Chapter 175: Chapter 116: Water Bandits (3)

“Everything Brother Bai just said is the absolute truth! The Zheng Family is colluding with Nine Waves Island. Or rather, Nine Waves Island was propped up by the Zheng Family from the very beginning!”

Another figure shot up from the crowd. He was a man in his fifties, dressed in white robes.

He looked toward Zheng Yuankui, his eyes filled with grief and indignation. “Zheng Yuankui! Zheng Tong! Do you still recognize this old man?!”

Many people took a closer look and were utterly shocked.

Because this man was none other than Kang Jiu, a former Steward of the Zheng Family.

“Kang Jiu?!”

“Heavens! Didn’t he die of illness a year ago?”

“It really is Kang Jiu! I remember that scar on his left brow!”

A wave of discussion swept through the hall.

Kang Jiu, once one of the Zheng Family’s most capable Stewards!

A man thought to be dead was now standing here, alive, making an accusation!

“Bullshit! Kang Jiu died long ago! Who the hell are you? How dare you impersonate him?!”

Zheng Tong moved like lightning. His hand shot out and clamped around Kang Jiu’s throat, lifting him into the air. He wanted nothing more than to crush the troublemaker’s windpipe right then and there.

“Wait!”

This time, Liu Han reacted with extreme speed. With a flicker, he was already there, grabbing Zheng Tong’s arm. “Why not let him speak his piece in front of everyone? If it truly is slander, it won’t be too late to deal with him then!”

His gaze was piercing as he stared intently at Zheng Tong.

Ye Qingyi also quietly moved a few steps closer and nodded. “That’s right. Why not let him explain himself?”

The other Patriarchs of the great families, like Chang Jing, also frowned, their gazes deep as they looked at Zheng Tong.

Rage practically spewed from Zheng Tong’s eyes, but under everyone’s watch, he ultimately held back from a killing blow. Instead, he slammed Kang Jiu hard onto the ground.

Kang Jiu coughed violently a few times, then spoke.

“Zheng Yuankui! Zheng Tong! What vicious hearts you have!”

He pointed a trembling finger at Zheng Tong. “It was him! Three years ago, my son, who had just turned twenty! And my nephew! Just because they might have let a whisper of information slip… you secretly sent men, disguised as Water Bandits, to ambush and murder them! Their bodies were dumped in Qianchuan Marsh!”

Kang Jiu’s voice choked with sobs, tears streaming down his old face. “I’ve endured for so long, all for this day! All to stand before every prominent figure in Yunlin Prefecture and tear off your Zheng Family’s sanctimonious mask!”

He scanned the room, looking at the skeptical faces around him, and his voice suddenly rose.

“How did Nine Waves Island manage to subdue dozens of Water Bandit factions in such a short time, growing so powerful that even the Qixia Army is wary of them? What did they rely on? The Zheng Family! It was the Zheng Family who secretly provided intelligence on merchant ship routes! It was the Zheng Family who supplied them with high-quality Weapons and Elixirs!”

“How much of that so-called ’toll money’ ended up flowing into the Zheng Family’s private coffers?! The Zheng Family is the real master behind Nine Waves Island! The Zheng Family is the biggest cancer on Yunlin Prefecture’s trade routes! They are the biggest bandit chieftains of all!”

“Utter nonsense! Slanderous lies!”

Zheng Yuankui slammed his hand on the table, the imposing momentum of an Astral Force expert erupting from him. “Kang Jiu! You harbor resentment, collude with outsiders, and fabricate such outrageous lies to slander my Zheng Family! Speak! Who put you up to this? What did they give you?!”

The gazes directed at the Zheng Family members in the hall changed completely.

Wu Manqing, Gu Ruo Hua, Li Wan, and the others turned pale and subconsciously took a step back.

After all, the details of Kang Jiu’s accusations were too specific, and the pain of losing his son didn’t seem feigned.

Coupled with his status as a former Steward of the Zheng Family, his words carried significant weight.

Seeing his Patriarch’s fury and feeling the shift in everyone’s gazes, Zheng Tong could no longer suppress the killing intent in his heart.

He roared, “Traitor! Die!”

The potent True Qi in his body erupted. He ignored the attempts by Liu Han and Ye Qingyi to block him, intending to forcefully shatter Kang Jiu’s heart meridians.

At this critical moment!

“Zheng Tong! Look closely! I, Kang Jiu, came here today with no intention of leaving alive! I will use my blood to make everyone see the Zheng Family’s true face!”

Kang Jiu roared, a look of grim determination in his eyes.

At some point, he had drawn a gleaming Short Dagger from his robes with his left hand!

Before his words had even faded, under Zheng Tong’s astonished gaze, he plunged the sharp Short Dagger into his own heart!

“SQUELCH!”

The sound of the blade sinking into flesh was sickeningly clear.

Blood instantly gushed out, staining the front of his robes red.

Kang Jiu’s body stiffened violently. He coughed up a large mouthful of blood before collapsing to the ground, dead.

Dead silence!

The air filled with the thick smell of blood and a suffocating tension.

This was more impactful, more shocking, than any words could ever be!

Zheng Yuankui’s expression was so dark it looked like water could drip from it. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the towering rage in his heart.

“Everyone! Please, be calm! Today’s events are clearly a deliberate plot. Someone has schemed to cause trouble at this year-end gathering hosted by my Zheng Family, to tarnish my family’s century-old reputation!”

“I, Zheng Yuankui, swear on the ancestors of the Zheng Family that we have always acted openly and honorably, and have never colluded with Water Bandits! These accusations are entirely baseless! It is because my Zheng Family is hosting the Chamber of Commerce, attracting envy and slander—a tall tree catches the wind. Someone is intentionally framing us! I hope you all see the truth and are not swayed by these villains, which would chill the spirit of mutual support we all share!”

His words were powerful and resonant, carrying a trace of indignant grief from being falsely accused.

However, the atmosphere in the hall had become bone-chillingly cold.

No one spoke up in agreement, nor did anyone immediately voice their doubts.

Chang Jing and the other great family Patriarchs had flickering gazes, lost in thought.

A faint, cold smile played on Liu Han’s lips.

As for the representatives of the small and medium-sized families, they were all silent as cicadas in winter, their eyes darting about. They wished for nothing more than to leave this place of conflict immediately.

Once a crack in trust appears, it is nearly impossible to mend.

In that moment, Zheng Yuankui’s explanation seemed so pale and powerless.

“Ahem, ahem!”

A Patriarch on relatively good terms with the Zheng Family cleared his throat. “Patriarch Zheng, today’s turn of events is truly distressing. I’m sure the Zheng Family needs time to handle its internal affairs and investigate the truth to prove its innocence. I suggest we conclude today’s meeting here for now, shall we?”

As soon as he said this, the vast majority of people voiced their agreement.

“Yes, yes. Patriarch Zheng, my condolences. Please focus on handling your family’s matters.”

“Today’s events were too sudden. We also need to return and think things over carefully.”

“Farewell, farewell!”

Afterward, everyone began to leave one after another, and the gathering came to an abrupt and unceremonious end.

Wu Manqing and Chen Qing also left the Zheng Family estate in a hurry.

Sitting in the carriage, Wu Manqing was still shaken. “That was terrifying… Brother Chen, do you think the Zheng Family is really… with Nine Waves Island…”

Chen Qing leaned back against the carriage wall with his eyes closed, replaying everything that had happened in the hall in his mind.

“Kang Jiu’s death didn’t look fake.”

Chen Qing slowly opened his eyes. “The pain he felt over his son’s death couldn’t be feigned, and the details of his accusation were too specific to have been fabricated from thin air.”

“Then the Zheng Family really is…” Wu Manqing sucked in a sharp, cold breath.

“But.”

Chen Qing’s tone shifted, his brow furrowing slightly. “There’s something strange about this. Kang Jiu chose to make his move today, and his timing was too precise. How did he get an invitation and sneak in? And how did he ensure he’d be able to say all that in front of Zheng Tong and Zheng Yuankui? Liu Han’s timely intervention also seemed… far too coincidental.”

He paused, his voice dropping. “More importantly, if the Zheng Family’s collusion with Nine Waves Island runs so deep, how could a shrewd old fox like Zheng Yuankui allow a ’hidden danger’ like Kang Jiu, who knows so many inside details, to appear here alive? Kang Jiu’s death was certainly tragic and shocking, but… it felt more like the completion of a mission.”

“Brother Chen, are you saying someone deliberately arranged for Kang Jiu to come here and die? Just to expose the Zheng Family in public, or rather… just to bring them down?” Wu Manqing understood immediately, and her heart skipped a beat in alarm.

Chen Qing didn’t answer directly. He just gazed out the window at the street scene, his expression grave. “The waters run deep here. The Zheng Family might not be innocent, but the hand stirring the pot from behind the scenes is likely far from simple.”

’The Liu Family is highly suspicious,’ he thought, ’but they’re surely not the only ones pulling the strings.’

…..

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep