Chapter 232: Aftermath Matters

Ruan Fengshan was somewhat hesitant for the moment regarding the matter of Luan Jingfu; besides, even if he were to kill him, it would not be now. This Luan Jingfu had a very good relationship with Wei Yutian, and he still needed to consider Wei Yutian's attitude.

Once the matter of killing a gang member without authorization was leaked, even if he were the Helmsman, the Yuanyang Hall side would still hold him accountable.

Even if he were to kill Luan Jingfu, he would have to set up a scheme to do it.

Ruan Fengshan finished pondering this matter, then suddenly his gaze flashed, and he called out, "Zheng Wei!"

A Personal Attendant named Li Zhong walked in from outside the door and said, "Master, Zheng Wei has gone out."

Ruan Fengshan then remembered that he had sent Zheng Wei to the coffin shop. He looked at Li Zhong and said, "Go to the Backyard Accounting Office and order someone to bring Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng here to see me."

"Yes."

Ruan Fengshan picked up the cup of ginseng tea on the side table, which still had half left, and gulped it all down his throat.

It was the end of the year, which should have been a leisurely time, but whether it was the Filthy Blood Sect side or the Escort Agency side, there was a pile of messy business. Even though Ruan Fengshan was deep in thought and his will was like iron, he often felt a sense of weariness rising in his heart.

Li Zhong led the way in front, with two Guards escorting Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng, arriving at the entrance of the back hall.

Ruan Fengshan stood there and waved his hand; Li Zhong then blocked the two Guards at the entrance, letting only Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng go in alone.

Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng walked in in a panic, and as soon as they saw Ruan Fengshan, they immediately knelt down.

"Wang Dean!" Ruan Fengshan's voice was heavy and depressed.

"This subordinate is here." Wang Dean's voice was trembling slightly; the news of Xu Shouxian's death had a significant impact on his heart.

"How many percent did you embezzle from the account discrepancies you handled?" Ruan Fengshan stood before the side table, standing with his hands behind his back, his face like cold frost.

Wang Dean knocked his head against the ground and cried out, "This subordinate embezzled thirty percent!"

Ruan Fengshan's expression softened, his gaze shifted to Zhu Shicheng, and he asked, "And you?"

Zhu Shicheng hesitated for a moment and said, "This subordinate also took thirty percent."

As Zhu Shicheng spoke, the corner of his eye swept toward Wang Dean beside him. In his heart, he was blaming Wang Dean for being too honest; as soon as the Manager asked, he told the truth. If he had said less, perhaps the chance of survival would have been greater. Telling the Manager directly that he embezzled thirty percent—wasn't this digging his own grave?

"Get out!" Ruan Fengshan waved his hand and said, "Take them back!"

The two Guards who had been guarding the door immediately entered and escorted Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng out of the door.

Ruan Fengshan had looked at the account books and had long since known their shares.

Of the discrepancies Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng handled, they kept thirty percent for themselves, while the remaining seventy percent was split equally between Xu Shouxian and Luan Jingfu.

Just now, if the two of them had dared to say even a fraction less, Ruan Fengshan would have immediately beaten them to death with a staff!

After Wang Dean and Zhu Shicheng were escorted out of the door and had walked a distance, Zhu Shicheng suddenly muttered in a low voice, "Why are you so honest? Couldn't you have said less? Chief Accountant Xu is already dead, who knows how much we embezzled?"

Zhu Shicheng felt that saying less could reduce his guilt, and perhaps he could avoid death.

Wang Dean glanced at Zhu Shicheng and whispered, "Do you know? Just after Chief Accountant Xu died, his family's Old Butler sent a letter to the Manager."

"A letter? What letter? How do you know?"

"How I know, you don't need to worry about that. I have my own channels. But I'm telling you, if you had said even a little less just now, you would have already died inside. Old Zhu, you owe me your life."

"You..."

Zhu Shicheng wanted to say something more, but the Guard behind him suddenly pushed him, causing him to stagger, and shouted, "What are you two whispering about there? You can't even walk properly."

Seeing the Guard urging them, Zhu Shicheng and Wang Dean both shut their mouths.

At dusk, Zheng Wei brought four burly men, carrying a large coffin, and stopped at the entrance of the Backyard Accounting Office.

Ruan Fengshan came personally to oversee the encoffining of Xu Shouxian.

He walked into the Backyard Accounting Office, looked at Luan Bao, and asked, "Where is Xu Shouxian's corpse kept?"

"Reporting to the Manager, it is kept in the Dongjia Room!" Luan Bao replied, though he tried to appear calm, his gaze still flickered somewhat.

Ruan Fengshan walked into the Dongjia Room; Xu Shouxian's corpse was placed on the side table at the entrance, covered with a white cloth.

Ruan Fengshan lifted the white cloth and saw Xu Shouxian's eyes, which were wide open in terror, his dark purple neck, and the painful expression frozen on his face at the end.

Ruan Fengshan reached out and rubbed the outer corners of Xu Shouxian's eyes, then slowly wiped his eyelids shut.

Ruan Fengshan's gaze swept over the dark blue ligature marks on Xu Shouxian's neck; those marks were deeply embedded in the flesh of the neck and extended toward the back of the neck.

Ruan Fengshan's gaze jumped; he turned Xu Shouxian's body slightly to look at the back of his neck, only to see that the deep ligature marks still had a small section at the back of the neck.

If a person died by hanging, the ligature marks would only be on the front of the neck.

Judging from these ligature marks deeply embedded in the flesh, Xu Shouxian clearly did not hang himself!

He was strangled to death by someone!

"It's Luan Bao!" Ruan Fengshan's gaze was cold and sharp. "Truly, a tiger father has no dog son!"

Ruan Fengshan looked at the corpse of Xu Shouxian before him, the clues from beginning to end stringing together; at this moment, he finally made up his mind.

"The Luan father and son can no longer be kept! A broken arm is always better than a backlash!"

After Xu Shouxian's body was encoffined, the four burly men lifted the coffin, and Ruan Fengshan personally sent Xu Shouxian's body to the Xu Mansion.

The Xu Mansion had already set up a mourning hall, with white cloth hanging everywhere!

As soon as the coffin entered, the Old Butler Ye Tian pulled the two children, and behind him knelt Xu Shouxian's several concubines; suddenly, there was a chorus of wailing!

Ruan Fengshan burned incense before the spirit tablet before returning to the Escort Agency's back courtyard with a heart heavy as stone; he stayed awake for nearly half the night, pondering the aftermath.

The next morning.

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the Gathering Justice Hall in the back courtyard of the Yuanshun Escort Agency was already full of people.

Everyone had a heavy expression; the events of the past two days had already spread inside and outside the Escort Agency. Although Xu Shouxian was dead, no one had any idea how Ruan Fengshan would clean up the remaining mess.

This meeting had almost as many people as the year-end meeting; those who should have come had all come, and Duan Rong and Xiao Yu were also sitting at the very end, on the edge of the second row behind Xiao Zongting.

At dusk last night, Duan Rong was sitting in the pavilion, teasing a small hedgehog, when suddenly the sound of knocking on the gate rang out at the courtyard entrance.

Duan Rong frowned, and his Divine Sense swept over.

He suddenly discovered that the person standing outside the gate of Liu Lu was Ruan Fengshan's personal attendant, Zheng Wei. Duan Rong immediately got up and opened the courtyard gate.

After Zheng Wei told Duan Rong to attend the morning meeting at the Gathering Justice Hall in the back courtyard at the hour of Mao the next morning, he left in a hurry; he clearly still had to notify others.

Duan Rong stood at the entrance of Liu Lu, watching Zheng Wei's hurriedly departing back, his gaze flickering, and he muttered, "If it were a case of autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves, it shouldn't be this fast; verifying the facts also takes time..."

In less than a day, Ruan Fengshan had already begun organizing a morning meeting; it seemed he had already made his decision.

Duan Rong had not expected that Ruan Fengshan would reach a decision so quickly on such a far-reaching and tangled matter. "He truly is a powerful local lord!"

Duan Rong closed the courtyard gate and went back to his room to sleep.

At this moment, Duan Rong was sitting in the Gathering Justice Hall; he could smell the heavy atmosphere in the air, and many people's gazes swept over him, intentionally or otherwise.

The sky was just beginning to brighten; inside the Gathering Justice Hall, the light was dim, and the bright candles hanging high on the pillars illuminated one face after another.

The large, wide chair at the very top was empty; Ruan Fengshan had not yet arrived.

Duan Rong sat in the shadows of a corner, his eyes sweeping over the people in the hall with a deep expression, when at that moment, a light cough came from behind the screen behind the large, wide chair.

Ruan Fengshan walked out from behind the screen, walked with slow and heavy steps to the front of the large, wide chair, lifted his foot to step on the footrest, and sat down.

(End of chapter)