Business Arrives

With the deaths of the three Black Cloaks and the snatching of Qin Tian's corpse, the chaos that Wen Qingkong and Li Lan'er witnessed was just the beginning.

In the following days, the streets were in constant uproar. The soldiers of the Five City Garrison were arresting people everywhere, while various gangs in the Capital City took advantage of the situation to exploit the common people.

Fortunately, the Corpse Seamstress Workshop had always been considered an unlucky place, so Wen Qingkong found himself relatively undisturbed.

In these past few days, convicts, constantly shouting about their innocence, were escorted to the Caishikou Execution Grounds to be beheaded and displayed to the public.

After each execution, people would desperately try to snatch the still-warm blood from the severed head, soaking it with steamed buns to treat tuberculosis.

Because those beheaded were ordinary people and involved with the White Lotus Sect, no one even claimed their bodies. In the end, they were all taken to the Public Cemetery outside the city.

Naturally, Wen Qingkong had no business.

"Injustice!"

"Injustice, I tell you!"

At noon, Wen Qingkong heard the familiar cries again from inside the Corpse Seamstress Workshop Number Nine.

Clearly, someone else had been captured by the Five City Garrison and was about to be beheaded.

The Black Cloaks had been killed, so they had to execute a lot of people to let His Majesty the Emperor know how hard the officials below were working and how much they had accomplished.

Wen Qingkong went out and arrived at the Caishikou Execution Grounds, slightly surprised because the soldiers guarding the grounds were noticeably doubled this time.

The execution supervisor in charge of overseeing the execution also looked nervous, constantly looking at the sun, paying attention to whether it was noon yet.

Wen Qingkong frowned and looked at the prisoner on the execution ground.

The prisoner was around fifty years old, with graying hair, a straight posture, and piercing eyes. His voice was deep and resonant, clearly someone with internal strength.

He was a little surprised. The soldiers of the Five City Garrison only bullied ordinary people, so how could a martial arts expert be captured?

And even be escorted to the execution ground to be beheaded?

Wen Qingkong looked at the crowd of onlookers and saw an old woman in her fifties, surrounded by a group of young men and women, all with expressions of grief and indignation.

"Heaven above, I, Zhao Xuan, am innocent!"

"This is a frame-up!"

"It's that eunuch named Jia who's framing me!"

The man's voice was hoarse, and his expression was grief-stricken, clearly indicating that there was more to the story.

The execution supervisor looked at the sky and hurriedly threw down the wooden plaque for immediate execution, shouting, "Behead him!"

The executioner immediately raised his executioner's blade, his eyes fierce. After exhaling and opening his mouth, he brought the blade down in one swift motion!

Zhao Xuan's cries of injustice came to an abrupt end.

As his head rolled to the ground.

The old woman's voice in the crowd was as sharp as the clang of swords.

"Sir, can this old woman collect the body now?"

The execution supervisor hurriedly wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking sheepish. "Of course, of course you can."

The execution was over, his task was complete, and he didn't need to offend the family of the condemned.

Some people in the crowd wanted to snatch the warm blood from the head, but before they could get close, they were forced back by the young men with their swords.

The sword's edge was cold and gleaming.

The ordinary people retreated in fear.

Wen Qingkong figured that perhaps his business was about to come.

He stepped forward, only to hear a woman's voice filled with anger: "Mother, are we just going to let this go? Let's fight that eunuch named Jia!"

"Silence!"

The old woman shouted, her eyes bright, with deep sorrow hidden within.

How could her heart not ache when her husband, with whom she had spent her entire life, had been wrongly killed?

But what could she do?

If they were going to resist, they could have resisted when her husband was alive. Why wait until after his death to let her disciples and daughters seek revenge for him?

"Min'er, that Jia is just a steward eunuch of the Imperial Estate. If your father really wanted to kill him, couldn't he have done it?"

"But that eunuch named Jia's foster father is Jia Jin, the ninth leader of the Black Cloaks. We can't afford to offend the Black Cloaks."

"If you go and kill that eunuch named Jia now, you'll have a moment of satisfaction, but what then?"

"Your father's security company will have to disband, and your son will have to follow you as you flee for your lives. Is that what your father would want to see?"

The old woman's eyes were red. Her heart also ached, but she had to protect the security company, protect her husband's legacy. She couldn't just seek momentary gratification and let this vast enterprise vanish into thin air.

The daughter didn't speak, remaining silent, her hands clenched into fists, her fingernails digging into her flesh.

She really hated it!

But as the old woman said, those were the Black Cloaks. They couldn't afford to offend the Black Cloaks!

"Halt!"

Suddenly, a sharp shout came from his ear.

The old woman and her daughter looked in the direction of the sound and saw a fifteen-year-old boy in plain clothes, his eyes clear and bright as stars, his body standing tall like a green pine. He cupped his fist in greeting and said, "I'm from the Corpse Seamstress House. Your father's head is separated from his body. Don't you want him to have a complete corpse?"

The old woman and her daughter exchanged glances.

Of course, they knew about the Corpse Seamstress House.

"Wasn't the Corpse Seamstress House disbanded?"

People like them who traveled as escorts always studied the court's policies very carefully. Others might not know about the disbanding of the Corpse Seamstress House, but they did.

Wen Qingkong said, "The Corpse Seamstress House was indeed disbanded, but people should be buried with a complete corpse. I bought a Corpse Seamstress House from the court, and now I'm doing the stitching work."

Wen Qingkong didn't elaborate, but the old woman and her daughter understood what he meant. He bought a Corpse Seamstress House and started a stitching business.

But how good could his skills be, being so young?

Wouldn't it be a sin if he stitched the corpse up messily?

"Don't worry, both of you. My stitching skills were among the best of the previous corpse seamstresses."

Wen Qingkong's eyes were like lightning, seeing through their worries at a glance.

The old woman was surprised by Wen Qingkong's perceptiveness.

She nodded, "Alright!"

Currently, the only corpse seamstress left in the Capital City was probably this young man. They had no other choice.

"Rest assured, Madam, I will definitely return a complete corpse to you."

The old woman ordered her disciples to carry Zhao Xuan's body to Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine.

Wen Qingkong thought to himself that his business had finally arrived.

Once they arrived at Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine, they placed Zhao Xuan's body on the cold operating table.

Wen Qingkong cupped his fist in greeting, "Everyone, please come promptly at Chen hour tomorrow morning to take the body away."

The old woman nodded and casually left a hundred-tael silver note.

"Madam, ten taels of silver is enough."

The old woman waved her hand, "A mere hundred taels of silver is just a small token of my appreciation. I hope Mr. Wen can treat my husband with care, striving for perfection so that he can be reincarnated smoothly."

Wen Qingkong was doing this to make money, so naturally, he wouldn't refuse the hundred-tael silver note.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Please rest assured, Madam, I will definitely satisfy you tomorrow morning."

The old woman nodded slightly and left Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine accompanied by her daughter and disciples.

Wen Qingkong put away the hundred-tael silver note and was about to fetch water when he saw Li Lan'er already carrying a basin of hot water, trembling and pale, walking to his side and placing it next to the corpse on the cold operating table.

Wen Qingkong noticed that her hands were still shaking, so he smiled and said, "You don't have to do this. Just take care of Shuang'er."

Li Lan'er stubbornly shook her head, "No, you bought me, giving me a chance to live. I am endlessly grateful and can only do my best to do some things, hoping not to become a burden to you."