Confession and Suspicion

It could be said that Meng Zhao's attack and injury had placed immense psychological pressure on Lü Yue.

Self-blame and guilt gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.

Although Meng Zhao had never blamed him and had even tried to console him, Lü Yue himself could not get past this hurdle.

Now, under the questioning of his adoptive father, Lü Zhong, the defenses around his heart completely collapsed. Before everyone's eyes, he dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness.

The stern expression on Lü Zhong's face did not change. He stared coldly at Lü Yue, and a terrifying aura suddenly erupted like a volcano.

Meng Zhao and the others' vision blurred. Before they could understand what had happened, Lü Yue was already rolling heavily across the ground like a torn sack, landing on his side.

Five thin finger marks stood out sharply on his round right cheek, crimson as blood and swollen high.

"This slap is from me as your father. It is to teach you to think thrice before acting and to be careful in the future.

"I do not want such a thing to happen a second time.

"As for whether you should be punished, that is for Young Master to decide. You should ask Young Master for forgiveness."

Meng Zhao was startled, not because Lü Yue had been slapped.

Rather, he simply could not see or understand how Lü Zhong had made his move.

By the same logic, if he could not even see it clearly, then encountering such an opponent basically meant certain instant death.

Inwardly, Meng Zhao raised the status of Innate Masters several more levels. If he could avoid provoking them, he would avoid provoking them.

At the same time, he hurried to Lü Yue's side, helped him up, and consoled him.

"Uncle Zhong, what are you doing? A'Le is still young. It is unavoidable that he might overlook things when handling matters.

"My injury was only because my own strength was lacking. He cannot be blamed."

His actions had an immediate effect.

Lü Zhong's tense expression relaxed. Clearly, he had feared that Meng Zhao would lose trust and confidence in Lü Yue from now on, so he had deliberately disciplined him to let Meng Zhao vent his anger.

After all, Lü Yue was the adopted son he had raised since childhood. There was still affection between them.

Meng Zhao was so magnanimous that Lü Zhong felt relieved as well.

As for the other subordinates, seeing this scene, they naturally developed considerable goodwill toward Meng Zhao.

This was a common mindset. Everyone liked working under a generous and tolerant boss. Even if they occasionally made mistakes, they could still be forgiven.

If Meng Zhao had acted extremely cold-blooded, indifferent, or even unreasonable,

they might still remain loyal to him, but how much sincerity that loyalty contained would be another matter.

Though the human heart was difficult to fathom, there was no harm in trying to win people's hearts and use them for oneself.

"Young Master is benevolent. A'Le, hurry and thank Young Master!"

With half his face swollen, Lü Yue thanked Meng Zhao in great embarrassment, though his speech was somewhat slurred.

"Thank you, Young Master. Thank you, Young Master."

Suppressing a laugh, Meng Zhao nodded lightly, then turned to Lü Zhong and said,

"Uncle Zhong, don't just stand around here. Let's go inside and talk. I happen to have some matters I'd like to ask you about."

Lü Zhong smacked his forehead with his tobacco pipe and hurriedly said,

"I truly am muddle-headed. Young Master, please follow this old servant."

They arrived at a room in the large residence used to receive guests.

Lü Zhong drove everyone else out, leaving two men to guard the door and prevent anyone from eavesdropping on their conversation.

Meng Zhao sat with composed bearing in the master's seat at the head of the hall. He placed the prayer beads he had been holding in his left hand onto the table, then took a small sip from a freshly brewed cup of ginseng tea. Some of the fatigue left his body.

Lü Yue stood beside him awaiting orders, pressing a white cloth flecked with crushed ice to his red, swollen cheek. From time to time, he opened his mouth and moved it about. The numb, aching sensation soon faded, and his speech returned to normal.

With a strained expression, he took the initiative to recount in detail the attack they had encountered along the way, as well as the traitor he suspected, to Lü Zhong.

Lü Zhong sat hunched over in a somewhat oversized grand tutor's chair, leisurely puffing on his tobacco pipe and blowing out ring after ring of smoke. He listened patiently, occasionally showing a grave expression, nodding from time to time as he pondered.

The entire incident had occurred very suddenly, and it was also strange.

Whether Meng Zhao or Lü Yue, neither believed that anyone would target them, because there was no reason for it.

For the past ten years, Meng Zhao had not been in Nan'an Commandery City. Not only had he held no grudges against anyone, he had rarely even had conflicts of interest with others. Now that he had just returned home, he had kept an extremely low profile, and few people even knew of it.

If there was anything that might have drawn resentment, it was that he had attended his second brother Meng Wen's banquet last night and accepted a string of valuable Jade Prayer Beads. But that was all.

Eldest Young Master Meng Xi was narrow-minded and might have felt displeased or dissatisfied about this, but to say that he would lose his mind and send people to attack Meng Zhao over such a matter was far too rash to withstand scrutiny.

How could such a madman possibly inherit the Meng Family estate?

As for Meng Qinghuai, he had indeed shown a degree of hostility toward Meng Zhao.

But in the eyes of Meng Zhao and Lü Yue, the possibility that he was the person behind the scenes was even smaller than the possibility of Eldest Young Master Meng Xi.

After hearing this, Lü Zhong tapped the table with his tobacco pipe and slowly said,

"A'Le, didn't you collect the throwing knives, silver needles, and plum blossom darts used by that hidden-weapon expert? Take them out and let me see."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yue hurriedly put down the white cloth in his hand and quickly pulled a scrap of cloth from the small pouch tied at his waist, revealing the hidden weapons wrapped inside before handing them to Lü Zhong.

Lü Zhong clicked his tongue, picked up a silver needle and examined it closely, then placed it on his palm and weighed it. He nodded and said, as expected,

"The silver needles have been mixed with a little Star-Pattern Steel. Under sunlight, they absorb the light and conceal their gleam, making them impossible to guard against. The upper half of the needle also feels somewhat rough. It was deliberately polished that way.

"As expected, these silver needles and the hidden weapons used to kill the guards at our estate earlier should have come from the same person."

"What?"

Meng Zhao and Lü Yue were both greatly shocked. They had never imagined that those who had attacked them and those who had previously attacked the estate would be the same group. Were they really this bold?

Looking at the astonished pair, Lü Zhong smiled and said,

"What, are you confused?

"Actually, the moment I heard your description, it felt familiar.

"That short man who could entangle Scarface through footwork alone, the expert who had mastered the Great Strength Eagle Claw Hand, and this hidden-weapon expert—their characteristics are all very distinctive.

"Five nights ago, they led a group of men into the estate.

"They killed seven guards at the postnatal realm, burned the Medicine Field, and looted the medicine storehouse, causing us considerable losses.

"Two guards who had luckily escaped with their lives remembered their characteristics.

"Moreover, silver needles left behind by that hidden-weapon expert were still lodged in two corpses, which is why I can be so certain.

"I had already sent people to search for their whereabouts and had also spoken with the authorities. I thought there would soon be results.

"I never expected this group to dare ambush Young Master as well, harboring wicked designs. Their audacity truly reached the heavens."

At this point, Lü Zhong shook his head with a bitter expression.

"This group is not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also trained, exceptionally capable, fierce, and formidable. They are absolutely no ordinary people.

"Fortunately, Young Master was blessed by fate and passed through this ordeal.

"Otherwise, when this old servant reached the underworld in the future, I would be too ashamed to face the two masters."

The culprits he had sent people to search for had nearly taken down his own Young Master.

Lü Yue could be said to have been careless and negligent, while he himself had failed in his duties.

Otherwise, if they had caught this group sooner, how could Meng Zhao have fallen into danger? That was how Lü Zhong saw it.

Looking at it this way, Lü Yue was practically cut from the same cloth as him. Clearly, he had received Lü Zhong's "true teachings."

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