Chapter 751 – Nothing More Than Playing House (I) (1/2)

Chapter 751 – Nothing More Than Playing House (I)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The path of merchants was always established on cold hard realism, so only when the prize had fallen into their bag would they feel peace and happiness. In addition, any sort of befuddling fog would be utterly worthless when torn away.

The Tang Seventeenth Master decided to stop thinking about that person's identity, deciding that he would first find them and then think about it. His gaze moved from the manager's face to the bishop, upon which he said, ”The Second Master's orders this time were exceptionally clear. This person must be found and then put under our control. If that's not possible, I will die, and the rest of you will die. And you will die the most miserably of all.”

This bishop was a spy that the Tang clan had placed in the Orthodoxy. Now that he had been driven from the capital, although he had managed to escape with his life, he was useless. If he could not display his loyalty, ability, or use in this matter of the Cinnabar Pill, then his end would most likely be very inglorious.

The bishop's face paled at these words and the manager's back was soaked in cold sweat. The pair were both keenly aware that this matter involved the internal competition for power within the clan back in Wenshui. Although their statuses were not sufficient to know all the facts, they both knew that Wenshui City had been ravaged by no small number of storms over these past two years.

The struggle between the branches was growing fiercer by the day, even rather bitter. Although no one had died yet, the entire conflict was pervaded by the faint scent of blood. The most important sign was that the illness of the chief branch's master had relapsed, and at the beginning of this year, the Tang Second Master, whose reputation had been growing and growing…fathered a son.

The Wenshui Tang clan had existed for countless generations, so it had its own rules.

Many years ago, the Old Master decided that the chief branch would inherit the clan, thus making Tang Thirty-Six the sole heir and grandson of the Tang clan.

In the period before Tang Thirty-Six formally inherited the clan, the Old Master had forbidden any of the other branches from giving birth to a third generation of male offspring.

This was an extremely callous rule, but thankfully, the masters of the various branches had all had some success in their cultivation and had lifespans of centuries. They could be patient.

At the beginning of this year, this rule was finally broken.

The Tang Second Master fathered a son.

Besides Tang Thirty-Six, he was the sole male descendant of the Tang clan's third generation.

What did this mean? Had the Old Master finally changed his mind on who would inherit the clan? Was the chief branch going to fall out of favor? Or was it that the Tang Second Master no longer had the patience to keep waiting and decided to plainly and boldly express his ambitions to seize power?

Ambitions naturally had to be established on strength. At the moment, the other branches of the Tang clan, led by the Second Master, had gained the clear advantage in this conflict.

In the massive coup two years ago in the capital and in the few years preceding it, the Tang Second Master had played an extremely important role. As a representative of Shang Xingzhou, he had traveled across the continent, serving as a liaison with the various factions so that they could work together to overturn Tianhai's rule. In the coup itself, he had played an irreplaceable role in breaking the capital's Imperial Design.

In this grand undertaking, the Tang Second Master had played his part perfectly, and also in a very low-key manner. He had brought unimaginable benefits to the Wenshui Tangs while also acting in accordance with the Tang clan's style. As a result, he had received the support, even worship, of many of his clansmen.

If he had not failed to kill Wang Po in the winter of that year, perhaps he would have already replaced Tang Thirty-Six's father…

Upon hearing that this was the Tang Second Master's order, the manager and bishop instantly dispelled any ideas of begging for forgiveness or escaping by a fluke.

They could only quickly find that person, and if they couldn't control him, they had to kill him.

Perhaps because the Tang Second Master's coldness was too well-known, or perhaps because the Tang Seventeenth Master was sitting in the courtyard and keeping watch on them the entire time, the doctors performed their analysis of the ingredients far faster than imagined. On the dusk of that day, the doctors and the managers of the Tang clan in charge of transportation and local products finally obtained an preliminary conclusion.

Where the ingredients were produced, where they were transported, where they passed through, which places they could be found, how much was used in Tianliang County over the course of a single year—countless pieces of information were gathered together. Accompanied by the clacking of the abacus, they became numbers on the paper. Finally, they pointed to an extremely remarkable place on the map.

This place was in the northeast of Tianliang County. It was a sparsely inhabited and frigid place. Amongst the mountains was a small village called Gaoyang that had practically been abandoned.

……

……

On the other side of the inn wall, within the Sacred Hospital, as the injuries of the wounded within gradually improved, the atmosphere gradually relaxed.

The atmosphere in the room at the very back was still oppressive and gloomy.