Chapter 592
Chapter 592
The news that the family of Yan Jin of the Lotus Pavilion had been annihilated and that the couple had disappeared sent massive waves through the capital. To think that Go Duhwan, who had vanished long ago, would reappear… It was truly a bewildering affair. The common folk didn't know Go Duhwan's identity, but anyone of even minor status knew that the Chiliarch Go Iljin, currently at the Marquis of Changping’s estate, was none other than Go Duhwan himself.
‘We are in the midst of the Operation Spring Thunder crackdown. Although Go Iljin is merely a Chiliarch, he is the supreme commander of this operation. Yet someone dared to impersonate him and murder Yan Jin’s family? What gang would be so audacious? Impersonating Go Duhwan in the past might have been overlooked, but now, when he commands a large force in the capital, someone dares to commit evil in his name?’
As expected, the King was enraged when he heard the news. As a result, Operation Spring Thunder, which had been winding down, surged to a new peak. The city guard was mobilized once more, sweeping through the capital like a tidal wave, frantically arresting criminals everywhere. Go Duhwan, furious, swore he would catch the impersonator and tear him to shreds. Unfortunate souls now filled the capital. It was one thing for the guilty to be arrested, but even those who shouldn't have been were being rounded up. The entire capital jumped at the sound of the wind, and public security reached an unprecedented level. Not only had major crimes like robbery and murder disappeared, but even petty theft had vanished. In these special times, anyone caught stealing even a silver coin or two would surely be convicted of a major crime and sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor in the mines.
* * *
The Silver Imperial Tower, the branch office of the Hidden Yuan Society, was a landmark in the capital. Having stood tall for a century, the building had become a symbol of the city—not because it was a rare high-rise, but because of the history behind its construction. The river flowing through the capital split into two branches: one flowed from north to south and was called the Heavenly River, while the other flowed from west to east and was called the Yue River. These two rivers were immense and their waters pure; though they were called rivers, in truth, they were as vast as any great waterway.
Long ago, after the ancestor of the Ning clan seized the lands that would become the State of Yue, he deemed this area suitable, established it as the capital, and named it Heavenly Yue City. The city was built at the confluence of the two rivers, and its people depended on them for their water. The two rivers of Heavenly Yue were like mothers to all the people of the capital, nurturing countless lives.
But the two rivers also brought many disasters. The capital was situated on low-lying, flat terrain, making it prone to floods during heavy rains. To divert the river water, successive monarchs desperately dug tributaries. After several hundred years of continuous water management, the capital had numerous canals, but these two rivers remained the source. Thereafter, even heavy rains no longer caused the two rivers to overflow, but a strange phenomenon often occurred.
Around the tenth day of the third month each year, the two placid rivers would suddenly seem to lose their minds, instantly creating astonishing waves. There was clearly no rain, nor had the water level risen, yet raging waves still formed. Moreover, every ten years, even higher waves would surge, sometimes reaching heights of several dozen feet. It would have been one thing if only one of them produced high waves, but both rivers swelled with high tides simultaneously. Where the tides of the two rivers met and clashed, even more ferocious waves were created.
Each time the great waves rose, the homes of the people living on both sides of the lower reaches were swept away, and countless people drowned. As this phenomenon continued for a long time, the confluence of the two rivers came to be regarded as an inauspicious place where no one could live, and many even spread rumors that it was haunted. Later, when the Hidden Yuan Society entered the capital and was looking for land to build its branch office, they chose this very spot.
‘The confluence of the two Heavenly Yue rivers is an auspicious location in terms of feng shui. Of course, when the tide rises each year, it is like the outburst of a raging dragon, but if a way can be found to make these two raging dragons lie dormant, there should be no problem, right?’
Eventually, the Hidden Yuan Society gathered dozens of masters of hydraulics, construction, and astronomy to discuss the cause—why the tide rose when there was no heavy rain and the water level was low. In the end, a master from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion found the cause in the sun and moon in the sky—a truly remarkable person. To be able to find the truth behind a strange phenomenon in an era without the advanced science of the modern day was astounding. The Qiantang River in China sees its tide rise in the middle of the eighth lunar month each year. This is because the sun, Earth, and moon align, and the combination of strong gravitational pull and the Earth's centrifugal force creates large waves. Of course, the master from the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion could not provide such a detailed explanation.
Now that the cause was found, how was it to be solved? Should they build dikes? That was one option, but how large and long would the dikes have to be? The period of high tide each year was very short, lasting only a few days at most. Besides, when the tides of the two rivers mixed, they created waves of over several dozen feet. How could they build dikes to withstand that? Although the waves rose high, they were neither large nor voluminous. Eventually, the hydraulic experts proposed digging underground channels to divert the river water. After digging channels for the river to flow underground, the floodgates would normally be kept closed and used as a sewer system. Then, when the tide was about to rise, all the underground floodgates would be opened, allowing the surging waves to flow into the underground channels instead of rising, and the water flowing through them would be directed into other tributaries.
Once the method was decided, the Hidden Yuan Society provided the funds, and the Heavenly Yue Central Commandery provided the labor to dig four underground channels. The method proved to be exceptionally effective, and the confluence of the two rivers no longer experienced floods from large waves. All the water that gathered there was drained away through the underground channels.
Eventually, the more than three hundred *mu* of land there became the property of the Hidden Yuan Society. They spent a full three years building the Silver Imperial Tower, and the seven-story high-rise became a magnificent scenic spot in the capital. The building's name was the Silver Imperial Tower, but many people in the capital called it the Dragon-Suppressing Tower. They believed that the Hidden Yuan Society had built this structure to suppress the dragon kings of the two Heavenly Yue rivers, which was why the waves no longer surged so violently each year.
Even after a century of operation, the Silver Imperial Tower had not collapsed or crumbled; it stood firm, becoming the place that held the most money in the entire State of Yue. Of course, the people of the world did not know that the Hidden Yuan Society's secret vault was not there. The location of their vault was a complete secret. Moreover, the Hidden Yuan Society's vault was mobile, not in a fixed location.
However, all the business affairs, ledgers, and data seen by the Hidden Yuan Society were stored in the Silver Imperial Tower, and these were more important than gold. Thus, the Hidden Yuan Society almost always had over a thousand warriors stationed at the Silver Imperial Tower to guard it. Furthermore, the Silver Imperial Tower had numerous mechanisms and secret passages. Therefore, unless one completely broke with them and attacked with an army of tens of thousands, raiding the Silver Imperial Tower was simply impossible.
Yet Shen Lang had declared he would level the Hidden Yuan Society's branch office. Was he planning to use explosives? But that was impossible. There was no way to transport a large quantity of explosives there in the first place. The Hidden Yuan Society had countless masters guarding the Silver Imperial Tower. Moreover, the underground was a complex web of secret passages, filled with secret doors and mechanisms, making it extremely difficult to conquer.
Furthermore, the sturdiness of the Silver Imperial Tower was beyond imagination. The building used nine powerful, large iron pillars sunk more than ten meters deep into the ground, each pillar as thick as a thigh. Of course, since iron rusts easily, maintenance work was done on the pillars every few years, applying varnish and tung oil. Built so sturdily, the seven-story Silver Imperial Tower only swayed slightly during earthquakes and did not collapse. Therefore, many people secretly believed that even if the royal palace were to fall, the Hidden Yuan Society's branch, the Silver Imperial Tower, would not. Having been built a hundred years ago, the Silver Imperial Tower had become a symbol and a source of pride, representing the invincibility of the Hidden Yuan Society.
* * *
The top floor of the Silver Imperial Tower.
"Father, should we expose the Lotus Pavilion scandal or not?"
Shu Tingyu asked. It was a true pity. This gambit had been buried very deep, yet it could not be brought to full fruition. Young Master Lotus had already prepared several peerless beauties to be sent to Shen Lang's bed. Of course, they would first have to show their exceptional talents at the Gold Mountain Pavilion before being sent as handmaidens to serve by Xiao Bing's side. What kind of person was Shen Lang? A lecherous scumbag who was true to his desires, was he not? When he saw peerless beauties, would he be able to resist taking them to bed? And among them, the particularly docile and outstanding women were scheduled to be sent to the palace to become ladies-in-waiting for Bian Bi. This was because Bian Bi had shown great interest in those girls when she came to the Lotus Academy.
‘What a pity! To think this plan would be exposed prematurely because of that fool, Ying Zheng.’
The Hidden Yuan Society elder, Shu Baidao, fell into hesitation. Exposing the Lotus Pavilion scandal now could tarnish Bian Bi and Shen Lang, but the timing was not right, so it wouldn't have sufficient impact. Both Yan Jin and Bian Xin were dead, leaving no witnesses. Most importantly, Shen Lang had rashly killed Bian Xin on his own, a situation that would cause Bian Bi and Bian Wu to harbor resentment toward him.
‘Shen Lang, are you not too arrogant? How dare you so easily kill someone from our Bian clan? Could you not have handed Bian Xin over to us, the Bian clan? Even if she had to die, it should have been by our hands.’
Furthermore, Bian Xin's parents would also be shocked. If they exposed the scandal and threw mud at the Bian clan and Bian Bi, the resentment that should be directed solely at Shen Lang would be divided.
Shu Baidao decided against exposing the matter this time.
"No, do not expose the scandal for now! By the way, the tide should rise around tomorrow. Are the underground channels well prepared?"
"We have people stationed at all the underground floodgates as a priority. They will open all the gates a quarter of an hour before the tide rises. However, someone has suggested that there is no need to open all the gates this time. The waves created by the confluence of the two rivers will be a magnificent spectacle, and many high officials and nobles wish to come to the Silver Imperial Tower to watch the waves."
At Shu Tingyu's words, Shu Baidao nodded. This had now become something of a regular event. When the waves were overflowing, it was naturally terrifying, but once they could be tamed, watching the waves became a refined affair. Every year, the Hidden Yuan Society invited powerful figures to view the waves. Of course, not many people were invited; only those of noble status with close ties to the Hidden Yuan Society had the privilege of viewing the waves.
"Then let us allow them to view the waves for three watches."