Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 835

Chapter 835: Xu Rong

Li Ji was a local tyrant in the capital, acting without regard for whether his opponents had powerful backers. Everyone knew he had a violent temper, and no one dared to provoke him.

Liang Chen was kicked and had to be helped to his feet by two subordinates. Even though Li Ji had a reputation for being difficult to deal with, Liang Chen could not hold back anymore. “Your Highness, you started by hitting someone and then took our city guard away. Is that not going too far?”

Li Ji clicked his tongue, his gaze lingering casually on Liang Chen for a moment before he said disdainfully, “So what if I bullied you? What can you do to me? Or does your city guard dare to go against me and tell anyone about what happened today?”

Liang Chen was speechless. He had not expected Li Ji to be so disrespectful, and he certainly did not dare to expose him. He had originally planned to have Shunzi confess before the Pei family reacted, but less than half an hour after he brought the man back, this tyrant Li Ji showed up.

“Liang Chen, you’d better think about whether you can keep your official hat,” Li Ji said and left with Shunzi.

The city guards all recognized Li Ji, and no one dared to stop him. They could only watch as Li Ji took the man away.

Liang Chen had no choice but to find someone else. He had captured Shunzi today, and if he did not handle the situation properly, Pei Que would definitely kill his entire family.

Li Ji brought Shunzi back to the Imperial Guard. Shunzi had been beaten; blood seeped from the whip marks on his body. When the doctor examined him, he said the attacker had used all their strength and had not intended for Shunzi to leave unscathed.

After the doctor left, Shunzi ate a piece of red ginseng, which restored some of his strength, but he still did not have the strength to speak. A servant beside him explained things to Li Ji.

“When Shunzi joined the City Guard, the Xu family disliked him and caused him a lot of trouble. Shunzi did beat someone, but it was at night, and no one was around, so no evidence was left. The money bag in Liang Chen’s possession was also something Shunzi did not drop later; it’s clearly a setup. Later, when the Xu family ran into trouble, their members were suddenly murdered before they could escape. Since it was a member of the Xu family, we did not investigate further, but we did not expect Liang Chen to bring it up today.”

Li Ji sneered, “It took so long to bring this up, just to find an excuse to deal with Shunzi. Your Pei Que really knows how to offend people; you have not even dealt with the Xue family yet, and now someone else is coming.”

Shunzi, forcing himself to stay alert, said, “It’s my fault for causing trouble for Your Highness. In officialdom, trouble is inevitable.”

Li Ji glanced at Shunzi. “Alright, I have not even started talking about him yet, and you’re already protecting him. Get some rest. How this matter is handled is up to Pei Que.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Shunzi said, still not lying down. “Could Your Highness please send someone to my mansion? My wife is worried about me, and I’m afraid she will overthink things if I do not tell her.”

Li Ji hummed in agreement, finding Shunzi rather verbose, and left with his men.

Meanwhile, Pei Que breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Shunzi had been taken away by Li Ji.

Lin Feng returned. “My lord, the man who arrested Shunzi is Liang Chen. He’s from out of town, not originally from the capital, so his background is difficult to investigate, but our men are already following him.”

“Follow him closely and see where he goes,” Pei Que said coldly.

Just then, someone came in, saying that Liang Chen had gone to the Xu family.

Upon hearing that it was the Xu family again, Pei Que’s brows immediately furrowed. “That old bastard Xu Rong has a really big heart. He’s been an official for most of his life with no achievements. If it were not for the new Emperor’s ascension, he would not have his current third-rank position. He thinks he has the new Emperor as his backer, so he’s become reckless. But does he not consider that the new Emperor is just a child? Where would he get the power to protect him?”

Lin Feng also felt that Xu Rong had gone too far this time. No one in the capital dared to confront the Pei family so directly. “Master, could there be other reasons behind this? Although the Xu family has been somewhat flamboyant lately, it’s not enough to be so arrogant. Shunzi was your former close follower. Everyone knows that arresting Shunzi is tantamount to challenging the Pei family.”

“That’s true. Xu Rong has the will but not the guts.” Pei Que took a deep breath and tapped his long finger on the table. “Have a few people keep an eye on the Xu family, and investigate who they’ve been associating with lately. The Xu family’s goal is to consolidate the new Emperor’s throne, which is why they’ve been trying to win people over. Instructing Xue Linshen is also a warning shot; otherwise, Xu Rong would impeach me himself.”

Lin Feng said, “Yes,” and immediately left.

In the main room, An Zhi, hearing that Shunzi had been taken away by Li Ji, immediately felt relieved.

She looked at the visiting card sent by the Xu family and sighed several times until Yu Yao from next door arrived.

As soon as Yu Yao entered, she eagerly asked, “I heard Shunzi was taken away, and I immediately wanted to come and ask what happened, but Zhang Huai’an told me not to rush. He sent people to investigate, and I heard this matter seems to be related to the Xu family; is that right?”

An Zhi nodded. “The Xu family thought we were helping the Seventh Prince seize power, so they warned us once before. But this time, although Liang Chen went to see Xu Rong, this matter might involve other people.”

“An Zhi, have you and Pei Que forgotten someone?” Yu Yao suddenly asked.

“Who?” An Zhi could not think of an answer for a moment.

“He’s your neighbor, the son of the eldest branch of the Pei family, your former fiancé!” Yu Yao had heard a bit about the Pei family since coming to the capital, but not so much about Pei Yu. “I’m here because Zhang Huai’an asked me to pass on a message. He said the Xu family is ambitious, but Xu Rong only wants to solidify the new Emperor’s position and should first win over the Pei family instead of directly opposing them. Zhang Huai’an has not found out much, but he discovered that Pei Yu has connections with one of the Xu family’s sons, and they are said to be quite close; he’s one of Pei Yu’s few friends now.”

Hearing the name Pei Yu, An Zhi was stunned for a moment before she realized what he meant.

For a long time, Pei Yu seemed to have disappeared without a trace. Since Pei Xue’s death, An Zhi had not heard anything about Pei Yu. Although Pei Yu lived next door, the courtyard next door was deserted, without a sound.

Besides, she’d been busy lately and had no time to think about Pei Yu.

Hearing Yu Yao mention Pei Yu’s dealings with the Xu family, An Zhi had a bad feeling. “Sister Yu, I’m sorry, I cannot entertain you right now. I have to go find Pei Que immediately.”

“Go quickly, I’m fine,” Yu Yao said.

While An Zhi was on her way to find Pei Que, Liang Chen had already met Xu Rong.

Xu Rong had just returned from court and was unaware of what was happening with the City Guards. He was surprised to see Liang Chen, as he did not recognize him. He only agreed to see Liang Chen because Liang Chen said he had something to discuss with the Pei family.

“Just say what you have to say quickly; I have other matters to attend to,” Xu Rong said impatiently.

Liang Chen gave Xu Rong an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Minister Xu, you’re going to be implicated by me.”

With that, Liang Chen drew his sword and committed suicide.

Before Xu Rong could react, Liang Chen’s blood splattered onto his face. By the time he called for help, Liang Chen was already lifeless on the ground.