Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 514 - 465: Storm

Chapter 514: Chapter 465: Storm
Li Ang’s admonishing voice echoed throughout the hall. The Hedong Road Observer’s seal, the Purple Gold Fish Bag, and other items hanging from his waist clanked against each other with a crisp sound.
Wang Bo Fan fell silent for a moment, took a deep breath, calmed the twitching muscles on his face, and then said calmly, "So, Mr. Li is unwilling to let the Wang Family go."
"The plague in Taiyuan Prefecture is inextricably linked to the Wang Family’s indulgence of their clan members and their failure to what they knew. It’s not so much that you were trapped with the people of Taiyuan Prefecture; rather, the people of Taiyuan Prefecture were dragged down by you. Under these circumstances, don’t even think about saving your own skins and living out your days in peace."
Li Ang continued, "Moreover, under all Heaven, there is no land that is not the Emperor’s; within the borders of the land, there are none who are not the Emperor’s subjects. This is the territory of the Yu Country. Therefore, the Yu Law, state laws, and the rule of law must be upheld. You are no different from the common people under the law. All must abide by the Yu Law and follow government decrees. Finally, you must bear responsibilities commensurate with the privileges and special treatment you have enjoyed. Your Wang Family has been entrenched in Taiyuan for a thousand years, living off the support of generations of Taiyuan’s common people. How can you just walk away?"
"A fine way to put ’dragged down’! A fine lecture on ’upholding Yu Law and state laws’! And a fine ’unity of responsibility and rights’!"
Wang Bo Fan’s chest was nearly bursting with rage, yet his face maintained the composure nurtured by a thousand-year-old family.
He nodded calmly, his well-maintained face showing no emotion, and said, "Since this is the case, I, a commoner, will go back and inform my clan members about the decisions made by the Taiyuan Government."
"Good."
Li Ang nodded, watching Wang Bo Fan elegantly flick his sleeves and turn to leave.
GULP.
The Taiyuan Governor swallowed hard. Unlike this purple-robed Heaven’s favorite beside him, he had not attended the Academic Palace. He had achieved his current position through his own efforts and a little help from his father-in-law, climbing step by step from the lowest rank of County Magistrate. That was why he knew all too well just how immense and far-reaching the power and influence of families like the Five Families and Seven Hopes were in the Yu Country.
When immortals fight, mortals suffer...
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the Taiyuan Governor made the excuse of having to implement Li Ang’s orders to control the plague and also left the Governor Mansion.
He wanted absolutely no part in conflicts involving the Academic Palace, noble families, and perhaps even imperial power. He wouldn’t even know how he might die in such a situation. For now, it was best to lie low, focus on his duties, and act as if he saw or heard nothing else...
"This governor sure knows how to make a quick exit."
Remaining in the hall, Li Ang looked at the Taiyuan Governor’s retreating figure, clutching his waist belt and hurrying off, and couldn’t help but snicker.
"He is scared."
From a dark corner, clad in armor and holding a horse lance, Yan Yundang silently emerged and said in a low voice, "You are the most outstanding disciple from this cohort of the Academic Palace, and also the newly appointed Observer of Hedong Road. On your very first day in Taiyuan Prefecture, you’re already going after the Wang Family so fiercely. It’s hard for people not to speculate."
"Speculate about what? Factional struggles?"
Li Ang laughed. "I’ve already shown considerable face to the Wang Family. Otherwise, I would have brought soldiers and Government officials to arrest people at their estate during the day."
Yan Yundang frowned slightly. "The Wang Family’s power is immense."
Li Ang shook his head. "Not greater than the Yu Law."
"..."
Yan Yundang gave a look that seemed to say, "Your talk of the Yu Law is almost laughable."
"I know."
Li Ang rolled his eyes. "The Wang Family is a thousand-year-old clan. Their network, built through marriages, master-disciple relationships, classmates, and political allies, spans the entire Yu Country. Over countless generations, the family has accumulated wealth, books, treasures, and trained hundreds of Cultivators. In Taiyuan Prefecture, they are like a state within a state. And these are just a few examples."
Yan Yundang questioned, "You know all this, yet you’re still pushing them to their deaths?"
Li Ang replied with a smirk, "This path to ruin wasn’t my making; they paved it themselves. Besides, right now, I’m only preventing them from leaving the city. It hasn’t reached the point of absolute desperation yet."
Yan Yundang said, "You will be impeached."
"Hah, impeach me for what? Corruption, embezzlement? Or debauchery and moral decay?"
Li Ang shook his head. "Though I don’t like the title ’Little Medicine King God,’ it does indeed protect my life. Even the Taiyuan Wang Family couldn’t quickly slander me on moral grounds. Nor would they dare risk universal condemnation by assassinating me. The most likely scenario is that they’ll pressure the court in Chang’an. They’ll try to force the court to make me retract my orders and let the Wang Family go, or simply have the court replace me as the Hedong Road Observer. However..."
He withdrew a letter from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Yan Yundang glanced at the name Lian Xuanyao on the letter and raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"A letter from the Mountain Master. It arrived just this evening."
Li Ang continued, "He has already informed the Academic Palace. Doctors and fellow students from there will come to Taiyuan to assist me."
"That’s good."
Yan Yundang breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was a Martial Arts Grandmaster equivalent to the Candle Cloud Realm, the Wang Family had been entrenched in Taiyuan Prefecture for a thousand years, and who knew to what extent they had infiltrated. If it really came to a fight to the bitter end with Li Ang, Yan Yundang wasn’t confident he could escort Li Ang out of Taiyuan Prefecture safe and sound, amidst the countless assassination attempts from the Wang Family’s Cultivators.
With the Doctors and students from the Academic Palace, the Taiyuan Wang Family would have to tread carefully, weighing the risks and benefits of a complete fallout with the Academic Palace.
"I still have one thing I can’t figure out, though."
Yan Yundang pondered for a moment before asking, "Since you hate the Wang Family so much, why not simply come to an understanding with Wang Bo Fan? Why not let the Wang Family hand over a few, or perhaps a dozen, clan members who condoned the plague or failed to it? Imprison the main culprits, and allow the other members of the Wang Family to leave?"
"Pointless. The Wang Family clan is vast. They could easily find some unfortunate souls from their collateral branches, brainwashed by family loyalty, to take the fall for the real culprits. As for why I insist on keeping the Wang Family in Taiyuan, it’s not purely for revenge..."
Li Ang shook his head. He looked out from the Governor Mansion at the city, shrouded in the vast night, and murmured, "From what I observed today, this plague has only just begun... I need to utilize the Wang Family’s power."
Beneath the endless night sky, the lights in the homes gradually went out.
The city came alive with sounds quite distinct from those of the day.
The lazy chirping of late-autumn insects, the croaking of frogs from riverbanks and ponds, the snores of husbands, the cries of babies, women soothing children, the calls of night watchmen, the regular tolling from bell towers, and the sound of Heavenly Bells swaying in the wind.
And, the sound of coughing.
COUGH, COUGH—
A porter sleeping in the dockside dormitory was coughing.
COUGH, COUGH—
A waiter sleeping on a table-bed in the inn was coughing.
COUGH, COUGH—
A wealthy merchant cuddling with his concubine in a mansion was coughing.
Throughout thousands of households, countless people of varied identities and ages were breathing, and coughing.