The journey from Yujing City to Jiangnan was long, and bandits infested both the waterways and roads along the way. Fortunately, Dongan Escort Agency had built up considerable prestige over the years.
Chief Zhao's Great Subduing Demon Fist was renowned far and wide, with few rivals. Among martial artists of the Innate Realm, it was considered exceptional.
Thus, although they encountered many setbacks along the way, they ultimately arrived safely at the Jiangnan Yan Family.
The Jiangnan Yan Family was also highly renowned in the martial world. Its head, Yan Luohua, wielded the Spring Breeze Willow Seventy-Two Swords, and few in the Innate Realm could rival him.
After receiving the shipment, Yan Luohua carefully inspected the wooden chest, then paid the remaining half of the ten thousand taels of silver.
At the same time, to thank Zhao Xuan, he warmly invited Zhao Xuan, his son-in-law, and the Dongan Escort Agency's escorts to rest at the Yan residence for a night before returning to Yujing City the next day.
Having delivered the shipment and received the money, Zhao Xuan finally set his mind at ease.
Yan Luohua had extended such a warm invitation, and he did not refuse.
They had been on edge throughout the journey, and the brothers of the escort agency truly needed a good rest.
So Zhao Xuan and his group stayed at the Yan residence.
That night, Yan Luohua even specially laid out a banquet to entertain Zhao Xuan.
The escort agency men all drank until they were dead drunk.
At midnight, Zhao Xuan slept groggily when he heard cries and miserable screams beside his ear.
He had drunk too much, and his head still ached.
But years of experience forced him to get up and investigate.
The moment he opened the door, he saw the vast Yan residence engulfed in blazing flames, with corpses strewn all over the ground.
Zhao Xuan instantly sobered up. He hurriedly woke his son-in-law and the escorts to desperately fight the fire, but the flames were too great to extinguish.
Zhao Xuan saw Yan Luohua's corpse, his eyes still wide open in death.
That exquisitely carved wooden box lay beside Yan Luohua.
Zhao Xuan had received Yan Luohua's warm hospitality and felt that he had died unjustly, so he picked up the wooden box.
The mechanism on the box had already been opened, and Zhao Xuan discovered that it contained an incomplete map.
He felt that the map was of great importance, so he put it away, abandoned the wooden box, and led his son-in-law and the escorts back to the capital overnight.
On the road back to the capital, Zhao Xuan suffered countless attacks.
The escorts of Dongan Escort Agency died one after another.
In the end, even his son-in-law was killed.
Every one of those who ambushed them was a skilled postnatal martial artist, and there was no shortage of Innate Experts among them.
Had Zhao Xuan not spent his life cultivating diligently, with his Great Subduing Demon Fist being so fierce and domineering, he might not have made it back to Yujing City alive.
Yet he had not expected that returning to Yujing City would not mean the matter was over.
He saw that scholar again.
Only this time, the scholar had come with officials from the yamen.
The scholar accused them of being the true culprits who had murdered all seventy-two members of Yan Luohua's family and burned down the Yan residence.
Zhao Xuan's mind went blank.
The map hidden on his person was also found by the authorities and used as evidence that Zhao Xuan had murdered the entire Yan Family.
The prefect of Yujing City directly sentenced Zhao Xuan to immediate execution.
No matter how Zhao Xuan argued, he could never clear himself of the injustice.
He was imprisoned in the great prison, nearly despairing.
At that time, Eunuch Jia, who managed the imperial estate outside the city, came to see Zhao Xuan and offered him a way to live.
Marquis Fubo Ma Guangyuan had once entrusted Zhao Xuan with transporting a batch of military equipment to Jiaodong for the construction of a naval force.
Eunuch Jia asked Zhao Xuan to report that Ma Guangyuan had embezzled one-third of the military equipment.
Zhao Xuan gave a bitter laugh and demanded to know how it would matter even if he reported it. Without physical evidence, the court would not lightly move against Marquis Fubo, a man who held real power.
But Eunuch Jia said Zhao Xuan need not concern himself with that; they would prepare the other physical evidence.
Only then did Zhao Xuan understand that everything stemmed from Marquis Fubo having once hired him to transport military equipment.
He remembered that on that occasion, the government's transport capacity had merely been insufficient. Marquis Fubo had always been considerate of the common people and had not wanted to increase their corvée labor, so he had paid the highly reputable Dongan Escort Agency to transport the equipment.
Zhao Xuan knew that the equipment was meant to deal with the Eastern Dwarf Pirates, so he had devoted himself fully to delivering it safely to Jiaodong.
That was precisely why Eunuch Jia needed Zhao Xuan to accuse Marquis Fubo.
That so-called map might well have been fake, nothing more than bait to lure Zhao Xuan in.
If he had not coveted those ten thousand taels of silver, he would not have taken the bait.
Unfortunately, it was already too late for regrets.
Zhao Xuan refused Eunuch Jia. He admired Marquis Fubo's character and naturally had no desire to cooperate with Eunuch Jia in framing him.
Eunuch Jia was not discouraged and ordered his men to let Zhao Xuan thoroughly sample the various tortures of the imperial prison.
Yet no matter what torture they used, Zhao Xuan clenched his teeth and refused to agree!
Until one day, Zhao Xuan saw his wife, An Ya.
He told his wife everything exactly as it had happened and also received news from her.
The scholar who had come to arrange the escort job that day was Eunuch Jia's man.
Zhao Xuan gave a bitter laugh. The matter had become a foregone conclusion; there was nothing he could do.
An Ya knew full well how important Zhao Xuan was to Dongan Escort Agency and to her and their daughter.
Yet she only asked, "Does it hurt?"
That simple question of concern, along with her reddened eyes, revealed An Ya's grief beyond doubt.
Yet she still supported her husband.
Zhao Xuan, chief escort of Dongan Escort Agency, was a man of unmatched loyalty and righteousness, standing tall beneath the heavens. How could he bow to a eunuch with no balls!
From then on, Zhao Xuan continued gritting his teeth and enduring countless tortures.
In the end, even Eunuch Jia found it boring.
Zhao Xuan was executed as well.
Host gained Great Subduing Demon Fist
Hoo—
Wen Qingkong let out a long breath, his expression complicated.
He had never expected that such a conspiracy lay behind Zhao Xuan's beheading, nor that it involved Eunuch Jia, the steward eunuch who had persecuted the Huangzhuang Four Brothers.
From Zhao Xuan's Life's Flashback, Wen Qingkong had vividly felt the cruelty and pain of the imperial prison's tortures.
For Zhao Xuan to uphold his sense of justice even under such torment was truly admirable.
Feeling all of Zhao Xuan's Great Subduing Demon Fist cultivation merge into his body, Wen Qingkong bowed deeply.
"Thank you for your Great Subduing Demon Fist. If I have the chance someday, I will surely clear your name."
After rising, Wen Qingkong put away his tools, then covered Zhao Xuan with a white sheet. The stitching had been completed smoothly, and all that remained was for the elderly Madam An Ya of Dongan Escort Agency to come tomorrow and take Zhao Xuan's body away.
The night passed without a word. At the hour of the Rabbit the next day, Wen Qingkong was already awake.
Li Lan'er had risen as well and was preparing breakfast.
Wen Qingkong carefully examined Zhao Xuan once more, confirming that there were no problems. Then, at the hour of the Dragon, the elderly Madam An Ya arrived with her daughter Zhao Anmin and the escorts of Dongan Escort Agency to bring Zhao Xuan home.
Seeing the wound on Zhao Xuan's neck, now completely unnoticeable, the elderly Madam An Ya truly breathed a sigh of relief.
Wen Qingkong had indeed not lied to her; his stitching skill was truly superb.
She cupped her hands in thanks.
Wen Qingkong returned the gesture.
Afterward, the elderly Madam An Ya led her people in escorting Zhao Xuan's body back to Dongan Escort Agency.
After everyone from Dongan Escort Agency had left, Wen Qingkong practiced a set of Great Subduing Demon Fist on the first floor. His fist force surged mightily, fierce and domineering; a chair more than ten feet away was merely swept by the wind of his punch and instantly shattered into pieces.
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