Lin Chendong showed no fear, turned back to glance at his subordinates with a slight smile, nodded, and then walked ahead with his head held high and chest puffed out...
Since the Lin Family had few people and Su Yibo wasn't in charge, the video was naturally not as gruesome as those of the Qian Family and Sun Family. Killing was just a matter of a nod; this was also because the City Lord didn't want to pursue other subordinates, only naming the Lin Family mother and son to be arrested and executed later. The Lin Family had contraband and had to be executed according to the law, but Su Yibo's actions had made the City Lord lose a bit of face, and the City Lord was returning the favor.
Of course, the small number of people in the Lin Family was also related to Father Lin and Mother Lin's care for their subordinates. Subordinates were often sent to work in other places like Guo Shan (Fruit Mountain). Mother Lin had given her only maid a three-month long holiday. Today, with the raging cold wind making work impossible, she simply let the other subordinates go home to enjoy themselves, leaving only the butler and two subordinates. The raging cold wind also meant that the Su Family scouts lurking outside the Lin Family didn't pay much attention; several scouts had been secretly guarding outside the Lin Family for two months. Today was the time set by Su Yibo and the City Lord, and the Lin Family's matter had been approved, so they had to brave the cold wind because the time couldn't be changed arbitrarily. Furthermore, the Su Family scouts had always known that the Lin Family mother and son were both home today, which reassured Su Yibo. Su Yibo's main target was only the three members of the Lin Family.
After dealing with the four people from the Lin Family, the City Lord directly declared: "Today, the Lin Family's private possession of contraband is clear for all to see. You should take the Lin Family's fate as a warning. I will report the Lin Family mother and son for a nationwide manhunt. As for the Lin Family, they will be written into the Wall of Sinners and scorned for generations."
"Your Lordship is wise," everyone bowed and shouted in unison.
The City Lord's army escorted the City Lord's carriage in the middle, slowly departing under everyone's gaze.
On the way, the City Lord began to grumble to himself: "This period has already been busy with many affairs, and the Su Family has caused three incidents at once. I don't know how to find an excuse to report to my superiors. Will my superiors say that my public order management is improper? That dog Su Yibo didn't even give me enough gifts. I have a pile of things to deal with when I get back..."
The City Lord naturally had many worries. The Sun Family, Qian Family, and Lin Family cases were all approved by him, and the reasons for the reports were written and submitted by himself. The false reasons could only be discussed with Su Yibo. These matters couldn't be written by his secretary, because outsiders couldn't know, so the City Lord had to write the reports himself. The land and Guo Shan (Fruit Mountain) of the three families still had to be reported. After the approval from above, the City Lord would then auction them. All income from land auctions would go into the national treasury. By law, the City Lord and Su Yibo could not take a single cent. The Su Family could kill people, but they could not take land (Guo Shan (Fruit Mountain) land, farmland, property, etc.).
In Yue Ling Country, land was fixed and passed down through generations by landlords, providing eternal income, so its value was extremely high. The law stipulated that money obtained from land auctions must be submitted to the national treasury. This was also to stabilize society; otherwise, land grabbing and conflict would frequently occur. For example, the Lin Family had to pay 50% of its land income to the City Lord annually. The City Lord would pay 30% of that as tax to the country and keep 20% for the City Lord's office expenses. Although 50% remained with the Lin Family, this was within the Su Family's sphere of influence, so they still had to give gifts to the Su Family. The usual rule was to give 10% as a gift, but if the Su Family was not satisfied, they would find excuses to bully and exploit, so the annual gifts often secretly amounted to around 20% to 30%. Basically, the remaining 20% was the Lin Family's true income. After that 20% income covered the expenses of such a large Family as the Lin Family for a year, not much was left. So, land was very valuable, but the Lin Family's savings were not much. The land of the Qian Family, Sun Family, and Lin Family was openly the state's, and the houses and their contents were originally supposed to be included in the submission, but privately, they could be embezzled... Indeed, many of the items and savings collected by the three families were taken by Su Yibo, but what he took was far less than the value of the land. What Su Yibo took should have originally been given half to the City Lord, but this time Su Yibo only gave the City Lord less than 30%. Su Yibo's reason was that the City Lord had mismanaged Haoyue Province, which led to him being ambushed. If this matter were to escalate, it would stir up a storm of blood and political unrest in Haoyue Province. Fortunately, he, Su Gou, did not mind and did not report it, and even found the culprit himself. The City Lord could only huff and puff with anger.
The City Lord was a fourth-rank official, and at his age, he could probably only reach this rank. Su Yibo was a seventh-rank official, but his father, Su Wenyi, was a second-rank high official in the imperial court. Whether Su Wenyi could become a first-rank official in the future was unknown, but in any case, the Su Family's influence could allow Su Yibo to become a second or third-rank high official later. Although the City Lord's backer was a first-rank high official, a backer was still a backer and not his father or his Family. Therefore, even though this seventh-rank official, Su Yibo, acted excessively, the fourth-rank official City Lord had no way to deal with him. It seemed like officials protected each other, but Su Gou acted with little regard for the City Lord's face.
The City Lord was deep in thought: "Three horrific incidents happened all at once, and I can't even write that the son of a high official was ambushed and assassinated... This year, I hope your four great families don't cause any more major incidents, at least fewer of them." The City Lord was also constantly worried. The imperial court always had spies secretly checking the performance and public order of various regions. All land and Guo Shan (Fruit Mountain) auctions were still the state's, so the City Lord gained no benefit and still had to fear criticism from the imperial court.
While the City Lord "wanted to rest" and went back, Su Yibo was not idle. First, he angrily cursed the Lin Family for not following rules and privately possessing contraband, saying they deserved their fate. Then, holding Yin Cui's hand, he openly lectured the crowd on law and reason, with veiled threats and intimidation in his words. Yin Cui's entire Family was there watching the show. Because the City Lord was present, it was inconvenient for them to come out, so they could only stay in the carriage. Now, Su Yibo had called them out of the carriage. What do you think the Yin Family members are thinking now? "The next show won't... won't be at our house, will it...?"
The moment the City Lord returned, Su Yibo waved his hand, and the Su Family army had already massively entered the Lin Family with tools... Two hours later, they still hadn't found anything. Having decided not to keep the house, Su Yibo gave the command "Demolish!" and the soldiers began to act. At the same time, he also sent someone on horseback to the Su Family to bring more retainers and soldiers.
The Lin Family was so large that it seemed it wouldn't be quick to find Mother Lin and Lin Han. So Su Yibo took Yin Cui and her entire Family to the nearby Lei Yi Restaurant in Weifeng Town for a meal. As for Yin Cui and the Yin Family members, they showed no particular expression, their attitude being to curse the Lin Family for deserving their fate for daring to flirt with their Yin Cui. After Su Yibo left, nearby residents could also go back to eat and rest. Some residents felt sympathy for the Lin Family, some worried whether today's incident would affect their own homes, and some cursed the Su Family.
Su Yibo was not at all afraid of not finding Mother Lin and Lin Han. Scouts had been secretly stationed outside the Lin Family for two months. Today, all three members of the Lin Family were home, and Mother Lin and Lin Han had not gone out, so they could not escape. Now, Su Yibo was hungry, so he went to eat and drink to his heart's content first.
At Lei Yi Restaurant, Su Yibo ordered the best wine in the restaurant and began to eat and drink heartily. Yin Family father and son personally poured wine for him, and the three of them laughed and chatted, as if they had done something that made them incredibly happy today. Yin Cui changed her attitude from last time, feeling a bit like those women from Yi Hong Yuan, smiling broadly and fawning, and of course, her mother was there too. You might ask why Su Yibo came here to eat and drink? Or rather, does Yin Cui really still have a conscience now? She was only seen smiling triumphantly like a blooming flower...
What about Lin Han? As he walked in the cave, he suddenly thought of something, pulling Mother Lin's sleeve and saying, "Mom, how could we forget? Aren't there still three subordinates at home? We'll take Father, have the subordinates fill in the cave entrance, and we can even take two of them with us." Lin Han's thoughts had been muddled and his mood panicked just now, so he hadn't thought of it until now.
Mother Lin quickly replied, "No time, do you know? During this period, we two have sent away all the subordinates at home under various pretexts. Today, only those three are left. If we had gone to the outer courtyard to gather all three of them then, it would have taken a lot of time, and we wouldn't have made it. Your father and I could only quickly find you in your room. As for what needed to be prepared, we had already prepared it in this satchel a month ago." She finished speaking, patted the satchel, and pulled Lin Han to walk even faster.
Lin Han thought about it and knew it was impossible. The three members of the Lin Family lived in the main building. Among the three subordinates, the butler was in the account room, another was in the kitchen, and one was guarding the gate in a small house by the outermost gate of the Lin Family. Lin Han shook his head and could only follow his mother, accelerating his pace, tears streaming down his face.
Mother Lin said as she walked, "Besides, subordinates are just subordinates. If one of them betrayed us, none of us would be able to escape. You can't see through people's hearts. If the subordinates in the courtyard immediately went out and brought the Su Family to dig up the tunnel entrance, we would be captured right away." She finished speaking, took out a bottle of Nine Intoxication Powder from the satchel, and put it into Lin Han's hand. She said in a solemn tone, "I don't know if we can truly escape. If they catch us, our end will be miserable. At the critical moment, you and I must immediately drink the Nine Intoxication Powder. We would rather die than fall into Su Gou's hands."