Please stop imagining things, I'm such a good person

As night fell, the Kong family's house was brightly lit, except that the big red lanterns had all turned into plain white lanterns.

The Fang family of Laiyang, the Yang family of Chunchi, the Li family of Chengyang, the Chen family of Taiyuan, and the Shen family of Yuyang.

The heads of the five great families arrived in succession.

Kong Dongliu stood in front of the gate in white, his face filled with deep sadness.

After a round of greetings, Kong Dongliu invited everyone into his mansion.

It is worth mentioning that these people brought a large number of followers, who also entered the Confucius Mansion at this time.

In the secret room of the Kong family, the heads of various families sat together. After Kong Dongliu told them everything, everyone's face became extremely ugly.

According to the plan, they need to lie dormant for another two years until the Great Jin is dragged into the quagmire of war. That will be the best time for them to attack.

But now, if the news leaks out, let alone the ambitions of hegemony, it would be good enough to save one’s life.

For a moment, the secret room fell into silence.

Kong Dongliu knocked on the table, and the dull knocking sound attracted everyone's attention. "I invited you all here to listen to your opinions."

"I think there is something fishy about this matter. It might be a trap set by the night watchman."

"But this matter is of great importance, and I dare not draw conclusions lightly."

"If it's false, then everything will be fine. If it's true...the family will be confiscated and the whole clan will be exterminated."

Li Rixin's face was gloomy, "Brother Kong, who dares to bet on this kind of thing?"

"Are we going to bet our entire lives on the night watchman?"

Chen Ziyi also spoke up, "Yes, no matter if this is a trap set by the night watchmen or not, we shouldn't take any risk at all! What's more..."

Chen Ziyi looked at Yang Ke, "If Brother Yang was really sure, Brother Kong wouldn't have called us here!"

Kong Dongliu was silent for a moment and then said, "In this case, there are two paths before us."

"First, today I simply lost my son, and I invite you all to come and pay your respects. Tomorrow I will report everything to Your Majesty, and hand over all the power of the family in exchange for a way out."

"It's the same for you all. Although you have lost your power, at least you can keep your family going."

As soon as Kong Dongliu finished speaking, Shen Qiu refused, "This won't work! Regardless of whether the emperor will forgive us, the thousand-year foundation of our Shen family must not be destroyed in my hands!"

Chen Ziyi also spoke up, "It took thousands of years of accumulation for our ancestors to establish the great aristocratic families. If we give everything away, can we still be called aristocratic families? I'm afraid we'll be no different from the small families in the secular world, right?"

Li Rixin said, "Brother Kong's plan is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Even if it can save the family temporarily, it will lose its foundation and the glory of the family. Can the family really continue?"

Kong Dongliu looked at Yang Ke and Fang Mo, "Where are you two?"

Fang Mo frowned and said concisely, "I don't agree!"

Yang Ke gritted his teeth and said, "I don't want to do that either!"

Other noble families might be able to save their families by giving up everything, but his Yang family slaughtered an entire family of third-rank officials, and the emperor would never let them go.

Even if it is to kill a chicken to scare the monkey, the Yang family must be slaughtered like chickens.

"Your ideas are the same as mine, so let's talk about the second way!"

Kong Dongliu's eyes narrowed. "Shengdu has been sealed off, but there is a secret passage under the Kong Mansion that leads directly to the outside of Shengdu."

"I mentioned in the post that you should bring the young and strong men of your family tonight!"

"There are many familiar faces among those followers. I believe you did as I was told."

Kong Dongliu paused and looked at everyone.

Everyone held their breath, as if they realized something.

As expected, Kong Dongliu raised his voice slightly, "Abandon the family business in Shengdu, and abandon all women and children!"

"If we preserve the direct bloodline, our family will survive in the world!"

"I have talked to Xi Liao before, and Prince Muha of Xi Liao is willing to support us!"

"Our family's assets are spread all over the place. We just need to leave Dajin and go to Xiliao!"

Everyone looked shocked and was speechless for a moment.

Yang Ke's scalp tingled even more. Even a tiger would not eat its own cubs, but the fact that Kong Dongliu drowned his young son made him sigh at his cruelty.

But he never expected that Kong Dongliu would be so vicious.

Take his Yang family for example. In Shengdu, they have no more than a hundred direct descendants, but in Chunchi, the various side branches and adopted children from other families, plus maids and servants, number tens of thousands!

If they escaped, their relatives would probably be beheaded by the furious emperor.

Since the matter involves the country, even the ministers have no reason to stop it.

Thinking of the bloody scene with heads rolling everywhere, Yang Ke couldn't help but shudder.

Li Rixin couldn't believe it and said, "Kong Dongliu, are you crazy?"

Kong Dongliu laughed, "Brother Li, why should we be so soft-hearted? As long as the bloodline of the direct lineage is preserved, it doesn't matter if some of the collateral lineage dies. Within a hundred years, we will surely reach a higher level. A few sacrifices are worth it!"

Li Rixin's lips trembled, "You lunatic! Is that a small amount? Those are the lives of tens of thousands of people! They are our relatives!"

Kong Dongliu said in a deep voice, "So what?"

"After leaving Shengdu, we will head straight to Western Liao and send our trusted subordinates to sell off our clan assets. I'm sure the other noble families will be happy to annex our assets."

“Thousands of years of accumulation, even if sold at half the price, would still be a huge amount of wealth.”

"With this financial support, we will be able to make a comeback soon!"

"Then we will bide our time and wait for the great war. That will be the chance we have been waiting for!"

"If we can share a small country, we will surpass our ancestors."

"If by chance we annex a great country..."

Kong Dongliu said quietly, "The founder of the Great Jin... no... wasn't he also a county magistrate who laid the foundation for a dynasty that will last forever?"

"With such a brilliant future, what does a little sacrifice matter?"

"It's unreasonable! It's unreasonable!"

Li Rixin was trembling all over. "Kong Dongliu! I think you are really crazy. Do you want to gamble tens of thousands of lives on an uncertain future?"

Kong Dongliu was still smiling, but in Li Rixin's view, this smile was full of blood and madness.

"What else can we do? The night watchman will have to go to court in six hours."

"I also want to stay in Shengdu safely, and wait until the Great Jin is weak before tearing out its heart."

"But... it's too late..."

Li Rixin said coldly, "I will never agree to such a crazy thing!"

"Even if a thousand-year foundation is destroyed in your hands?"

Li Rixin said firmly, "If these are the only two choices, I would rather my Chengyang Li family fall into ruin."

Kong Dongliu nodded and looked at the others, "What about you?"

"Humph, Kong Dongliu, do you really think..."

Li Rixin was halfway through his words when Yang Ke said, "My Yang family is willing!"

There was only one path in front of Yang Ke from the beginning to the end. If he followed the Kong family, he would still have a way to survive and a future. Otherwise, the only thing waiting for him, the Yang family, was the annihilation of the entire clan.

Then, Fang Mo also expressed his opinion, "My Fang family is willing too!"

Li Rixin became more and more astonished. He could understand why the Yang family was willing to do so, but why did Fang Mo... ?

At this moment, Shen Qiu said, "Instead of giving everything to the emperor, why not take a gamble? My Shen family is willing to do it!"

Seeing the three people express their opinions, Chen Ziyi no longer hesitated and said in a deep voice, "My Chen family is also available!"

Kong Dongliu laughed loudly, "Everyone, you will not regret your decision today in the future!"

Chen Ziyi sighed, "I hope so!"

"In that case, let's get ready and set off immediately!"

Kong Dongliu looked at Li Rixin with a smile, "Brother Li, if you don't want to, I won't force you, but you can't leave before the court meeting tomorrow, otherwise..."

There was a strong threat in Kong Dongliu's tone.

"This old man... understands!"

Li Rixin seemed to have aged dozens of years in an instant.

Kong Dongliu has gone crazy, they are all crazy.

A madman can do anything, but he will stay quietly in the Confucius Mansion until dawn.