Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 300 - 288: Wen Ruchu, Must Not Die in Vain!

Chapter 300: Chapter 288: Wen Ruchu, Must Not Die in Vain!

Han Yanqiu’s father took him to see the Head of the Han family, who was also Han Yanqiu’s grandfather.

The grandfather had been in the ancestral hall for a while before coming out.

At this moment, the current Head of the Han family, Han Mingshi, was staring absently at the fiery clouds in the western sky.

Han Deshan brought Han Yanqiu over and told Han Mingshi what had just happened.

Upon hearing this, Han Mingshi’s brow furrowed slightly as he glanced at his youngest grandson.

Having just lost his second grandson, Han Mingshi was already in great pain.

Now seeing his third grandson beaten up as if he were nothing, Han Mingshi felt even more displeased.

What worried Han Mingshi initially was that, with such a serious incident in the family, someone among the younger generation who had a good relationship with Han Yanxia might go out and cause trouble.

But he had never imagined that it would be his own family member who was beaten.

After briefly inquiring about the incident, Han Mingshi grew even angrier.

"So you’re saying that it was Zhang San who hit you, and he directly admitted that he was the one who did it, right?"

Han Yanqiu nodded earnestly.

"Then let me ask you, if Zhang San is so audacious as to give his own name, why would he bother putting a sack over your head?"

Han Yanqiu was stunned.

He had never considered that point before.

Han Mingshi continued to question, "You say there were clues on the sack, a very strong smell, what was that smell?"

Han Yanqiu immediately took out the sack that had been used in the crime, and Han Deshan recognized the familiar salty and fishy smell at once.

"Zhang San, a martial artist from the Town Martial Office who came from Chuan-Yu Road, carrying a sack that had contained seafood. Guess what do people from Chuan-Yu Road usually eat?"

Han Yanqiu, although not knowing what the people on Chuan-Yu Road usually ate, guessed that their region was full of mountains and likely didn’t produce much seafood.

"And lastly, look at the injuries on your body, can you recognize any of them as the Martial Style of a particular family?"

"The buttocks!" Han Yanqiu finally had an answer to this question, "Grandfather, I checked just now, and my buttocks were kicked many times, but while it seems fine on the surface, the flesh inside is terribly sore, this is Shen family’s Martial Style!"

Han Mingshi then asked, "Have you offended anyone from the Shen family recently?"

"Shen Zhongdian! I borrowed five taels of gold from someone in the Shen family a while back, but then...I lied about the debt and claimed there was no written agreement. Later, Shen Zhongdian came to me saying that the person’s money was stolen from their parents, and knowing my bad credit, asked me to write an IOU for fifty taels of gold, so he could account for it to his parents, and he even assured me that the money didn’t need to be repaid."

Han Mingshi asked with a cold face, "Then what happened?"

"I wrote it, and the next day Shen Zhongdian sent someone to find me, threatening to take me to the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture if I didn’t pay. I was about to have someone beat him and then take back the IOU, but before I could act, he..."

Han Mingshi was furious!

"You fool! You are a member of the Han family, and yet you could be outsmarted in such a straightforward matter of black and white?"

Han Yanqiu even said with some pride, "Grandfather, I was cautious at the time, and I signed my second brother’s name. They can’t pin it on me!"

Han Mingshi was so angry that he almost hit Han Yanqiu.

"Now that your second brother is gone, and if this blows up, even in death he will be disgraced along with you! You are a disgrace! Get out!"

Although Han Mingshi was very dissatisfied with Han Yanqiu’s behavior, after all, it was his own grandson who was beaten.

What’s more important was that the likely assailant was Shen Zhongdian.

Among the younger generation of the Legalism scholars,

although Shang Bufa of the Shang family was somewhat stubborn, he was still an uncarved jade; the Shen Family was basically good for nothing; he hadn’t paid much attention to the Shen family originally, but in the past two years, he had heard quite a few rumors about this Shen Zhongdian.

It looks like it’s time to pay a visit to the Shen Family.

At this moment, the sun had set, and many households were lighting their lamps. However, the lanterns at the Han Family were white.

Similarly, white lanterns were hung at the Wen Family in the Capital.

The body of Wen Ruchu, the eldest son of the Wen Family, had been sent back.

After all, Zhang San and his group were in a hurry to travel, and storing the body in a Storage Magical Treasure seemed disrespectful to the deceased. In the end, it was other Martial Artists from the Town Martial Office who sent the bodies of Wen Ruchu and several other Wen Family Martial Artists back.

At this moment, in the spirit hall where Wen Ruchu was being mourned, the Wen Family members were all grieving and silent.

However, only Wen Chudao was grieving deeply, but everyone was silent.

Everyone knew that Wen Chudao had always thought the middle-aged generation of the Wen Family was not very capable and had instead placed his hopes on the younger generation.

And among the younger generation of the Wen Family, Wen Ruchu was the one that Wen Zhuguo had the highest hopes for.

Wen Chudao had married only once in his life, and when Wen Ruchu was born, his wife had found that he resembled their deceased first wife in his brows and thus named him "Ruchu".

On this eldest grandson, he had also placed a sliver of his fond expectations.

Yet, he had not expected to now be sending off his black-haired descendant as a white-haired elder.

But although the other members of the Wen Family said nothing, many rejoiced in their hearts.

Even Wen Ruchu’s biological father, Wen Dujii, felt this way.

After all, if Wen Chudao were gone, as the eldest son, he could inherit everything from his father.

But just because his son resembled his deceased mother, the father insisted on leaving everything to his grandson.

What, am I just a link in the chain of succession?

Now that his son was gone, a son could be born again.

But the chance to inherit the vast Wen Family business was within reach.

Those with similar thoughts included Wen Dujii’s two younger brothers.

However, everyone was waiting for an opportunity, a chance to draw Wen Chudao’s attention to themselves.

It was only after Wen Chudao stared at his grandson’s body and cried for a while that he wiped away his tears.

"Wen Ruchu, my eldest son and grandson, was also the hand I, Wen Chudao, extended into the Town Martial Office on the Chuan-Yu Road. Now..."

"My eldest son and grandson are gone. The hand that the Wen Family extended into the Town Martial Office has been severed!"

"I am old and don’t have many years left to live. I could overlook this blood-deep enmity, but if people from the Wen Family die in obscure circumstances outside and the Wen Family remains silent, I fear the entire Capital and even the entire Great Sui will know that the Wen Family is finished."

At this moment, one could no longer see the grief of the old man who had lost his beloved grandson on Wen Chudao’s face. What everyone could see was the leader who, like a fierce tiger emerging from the forest, had led the Wen Family through thorns to become the most powerful family in the Great Sui.

"Wen Ruchu cannot have died in vain!"

"Some people must pay the price!"

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[Note 89] Citation Explanation

The words "Mingshi" in the name of the Legalism Family Head, Han Mingshi, are quoted from Han Fei’s "Treacherous Officials and Regicides" which says, "Follow the names and reality to determine right and wrong, and evaluate the words and deeds with reference and verification."

The meaning of this saying is: Judge the right and wrong based on whether the name matches the reality, and conclusions should be made based on references and verification.

At the same time, "Mingshi" is also a concept of ancient Chinese philosophy. My research in this area is limited, and relatively speaking, I may have studied the name Han Deshan a bit more.