In the rear hall of Sun Family Town's yamen, the town deputy and Town Commandant were discussing matters with long faces.
The Sun Family, the Town's Leading Magnate, had been wiped out. It was an enormous case! Several of the family's relatives and friends had already reported it to the authorities. Sun Shangong, the family's eldest son who had escaped earlier, had reached the county seat of South Five-Finger Mountain County. He was staying at the Official Post Station beside the County Yamen, waiting for the Imperial Court to avenge his family.
The Sun Family had spent years building its position, and its connections were as tangled as tree roots. Who knew how many relatives and friends they had? These people usually kept their heads down, but at the crucial moment, they all stepped forward.
Forget little Sun Family Town—even South Five-Finger Mountain County could not withstand so many lineages joining forces to apply pressure.
But the Sun Family had committed evil for years. Their crimes could truly be said to have filled the ledger to overflowing. While they had held power, they had been able to suppress the surging tide of public anger. Now the family was finished, and the Hero who had destroyed it was there in person, helping the townspeople settle years of debts and grievances.
The movement had become a raging fire, all but impossible to put out.
Under these circumstances, how could the townspeople possibly accept a declaration that the Sun Family were the victims, twisting black into white to frame that Hero?
And with the matter causing such an uproar, the court's Wind Patrol Envoys could not possibly be unaware of it. If local officials forced the matter back under wraps, the wealthy households friendly with the Sun Family might be satisfied, but the