freenovelworld Chapter 2006 That wasn't home, it was just a man-eating cage!
Chapter 2006 That wasn't home, it was just a man-eating cage!
This question voiced everyone's doubts.
In my impression, a large family like the Shangguan family would normally have many offspring, so how could there only be one daughter by their side?
Song Cijiu took a deep drag on his cigarette, the smoke rising slowly in the glow of the fire, making his face appear particularly solemn.
“Xiang Nan, you’ve hit the nail on the head!” He flicked his cigarette ash, his voice becoming unpredictable. “The Shangguan family is incredibly powerful, ranking first among the top five families in Yanjing. Besides their extraordinary influence, they also possess a force that the other four families have to take seriously…”
"What is that?" Li Xiangnan's tone hardened.
"The Shangguan family—is also the most ruthless of the five families! This isn't just my opinion; it's an open secret within the circle and even among the major clans!"
Everyone in the room held their breath.
"Shangguan Wuji had five children on the surface in his life. Of course, those illegitimate children are not what we are discussing! He had three sons and two daughters!" Song Cijiu said slowly, "Shangguan Wuji's eldest son was named Shangguan Liuyun. When he was eighteen years old, while studying away from home, he met a teacher's daughter. In those days, the concept of social class was not as loose as it is now! After Liuyun fell in love with the girl, he brought her home despite Shangguan Wuji's objections!"
"I don't know what happened in between, but I heard that the eldest son of the family, Liu Yun, had his leg broken by Shangguan Wuji and was locked in the ancestral hall for half a year! After he came out, Liu Yun went to find that girl, but she had already been taken away by her parents and disappeared without a trace! Shangguan Liu Yun became depressed because of this, and died of tuberculosis five years later! Some people say that he didn't get sick, but just didn't want to live anymore, so he died!"
The fire crackled and popped, sending up a shower of sparks.
Lan Cuihua quickly went to change the coal briquettes.
"What about the other sons?" Wang Defa asked with interest, and quickly lit another cigarette for Song Cijiu.
“This second son, Shangguan Yunsong,” Song Cijiu shook his head, sighed, and said in a voice as cold as ice, “I’ve met him once. This kid has the most talent for business. When he was twenty, he was able to manage the Shangguan family’s shops on his own. He was once considered Shangguan Wuji’s most talented successor! About ten years ago, on the eve of taking over the family affairs, I heard that someone discovered that there were problems with the family’s accounts!”
Li Xiangnan sensed something was wrong and frowned, asking, "What's the problem?"
"A batch of tea shipped from the south was listed as top-grade Da Hong Pao in the accounts, but it was actually inferior Pu'er! He sensed something was amiss with the accounts, so he asked his father for authorization to investigate the entire shipment, and the result..."
Hearing this, Song Ziming became a little nervous and quickly asked, "How did it go?"
Song Cijiu glanced at his nephew and shook his head: "Three days later, he was found drowned in the moat! The police investigated and concluded that he accidentally fell in! But it was summer, and the moat was only waist-deep!"
"Huh? Who did this to him? Or was it Shangguan Wuji? That's unlikely, right? There's something fishy going on in the family accounts. It's all their own money. So what if their son found out? Or is there something wrong within the Shangguan family?" Qin Ruobai, being a police officer, was quite quick-witted.
Song Cijiu shook his head: "I'm not too sure about that! In short, the second son, Yunsong, just died like that!"
Li Xiangnan clenched his fist.
The Shangguan family is indeed extraordinary; there's a lot more to it than meets the eye!
The room was dead silent.
Jiang Qitao swallowed hard, somewhat curious: "What about the third son? He wasn't dead too, was he?"
"Shangguan Wuji's son, Shangguan Yehe, is perhaps living in the shadow of his father and two older brothers. He has witnessed many of the dark sides of the family since childhood, which is why he is exceptionally timid and fearful! He knows his father's expression from a young age! I've met this kid a few times. His father likes to take him out to see the world and build his courage. If Shangguan Wuji tells him to go east, he would never dare to go west!"
"That's the kind of person he is, yet he's Shangguan Wuji's most valued son! He probably thinks he's easy to control! Two years ago, Shangguan Wuji took a fancy to an old house in the western part of the city and bought it, but there were still more than a dozen old residents in that area who refused to move! Shangguan Yehe was ordered to deal with it, and this kid actually led a group of people to smash down doors and demolish walls, scaring an eighty-year-old woman so much that she had a stroke and died on the spot!"
"And then?" Ding Yuqiu couldn't help but ask.
"And then?" Song Cijiu sneered, "The public resentment was so great that it alarmed the higher-ups! In order to quell the incident, Shangguan Wuji pushed Shangguan Yehe out to take the blame, saying that he had acted without authorization and disgraced the family. He broke one of his arms in public, expelled him from the family, and publicly declared that he had severed ties with his father. He also paid a lot of money to the local residents to settle the matter! As for where Shangguan Yehe is now, no one knows. He may have died somewhere long ago!"
The crowd paled slightly upon hearing this.
Song Yi, Song Ziming, Qin Ruobai, and others all felt a little sad.
They had all had some contact with large families, but hearing such blatant fratricide still sent chills down their spines.
"As for the two daughters," Song Cijiu sighed, "the eldest daughter, Shangguan Wanru, married a maritime merchant from Tianjin five years ago. It was called a marriage, but in reality, it was a sale! Shangguan Wuji used this marriage to obtain three shipping routes!"
"On her wedding day, Shangguan Wanru fainted from crying in the car! For the next three years, I heard she didn't return to her parents' home even once! Last year, she and her husband's ship sank in a maritime accident! The Shangguan family didn't even hold a proper funeral!"
At this point, Song Cijiu looked at Li Xiangnan, "Now you understand, right? Why did Wanqing prefer to help you rather than stay in that family? That's not a family, it's just a cannibalistic cage! In Shangguan Wuji's eyes, his children are nothing more than pawns. He puts them on the table when they're useful, and discards them like worn-out shoes when they're useless!"
“Wanqing is intelligent, quick-witted, and spirited. She has her own opinions and is naturally not so obedient! In her father Shangguan Wuji’s eyes, this is already the greatest sin!”
“If he didn’t only have this one child left, why would he value him so much!”
Song Cijiu looked at Li Xiangnan: "Entering a wealthy family is like entering a deep sea; this saying is no joke!"
Li Xiangnan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He recalled the first time he visited Shangguan Farm, the vast courtyard filled with a deathly atmosphere.
The servants walked silently, their eyes darting around.
Why was she so flustered when she bumped into Wanqing, as if she was afraid of being exposed?
In the Shangguan family, people have no dignity; they are judged solely by their value and the extent to which they can be exploited.
It turns out that the woman who always smiled brightly and had such a fiery gaze had been living in such a hell all along.
“So,” Li Xiangnan opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and cold, “Wanqing was imprisoned not only because she informed me, but also because of her disobedience. She had her own ideas about how to act, which made Shangguan Wuji feel that she was out of control. She had learned to rebel!”
“Yes,” Song Cijiu nodded, “What Shangguan Wuji can’t tolerate the most is losing control! Wanqing’s recent actions have crossed his bottom line! Or perhaps she accidentally stumbled upon some secret that has led Shangguan Wuji to abandon even his last child! The cellar… is probably just the beginning!”
The fire roared in the stove, casting flickering light and shadow on everyone's faces.
“Then we’ll approach it from two angles,” Li Xiangnan said, getting up and pacing around the room. “First, rescue Wanqing. Once Brother Cheng’s men have gathered information, we’ll choose a suitable time to act! We must find out the location of the cellar, the guard shift changes, and the escape routes!”
“Second,” he paused, his voice low, “investigate the interpersonal rifts within the Shangguan family! Shangguan Wuji’s harsh treatment of his children couldn’t have been without resentment! If we can find Shangguan Yehe, who was expelled from the family, and also those persecuted collateral branches and former subordinates, we should try to make contact with them as much as possible! The Shangguan family, this great ship, is already riddled with holes! What we need to do is find the cracks, and then…”
He slammed his fist into his palm. "Pry it open!"
These words, spoken calmly, sent a jolt through everyone in the room.
“This kind of family should have collapsed long ago!” Wang Defa was the first to respond.
"We must save Miss Wanqing, and we must also eliminate this scourge of the Shangguan family!" Song Ziming clenched his fists.
Li Xiangnan looked at Song Cijiu, "Second Uncle, you have extensive connections in the elite families of Yanjing. We'll need you to put in a lot of effort to investigate the internal affairs of the Shangguan family! Especially the whereabouts of Shangguan Yehe, we need to find him alive or dead!"
Song Cijiu nodded: "Don't worry, I'll get back to you as soon as possible! I also want to see what kind of dirty tricks this family, which has been targeting the Mu family for decades, is hiding inside!"