“That’s right! My father and his two sworn brothers borrowed money from the Han family on the night of their massacre.”
The moment Pei Liang spoke, the entire ancestral hall fell into a dead silence. That was no exaggeration.
At that moment, even a needle falling to the floor would have sounded deafening.
The members of the Jiang and Cao families were utterly dumbfounded. Their necks turned toward Pei Liang with the slow, creaking stiffness of rusty hinges.
One could even clearly hear the crackling sounds caused by the awkward movement of their necks. In the silent hall, it was so conspicuous that some people’s hearts skipped a beat, fearing the others’ heads might simply fall off.
Even the onlookers reacted like this—let alone the people of the Jiang and Cao families, caught at the heart of the storm.
They stared at Pei Liang as if she were some kind of monster. They simply could not comprehend what she had just said.
The Jiang and Cao families had long expected Pei Liang to distance herself from the Han family massacre. But the worst scenario they had imagined was that she would shift the blame onto them.
Given the attitude Han Weiliu had revealed to Jiang Xun during his earlier probing, if he had known Pei Liang was the daughter of the man who had murdered his father, there was no way he could still have maintained such an unruffled relationship with her.
Therefore, they had been certain that Pei Liang wanted to claim every possible advantage for herself. But if she wanted all the benefits, then she would inevitably have to accept constraints. Even if she had no desire to protect the two families, wherever matters touched upon the Pei family’s vital interests, she would find a way to cover them up.
Just as now, before the memorial tablets of the Pei father and son, the Jiang and Cao families had deliberately dragged that father and son into the affair, precisely to force Pei Liang—and even Han Weiliu—to know when to stop.
If Pei Liang wanted to stand by and watch the spectacle unfold, then once their crimes were exposed to the world today, the Pei family would certainly not escape unscathed.
The Pei family was currently at the height of its power, blazing fiercely like oil poured onto a fire. By the Jiang and Cao families’ reasoning, once a prominent martial arts clan had reached this stage, wouldn’t its next ambition be to unite the martial world and become its undisputed ruler?
Pei Liang was clearly only one step away. There was no way she would choose this moment to expose everything.
Yet her actions told them otherwise: this madwoman simply did not care about any of these supposedly self-evident considerations.
With such swift, decisive ease, she had kicked the Pei father and son into the fray as well, as though they were two utterly irrelevant people—people whose reputations and deeds in life had no bearing on her whatsoever.
Even as those around her regarded her with shocked, suspicious eyes, as though they could somehow uncover the horrors of that night’s massacre by studying her face, she remained completely unmoved.
The expression on Pei Liang’s face was so casual that it gave people the illusion that she did not truly understand what she had just said.
Seeing that someone was about to speak and demand an explanation from Pei Liang, the Jiang and Cao families hurried to cut in first.
“She was merely a woman, and at the time she was raised in the inner quarters. How could she possibly know the details?”
“During the period before and after the Han family’s misfortune, all three of our families’ businesses suffered severe setbacks. We were busy from dawn till dusk, overwhelmed with troubles.”
“How could we have had the time to tell her every last detail? The three of our families borrowed money from Brother Han to weather our difficulties, but how could that have coincidentally happened on the very night of the massacre? As for what Brother Cao and Brother Pei were doing that day, I do not know. But my Jiang family, on a sudden whim, went down the mountain to dine at the largest restaurant in the city.”
“We drank until late into the night before leaving. Everyone around that restaurant can testify to it.”
The territories of the three families were all situated near prosperous cities. Great clans such as the Pei, Jiang, and Cao were no strangers to the townsfolk—especially in places where money changed hands, such as restaurants and silversmiths’ shops.
Not only did their younger members frequent such establishments, but whenever the family hosted a major event or required everyday household expenses, they would often summon the city’s most renowned tailors, chefs, embroiderers, and silver-shop owners directly up the mountain.
In other words, it was rather like bespoke service delivered to one’s door in later generations.
For a prestigious family like the Jiangs, their principal members would naturally be treated with bows and obsequious smiles wherever they went.
If Sect Master Jiang said he had been at a restaurant in the city that evening, and if the surrounding diners, the proprietor, and the serving staff could all testify to it, then given the distance between the Jiang and Han residences, it would indeed greatly lessen the suspicion against them.
In the end, Pei Liang had nothing but her word to support her claim.
Though the information she had revealed was suspicious enough, the Pei, Jiang, and Cao families were not clans that could be casually interrogated over the slightest hint of trouble. They all stood on the side of righteousness, and all three occupied the highest tier of the martial world. That was why they could remain so composed.
It was completely different from how people treated the Demon Sect—where they would grow impatient with investigation, accept rumors as truth, and condemn them without evidence.
Naturally, Pei Liang had anticipated this long ago. The three families were not fools. Even if they believed they were unlikely to be suspected after wiping out an entire household, they would still have made every possible preparation.
For instance, an alibi.
Seeing the Jiang and Cao families visibly relax at Sect Master Jiang’s words, as though they had suddenly recalled the crucial point—that so long as they had an alibi, no one in the world could convict them without direct evidence—Pei Liang did not press the matter.
Instead, she merely adopted an objective, puzzled expression and said, “But I did see my father and elder brother returning that night with several chests carried by their men.”
“That night, I was restless and unable to sleep. Shortly before the rooster crowed, I heard activity in my father’s courtyard. When I went over to look, Father and my brother were dressed in black nightclothes, leading men as they carried several chests back.”
“I asked about it out of curiosity, and Father told me that they were things borrowed from the Han family to help us through our recent difficulties. He said it was not only our Pei family—the Jiang and Cao families had done the same. I could not possibly have forgotten something so significant.”
“But only a few days later, I heard that the Han family had been massacred. At the time, my father was so grief-stricken that he nearly fell gravely ill. Fortunately, he pulled through. Still, a few months later, he died in an ambush.”
As she spoke, a melancholy expression appeared on her face.
Everyone around them was dumbfounded. Had Sect Leader Pei become an entirely different person?
Did she not realize how suspicious her own words sounded? Dressed in nightclothes, carrying chests, returning before dawn—it was the very picture of a band of robbers coming home after a raid.
People had seen plenty of individuals desperately trying to explain away suspicions against their own families. Never had they seen someone who seemed afraid others would not believe her, and who kept adding details to make the case more convincing.
Yes, the Former Sect Leader Pei had supposedly been so distraught that he nearly fell ill. Yet even while sick to that extent, he had still hurried to cancel your engagement to the Han family and arrange one with the Jiang family instead?
Ordinarily, if anyone had exposed such a matter, every suspicious and hostile gaze would have turned upon the Pei family.
But Pei Liang, as the head of the Pei family, was so ruthless in turning her accusations upon her own house that the people around her no longer knew how to react.
Some who had close ties with the Pei family, or whose interests were deeply entwined with theirs, even looked as though they wanted to stop her and urge her to rein herself in.
But everyone present knew that whenever she said something outlandish, it was never without basis. By now, they had more or less grown accustomed to it.
Thinking carefully over what Sect Leader Pei had said, the Pei family had indeed been in an unusual hurry to arrange a marriage alliance with the Jiang family. The engagement between Young Sect Leader Pei and Cao Hui had likewise been finalized around that same time.
At the time, it had seemed merely that the Pei family was currying favor with the powerful and casting aside the weak, abandoning all propriety and gratitude once the Han family fell into decline.
But viewed from another angle, it looked very much like they had joined forces in committing some wrongdoing, then bound themselves together through marriage alliances to keep their shared secret buried.
If the “borrowed” silver from those three families truly had been brought back as Sect Leader Pei claimed, then there was also an explanation for why, at the memorial hall that day, the Jiang family had immediately backed down the moment Sect Leader Pei mentioned the Han family’s money.
How could the Jiangs’ retreat then have been out of fear of moral condemnation? In the end, they had lost all face that very day anyway.
What they had truly feared was that Pei Liang would continue speaking recklessly and bring everyone down with her.
Someone then asked Pei Liang in a grave voice, “Sect Leader Pei, can you guarantee that every word you have said is true?”
Pei Liang was about to answer when Sect Leader Cao cut in. “Utter nonsense. We do not know why Brother Pei explained matters to her in such a manner that day, but neither the Jiang family nor my Cao family did anything furtive that night.”
“Brother Jiang has witnesses who can prove that he was out drinking that night, and my Cao family can likewise produce witnesses to prove that none of us went anywhere.”
“We do not know why Brother Pei behaved so suspiciously that day, nor why he went into such detail about silver borrowed more than a month earlier. Presumably, he was merely fooling a sheltered young lady.”
“Yet Sect Leader Pei takes her father and brother’s words at face value, without considering how suspicious their conduct was, and drags our two families into this. What exactly is her intention?”
Since you are so determined to court death, then die alone. That was what the Jiang and Cao families thought.
In any case, they clung stubbornly to the evidence they themselves had fabricated long ago.
But no sooner had Sect Leader Cao finished speaking than Pei Liang replied, “The batch of chests brought back that day bore the Han family’s markings.”
“No matter how difficult things were for my Pei family at the time, surely we would not have kept those chests after borrowing silver, only to reuse them again and again?”
Sect Master Jiang snapped, “Enough. You were not yet in charge at the time. Everything you say is based solely on your own conjecture, and all you could have witnessed was the conduct of your Pei family.”
“No matter what, you cannot prove that what Brother Pei and the others brought back that night was the borrowed silver. As for anything suspicious—how were our two families supposed to know?”
Pei Liang nodded. “True enough. It was dark that night, and my father and brother told me countless lies. Deceiving people came as naturally to them as opening their mouths. Their words truly cannot be taken as proof.”
The Jiang and Cao families finally breathed a little easier, believing that this madwoman had at last realized that the situation was growing increasingly unfavorable for the Pei family. Tearing apart all pretenses would do little harm to the Jiangs and Caos, so she had chosen to stop while she could.
But before they had even finished that breath, Pei Liang continued, “That is why I had the people who accompanied my father and brother that night interrogated. I obtained a definitive answer.”
“...”
The eyes of the Jiang and Cao families widened in shock.
Not only them—even Gang Leader Wang, who had started this whole affair, no longer knew how to react.
Clearly, he was the one stirring the pot, yet seeing Pei Liang work harder than him—hit harder than him—he suddenly felt, as the villain, that he simply wasn’t pulling his weight.
Like an idiot, he had gone from being the one forced to sow discord to becoming a mere spectator enjoying the show.
At that moment, several people bound hand and foot were shoved inside.
They were gaunt and haggard. They were not in an especially pitiful state, but they were far from well, clearly having been held captive for quite some time.
Yet no one present found them unfamiliar. After all, they had once been among the Han family’s most renowned martial experts.
After Former Sect Leader Pei’s death, and before Pei Ye emerged, these men had all coveted the position of sect leader. In the eyes of outsiders, they had been among the strongest contenders.
Everyone suddenly realized that, yes—after the funeral, these men had scarcely shown their faces in the martial world.
Even if anyone had noticed, they had assumed that the newly appointed Sect Leader Pei had suppressed them. That was hardly strange; they had openly displayed ambitions for the position, so naturally they would have drawn suspicion and wariness.
Who would have thought that they had long since become prisoners?
Pei Liang spoke. “There were not many people who left with my father and brother that day. Only these few. Though I believe that, when borrowing money, it is better to do so openly and honestly in broad daylight, sending more people and making the journey conspicuous, my father clearly did not agree.”
“Perhaps he feared that someone might rob them of their money, so he chose to travel discreetly, bringing only a few trusted martial experts?”
What nonsense. They were wiping out an entire family—bringing more people would only have been asking for death. This was a sneak attack, not a frontal assault. It was not a case of the more people, the better; concealment was what mattered most. Quality over quantity.
Besides, for something this deadly, the more people involved, the harder it was to keep secret.
Naturally, he had brought only a handful of trusted experts.
After saying this, Pei Liang pointed at the men again. “What I saw that night may have been incomplete, but these men were directly involved. Surely they know exactly what they did?”
“Now tell everyone: what did you do when you left with my father and brother that night?”
For the past three years, these men had lived in utter darkness. They had long been terrified of Pei Liang. Even those who harbored boundless hatred toward her recognized this as a heaven-sent opportunity.
Thus, without Pei Liang needing to instruct them at all, they immediately spoke.
“That day, we followed the sect leader and young sect leader into the Han residence. We coordinated with an old Han family servant on the inside. The servant had poisoned the well beforehand with a strength-sapping drug, greatly weakening the Han family’s martial experts. Then the sect leader led us over the wall, and we exterminated the entire Han family through a surprise attack.”
Having said that, they gave Pei Liang a venomous smile, then turned to the Jiang and Cao families.
“Of course, the people of the Moon-Cleaving Sect alone could not have accomplished it.”
“The Han family had numerous experts. Even severely injured, they could still fight to the death. And we had to make sure that every single one of them had been poisoned. If even one member of the Han family had escaped, it would have meant catastrophe for our Moon-Cleaving Sect.”
“So the sect leader joined forces with the Jiang and Cao families. That day, the Pei and Jiang families were mainly responsible for infiltrating the residence and launching the surprise attack, while the Cao family covered the perimeter, killing anyone who tried to flee. With all three families working together—heh! No matter how powerful the Han family was, weren’t they still all wiped—”
Before he could finish speaking, the man's head flew from his shoulders. Blood sprayed out, staining the blue bricks red.
The crowd erupted in alarm, though no one said anything.
After all, it was Han Weiliu who had made the move.
Pei Liang said with some regret, “Why kill him? Of all of them, he was the least afraid of death. What he found hardest to accept was that, as a prisoner, he could no longer fulfill his ambitions.”
“By killing him, you’ve spared him from suffering.”
Everyone looked at Pei Liang again. Could this person not show at least some awareness that she was the head of the family responsible for wiping out an entire household?
Her father and brother had been the ones to kill, and she was now the one in charge of the Pei family. How could she act as though it had nothing to do with her?
But now that there was a witness, Jiang and Cao’s families, who had repeatedly denied the matter earlier, would have to produce stronger evidence in their own defense.
Neither the Jiang nor the Cao family had expected Pei Liang to be willing to cut ties even with these people. But upon reflection, it made sense.
Given the Pei family’s current power, losing these few people would hardly matter to them. Besides, they had been imprisoned for nearly three years, and the Pei family’s expansion had not been hindered in the slightest.
Sect Master Jiang immediately said, “These are all members of your Pei family. They have been confined by you for so long and subjected to such torment. A forced confession is one thing—but how can their words be trusted after years of living in such endless darkness?”
“As Sect Leader Pei herself just said, for these people, death may well be a release. To gain that release, naturally they would say whatever she wished and falsely accuse whoever she pointed to.”
Sect Master Jiang spoke as Sect Leader Cao nodded repeatedly.
He was just about to add something when Pei Liang said, “Naturally. Under such suspicious circumstances, using members of the Pei family to testify against another family would certainly be unconvincing.”
“Their testimony is credible only in regard to what my father and brother did. As for the Jiang and Cao families, it is indeed entirely possible that, knowing their lives were forfeit, they simply dragged others down with them in desperation.”
Having said that, she glanced at Sect Master Wang. “After all, quite a few people like to do that before they die.”
Sect Master Wang: “...”
Hearing her say this, the Jiang and Cao families were immediately ready to seize the opening and back down gracefully.
But before they could speak, Pei Liang added, “So I have also brought witnesses from your two families.”
“What?” The two men shuddered in shock.
Instinctively, they looked toward the entrance—only to find no one there.
“What are you looking over there for? They’ve been here all along.”
As Pei Liang’s words fell, two maidservants stepped out from not far behind her.
The two women had been attending quietly in the hall the entire time, heads lowered and silent, their presence so inconspicuous that no one had paid them any attention.
There were already so many people of sensitive status present today. Who would spare a thought for two maidservants?
But when the women raised their heads, the expressions of several members of the Jiang family changed at once.
Their makeup, hairstyles, and clothing had all been altered. Without a close look, they were indeed difficult to recognize. But as the Jiang family studied them, they gradually remembered.
One was a concubine of the Jiang family who was supposed to have been beaten to death; the other was the former wife of one of the Jiang family’s uncles, who had divorced her.
Needless to say, they were two of the women who had once carried on affairs with Jiang Xun.
The concubine was young and beautiful, born into poverty. Once the affair had been exposed, she naturally could expect no good end.
When she was carried out of the Jiang residence, barely alive, and thrown into a mass grave, it was the Pei family’s watchers who rescued her. Somehow, she had survived.
Pei Liang kept her alive and promised her a handsome reward. Naturally, the concubine was more than willing to betray the Jiang family.
Back when that concubine had been in favor, she would naturally have overheard no small number of secrets at her lord’s pillow. That was precisely why, after the Jiang family cast her aside, they chose to have her beaten to death: they could not allow her to leave the Jiang household alive with even a single secret.
As for the other woman, her relationship with her husband had already been poor, and her natal family was rather influential. Naturally, she could not be killed. In the end, the Jiang family had no choice but to let her go and agree to a divorce.
Over the past few years, Pei Liang had enjoyed a fruitful partnership with the woman’s natal family. In their most recent major deal, she had granted that family considerable benefits.
Naturally, the woman was more than eager to betray her former husband’s family.
The concubine cast the Jiang men a venomous look and sneered. “I am but a lowly concubine, with no standing to involve myself in important affairs.
“The matter you are discussing is of great consequence. I would not dare make baseless assumptions.
“However, regarding Sect Master Jiang’s claim that the whole family was drinking and dining in the city that night—though I may be foolish, I can still tell whether the master I serve is real or fake.
“The man sitting in the restaurant that night, wearing my master’s face, was clearly not my master himself.”
At once, everyone turned their eyes toward the Jiang and Cao families.
With that, the Jiang and Cao families’ alibis could no longer serve as the key proof of their innocence.
In truth, someone had long considered the possibility of disguise. But without evidence, no one could openly accuse two prominent families of such a thing. And so long as they stubbornly denied it, outsiders would have no way to prove otherwise.
But it was an entirely different matter when the Jiang family’s own people exposed them—especially when this concubine had shared a bed with the Jiang men. How could she fail to notice something amiss in men she attended to every day?
The Jiang family hurriedly said, “This woman is wanton and shameless. After her affair was exposed, she was punished according to family rules. Unable to endure it, she was thrown out.
“She must have borne a grudge against our Jiang family ever since. Now, tempted by Sect Leader Pei’s bribes, she is giving this false testimony without a shred of proof.”
Strictly speaking, that was not entirely untrue.
But Pei Liang had prepared matters to this extent. If the Jiang and Cao families had any sense, they would know that they should surrender without resistance.
Once she had gone this far, none of her preparations would be allowed to fail. No matter how many excuses they offered, she would tear them apart one by one.
Sure enough, no sooner had Sect Master Jiang finished defending himself than Fourth Master Jiang’s former wife sneered. “Perhaps she has nothing but her word. But what about me?”
She said no more. Instead, she clapped her hands, and several people entered carrying trays, each covered with white silk.
The former wife uncovered one of them. Resting upon it was a jade Guanyin of peerless quality, priceless beyond measure.
The crowd did not understand. She said, “When I divorced the Jiang family and returned to my natal home with my dowry, I discovered while sorting through my belongings afterward that I had mistakenly brought back several items. Yet they did not appear to belong to the Jiang family either, so I thought I would ask all of you to appraise them.”
Naturally, she put it delicately.
In reality, after the three families had wiped out the Han family that day, greed for the Han family treasury had taken hold of them, and they had divided its contents among themselves on the spot.
But events had been urgent, and the three families had brought too few hands. They could only grab and carry away as much as they could manage.
After returning home, they sorted through their spoils—but even they themselves could no longer remember exactly what they had taken.
Since the Jiang family had devised an alibi that involved the entire household going out in public and making a show of themselves, then apart from the men who had gone out to carry out the deed, there naturally had to be people at home who knew the truth and supported them from behind the scenes, tying up loose ends.
Just as Old Madam Pei had overseen matters at home while the Pei father and son went out, so too did the Jiang family have womenfolk who were fully aware of the scheme.
After the Jiang men returned laden with spoils, they had neither the patience nor the energy to conduct an inventory following such a perilous night. That task was handed over to the sect master’s wife and several other female relatives who knew the full story.
This former wife had not been among those in the know. However, on that very day, she had noticed that something was amiss within the household. She had therefore caused a small disturbance and, amid the confusion, stolen several items that had not yet been entered into the records, hiding them in a concealed compartment of her dowry chest.
When she divorced the Jiang family, she had taken them out with her. This saved Pei Liang the trouble and expense of sending people to steal from the Jiang family’s treasure vault.
Moreover, items stolen at a later date would not have carried nearly as much credibility as these did.
At that moment, however, Han Weiliu spoke up.
“That is from my grandfather’s collection.”
“I personally found the jade material for him. My grandfather was overjoyed and ordered an artisan to carve it. He would never have lent it to anyone. My name is even engraved beneath the Guanyin.”
Everyone turned the jade over, and sure enough, they found it to be true.
The former wife continued, “So this item belongs to Young Master Han? Then how did something so precious—something that was never lent out—end up in the Jiang household, only for me to mistakenly take it away?”
Then she cast a cold glance at the Jiang family and smiled. “There is no need to rush. There are still several more items.”
The objects on the remaining trays were then displayed one after another.
All were priceless treasures, rare objects scarcely found anywhere in the world.
Yet without exception, Han Weiliu was able to point out the unique marks of the Han family hidden in inconspicuous places on every one of them.
For the final treasure, Han Weiliu did not even need to say anything before someone cried out, “I’ve seen this painting before!”
“More than ten years ago, I accompanied my master on a visit to the Han residence. Old Master Han brought it out for us to admire. This is the original work—there can be no mistake.”
“I remember it too. Back then, Old Master Han held that painter in the highest regard. When he acquired this work, he was ecstatic and spent a long while inviting close friends and old acquaintances to view it together. Given how dearly he treasured it, we could only look at it that day—we were not even allowed to touch it. There is no way he could have lent it out.”
The crowd erupted into overlapping chatter. In truth, Han Weiliu had already provided irrefutable proof when he established that the jade Guanyin belonged to the Han family.
But witnessing with their own eyes the treasures they had once seen in the Han residence emerge from the Jiang family struck them far more deeply, as though they themselves had been drawn into the affair.
Everyone turned to the Jiang family. “Sect Master Jiang, how do you explain this?”
The Jiang family members went deathly pale, cold sweat streaming down their faces. The evidence was incontrovertible. What explanation could they possibly offer?
Sect Master Jiang’s mind raced. Like a headless fly, he desperately tried to make one last futile struggle—
“How are we supposed to know where this vile woman got these things? She has had nothing to do with the Jiang family for three years. If she took them from the Jiang family, why did she not reveal it back then?”
“Three years ago, the Han family was wiped out, and a single blaze reduced their treasure vault to ashes. This woman had no connection to the Han family either. If these things did not come from the Jiang family, then where could she possibly have obtained them?”
“The Han family was eminent for centuries. How could their treasures possibly have been kept in just one place? What if Young Master Han found them elsewhere and, taking advantage of this wretched woman’s status, had her produce them in public in order to frame us?”
The Han family had been exterminated. Many of the treasures left behind were keepsakes carrying the memories of their loved ones—and they would bring them out merely to frame someone?
Everyone found it utterly unbelievable. Yet no matter how Sect Master Jiang tried to argue his way out of it, even if his explanation were accepted, the evidence already before them was more than enough for everyone to thoroughly question the Jiang family and hold them accountable.
They might refrain from convicting him for now, but with the suspicion hanging over him having reached this point, the Jiang family would have to cooperate with every subsequent search and investigation into the Han family’s extermination.
Then a voice spoke up. “Sect Master Jiang is quite right. Both the testimony and physical evidence present here contain points that do not bear close scrutiny.”
Flower-Chasing Constable of the Six Doors said, “That is precisely why, upon receiving this lead, the Six Doors immediately launched an investigation. Based on the evidence provided by Sect Leader Pei, there is sufficient cause to search the Jiang family estate.”
Flower-Chasing Constable smiled. “By now, my Third Senior Brother should have already led his men into the Jiang residence.”
The crowd was taken aback. They had not expected matters to have progressed this far already.
In other words, no matter how Sect Master Jiang had protested and stubbornly resisted earlier, the outcome had long since been decided?
After their initial shock, no one even found it particularly surprising. After all, the Autumn-Gazing Sect had just been dealt with in much the same way.
They simply had not expected that this so-called beheading assembly had been baiting for far more than just the remnants of the Blazing Heavens Sect.
As the saying went, affairs of the martial world should be settled by the martial world. But the Han family was a distinguished clan, and the uproar caused by their destruction had still not subsided even years later.
Moreover, how much tax revenue did the Han family contribute to the imperial court every year? And how vast and interconnected was the sphere of influence in which the Han family operated?
Naturally, the court would not ignore it. Besides, the current emperor was full of grand ambitions and desperate for money; he practically delighted in confiscating households.
How many corrupt officials had been stripped of their estates over the years? Too many to count. Faced with something this clear-cut, the court would surely come running with glee.
Once Flower-Chasing Constable had finished speaking, the Jiang family understood that there was no turning the situation around. And the things they had brought back from the Han family were hardly limited to these worldly possessions.
The Han family’s exclusive cultivation manuals, their treasure maps, and the Nameless Blade—every one of them was irrefutable evidence.
No matter how securely such items had been hidden, the Six Doors were known for digging three feet into the ground. And Moon-Chasing Constable, ranked third among the Four Great Constables, was renowned for his mastery of mechanisms and formations, as well as interrogation and torture.
Most of the Jiang family’s experts had left the manor for this occasion. How could those left behind possibly withstand the peerless Moon-Chasing Constable? And how could those female relatives who knew the truth survive an encounter with him?
What was more, after the matter involving Jiang Xun erupted three years ago, the Jiang family’s women had endured relentless hardship. With Moon-Chasing Constable’s skill at exploiting human nature, the whole affair might well have been settled already.
Sect Master Jiang’s legs gave way, and he collapsed back into his chair, utterly drained.
It was over. The Jiang family was finished.
But then another voice suddenly spoke up. “Which is why I said that my estimate of the amount borrowed back then should have been accurate.”
“After all, with three families dividing the spoils, the sums could not have differed by much.”
Sect Master Jiang suddenly came to a realization. He jerked his head up to stare at Pei Liang. “So you had been plotting for this day from back then?”
Pei Liang countered, “What else? Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver would have been far too conspicuous and cumbersome. Each household would have had to send several people out, and after killing their victims, they would still need to carry nearly a thousand jin of heavy goods back.”
“Leaving aside whether you martial arts masters could make it back to your sects while carrying a thousand jin and still clear yourselves of suspicion—even if you could, do you think the detectives of the Six Doors are useless? Would they fail to trace footprints burdened by such tremendous weight?”
“So I could only estimate the value of what each family had taken and calculate, in silver, exactly what the three families owed the Han family.”
Pei Liang smiled. “I didn’t expect Sect Master Jiang and Sect Leader Cao to admit it so readily. You caught even me off guard.”
How could Sect Master Jiang fail to understand now? When she had publicly declared that the three families owed the Han family money, she had been laying a trap for this very day.
Consumed by guilt, he and Sect Leader Cao had been desperate to conceal their crimes. Afraid she might elaborate, and looking down on the Han Weiliu of that time, they had believed there was nothing to fear and simply acknowledged the debt, convinced they would have ample room to maneuver later.
Yet from the moment they admitted it, they had been under Pei Liang’s control at every turn. One lie required countless others to cover it up. In the end, all Pei Liang had needed was to pull the rug out from under them, and they had been caught completely unprepared.
Moreover, by admitting to and repeatedly emphasizing the matter themselves, they had effectively put their own heads on the block long ago.
They should have denied it to the bitter end back then. Pei Liang’s power had not yet grown, and the Pei family itself had been in turmoil. Perhaps she would not have dared expose the truth.
Then Sect Master Jiang abruptly thought of something. He looked at Pei Liang as though he had seen a ghost. “Then that means, when you publicly exposed Xun’s affair that day—”
Pei Liang nodded. “That’s right. Look how much more convenient things became for me afterward.”
The Jiang family had returned home only to descend into chaos. The busybodies of the martial world had hounded them relentlessly—had that truly all been spontaneous?
Behind it all had been a single hand manipulating events. While everyone was eavesdropping, trading gossip, and making the Jiang family miserable, that hand had quietly gone about its own work.
At the time, the Jiang family’s reputation had been too sterling; in every respect, they had seemed beyond reproach.
Several months had already passed since the massacre. Most clues outside the Jiang family had either faded away or been thoroughly cleaned up. The only option left was to start from within the Jiang household.
With such a useful tool as Jiang Xun at her disposal, why would Pei Liang hold back?
In an instant, Sect Master Jiang seemed to have aged ten years. He visibly withered, drained and defeated.
When the Six Doors came to arrest the Jiang family, he did not resist.
The Cao family, however, still clung to a shred of hope, though they dared not speak.
But would Pei Liang spare them simply because they remained silent?
She spoke up. “Oh, right—Miss Cao, now is a good time to complete the transaction involving the item I asked you to bring. Please take it out.”
Sect Leader Cao jolted in alarm and turned to his daughter. “What did you bring?”
No matter how foolish Cao Hui might be, she knew that whatever she carried on her now could cost her dearly.
Her face went pale with terror, and she hurriedly denied it. But in an instant, Pei Liang was before her. Moving even more swiftly and efficiently than when she had stripped Protector Jing, she removed an object from Cao Hui’s clothing before either Cao Hui or Sect Leader Cao could react.
It was a small item: a jade-ribbed fan. When opened, it was exquisitely beautiful—a treasure any woman would adore, and undoubtedly worth a fortune.
It had belonged to Han Weiliu’s elder sister. She often held it in her hand and played with it, so it would never have been kept in the treasure vault.
After Han Weiliu returned home, though the vault had been burned down, the other areas had suffered little damage. While preparing his relatives’ bodies for burial, he noticed that the fan was missing and guessed that the murderer must have taken it.
Pei Liang checked through the items the Pei family had brought back. It was not there.
She had also used her envy of Miss Han’s rare jade fan as an excuse to ask Jiang Xun about it, but the Jiang family did not have it either.
Though Jiang Xun might have been lying, Pei Liang ultimately found the Cao family more likely.
So she contacted Cao Hui in private and proposed an exchange.
Cao Hui was to bring her the jade fan, and Pei Liang would trade it for an item belonging to Jiang Xun.
Once the fan was in her hands, Pei Liang tossed a jade pendant to Cao Hui.
Smiling, she said, “As we agreed before, if Miss Cao gave me this jade fan, I would exchange it for the jade pendant Jiang Xun has carried with him since childhood. A fair trade, I would say.”
Cao Hui was deeply in love with Jiang Xun. Having been kept apart from him for the past few years, she had long been driven nearly mad by longing. How could she possibly refuse such a bargain?
As it happened, Jiang Xun had handed that jade pendant over to Pei Liang when he came to visit.
At the time, Jiang Xun had been wholly focused on testing Han Weiliu’s attitude. Though there had been an element of performance in the way he confronted Pei Liang, his competitive spirit had truly been stirred to its fullest.
Moreover, Pei Liang had him thoroughly under her thumb. When she asked for the pendant he carried with him, Jiang Xun naturally gave it to her without the slightest hesitation.
He had even used it to boast before Han Weiliu that his fiancée still cared for him after all. So what if she had been briefly lured away by him?
In the end, Jiang Xun’s position as her rightful husband remained secure.
Seeing this, how could anyone present fail to understand? Those with a bit more imagination could practically picture the scene from back then.
At this moment, everyone hated the Jiang family—the culprits behind the massacre—with utmost bitterness. Yet toward Jiang Xun alone, they could not help but feel a different sort of pity.
What a truly miserable man. His fiancée had used her own body to obtain information from him; he had happily given her the jade pendant he carried with him, only for her to use it as currency in a trade—and it had ultimately become irrefutable evidence that brought down his own group.
Jiang Xun was renowned throughout the martial world. Who would not recognize his personal jade pendant?
And quite a few people had seen Miss Han’s jade fan back then. How many women of the martial world had envied it?
Now the evidence was conclusive. The Cao family had already admitted, like the Jiang family, that they owed silver. In any case, they could not escape punishment—but with this added revelation, they no longer had any room to deny it.
Zhuhua smiled. “Perfect. Once Third Senior Brother leaves the Jiang residence, he can head straight to the Cao family.”
Sect Leader Cao looked at Cao Hui and slapped her across the face. “You wretched girl—useless in success, disastrous in failure! I should have married you off to the Pei family back then—no, I should have drowned you the moment you were born.”
Pei Liang idly tried to soothe him. “Sect Leader Cao, that is merely misplaced anger. What does it have to do with Miss Cao? Even without this, there would have been more than enough reason to keep you here for the time being, while the Six Doors paid a visit to your Cao family.”
The outcome would not have changed. This merely presented the martial artists gathered here with conclusive evidence ahead of time.
Upon hearing this, Sect Leader Cao spat out a mouthful of blood and nearly fainted.
In the end, she forced herself to hold on, glaring coldly at Pei Liang as she addressed everyone present—
“Don’t just stand there watching the show. Even if both our families are guilty of countless crimes, the Pei family were the principal offenders. Her father and brothers—”
Before she could finish, Pei Liang replied, “That’s right. Which is why I killed them.”
At once, several members of the Pei family drew their blades and lopped off the heads of those accomplices with a single stroke.
As the heads hit the ground, Pei Liang added, “Now, every member of my Moon-Slaying Sect who went to the Han residence that night is dead.”
“...”
The crowd: Had she just said something absolutely unbelievable?
