Chapter 334 - 322: Property Confiscation

Chapter 334: Chapter 322: Property Confiscation

He Zhanglin nodded and lowered her voice. "To be honest, Brother, I’ve had my suspicions as well. That’s why I asked you to come. But I’m all alone here in Jiangzhou, with little power and even fewer people I can trust. I know next to nothing about the Sun Family’s internal affairs. Finding the mole will be next to impossible."

Brother Tian said, "Sister, if we can’t find this mole, then no matter how convincingly I play my part, this whole charade... will be nothing more than a show for yourself."

He Zhanglin sighed softly. ’Of course I know that.’

But with time running out and no better strategy in sight, she could only take a chance and hope for the best.

Seeing his determined expression, it seemed her brother had a plan. She immediately asked, "Then what do you suggest, Brother? Please, enlighten me."

Brother Tian said, "The other party isn’t rushing because they’re certain you won’t actually sell these assets, Sister. No matter how convincing the act, it’s still just an act. As long as they remain calm and don’t take the bait, your plan is a dead end."

His tone shifted. "But what if this act... were to become real?"

"Real?"

He Zhanglin froze, not understanding what he meant at first.

"Yes, real."

Brother Tian smiled. "Sister, what if you were to actually sell those twenty-nine thousand mu of land, along with the other Sun Family assets you want to offload, to my Tian Family?"

Seeing He Zhanglin’s pupils constrict and hesitation flash across her face, Brother Tian continued at a steady pace, "You have nothing to worry about, Sister. I will pay the one thousand five hundred taels of gold mortgaged to Si Zhong. My Tian Family will redeem the deeds and take them over, settling your account with Si Zhong. As for the Chen Family and the Zhou Family..."

He smiled slightly. "You won’t need to painstakingly plot any longer. I will either ask my family elders or report to our Master to come and handle things. I will never let you give up these assets for nothing."

He Zhanglin’s mind raced. In an instant, she understood the crux of his plan.

Brother Tian’s strategy was certainly viable, but it would mean she’d lose all control of the situation.

These Sun Family assets were her last trump card.

Her expression flickered, her thoughts churning like boiling water.

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the sound of their breathing crossing in the air.

The sandalwood was nearly burnt out, leaving behind a final wisp of smoke.

After a long moment, He Zhanglin exhaled slowly and nodded. "Alright. We’ll do it your way, Brother."

She immediately rose and strode to the door, calling for the personal maidservant who was waiting outside. "Go to the Sun Mansion at once and bring Zhuo Yuan here. Tell her I have an urgent matter to discuss and that she must come immediately."

"Yes, milady."

The maidservant acknowledged the order and hurried off.

He Zhanglin turned and returned to the daybed. "Please wait a moment, Brother. Zhuo Yuan is the public-facing Chief Steward of the Sun Family, and we’ll need her cooperation for many things. Once she’s here, we can discuss the finer details of the plan."

Brother Tian smiled, nodded, and raised his teacup again.

Time ticked by.

An hour passed, but there was still no sign of Zhuo Yuan.

Suddenly, the sound of rushed, frantic footsteps from the courtyard shattered the calm.

"Milady! Milady! This is terrible! Something awful has happened!"

The returning maidservant burst in, her face deathly pale. Her chest heaved as she gasped for breath, her eyes wide with panic.

He Zhanglin’s heart sank. She shot to her feet. "What’s all the panic? Where is Zhuo Yuan? Why did you come back alone?"

The maidservant cried out, "I never even saw her! Milady, the Sun Mansion... it’s... it’s surrounded by soldiers from the Commandery Magistrate’s Office! They’re all menacing Officials with gleaming sabers, and they won’t let anyone get close. They’re... they’re carrying things out of the mansion, box by box. The whole scene... it looks like they’re seizing the family’s assets, milady!"

"Seizing the assets?"

The words struck He Zhanglin’s ears like a clap of thunder. Her body trembled, and with a BUZZ, her mind went completely blank.

Her plan had only just begun—it hadn’t even truly been set in motion—and the Government Office was already raiding the Sun Family?

’That fool, Zhuo Yuan! What in the world is she doing?!’

He Zhanglin gritted her teeth, her nails digging so deeply into her palms that the sharp pain was the only thing keeping her tethered to a shred of sanity.

’For something this monumental to happen without Zhuo Yuan reporting it... was she deliberately hiding it from me? Or could it be that she was the mole all along?’

At the thought, a chill shot up from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head, a volatile mix of fury and suspicion.

"Brother Tian, my apologies. Something has happened. I must go to the Sun Mansion at once and see for myself. Please forgive my discourtesy; I’ll make it up to you later."

He Zhanglin rose in a hurry.

Brother Tian rose with her, his brow furrowed. "Sister, there’s no need for such formalities," he said gravely. "This is a strange business. I’ll go with you. We can watch out for each other."

Her mind in turmoil, He Zhanglin was in no mood for etiquette and simply nodded.

Without further delay, the two of them moved. Like twin wisps of smoke, they shot out of the small courtyard and sped toward the Sun Mansion.

In just a few moments, they reached the street of the Sun Mansion.

It was just as the maidservant had described. The area around the once-quiet Sun Mansion was now under heavy guard.

Over a hundred County Soldiers and government constables had formed a tight perimeter around the mansion, allowing no one through. Bystanders had been pushed back, forced to watch from a distance, pointing and gossiping.

The Sun Mansion’s great vermilion doors stood wide open. A steady stream of men in official uniforms filed out, carrying chests, furniture, and other items of all sizes, piling them up in the empty space before the entrance.

A man who looked like a clerk held a ledger, loudly calling out items as he tallied them in a clear scene of property seizure.

The sight made He Zhanglin’s vision darken as blood rushed to her head.

She had never imagined that just as her painstaking plan was about to turn a corner, the Commandery Magistrate’s Office would intervene and throw everything into chaos.

Her gaze swept the area and locked onto a Military Officer in a blue, Seventh-Grade-rank robe, a saber at his waist, who was directing the Soldiers.

Blinded by fury, He Zhanglin rushed forward without a second thought. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "Barging into a private residence in broad daylight and seizing personal property! Is there no law in this land?!"

The Military Officer clearly hadn’t expected anyone to dare confront an Official. He was stunned for a moment, but his expression darkened when he saw it was a young woman.

He looked He Zhanglin up and down. Seeing an unfamiliar face, his tone became condescending and impatient. "The Commandery Magistrate’s Office is conducting business under the laws of the Court. How dare an ignorant woman like you cause a disturbance here? Get back, now, or don’t blame me for charging you with obstruction of justice."

He Zhanglin had begun her training under her master at a young age and hadn’t accompanied He Mingyun to his post in Liyang. Naturally, no one at the Commandery Magistrate’s Office recognized the late Governor’s daughter.

This rude rebuke only added fuel to the fire.

"You..."

He Zhanglin trembled with rage.

Seeing He Zhanglin about to lose control, Brother Tian, who was right behind, quickly stepped in front of her. He cupped his fist to the Military Officer. "Greetings, my lord. My younger sister was merely anxious and spoke out of turn. Please forgive her offense."

Seeing Brother Tian’s distinguished air and polite words, the Military Officer’s expression softened slightly, and his tone grew milder. "It’s not that I’m being unreasonable. I am merely acting on orders."

Brother Tian seized the opening. "May I ask what crime the Sun Family committed to warrant the Commandery Magistrate’s Office mobilizing on such a scale?"

The Military Officer glanced at him, then at the ashen-faced He Zhanglin behind him. After a moment of deliberation, he said, "Last year, on the pretext of offsetting their Land Tax, the Sun Family borrowed forty thousand bolts of silk from the Qingshui County Magistrate’s Office’s official treasury. A document was drafted at the time stating that the debt would be repaid in full by this year’s autumn tax collection."

"Now, the autumn tax collection is upon us, and the Sun Family is unable to pay. Therefore, we are lawfully seizing the Sun Family’s assets to cover the tax payment. This is standard procedure, not a personal attack."

His words struck He Zhanglin’s heart like a heavy hammer.

With the Government Office seizing their property, this sudden action was about to completely derail everything she had so carefully planned.

More importantly, if the charge of tax evasion was made official, even Si Zhong, who held the Sun Family’s land deeds, wouldn’t risk a conflict with the Court over it.

’At this rate, my path to revenge will be blocked indefinitely.’

A mix of shock and rage, she could no longer hold back. "Nonsense!" she snarled. "When that loan was made, there was never any mention of a repayment deadline! This is clearly..."

Hearing this, the Military Officer’s face fell. He cut her off, his voice turning cold. "Oh? Milady, you repeatedly question the Government Office and speak insolently to an official. Who exactly are you? And what is your relationship to this Sun Family? Don’t tell me... you’re accusing me of forging an official decree and lying in public?"

His final words were delivered with a menacing glare.

"You..."

He Zhanglin stared daggers at the Military Officer, the murderous intent in her eyes exploding as she lost control of the killing intent raging within her.

An overwhelming, tyrannical pressure—the aura of a Grandmaster—erupted from her without reservation, shrouding the Military Officer like a tangible weight.

The Military Officer was only an ordinary Martial Artist; how could he possibly withstand the deliberate pressure of a Grandmaster Level expert? He felt a chill shoot up his spine as the shadow of death fell over him.

’A Grandmaster!’

’This woman is a Grandmaster?!’

’Since when did Liyang have such a young, female Grandmaster?’

The Military Officer’s face instantly turned ashen. Scared out of his wits, he stumbled back several steps, his hand flying to the hilt of his saber. "In broad daylight!" he blustered, his voice a mix of bravado and terror. "What do you think you’re doing? Do you intend to murder a Court official in the street?!"

He roared the last part with a burst of Inner Strength, his voice carrying far and wide, immediately drawing the attention of every soldier and bystander.

Countless nervous, fearful, and wary eyes instantly fixed on He Zhanglin. The sound of swords being drawn from their scabbards filled the air.

Brother Tian’s expression changed. ’This is bad,’ he thought. Heedless of the impropriety between men and women, he grabbed He Zhanglin firmly.

’Killing an official in public is a cardinal sin!’

The Court would never turn a blind eye. They would hunt her to the ends of the earth.

He Zhanglin bit her lower lip so hard she nearly drew blood.

Her chest heaved several times before she managed to forcibly suppress her surging rage.

She knew that if she acted now, she would make an enemy of the entire Court. Her revenge would become impossible, and she herself would become a fugitive.

She took a deep breath, shot one last, icy glare at the still-shaken Military Officer, then spun around without a word. With a light tap of her toes, her body shot up like a nimble white swallow, landing on a nearby roof. In a few leaps, she vanished into the sprawling labyrinth of the Commandery City’s rooftops and alleys.

The Military Officer only let out a long sigh of relief after she was gone. His face was pale, his back soaked in a cold sweat, his heart still pounding with lingering fear.

Brother Tian watched her disappear, sighed helplessly, and offered a quick, cupped-fist salute to the rattled Military Officer.

Afraid that He Zhanglin might do something reckless, he dared not linger. His figure blurred as he executed his Body Technique, speeding off in the direction she had gone.

He left behind a group of terrified Commandery Magistrate’s Office Soldiers in front of the Sun Mansion, all staring at one another in stunned silence.