Chapter 336: Miao Family Camp
It was Xiao Wan whom they saw at the brothel. She called the dead woman… Mom.
Fatty took a deep breath as his eyes wandered between Xiao Wan, the middle-aged woman and Butler Zhou. So… they were a family.
“You…” Xiao Wan glared at them as if she wanted to kill them. She was exceptionally beautiful, or else she wouldn’t be known as Xuan Ji’s rival. However, at that moment, her face was carved by hatred. “Why… Why?!” She gripped her fists and shouted, “Why would you help that bastard?
“Elder Huang has done so many horrible things back then. Does he not deserve to die?”
Butler Zhou hugged the woman’s body, and his body trembled. It showed that he really cared about the woman in his arms. He caressed her face and adjusted her stray hair.
“Back then…” Fatty was taken aback. Xiao Wan scolded and cried as if possessed. Fatty’s eyes moved from confusion to understanding. Eventually, his pupils trembled. No one liked to have their scars torn open. It was not only because they were afraid of pain but also because they were unwilling to face the bloody truth.
The traveller’s prediction… was not entirely correct. At least when it came to Xuan Ji, they couldn’t be more wrong. She… was really Butler Zhou’s daughter and Xiao Wan’s elder sister.
To Fatty’s shock, Xuan Ji was privy to everything. In fact, she was not the victim but the participant of the conspiracy… or its most determined executor. Moreover, the conspiracy was her brainchild. She had spent years persuading her father, mother, and sister to initiate the plan. In the end, her family agreed with tears in their eyes. Their goal… was revenge against Elder Huang.
Nowadays, Elder Huang was a veritable saint. Ask anyone in town and they would regale you with the charitable deeds of Great Elder Huang. In the citizens’ eyes, Elder Huang was kind, approachable and friendly. Whenever they had a bad harvest year, he would start to dispense porridge in town. The residents of nearby towns would even come over just for the free meals. Many families managed to survive the winter because of this.
However, only survivors like Butler Zhou’s family knew how the great altruistic Elder Huang really came to his riches… and the despicable depths that he had gone to!A decade ago, about 30 km from the town was a beautiful place called Miao Family Camp. The place was a village with a population of less than two hundred.
Miao Family Camp was blessed by great Feng Shui. Their tea leaves were especially famous. Whenever it was harvest season, the tea merchants who came to make purchases would fill up the small village. The leader of the camp was Miao Fu, Butler Zhou’s biological father.
When tragedy fell, Butler Zhou’s family was away on business. It was how they managed to escape the horrible incident. When they returned to Miao Family Camp, everything had changed.
The gorgeous village became a living hell. There were scattered corpses everywhere. When he raised his shivering hands to push open the door of his home, the scene he saw almost caused this powerful man to faint.
Nine heads were strung together and hanged on the wooden beam. The one on the top was his father, followed by his mother and siblings… and at the very bottom was his cousin, who was less than five years old. The pairs of eyes were wide open. The string of heads swayed in the wind. The headless corpses were tossed to the side. They silently accused the wickedness of their murderer.
Almost instantly, the man called Miao Cheng knew who the killer was.
Less than 30 km from Miao Family Camp was another village, Huang Family Slope. They were also known for their tea leaves production. They were business rivals of the Miao Family Camp. They had been fighting each other for years already.
There was news that the local noble planned to select a tea leaf to use as royal tribute. This was an absolute honour.
Within the local region, only Miao Family Camp and Huang Family Slope had presentable tea leaves. The victor was naturally from one of these two.
Therefore, the noble noticed the two families to prepare the tea. He would personally taste the teas and decide the final victor. However, on the day of tea-tasting, the old butler who was responsible for testing the teas had his face turned black and collapsed to the ground. He never got up again. He was testing the tea sent over from the Miao Family Camp.
The nobleman instantly got people to inspect the tea leaves. Intense poison was found in the tea leaves sent over by the Miao Family Camp. The poison was focused on the best tea leaves. The goal was clear. It was to assassinate the nobleman.
In his anger, the nobleman gave the order to demolish the Miao Family Camp. Hundreds of lives were lost that night. The village was levelled. All the tea leaf farms were trampled by battle horses. A notice was passed that said that Miao Family Camp was vanquished because they attempted to poison the nobleman.
Miao Cheng’s family became fugitives. They changed their surnames and used some horrible methods to edit their appearance. They turned from tea barons to the lowest play-workers. Miao Cheng didn’t dare to show his face, so he had to put on paper doll costumes and work at funeral events to earn a living for his family.
Due to circumstances, he encountered other survivors of the Miao Family Camp’s massacre. He took them in and started a travelling play troupe.
One of them was a girl who managed to survive the slaughter. Her mother shoved her in the cracks between the walls, and that was why she was not discovered. Her mother and the rest of her family died before her eyes.
Based on her testimony, the person who guided the nobleman’s soldiers was the leader of the Huang Family Slope or the Great Charitable Elder Huang. While the soldiers were distracted, he took out the poisoned tea leaves and planted them at the crime scene. Naturally, the ‘evidence’ was discovered by the soldiers. This confirmed the Miao Family Camp’s crime.
From then on, Miao Cheng turned into Leader Zheng. These homeless ghosts gathered together for the sole reason of revenge.
At the same time, Huang Family Slope’s business skyrocketed. Their tea leaves were beloved by the people in the capital. Elder Huang’s social status rose. Through connections, he even became an official.
He later moved to the city and started his carefree life.
However, probably due to the weight of sin on his heart, Elder Huang visited many temples and always invited the monks to his residence.
With his many charities and kind nature, he eventually was known as the Altruistic Huang. His single son, Young Master Huang, was his pride and joy.
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