He had already warned his children in advance not to attempt to harm Suo Lun and not to let their personal vendettas take precedence over the interests of the family.
Yet, to his disbelief, his children still went ahead and even convinced fifteen-year-old Hai Zhier to poison Suo Lun?
Foolish, utterly foolish.
Hai Wuyan burst out in anger, "Suo Lun, you killed my sister, and yet you feel no remorse, instead you blatantly lie and distort the truth?"
"Wrong!" Suo Lun shouted back, "You keep saying I killed Hai Zhier because she resisted me after I assaulted her. All you want to do is frame me for her murder so that even jumping into the Nu River wouldn’t clear my name."
"That is exactly the case." Hai Wuyan said, "That is the very truth of the matter, you beast."
"Hahaha..." Suo Lun laughed heartily, "The truth? The only reason I explained the true circumstances of Hai Zhier’s death to Lord Haigang was out of respect. Did you think I was trying to justify myself? Ridiculous, an unparalleled absurdity! You fool, do you think anyone cares about this truth, when even your father, Lord Haigang, does not?"
Since the pretense was dropped, Suo Lun no longer feigned being paralysed and let Yao Xing continue to consume the nerve toxin, and his hands regained their movement.
"Smack..." He slapped the armrest of the chair forcefully and snapped, "Hai Wuyan, even if I did kill your sister, so what? Even if I killed her just because she was not submissive, so what? The slanders you splash on me, I don’t even need to wipe them off. Zhi Li made unwelcome advances towards Gui Qinshao and was instead assassinated, and now he’s infamous, left utterly wretched. So, you want to replicate his fate upon me? Foolish, ignorant, the reason for Zhi Li’s current wretched state is because he lost to me, not because he made advances on Gui Qinshao!"
Suo Lun, with his hands propped on the armrests, stood up, his body no longer paralysed, and like a hawk staring down its prey, he looked at Hai Wuyan with a sneer, "If Zhi Li had defeated me, then what would assaulting Gui Qinshao even matter? Even if he had bedded Zhi Wei’s wife, his own aunt, no one would dare to say a word. You fool, your gaze is only fixed on trivial matters, and your actions are petty and narrow, you’ll never amount to anything in your entire life!"
With that tirade, Hai Wuyan was left utterly humiliated, his face pale as death.
"And you, Haigang!" Suo Lun pointed at Haigang and said, "Do you think your son Hai Wuyan’s character came from nowhere? He inherited all the flaws of you and your wife. You are scheming, love to take advantage, and are meticulous in planning. However, you are indeed clever, and while your vision is limited, you still aspire high, which makes you a formidable leader after all."
Haigang hadn’t expected Suo Lun to start berating him directly, and felt a chill down his spine and his scalp tingle.
Suo Lun then slowly sat down and continued, "I came to Yingzhou Island to negotiate an alliance with you, which was supposed to be mutually beneficial, a straightforward deal. Yet you are scheming and manipulative, at first acting disrespectful and then deferential, and despite knowing that I would disagree, you still insisted on me marrying my sister and aunt to you, just so I would refuse and be in the wrong. Your aim was to extort massive benefits from me without appearing too greedy. So that you would seem even more wronged, you didn’t hesitate to use your fifteen-year-old legitimate daughter as a sacrifice, to marry her to me as a concubine, just so you could make your extortion seem more justified."
Upon hearing these words, Haigang’s body began to tremble slightly.
Suo Lun added, "Eradicating Yan Mo was most beneficial for you, yet you turned things around at your whim, extorting three to four hundred thousand Gold Coins from me each year, what a steep price for your daughter. Not only that, you want to maintain the facade of a victim, truly, acting like a prostitute while erecting a shrine to chastity!"
These words from Suo Lun were like a series of slaps across Haigang’s face.
"Therefore, your daughter Hai Zhier is as good as dead by your own hands," Suo Lun said with a cold laugh. "After she was killed, your first thought was not whether she might be saved, but how you could once again extort astronomical benefits from me. Putting on a show by surrounding the other courtyard with thousands of troops, ready to kill, are you acting? Why such a massive display? Wasting all this time, why did you not find a Medical Daoist Monk to see if Hai Zhier could be saved?"
Suo Lun’s words rang loud and clear, whipping Haigang until he was utterly down and out.
Finally, Suo Lun took a deep breath and declared, "Well, I am now officially telling you, your daughter Hai Zhier deserved to die. Don’t you even think of extorting anything from me, I won’t give you a single Gold Coin! All your meticulous planning, all your wishes are in vain, you’ll get nothing from me."
Note: The first release is here, I draw support from you, thank you, everyone!