Chapter 154: Li Yueshan: Did Lin Chen dig up your Xing family's ancestral grave?

The mourning hall courtyard.

Listening to Zhao Canghu's narration, Lin Chen finally knew the whole process.

Although his own father and mother had also said it, it was far from as detailed as the Village Chief's. From the old Village Chief's narration, he could infer many things.

Raozhou Prefecture Wuzheng Office Director... Lord Xing?

As far as he knew, the Raozhou Prefecture Wuzheng Office Director was Lord Qiu, so the Wuzheng Office Director had changed.

Lin Ming reported him to this new Director for being unfilial, and this new Director came personally to investigate the matter.

"You really think highly of me."

A mocking look curled at the corner of Lin Chen's mouth. This Lord Xing's actions were completely contrary to official behavior.

Not to mention how Lin Ming could see this Lord Xing, even if he could see him, this Lord Xing could not listen to him. Taking a step back, even if Lin Ming was his cousin and a relative reporting, the credibility was extremely high, it should have been for the Poyang County Wuzheng Office to investigate.

This was official practice.

This Lord Xing not only broke official practice, but the most critical behavior did not conform to his own interests.

The Wuzheng Office was responsible for the martial arts education of a prefecture.

As the number one student of this year's martial arts hall in Poyang County, in a sense, he was also one of this Lord Xing's achievements.

It was like a high school principal receiving a report from a student that the student who was first in the school in grades was hiding in the bathroom smoking. Under normal circumstances, this principal would suppress the matter, and at most, find the student who was first in grades afterward to ask about it.

But this Lord Xing's approach was equivalent to the principal listening to other students' reports, taking all the school teachers and many students, and going to the bathroom to catch them on the spot, wanting to make the matter known to the whole school.

"Lin Chen, I think something is wrong with this matter. You should go and ask that Lord Su."

Zhao Canghu had also thought about it for a few days. Although he didn't think as thoroughly as Lin Chen, he had lived for so many years and still understood some things.

"I'll find time to enter Poyang County," Lin Chen nodded. "Village Chief, it's not early. You go back and rest. I'll see you off."

"I can walk back even with my eyes closed on the roads in this village. No need to see me off."

Zhao Canghu waved his hand. Lin Chen had to see the old Village Chief to the courtyard gate, watching the old Village Chief's figure disappear into the dark night, before walking back to the courtyard.

"Brother Chen, before Grandfather passed away, he once explained that from now on, the Lin family will be decided by you. Even Second Uncle and Second Aunt must listen to you."

Lin Liang saw the old Village Chief leave, stepped closer, and whispered: "I didn't just hear this; the Village Chief and several elders in the village also heard it."

"I understand. Eldest brother, you go and nap on the chair for a while. I'll take the second half of the night."

Lin Chen knew why Lin Chaoyang wanted to leave such a last word. It was for fear that the Lin Ming incident would happen again.

Second Uncle and Second Aunt could also be considered his elders.

But since he was designated as the head of the Lin family, even if he scolded Second Uncle and Second Aunt, it would not be considered a junior offending a senior.

In a family, the head of the family is the greatest.

In a clan, the clan leader is the greatest.

But based on his understanding of Second Uncle and Second Aunt, Second Uncle and Second Aunt would not be as vicious as that woman, the eldest aunt.

"I can't sleep," Lin Liang smiled bitterly. "Besides, Eldest Uncle originally said he was going to find Lin Ming, and he hasn't come back for so long. Although that mother and son, Eldest Aunt and Lin Ming, are vicious, Eldest Uncle shouldn't be."

"I will ask Brother Lin to help find Eldest Uncle's whereabouts."

The next day!

Lin Chaoyang was buried. Lin Chen, as a grandson, held the spirit tablet and stood at the very front. This was to tell everyone that from now on, Lin family matters would be decided by Lin Chen.

Regarding this point, the villagers were not surprised.

The funeral procession was grand, and all the villagers of Linhu Village came, including people from the Zhao family and Lu family in the town.

Buried in the morning, banquet at noon...

Until the evening, all the guests dispersed, and the Lin family returned to tranquility.

"Father, Mother, your child is going into the city. It's possible I won't be back today."

"Go. We have the family here, you don't need to worry too much," Lin's father nodded.

Lin's mother looked at her son with worry, wanting to speak several times but stopping. Seeing this, Lin Chen smiled and said: "Mother, if you have something to say, just say it. Is there anything you're embarrassed to say to me?"

"Chen'er, if learning martial arts is dangerous, why don't we just stop learning? Now... now our family is living quite well in the village."

Lin Chen was stunned. He didn't expect that this was what his mother wanted to say.

"Mother has lived in the village all her life and hasn't seen much of the world, so she doesn't understand any martial arts stages, but... but people die just like that."

Lin Ming's death made Lin's mother feel a bit sad. She wasn't sad that Lin Ming died.

Lin Ming, this ungrateful wretch, deserved to die. What she was sad about was that she heard from the villagers that many big figures came to the village entrance that day, and these people had no change in expression toward Lin Ming's death.

Therefore, human life was too cheap in the eyes of big figures.

As a mother, she hoped her children would have a future, but she also hoped they would be safe. If she had to choose between the two, she hoped more that Chen'er and Liang'er could be safe and sound.

"You woman, what nonsense are you talking about? Lin Ming deserved to die."

Lin's father spoke. He hated his eldest nephew to the bone. If it weren't for this beast Lin Ming reporting Chen'er, his father wouldn't have died in sadness.

"Mother, I am different from Lin Ming. You also saw that I won first place in the martial arts hall competition last time. Those adults all think highly of me. This time, that Director came personally, isn't it because of his importance to me?"

"Is that so? Anyway, Mother doesn't understand these things. Mother just hopes you will be safe and sound. Our family doesn't ask for great wealth and honor. Mother hopes you and Liang'er can be safe and sound."

Lin's mother didn't know that Xing Xing Huai Feng came to Linhu Village specifically to target Lin Chen. Hearing her son's explanation, she believed it.

Such a big official—if it weren't for the importance he placed on her son, how could he have come to Linhu Village personally?

Thinking this way, the worry in her heart was a little less.

After comforting his mother, Lin Chen left the Lin family. When he arrived at the village entrance, Gu Fei was already waiting there with a horse.

"Chenzi, the Village Chief knew you were going into the city today, so I rented a horse from the stable in town during the day."

Looking at the horse Gu Fei was leading, Lin Chen thought for a moment: "A-Fei, you go and discuss with the Village Chief to see if our village can raise a few horses."

There were no horses in the village. If they wanted to go into the city, they could row a boat, but if they wanted to go elsewhere, it would be inconvenient.

Raising a few horses might be useful in case of an emergency.

"Raise horses?"

Gu Fei's eyes lit up: "This is a good suggestion. I'll tell the Village Chief later. It's nothing for our village to raise a few horses now. We still have this bit of money."

"The village has money?"

"Hehe, I don't know who spread the word that our village has good feng shui. Some big families want to move their ancestral graves to our village. That piece behind the mountain definitely can't be given to outsiders, but isn't there a small hill over there past the back mountain? The Village Chief sold it to those big families. It's not selling the mountain top, it's selling graves. Ten taels of silver for one grave. Ten grave mounds have already been sold. The Village Chief slapped his thigh and said he sold it cheaply!"

Uh...

Lin Chen couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. The old Village Chief still had a business mind, knowing how to sell by the number of grave mounds.

"The Village Chief said to keep this money for you."

"No need to give it to me. Give it to the younger generation in the village who are learning martial arts. You can set up a reward system. If they achieve certain results in martial arts practice in the martial arts hall, give them some silver rewards."

Lin Chen didn't think about letting the Village Chief give financial support to the poor teenagers in the village who wanted to learn martial arts. It wasn't that his heart was cold, but at the current stage, Linhu Village wasn't considered rich, and the expenses for practicing martial arts were high. Relying on the village's financial support was far from enough.

Providing help in snowy weather is indeed a beautiful story, but one must act according to one's ability. At the current stage, Linhu Village can only do the icing on the cake.

"Okay, I'll tell the Village Chief."

Lin Chen got on the horse, then thought of something else, and said on the horse: "By the way, tell the Village Chief not to sell them all. Reserve some mountain tops."

"Reserve mountain tops? Chenzi, do you want them?"

"What do I want them for?" Lin Chen rolled his eyes: "Keep them for future price increases."

Gu Fei didn't understand what "waiting for the price to sell" meant. The old Village Chief should understand a little, but not much.

As long as he continued to advance on the Martial Way, the rumor that Linhu Village had good feng shui would only spread wider and wider. By then, let alone thirty taels, even a hundred taels for a grave mound would be easy to sell.

Those big families were not short of this bit of money, and they had many ancestral graves. Moving one of the many ancestral graves over to try it out wouldn't be a loss.

... Poyang County.

When Lin Chen arrived, the city gate was already closed.

But as Lin Chen spoke, the soldiers guarding the city recognized Lin Chen and immediately let him pass.

After entering the city, Lin Chen went straight to the Wuzheng Office.

"Lord Su is already waiting for you in the backyard. Follow me."

Su Lingchuan's trusted aide led Lin Chen to the backyard. Lin Chen was not surprised at all that Lord Su could predict that he would come today.

Lord Su must have known the news of his return, and as long as he returned to the village, he would inevitably come to the Wuzheng Office to find Lord Su for clarification.

In the backyard, Su Lingchuan was not in the courtyard this time, but received Lin Chen in the study.

Su Lingchuan was writing something at the desk. Lin Chen entered but he didn't look up. Until he finished writing and put down the pen, he said: "I know you have many questions in your heart. Before I clarify things for you, I will ask you one thing first."

"My lord, please ask."

"If someone deliberately targets you, and the other party's power is huge, crushing you like crushing an ant, what would you do?"

Su Lingchuan stared at Lin Chen with burning eyes. Lin Chen's pupils contracted. The subtext in Lord Su's words was different from what he inferred.

Yesterday, after learning the whole process from the old Village Chief, he inferred that he should have been involved in the vortex of some big figures' struggle.

He had also thought about whether some big figure was specifically targeting him, but on second thought, this possibility was not high.

He seemed to have never offended any forces. The only ones he offended, the Shao family and the Lian family—one moved the whole family, and the other was already exterminated. There were no other forces that had a grudge against him.

It was possible that his dazzling performance in the martial arts hall competition and the county competition offended people. After all, his dazzling performance was very likely to make a certain family's children a foil.

But this offense was not enough for the other party to deal with him with all their might, even the Wuzheng Office Director was dispatched.

Because of these thoughts, plus Lord Qiu's transfer and this Lord Xing's appointment, Lin Chen felt more that he was involved in the struggle between the former and current Directors, and was an innocent victim.

But now Lord Su told him that the other party was aiming at him, and there was no such thing as him being involved in the vortex of big figures' struggle.

"This disciple would choose to go far away and return after his strength is enough to contend with the other party."

Hearing the answer Lin Chen gave, a smile appeared on Su Lingchuan's face. The young man's character was fierce and he couldn't bear grievances. He was afraid that Lin Chen would have a direct conflict with that Huo family or even another family that might be involved behind the scenes.

"I won't hide it from you. According to my investigation, that Lord Xing targeting you is highly likely related to the previous competition for the model student of Jiangnan Dao. When Lord Qiu reported your deeds to the Jiangnan Dao Wuzheng Hall, it was suppressed by the Wuzheng Hall because the Huo family of Raozhou Prefecture reported to the Wuzheng Hall that you were unfilial to your grandfather."

Qiu Ruofeng didn't know the content of the Huo family's report to the Wuzheng Hall at the time, but as Qiu Ruofeng was transferred to the Wuzheng Hall, he also inquired about the content of the Huo family's report.

Su Lingchuan wrote a letter to inform his teacher about what happened in Linhu Village a few days ago. His teacher mentioned the Huo family in the letter.

The Huo family must have participated in Lin Ming's report.

Similarly, his teacher also euphemistically mentioned in the letter that this matter was highly likely related to the families behind the students pushed by several other prefectures to compete for the model student.

A certain family in Hongdu Prefecture!

But Su Lingchuan soon understood that his teacher was talking about the Li family.

His teacher euphemistically mentioned it in the letter without naming names. For one thing, there was a risk of leakage in correspondence, and for another, there was no evidence. But the main reason was that the Li family was no small matter.

Although the Huo family was one of the four big families in Raozhou Prefecture, it had been going downhill these years and was not much.

But the Li family was different. Li Yuan of this generation of the Li family was only in his early forties and was already a sixth-rank martial artist. If there were no accidents, fifth-rank would be no problem, and it was even possible to reach fourth-rank.

Even his own teacher, without conclusive evidence, would not explicitly say the two words "Li family."

"This junior seems to have never offended the Huo family."

The Huo family of Raozhou Prefecture—Lin Chen thought carefully. He seemed to have never heard of it, nor had he dealt with anyone surnamed Huo.

"The Huo family should be entrusted by others to want to smear your character so that you cannot compete for the model student of Jiangnan Dao, but this is just my guess, and there is no evidence. Do you understand what I mean?"

Lin Chen nodded: "This disciple understands. The one targeting me is just the Huo family."

The Huo family targeting him was already an ironclad fact, but whether there were other forces behind the Huo family, there was no evidence.

Lord Su was reminding him not to speak easily before there was evidence.

Therefore, the family that the Huo family colluded with was likely of extremely noble status, so much so that even Lord Su was unwilling to speak clearly to him.

"My lord, since this disciple stepped onto the Martial Way, I have never targeted anyone, just wanting to keep moving forward on the Martial Way. As for competing for rankings, with this disciple's family background, if I don't rely on the rewards brought by rankings, I wouldn't be able to get to today."

Lin Chen spoke solemnly. Su Lingchuan sighed in his heart. He understood what Lin Chen meant.

"Lord Qiu asked me to convey a sentence to you: as long as you act correctly, you don't need to fear. This sky of Jiangnan Dao is not something that one person can cover."

Regarding the two decisions Lin Chen would make after knowing the truth, his teacher also mentioned it in the letter, respecting Lin Chen's own choice.

If Lin Chen chose to give up the competition for the model student of Jiangnan Dao, then let it be.

Giving up did not mean cowardice, but a correct choice after assessing the situation.

Giving up the model student of Jiangnan Dao, the Li family would not continue to suppress him. With Lin Chen's martial arts talent, entering the ranked tier smoothly would be no problem.

But if Lin Chen still wanted to fight, then convey this sentence to Lin Chen.

"Lin Chen, do not hide any of your skills on the Martial Way. The founding Emperor established the policy of revitalizing the nation through the Martial Way, so the status of the Wuzheng Hall is extremely independent. Potential is the best protective talisman."

"This disciple will definitely cultivate diligently!"

Lin Chen did not make a big promise. The four words "cultivate diligently" represented everything.

"Very good. Tomorrow you will follow that Lord Jiang back to the special training ground."

Su Lingchuan was very satisfied. Mentioning that Lord Jiang, a smile also appeared on his face. When that Lord Jiang came to pick up Lin Chen, he was extremely cold, but this time when he sent Lin Chen back, he actually took the initiative to come to the Wuzheng Office. His attitude was like two different people from before.

"It seems your performance in the special training ground is also dazzling. Keep it up. You don't need to worry too much about the county. I will take care of your family for you."

Lin Chen bowed to Su Lingchuan: "Thank you, my lord, for your care for this disciple."

"You returned to the county once, I suppose you should have other things to do. I won't keep you here."

Leaving the Wuzheng Office, Lin Chen thought for a while and went to the county government office again. Unfortunately, Lord He went to Raozhou Prefecture, so he could only inform Lord He's secretary of his gratitude to Lord He.

Leaving the county government office, Lin Chen went straight back to the Jingshui Qingfeng Qingfeng Wuguan and saw Ceng Qingyao.

Ceng Qingyao was sharpening a knife in the courtyard.

"Did you see Lord Su?"

"This disciple has already seen Lord Su and also went to the county government office, but Lord He is not in the county government office."

"I know you don't have much time. You don't need to visit the families that went to Linhu Village together one by one. Write a letter to express your gratitude, and I will have Vice Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu send it to you personally."

"Let Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu send the letter to this disciple..."

Lin Chen looked at Kong Yinglei on the side and was about to refuse, but Kong Yinglei said: "It's okay. It's just right for me to send this letter. It's not appropriate for others to send it, and it's also good to explain a few words for you."

"Sorry for the trouble, Hall Kong Kong Guanzhu."

Lin Chen was not pretentious. He really didn't have time to go door-to-door to express his gratitude.

From Village Chief Zhao's description, he also knew that many families in Poyang County supported him. Although it was not clear whether it made that Lord Xing fear him, he had to accept this favor.

"Since you have seen Lord Su, I suppose Lord Su has told you everything he should have. I won't say much more. Go to the Zhenyue Qingfeng Qingfeng Wuguan again. Kong Kong Guanzhu Tai has spent a lot of effort on your matter."

Half an hour later, Lin Chen saw Tai Rubai.

"Lin Chen, I won't say much to you. I'll just tell you one thing: Lord Li arrived at the Jiangnan Dao Wuzheng Hall yesterday and smashed a cup in front of the Director, reporting that Xing Xing Huai Feng was involved with spies from other countries!"

"If he were not a spy from another country, wanting to destroy our Liang Dynasty's martial arts genius, how could he do such a thing?"

"If he were not a spy from another country, as a dignified Wuzheng Office Director, facing the opposition of a county, he acted arbitrarily. Is it because Lin Chen dug up his Xing family's ancestral grave?"

"Although I am old, I am also willing to personally dig up Xing Xing Huai Feng's family ancestral grave to see if the bones in his family's ancestral grave were really dug up by Lin Chen."

Tai Rubai's expression was wonderful. This was Lord Li's original words in the Wuzheng Hall, without giving Xing Xing Huai Feng any face at all.

Lin Chen was dumbfounded. Lord Li's words...

Old but firm!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 155 =====