Chapter 141: The Road to Revenge

Gu Zhanting sat in the presiding seat, silent throughout, his gaze lingering on Pei Qingyan and Huo Liancheng for a long while before he finally said lightly, "The soul-searching method harms the harmony of heaven and earth. Unless absolutely necessary, it should not be the imperial court's chosen measure. You are all pillars of the state; with a multi-party review, you can only propose this one plan?"

Pei Qingyan sighed, knowing this was merely the Emperor's high-sounding excuse; he simply wanted to protect the Huo family.

The Huo family was already doing many unsavory things for the Emperor; some matters were not the Huo family's business, but the Emperor's own business.

He only hoped this matter was not one of them; otherwise, it would be impossible to shake the Huo family using this incident.

Huo Liancheng bowed and said, "Huo Lu has already confessed. Meng Gui's prefect, Shi Chong, was indeed my subordinate's student. Huo Lu and Shi Chong were close, so Huo Lu met the Infant Ghost through Shi Chong earlier; these were all personal actions, and I truly did not know. Failing to discipline strictly is my fault; please, Your Majesty, punish me."

Another official, the Minister of the Dali Temple, spoke up, "One side's words from the Infant Ghost cannot be heard, yet Huo Lu's confession can be? Your Majesty is benevolent and unwilling to search souls; then why not ask the involved party, Lu Xingzhou, for his account? He is also in Jingcheng."

For a moment, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Gu Zhanting looked at the expressions of all parties with some amusement and said leisurely, "Then summon the involved party for questioning."

Sheng Qingfeng felt somewhat anxious; he truly did not want Lu Xingzhou to rashly involve himself in such a vortex, so he wanted him to hide. Whether the Huo family colluded with the Infant Ghost was a matter of past background; what did that have to do with the victim? How could the victim know how you colluded before? There was absolutely no reason to summon the involved party; originally, Lu Xingzhou could have completely avoided appearing.

That was why the Pei family and the Huo family each wanted him to appear to fulfill their own needs.

At this moment, the Pei family owed Lu Xingzhou a favor and felt too embarrassed to use him as a pawn again, so they dropped the matter; the Huo family, worried Lu Xingzhou's attitude might be wrong, also dropped it, as originally it had nothing to do with Lu Xingzhou. But the Dali Temple, for no good reason, suddenly brought it up; bringing it up was one thing, but where did the Emperor get the interest to actually summon him?

Once the Emperor speaks, there is no way to hide!

Sheng Qingfeng, helpless, could only order those around him, "Go summon Lu Xingzhou; he should be at my home right now."

In everyone's stomachs was a string of ellipses.

Gu Zhanting found it somewhat amusing, "Why is the involved party at your esteemed minister's home?"

Sheng Qingfeng bowed and said, "He saved my daughter yesterday; today, I am hosting a banquet to express my gratitude."

Gu Zhanting, about to say something with an amused expression, suddenly heard a voice from outside the door, "Lu Xingzhou has already arrived."

Sheng Qingfeng looked up and saw his own daughter pushing Lu Xingzhou's wheelchair into the great hall.

Lu Xingzhou looked at Gu Zhanting and bowed lightly, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty... please forgive this commoner for physical inconvenience, unable to perform the full ritual."

The greatest benefit of pretending to be lame is that even if the King of Heaven himself were present, one need not kneel.

Gu Zhanting's gaze fell on his legs; he did not suspect anything, but carefully examined Lu Xingzhou's overall appearance.

Apart from the disability and the wheelchair, his appearance and temperament were impeccable. Meeting the Emperor suddenly, and in an environment where heavy court pressure from a group of first-grades was gathered, the pressure was not ordinary. For a cultivator, that was a group of first-grade experts staring at you.

In such an environment, a common young rascal would probably not even be able to speak clearly, yet this Lu Xingzhou remained calm and composed without changing his expression... just this performance showed he was no ordinary fish in a pond.

No wonder he could assist his daughter in rising rapidly from that state of a homeless dog in such a short time.

He finally smiled, "I heard you came to participate in the Alchemy Academy assessment; if you succeed, you would no longer be called a commoner."

This attitude made everyone's hearts stir slightly; even Huo Liancheng and Huo Xingyuan, father and son, looked at Lu Xingzhou seriously again, their thoughts hard to discern.

Lu Xingzhou said, "I accept Your Majesty's auspicious words."

Gu Zhanting said, "Regarding the Huo Lu case, you are the involved party and also the victim; is there anything you wish to say?"

Lu Xingzhou said, "The so-called Sacred Maiden of Union and other matters; although a demoness appeared on the spot, it cannot be judged if she was the mastermind. Theoretically speaking, the Infant Ghost is a third-grade demonic cultivator, while the Sacred Maiden of Union is a newcomer, merely a fourth-grade; who is the master and who is the subordinate, is this not turning heaven and earth upside down? If asked for my personal opinion, I would suspect this is a self-hypnosis type of protective measure, designed to prevent others from shallow soul-searching and confusing the issue."

Pei Qingyan held back his laughter. Meng Guan's face was expressionless.

Gu Zhanting also seemed to have a smile, "So you believe the Huo family is indeed behind the Infant Ghost?"

"I do not know the past events and dare not speak rashly; I can only say that indeed Huo Lu and the Infant Ghost attacked me together."

This time, even Gu Zhanting was stunned; did this fellow really not bite the Huo family along the pole?

Was he truly intending to acknowledge his ancestors and return to the clan, or did he have other thoughts?

But they heard Lu Xingzhou continue, "This commoner has another matter to accuse!"

Gu Zhanting said with interest, "What accusation do you wish to make?"

"This commoner accuses the Huo family's fifth young master, Huo Jin, of colluding with the demonic path's Underworld Hall to hire assassins to kill. First, using Huo Jin's invitation as an excuse, he invited the direct disciple of the Wanhua Sword Sect, Chu Qingchen, to a banquet, setting an ambush to assassinate; later, he repeated the old trick, inviting me to a banquet, intending to intercept and kill me on the way; fortunately, this commoner was prepared beforehand, so I did not follow Brother Chu's fate." Lu Xingzhou bowed again, "The Wanhua Sword Sect is a world-renowned noble family; Brother Chu is ranked seventh among the new talents with a boundless future, yet he was secretly harmed by someone colluding with demonic cultivators; please, Your Majesty, take charge!"

The entire hall was silent as a grave.

Gu Zhanting raised an eyebrow, his expression becoming very dramatic.

He saw it now; this Lu Xingzhou had probably guessed he did not want to use the Infant Ghost case to attack the Huo family; otherwise, he would not have dragged it out until today, waiting for Huo Lu to be escorted to Jingcheng. So he simply stopped arguing over this case; anyway, the Huo Lu case could at least pin the Huo family's failure to discipline their household, and punishment was unavoidable; he might as well step on them once more, putting the hat of colluding with demonic cultivators on Huo Jin as well.

No matter how much Huo Liancheng tried to clear his own connection, the style of governing his household would become a laughingstock of the world, and he would also firmly bind the hatred of the Wanhua Sword Sect.

Sheng Qingfeng's expression was equally dramatic; colluding with the demonic path's Underworld Hall? Are you talking about yourself?

Huo Liancheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, Huo Jin has never left Jingcheng; how could he know the so-called demonic cultivators of the Underworld Hall? Huo Jin inviting Lu Xingzhou to a banquet was merely because there was a conflict before, wanting to bury the grudge. Forcing a connection between the Ye Wufeng case and this banquet invitation is unreasonable."

Gu Zhanting smiled, "Lu Xingzhou, accusations must have evidence; one cannot speculate just because someone invited you to a meal, can they?"

"Of course there is evidence." Lu Xingzhou took a small mirror from his robe, "This is the Image-Recording Mirror of the Underworld Hall. When the Underworld Hall handles big business, they basically use this to keep records, both to report to superiors that they did not kill people randomly and to avoid employers changing their minds."

Huo Liancheng and Huo Xingyuan immediately changed color.

Few people in this world knew the Underworld Hall's rule of secretly keeping evidence; even if they knew, where did you get this mirror?

Beside him, Sheng Yuanyao, smiling sweetly, took the mirror and handed it up to her father. She had witnessed the entire process of Lu Xingzhou going to the Underworld Hall's branch to get the mirror; the people of the Underworld Hall even knelt and paid respects to Lu Xingzhou... oh right, this rule of keeping records was personally established by Lu Xingzhou several years ago.

It was so enjoyable to eat this melon.

Huo Liancheng said, "Wait, how did you get hold of something from the Underworld Hall? Could it be forged?"

"Ha... Young Master Huo has been walking birds at home for too long; is your information so outdated?" Lu Xingzhou said lightly, "Last night, the Underworld Hall issued an announcement stating that Ye Wufeng disregarded the rules and has been expelled. His evidence of guilt was handed over by the Underworld Hall to show a clear boundary."

Sheng Qingfeng asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty..."

Gu Zhanting nodded, "Release it."

Ripples flashed in the mirror; the image inside was not very clear, but the faces of Ye Wufeng and Huo Jin could still be clearly identified.

"If we create an environment where Lu Xingzhou is alone, would the Soul-Collecting Envoy dare to strike and kill?"

"Your Huo family has a good plan; you say 'alone', but when the time comes, will it be witnessed by the masses that the Underworld Hall killed Lu Xingzhou, shifting the blame completely?"

"The Soul-Collecting Envoy is overthinking..."

"Then prove it to me."

"How to prove it?"

"There is a young man named Chu Qingchen whom I find unpleasant... you create an environment first so he can kill for me, to prove how you do it."

"Bang!" Gu Zhanting slammed the table in anger: "So this is the 'unfamiliarity' you spoke of! The Wanhua Sword Sect is a righteous and prestigious clan. Chu Qingchen could one day become a pillar of our Great Qian. Is this how he met his end, sacrificed in the games of your prodigal sons and the demonic path!"

The influence of the Wanhua Sword Sect was no joke; in modern times, this would be a case of a noble prodigal son murdering a 985 master's graduate, guaranteed to trend on the hot search.

What made it even more infuriating was that this was merely a game-like add-on, existing as a sort of "deposit."

If the Sect Master of the Wanhua Sword Sect found out, he would surely fight the Huo family to the death.

But who knew the Hall of Yama kept such evidence on file? They actually trotted it over and presented it themselves!

Lu Xingzhou said leisurely: "It seems the Huo family not only has an incapable fourth son, but their fifth son is no good either..."

From his words, one could roughly judge that he still only targeted these unworthy sons of the Huo family, with no intention of expanding to the entire Huo family. Huo Liancheng and Huo Xingyuan could not fail to understand the implication here; they both knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, I have failed to discipline my family strictly. I am willing to accept severe punishment."

Gu Zhanting looked at Lu Xingzhou. Lu Xingzhou merely smiled faintly and said nothing more.

Gu Zhanting took a deep breath and said calmly: "Huo Lu and Huo Jin conspired with demonic cultivators to harm the nation's new talents. The evidence is conclusive. Effective immediately, all titles and inheritances are stripped. One hundred strokes of the cane, followed by three years of imprisonment. Huo Lu is already severely injured; the cane punishment is temporarily waived. Huo Xingyuan failed to teach his sons well and discipline his family; his rank is demoted by one level. He is ordered to compensate the victims, the Wanhua Sword Sect and Lu Xingzhou, until they are satisfied!"

The Huo father and son kowtowed: "We thank Your Majesty for your grace."

Pei Qingyan, Sheng Qingfeng, and others watched coldly from the sidelines, feeling a slight shock in their hearts.

They had thought Lu Xingzhou needed to rely on them to deal with the Huo family, but in reality, from start to finish, he had not borrowed anything from them. It could be said this was entirely Lu Xingzhou's own operation.

Although it did not shake the foundation of the Huo family... the blow was not insignificant. The Huo family, once boasting a flourishing population with a full six legitimate sons, now had one dead in Xiazhou, two infamous and imprisoned for three years; they were basically ruined.

Only three remained. Thinking that Lu Xingzhou was outside, watching their every move at all times, they were probably trembling with fear, unable to sleep peacefully.

He was truly attempting, with his own strength alone, to lead the entire Huo family step by step into fear and torment.

But with this strength comparison, like an ant trying to shake a tree, what would he do if the Huo family threw caution to the wind? The Huo family had previously only refrained because they were not pushed to that point and did not want to earn the reputation of "killing their own son." This did not mean they truly could not kill. If truly pushed to the brink, there was no reason they could not kill.

Pei Qingyan pondered in his heart. Seeing that Gu Zhanting seemed about to leave, he suddenly stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, speaking of family conduct... I also wish to beg for forgiveness."

Gu Zhanting was taken aback: "Oh? What is the matter, my lord?"

"Eighteen years ago, I had a night of passion and left behind a daughter who wandered the Jianghu, yet I never knew of her. Only recently did I find her. I am ashamed to be a father."

Not only did Sheng Yuanyao's eyes instantly become bright, but even Gu Zhanting became interested: "You tell this to me; what do you wish to do?"

Pei Qingyan bowed his head: "I am willing to accept any punishment. I only beg to secure a title for my daughter, so she is not slandered as an illegitimate child, and may return to the family gate with honor."

Gu Zhanting pondered: "This... is also a matter that greatly damages your own reputation. Even if you feel ashamed before the child, you should have discussed it with me in private... Bringing this up at this time suggests there is some underlying story?"

"Yes." Pei Qingyan said seriously: "My daughter, wandering the Jianghu, was taken in by Young Master Lu Xingzhou, who helped her find her family. This is a great kindness. I, Pei, publicly state this matter hoping some people will know: if there are any further attempts like Ye Wufeng's assassination, it will be equivalent to attempting to assassinate my daughter. The Pei family of Hedong will fight them to the death!"

(End of Chapter)