Chapter 4371 — The Ledger of Evidence
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
A short while later, Chai Laoshi crept in, light of foot, and came to a halt before Wei Zhao. He scarcely dared draw a full breath, and lowering his head, he said in a small voice, "Might I ask what the vice-chairman requires of me?"
"I hear your relations with Wei Zhaotong are less than friendly?" Wei Zhao eyed him sidelong, a faint, unreadable smile on his face.
"Er… well… there was a small misunderstanding between us some time ago…" Chai Laoshi answered with the utmost caution. He knew Wei Zhao must have heard it from that servant of his just now, and as things stood, letting the man know of it did no harm—at the very least it cleared him of any suspicion of being in league with Wei Zhaotong.
Still, Chai Laoshi had no notion of what Wei Zhao actually intended, nor how he meant to deal with Wei Zhaotong, and so he did not dare rejoice too soon.
"A small misunderstanding? A vice-steward of your standing stripped of all authority, laid up for a whole month with his injuries—and you call that a small misunderstanding? You are a remarkably forgiving man!" Wei Zhao broke into a laugh, then said, "Answer me this: have you any evidence of Wei Zhaotong's crimes in your keeping?"
The question came to him on the spur of the moment, prompted by what the servant had said. His original aim had been merely to find an honest man to help run the Weihu branch guild; but if this could also be turned against Wei Zhaotong, so much the better.
"Evidence?" Chai Laoshi started, and his expression turned hesitant, at a loss. "This humble one…"
"Have you or haven't you? Spare me the dithering." Wei Zhao cut him off outright. The matter of Wei Zhaotong had to be settled quickly; drag it out too long, let it fester and ferment, and there was no telling what complications might arise.
Wei Zhaotong was no fool. Even as he committed his misdeeds, he would surely have dragged many others down with him to safeguard himself as far as possible—very likely including figures in the upper ranks of the Hong Clan Merchant Guild's headquarters, or other personages of influence. Once such people came to their senses and began to interfere, the pressure Wei Zhao faced would be truly crushing.
Should it come to that, he would either have to let the matter drop or make enemies of a whole host of people over one insignificant Wei Zhaotong. Given Wei Zhao's temperament, bowing his head to such people was out of the question—yet neither did he wish for needless twists and turns.
For in his plan, someone else was to take this matter in hand afterward; he would not be the one to see the executions through to the end. Even for that successor's sake, he must cut clean and fast, keeping the fallout to a minimum.
Fixed by Wei Zhao's gaze at such close range, Chai Laoshi, already quaking with fear, grew still more tremulous and terrified. The cold sweat had long since soaked through his back.
In the year and more since he had fought his way up from the mortal realm to Cloud Terrace Isle, Wei Zhao had met with one stroke of fortune after another, his strength leaping forward by bounds. Even Wei Zhao himself had never realized how much more formidable the aura about him had grown than in those earlier days.
And though his manner seemed ordinarily mild, at his core Wei Zhao was in truth a man of iron will, his presence correspondingly oppressive. Had he not always kept a low profile and deliberately restrained himself, ordinary men could not have stood their ground before him at all; even a Gold Core expert of his own rank would feel as though standing beside a ferocious beast of the overlord tier—trembling, treading on thin ice.
This sensation Chai Laoshi now felt with piercing clarity. Wei Zhaotong, to be sure, had often been overbearing in the past, but he overawed others wholly through underhanded means; this Ling Yi, by contrast, need only stand there and glance at you, do nothing at all, and already you could not endure it.