Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

After Wen Daoren confessed everything, he was imprisoned in a secret dungeon.

The people who ordered him to intercept and kill Shiro have all been exposed.

Qiu Chengde was very surprised by the mastermind behind this, because he could not find any life-and-death feud between Si Lang and the other party, not even any conflict of interest, nor any disloyalty towards Jianta, and the other party was the head of the Xia family, a thousand-year-old noble family of Jianta.

If Wen Daoren hadn't spoken up and confessed, we probably wouldn't have been able to find this person no matter how hard we investigated.

The whole thing started because of the Gu family. Because of the Gu family's allegiance, Zhou Qingfeng got involved in the Gu family's affairs. He directly sent Jin Wei to invite Xia Xiangdong to the Fifth Bureau for tea, and they stayed for several days. He used both soft and hard tactics to force Xia Xiangdong to swallow back what he had said.

This is considered a loss of face in public.

After this incident, everyone in the elite circles of Jianta, whether newly rich or old-timers, laughed at Xia Xiangdong.

Xia Xiangdong was, after all, a long-established noble family and the head of a thousand-year-old clan. How could he tolerate this? The more he thought about it, the angrier and more frustrated he became.

In this world, we shouldn't fight for a steamed bun, but for our pride.

In Xia Xiangdong's eyes, Zhou Silang was nothing more than a vagrant who had risen to power by groveling before his adoptive mother.

Once they've risen to power, they dare to ride on his neck and piss on him. This is intolerable!

Of course, he didn't dare to be too forceful on the surface; he only dared to wait for the right opportunity and secretly resort to underhanded tactics.

As soon as news of Zhou Qingfeng's secret trip spread, Xia Xiangdong knew that his opportunity had come. After a brief period of planning, he sent Wen Daoren to do the job. However, considering that the Xia family could not be involved, otherwise the more people involved, the more flaws would be revealed, he thought of Qiu Chenghu.

Xia Xiangdong's plan was actually not problematic. Once Zhou Silang was killed in the wilderness, no one would suspect him because Qiu Chenghu was there as a shield. Besides, Zhou Silang had a lot of enemies, and they were all more suspicious than him.

So when he finally found out, Qiu Chengde was also very surprised.

There's not much to say now that we've gotten this far.

If you break the rules, you're definitely going to die; the only question is whether it's the extermination of your entire family or the execution of your entire clan.

The First City Lord showed no mercy, wiping out the entire Xia family, young and old alike.

Xia Xiangdong truly exemplifies the saying "an incompetent general can lead to the downfall of an entire army." The Xia family deserves it even more for electing such a fool as their head. It's just that a thousand years have passed, and they've become a bunch of good-for-nothings resting on their past laurels.

Having lost face, and in order to save face, he actually wanted to assassinate the city lord's son in the wilderness.

So stupid, even the First City Lord laughed at his own stupidity.

Since they've already offered their heads, how could the First City Lord not take action? It would be a perfectly legitimate way to eliminate the Xia family, and it would also bring a huge boost to the Sword Tower's treasury. The spoils that the Xia family had taken could also be redistributed to the new elites.

The First City Lord looked down at his book, sipping his tea slowly with one hand: "Is there any news about Hongye?"

Qiu Chengde bowed respectfully and said, "The Third Miss went to the Jinshan Sect to demand an explanation, and the situation is not too bad."

"The Jinshan Sect was very restrained and treated the Third Miss with courtesy. They did not use force against her. The Third Miss asked to see Jun Moting, but Jun Moting knew he was in the wrong and refused to see her. The two sides were deadlocked. In the end, the leader of the Jinshan Sect personally stepped in to persuade the Third Miss to leave."

"After that, the Third Miss settled down at the foot of Jinshan Mountain, waiting for Jun Moting to come down the mountain to meet her."

The First City Lord touched his teacup, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light, and he looked thoughtful: "I thought I had fallen in love with just a mortal, but I didn't expect him to have such a background. Hmm, I can smell a conspiracy here."

Qiu Chengde clasped his hands and said, "Madam, this old servant also feels that it is indeed strange. There must be something fishy about this unusual situation."

"Why did you, Junmo, choose to descend the mountain to undergo your love tribulation and meet the Third Miss?"

"And he even deliberately disguised himself as an ordinary person and took a false name. Is it really just a coincidence?"

"Could it be that the Third Miss's encounter with Jun Moting was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Jinshan Sect to deliberately cut off the next generation's inheritance of our Sword Tower, or that someone is secretly plotting to provoke a conflict between us and the Jinshan Sect, and then take the opportunity to destroy our Sword Tower?"

The First City Lord frowned and said, "Trouble. I knew long ago that Liao Huaizhen was not a good person to keep. His deliberate stay by Silang's side must have some ulterior motive. Sure enough, if it weren't for him bewitching Silang and acting as a go-between, the situation would not have come to this."

Qiu Chengde said, "Madam, I will send someone to kill Liao Huaizhen. This man is truly hateful."

The First City Lord said calmly, "No need. What's the use of killing him now that things have come to this? Liao Huaizhen is no ordinary person. He must have another identity. Since he has a private relationship with Jun Moting, let's continue to investigate along Jun Moting's line and make sure to find out his true identity."

"Moreover, even though Silang was tricked by him once, he didn't kill him, proving that their relationship was still very deep. Silang is a loyal and sentimental person who cherishes old friendships; he only broke off contact with him out of anger. If he had actually killed him, it would have backfired."

At this point, the First City Lord pondered for a moment: "Find a time and go ask him in person if he is willing to return to Si Lang's side. I can give him this opportunity. If he agrees, bring him to see me, and I can make a deal with him to repair their relationship."

Qiu Chengde said, "Yes, Madam, what about the Third Miss... should I go and bring her back?"

First City Lord: "No need. I'll talk to her myself. You may leave now. I want to be alone."