Immortal Travel of Longevity

The culprits who galloped into the city still evaded capture.

Tang Shijing and Tang Zheng rushed back to Shangjing City on the third day after the incident.

Along the way, Tang Zheng was intercepted by three different groups. One consisted of assassins, another of martial artists from the jianghu, and the last was quite intriguing—men from the Local Government.

Li Linheng truly blotted out the sky with one hand. His reach was remarkably long; controlling the officials of Shangjing City was not enough for him, so he had to meddle with the local magistrates as well.

Fortunately, Tang Zheng had managed to overcome every obstacle along the way.

Tang Zheng arrived at the manor first.

"Eldest Young Master has returned!"

"The Young Master is back!"

Panting heavily, Tang Zheng sprinted into the Tang Manor.

The steward paused before replying, "Eldest Young Master, the young lady is right here in the manor. She has been waiting for you."

Hearing this, Tang Zheng quickly ran inside.

"Sister! Sister!"

He shouted as he dashed into the room.

Only when he laid eyes on Tang Yuerong did his racing heart finally settle.

"Don't panic, Brother," Tang Yuerong said. "Everything is fine now."

Tang Zheng froze in surprise. "Everything is fine?"

Tang Yuerong proceeded to recount the entire sequence of events to him.

Tang Zheng was astonished. "The second tower master?"

"The second tower master?" Tang Yuerong echoed in confusion.

"Miss Wang is the second tower master of our Nanbeilou!" Tang Zheng explained. "Our first tower master has been searching for her whereabouts for years."

Tang Yuerong knew little of such matters, so she smoothly changed the subject, recounting how Li Linheng had dropped dead from heart failure before the palace gates.

"He died?"

Tang Zheng stared blankly.

"By such a coincidence?"

Tang Yuerong was about to explain further when someone rushed in from outside.

"Eldest Young Master, Miss! The Second Young Master has returned!"

"Shijing?"

Tang Zheng blanked for a moment before hurrying out to greet him.

Tang Shijing had received the news while still on the road, but unable to set his mind at ease, he had rushed back anyway.

"Brother! Sister!"

Tang Shijing called out, quickly stepping forward.

Seeing that all three of them were safe and sound, the Tang siblings let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Let's talk inside. Come inside!"

Tang Yuerong turned to the servants. "Tell the Kitchen to hurry and prepare a table of good food!"

The three of them entered the manor and gathered in the main hall.

Tang Zheng was covered in the dust of the road, and Tang Shijing's face was equally lined with exhaustion.

"Perhaps you two should rest first," Tang Yuerong suggested. "It wouldn't be too late to talk tomorrow."

Tang Shijing shook his head. "No, I cannot stay for long. We need to resolve things quickly so I can return to the Border Pass."

"What?" Tang Zheng stared at him. "Wait, Shijing, if you go back there, who is going to handle all the affairs here at home...?"

Tang Zheng glanced at his younger sister. She too looked utterly drained. The burden of the past few days must have been extraordinarily heavy on her.

Tang Yuerong let out a long breath. "Shijing, when it comes to the trading firm's affairs, my spirit is willing but my strength is lacking. As a woman, it is particularly inconvenient for me to manage such business. Are you certain you must..."

Tang Shijing paused, falling silent.

"I made a promise to Prince Yu."

Tang Yuerong froze.

Tang Zheng demanded, "You got involved in that too?!"

Tang Shijing nodded. "Prince Yu is the perfect candidate. He holds the heavenly timing, advantageous terrain, and human harmony. This was my own decision, though I never expected that Father's thoughts would coincide so perfectly with mine."

At the mention of their father, Tang Shijing faltered. "How is Father...?"

Tang Yuerong opened her mouth, wanting to speak yet holding back.

Tang Zheng also looked toward her.

"Come with me," she said softly.

Tang Yuerong led the two brothers to the ancestral hall.

Inside the ancestral hall rested a Black Coffin. Blocks of ice were placed on either side of it; as soon as they melted, fresh ice was brought in. Mugwort incense burned steadily in the room, preventing the scent of decay from drifting outside.

All of this was done to hide the truth from the world.

"I have already secretly detained the managers who were present that day. Very little information has leaked," Tang Yuerong explained. "The managers in the various prefectures still don't know of Father's passing. We have to seize control of the situation before the news reaches them."

Seeing the coffin, Tang Zheng was overcome with grief and fury. He smashed his fist against the wall, his eyes turning red.

Tang Shijing's face went completely blank. He had always been a calm person, but as he stepped forward and saw his father's pallid face lying in the coffin, he was struck dumb. He couldn't force a single word past his lips.

In the heavy silence, only their reddened eyes and simmering hatred spoke.

Tang Yuerong let out a long sigh. "I really don't think I can hold on much longer..."

She used to think she understood the trading firm's operations inside and out. After handling a few matters herself, she had arrogantly assumed she could control the big picture just like their father did. But when faced with such a thorny crisis, she finally realized just how utterly powerless she was.

Especially over these past few days, dealing with those smooth-talking, fickle managers had left her feeling entirely out of her depth.

Such was human nature.

The Tang Family Trading Firm spanned the world. With Tang Mingjing gone, suppressing the managers who harbored ulterior motives would be incredibly difficult. Now was their perfect opportunity. Who wouldn't covet such a massive foundation?

On one hand, she had to guard against the wolves and tigers outside; on the other, she had to watch out for the underhanded schemes of the old guard within.

Tang Yuerong had truly been attacked from all sides these past few days.

Tang Shijing frowned slightly. "Do these people truly not care about their own wives and children?"

"Human greed is boundless. There are always those who don't care."

"That makes things troublesome."

"What about the estate?" Tang Shijing asked. "What's the situation there? Have there been any suspicious people recently?"

"Yes!" Tang Yuerong replied. "We even caught a few! But their lips are sealed tight. We even caught two assassins. It's unclear whether they were sent from the outside or by someone from within our own ranks."

"What estate?" Tang Zheng asked in confusion.

Tang Yuerong and Tang Shijing exchanged a look, wanting to speak yet holding back.

Tang Zheng looked back and forth between them, his face blank. "Why aren't either of you saying anything?"

"I'll explain," Tang Shijing offered. "Father didn't want you to know about this before."

Tang Shijing stepped forward. "When the trading firm first rose to prominence, we recruited many managers. Some were from our own main branch, while others were recruited from the outside. But considering the future, Father arranged for the wives, children, and elders of all these managers—without exception—to be settled in a single estate..."

Tang Zheng's expression changed slightly. He opened his mouth, stammering, "What... what do you mean?"

Tang Yuerong bluntly laid out the truth. "They are held as hostages. It ensures the managers think twice before crossing us."

Tang Zheng gaped, looking from Tang Shijing to Tang Yuerong.

"You both knew? Am I the only one who didn't know?"

Tang Shijing and Tang Yuerong exchanged helpless looks. The reason Father had never told Tang Zheng was because he knew his eldest son's nature well. Such methods were indeed dishonorable, but there was no denying their effectiveness.

Tang Zheng stumbled back two steps. "Has it always been like this...?"

Tang Yuerong nodded with a sigh. "That is just how the world works. You are our eldest brother; you, more than anyone, should understand these principles. Father didn't tell you back then because he feared you wouldn't be able to accept it, and that resentment would breed in your heart."

Tang Zheng trembled slightly, sinking into a heavy silence.

Tang Zheng's temperament was naturally as carefree as the jianghu itself. Jianghu wanderers valued loyalty above all else, but even setting the martial world aside, none of the books he had read since childhood ever claimed such methods were necessary.

In years past, he never would have made sense of these things. Father had been right—the man he used to be would indeed have found it repulsive.

But after all these years, weathering countless storms and witnessing so much, he had gradually come to understand a few truths. Principles began in books, but they also ended there. Just as his little sister had said, many things in the world were simply like this.

He understood the necessity, but he had never imagined their Tang Family would resort to such deeds.

He was conflicted. The knot in his heart remained.

After a long silence, Tang Zheng said, "I understand..."

"We need to deal with this early. Let's settle the manor's affairs first, as quickly as possible."

Tang Yuerong stared blankly at him. "Eldest Brother, are you leaving too?"

Tang Zheng nodded. "I was never cut out for this."

Tang Yuerong took a sharp breath, then looked at Tang Shijing.

Tang Shijing opened his mouth, but said nothing.

"Are you still children?"

Tang Yuerong snapped.

Tang Shijing and Tang Zheng froze, both turning to look at her.

"These endless business schemes and conflicts," Tang Yuerong said. "Do either of you have any idea how much of a disadvantage I'm at as a mere woman?!"

The two men fell silent.

Tang Yuerong pursed her lips, her eyes suddenly turning red. She let out a long breath and said, "Fine. Fine! You both have your own affairs."

"Just fine!"

She exhaled again, her gaze turning cold.

Her voice was icy. "You don't care about this family anyway. You leave for years on end, send a couple of letters, and never spare a single word unless it's an emergency. Fine!"

"Do whatever you want."

She paused, then added coldly, "Deal with the manor's affairs quickly. If you're going to leave, hurry up and do it."

With that, she strode out of the ancestral hall without looking back.

Tang Shijing and Tang Zheng exchanged a look in dead silence.

Between the two brothers, one lacked the ambition and the other lacked the talent, ultimately forcing the entire burden onto a single woman.

Both felt helpless, their hearts heavy with shame.

The brothers had both gone off to chase their own freedom, leaving Tang Yuerong alone to struggle with the entire Tang Manor.

It was hardly the conduct of true men.

Yet they both had their own unavoidable reasons.

Tang Zheng simply lacked the aptitude. He didn't have the keen minds of his younger brother and sister. Bound by his rough, jianghu bandit-like nature, there was no way he could handle such affairs; with his temper and personality, he would only end up ruining everything.

Tang Shijing, meanwhile, had already thrown his lot in with Prince Yu. This was a critical moment, and it had been difficult enough just to rush back here. Naturally, he still had to return.

"Sigh..."

A heavy sigh echoed through the ancestral hall.

The brothers bowed in farewell to Father and left the ancestral hall, their expressions quickly turning cold.

Naturally, someone was going to pay!

...

Perhaps fueled by their inward fury, the brothers had brought a considerable number of men with them on this return trip, every one of them a top-tier expert.

That very night, the Tang Manor's secret estates were hit by intruders.

The intruders consisted of two factions. One side had caught wind of the situation and wanted to seize the wives and children to control the managers of the Tang Family Trading Firm. The other side belonged to the traitorous managers themselves.

That night...

Tang Zheng was already standing guard.

"Kill!"

It was only a single word.

Screams tore through the night. With every flash of a dark silhouette, a body fell to the ground.

The casualties were countless. Beneath the veil of night, one could see corpses piled atop the crushed weeds, stacked in layers.

When the grounds were swept later that night, they gathered a total of forty-seven corpses.

A single fire burned them all to ash, but the stench of blood could not be washed away.

But it didn't matter. As far as Tang Zheng was concerned, the heavier the stench of blood, the better. He was standing right here; whoever dared to come, he would kill!

Meanwhile, Tang Shijing spent the night tracking down the disloyal shopkeepers.

Following the leads uncovered by Tang Zheng, he quickly locked onto his targets.

He took the men he had borrowed from Prince Yu and stormed their estates that same night.

"Kill them. Leave no survivors."

Tang Shijing's tone was eerily calm, the order given as lightly as a passing remark.

"No!"

"Young Master, please spare my life! I lost my mind, I was foolish! I'll never dare do it again, never again!"

His only answer was Tang Shijing personally raising a blade and cleaving his head from his shoulders.

This shopkeeper, along with his ten servants and attendants, were completely wiped out.

Tang Shijing merely wiped his blade and said, "Instruct Tang Zheng. This man's wife, children, and elders are not to be spared either..."

"Never mind. Better not tell him. I'll handle it myself later."

"Next target!"

That night, five shopkeepers were executed. Including their servants, pages, and the private death squads they had raised, nearly a hundred people perished in the dark, dying in almost total silence.

This bloodbath was meant to make a gruesome example of them.

Cartload after cartload of corpses were hauled out of the city and burned to ash.

The billowing thick smoke blotted out the night sky.

...

Early the next morning, Tang Yuerong summoned the remaining shopkeepers to the trading firm once again.

Their expressions were a stark contrast to their arrogance from the past few days. Instead, they were deeply apprehensive, their eyes betraying obvious terror and panic.

Ruyi stood behind Tang Yuerong.

Tang Yuerong was very different today. Gone was the helpless woman of the past; today, she sat with a perfectly straight back.

Just a single sweep of her gaze made the surviving shopkeepers tremble.

"Does anyone have anything to say?"

Tang Yuerong asked softly.

These shopkeepers had all been harboring their own schemes, but last night, five of their peers had vanished without a trace. At the same time, people had died in their own estates—mostly servants and pages. When these men woke up that morning, they found freshly severed heads dripping with blood placed right by their beds.

No matter how justified they felt their grievances were, none of them dared to step out of line now.

Everything had happened in terrifying silence.

Suddenly, one shopkeeper slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet. With bloodshot eyes, he roared, "For years, I've poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this trading firm! What you've done is utterly heartless! Your Tang Family will die a dog's death! You'll all rot in hell!"

"Shopkeeper Qin, considering you are one of my father's veteran men, I was willing to give you some face," Tang Yuerong said. "Did you really think I didn't know what you were doing behind my back?"

Her voice remained perfectly calm. "You were the one who helped those other shopkeepers hire their private death squads, weren't you? Setting aside whether my Tang Manor can tolerate you, do you have any idea how the crime of raising private death squads is punished under the Laws of Great Xiang?"

Shopkeeper Qin opened his mouth, his eyes fixed in a deadly glare on Tang Yuerong.

As his eyes darted around, he suddenly raised his sleeve.

Behind Tang Yuerong, Ruyi raised an eyebrow at the movement. She instantly lunged forward and slammed his hand down.

"Bang!!"

"Ah!"

Shopkeeper Qin let out a bloodcurdling scream, the bones in his hand shattering.

Ruyi tore his sleeve open, revealing a hidden weapon strapped to his forearm—a miniature crossbow loaded with a short bolt.

Had her reflexes not been so sharp, Tang Yuerong would likely be dead.

Tang Yuerong's expression shifted slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.

She slowly stood up, ignoring Shopkeeper Qin's words, and asked, "Who else has an objection?!"

The remaining shopkeepers shuddered.

"We will naturally do our utmost..."

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