Chapter 148: The Father-Killer

Thirty years ago, outside the West Gate of the capital, Guangning Temple.

Not far in front of the temple, there was a street named Xishou Street. Near the street lived a family surnamed Jin.

This family had three people. The head of the family, Jin Rengui, was a carpenter who usually made tables, chairs, benches, doors, windows, cabinets, and couches for people.

Jin Rengui's wife was the daughter of Butcher Zhang. Butcher Zhang lived inside the city gate and was a noble local capital resident. Therefore, Butcher Zhang had always looked down on this carpenter son-in-law.

The carpenter's wife had a fiery personality, and Jin Rengui had a simple and honest personality. After they married, they had a child. This child's personality followed his mother's, and he wasn't afraid of anyone since he was small.

The gossiping old men and women at the street corner, the hooligans wandering around, the idlers seeking fresh things in the city...

No matter who it was, he could strike up a conversation.

However, as the saying goes, "near vermilion, one gets stained red; near ink, one gets stained black." Could the child of a carpenter's family who mixed with these people all day learn anything good!

On this day, Jin Wanshan, the child of the Jin carpenter's family, was celebrating his fourteenth birthday. Butcher Zhang sent an oil-paper bag containing a catty of chicken hearts.

"Daughter, go stir-fry these chicken hearts for Wanshan to eat."

Jin Rengui was surprised, "Father-in-law usually kills pigs and sheep, but rarely kills chickens. Why did you get so many chicken hearts today?"

Butcher Zhang looked coldly, "You are a rotten, honest, and useless person. Others ride on your face to shit and piss, and you don't even have a temper. I don't want my grandson to be like you in the future!"

After saying this, Butcher Zhang turned to look at Jin Wanshan and exhorted, "People all say 'chicken-thief, chicken-thief,' so you can see that the chicken is somewhat clever and cunning. Your grandfather has no other wishes, just hoping you won't be like your father in the future, so cowardly."

"Eat these chicken hearts, and you must be a clever and agile person in the future. Don't be like those people carrying manure and doing hard labor at the door, who can't earn two coins in a lifetime and only suffer anger!"

"Grandfather, I'll remember it!"

"Remember what? Tell me."

"I'd rather be a cunning chicken-thief than an honest man like my father!"

Butcher Zhang heard Jin Wanshan's words and immediately showed a gratified smile. He stretched out his oily hand and rubbed his grandson's head.

"Little Shan has been clever since he was small. He will definitely have great prospects in the future!"

At this time, Jin Wanshan was fourteen. Butcher Zhang's words gave him great confidence. In the past, when he mixed with those hooligans and idlers, Jin Rengui had lectured him a lot. Now that he had his grandfather's words, it was as if he had obtained an imperial sword, and from then on, he was no longer restrained by his family.

When he was fifteen or sixteen, Jin Wanshan was never home. Every day at dawn, he would leave the house, and he wouldn't return until the city gate was about to close. Sometimes he wouldn't even return at night, staying out for two or three days at a time.

Jin Carpenter asked him where he had been fooling around. Jin Wanshan said he had found a way to make a fortune. As long as he was lucky, the silver he earned in one day would be worth ten years of his father's carpentry!

Jin Rengui didn't believe it. Could there be such a cheap thing in the world? If there really were such a thing, could it be their family's turn?

Every time this happened, Jin Wanshan would talk back to him, "You carpenter, besides planing wood shavings and hammering nails all day, what do you know?

You, don't worry about me. Grandfather praises me for being clever; can I suffer a loss..."

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, snowflakes began to fall in Luojing City.

From inside the West Gate of the capital, several gambling den thugs drove a carriage out. When they reached outside the city gate, a burlap sack was kicked off the carriage.

"Jin Wanshan, I'll give you three days to pay back the one hundred silver taels you owe. If you don't pay by the deadline, we'll tear down your house to pay the debt and send you to the palace to be a eunuch!"

Jin Wanshan, bruised and swollen, crawled out of the burlap sack, the thugs' words still echoing in his ears.

In this era, being a eunuch wasn't easy. Eunuchs in the past only performed the "half-castration ceremony" and could keep a piece as a memento. Therefore, in the previous dynasty and even earlier, being a eunuch was a popular trade, and some commoners even fought to do it.

But the Yong Dynasty was different.

In the Yong Dynasty, when the "Purification Room" performed the castration ceremony for you, they wouldn't leave you a memento. It would definitely be the removal of both the root and the fruit, completely removed.

This is called "de-potentialization," also known as full castration.

The castration technology of this era was still relatively primitive. Before the Yong Dynasty, the survival rate of half-castration was six or seven out of ten.

But being a eunuch in the Yong Dynasty, only one out of two could survive. Sometimes seven or eight people would go to be eunuchs together, and only one or two might survive to the end.

Jin Wanshan was only fifteen or sixteen years old at the time. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want to be a eunuch.

So what should he do?

It's no wonder Butcher Zhang said Jin Wanshan had been clever since he was small. He crawled out of the burlap sack, wandered around the city gate a few times, and had an idea in his heart.

On the bulletin board at the city gate, there was a wanted notice for a major bandit, with a reward of three hundred silver taels!

"Good, good, good! Heaven truly doesn't cut off all paths!" Looking at the portrait, Jin Wanshan clapped his hands together and said "good" three times in a row.

The person on the wanted notice actually looked somewhat similar to his carpenter father!

With a plan in mind, Jin Wanshan rushed home, intending to tell his father this good news.

Not far from the West Gate was Guangning Temple. This temple had flourishing incense. A few days ago, Jin Rengui and other carpenters had undertaken the carpentry work for the temple. Jin Wanshan came to the temple to find his father and, after much persuasion, managed to get a few coins of silver from the supervisor.

Jin Rengui asked him what he wanted the money for. Jin Wanshan said mysteriously, "I have a great thing to tell you. Father, come home early today, and let's have a drink together."

Today was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and a temple fair happened to be held outside Guangning Temple.

Jin Wanshan had a request for Jin Rengui, so he spent money he didn't have to buy roast duck and wine.

Finally, meeting a food vendor selling chicken giblets, he bought a catty of braised chicken hearts.

Carrying the food and drink, just as he was about to return, a fortune-teller from the "Surprise Gate" blocking the road stopped his path.

"Playing with things often loses ambition; it's not that people are obsessed, but that they are obsessed with themselves. This lay practitioner, I see your appearance is light and spirit floating, like floating wood in the river or a broken raft in the sea. I'm afraid you will commit a crime of harming heaven soon!"

Jin Wanshan looked sideways at the Surprise Gate fortune-teller; it was a female half-immortal.

"Make yourself clear, don't talk to me about these things..."

The female half-immortal's fortune-telling robe had been washed white, and she looked like she was living a hard life.

She looked at Jin Wanshan and said, "A good fortune-teller is not easy. If you want me to make it clear, you need to move me."

Jin Wanshan frowned, "I don't have money on me. If you want to talk, talk; if not, then forget it!"

The female half-immortal wasn't angry. She swallowed her saliva, her eyes staring straight at the snacks in Jin Wanshan's hand, and said, "I don't want money. You give me the chicken hearts and roast duck, and I'll calculate a hexagram for you."

Cheating food and drink?

Jin Wanshan had mixed in the market since he was small; what cheating methods hadn't he seen?

"These snacks are for my father; why should I give them to you?"

Jin Wanshan glared fiercely at the female fortune-teller and turned to leave, but after walking only a few steps, he turned back.

Sitting on a stool, Jin Wanshan threw the snacks onto the fortune-telling stall and said, "Calculate for me when I can place a bet and win back a fortune!"

The female half-immortal was stunned and confirmed again, "I see there is something going on in your family. Do you really not want to calculate family matters, only gambling wins?"

Gambling wins? Jin Wanshan was energized when he heard this.

"What do family matters have to do with anything? Just calculate for me when I can win at gambling. If it's truly accurate, I'll have a reward for you then!"

Seeing the other party's persistence, the female half-immortal didn't say anything more. She asked for Jin Wanshan's birth date, her fingers moving fast. Jin Wanshan watched, dazzled, and vaguely even saw the person's hand as a fox's claw.

Jin Wanshan raised his hand to rub his eyes, and when he opened them, the female half-immortal had already calculated the hexagram.

"If you want to win at gambling, you have to wait sixteen years!"

Jin Wanshan's anger flared up after hearing this, "I'm only sixteen this year. You want me to wait sixteen years?"

"What kind of bullshit fortune-teller, cheating people requires knowing how to say nice things to make people happy. If you can't even say nice things, what kind of fortune-teller are you?"

Jin Wanshan said, reaching out to take back the snacks on the stall, but before he could touch the food and drink, the female half-immortal in front of him suddenly blew a breath at his face.

"Hey! You..."

Jin Wanshan's eyes blurred, and he stood up in a daze, like a walking corpse, laughing foolishly with drool as he walked into the distance.

About a quarter of an hour later, Jin Wanshan, who had walked to his door, shivered all over, and only then did he come to his senses.

Eh? Why am I here?

Jin Wanshan looked at his front door in confusion. Wasn't he calculating a hexagram at the stall? How did he arrive at his door in the blink of an eye?

He patted his sleeves, but they were empty. Where were the snacks and wine?

Truly strange!

In the cold winter, Jin Wanshan was sweating profusely. He knew he had met a true god.

"This must be the female god pointing me out. I... I will honestly pay back the gambling debt and do business properly in the future. I can't gamble anymore."

Jin Wanshan muttered to himself at the door, taking it as a warning.

After all, the female fortune-teller said he would only win in sixteen years. If he knew he would lose and still went to gamble, he would be an idiot!

Returning home, Jin Wanshan found nothing to do, so he asked his mother to kill a chicken and stew it, saying he had something to tell his father that night.

His mother heard this and thought it was a good thing!

The child and his father had always been at odds. Now that the child was willing to take the initiative to talk, it was better than anything.

Walking and walking, arriving at the city gate, Ling Yangzi saw a Daoist standing at the gate, with gate officials and constables serving him respectfully.

Jin Carpenter was thinking about what his child said and finished his work early, rushing home early.

"Father, try these chicken hearts, they are so fragrant!"

Jin Wanshan laughed and toasted his father, served him food, and asked about his well-being, being very considerate.

Jin Carpenter knew his child's temperament and asked what was going on.

Jin Wanshan told him about owing one hundred silver taels in gambling debts and that if he didn't pay by the deadline, he would be sent to the palace to be a eunuch.

Jin Carpenter's face changed color immediately upon hearing this.

"Lost one hundred taels gambling? Is this the 'fast money' business you were talking about?"

Jin Carpenter was furious, and the fragrant chicken meat lost its flavor.

Beside him, Mrs. Zhang burst into tears.

"Your father only has you as a child. If you are sent to the palace, who will carry on the Jin family line..."

Perhaps because he ate the chicken hearts, the simple and honest Jin Carpenter had a flash of inspiration and came up with an idea.

"The family can't come up with one hundred taels, but I can come up with twenty taels of silver. I think it's better to take these twenty taels to find him a wife, and while his 'equipment' is still there, leave a seed for the family."

"Whether she can get pregnant in two or three days depends on the family's luck."

Jin Wanshan stood up abruptly upon hearing this.

"What is Father saying? Getting married requires preparing for a wedding banquet, which takes a lot of time. Even if I skip that, I'm not in the mood for such things."

"This won't work, that won't work. You are usually quite capable, so tell me what to do?" Jin Carpenter had no backbone. The father and son talked back and forth, but there was no plan.

Jin Wanshan suddenly smiled shamelessly, "Father, I have a way. Not only can I pay off the debt, but I can also get two hundred silver taels for nothing..."

The next morning, before dawn, Jin Wanshan secretly brought his father, who had dressed up, to the capital's Commandery Office.

Jin Rengui was tied up and brought to the office door. He couldn't help but ask again, "Can I really be acquitted if I confess?"

Jin Wanshan guaranteed, "After receiving the reward, I'll pay the debt, and in two days, I'll help Father retract the confession. I asked a lawyer; retracting a confession will at most result in a prison sentence. Father, think about it. A prison sentence is at most one or two years, but if Father works as a carpenter, let alone two years, even four or five years won't earn three hundred taels..."

Jin Rengui sighed and said, "Money is not important. As long as you can live, Father is satisfied!"

The father and son didn't say much before an official came to drink and ask.

Jin Wanshan, according to the script he had thought of in advance, pushed Jin Rengui, who was tied tightly, to the front.

He said he had caught the major bandit on the wanted notice and wanted to claim the reward!

The end of the year was approaching, and the bandit was disturbing the people. The government was worried about this, and now that they learned the bandit had been caught, they immediately opened the court for trial.

But Jin Rengui had been honest all his life. Did he know what a murderous major bandit looked like?

I don't know if the government was blind, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that Jin Rengui's honest appearance meant there was a problem.

But the government just repeated asking Jin Rengui if he confessed several times, then directly let him sign and put him in prison.

At first, Jin Wanshan saw Jin Rengui's simple and honest trial and was still drumming in his heart, until the case was truly successfully judged, and only then did he come to his senses.

The household official took out a one-hundred-tael silver note and handed it to Jin Wanshan.

Looking at the denomination of the silver note, Jin Wanshan hurriedly said, "This number is wrong. The wanted notice is in black and white; the reward is three hundred taels."

The official sneered, "Be content with one hundred taels. Do you really think others don't know what's going on here?"

Jin Wanshan was suspicious, "What do you mean by that?"

The official laughed, "Nothing. Since he has already signed, he is the major bandit. What is there to distinguish?"

Jin Wanshan clutched the silver note and walked out of the office. At this time, he already knew that his father definitely couldn't live.

"Father, go in peace. When I earn a lot of money, I will definitely buy you the best coffin and let you leave in style..."

After being sentimental for a while, Jin Wanshan turned and headed toward the gambling den.

Arriving at the gambling den, Jin Wanshan, who originally wanted to pay off the debt, saw the gambling table and couldn't move his eyes away!

"Sixteen years, how can anyone lose for sixteen years? Bullshit female god, I'm afraid it's some female demon cheating!"

Jin Wanshan's gambling bug went to his brain. He didn't care about anything else. As long as he won money, he was a god!

That day, Jin Wanshan not only lost the one hundred taels he earned from selling his father but also owed another one hundred and twenty taels.

Plus the one hundred taels he owed before, that was two hundred and twenty taels!

Who to sell this time? Jin Wanshan had no one left to sell. He couldn't sell his own mother!

The gambling den thugs really wanted to take a heavy hand this time, but at this critical moment, the owner of the gambling den came forward and left Jin Wanshan a way to live.

However, he needed him to help kill someone!

Jin Wanshan thought, I even dared to sell my father; killing someone, what's difficult about that?

Just like that, starting from killing for the gambling den, Jin Wanshan lived a life of licking blood on the edge of a knife.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Jin Rengui was beheaded at the vegetable market. Jin Wanshan didn't go to collect the body but painted his face, took a sharpened big sword, and prepared to kill the person watching the play in the theater!

On this side, watching the guest's head fall; on that side, Jin Carpenter's blood also stained the execution platform red.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 149 =====