NFBE Chapter 2109 What a fine Shangguan family!
Chapter 2109 What a fine Shangguan family!
Mu Huanying's words were like an icicle piercing through the last vestige of hope, freezing the atmosphere in the backyard into iron.
Her gaze first passed over the pale-faced creditors and landed on Song Qiankun and his son Song Cijiu in the crowd.
Unlike the camaraderie she felt when looking at Qin Zongheng and the others, her eyes now held a solemn expression of confirming the facts!
"Brother Song, farewell, dear nephew!" she said in a calm and clear voice.
Song Qiankun's expression immediately hardened, and Song Cijiu also quickly stepped forward and bowed to show his respect.
Everyone in the courtyard held their breath and watched, wondering why this orphan of the Mu family had first approached the Song family, known as the "red capitalists" and who had always been on good terms with the Mu family!
Is the Song family one of the families that the Mu family purged?
The moment this idea popped into people's minds, many were filled with doubt, yet their anticipation grew even stronger.
"After the incident involving my Mu family, around the spring of 42," Mu Huanying said slowly, the timing so precise it was chilling, "did someone secretly escort a batch of twelve camphor wood chests, sealed with Mu family deeds, to the Song family mansion in the French Concession of Shanghai, and entrust them to Mr. Song, who was in charge of the family business at the time, who was also Cijiu's grandfather, for safekeeping?"
Everyone was taken aback by these words.
The Mu family's assets were vast, and the land deeds, house deeds, share deeds and other documents were the foundation. It turned out that these fundamental documents were not completely lost or destroyed. A considerable portion of them had been secretly transferred by the Mu family to the Song family for safekeeping. Amidst the flames of war, they went through countless tribulations and finally arrived in Shanghai!
Song Qiankun took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with his son, Song Cijiu. Both of them were shocked, but more than that, they were calm and respectful.
Song Qiankun stepped forward, his voice steady and powerful, echoing in the quiet courtyard:
“It is indeed true! My father strictly ordered before his death that this was entrusted to Uncle Mu’s entire family by him, and that even if the Song family were to go bankrupt, they must protect it! The twelve boxes have been stored in the Song family’s secret cellar for forty years. Apart from regular ventilation and maintenance, they have never been opened, and no one has dared to touch them! All the contracts and lists are sealed separately and kept in two different places from the boxes! Did you bring this up today to retrieve them?”
A flicker of gratitude and trust crossed Mu Huanying's eyes, but she shook her head. "The Song family's integrity will be forever remembered by the Mu family! I feel more at ease having the contract temporarily stored at your residence! I brought this up today so that everyone present would understand."
Her gaze swept across Shangguan Wuji and the others like lightning. "Although the Mu family has suffered a great calamity, its lineage has not been severed, and its legal basis remains! It is not, as some people believe, ownerless property that can be swallowed up and wiped clean at will!"
These words struck the hearts of the ten representatives like a heavy hammer.
It turns out that the real lifeblood of the Mu family's many properties that they had seized, occupied, and plundered over the years had long been transferred to the Mu family!
What they obtain may well be nothing more than empty shells or rights with huge hidden dangers.
Shangguan Wuji's expression turned even uglier.
Mu Huanying stopped looking at the Song family father and son, and her hand slowly went inside the dark blue cotton-padded jacket.
This action made everyone's hearts tighten again!
That's... an account book?
The Mu family's account books?
In an instant, the little monk, Shangguan Wuji, and the people from the ten families of Yanjing all turned serious, and their feet unconsciously tightened.
However, what Mu Huanying took out was not the legendary ledger that everyone had imagined, which recorded the core business secrets and transactions of the Mu family, but a slightly thin booklet wrapped in rough kraft paper and bound by hand with hemp rope!
The booklet's cover was pure white, but the edges were badly worn.
"What? You all think this is the Mu family's account book?"
Seeing the burning gazes of the crowd, Mu Huanying spoke coldly, as if she could see through the greedy eyes that lit up and then quickly died down in some people's eyes.
"How could you possibly obtain such a divine object, which relates to hundreds of families and involves countless business relationships, so easily?"
Her words instantly dampened the spirits of those who had just begun to wonder if this was the real ledger, filling them with even greater fear.
If this isn't a real ledger, then what could it be?
Judging from the solemnity with which Mu Huanying took it out, it must be of great importance!
Mu Huanying gently turned to the first page.
The paper inside was the rough, handmade kind.
The top was covered with tiny characters, densely packed together.
"This booklet contains what I've written down, stroke by stroke, over the forty years I've survived!"
Her voice was incredibly calm, yet it carried a power that seemed to transcend the ravages of time.
"This record is not of the Mu family's past glory, but of who, and by what means, swallowed up which of the Mu family's businesses, seized which of the Mu family's wealth, and damaged the Mu family's reputation since the Mu family's troubles in 1930!"
"hiss……"
Upon hearing this, a number of gasps could be heard from the audience.
"The first page," Ke Muhuan's gaze was like a knife, piercing Shangguan Wuji, who was almost collapsing to the ground, "The Shangguan family!"
boom!
To everyone's surprise, the first family Mu Huanying wanted to find when she took out this notebook was the Shangguan family, the most prominent of the top five families!
Shangguan Wuji's legs suddenly trembled, and he almost knelt down.
"In the autumn of 1942, taking advantage of the ongoing war and the government's inability to cope, they colluded with the head of the canal gang and bought out three warehouses and two berths belonging to the Mu family at the Tianjin docks at an extremely low price!"
"..." Shangguan Wuji lowered his head, no longer daring to meet Mu Huanying's gaze, and simply slumped his head down.
"Liu Jinshui, the former manager of the Mu family, refused to comply and was found drowned in a tributary of the Haihe River three days later, clutching a fragment of the tobacco pouch belonging to Shangguan Fusheng, the steward of your Shangguan family at the time!"
"The Tianjin Police Bureau at the time had a vague record of this matter, suspecting it was the work of bandits, and it was left unresolved! But now I have the fragments, drawings, and copies of the evidence records!"
Shangguan Wuji trembled violently, wanting to refute, but even his lips trembled so much that he couldn't form a coherent sentence!
His father had indeed proudly mentioned taking over the Tianjin docks by extraordinary means, and the details matched this account perfectly.
He was utterly horrified.
So it seems that Mu Huanying's disappearance all these years was not because she was hiding, but because she was secretly investigating the fire case from back then.
"What a bunch of idiots, the Shangguan family!" Wang Defa was so angry his nostrils were practically spitting fire. Seeing Shangguan Wuji with his head drooping and shoulders hunched, he became even angrier: "You were so arrogant back then, how come you're so meek now? Say something!"
Song Ziming also said indignantly, "If it weren't for Grandma Mu revealing the truth of what happened back then, we really wouldn't know how the Mu family's canal transport in Tianjin Port would have fallen into the hands of your Shangguan family!"
"Hmph, we still have the evidence from back then. Let's see how your Shangguan family escapes!" Yang Weidong said angrily.
The Li family relatives and friends in the courtyard all spoke out for justice, expressing their utter indignation towards Shangguan Wuji.
The heads of the ten families in Yanjing and their descendants had already undergone a dramatic change in expression.
The history of the Shangguan family has been investigated, but what about their own family?
Are those secrets that have been kept hidden by the family to be revealed at this moment?
Thinking of this, everyone from the nine families trembled with fear. Seeing the eight powerful figures of the Jue family, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, and the Qin family officers eyeing them menacingly, they felt trapped, unable to escape or stay. It was worse than death!
But Mu Huanying's words seemed to go on and on.
"Don't rush," Mu Huanying had already caught a glimpse of the scene in the courtyard, her gaze sweeping coldly around the room, "I'll do it one by one!"
She turned to the second page and said in a deep voice, "The Ye family..."