Chapter 1234: He Didn't Return to the Capital to Get Married

Shao Pingbo gave a meaningful "Oh," then turned and walked toward the young man.

His manner suddenly became more courteous than it had been toward anyone else along the way. He cupped his hands with perfect respect. "Greetings, Young Master Zhao. This official is presently supervising an investigation into a case involving collusion with spies from an enemy state. I ask that Young Master not obstruct the investigation."

He then produced a token from his sleeve and showed it to him.

Zhao Yujun pointed toward his mother, furious. "What nonsense are you talking about? What does collusion with enemy spies have to do with my mother? Do you have any evidence?"

Shao Pingbo replied humbly, "We are merely taking her back for questioning. I ask Young Master not to interfere with the handling of the case."

Zhao Yujun sneered. "What a joke! With no proof and no evidence, what right do you have to arrest anyone?"

Shao Pingbo asked, "Is Young Master determined to obstruct us?"

"Everything can wait until my father arrives!" Zhao Yujun turned and shouted, "Men! Hurry to the yamen and inform my father—"

Shing!

A sudden sound came from behind him.

His body stiffened.

Slowly, he lowered his head and looked at the blood spreading across his chest.

A bloodstained sword tip protruded from it.

Shao Pingbo's sword had suddenly left its sheath and pierced straight through his heart.

Everyone in the Zhao Residence stared in shock.

The Blackwater Terrace men were stunned as well.

Even Shao Sansheng was dumbfounded.

No one had imagined it.

Who could possibly have imagined that Shao Pingbo would dare kill Zhao Gongquan's son directly, drawing his sword without warning and stabbing him dead on the spot?

"Jun'er..."

One of the beautiful women under guard suddenly released a heart-rending scream. She struggled desperately to break free and reach her son, but the men restraining her held her fast.

Shao Pingbo pulled out the sword.

Zhao Yujun collapsed with a thud and twitched on the ground, blood spreading beneath him.

Shao Pingbo wiped the blade against the young man's clothes, then returned it to its sheath without expression.

His cold gaze swept across the courtyard.

"Anyone else who resists will be dealt with the same way!"

Everyone present in the Zhao Residence trembled with fear.

A suffocating sense of terror descended over them all.

Those who had still been shouting before instantly closed their mouths.

The beautiful woman who had been crying her heart out rolled her eyes back and fainted.

"Your Excellency, this..." A Blackwater Terrace operative approached in alarm.

Shao Pingbo raised one hand and stopped the question.

"Eldest Young Master!" Shao Sansheng hurried forward as well, equally frightened. In front of so many people, he clearly had no idea what he could even say.

"Paper and brush," Shao Pingbo ordered.

Then he pointed toward a tall side table beneath a nearby corridor, where a vase had been placed.

Shao Sansheng immediately had someone fetch writing materials while others moved the tall table over.

The table was placed before Shao Pingbo, and brush and paper soon arrived.

Shao Pingbo tilted his head slightly. "Continue with your duties."

The Blackwater Terrace personnel immediately resumed escorting the arrested people outside.

Then, to the horror of everyone watching, Shao Pingbo bent down and dipped the brush in Zhao Yujun's blood pooled on the ground.

He straightened and began writing on the paper atop the table.

He was using the blood of the Zhao family's youngest son as ink.

The gloomy rain of the previous days had finally dispersed, leaving behind rare fine weather.

Yet beneath the bright sunlight, a graceful man in a cloak stood beside a corpse calmly writing with human blood.

Countless people throughout the Zhao Residence felt a chill crawl through them.

No one dared display the arrogance of Lord Zhao's household any longer.

Shao Sansheng moved close to Shao Pingbo and said with extreme unease, "Eldest Young Master, after doing this, how will you explain yourself to His Majesty?"

"This letter is my explanation to His Majesty. Those people dared force His Majesty's hand in court. It is time they learned what is weighty and what is light."

Shao Pingbo's brush moved steadily, neither hurried nor slow.

"Wasn't Lord Zhao one of the loudest men in court? I did not cough up that mouthful of blood for nothing. Someone has to pay a price for it. Taking repayment in his son's blood will barely suffice."

Shao Sansheng remained deeply uneasy. "If you act like this, the entire court will refuse to let you go."

Shao Pingbo said, "What makes you think they were ever planning to let me go?"

"If I do not kill, if I do not fight back, will they suddenly spare me?"

"The more I swallow my anger and endure humiliation, the more lightly they will take me!"

"Since they cannot tolerate me, since they insist on driving me toward death, since they are determined to oppose me, then let them come!"

"Old Shao, if I do not make them afraid, if I do not teach them a lesson and give them something to fear, they will only become more unscrupulous in the future."

"I did not want matters to reach this point either. But now I have no choice. They forced me!"

"And men like them think they can bring me down? I do not say this to belittle them. They are merely a pack of mediocrities!"

Shao Sansheng fell silent.

Thinking it over, he had to admit there was truth in those words. His emotions gradually steadied.

He asked, "Now that the affair has become so serious, His Majesty will soon send people to stop us. I'm afraid it will be difficult to touch the others afterward."

Shao Pingbo bent again to dip the brush in blood, then continued writing.

"Don't worry. His Majesty will watch from the side."

The letter was soon finished.

Shao Pingbo set down the brush, lifted the blood-written page, blew gently across it, then handed it over.

"A man is dead. His Majesty will certainly be alarmed. I cannot avoid giving him an explanation now. Seal this and have Blackwater Terrace deliver it to His Majesty immediately."

"Yes!" Shao Sansheng accepted with difficulty.

The letter was rolled and placed inside a small metal tube, which was then sealed.

A Blackwater Terrace operative tucked it away and rushed out of the Zhao Residence. He mounted at once and galloped directly toward the imperial palace.

Before long, Shao Pingbo and the others also left the Zhao Residence.

The entire group mounted and headed toward the next household.

In the middle of the courtyard, a corpse lay silently on the ground.

The servants did not dare approach.

Zhao Gongquan's principal wife had been badly frightened as well. She stood supported by a daughter-in-law from the Taishu clan, both women still shaken.

Only after recovering somewhat did the members of the principal wife's branch notice that, apart from their own branch, everyone present from the other three branches had been arrested, regardless of sex or age.

Not long after Shao Pingbo's group departed, several riders came galloping in.

Court Chamberlain Zhao Gongquan hurried back under the protection of his guards.

In fact, almost as soon as Shao Pingbo's people arrived and the commotion began, someone had quietly climbed over a wall and run to report the matter to Zhao Gongquan.

That was why he had rushed back.

"Master, why have you only come now..." The steward dropped to his knees the moment he saw him and burst into loud sobs.

"What are you crying for? What happened? Where is Shao Pingbo?" Zhao Gongquan shouted angrily.

He truly was furious.

The moment he received the report, anger had exploded within him.

What audacity from Shao Pingbo!

To think he dared storm into the residence of the Court Chamberlain and cause trouble.

He truly must be tired of living.

Then Zhao Gongquan suddenly noticed the figure lying in a pool of blood nearby.

He froze.

Almost unable to believe his eyes, he hurried forward.

When he saw the dead man's face clearly, he cried out and dropped to his knees, gathering him into his arms.

"Jun'er! Jun'er! Cultivators! Cultivators, quickly save him! Save him!"

There was nothing left to save.

No one needed to attempt anything. One glance was enough to know the young man was dead.

Those around him could only step forward and urge Zhao Gongquan to restrain his grief.

His youngest son.

The darling of an old father's heart.

Zhao Gongquan was truly devastated and began sobbing loudly.

This had been the one unmarried son still left in the household.

Back in court, when the Seventh Princess was forcing the marriage question, Zhao Gongquan had been unwilling to let her marry him.

Who could have imagined that the boy would now be murdered inside his own home?

Overwhelmed by grief, Zhao Gongquan suddenly rose and seized one of the family's retainer cultivators by the front of his robes.

"You could not even protect my family? You allowed someone to commit murder inside my own residence? What do I keep you people for?"

The cultivator looked troubled. "My lord, they came with overwhelming force. Every one of them was from Blackwater Terrace, and they also carried His Majesty's token. We had no idea what had happened and did not dare act rashly, much less strike them. If we injured even one of them, we feared it would bring trouble upon my lord!"

Even that assumed they had actually been capable of injuring them.

The cultivators Taishu Xiong had assigned to protect Shao Pingbo were all experts. They would never have allowed the Zhao household's people to act recklessly.

Zhao Gongquan shoved the man away and roared, "Who killed him? Who killed my son?"

The steward cried, "Lord Shao! Shao Pingbo killed him with his own hands. In front of everyone, he drew his sword and stabbed Young Master dead with a single thrust!"

"Ah!" Zhao Gongquan clutched at his chest.

Pain seemed to tear through his heart.

Enraged beyond measure, he pointed at the cultivators around him.

"You! All of you! Go now! Bring him back to me immediately! This old man will personally cut that dog thief to pieces!"

The cultivators exchanged looks.

One answered, "My lord, those are Blackwater Terrace's people. In the entire capital, apart from His Majesty, no one dares move against them without authorization. We do not dare!"

The steward stepped forward and supported Zhao Gongquan. "My lord, the Second, Third, and Fourth Madams were all taken by Shao Pingbo, along with several young masters and young ladies. Shao Pingbo has hostages in his hands. We cannot act recklessly."

"We have to find a way to save them first. My lord, hurry and seek His Majesty!"

"His Majesty? Yes. His Majesty. Come! This old man is entering the palace..." Zhao Gongquan roared and strode away.

In his grief and rage, he had not even noticed that the principal wife's branch had been left untouched.

...

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"

Inside the imperial study, Tao Lue hurried in with a look of alarm.

Taishu Xiong, who had been reviewing documents behind the desk, raised his head and glanced over. "What has you so panicked?"

Tao Lue wore a bitter expression. "Your Majesty, Lord Shao led Blackwater Terrace personnel directly into Court Chamberlain Zhao's residence and publicly killed Lord Zhao's youngest son!"

"Ah!" Taishu Xiong was shocked.

The brush in his hand dropped onto the desk with a clatter.

He shot to his feet and said angrily, "Has he gone mad? Did We not tell you to keep an eye on him?"

Tao Lue looked helpless. "According to the men below, Lord Shao suddenly drew his sword and struck. It was completely beyond everyone's expectations. No one imagined he would dare commit murder personally inside the Zhao Residence. There was no time to react..."

"Your Majesty, this is a blood-written report Lord Shao sent for presentation."

"A blood-written report? What is this?"

Taishu Xiong snatched the letter away and opened it.

The characters truly were written in blood.

Yet the handwriting was neat and orderly, nothing like a desperate message written under adversity.

Before even reading the contents, he could not resist bringing it close to his nose and sniffing.

There really was a smell of blood.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

Tao Lue reminded him, "The men below report that Lord Shao asked for a brush inside the Zhao Residence, then openly dipped it in the blood of Lord Zhao's youngest son and wrote this report for Your Majesty."

"Has that fellow gone insane, or is he tired of living?" Taishu Xiong erupted in fury.

Then he began reading the contents.

Gradually, the anger on his face began to fade.

When he finished, the blood-letter slowly lowered in his hand.

His eyes flickered for a while.

Then he suddenly gave a cold laugh.

"He did not return to the capital to get married. He came back to settle accounts with the entire court!"

"That mouthful of blood he coughed up—looks like he has charged the first payment to Zhao Gongquan's son."

Tao Lue tested him cautiously. "Your Majesty, this old servant glanced over the contents of the blood-letter first. I did not dare make a decision on my own, so I did not order Blackwater Terrace to stop Lord Shao from continuing."

"Your Majesty, should this old servant send word now and have them stop him?"

"Stop him? Stop what?"

Taishu Xiong shook the blood-written report in his hand.

"A pack of dogs dared force Our hand. It is indeed time someone showed them a little color."

"Our Lord Shao's methods are formidable after all! We truly did not misjudge him."

"The moment he returns to the capital, he sweeps through with thunderous methods. We would like to see whether that pack who forced the sovereign's hand can withstand him!"

"The good show is still to come."

"As for this marriage... it may well fall apart!"

[End of Chapter 1234]