Chapter 1349: Scattered by Rain, Blown Away by Wind

Murder, arson, and such dirty work were old routines for the Mo family, and they had long had a set method for it. After setting the fire the night before, they did not rush to intimidate the target the next day, but waited another day to see what backing the other side could rely on, so as to avoid being unable to clean up the mess later.

In the end, this Jinan branch of Cloud Mountain Trading simply reported the matter to the authorities, which put the Mo family completely at ease. The yamen had never been able to do anything to the Mo family. At that time, the Incense-Smelling Sect had not yet risen in revolt, and the Zhao family army had not yet marched out to display its might, so although Mo Peisheng, the Private Adviser Mo in the yamen, heard about it, he did not take it seriously. When a local power player goes to another territory, they have to play by the other territory's rules.

By the third day, the Mo family steward who had been beaten earlier took a few men back to Cloud Mountain Trading. In their minds, this visit should have cowed the other side into submission. But after this second steward and his underlings went in, they never came back out. The Mo family did not notice at first, only realizing something was wrong by noon the next day. They sent men to Cloud Mountain Trading to inquire, and those men also vanished without a trace.

Before the Mo family could react, that very night the Mo family compound was set on fire. The technique was even more sophisticated than the previous night's. Besides the fires set from the outside, several fires actually started from inside the residence. Fortunately, the Mo family were no virtuous souls to begin with and kept some night patrols and guards, which was the only reason a major disaster was averted, though over a dozen were injured and two side-house courtyards were burned.

At this point, the two sides had torn away all pretense. Mo Yinglong dared not show the slightest negligence now, because the other side's methods were those of a first-rate power player—equally ruthless and merciless. Anyone who dared commit murder and arson within the city was no ordinary person, yet the other side's actions did not seem to have any official background either.

By dinnertime the next day, the Mo family had gathered over two hundred men, splitting into several groups to head for Cloud Mountain Trading, planning to smash the shop and seize the people. Those captured would be taken outside the city and buried, serving as a lesson and a warning to Jinan Prefecture and the surrounding areas. At this point, profit was a minor matter; if the Mo family's prestige were to be damaged, future business would be hard to conduct. For this operation, over a dozen yamen runners also tagged along—if anything went wrong, they would use the law to crush the opposition.

But Cloud Mountain Trading had already closed its doors and ceased business. The Mo family finally began to feel that something was truly wrong, because with the Mo family's influence in the city, it was nearly impossible for any stir or movement to escape their notice. Yet the entire staff of such a large commercial establishment—the manager, the clerks, and so on—had vanished without a sound. Still, venting their anger could not be delayed. The gang smashed the shop, emptied it of all goods, valuable or not, and even planned to seize the property itself. The yamen's Household Registry Office had already prepared the deed and was just waiting for the transfer of ownership.

Over the next few days, no one from Cloud Mountain Trading appeared, nor did anyone come to deal with the aftermath. The Mo family thought they had gained the upper hand and had only suffered a loss due to carelessness. Then word came back from Zhangqiu County: the Mo family's estate there had been bathed in blood. Not one of the three hundred able-bodied men in the estate had escaped. Perhaps some had tried to surrender and beg for mercy, but they still met the same fate of being beheaded.

The Mo family's estate in Zhangqiu County was used to hide people and stolen goods—fugitives from Dengzhou and Laizhou, the Mo family's own fighters, stolen loot sent from Dengzhou, Laizhou, and elsewhere, and people being trafficked were all kept there. Moreover, it was outside the city, beyond the reach of the law, and convenient for blocking trade routes, murder, robbery, and gang warfare. Half of the Mo family's manpower originally stationed in the city had been placed there, and all of them had been slaughtered to the last man.

At this point, the Mo family was stricken with terror. Outsiders might not know the strength of these men, but Mo Yinglong knew it well. These were all men from the Liaodong Garrison, and among them were over a dozen elite personal guards. They amounted to nearly two full companies under two Company Commanders. A force like that could be considered a core fighting unit. Against mounted bandits and outlaws of the greenwood, as long as they formed ranks and fought, they would surely have the upper hand. How could they have been wiped out so cleanly?

More and more news came in, but there was still no knowing what had happened to the several hundred men inside that estate. Moreover, the attackers had no interest in wealth or goods at all. They gave the stolen loot to the abducted women and children as traveling expenses, then burned everything to the ground with a single torch, merely arranging the severed heads outside. The county authorities dared not intervene, nor did they want to. They simply had the matter covered up and glossed over. If three hundred lives were to go through any sort of official procedure, it would likely require an inquiry from the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of Justice. Everyone preferred to let sleeping dogs lie.

In the end, the only accounts came from people who had passed nearby, who said that as dusk fell, the estate was filled with the sound of killing that shook the heavens, with weeping, screaming, and wretched howling—and then, very quickly, silence fell.

The Xuzhou people had such powerful strength? And they dared act so recklessly? By this time, Mo Yinglong truly dared not make another move. But the retaliation was not over. Right at the main gate of the Mo family mansion, several men were shot dead by arrows from several dozen paces away as they stepped out. Archers could be seen on the rooftop across the way. When the Mo family men tried to give chase, those archers did not flee. Eight archers shot dead over twenty men before calmly departing.

After Mo Yinglong learned of this, several gambling dens and thieves' nests in the city were also raided, and the men managing those places were left dead on the spot. By now, Mo Yinglong was trembling in fear and panic. He and that Private Adviser Mo Peisheng were merely in a cooperative relationship. Though they were relatives, if he needed a favor or help, he still had to settle accounts in ready silver. But at this point, he had no choice but to seek him out.

When he went to find Mo Peisheng, Mo Peisheng had also come looking for him. There had been deaths on Adviser Mo's side as well. One was a constable who had followed him for nearly ten years, a trusted confidant of Adviser Mo. He had supposedly gone to a low-class brothel for some pleasure, and after stepping out, was stabbed in the back. Two yamen attendants who tried to stop the attacker were also cut down, one slash each.

This was naked intimidation. So what if you're a yamen runner? So what if you're the local emperor of Jinan Prefecture? They would kill you all the same. This time it was the attendants; next time, who could say who it would be? Even more critically, the other side had also shot arrows into Adviser Mo's private residence.

Adviser Mo had originally planned to shut the city gates and conduct a city-wide manhunt, but at this point, he dared not make a move. The other side consisted of true desperadoes, and their methods were highly sophisticated. If the manhunt failed, what form would the next retaliation take? What they had already experienced was enough to make one's blood run cold.

Adviser Mo and Mo Yinglong put their heads together and decided to capitulate. If they did not yield, they would be facing the extermination of their entire family and clan. Such ruthless and merciless methods were beyond what mere underworld figures could carry out.

It was only at this point that they finally set out to inquire about the news of Zhao Jin of Xuzhou and Cloud Mountain Trading, wanting to know just what kind of entity this was, to be so utterly lawless.

News in the underworld has its limits, and so does news on the official side. However, the information gathered through these two channels was sufficient. Only then did they learn exactly what kind of power Zhao Jin of Xuzhou was, and to what degree of ferocity he had reached.

Mo Yinglong promptly returned all the looted goods and prepared double the payment in goods, all in ninety-percent pure silver ingots, arranged on red-lacquered wooden trays. He set up an offering table before the closed doors of Cloud Mountain Trading and hired an opera troupe to perform with lively fanfare. This gesture was a statement of kowtowing and capitulation according to underworld rules.

Mo Peisheng acted even more efficiently. Using his own network of connections, he found several men who had passed the provincial exam in the same year as Wang Youshan. He threw face and silver at them, building up ample goodwill, and they agreed to write letters to mediate and smooth things over.

At that time, the Zhao family army's strength had only just penetrated into the border between Yanzhou Prefecture and Xuzhou. Only squads of the Internal Guard were active in the various prefectures and counties of Shandong. The forces they could mobilize, apart from the Internal Guard, were a few greenwood bands that had secretly pledged allegiance. Moreover, Xuzhou had a very urgent need to open up trade routes through the various prefectures of Shandong and to gather intelligence from the Shandong region.

After weighing the options, they reluctantly agreed. Even so, many in Cloud Mountain Trading and the Internal Guard felt they had suffered a great loss and been wronged this time, and that everyone had only swallowed their anger for the sake of the bigger picture.

Yet Cloud Mountain Trading had only suffered a few injured, and the underworld forces mobilized by the Internal Guard had suffered a dozen or so casualties, while the Mo family had lost a full three hundred-plus people. It was true that Cloud Mountain Trading's goods had sustained losses, but the other side had paid over three times in compensation. Though the comparison could be made that way, Xuzhou had not suffered a loss like this in many years.

Mo Yinglong and Mo Peisheng naturally did not want to let the matter rest. They were only gritting their teeth and enduring due to the immediate circumstances, still harboring thoughts of seeking revenge someday. However, what followed was the great chaos of the Incense-Smelling Sect, and after that, the Zhao Battalion pacified Shandong. It was only then that the two Mo men realized what kind of colossal entity stood behind Cloud Mountain Trading.

Then the Zhao family army gradually took control of Yanzhou Prefecture, and the fate of the Prince of Lu's household in Ziyang City spread throughout Shandong. After that came the great battles against the government troops. As the Zhao family army's territory continuously expanded, and with one earth-shaking victory after another, the Mo family grew more and more terrified. Meanwhile, the influence and power of Cloud Mountain Trading within Jinan City swelled increasingly, leaving Adviser Mo and Mo Yinglong in an extremely awkward position. They were local tyrants rooted in their native soil; if they left their homeland, they would be like pigs and sheep awaiting slaughter. But if they stayed in Jinan Prefecture, how would the past enmity with Cloud Mountain Trading ever be settled?

What they had once thought was a piece of fat meat—who could have imagined it was a tiger? And this tiger was growing larger and larger, even showing signs of transforming into a dragon. Originally, they could have fled to a distant land, but now, it seemed there was no safe place left under heaven.

While the Mo family trembled in fear, they incessantly fawned upon Cloud Mountain Trading. Cloud Mountain Trading, for its part, did not dwell on such old grudges and simply could not be bothered to pay them any mind.

Being ignored was one thing, but the businesses the Mo family controlled grew fewer and fewer. Fortunately, Cloud Mountain Trading and the Internal Guard rarely touched those enterprises that violated all that was right and proper. Yet before they had complete control, they would not rashly intervene out of righteous indignation. Thus, the Mo family's scale was maintained, and their spending on having their sons and younger kin pursue scholarly honors and official degrees grew ever larger.

By the time the Zhao family army marched north on their Northern Expedition into Zhili and bombarded the capital, Shandong had completely become Zhao Jin's territory, with Jinan Prefecture naturally included. Now, the Mo family truly had nowhere to hide. Mo Peisheng, who had once gone from commanding wind and rain in the yamen to still being relied upon, was now directly dismissed and expelled. As for Mo Yinglong, he shut his doors to visitors and kept an extremely low profile, though his business continued as usual. Those with a discerning eye could notice that Mo Yinglong's business even seemed somewhat more prosperous than before. On the streets, people all remarked that, sure enough, murder and arson were the foundation of a family legacy passed down through generations—the Mo family had prospered since the previous dynasty, and it looked as though they would do no worse under this new one either.