As the two were about to use their fists on Liu Zongyuan, he quickly explained, “Please calm down, brothers. I’m not here to anger you, but to discuss something important.”
“Look at the state of our elder brother now. What more do you have to say? If you hadn’t introduced that sorcerer to him, would he have ended up like this?” Li Kairei angrily pointed at Liu Zongyuan and berated him.
“You have the nerve to come find us? Look how you’ve all deceived our elder brother. Now he’s even sold his farmland. Don’t you heartless people fear retribution?” Ji Dafu also shouted at Liu Zongyuan in rage.
Liu Zongyuan quickly took out some documents from his robes to explain, “The sale of the farmland surprised me deeply too. After I learned about it, I took measures to make amends. Brother Li was already too deeply immersed to extricate himself, so all I could do was help minimize his losses. These past days, I’ve been managing his business for him. I’ve already bought back all the sold farmland, all in Brother Li’s name. If you don’t believe me, look at these proofs – they’re the evidence.”
Li Kairei, still angry, snatched the documents and examined them carefully. Finding them to be genuine, and seeing Liu Zongyuan’s apparent remorse, he forgave him.
“So, this Yuan Bayuan is truly a swindler,” Ji Dafu clenched his fists, wishing he could punch Yuan Bayuan to death.
Liu Zongyuan hurriedly said, “Actually, I still somewhat believe in Immortal Yuan’s magical arts. I’ve witnessed his supernatural powers myself. But I never expected Brother Li to become so obsessed with becoming an immortal that he’d even sell his farmland. It truly caught me off guard.”
“What should we do now? Our elder brother is already in this state. We can’t just stand by and do nothing,” Li Kairei said anxiously.
Liu Zongyuan thought for a moment, “If we try to reason with Brother Li now, he won’t listen. We should wait a bit, perhaps two days from now. When Brother Li has calmed down, we can discuss this matter with him properly.”
Liu Zongyuan’s words made sense. Li Kaixiang was currently too agitated; even if they talked until they were blue in the face, he might not listen.
With that said, the two left, agreeing to meet again in two days to find Li Kaixiang and guide him back to the right path.
Two days later, Li Kaixiang had calmed down.
Seeing his brother and brother-in-law arrive, he greeted them with a smile, expressing remorse for his behavior the other day.
Seeing Li Kaixiang’s apparent regret, the two were relieved. After exchanging glances, they decided to first create a harmonious atmosphere before slowly guiding their elder brother back to his proper business.
Liu Zongyuan was also present. After spending time together, they found him to be a decent person.
The group drank and chatted freely, expressing themselves openly. It had been a long time since they’d been so happy.
After several rounds of drinks, Liu Zongyuan suddenly gave Ji Dafu a meaningful look. Ji Dafu understood and put down his cup. Liu Zongyuan quickly said, “Brother Ji, I suddenly remembered some business matters I’m unclear about and wanted to ask your advice. Also, I’d like to go over some accounts of Brother Li’s business that I’ve been managing recently. Let’s step aside for a moment.”
Hearing this, before Ji Dafu could respond, Li Kaixiang expressed his displeasure, “It’s rare for us to gather like this, with wine and meat. We should put aside those trivial matters and just enjoy drinking. Why bring up such things? It’s spoiling the mood.”
“Brother Li, you’re mistaken. There will be plenty of days for drinking and eating meat in the future, but business can’t be neglected for even a day,” Liu Zongyuan said while giving Li Kairei a meaningful look.
Li Kairei understood; this was all planned by the three of them to let the brothers have some time alone and hopefully have a heart-to-heart talk.
Understanding the situation, Li Kairei quickly said, “We’re all family here, no need for such formalities. My elder brother has suffered these past few days and has lost quite a bit of weight. Brother Liu is kind to help, so elder brother shouldn’t worry about these matters.”
Li Kairei’s words were loaded with meaning. Before Li Kaixiang could argue, Ji Dafu also quickly stood up, “That’s right, you two keep drinking. We’ll join you again after we finish our business.”
Liu Zongyuan also stood up, “Brother Ji is right. It won’t take long. You two elder brothers keep drinking, we’ll be back soon.”
With that, not waiting for Li Kaixiang to stop them, the two left the room.
Seeing them go, Li Kaixiang could say nothing more. He poured a cup of wine for his younger brother, and they continued drinking.
After three cups of wine, Li Kairei felt it was time. He hoped his elder brother would return to the right path, so he said, “Elder brother, look at what you’ve become recently. We haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve lost so much weight. In the future, don’t associate with Yuan Bayuan anymore. Living your own life well is better than anything else.”
Hearing Li Kairei bring this up again, Li Kaixiang felt frustrated, but his attitude was indeed much better than before.
“Brother, we’re flesh and blood. I thought even if others didn’t understand, you would. But I didn’t expect you to be like everyone else, always trying to persuade me, thinking I’m wrong.”
“Elder brother, are you still not awake to the truth? You’ve been with Yuan Bayuan for just a few days, and look what you’ve become. Have you looked in a mirror? Do you still look like your old self? Even if you don’t think about yourself, think about your wife and children. If you weren’t my elder brother, I wouldn’t even bother with your affairs.”
Being lectured like this by Li Kairei, Li Kaixiang felt indignant.
Still maintaining the attitude of an elder brother being like a father, he calmly said to Li Kairei, “Let me tell you, I might deceive everyone else, but I would never deceive you. That Immortal Yuan truly has supernatural powers. He can invite immortals to descend – I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Brother, in my opinion, you should stop worrying about those trivial matters and cultivate immortality with me. How about we achieve longevity together?”
“Elder brother!”
Seeing his elder brother so deluded, Li Kairei became angry. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted at his brother,
“What immortals descending? What longevity? Those are all tricks to deceive people. Elder brother, we’ve been through so much hardship over the years. How can you easily believe such things? And to be so obsessed with it – can you face our parents in heaven? Can you face all the efforts we’ve made over the years?”
Seeing Li Kairei’s anger, Li Kaixiang also became furious, “You’re truly foolish, not even believing your elder brother. Would I lie to you? Since we can’t see eye to eye, what else is there to say?”
Li Kaixiang didn’t want to talk to Li Kairei anymore, while Li Kairei was burning with anger. He drank a cup of wine forcefully and feeling it wasn’t enough, he grabbed the wine jar and started gulping it down.
After several large swigs, he became dizzy, but he still wanted to persuade his elder brother to listen to him and return to the right path.
What he didn’t expect was that Li Kaixiang was now burning with rage. Seeing Li Kairei drinking like this, he didn’t stop him and even turned his head away in displeasure.
The sound of their argument was heard by villagers passing by the door, who sighed helplessly.
Li Kaixiang had always had a bad temper and often got into conflicts with others. Arguments like today’s were nothing new to them.
Li Kairei was somewhat drunk, seeing double images of his brother before him. Just as he was about to try persuading him again, he lost control and collapsed on the table.
When he hazily woke up, his brother was dead, his head missing, with only a large pool of blood spreading beside him.
“Ah!” A piercing scream echoed throughout the village. Before long, officials arrived at the scene.
Beside the body stood only Li Kairui, and witnesses had heard their argument before the incident, making him the prime suspect.
Upon hearing the news, Liu Zongyuan was both saddened and shocked. However, the event had already transpired, and there was nothing they could do to reverse it.
Li Kairui was taken to prison. With no other relatives, Liu Zongyuan and Ji Dafu had to handle the funeral arrangements together.
With Li Kaixiang dead, Yuan Bayuan’s presence was no longer necessary, so Liu Zongyuan paid him to leave.
Ji Dafu was busy with other matters, so Liu Zongyuan took charge of Li Kaixiang’s funeral.
Liu Zongyuan’s actions were noticed by the villagers, and even Ji Dafu praised him.
Ji Dafu never believed that Li Kairui would kill his brother and felt there must be some injustice involved, so he began working to clear Li Kairui’s name.
Trusting Liu Zongyuan, Ji Dafu temporarily set aside the matter of the Li family’s business handover.
A few days later, Liu Zongyuan left this place of sorrow, erasing all traces of his presence there.
With one Li brother dead and the other imprisoned, Liu Zongyuan held onto Li Kaixiang’s estate, a fortune that clouded his judgment.
He frequented the Xiangxiang Pavilion more often, always requesting the company of the top courtesan, Xiuxiu.
Previously, Liu Zongyuan had visited Xiuxiu a few times, but his recent visits were different; he always brought gold and jade ornaments to win her favor.
Xiuxiu was delighted by his sudden generosity but also curious.
To uncover the truth, she often got Liu Zongyuan drunk during their chats, and each time, he would let slip a few words.
Though his statements were disjointed, the attentive Xiuxiu pieced them together, leading to today’s story.