Chapter 188: v8c13 - Ruin of the Family
Volume 8 Chapter 13 – Ruin of the Family
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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The middle-aged woman exhaled smoke and gestured toward Yeon So-hyeon with her hand holding the cigarette.
“Eldest Young Master. Before we begin, I have a question.”
Yeon So-hyeon, sitting in the seat of honor, extended his hand toward her.
“Speak.”
“Everyone here represents different businesses. But if there is a commonality, it is that we are all related to the trade routes connecting Jiangnan and Luoyang.”
That was why they were interested in acquiring the Eternal Tile Merchant Group, the business of the Lee Family.
She glanced around and spoke.
“Although none of the people here have yet joined hands with the Second Young Master of the Sword Family, maintaining relations directly with only Evil Tyrant Heaven…”
“In the first place, you gentlemen present here do not belong to families whose main houses are based in Luoyang.”
“That is correct. However…”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Depending on the circumstances, they are people who can join hands with the Second Young Master at any time and aim a blade at the Eldest Young Master’s back. Furthermore, the Eldest Young Master cannot operate the Eternal Tile Merchant Group.”
The middle-aged woman took a puff of the cigarette in her hand and slowly let the smoke drift into the air as she spoke.
“If so…”
Her snake-like gaze did not deviate from Yeon So-hyeon even a bit.
“Instead of paying an enormous price to the Eldest Young Master to acquire the Eternal Tile Merchant Group, could we not simply join hands with the Second Young Master and, in exchange, seek his understanding to seize the territories and trade routes the Eternal Tile Merchant Group occupied?”
In any case, the Lee Family no longer had any power.
It was obvious that the Second Young Master would allow a new force, wishing to join in place of the Lee Family, to devour the Eternal Tile Merchant Group.
“And one more thing.”
The middle-aged woman’s tongue lightly licked the corner of her mouth, which was painted with dark rouge.
“If the burden of intervening in the Sword Family’s succession struggle is the problem…”
She raised her hand and pointed around.
“Without going through anyone, whether it be the Eldest Young Master or the Second Young Master, we could just combine the strength of our businesses here and take the territories and trade routes of the Eternal Tile Merchant Group.”
It was uncomfortable, but it was the truth.
“…Ahem.”
The agents avoided Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes.
Some among them cleared their throats, some slowly nodded, and others stroked their beards.
Having snatched food from the mouth of a jackal, it was now a situation where pythons were rushing in.
As expected of people who each had a foot in Evil Tyrant Heaven’s territory, their very way of thinking was no different from that of serpents and scorpions.
“Indeed, it is an interesting story.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded with an unconcerned face.
“If you gentlemen do that, it is entirely possible to snatch the Eternal Tile Merchant Group from this Eldest Young Master’s hands and divide it among yourselves.”
Someone lightly raised their hand and intervened.
“…So, if you adjust the price to be a bit more reasonable, it seems a peaceful transaction can easily be made.”
At those words, everyone shared an insidious smile inwardly.
That had been their aim in the first place.
It was neither joining hands with the Second Young Master to intervene in the Luoyang Sword Family’s succession political struggle, nor buying the Eternal Tile Merchant Group from the Eldest Young Master at full price.
Forming an alliance where one never knew who might stab them in the back to confront the Eldest Young Master was also tricky.
If they could devour the Eternal Tile Merchant Group cheaply, that was the best option.
“That would be a bit difficult.”
Yeon So-hyeon shook his head.
“There is no need for the Eldest Young Master to go so far as to confront us in this situation just to protect the Eternal Tile Merchant Group—”
Yeon So-hyeon cut those words off.
“There is no need to go as far as confronting you gentlemen. If you unite, I would eventually be stripped of everything anyway.”
“Then why—”
“But I assure you.”
Yeon So-hyeon crossed his legs and buried himself deep in the chair.
“The family of the person who first opens fire targeting the Eternal Tile Merchant Group in this Eldest Young Master’s hands…”
Raising his chin, he looked at the crowd with an arrogant gaze.
“I will personally make that family end up like the Lee Family.” “…….”
The smoke drifting in billows inside the room seemed to freeze as it was.
Yeon So-hyeon did not raise a single point of artificial momentum, nor did he show the slightest murderous intent.
Neither momentum nor murderous intent was necessary.
“If that happens, next time in this place, along with the Eternal Tile Merchant Group, the merchant group of the family shattered by this Eldest Young Master will also be put up for sale.”
He merely cast his gaze on each person in the crowd, calmly and arrogantly.
None among them dared to properly meet Yeon So-hyeon’s eyes.
“Would you like to try having a battle with this Eldest Young Master?”
Everyone fell silent. “…….”
Those were words that certainly would not have worked on them, who represented powerful families, until only yesterday.
But today, everything changed.
As Yeon So-hyeon moved, the magistrates of the Cheong Family, who knew nothing but honor, moved.
Though it was still unbelievable, it was becoming clear that the entire Kong Family, one of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families, was backing the Eldest Young Master.
The Lee Family, which had boasted of its power to the point of running at the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family without hesitation, was shattered overnight.
Since the Eternal Tile Merchant Group they were currently aiming to buy was no different from the warm corpse of the Lee Family, whose warmth had not even cooled yet.
“…Whoops!”
Someone hastily shook their hand.
It was because he had not realized that the tobacco held between his fingers had completely burned down.
At that single outcry, the air inside the room, which had been frozen like a thousand-year glacier, began to flow again.
Murmurs began.
“…The Eldest Young Master has certainly demonstrated his ability properly this time.”
“This way, even if we form an alliance, no one will want to show their teeth toward the Eldest Young Master first.”
“In the first place, after hearing such words, wouldn’t there be no family willing to form a united front?”
Yeon So-hyeon opened his mouth only after giving those exchanging opinions plenty of time.
“If a single family devours the Eternal Tile Merchant Group whole, they might earn the resentment of the Second Young Master.”
The whispering conversations died down, and the gazes of the crowd naturally gathered on Yeon So-hyeon.
“It is obvious that if Evil Tyrant Heaven, upon his request, blocks the trade routes we went to the trouble of buying, things will become troublesome.”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled as he looked at the crowd.
“That is why this Eldest Young Master is dividing the Eternal Tile Merchant Group by region and selling it.”
Unlike a single family, even if multiple families bought the Eternal Tile Merchant Group in parts, they could not block all of their trade routes.
Because those trade routes were no different from arteries drawing the wealth of North China for Evil Tyrant Heaven as well.
When everyone nodded at the Eldest Young Master’s strategy, the middle-aged woman who had asked the first question opened her mouth.
“Eldest Young Master.”
She spoke as she crushed and extinguished the cigarette she was smoking.
“Please propose a price.”
* * *
The main house of the family was raided.
The elders were arrested, the patriarch was gone, the members who held active government offices had disappeared, and the merchant group, which was no different from the roots of the family, was being fragmented and sold.
Originally, the disaster of family ruin referred to a calamity where members of a household were wiped out.
Although most members of the Lee Family survived, they were not truly living even if they were alive.
Having lost everything, only the resentment and hatred accumulated over those long years remained as their family assets.
Those who were mere small fries or survived by a stroke of heavenly luck were quickly hiding themselves and leaving Luoyang.
They would never be able to reveal their surname anywhere again.
In the political streets of Luoyang, words like the following began to circulate.
“In less than half a day, the Lee Family suffered family ruin at the hands of the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family.”
The rulers of Luoyang, regardless of who they were, were setting all their senses on edge regarding the current situation.
* * *
And at the point when the Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, was fragmenting and disposing of the Eternal Tile Merchant Group.
There were those who were running around as if a fire had dropped on their feet.
Namely, they were the families who had joined hands with the Second Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family early on.
“Patriarch! Patriarch!”
A certain influential family with its main house based in Luoyang.
A man wearing official robes appeared in the inner courtyard, calling out to the patriarch as if his lungs would burst.
The elderly patriarch personally ran down to the inner courtyard to meet him, who was running in breathlessly while holding his official hat in his hand.
“Y-Yes! How is it? Is that rumor true?!”
It was an attitude hard to believe from the patriarch who normally valued dignity above all else.
“Yes, yes! None of the active officials of the Lee Family, who should normally be preparing to leave the government offices by now, can be seen!”
At those words, the patriarch who used the surname Wang jumped.
“Is that true?! Not a single one could be seen?!”
“How could I dare tell a lie in your presence!”
The active official belonging to the Wang Family nodded frantically.
“Beyond the active officials of the Lee Family simply not being seen, no one is talking about them! It is as if they have adopted an attitude of not knowing such people!”
“O-Oh no…!”
The Wang Patriarch clutched his forehead.
“Patriarch! Patriarch!”
In addition, the members of the family who had been sent here and there to information brokers ran into the inner courtyard.
“It seems true that the Kong Family had a hand in this! Judging by the scale of the work and the speed of processing, the entire family must have stepped forward!”
“Precisely that Kong Family who is one of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families!”
The Wang Patriarch burst out shouting.
“Who doesn’t know that the Kong Family is one of the Sixteen Imperial Capital Families?! That’s not it, isn’t why on earth those bastards stood on the Eldest Young Master’s side what is important?! In the first place, didn’t they say the former patriarchs of Mount Beimang differ in opinion from the main family in the Imperial Capital!”
Veins bulged on the neck of the elderly patriarch, and saliva flew from his mouth.
“Furthermore, what on earth did the Cheong Family bastards eat wrong to be acting like the Eldest Young Master’s hunting dogs?! Are you saying you brought back absolutely nothing properly?!”
As he flew into a rage, the members of the family bowed their heads in helplessness.
Normally they would have cursed him inwardly, but since the current situation was not a problem of the patriarch alone, even they were going crazy.
“What are you doing?! All of you, go back and fish out proper information!”
The members ran out of the inner courtyard again without even having the leisure to catch their breath.
Watching them leave the main gate in a hurry in their respective carriages, the Wang Patriarch’s gaze trembled with anxiety.
It felt as if the Eldest Young Master’s Ironclad Fortress would break through the gates of this giant main house at any moment. “…….”
The collapse of the Lee Family was too swift.
There was no time even for other families who had joined hands with the Second Young Master to help.
That Eldest Young Master had disposed of an influential family as quickly as roasting beans on a lightning flash.
They could not just sit idly by.
“…Prepare the carriage! I must meet the Patriarch of the Jang Family immediately!”
It was time to meet the allies.
* * *
“W-What is this…?”
The Jang Family was an influential family belonging to the Second Young Master’s faction, just like his Wang Family. In front of the gate of such a Jang Family, the Patriarch of the Wang Family wore a dazed expression.
The front of the Jang Family’s gate was bustling with people who looked as if they were packing up and leaving with loads of luggage.
It was like looking at a procession of refugees fleeing to avoid the enemy’s advance.
“I will find out what is going on!”
The butlers who disembarked from the carriage first ran inside the main house of the Jang Family.
“Y-You there!”
Discovering a familiar face outside the carriage window, the Wang Patriarch reached out, pointed, and shouted.
“Aren’t you the one who was in charge of the Jang Family’s grand plantation?!”
The facial expression of the person who turned around at that shout was instantly filled with embarrassment.
“Where are you pretending not to know?! Come here at once!”
The member of the Jang Family let out a sigh and approached the Wang Patriarch.
To the Wang Patriarch, who pressed him to ask what was going on, he replied while scanning the surroundings.
“…It is exactly as you see. Everyone is packing their bags and leaving Luoyang.”
“What about Patriarch Jang?! Where are the key members of the family now?”
“I do not know. But it is certain that they are not inside the main house.”
His gaze turned toward those who were leaving while carrying the family’s assets carelessly.
It meant that if the patriarch or key members of the family were present, those people would not have been able to act like that.
‘…Have they already fled Luoyang?!’
Looking at the state of things, it was clear that they had gone into hiding as soon as they confirmed the Lee Family had suffered family ruin.
“Patriarch! Patriarch Jang’s bedroom and office are already completely empty! There is no one!”
“None of the close aides who served the patriarch can be seen!”
Listening to what the butlers ran over and shouted, the Patriarch of the Wang Family leaned his head back.
‘…Is the frontline collapsing?’
One influential family, which should have bitten and torn at the Eldest Young Master, Yeon So-hyeon, without mercy, had deserted the frontline.
‘Is it time for me to make a judgment as well? Like the Jang Patriarch…?’
He suddenly recalled the escape plan he had established in preparation for an emergency, then shook his head roughly.
‘No!’
The war had not even been properly fought yet, and his own family was still intact.
To choose flight, throwing away all the reputation, wealth, and power accumulated until this day, without even properly fighting.
‘Foolish Jang bastards!’
It was an impossible thing.
He shouted to the close aide sitting on the driver’s seat.
“Let’s go to the Sword Family immediately! To the camp of the Sword Family’s Second Young Master!”
And at that time.
Not only the Wang Family, but also carriages carrying patriarchs of other families were heading toward the Second Young Master’s camp.