Chen Qing Imagined Prince Yi Raising Witch Soldiers; Prince An Fell Silent at the Letters
The wind on the riverbank carried the smoke of gunpowder downstream, and the reeds brushed against Chen Qing's sleeves, leaving damp, cold watermarks.
He lay prone in the mud, not daring to lift his head.
The Shu brocade in the sky had dissipated, and the remaining sparks fell into the night, but the riverbank became even more lively.
Silk merchants, cloth shop owners, and Gan Lingmu surrounded Uncle Fu, their shouts of price pressing down on each other.
Uncle Fu stood under the lamp stand with the contract in his hand, and whoever offered the highest price, he would write down their business name in his notebook.
"One thousand one hundred taels of silver, and the Shu brocade pattern is mine!"
"I'll offer 1,200 taels, and I'll take the spot in the lantern market too!"
"Manager Zhang, your shop sells linen, what are you doing here?"
"Even linen can be woven with flowers. I'll have my name engraved on it first, and silk shops will naturally come looking for me next year!"
Chen Qing swallowed hard.
This group of people has gone mad.
A group of merchants who were usually very meticulous about every penny actually emptied their bags of silver for a few balls of fire that flew into the sky.
He had initially assumed these people were after Prince Yi's reputation, but the more he looked at them, the more suspicious he became.
On the west side of the riverbank, Xue Huan's men were carrying bamboo tubes.
The bamboo tubes were of different thicknesses and wrapped with hemp rope. The men carried them with extreme care, even speaking in hushed tones.
Others carried wooden crates, going in and out of the back door of the shed. The crates were covered with white cloth, and occasionally the soft clinking of porcelain could be heard from inside.
Chen Qing stared at the boxes, his palms sweating profusely.
What's underneath the white cloth?
Poison powder? Poisonous sand refined from a cesspool?
Or was it an evil object used by Prince Yi to forge witch weapons?
He recalled that a few days ago, he had personally witnessed long lines of people outside the public toilet in the south of the city.
Those people rushed in, and came out all in high spirits.
At the time, he only felt that Prince Yi was strange.
Now, as I piece those events together, a chill runs down my spine.
They repaired irrigation canals, dug underground ditches, collected manure for fertilizer, smelted iron, made bamboo tubes, and then used fireworks to lure merchants from all over the city to the riverbank...
Prince Yi, this is clearly using the entire city's population to raise a witch army!
Chen Qing's breathing became erratic.
He saw Batuer standing beside the launch pad, wearing a thick coat and holding iron pliers in his hand.
Several wooden boxes containing medicine were placed at his feet, and there was not a trace of a smile on his face.
When Chen Qing saw that heroic face, her heart softened for a moment, but then fear overwhelmed her.
Brother Ba is trapped in Prince Yi's Residence.
Those people made Brother Ba guard the evil thing for them, and also made him lead thirty ruffians to practice shield formation.
Brother Ba is straightforward by nature; how could he possibly know that Prince Yi was secretly plotting such a momentous event?
"No."
Chen Qing braced himself on the ground, his knees covered in mud and water.
"I have to save him."
He emerged from the reeds and, using the shade of the riverbank, hurried towards the city.
When I reached the alley entrance, a cargo cart was parked against the wall, with empty bamboo baskets piled on it and a few sheets of old hemp paper lining the bottom of the baskets.
Chen Qing climbed onto the cart and took out his charcoal pencil.
The moment the pen touched the paper, it was punctured.
He stared at the hole, his fingers trembled twice, and then he picked up a different piece of paper.
"Your Highness Prince An, please consider this..."
He stopped writing here.
Chen Qing glanced towards the riverbank.
There were still embers in the night sky, which, from a distance, looked as if someone had crushed the stars and scattered them down.
Stars?
Isn't our Prince An named Gu Mochen?
Wow! So that's how it is!
He gritted his teeth and continued writing.
"Under the guise of repairing canals, setting up toilets, and opening shops, Prince Yi collected all the filth in the city and recruited mountain bandits, refugees, and former soldiers to train them day and night."
Tonight, a demon fire will be set on the riverbank. Within the fire, images of rice ears, waterwheels, and Shu brocade will appear. Merchants who see this will rush to offer silver, and the onlookers will all lose their composure.
The faster he wrote his Chen Qing, the more sweat beaded on his forehead.
"After lying in wait for many days, my subordinates have discovered that a large number of bamboo tubes, medicines, and ironware are hidden in the workshop of Prince Yi's Residence. They use the name of a business as bait, but in reality, they are accumulating wealth to support assassins."
Yi Prefecture has likely become a haven for witch doctors and soldiers; further delay will surely lead to disaster.
"The demonic flames in the sky resembled scattered stars, signifying that Your Highness would surely perish!"
At the end, he added one more sentence.
" The Shopkeeper Ba is also among them and may be under duress. We hope Your Highness will find a way to rescue him."
Chen Qing rolled up the letter and stuffed it into a thin bamboo tube.
A dog barked from the end of the alley. He hunched his shoulders and frantically pulled the carrier pigeon from under the car.
The grey and white carrier pigeons, impatient with his covering, fluttered their wings and pecked at the back of his hand.
"Stop fooling around, go to Anyang, fly carefully, or Brother Ba will be finished."
Chen Qing tied the bamboo tube to the pigeon's leg, lifted the pigeon with both hands, and sent it into the air.
The carrier pigeon circled the alley entrance once, skimmed over the wall, and headed north.
Chen Qing stood on the cart, looking up as the gray shadow disappeared.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead, but I still felt uneasy.
The people in Prince Yi's Residence are too good at pretending.
Everyone seemed to be living a happy and carefree life.
But the more it's like this, the more frightening it becomes.
The truly terrifying people never display their knives on the table.
Chen Qing jumped off the cart and brushed the mud off his robe.
" Brother Ba, you wait."
"Although I, Chen Qing, am merely an undercover agent for Prince An, I am still filled with loyalty and righteousness."
Once the Second Prince sends someone over, I will definitely rescue you from Prince Yi's Residence.
A gust of wind blew through the alley, and the empty bamboo basket rolled and bumped into the corner of the wall.
On the other side of the riverbank, Uncle Fu had already collected the third stack of deeds.
Su Yao lowered her head and started working on the abacus, her fingers moving quickly and steadily.
"One thousand one hundred taels for rice ears, five hundred taels for waterwheels, and one thousand five hundred taels for Shu brocade. Two other companies want to reserve spots at next year's lantern market; deposits are due."
Gu Moran, draped in a white fox fur coat, stood beside her, holding a cup of hot tea. After listening to the accounts, he coughed and nodded.
Lin Qingdai followed his gaze and placed her hand on the hilt of the knife.
There was some movement in the reeds just now.
"I know." Gu Moran took a sip of hot tea. "It's Chen Qing; he needs to write it. The more he writes, the greater his merit."
Yun Shuyue, wrapped in a snow-white cloak, tumbled down from the riverbank, a few reeds stuck to the edge of her snowman hat.
"Your Highness, I've noted down those few suspicious figures on the east side."
One was selling steamed buns, another was carrying a load on a shoulder pole, and the third was hiding behind a cart.
As she spoke, she moved closer to Gu Moran and whispered, "Should I go and bring him back now?"
"Need not."
Gu Moran handed her the hot tea in his hand.
"Catching them now would only alert them. Have a couple of drinks to warm yourself up."
Yun Shuyue took the tea, her ears feeling a little hot.
"I'm not that delicate."
Murong Xue walked over with her arms crossed, and upon hearing this, she chuckled.
"Just drink it when I tell you to."
Yun Shuyue hugged her teacup tightly, not daring to retort.
Gu Moran looked at the people busy cleaning up on the riverbank, a slight smile on his lips.
The fire was just set ablaze tonight.
Some were busy vying for naming rights, some were busy calculating profits, and some were busy sending secret messages.
The pot in Yi Prefecture is getting hotter and hotter.
The nights in Anyang are drier and colder than those in Yi Prefecture.
Charcoal was burning in the study of Prince An's Residence, but the windows were still letting in drafts.
The lamp flame on the table was blown askew, Gu Mochen raised his hand to protect the flame, his face grim.
Two secret letters were laid out on the table.
One letter was a Chen Qing, stating that Yi Prefecture was extensively repairing public toilets, collecting filth, and transporting manure carts at night, suspecting that Prince Yi was concocting evil spirits.
Another letter just arrived; it was from Zheng Hao.
Gu Mochen had already read it three times; there were only four words in it.
" Chen Qing has gone mad."