Chapter 527: Who Is a Small Character?

Chapter 527: Who is the Small Fry

Beneath Lion Mountain, at Zheng Jizhi's banquet hall.

Bloodstains still marred the single sofa that had once symbolized supreme status; the gouge pierced through by the Illuminating-Courage Long Spear gaped like an ugly, silent grin, welcoming Liu Dian.

"Uncle was killed right here?"

Liu Dian sat into the sofa without the slightest reservation, looking down at the young man standing before him with hands bound respectfully at his sides.

Zheng Jizhi's second son, Zheng Wen Yong, lowered his head and replied softly, "Yes."

Liu Dian sighed: "Uncle has been riding the spring wind of success these years, yet in the end, he was no longer as cautious as before. In a place like Jinling, where could there be a wall that doesn't let the wind through? What secret banquet hall? It was clearly a grave he dug for himself."

"Brother Dian, please, you must help me avenge my father!"

Zheng Wen Yong's expression was agitated; he actually knelt down right before Liu Dian.

"The grudge must be avenged, but the Zheng family cannot fall into chaos." Liu Dian spoke calmly.

Hearing this, Zheng Wen Yong's face instantly showed a trace of panic, and he replied in a low voice: "Brother Dian, I never thought of seizing power. It was my brothers who wanted to strike first; I was forced to retaliate. I didn't want to kill them."

Zheng Jizhi's sudden death instantly plunged the entire Zheng faction into a panic.

The five sons who had put on a show of brotherly respect and humility while he lived had no time to mourn; one after another, they raised the banner of hunting the true culprit, beginning to rope in clan elders to stand for them.

Inducement, framing, stalking, assassination—all manner of shocking internecine dramas played out one after another, enough to make outsiders stare with dropped jaws.

In just four days, three of Zheng Jizhi's five sons had gone down to accompany him; only the eldest, Zheng Wu Yan, supported by numerous Zheng elders, and the second son, Zheng Wen Yong, standing before Liu Dian now, remained, with no clear victor yet.

The entire Zheng clan was already teetering on the brink of collapse.

"Wen Yong, you did nothing wrong; you are merely taking back what is yours. Outdated customs like primogeniture should have been abolished long ago. These are extraordinary times, so naturally the capable should rise to preserve the whole Zheng clan. Thus, the position of Zheng Faction Chief naturally falls to you."

"Brother Dian, I—"

Zheng Wen Yong's face was full of pleasant surprise; his body, kneeling on the ground, involuntarily shuffled forward a few steps on his knees.

"I will support you in taking up your father's post as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. But I have one condition."

"Brother Dian, rest assured. Though I am not as sharp and capable as my father, loyalty runs in the same vein. However Father acted before, so shall I act henceforth. The Zheng family will forever be your most capable subordinate. Should any aristocratic clan dare harbor the slightest treacherous thought, I, Zheng Wen Yong, will be the first to show them no mercy."

Kneeling on the ground, Zheng Wen Yong's voice rang loud, eagerly declaring his loyalty to Liu Dian.

"The Zheng clan is my maternal family; you are my brother, not some subordinate. What binds us is not loyalty, but the affection born of blood. No matter when, we are, we are family."

Liu Dian helped Zheng Wen Yong to his feet, his voice gentle: "Uncle often mentioned to me while alive that among these descendants, you were the one he favored most. With the Zheng clan in your hands, Uncle can rest easy in the nine springs below."

"Father!"

Zheng Wen Yong's voice was thick with grief; tears welled in his red-rimmed eyes.

"Uncle, rest assured. I will surely get justice for you in this matter."

Liu Dian picked up a surviving bottle of Ming wine from the wreckage of the low tables, cradling the bottle in both hands, and poured the liquid onto the ground.

Zheng Wen Yong followed suit; on his tear-streaked face, his lips moved slightly: "Father, I will lead the Zheng clan well. Rest in peace."

Though he tried his utmost to suppress it, a faint note of exultation still leaked from his voice, heard clearly by Liu Dian.

"Go report to the Ministry of Revenue as soon as possible. Only with that title can you legitimately take control of the Zheng clan."

Liu Dian turned his back, lowering his head to stare at the front-to-back hole in the sofa, his gaze dark and inscrutable.

"I'm going now. Brother Dian, don't worry. I'll have the Zheng clan stabilized by today."

Zheng Wen Yong agreed eagerly and strode out.

In the banquet hall sunk into silence, Liu Dian drained the wine in his hand in one gulp and turned to look at his trusted subordinate waiting to the side.

"Lei Yao, say if one day my father were also killed by someone, would I be just as happy as he was?"

"No."

Hearing his master ask such an impious question, the man named Lei Yao still wore a blank expression, answering cleanly and decisively.

Liu Dian asked with interest: "Why?"

"Zheng Wen Yong is happy because Lord Zheng's death gave him what he dreamed of. But you are different, Young Master. What you want does not need to be bestowed by anyone."

"The only one who knows and understands me is you, Lei Yao!"

Liu Dian laughed heartily: "Outsiders say our Civil and Martial Sequences are incompatible as water and fire, but in my view, those are just the narrow words of petty men. The opposition is merely one of interest, having nothing to do with Sequence at all. On the contrary, possessing both Civil and Martial is the true way to victory."

"Young Master is wise."

Lei Yao still maintained that reticent, cold appearance, his face revealing not a flicker of emotion.

"I've told you how many times, no need to call me Young Master. It's awkward for you to say, and painful for me to hear."

Liu Dian waved his hand irritably: "If you really don't know what to call me, just use my name. Why make it so troublesome?"

"The proper rules must be observed. This was specifically instructed by the Old Master."

Even so, Lei Yao's tone softened slightly.

"What bewitching soup did the old man pour into you? He didn't even grant you a Confucian Sequence Seal, so why do you obey him so?"

Liu Dian looked him up and down, full of curiosity.

Lei Yao spoke seriously: "If the Old Master hadn't saved me back then, I would have died long ago under the pursuit of the Hong Sheng Gate."

"Alright, alright, you've told me many times, my ears have grown calluses. But honestly, the Old Man had a feud with your master Zhang Changfeng to begin with; he only saved you, Brother Lei, by a fluke. And all these years he's kept Zhang Changfeng locked up inside the Liu Faction without killing him—who knows what he's plotting."

Liu Dian scratched his ear, joking: "If I help you resolve this heartache, will you obey me implicitly too?"

The corner of Lei Yao's mouth twitched into a helpless, stiff smile, and he did not reply.

"You're not speaking, so I'll take that as a yes."

Liu Dian was long used to the other's cold attitude; he smiled unconcernedly and finally cut to the chase: "How is the investigation going?"

"Basically everything is clear."

Lei Yao recited the sorted details meticulously, his words mentioning not only the dead Rong Lu and Han Xiang, but even the names of Liang Huo and Wang Qi.

"So you're saying this really has nothing to do with my Big Brother?"

Liu Dian pondered for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"Judging from the current investigation, the killer should be Li Jun. He has the motive and reason. However..." Lei Yao hesitated.

Liu Dian smiled knowingly, picking up the thread: "However, if this really has nothing to do with my Big Brother, how could he possibly not kick a man while he's down, but instead be so kind as to help me stabilize the situation, even proactively providing clues to curry favor with me, right?"

"Perhaps the Eldest Young Master is magnanimous, knowing that at a time like this we should present a united front."

"Do you believe that? I certainly don't."

Liu Dian shook his head, sneering: "From the day my mother was permitted to give birth to me, this good Big Brother of mine has been sleeping on spears and waiting for dawn, sharpening his knives, ready at any moment to strip my bones and carve my flesh. This time someone came knocking for revenge; if he took the chance to strike, I'd actually feel more at ease. It's this current show of brotherly unity that makes me uneasy—fearful that when the time comes, what he breaks won't be an outsider's weapons, but the tendons and bones of this younger brother of his."

"I will arrange men to watch the Eldest Young Master's movements."

Liu Dian nodded. "Liu Tu must be guarded against, but he did say one thing right: my most pressing task right now is indeed to give those aristocratic clans who lost people an explanation."

"Then let Liu Xian Zhou of the Ink Sequence Central Academy take the fall?"

"My Big Brother has shown me favor for the first time in so many years; I can hardly turn him away at the door, can I? A good deed that falls into my lap—why not take it?" Liu Dian smiled.

Lei Yao asked softly: "What about Li Jun's side?"

This must be a task for the cleverest of men—find him and speak with him. Let me see how deep the hunger for the dragon’s belly runs beneath this river of trouble.

Liu Tien smiled, raising a hand to his face. “Isn’t it true? One must kill this insignificant little man who played no part in the events in the Yuhuo District?”

Raiyuan’s expression grew grave. “He would surely not give up so easily.”

“Don’t eat the wine, then,” Liu Tien said calmly. “Let him drink the cheap liquor.”

Liu Tien nodded. “The door to the clinic is always open, but today the sun hasn’t set yet. I’ll close it early.”

Inside the shop, lit by a warm golden glow, a man lay sprawled on the cold stone floor. His arms were bound, and his body bore the marks of countless wounds. Crimson blood trickled from the cuts.

“Yao Xian,” the man muttered, “Did you ever wonder what it would be like to end up here?”