Chapter 30: Being stabbed at both sides
As soon as Sikong Zhu said this, there was an uproar in the hall. Although his tone was quite polite, his implication was that he wanted to imprison Liu Xunyi and wait for his fate in the future. No one present was stupid, and everyone knew that once Liu Xunyi entered the Lu Mansion tonight, it would be extremely difficult for him to walk out safely.

"No!" Before Liu Xunyi could even open his mouth, Lin Fangda waved his hand and retorted, "How can there be such an unreasonable thing in the world? My brother clearly saved your people, but you want to imprison him instead. This is really absurd! If this gets out, I'm afraid that everyone in the world will laugh at you, the Jiangnan Lu Mansion, for repaying kindness with enmity and not distinguishing right from wrong."

"How dare you!" The guard of the Lu Mansion shouted coldly, "Lin Fangda, this matter has nothing to do with you, don't try to get yourself burned."

Lin Fangda sneered and said, "Liu Xunyi is my sworn brother. His affairs are my affairs. If you want to touch him today, you should first ask the knife in my hand." After that, Lin Fangda suddenly pulled out his waist knife with a "clang".

Although Lin Fangda was usually of strong character, he was not reckless. The reason why he was so excited tonight was that he was sincerely protecting his newly recognized brother, and secondly, he drank too much and was a little drunk.

Although Lu Fu and Lin Fangda were at loggerheads, they both knew how to strike a balance. No matter how much they argued, they would never be the first to draw their weapons. Because if the sword was unsheathed, the meaning would be completely different from before, and even if it was reasonable, it would become unreasonable.

"Big brother..."

Before Liu Xunyi could hold down Lin Fangda's blade, the guards of the Lu Mansion opposite had already drawn their swords. They didn't dare to draw their swords before because of the relationship between the Jiangnan Lu Mansion and the Xianwang Mansion, but now facing Lin Fangda who had drawn his sword first, it was only natural for them to engage in battle and there was no need to worry about anything.

"hiss!"

The sudden change in the situation in the hall made the guests around gasp. None of them expected that this matter would end up with swords drawn against each other. You have to know that the people who are confronting each other now are not just Lin Fangda and a few servants of the Lu Mansion, but also represent the two major forces in the martial arts world.

"Brother Lin is over there, go over there quickly!"

At this moment, the disciples of the Xianwang Mansion who lived in the Chunqiu Mansion heard the news and came. Seeing Lin Fangda surrounded by dozens of swords, they couldn't help but show anger. They drew their weapons without thinking and rushed over, protecting Lin Fangda on both sides, forming a confrontation with the guards of the Lu Mansion.

Shen Dongshan didn't seem to expect that the matter would become so serious. When he saw Sikong Zhu's cold and resolute attitude, he couldn't help but frown slightly. Then he couldn't help but feel a little confused. He thought to himself: "Does Sikong Zhu really think so highly of me? In order to give me an explanation, he would not hesitate to wrongly accuse an outsider without any evidence? And he even risked offending the Xianwang Mansion? No, there must be some twists and turns in this."

After thinking about it, Shen Dongshan raised his eyebrows and said to Lin Fangda: "Brother Lin, it's just a trivial matter, why do you have to fight with swords? I know you are protecting your friends, but what you are doing... is a bit inappropriate." After that, Shen Dongshan turned his gaze to Liu Xunyi, who had a solemn face, and said: "Brother Liu is innocent. If you have nothing to hide, why are you afraid to go back with Master Zhu and investigate this matter together? Now Brother Lin has done such a rash thing for you, which is not only detrimental to the relationship between the Xianwang Mansion and the Jiangnan Lu Mansion, I believe it is also detrimental to Brother Liu's innocence."

Shen Dongshan's words made sense, and the people around him nodded. According to common sense, the more fiercely Lin Fangda resisted now, the more people would doubt Liu Xunyi's authenticity.

Shen Dongshan's words seemed fair, but in fact he wanted to sacrifice Liu Xunyi to resolve the conflict between the Xianwang Mansion and the Jiangnan Lu Mansion and settle the matter as soon as possible. In comparison, he was more willing to persuade Lin Fangda to give in, rather than offend Sikong Zhu. As for Lin Fangda, whose mind was not flexible, Shen Dongshan's words pushed him into a dilemma.

It was obvious that Lin Fangda couldn't stand Sikong Zhu bullying his brother, so he stood up in a hurry to speak out for Liu Xunyi. Now he is accused of protecting him by Shen Dongshan. He can't clear himself from this even if he jumps into the Yellow River.

After thinking it over, Lin Fangda realized that it was inappropriate for him to draw his sword rashly, and Shen Dongshan cleverly took advantage of his negligence and forced Liu Xunyi into an awkward situation. He simply fiercely said in a loud voice: "I don't care about anything now. If you want to take Liu Xunyi away tonight, you have to step over my dead body first."

Seeing this, Shen Dongshan was secretly worried. He looked around at Lin Fangda and Sikong Zhu who were not giving in to each other, and thought to himself, "These two are really determined and cannot coexist. Sikong Zhu is an old fox and is not easy to persuade. It seems that now the only way is to persuade Lin Fangda to stop." Thinking of this, Shen Dongshan glanced at the expressionless Sikong Zhu out of the corner of his eye, and his doubts became stronger. He thought to himself, "Lin Fangda is so persistent, but Sikong Zhu is still unmoved. I should get out as soon as possible to avoid being used by people with ulterior motives."

"Ahem... Brother Lin, you are making it very difficult for Elder Zhu." Shen Dongshan thought for a moment and slowly stood up. He walked to Lin Fangda with a smile and whispered in his ear, "After all, this Sushui Pavilion is the territory of the Lu family. Moreover, we are in front of so many guests. If you insist on not giving Elder Zhu a way out, I am afraid that things will be difficult to resolve if they continue like this."

Hearing Shen Dongshan's words, Lin Fangda's eyes flashed, staring straight at Shen Dongshan, and said, "Master Shen, do you also think that my brother is in the same group with the assassin?" "Absolutely not." Shen Dongshan shook his head firmly, and then took Sikong Zhu's face into consideration, and then added, "I don't know Brother Liu very well, but I believe in Brother Lin's character, and I believe in Lord Luo even more. But what Master Zhu said just now is not unreasonable. After all, Brother Liu... Brother Liu did not receive an invitation from the Lu Mansion and came uninvited, which is bound to arouse suspicion. It is also human nature for Master Zhu to be more suspicious and concerned about Brother Liu for the smooth progress of tomorrow's Jinpen Retirement Conference. If this matter happened in Luoyang Xianwang Mansion, I believe Brother Lin would also be more wary of some friends who come from unknown sources, isn't it?"

"This..." Shen Dongshan's emotional and logical persuasion made Lin Fangda hesitate, and hesitantly said, "But no matter what, as the eldest brother, I can't just watch my brother being wronged."

"I guarantee that no one will wrongly accuse Brother Liu." Shen Dongshan said with a smile, "And this time it is not imprisonment, just to invite Brother Liu back to rest for a while. I believe that Master Zhu will definitely treat him well and will not neglect him in the slightest." After saying that, Shen Dongshan turned his gaze to Sikong Zhu, but saw Sikong Zhu said with a half-smile: "Little Brother Lin, you are worrying too much this time."

"That won't do!" Lin Fangda was almost shaken by Sikong Zhu and Shen Dongshan. When he saw the weak Liu Xunyi, he shook his head suddenly and said firmly, "I invited Brother Liu to the Sushui Pavilion to drink, so I must ensure that he leaves safely. Otherwise, how can I, Lin Fangda, gain a foothold in the world in the future? Master Shen, Senior Sikong, it's not that Lin Fangda doesn't know what's good for him, but every wrong has its perpetrator. Instead of blaming Brother Liu all the time, why don't you find the assassin and clear my brother's name?"

"Then who can prove that he and Tang Afu are not in cahoots with each other?" Sikong Zhu asked expressionlessly. It was obvious that he was quite displeased with Lin Fangda's ignorance just now.

"Miss Bai Shuang can prove it." Lin Fang said anxiously, and turned around to point at the holes in Liu Xunyi's robe, saying, "And these holes are obviously left by the dangerous fight with Tang Afu."

"Bai Shuang is just a woman. She must have been so frightened that she didn't know what to do. How could she have noticed anything?" Si Kong Zhu said, "As for the marks on his robe, it would be very easy to fake it."

"You mean to say that my brother and Tang Afu colluded to act? This is ridiculous!" Lin Fangda was furious when he heard it, and said, "Forget it! After all, you just refuse to believe that my brother has nothing to do with the assassin. What's the point of talking so hard? Just now, you also heard that Master Shen admitted that he no longer doubted Brother Liu. Why do you have to meddle in other people's business and be so aggressive?"

"I am not meddling in other people's business!" Sikong Zhu frowned and said in a deep voice, "I have been in the martial arts world for decades, and I am able to survive to this day by being cautious. I will find out whether this little brother is a human or a ghost. If it is proved that I have wronged him in the future, I am willing to serve him tea and admit my mistake, but now that the meeting of retiring from the underworld is imminent, I will not tolerate any negligence, so I can only temporarily wrong him." After saying that, Sikong Zhu stood up suddenly, staring at Lin Fangda with a pair of old eyes like daggers, and said quietly, "Lord Luo is also a distinguished guest of the Lu Mansion. He has always been humble and polite, and knows the principle that guests should follow the host's wishes. I don't think he would want his subordinates to be so ignorant of etiquette and act recklessly in the master's territory and ruin his reputation, right?"

Sikong Zhu's words were very serious. He knew that the Lu Mansion alone would not be able to scare the fiery Lin Fangda, so he had to use Luo Tianjin to pressure him. After hearing what Sikong Zhu said, Shen Dongshan's heart sank, and he thought to himself, "What a good 'guest follows the host's will', what a good 'host's territory'. My assassination was just a pretext for him to embarrass Liu Xunyi. Tomorrow's Jinpen Retirement Conference will be held in the Lu Mansion, and there will be many masters. What big waves can a little Liu Xunyi make? Sikong Zhu is clearly taking advantage of the issue to kill a chicken to scare the monkey in front of everyone and establish the prestige of the Jiangnan Lu Mansion. After all, it is still to build momentum for the Lu Mansion to successfully obtain the Jingfenghuayutu tomorrow."

After hearing the words "Lord Luo", Lin Fangda's firm belief suddenly weakened. He could disregard his own life and death for Liu Xunyi, but he could not ignore Luo Tianjin's reputation. At this moment, even his hand holding the knife began to tremble slightly.

"On one side is an unknown upstart, and on the other side are the Jiangnan Lu Mansion and Dongshan Company. Which side do you think Lord Luo will choose to stand on?" Sikong Zhu's words were like needles, piercing Lin Fangda's heart. "My son and Mr. Shen are both friends of Lord Luo. Since you are from the Xianwang Mansion, you should share Lord Luo's worries and not cause trouble for him outside. My Jiangnan Lu Mansion has decided to take this little brother down tonight. If you still have Lord Luo in your eyes, Lin Fangda, then get out of the way!" Sikong Zhu's tone did not leave any room for negotiation. It was obvious that he had already given Lin Fangda an ultimatum. "If you insist on not giving in, then this old man will have to take you down together and hand you over to Lord Luo for disposal. I believe that Lord Luo will be fair and impartial and give my son and Mr. Shen a satisfactory explanation."

Sikong Zhu must win tonight. If the Lu Mansion in Jiangnan cannot even deal with a small Lin Fangda, how can they deal with the martial arts heroes' coveting of the Jingfenghuayutu tomorrow?
"This……"

"Good lesson! Master Zhu's lesson is great!"

Sikong Zhu was about to finish his words when a deep and loud voice suddenly came from outside Sushui Pavilion, followed by a burly middle-aged man who walked into the lobby with a smile on his face.

As soon as he saw this person, Lin Fangda's uneasy heart suddenly calmed down. The savior had finally come.

……

(End of this chapter)