I Cheated While Cultivating

Chapter 134: Doing it Quite Absolutely

In the roadside tea pavilion.

Zhou Heng, accompanied by Yu Yingying, found a quiet corner with fewer people and ordered two bowls of tea.

“What happened, Yingying?” he asked.

“It was the Chang Xing Sect’s doing!” Yu Yingying’s pearly teeth lightly bit her red lips, anger filling her little face, “They sent people to seize our Yu Family’s property, and they beat my brother so badly he is bedridden, and my father has been sick with anger.”

“Why would the Chang Xing Sect target the Yu Family?” Zhou Heng frowned upon hearing this, thinking back to the looks those people had given him, his gaze hardened, “Is it because of me?”

“Big Brother Zhou, don’t think like that, none of us in our family blame you,” Yu Yingying said, shaking her head repeatedly, “It’s all because the Chang Xing Sect is too despicable.”

“Right, Big Brother Zhou, you shouldn’t return for now either. There are still people from the Chang Xing Sect in the city, and if they discover you, they will definitely cause you trouble.”

“Yingying, don’t misunderstand, of course, I know your family doesn’t blame me, but I want to know exactly what happened,” Zhou Heng comforted her, although he already had a rough guess in his mind, he still wanted to hear Yu Yingying’s account to be sure.

“Well… It started a month ago,” Yu Yingying began to recount the recent events in Huangtong Mansion City to Zhou Heng.

A month earlier, a group of Seventh Rank Warriors from the Chang Xing Sect suddenly arrived in Huangtong Mansion City. Their martial arts skills were exceptional, and they were generous with money, quickly befriending many influential figures.

In just half a month, these Seventh Rank Warriors had secured their footing in Huangtong Mansion City and even took over several large mansions in the North District, buying hundreds of servants, clearly intending to establish roots there.

Since one of the criteria the Imperial Court used to assess a prefect’s performance was the number of resident Seventh Rank Warriors, the magistrate, Wu Zongshan, was pleased and did not mind.

However, unbeknownst to all, they had already secretly bribed various managers within the Yu Family’s enterprises with large sums of money. When problems began erupting consecutively within the Yu Family’s businesses ten days ago, drawing public condemnation.

Yu Fuhai and Yu He were overwhelmed, and at that moment, the group from the Chang Xing Sect arrived, offering 30,000 taels of silver to buy out the Yu Family’s properties.

This was naturally rejected.

But what followed was even more outrageous. Using public sentiment as leverage, they attacked Yu Fuhai and Yu He directly, eventually forcing them to concede and sell all their properties for 30,000 taels of silver.

Lin Cang of the Longxing Martial Arts Hall couldn’t bear to watch and went to argue with them, only to be beaten severely. Even the Longxing Martial Arts Hall itself was implicated.

Those few people directly took out the warrant from Chang Xing Sect’s Transmission Hall, revoking Longxing Martial Arts Hall’s status as a sub-branch of the Chang Xing Sect and forbade those from Longxing Martial Arts Hall to use Chang Xing Sect’s martial arts.

Although the Office of Martial Justice and the Prefectural city’s yamen were inclined to help, given the complex relationship between the Imperial Court and the sects, they could only attempt to mediate and were powerless to intervene forcibly.

The result was that the group of Seventh Rank Warriors acted as they pleased, using entirely legal means to almost completely deal with everyone in Huangtong Mansion City who had a decent relationship with Zhou Heng.

At this point, even a fool could see that this was clearly Chang Xing Sect’s retaliation against Zhou Heng. Since they couldn’t find Zhou Heng, they sought to settle the score with those close to him.

Moreover, whether it was the acquisition of the Yu Family’s property or the revocation of the Longxing Martial Arts Hall’s status as a sub-branch, they were actions difficult to fault.

The former had the backing of public opinion, and there was no evidence to claim that the Yu Family’s managers were bribed. The latter was the exertion of Chang Xing Sect’s rightful power to disband its sub-branches, leaving no room for interference.

“So it is indeed so,” Zhou Heng’s gaze grew cold as he said to Yingying, “But isn’t there still 30,000 taels? The Yu Family should have some savings. How did you end up like this?”

“… A few days ago, those 30,000 taels of silver, along with our family’s stored wealth and the silver notes from the money house, were all stolen,” Yu Yingying’s eyes welled up with tears again as she sobbed, “Now, our household is nearly out of food. I went to ask for grain from some friends of my father from years past, but no one dares to lend any, all fearing the people from the Chang Xing Sect.”

“They’re really playing it to the hilt,” Zhou Heng’s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke solemnly, “Is the Chang Xing Sect doing this over Kong Chengshun’s death? But wasn’t there a claim that it involved Daoist You Ziheng of Pure Yang Palace?”

Pure Yang Palace was extremely far from Huangtong Mansion City, and the news of his becoming the sixth-generation successor of Pure Yang Palace shouldn’t be widely known in Pingzhou, especially among ordinary people.

Therefore, he continued to address You Ziheng as Taoist Priest to avoid having to explain a series of matters.

“How dare they provoke Taoist Priest You,” Yu Yingying shook her head and said, “Of course they would choose the soft persimmons to squeeze. It is said that it was Kong Chengshun’s master who confirmed that Brother Zhou’s death had something to do with Kong Chengshun’s, and so he wants revenge on you.”

“I am a disciple of Pure Yang Palace, and my name is known on the people’s list. Don’t they care?” Zhou Heng asked.

“The Chang Xing Sect might care, but I’m afraid Kong Chengshun’s master doesn’t care at all,” Yu Yingying said with a bitter smile. “Moreover, they are targeting us… not you, Brother Zhou. What can be said about that?”

“Yingying, do you know where those people from the Chang Xing Sect are staying?” Zhou Heng asked.

“Yes,” Yu Yingying nodded, then asked with confusion, “Brother Zhou, what do you want to do?”

“Kill a chicken,” Zhou Heng said somberly.

…

Huangtong Mansion City, North District.

This was the most bustling area of the entire prefectural city, and naturally, the residence prices were the most expensive. Ordinary Seventh Rank Warriors simply could not afford a house here.

Wang Qing felt extremely fortunate to have obtained the favor of Law Enforcement Elder Liu Songshan, who entrusted him to lead a group to Huangtong Mansion City to take revenge on the two families.

This task had earned him more money than he would in his lifetime and allowed him the pleasure of playing with others’ fates, which was truly exhilarating.

At this moment, he had summoned five Seventh Rank experts from the Chang Xing Sect to discuss how to further “annihilate” members from the Yu Family and Longxing Martial Arts Hall.

Wang Qing was very clear on his mission, which was to retaliate as viciously as possible against those who had offended the Law Enforcement Elder. Only in doing so could he gain the Elder’s favor and live an even more prosperous life.

The other five understood this principle as well.

Therefore, everyone present at this discussion actively contributed ideas and strategies.

“Now that Yu Fuhai and Yu He, the two most important members of the Yu Family, have fallen, there’s only one Yu Yingying left. Tsk, that little maiden is indeed delightful.”

“Thinking of capturing her for fun? However, we can’t give people something to criticize us for. At least on the surface, we have to appear fair. Why don’t we propose marriage? Marry that maiden, play with her however we want, and when the time comes, it’s a family affair and outsiders can’t say anything.”

“Great idea! Let’s use a small portion from the property we took from her home as a dowry. The Yu Family can hardly make ends meet now. It might be enough with just one hundred catties of rice, hahaha!”

“And that bunch of trash from Longxing Martial Arts Hall, we need to find an opportunity to drive them out of the prefectural city, make them return to their hometowns. That way, it would be convenient for us to make our move on the road.”

“Fantastic idea!”

The main hall of the large residence filled with subdued laughter, Wang Qing and the others felt proud of their ideas, eager to put them into action.

Bang!!

Just then, a sudden loud noise came from outside, and the whole painted red door of the mansion collapsed. Zhou Heng pulled Yu Yingying and stepped over the fallen door to enter.

His gaze was icy as he looked at the six men before him and spoke indifferently,

“Who is Wang Qing?”