Chapter 104: Kill Them All

Lin Qian pressed his blade against Lin Zhishu's back, staring coldly at his father.

"The silver vault is in the Buddhist shrine..."

"Don't tell him!" Lin Zhili shouted through the pain on his face, his words slurred, "He's secretly involved with Concubine Li!"

In the crowd, Concubine Li's body trembled.

With a look from Lin Qian, a crewman stepped forward and landed a heavy blow to Lin Zhili's stomach, doubling him over in pain as the crewman fitted his gag back on.

Lin Jiren looked at his eldest son in disbelief, then turned to look behind him. When he saw Concubine Li with disheveled clothes and evasive eyes, he understood everything.

Lin Qian had Lin Zhishu released and said to his men, "Search the Buddhist shrine!"

Lin Qian sat down and watched the drama before him with leisurely composure.

When Lin Zhishu saw his father's gaze turn to him, he shook his head with tears and snot streaming down his face. He wanted to explain himself, but with his mouth gagged, he could not speak.

Lin Jiren's eyes shifted from shock and confusion to fury, until his whole face turned the color of pig's liver.

"You and your stepmother committed adultery? You beast!" Lin Jiren forced the words out between clenched teeth.

"Wuu wuu wuu..." Lin Zhishu wept bitterly, shaking his head desperately, his chin pointing repeatedly at Concubine Li.

Though he could not speak, his gestures and expression made it clear what he wanted to say—nothing but the same old tale of Concubine Li seducing him first.

"You beast who defies all human decency!" Lin Jiren slapped his eldest son across the face.

From the rear courtyard, hurried footsteps approached. A man reached the front of the hall, cupped his fists, and said, "Shipmaster, beneath the offering altar in the Buddhist shrine, we found a hidden door. Inside are several dozen chests of silver."

Lin Qian said to Lei Sanxiang, "Take men to move the silver onto the ship, count out an approximate figure, and report back to me."

Lei Sanxiang acknowledged the order and withdrew.

Lin Qian said mockingly to the Lin family, "Digging a silver vault beneath the Buddha's altar—your household is truly devout in its worship."

Lin Jiren turned back and glared venomously at Concubine Li, his gaze so cold and sinister that it made her body tremble uncontrollably.

The old master Lin, utterly despairing, wept blankly and said, "Four hundred years of a great house, fallen in a single day—how could it come to this?"

"Heh heh heh heh..." Perhaps heartbroken by her lover's betrayal, or perhaps frightened out of her wits, Concubine Li actually began to laugh eerily at his words.

In the blood-soaked hall, her laughter was especially jarring, sending chills down the spines of all who heard it.

"Wretch!" Lin Jiren's expression was as cold as a snake's.

"A great house? What a fine incestuous great house with rotten hearts and filthy guts!" Concubine Li laughed as she spoke, her expression wild and manic. "Lin Jiren, back then you bought me into this household by force, drove my father to die of rage, my mother to throw herself down a well—my whole family destroyed. You should have known this day would come. Hahahaha... A proper xiucai carrying on with his concubine—once word gets out, what imperial exams would you still sit for? You'd be lucky not to have your spine poked through with people's fingers! Hahahaha..."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Lin Jiren raged, but with the fierce men all around watching, he dared not go cover her mouth. He growled in a low voice, "Once this is over, I'll settle accounts with you!"

Concubine Li trembled with agitation, her face twisted and contorted: "If we're talking about settling accounts, these heroes should settle with the Lin household first. Those good deeds you boast of—every single one—which of them wasn't for your own sake?

Shamelessly prattling about breaking dikes to divert floods—you only wanted the floodwaters to wash away the peasants around your lands so you could swallow up their fields!

Your family has killed who knows how many innocent people, and still you put on a false show of running porridge stalls and charity schools to win a good name—dream on!

Everything that happens today is your family's just retribution!

These heroes should kill you all, hahahaha... kill you all! Kill you all!"

Hearing this, Lin Jiren shrank his head in fear and looked at Lin Qian, saying, "Hero, don't believe her—this vile woman has gone mad."

"Is that so?" Lin Qian took a stack of land deeds from the chest and read slowly, "Changpu Du, Huang Qingtu, Sanjiaping, six mu three fen of land. Deed dated the eighth day of the tenth month, the forty-seventh year of Wanli."

Having read it, he pulled out another new deed: "Dated the sixteenth day of the tenth month, the forty-seventh year of Wanli."

He took out another: "The ninth day of the eleventh month, the forty-seventh year of Wanli."

Lin Jiren had nothing to say, and slumped his head in defeat.

A crewman came to the front hall to report: "Shipmaster, a band of local militia is heading this way."

Lin Qian asked, "How many?"

"Over a hundred men."

"Hold the main gate, and guard the courtyard walls."

The Lin household members in the hall felt their spirits lift upon hearing that the militia had come to rescue them.

Lin Qian sent someone to check on the silver being moved from the rear courtyard.

After a moment, a crewman reported: "A little under half the silver has been moved. Another group of men outside the estate is heading toward the back gate."

Lin Qian pondered briefly, then said to Bai Qing, "Stay here and watch these people. I'll go check the rear."

Lin Qian climbed the courtyard wall with a crewman and saw that, sure enough, a cluster of torches was approaching the back gate in the distance.

Too far away to make out the number.

Judging by the direction they came from, they should be men from the county seat, not militia.

The bird boat was moored at the river dock behind the back gate, with no wall to shield it. If this group seized it, they would have no way to escape.

They had to hold the men back.

Lin Qian ordered his men to have all those carrying crossbows come to the back wall.

Within the time it takes half a stick of incense to burn, twelve crossbowmen arrived.

When they entered the estate, they had only five crossbows—the extras must have been seized from within the household.

By the time the crossbowmen took their positions on the wall, the torch-bearing column had also reached the wall.

The man at the lead stepped forward holding a torch and shouted loudly, "I am the Constable of Huangyan County! What bandits dare to cause trouble here? Come out now, and you might still keep your lives."

The fierce fight with the Lin household guards just now must have made noise that carried—that was what had drawn the militia and the Constable.

Lin Qian did not answer, but signaled his men to hide behind the parapet.

One of his men peeked out with half his head, counted for a moment, and reported: "Over two hundred men."

Counting the hundred-plus militia at the front gate, over three hundred men had gathered around the Lin estate. Lin Qian had brought only seventy-five men—a definite disadvantage in numbers.

For the sake of moving lightly, they had not brought firearms either; their only ranged weapons were crossbows, and the front ranks of the Constable's force all carried shields—they held no advantage in weaponry either.

The best option was to find a chance to take out the Constable leading them.

Seeing no one answer from the wall, and unable to make out any figures in the moonlight, the Constable ordered men to fetch ladders and climb the wall to investigate.

"Pat!"

A bamboo ladder was propped against the wall top. A man climbed up cautiously, and when he reached the top, seeing no one around, he was about to step onto the wall.

Suddenly, in the moonlight, a flash of cold gleam from a wild goose saber swept past.

Clutching his gaping throat, the man toppled from the wall, scattering a spray of blood through the air.

"Release!" Lin Qian shouted.

Over a dozen crossbowmen emerged from behind the wall, taking aim at the Constable and loosing bolts.

Unfortunately, the Constable was highly wary and had long since ducked behind his shield.

"Thunk! Thunk! Thunk..."

From a distance came the sound of bolts striking shields. The Constable was unscathed, and only two of his men had their thighs pierced through, writhing and wailing on the ground.

The Constable mused inwardly—this gang of thieves in the Lin estate was of unknown number, armed with crossbows, and holding the high ground of the wall. A frontal assault would be difficult.

He was merely a Constable, a lowly clerk of no rank, earning but one tael of silver a month in wages and rations. For such paltry silver, why should he risk his life?

He might as well surround them from a distance and simply not let the thieves slip away.

After all, someone had already gone to the Patrol Inspection Office and the guard station for reinforcements. Once the troops from those places arrived, there would naturally be someone else to slay the thieves and rescue the people.

"Fall back!" At the Constable's command, his men withdrew some distance.

"Sir, look." A squad leader pointed into the distance.

The Constable looked by the moonlight and saw that by the river dock outside the Lin estate, seven bird boats were moored. Beside the bird boats, figures moved about in the shadows, carrying silver out from within the estate.

So these were river pirates!

Then it was even less the concern of a Constable of Huangyan County. If river pirates had appeared, the higher-ups seeking accountability should question the guard station and the Patrol Inspection Office.

That said, as a Constable, having already spotted the thieves outside the estate, how could he justify not arresting them? If he just stood by with wide eyes and others learned of it, he would not escape blame either.

The Constable glanced sideways and saw that the constables and militia around him had not yet noticed the situation in the distance. A clever idea struck him, and he immediately said, "The courtyard wall here is too tall for a frontal assault. Let's go to the main gate. Move out!"

(End of Chapter)

Fenyuan

Pen