Chapter 860: Whoever Benefits Is the Most Suspect

"Grand General, Tong Mo has been executed!"

At a requisitioned courtyard on the Beizhou border, a young officer presented intelligence from Yanjing.

Shao Dengyun, dressed in close-fitting martial attire, had been practicing with his saber, the blade whistling through the air.

He abruptly reversed it and drove the saber into the ground, then straightened and accepted the report.

News of the earlier upheaval in the capital had already reached them.

After that succession of shocking events, the Tong household had been confiscated, but Tong Mo's final fate had remained uncertain.

They had been watching closely.

Now, confirming that Tong Mo had been executed by slow slicing and dismembered, Shao Dengyun lifted his face toward the heavens and gave a long sigh.

"Evil receives its evil retribution. The treacherous Grand Minister has finally paid for his crimes."

"The brothers who were massacred back then can finally close their eyes in peace."

...

At the Yan-Zhao front, Shang Chaozong read the report that Tong Mo had been executed by slow slicing.

Boom!

His fist slammed down on the table.

"Good! If that treacherous villain had not died, our uncles and elders from those years would never have rested in peace!"

"Ah..." Meng Shanming sighed with deep emotion as well.

Back then, Tong Mo's power had been so great that even Meng Shanming had been forced into seclusion.

Now the man had finally been eliminated.

"Of all the people Tong Mo could have provoked, he just had to send someone into the Secret Realm to assassinate Master Dao. He truly angered him."

"Master Dao's methods really are formidable. He seized the opportunity and uprooted the entire Tong clan in one stroke!"

Shang Chaozong felt the same.

Tong Mo's power had been enormous.

He was not someone a person could overturn merely by wishing it.

Yet Niu Youdao had gone to Yanjing, acted once, and toppled a generation's great minister as though crushing rotten wood.

After a moment of reflection, Shang Chaozong gave a cold snort.

"Even if Master Dao hadn't removed him, sooner or later I would have!"

Meng Shanming said, "Our great enemy has finally been avenged. Send word to Zhang Hu and the other generals, and to the old subordinates of the late Prince. Let everyone share in the happiness."

"Exactly as it should be!" Shang Chaozong agreed and ordered the news spread widely.

...

In a courtyard deep within the streets of the Qi capital, Yan Baoru carried cage after cage containing birds and beasts out of the side room and arranged them beneath the sunlight.

She had now returned to her normal appearance.

Her ornate clothing was gone.

She wore simple blue cloth, her long hair loosely tied and falling down her back, her face unadorned.

It was as though she had set aside everything from the past and devoted herself to assisting Wuxin.

Wuxin observed the reactions of the medicated birds and beasts inside the cages.

Guo Man returned from outside, closed the courtyard gate, and ran over to the circle of cages.

Then she began chattering about the latest news.

The most sensational news beneath Heaven at present was naturally the execution of Tong Mo, Grand Minister of Works of Yan.

Tong Mo had ordered Yan Baoru to assassinate Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao had turned around and retaliated at once, annihilating Tong Mo's entire household with a flip of his hand before having Tong Mo cut to pieces.

Yan Baoru bit her lip and remained silent.

Unease stirred in her heart.

She worried that sooner or later Niu Youdao would come looking for her to settle accounts.

"Worried he'll come settle accounts with you?" Wuxin asked while studying a mouse.

Yan Baoru replied, "I'm also afraid of implicating sir."

Wuxin remained silent, his attention on the mouse inside the cage.

Guo Man looked at one, then the other, her eyes moving back and forth between their faces.

...

Inside a quiet pavilion, Shao Pingbo slowly lowered the intelligence report in his hand.

A trace of doubt lingered between his brows.

Shao Sansheng, pouring tea beside him, said, "Niu Youdao's power is growing greater and greater. The way he handles matters is becoming more and more conspicuous too."

There was emotion hidden beneath the words.

Back then, what had Niu Youdao amounted to?

One change in the Eldest Young Master's expression had been enough to frighten him into escaping downriver.

Now he had truly grown into a power.

Even the Grand Minister of an entire state could be toppled at his word.

Shao Pingbo said, "The more conspicuous a man is, the harder he falls. Only a fool enjoys flaunting himself."

"If a man like him is acting openly, it must be because he can no longer remain hidden..."

"I keep feeling that this matter isn't so simple."

Shao Sansheng looked puzzled.

"Tong Mo sent someone to kill him. Isn't it normal for him to go to the capital and take revenge?"

"It's not that revenge is abnormal," Shao Pingbo replied.

"Yan's imperial court is still Yan's imperial court. To kill one Tong Mo, he went to Yanjing and caused a disturbance that large."

"I keep feeling something doesn't fit."

"That isn't his usual way of doing things."

Shao Sansheng said, "Eldest Young Master, it's still the same point. His power has become greater and greater. Gradually, he now has the capital to act that way."

"Besides, trying to topple someone like Tong Mo quietly and without disturbance would hardly be possible."

Shao Pingbo fell silent for a while, then suddenly said, "More and more matters are involved now, and every matter is becoming larger. Things are no longer as simple as they were in those years."

"I understand this Niu Youdao less and less."

"But every affair has an internal logic behind it."

"If we discard the surface explanation of revenge, then tell me: by doing this and bringing Tong Mo down, who benefited?"

Shao Sansheng replied, "Naturally Niu Youdao himself. Tong Mo can no longer cause him trouble, and it also killed one to warn a hundred. From now on, people in Yan's court probably won't dare move recklessly against him again."

"Then there are Yan's three great sects. I heard they made a fortune confiscating the Tong household this time."

"And then Gao Jiancheng. Once Tong Mo's faction collapsed, Gao Jiancheng finally endured long enough to become the senior one. He has finally taken the position of Grand Minister of Works!"

"Then there is the Crown Prince's fall. Whoever inherits the position and becomes the new Crown Prince would be the true biggest beneficiary!"

"There should be others who profited in smaller ways, but those minor ones can probably be ignored."

"Many things look complicated, but in truth they are not so complicated," Shao Pingbo said.

"Perhaps the real cause is already sitting openly before us, merely obscured by appearances—or made deliberately complicated by men."

"Whoever benefits is the most suspect. That is the most basic rule."

He reached out, took up a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote down the four sides Shao Sansheng had just named:

Niu Youdao.

The three great sects.

Gao Jiancheng.

The Crown Prince.

"This certainly benefited Niu Youdao. Otherwise, he would not have done it."

He stared at the four names for a while, thinking.

Then his brush crossed out Niu Youdao's name.

"If you say the entire disturbance was created merely because the three great sects wanted the Tong family's fortune, I don't believe it."

"If the three great sects simply opened their mouths, Tong Mo would not have dared refuse to disgorge the wealth."

His brush crossed out the three great sects as well.

Only Gao Jiancheng and the Crown Prince remained on the paper.

Shao Pingbo stared at the two names and slowly said, "Could there be a problem with one of these two?"

Shao Sansheng replied, "Gao Jiancheng and Niu Youdao are enemies. Gao Jiancheng repeatedly tried to have him killed."

"According to later intelligence, even Zong Yuan—the expert ranked seventh on the Golden Core Ranking who attacked Maolu Villa back then—was Gao Jiancheng's doing."

"Niu Youdao couldn't possibly be helping him, could he?"

Shao Pingbo said, "Don't forget Lu Shengzhong and Chen Guishuo. Both were men who once intended to kill him, and both later became useful to him."

"A man's style leaves traces that can be followed."

"Yun Ji, the Ghost Mother, those demons and monsters of the Four Seas, and so on..."

"That Niu thief has a considerable capacity for tolerating people."

"So long as someone can be useful to him, he can accommodate every sort of person from every walk of life, no matter what problems they carry."

"He has that ability to control and employ people."

Shao Sansheng said, "This is different. Gao Jiancheng has the blood feud of a son's death with him!"

Shao Pingbo asked, "Then you mean the 'Crown Prince' is the suspicious one?"

Shao Sansheng said, "The new Crown Prince hasn't even been confirmed yet. Whoever ultimately emerges might be suspicious, but isn't it too early to say who that will be?"

Shao Pingbo stared at the two remaining names on the paper.

"Both seem to contain reasons they should be impossible."

"But both share one point."

"Whether Gao Jiancheng rises into power, or a new Crown Prince takes the position, either could influence Yan's political authority."

"What would that mean for Niu Youdao?"

"This Gao Jiancheng..."

"If I get the opportunity, I need to test him."

Shao Sansheng was startled.

"Eldest Young Master suspects Gao Jiancheng is secretly colluding with Niu Youdao?"

Shao Pingbo said, "A Crown Prince does not truly influence political power until after he ascends the throne."

"Before that, he must avoid suspicion. It is unlikely he would openly gather large amounts of authority into his own hands."

"Once he becomes emperor, he will have the three great sects supporting him. The possibility that he would still listen to Niu Youdao and tear down his own position is low."

"Following the logic step by step, Gao Jiancheng is the most suspicious!"

Shao Sansheng smiled bitterly.

"Even if it really is him, without evidence, he is still the Grand Minister of an entire state and holds enormous power."

"He isn't someone who can be toppled merely because another person accuses him."

"If rumors alone could bring down a state's Grand Minister, every state beneath Heaven would already be in chaos."

"This is only my suspicion," Shao Pingbo said. "It is still too early to conclude what actually happened."

"At present, I am living with my tail tucked between my legs. I hold no real authority and have no resources in my hands."

"Even if I understand something, I lack the ability to act on it. I cannot fight Niu Youdao like this."

"I am living under another man's roof, watching another man's expression, with even my own movements restricted."

"All I can do is wait."

"What happens in Wei and Qi is extremely important to me now. It concerns whether I can successfully obtain power."

"As for other matters beyond that, doing too much right now brings no benefit."

"Continue lying low."

After speaking, Shao Pingbo set down the brush.

He lifted the sheet, now crossed out until only Gao Jiancheng and the Crown Prince remained, and handed it over.

"I have watched Niu Youdao for so many years. I have paid attention to his every movement."

"Whether he has exposed even the tip of his tail, he may deceive others, but he cannot deceive me."

"I refuse to believe he created a disturbance this large merely to vent his anger!"

"Notify Blackwater Terrace. Have them focus on watching these two sides and see whether either has any connection with Niu Youdao."

"Especially Gao Jiancheng."

"If anything unusual appears, report it to me immediately. It will also serve as a warning for His Majesty."

"Yes!" Shao Sansheng acknowledged.

...

Tong Mo was executed.

All beneath Heaven was shaken!

At the Yan-Zhao front, Niu Youdao arrived.

For Shang Chaozong and the others, Master Dao had finally shown himself. The man they had wanted to see was finally before them.

When word spread that "Master Dao" had arrived, the spirits of many Nanzhou soldiers rose visibly.

That was inseparable from the news that Niu Youdao had executed the great treacherous minister of the court.

Many people could not resist hurrying over to see him.

Situ Yao and the others from Jinzhou naturally needed no mention.

Even the Provincial Inspectors currently commanding troops in the field—Xu Jingyue of Gongzhou, An Xianzhao of Tuzhou, Su Qitong of Haozhou, Xin Mao of Fuzhou, and Zhang Hu of Changzhou—hurried over in person to meet this Master Dao whom they had previously known only by reputation.

Wu Zhaoxing accompanied Niu Youdao through the army for a while.

He discovered that practically every soldier they happened to pass would excitedly call out, "Master Dao!"

Only then did Wu Zhaoxing fully realize that Niu Youdao's influence within Nanzhou was indeed extraordinary.

Niu Youdao himself noticed something interesting.

Many people asked about Tong Mo's execution.

Everyone cursed Tong Mo.

Yet very few people cursed Shang Jianxiong.

That included Meng Shanming and Shang Chaozong.

It was as though no matter how many mistakes were made, the faults all belonged to the ministers below.

Even an emperor's mistakes were caused by treacherous officials beneath him.

The emperor had merely been deceived by villains!

Niu Youdao could only sigh.

Looked at that way, Tong Mo truly had not died unjustly at all.

He could not help remembering what Tong Mo had said while gripping the bars of his cell shortly before death:

In truth, you and I both know...

After Niu Youdao settled into a newly erected tent, Fei Changliu, Xia Hua, and Zheng Jiuxiao arrived with several people.

They had brought the three female disciples to apologize.

Although Niu Youdao had already said he intended to be magnanimous, the three sects could not behave as though nothing had happened.

[End of Chapter 860]