Book 3: Clear River in Turmoil - 143: Counterattack 2
Finish off those Bloodline Nobility Clans!
Finish off Nobility Clans!
Su Chen’s words rang out like thunder in An Siyuan’s ears.
Hadn’t An Siyuan been trying to finish off those influential and powerful Bloodline Nobility Clans this whole time?
However, when Su Chen vocalized it, An Siyuan felt a strange feeling coming over him.
It wasn’t because he didn’t want to do that, but because he felt that for some reason Su Chen was in control of everything.
Thankfully, this strange feeling retreated in but a moment. An Siyuan calmed himself and said, “How do you want me to take them out? Just send troops like this? Even if a Shen Yuanhong dies, those Bloodline Nobility Clans’ foundation might not have been shaken at all. Even if Wang Zhanyu and Wei Pei also die, I cannot send troops to kill them for no reason, can I?”
“But they can attack imperial forces without repercussions?” Su Chen replied.
An Siyuan replied, “I have already reported it to the higher ups. They will make a judgment.”
“That judgment probably won’t do anything to the Wang Clan, will they?”
“That’s right, I don’t think they will do anything either. But that doesn’t mean that the Wang Clan won’t pay a price or won’t have to make an effort. If they want to avoid danger and disasters, they will need to pay a heavy price.”
“So if you send troops to wipe out the Bloodline Nobility Clans, you’ll need to give the higher ups a reason for it. If you don’t want anything to happen, you’ll also need to pay a price?” Su Chen asked.
An Siyuan laughed, “It’s good if you know. Being a government official is a protection to you, but it is also a prison. We cannot do things as we please. Right, how did Shen Yuanhong die?”
“He went to Jade Heart Island looking for a fight and found death.”
“So it was Jiang Xishui,” An Siyuan sighed. Even though Su Chen had never told him about Jiang Xishui, his identity as Su Chen’s classmate wasn’t difficult to unearth, so everyone was very clear about it. However, Jiang Xishui had never done anything too over the top, and the waterways to Clear River City remained open, so no Light Shaking Realm cultivators had ever targeted him.
After Su Chen had been attacked, Jiang Xishui had immediately cut off the waterways. An Siyuan also heard about it, so when combining both pieces of information, An Siyuan immediately pieced together what most likely had happened. He nodded and said, “That’s for the best. We can push everything onto those pirates. However, attacking the Bloodline Nobility Clans is one thing and needs to be planned out over a long period of time. Without a good excuse, I can’t pay too great of a price, so we need to do things cautiously.”
“Then what if I can come up with an excuse and pay the price?”
“Hm?” An Siyuan was stunned for a moment. “What excuse?”
“Restrictions on battles between Origin Qi Scholars: anyone in the Light Shaking Realm or above cannot fight within the city.”
An Siyuan squinted, “You mean......”
“As long as you can keep the Light Shaking Realm cultivators and above away, I can handle the rest.”
“You’re not afraid that Wang Zhanyu will attack you once you leave the city?”
“When I leave the city, we can push everything onto those pirates,” Su Chen replied.
An Siyuan felt his heart jolt for a moment before he tilted his head back and laughed loudly. “Haha! What a good idea! However, Su Chen, can you really do that?”
“We won’t know until I try. In any case, if I fail, I’ll be the one taking on the consequences. However, if I succeed, I hope that no one on City Lord’s side will be holding onto our legs.”
An Siyuan understood Su Chen’s meaning. “Su Chen, Qingguang......”
Su Chen said, “I can understand City Lord’s difficulty, which is why I am not requiring City Lord do anything for me. I just hope that one day, if something to the opposite effect occurs, City Lord will also understand why I did things that way and won’t hold it against me.”
An Siyuan frowned. “Is there such a need? When faced with a common enemy, everyone should work together.”
“That’s why I will wait until the common enemy has been dealt with to take care of the internal strife.”
An Siyuan let out a long sigh and didn’t say anything else.
Su Chen knew that this was his implicit approval.
He bowed to An Siyuan, then turned around to leave.
————————————
At the Clear River Docks.
Ever since the Third River Army had cut off the waterways, the number of boats at the dock had noticeably decreased. Even the Long Clear Gang was beginning to grow idle.
Today, however, the situation was a bit different.
Three large boats filled to the brim with goods entered the docks, attracting the calls of numerous people who relied on the docks to earn a living.
The boats were filled with all kinds of living necessities, especially food.
Clear River City had a lot of medicinal ingredients but not much food. Every year, they would need to import large quantities of food from outside to meet the need in the city. The obstruction of the waterways affected the commoners first and foremost. The price of basic grains was already beginning to rise, so the appearance of these boats filled with foodstuffs could dissolve a lot of frowns.
As soon as the boats docked, the dock workers would board the boats to unload the food.
“Everyone calm down! One at a time!” Under the direction of a foreman, bag after bag of foodstuffs was unloaded from the boat.
No one noticed that in addition to food, the boats also hid a large number of people. They were also dressed up as dock workers, with white towels wrapped around their heads. They each picked up a bag of food and carried it off the boat. After disembarking, they headed for a secret storehouse near the docks.
Very quickly, the place was packed with people.
“There’s a total of two hundred people here. They’re all skilled individuals who have the Hemolytic Totem. This should be enough for you to use,” Su Chen said to Wang Wenxin within the storehouse.
Wang Wenxin laughed, “This is more than enough to level the whole Clear River City. Bureau Head, please be assured that from this day onwards, Clear River City’s underground belongs to the Long Clear Gang.”
In the depths of night.
Red Dust Street began to grow more and more lively.
As a well-known sleepless street in Clear River City, nighttime was this place’s paradise.
Red Dust District produced a large number of prostitutes. The Intoxicating Fragrance Pavilion that Wang Wenxin liked to frequent was also on this street.
The entire street was under the Red Eagle Gang’s control. More precisely, all of the flesh-related business in Clear River City needed their approval before being conducted.
However, everything was going to change that evening.
People came and went on the busy street. The flow of guests never ceased.
At some point, however, a group of people wearing red turbans and wielding steel blades appeared at one end of the street. They didn’t make any noise, but their killing intent filled the air, scaring many of the bystanders into hiding.
The men wearing red turbans steadily walked along the street, causing quite a bit of turmoil no matter where they went.
The Red Eagle Gang in charge of this area couldn’t possibly sit and watch this situation develop. As such, very quickly a bunch of men wielding large blades charged out. Even though they were also full of vigor, they were obviously weaker in formation than these people wearing red turbans.
“Friends from the Long Clear Gang, why have you come to my Red Dust Street?” a man at the very front said. He had obviously perceived the origins of these people.
As he spoke, the group of red turbans split into two. A person walked out from their midst. It was Wang Wenxin.
Wang Wenxin said lazily, “What? If I want to go out for a walk, is the Red Eagle Gang going to stop me?”
Upon seeing Wang Wenxin, the Red Eagle Gang member’s expression became a lot more serious. “So it’s Gang Leader Wang. If Gang Leader Wang wants to go out for a walk, we naturally will not stop you. But coming here with so many people and such grandeur doesn’t look like you’re just talking a walk to me. Look, you’re scaring away all the customers here.”
Wang Wenxin glanced at his surroundings. The customers were already beginning to hide and back away. A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “It’s good we’re scaring them away. They will thank me for this later.”
The opposing male balked. “Thank you for what?”
“Naturally, for sparing their lives.” Wang Wenxin’s expression immediately grew serious. “I am going to wash these streets with blood tonight. Those who are here to watch the show, if you don’t leave now, are you waiting for me to kill you too?”
As soon as he said this, the remaining bystanders all ran away in fear. The expressions of the people from the Red Eagle Gang drastically changed.
Someone yelled loudly, “Wang Wenxin, what is the meaning of this?”
“Meaning? The meaning is that from this day onwards, I am claiming the Red Dust District for myself. Not only will this district belong to me, but so will the entire Red Eagle Gang. If anyone doesn’t agree, I will be happy to take their life!”
Wang Wenxin waved his hand. A large wave of people wearing red turbans swarmed forth.