Chapter 557: If You're Going to Make Trouble, Make It Big
At that moment, the lamp guardian came to report:
“The Crown Prince of Chiyan has arrived and is waiting outside the tower.”
The Monster Emperor paced back again and looked at the sky outside. Night had already deepened. “Summon him in.”
* * *
Before the sun had even fully set, the commoners of Lingxu City had already begun getting off work and heading home in waves. Thus, both the main roads and the han carriages entered their peak evening traffic.
The city had regulations: during the hour of the rabbit[1] and the hour of the monkey[2]—in other words, one two-hour window each in the morning and evening—the main avenues allowed only horses, bo beast carriages, han carriages, and monsters to pass, so as to prevent traffic from locking up.
Anyone who could ride in a carriage or on a bo beast was either rich or noble. To put it plainly, these two time windows restricted commoners from taking private vehicles. They could only use the public han carriages.
The han carriage He Lingchuan boarded had forty people crammed into it. Forget seats, there was not even room to plant both feet properly. Pressed right up against him was a broad auntie who was about as wide as she was tall, her head buried directly in his chest.
That joyous feeling from his previous life, when rush hour meant intimate physical contact with total strangers, had returned once more.
The main road was jammed with carriages and mounts, so the han carriage could only lurch forward in starts and stops.
The total distance was barely five kilometers, yet the ride still jolted on for more than an hour. Only then did He Lingchuan finally reach his stop, and it took him considerable effort to squeeze his way off the carriage.
The auntie behind him looked oddly wistful.
After another fifteen minutes of walking, and after asking three different passersby for directions, He Lingchuan finally arrived at his destination.
He looked up at the signboard of the shop before him, which read “Songyang Mansion.”
The facade of this branch was bigger and far more glamorous than even Songyang Mansion’s main headquarters in Shihuan City of Yuan. That made sense. In the most prosperous capital under heaven, the grander and more impressive your establishment looked, the higher the rank of the customers it attracted.
Passing through the eight double doors, one immediately saw a spirit screen[3] over six meters high carved with a relief of the Wolong River. The waterfall flowed, cranes flew, clouds drifted, the entire majestic river scene had been compressed into a single wall.
Most miraculous of all, it came with sound effects.
The waterfall thundered, and the birds cried sharply overhead. Even though the sounds repeated in cycles, the mere fact that there was sound was enough to draw people in.
Many passersby encountering it for the first time would stop in their tracks to watch.
By putting the craftsmanship that made Songyang Mansion famous right here at the entrance, they did more to attract customers than any clerk standing outside could ever manage.
He Lingchuan greatly appreciated this massive spirit screen. Once he stepped behind it, prying eyes from outside were cut off, assuming there were any.
A smiling clerk came forward. “First time here, honored guest? Shall I give you an introduction?”
There were not many customers in the shop. He Lingchuan produced a venomous fang dagger and set it openly on the counter, while the clerk’s expression grew guarded.
“This dagger was custom-made for me by Songyang Mansion. It’s gone dull. I heard the maker is here, so I came to have it sharpened.”
The clerk studied the dagger. “Which grandmaster crafted this?”
He Lingchuan smiled. “Take it to the back. Someone there will recognize it.”
The clerk was half doubtful, half convinced, but still took the dagger and hurried off.
He Lingchuan wandered about the front hall casually, but in truth, he was keeping a covert watch on the entrance.
Several customers came and went in succession. None of them looked like spies.
After a little over ten breaths, the clerk came rushing back, his smile now much more eager. “Honored guest, please come with me!”
This branch, like the others, had a front sales area, a middle appraisal area, and workshops in the back.
Only here, the front area was the largest by far. The middle and rear sections were both smaller than those in Shihuan City. In other words, the storefront was stunning, but the back premises were much tighter.
That was only natural. This was the main district of Lower Lingxu City. The rent on this shop for two or three days would have been enough to cover a whole month’s expenses for He Chunhua’s family of four.
When He Lingchuan reached the second floor of the workshop, he saw Li Qingge.
She wore a plain, light blouse with a peach-red outer jacket draped over it, perfectly echoing the fiery red five-leaf creeper outside the window.
Is the person set inside the painting, or the painting arranged beside the person? For a moment, He Lingchuan could not tell.
The clerk withdrew at once.
Li Qingge smiled. “Come, come, Special Envoy He, have a seat!”
He Lingchuan sat down and saw a cup of bright red drink on the table, its color as rich as blood.
“Is that for me, or for Fushan Yue?”
“You don’t like pomegranate juice?” Li Qingge somehow produced half a pomegranate from nowhere and waved it at him. “At this season, Lingxu City’s pomegranates are the sweetest and the reddest.”
And indeed, the seeds in her hand were such a deep crimson they were almost purple.
Incidentally, her face, too, was flushed with a rosy whiteness.
He Lingchuan then watched as she opened a paper packet and poured a pale yellow powder into the cup.
What’s that?
His eyes nearly went wide. “You’re really adding something to my drink right in front of me?” Is she not even bothering to hide it anymore?
“What are you thinking?” Li Qingge burst into laughter. “It’s citrus powder. It improves the flavor. Want to try?”
What kind of man drinks fruit juice? Even so, He Lingchuan still lifted the cup and took a sip. “Mm, yes, very nice.” It was too sweet for him. He did not like it.
“How has Your Lordship and Second Boss Shi been doing on the road?”
He Lingchuan, Li Qingge, and Second Boss Shi had separated back in Tai’an City in the State of Chiyan. Their two groups had continued on toward Lingxu City by different routes while he stayed behind to investigate the case for Fushan Yue.
“Very well indeed. Sure enough, once we parted ways with you, the road became perfectly peaceful.”
That conclusion left He Lingchuan with only a wry smile.
It did rather seem that way.
“Second Boss Shi is still in Lingxu City. Have you met him yet?”
He Lingchuan shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Want me to pass on a message?”
“No need. It’s better if he doesn’t get involved in my affairs right now.” Second Boss Shi knew part of He Lingchuan’s background. Since Bai Ziqi was watching He Lingchuan closely, it would be bad if he got dragged in by association.
He Lingchuan took out a small cloud brocade flag from his storage ring. “In a few days, please give this flag to Shi Er on the Marquis’s behalf. He’ll understand immediately.”
When He Lingchuan had left Demon Nest Swamp and gone looking for a caravan bound for Lingxu City, he had already reached an agreement with the Stone Gate Merchant Guild: once he arrived in Lingxu City, he would hand Zhu Erniang’s pass token over to them. From then on, the Stone Gate Merchant Guild would be able to pass through Demon Nest Swamp and act as the agents for the burrow spiders’ exclusive trade.
But too many changes had happened along the way. He Lingchuan had even parted ways with the Stone Gate Merchant Caravan back in Tai’an Town of Chiyan. Now that he had already arrived in Lingxu City, it was time to fulfill his side of the agreement.
Li Qingge did not ask further. She accepted the flag and tucked it away, then sighed. “You’re afraid of troubling Second Boss Shi, but you’re not afraid of troubling me?”
He Lingchuan smiled. “Songyang Mansion has a storefront here. I’ve come as a customer.”
Li Qingge had been studying him all this time. “I’ve heard a little about Young Master He’s activities in Baishajue.”
“The news has spread so quickly?” He Lingchuan was delighted. This isn’t even Yuan, yet Li Qingge’s information network is still so sharp.
For someone as unfamiliar with the place as he was, that was excellent news.
“Zhongsun Mou vanished in Baishajue, the Minister of Finance’s son-in-law was arrested, and Qingfu Temple burned to the ground. Those stories have all been spreading through Lingxu City these past few days.” Li Qingge smiled. “Tell me, are these things connected?”
“Yes.” He Lingchuan did not go into the details. “How much do you know about the circumstances of Zhongsun Mou’s disappearance?”
“What I heard was that Zhongsun Mou was abducted in Baishajue by an aberrant creature, and that creature was one of Cen Boqing’s subordinates.”
“And what else?” He tapped his own chest. “Was I mentioned at all?”
“Mmm... no.” Li Qingge thought for a moment. “What I heard was that Zhongsun Mou wanted to treat the matter as a spy case, but the Crown Prince of Chiyan obstructed him at every turn. As for you, our great hero, you were rendered invisible.”
What sort of figure was He Lingchuan? He simply did not rank highly enough to be put on the gossip table in Lingxu City.
“If you ask me, that’s a good thing for you.” Ordinary people ought to stay as far as possible from the whirlpools of the imperial capital.
“Where did Your Lordship hear these rumors?”
“Everywhere.” Li Qingge found the question amusing. “What, are you trying to probe my source of information?”
Young Master He had always known when to stop.
“There are usually many versions of any rumor.” And that should especially be the case with this scandal being as large as it is.
Li Qingge gave him a meaningful look. “From beginning to end, I’ve only heard this one version.”
“Then maybe someone deliberately spread it, so everyone would stick to the same story.”
“Who knows?” Li Qingge adjusted her posture, looking even more languid than before.
“In that case, the Zhongsun Family may not even know a person like me exists?”
“Hard to say. Didn’t Zhongsun Mou bring attendants with him to Baishajue?”
“He did.”
“If those attendants made it back to Lingxu City, then your conflict with Zhongsun Mou won’t remain hidden.” Li Qingge picked out a pomegranate seed and popped it into her mouth. “Are you worried they’ll come looking for trouble?”
“I’d like to ask Your Lordship for a favor,” He Lingchuan said with a smile. “Let them know that I’ve already arrived in Lingxu City.”
Li Qingge stopped chewing. The look she gave him was tinged with surprise.
That answer had genuinely caught her off guard.
“You want to notify them?”
The Zhongsun Family still had some real standing in Lingxu City.
“Yes.” He Lingchuan then asked her, “Would that be difficult?”
“It can be done. But while the message is being passed around, others may hear of it too.”
He Lingchuan frowned.
Li Qingge thought he found that troublesome, but instead, he suddenly slapped his palm against the table and laughed. “Excellent! What a brilliant reminder, Your Lordship! Better yet, let all of Lingxu City know! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”
If he was going to stir something up, then he might as well make it big.
Li Qingge set down the pomegranate and said seriously, “Young Master, playing with fire is dangerous.”
“I’m already in the middle of danger. One step back and it’s the abyss.” He Lingchuan’s smile vanished as well. “The more public this becomes, and the more people who know who I am, the safer I’ll be.” Then he thought for a moment more before asking, “What kind of reputation did Zhongsun Mou have in Lingxu City?”
Li Qingge covered her mouth and laughed. “His great-grandfather, Zhongsun Chi, was quite famous in his day. Early on, he even persuaded two aquatic races to surrender to Beijia, which greatly strengthened Lingxu City’s underwater forces. But by Zhongsun Mou’s generation? He was just another ordinary son of an official family. He’s nothing especially outstanding.”
A fish whose name is Chi[4]? He Lingchuan found that rather amusing.
“Zhongsun Mou also held office as a touring commissioner.” He Lingchuan did not understand Lingxu City’s official hierarchy well enough, but judging from how even Fushan Yue had not dared casually kill Zhongsun Mou while he still carried that title, it clearly counted for something.
If Mai Xuewen had not intervened, Zhongsun Mou could probably have swaggered through Baishajue sideways without anyone stopping him.
“If a son of an official family wants an official career, how can he do without even holding office?” Li Qingge was quite well informed about Lingxu City. “Three to four hundred years ago, the post of touring commissioner was something only the Lord Emperor’s trusted confidants or supervisory envoys could hold. They were sent down to inspect local conditions, observe the people’s lives, and test whether policy was actually being carried out, all to prevent bureaucrats from deceiving the throne. But the greater the power of a touring commissioner, the more disputes it became entangled in, and the less comfortable the Lord Emperor felt with the office. By now, touring commissioner is only an honorary title and post. The Lord Emperor has long since adopted other methods to inspect local governance.”
1. 5–7 A.M. ☜
2. 3–5 P.M. ☜
3. As per Wikipedia, a spirit screen, also called a spirit wall, screen wall, yingbi, or zhaobi, is used to shield an entrance gate in traditional Chinese architecture. ☜
4. The name can mean “to gallop.” ☜
