zhi and her daughter to seize power, thus crafting unfounded charges against my husband—”
“Slander! It’s all slander!”
The noble ladies cried while shaking their heads.
Some with stronger wills tried to suppress their grief and stabilize the situation within their households.
Those with no ability simply sat on the ground, wailing like headless flies, turning the entire estate into a den of chaos.
No matter how much they cried and disrupted, the soldiers surrounding the estate showed no signs of retreating.
When someone dispatched a house servant to resist, they were immediately struck down by the soldiers.
Upon seeing that, they quieted down for a moment.
After a night of commotion, the various noble ladies and clan elders united their forces, intending to demand an explanation from Liu Zhi.
They indeed found Liu Zhi displeasing since she was an outsider who had dropped in, and the more authority she wielded, the less benefit the local noble families gained. Even so, they wouldn’t dare act against her; after all, she was backed by troops.
Of course, their restraint wasn’t due to mercy but purely because of Liu Zhi’s formidable strength.
Had she been without soldiers, she might have ended up like weeds in a graveyard.
They hadn’t laid a hand on her before, and now they were even less likely to.
One Liu Zhi was already difficult to handle; adding Liu Xi, who commanded ten thousand troops, made it even more untenable.
Even if they plotted, they would wait for Liu Zhi to step back before uniting to bully the young Liu Xi.
Everyone knew they wouldn’t dare harm the Liu father-daughter duo; why would they attempt an assassination at such a sensitive time?
This was clearly a trap set by someone with malicious intent!
Heavy troops guarded outside each family estate.
Only the noble ladies and clan elders could go in and out; everyone else was barred, making it an obvious house arrest!
Seeing this, everyone’s faces flushed with fury, and their gazes toward Liu Zhi turned murderous.
“Liu County Official, we hope you will provide an explanation for the slaughter of the noble families last night. Even if you are the county official, you cannot unjustly kill the innocent.”
An elder of considerable prestige spoke up, older than Liu Zhi and questioning her without courtesy.
Liu Zhi wearily raised a hand, and beside her, Jiang Pengji coldly interjected, “Does this need our estate to provide reason? Conspiring to murder the county official is already a crime deserving of annihilation of your entire clan. It’s already merciful that we haven’t come to your door for reckoning, yet you dare to bring false accusations on us! Truly deserving of being the local vermin of Chongzhou, you act without restraint; you truly open my eyes!”
The elder glanced at Jiang Pengji, who was dressed as a woman, and sneered, “What business of yours is there here?”
Jiang Pengji shot back, “I am the Wanzhou County Official; do I have the right or not? You Chongzhou noble families have concocted a great scheme, hoping to seize us and garner merit with the Northern Border Royal Court. Had it not been for the capable individuals guarding me, I would have been a goner by now!”
The elder was almost driven to hypertension by Jiang Pengji’s accusation of Chongzhou families plotting against them.
“It’s pure slander!”
Jiang Pengji let out a cold laugh, “Slander? How is that slander? Are you saying that my father and I deliberately stabbed ourselves to death just to slander you? Since you refuse to acknowledge it, I shall show you the evidence.”
Someone said, “Injuries can be faked; how do we know this isn’t a scheme by you two?”
Jiang Pengji responded, “What good does arguing do? Let the evidence speak for itself and see if you acknowledge it!”
With that, Jiang Pengji waved outside, and the young doctor entered, carrying a medical box.
This individual was old, familiar to all present.
He was a highly skilled doctor, the court physician of the Chongzhou families, and had close ties with each household.
He was also the one to tend to the injuries of Liu Zhi and Jiang Pengji; he knew best how severe their conditions were.
The doctor trembled as he revealed the truth.
Liu Zhi’s injuries were relatively light, but Jiang Pengji’s injuries were severe, with three wounds nearly hitting vital spots.
Who would joke with their own life for a trap?
At that moment, Li Yun arrived with a group, with several others carrying dozens of large chests behind him.
He nodded at Jiang Pengji, who caught the hint and smiled coldly.
“These items were all seized from your estate…”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the faces of dozens below changed drastically.
As soon as they had stepped out, the soldiers outside had burst in, acting as if they were raiding the house.
Jiang Pengji continued, “Take a look; are these things yours?”
The chests were opened one by one.
Inside were various bamboo slips, ledgers, and a few letters.
“This is the ironclad evidence of your treachery! I have only dealt with a few ringleaders, and not pursuing the culpability of your entire clan is already being extraordinarily merciful! Yet you ungrateful people dare to come and accuse us instead!” Jiang Pengji kicked one of the large boxes, which hit the ground with a thud, making the contents spill out and nearly bury a few nearby individuals. She declared forcefully, “The foreign tribes of the Northern Border are enemies; you have shamelessly plundered the lands of the Chongzhou people under their orders, driving them to poverty! With every drop of blood spilled, can you still slander us? As if that weren’t enough, you forced nearly ten thousand civilians into servitude, selling them cheaply as slaves to the Northern Border… Are these fabrications we have conjured?”
