Chapter 657 The Confucius Family in Qufu
“Mr. Rotten Du” Kong Hui is a member of Jianmu.

He came from the Kong family and was one of the ten great masters during the Northern Song Dynasty.

Because he was familiar with the classics since childhood and had read through all the scriptures in the Confucius family library, he was called “Mr. Lan Du”. Later, he entered the palace to become the emperor’s teacher and also went to the Shangqing Palace on Mangshan Mountain to plan the layout.

Given his status, he must be one of the people who fished for the tripod.

The group stayed in Zhangqiu Town to cooperate with the Duwei Division and gather intelligence on this person.

Hearing this good news, Li Yan’s expression remained unchanged. Instead, he turned his head and looked to the side, “Captain Chen, who are these two…”

There were two other people who came back with Chen San.

A middle-aged man in brocade clothes, fat with several chins, panting as he walked, with a smile on his face, his eyes narrowed, and he kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

The other one was a young scholar, dressed in a blue shirt, with a handsome face, a straight body, and a gentle and elegant temperament. Although he behaved politely after entering, his eyes were full of curiosity.

Middle-aged people are easy to deal with, they are just ordinary people.

But this young scholar is actually a monk, and his Confucian spirit is difficult to conceal.

“Oh, let me introduce you.”

Chen San quickly said: “These two are from the Kong family, they are both our own people.”

When Li Yan heard it, he understood instantly.

Before Chen San left, he said that someone in the Kong family was cooperating with the imperial court and was an eyewitness of the Duwei Division.

But judging from his attitude, he is obviously not an important person.

This is not surprising. Ever since Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty came to Lu to worship Confucius and conferred the title of Lord of Worship on Kong Teng, the Shenzhou Dynasty has been enfeoffing Confucius’ descendants without stopping.

Until now, it has been passed down from generation to generation, and has branched out to the present day, with countless younger disciples.

There are rich and poor, high and low people within the clan.

Being willing to be an informant for the imperial court doesn’t mean his status is that high.

Not to mention the clan itself, the entire Kong family is in decline.

The title of Yanshenggong has been famous for too long, longer than the history of many dynasties, so corruption is inevitable.

Two other things have happened in the past hundred years.

One was that at the end of the Song Dynasty, the Golden Horde invaded. The then Duke Yansheng defied the world and went directly to the royal court of the grassland, which was regarded as a great shame and humiliation by the Confucianists of China.

Although he was later purged and killed, the reputation of the Kong family also plummeted.

When the Daxuan Dynasty was established, because they had obtained the country in an illegitimate way, they continued to confer titles on the Kong family.

Needless to say, a new group of playboys emerged.

The previous generation of Duke Yansheng was not only notorious for his evil deeds, but also boasted after drinking, “There are only three families in the world, my family, Longhu Mountain Zhang, and Jinling Xiao. Longhu Mountain Zhang is a Taoist, and Jinling Xiao is a nouveau riche, a petty family.”

The current emperor is a man who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes.

When these words reached the capital, several imperial edicts were issued to reprimand the Kong family, which frightened them so much that they sent someone to apologize overnight.

The situation was settled only after Duke Yansheng voluntarily abdicated and made way for someone more capable.

It is said that the current Duke Yansheng of the Kong family has average ability and knowledge, and is an old-fashioned person who does not know how to adapt.

His only advantage is that he knows how to rectify family traditions and tries his best to maintain the dignity of the Kong family.

Even so, the Kong family’s reputation is no longer what it used to be.

Many great scholars from all over the north and south even wrote poems to directly mock and curse.

But no one dares to underestimate the Kong family in the martial arts world or in the Taoist sect.

The reason is very simple. The Kong family still has a big Buddha.

It was Lu Hongyuan, one of the ten great masters.

He was originally a son-in-law of the Kong family and was looked down upon by others. However, he had extraordinary talent and was proficient in both civil and martial arts. He founded the Mingde Martial Arts School and took over the banner of Confucianism.

When he was young, he and Huo Yin, now the leader of the Divine Fist Society, were known as the two heroes.

Now that the Kong family has this Buddha, no one will easily provoke them.

Thinking of this, Li Yan asked, “So you are a great scholar from the Kong family. I wonder which generation of his family you are from?”

The Kong family is “the number one family in the world” and they are very particular about seniority. Nowadays, most of the generations are named “Gong, Yan, Cheng, Hong, Wen, Zhen, Shang, Yin”, which were given by the emperor of the founding dynasty of Daxuan.

“I am Kong Zhenshan.”

The fat middle-aged man wiped his sweat and said with a flattering smile: “I am not well educated, so I have been running around since I was young, helping the clan manage some industries in Jinan, so I can get in touch with some things.”

“After receiving the order from Lord Chen, I immediately found an opportunity to search in the library. But Young Master Li also knows that when the Golden Horde invaded, half of the library was burned down by fire, and many things were difficult to find. It was my son who helped me…”

As he said this, he quickly gave the young man next to him a vicious look.

The young man had no choice but to step forward and clasp his fists and say, “My name is Kong Shangzhao, nice to meet you all.”

“Kong Hui was a rare master in the Kong family, but he was a taboo in the family. Even if there hadn’t been a fire, a lot of information about him would have been destroyed.”

Li Yan frowned slightly, “Oh, why?”

The young scholar Kong Shangzhao replied: “He was extremely talented. By middle age, he had become one of the ten great masters of Shenzhou at that time. He even entered the Song court and became the emperor’s teacher. But later on, his actions became more and more extreme.”

“Back then, a Wudang disciple came to denounce him, saying that he was colluding with the Ghost Cult. Although there was no solid evidence, the Wudang disciple mysteriously disappeared…”

“Later, the Great Song Ghost Cult was rampant, and the Shenzhou Xuanmen worked together to encircle and suppress it. Several masters worked together to hunt down Kong Hui. They did not publicize it, but the clan knew that this matter was probably true, so they tried their best to cover it up.”

“In addition, there is a rumor in the clan that when the Golden Horde invaded, Duke Yansheng surrendered and it was this person who played the role of the middleman…”

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, “Didn’t they say the clues were burned? You know a lot…”

“Young Master Li, please don’t misunderstand me!”

Kong Zhenshan, who was standing by, noticed something was wrong and quickly explained, “My son has a photographic memory. He has read a lot of books since he was young and is good at unraveling things.”

“Many things were pieced together by him from those fragmentary records.”

“Oh, you have this ability?”

Wang Daoxuan became interested when he heard it and asked a few questions.

These are all vague historical records and there are many different opinions.

The young scholar Kong Shangzhao answered questions fluently and always gave convincing answers.

Chen San on the side was also a little surprised and glanced at Kong Zhenshan indifferently.

The fat man didn’t mention this on the way.

Kong Zhenshan sighed, and first apologized to Chen San, then looked at his son, his eyes full of regret, “To be honest, I came here this time to shamelessly ask you to send my son to the capital to avoid disaster.”

“What did he do wrong?” Li Yan asked.

Kong Zhenshan explained the reason with a bitter look on his face.

It turns out that this young man, Kong Shangzhao, is also from a famous family and has been practicing at Mingde Martial Arts School since he was young.

He has excellent qualifications and talents, and is also good at analyzing classics.

But unfortunately, this kid had no interest in Confucianism. Instead, he was obsessed with miscellaneous studies. He often said many outrageous words and gradually became disliked by his teachers.

A few days ago, because he was standing up for justice, he beat the son of Duke Yansheng half to death.

Although Duke Yansheng was particular about family tradition and severely punished his son, the feud had been formed.

Given the character of the Kong family’s descendants, they will definitely seek revenge in a roundabout way.

Kong Zhenshan struggled for half his life, and although he was a disciple of the Kong family, he was always looked down upon.

The person one is most proud of is his own son, so naturally one is afraid of seeing the young die before him.

There was a reason why he was so afraid.

Duke Yansheng was not only the host of the sacrifices in the Confucius Temple, but also enjoyed privileges such as exemption from taxes and hereditary sacrificial land.

Today, the Kong family’s sacrificial fields have spread across many provinces, with Luzhou alone having more than 320,000 acres of fertile land.

Qufu even became the “autonomous territory” of the Kong family, where clan rules were more important than royal laws and they were true local emperors.

“Just send it to the capital?” Li Yan asked.

“That’s right!”

Kong Zhenshan’s face lit up with joy, and he quickly said, “I have some arrangements in the capital. I will let this kid hide his identity and stay there for a few years. He can come back after the storm has died down.”

As he spoke, he took out a wooden box from his bosom and said pleadingly, “Although I am not a member of the Xuanmen sect, I also know the name of the Twelve Yuanchen. Here is thirty thousand taels of silver, which is my life savings. Please help me.”

Seeing this, Chen San, who was standing next to him, simply kept silent.

To be honest, he also took a fancy to the talent of this disciple of the Kong family.

But he didn’t want to accept the trouble that came with it. Kong Zhenshan deliberately concealed it, obviously thinking that he would refuse after knowing it, and even not bring them to see Li Yan.

“Alright.”

Li Yan’s heart moved, and he nodded and agreed to this matter.

Firstly, it was on the way, and secondly, I wanted to use the young man’s abilities to help him analyze some information.

Especially about the evolution of secular gods.

Thinking of this, Li Yan turned his head and looked at Kong Shangzhao again, “Do you know what happened to Mr. Landu Kong Hui later?”

Kong Shangzhao cupped his hands and said, “Since the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty and the invasion of the Wolf Kingdom of the Golden Horde, there has been no news about Kong Hui. After all, several masters were hunting him down at the time, and even though the Kong family was in the Wolf Kingdom, they did not dare to protect him.”

“All right…”

Li Yan was helpless and shook his head slightly.

He knew that it was probably hopeless to find any clues about Kong Hui from the current Kong family.

The Kong family has a master in charge, and after so many years, the other party has probably been reincarnated and changed his appearance, and no one knows where he is hiding.

squeak~
At this moment, the rat in the leather bag on Lu San’s waist suddenly screamed.

“coming!”

Li Yan’s eyes flashed with murderous intent and he winked.

Salifei blew away the candle and everyone dispersed immediately.

Even Chen San told the Kong father and son not to talk and stay in the room.

It was already past midnight and the night was growing darker.

But suddenly, a cold wind blew in the woods outside Chen’s mansion.

“Ow~”

The shadows of the trees swayed, and the low roar of a tiger could be heard faintly.

Outside Chen’s house, there were secret sentries placed by the Cao Gang. When he looked in the direction of the sound, his scalp suddenly felt tingling.

But I could only see two dark green “tiger eyes” flickering in the woods, but I couldn’t see the tiger’s body.

Bang!
Just as the sentry was about to blow the whistle to warn, a ball of phosphorous fire exploded from the top of the tree.

In the green smoke, the shadow of a white-browed tiger with hanging eyes appeared.

That head was three people tall, and with a sweep of its huge claws, large pieces of branches fell off.

The cold wind blew and the cold air spread outward.

Sharifei suddenly emerged from the roof, holding the magic gun and was about to pull the trigger.

But Li Yan frowned and raised his hand to stop him.

“Something’s wrong, it’s a person!”

With his current magical powers, he can also see through the opponent’s illusion.

It was clearly a skinny old man who was controlling a tiger puppet coated with white phosphorus with thin steel wires and making frightening tiger roars with the help of ventriloquism.

As he spoke, Li Yan’s ears moved and he suddenly jumped towards the backyard.

“It’s to lure the snake out of its hole, you guys go and catch him!”

Sharifei didn’t waste any time and jumped down from the roof.

While in mid-air, he had already put the magic rifle behind his back, and when he landed, he had pulled out two flintlock rifles.

The one who was faster than him was Wu Ba.

There was a loud bang, and the ground was covered with mud. Wu Ba’s huge body jumped out, wading through the mud, and with a step to the left and right, he came to the woods and leaned sideways.

Click!

The tree, as thick as a bucket, was broken in half by him.

The tiger, the shadow, and the smoke all disappeared.

A muffled groan was heard from the tree, and a thin figure was seen falling down, but strangely stopped in mid-air, waving his arms, and several sharp steel wires swirled and wrapped around Wu Ba’s neck.

The opponent’s kung fu is not weak, and he also knows this kind of strange weapon.

Once entangled by the wire, the body will be torn apart immediately.

However, he made the wrong decision.

Wu Ba chuckled, grabbed the wire with his glove-covered hand, and pulled it down suddenly.

Bang!
An old man fell heavily from the air, spurting blood from his mouth.

Before he could react, Wu Ba grabbed his neck.

On the other side, Li Yan also came to the backyard.

But in the darkness, three thin figures quietly emerged from the hidden ditch at the base of the backyard wall.

The entrance to the culvert was only as thick as a bowl, but these three men managed to get through easily with their bones rattling all over their bodies. If Lu San hadn’t been watching them, they might have been able to get away with it.

These three people are all half-grown children.

They were agile and could flick their fingers as they leaped out.

shhhhhh!
The powder shot out like a sharp arrow.

Several Cao Gang disciples fell down immediately, obviously due to some powerful drug.

And these children went straight to Wang Daoxuan’s room.

There, the Xu Fu bamboo slips found by Li Yan and others were placed.

But at this moment, the three of them stopped at the same time.

But Li Yan had already fallen from the roof and blocked the road with a cold look.

“Tough guy!”

“Use that thing!”

The three young men had fierce looks on their faces and pulled out the iron chains from their waists and threw them over.

Li Yan smelled the pungent smell of kerosene as soon as he sniffed.

There is also a mechanism in front of the iron chain ball, which contains hidden phosphorous fire and will burn once it collides.

It seems that the fire at Baohua Bookstore was caused by these people.

Looking at the three iron balls flying towards him, Li Yan’s expression remained unchanged.

But several young men were delighted.

They have seen the power of this thing.

No matter what you use to resist, it will suddenly explode and burn, and even ghosts and gods cannot defend against it.

However, something happened to their horror.

Li Yan just raised his left hand, drew a circle, and grabbed the three iron balls in his hand without any explosion.

How can it be?

The three young men felt their scalps tingling and felt like they had seen a ghost.

Of course they didn’t know that Li Yan had already entered the Dan Jin stage and had integrated the Immortal Seal into his whole body’s strength, which could directly dissolve the iron ball’s mechanism so that it would no longer be triggered.

“go!”

The three teenagers looked at each other, turned around and ran away.

They knew that this was definitely not someone they could deal with.

However, as soon as he turned around, his whole body stiffened, and he looked in horror at a woman walking out of the darkness.

It was Long Yaner who easily subdued them with witchcraft.

Soon, all the intruders were caught.

The Cao Gang disciples raised torches, tied them up with iron chains, and threw them to the ground.

“what?”

Chen San suddenly spoke up, “Isn’t this Yang Laohai from Wuqiao…”

(End of this chapter)