The three brothers were eating river fish and drinking wine, swaying all the way back to Hangzhou.
When they arrived in Hangzhou, it was already evening, but the dock was still bustling with countless laborers moving goods back and forth.
Yang Ge and Yang Tiansheng, holding an oil-paper umbrella, jumped onto the dock one after the other, and Li Jincheng was about to follow them with his robe’s hem lifted but was stopped by Yang Ge on the shore, "You just go back directly. Don’t enter the city."
Li Jincheng glanced at the dim sky and said in frustration, "Not even giving me dinner?"
Yang Ge didn’t say much else, just grabbed Yang Tiansheng, turned around, waved his hand without turning back, and said, "We’ll meet again."
Yang Tiansheng, "We’ll meet again."
Li Jincheng watched the brothers’ departing figures with frustration, clasping his hands in front of him, "I’ll be waiting for your letter!"
Yang Ge, "Can’t you hope for something good for me?"
Li Jincheng, "If good things were happening to you, you wouldn’t leave. I might as well hope you get beaten to a pulp... "
Yang Ge, "Get lost!"
As he heard Yang Ge’s angry curse, Li Jincheng, grinning, turned around. He took the bright red oil-paper umbrella, lightly twirling it like a dandelion, and it spun and fluttered into the air.
A burly figure in a short jacket leaped to catch the oil-paper umbrella, landed on a flat boat, folded the umbrella in his hands, and handed it back to Li Jincheng, "Young leader, why the rush?"
Li Jincheng smiled without answering, "Wang Er, pick three hundred competent men to be on standby in Hangzhou, and have the rest follow me back immediately."
The burly figure, "Immediately?"
Li Jincheng nodded reluctantly, "Yes, immediately!"
...
The Ming Sect’s base was already deserted, leaving only Wei Xin and several core members of Qingmu Hall still there, wrapping up the final tasks.
In the deserted courtyard and houses, only the faint sound of rain echoed through.
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As he pushed open the door, the chilly emptiness of a clearing crowd hit him...
"Fine."
Yang Tiansheng stood inside the gate, looked around dispiritedly, and turned to Yang Ge, "There’s no one left to cook, so we brothers should just make do with something outside."
"Listen to you."
Yang Ge rolled up his sleeves and strode towards the kitchen, "Traveling with your brother, do you think I’d let you eat just any West Lake vinegar fish?"
Yang Tiansheng hurried after him, "As long as you’re willing to cook, not just ’brother,’ I’d willingly call you ’godfather’ a hundred times!"
"Oh..."
Yang Ge shivered, rubbing the goose bumps on his skin, "All the teakettle steam!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Xin came out to meet them, and after seeing the brothers, he gave Yang Tiansheng an inquiring look.
Yang Tiansheng gave Yang Ge’s back a thumbs up.
Seeing this, Wei Xin, with a face full of admiration, also gave Yang Ge’s back a thumbs up.
Yang Ge pretended not to notice the small gestures of the two men and, without turning his head, said, "You guys should head back to Fengyang first thing in the morning."
Yang Tiansheng: "So urgent?"
Yang Ge: "There’s no choice, if I linger in Hangzhou any longer, that old fox will start to suspect..."
Yang Tiansheng tsked and spread one hand toward Wei Xin.
Wei Xin hastily took out a stack of neatly arranged documents from his chest and handed them to Yang Tiansheng.
Yang Tiansheng took the documents and waved Wei Xin off.
Wei Xin stopped, bowed with his fists clasped towards the backs of the two men, and then turned to leave.
Yang Tiansheng, holding the stack of documents, quickly caught up to Yang Ge and handed them over: "These are the details of the Ning Wang’s mansion secretly gathered from the Jiangzhe branches by Wei Xin himself. I’m not sure if they will be useful, you’ll have to decide."
Yang Ge took the documents and opened them; the first one was a portrait of Prince Zhao Liang... not the abstract kind found on wanted posters, but a finely detailed realistic brush painting.
In the painting, a dignified middle-aged man dressed in a golden-red round-necked robe, holding a Jade Ruyi in his hand, sat high on a Taishi Chair, his tiger-like eyes brimming with spirited solemnity.
"Very useful."
He neatly folded the stack of documents and securely tucked them into his chest: "Thanks!"
Yang Tiansheng chuckled: "Still being so formal with me... really."
Yang Ge also laughed: "Come on, brother, let me show you another specialty. You’ll get to try the famous dish from my hometown, twice-cooked pork!"
Yang Tiansheng rubbed his hands together: "That’s more like it... By the way, I’ve known you so long and I still don’t know where you’re from."
"My hometown..."
Yang Ge paused for a long time before asking: "Do you know Gan Ning of the Jinfan Pirates?"
Yang Tiansheng asked uncertainly: "The fierce general of Eastern Wu, Gan Ning Gan Xingba?"
Yang Ge nodded: "He’s from my hometown."
Yang Tiansheng scratched his head: "Why didn’t you just say where you’re from instead of beating around the bush? How would I know where Gan Xingba is from?"
Yang Ge laughed: "I’ve traveled too far... and for too long, I don’t even know what my hometown is called now. How could I tell you?"
Yang Tiansheng looked at him suspiciously: "How can someone not know the name of their own hometown? You’re not just making up a place to fool me, are you?"
Yang Ge couldn’t be bothered with him: "Believe it or not!"
"Alright, alright!"
Yang Tiansheng waved his hand: "Fine, I won’t ask anymore, alright?"
Yang Ge had lost the desire to talk, focusing instead on sifting through the ingredients in the kitchen, looking for usable ones.
...
The next morning, Yang Ge bid farewell to Yang Tiansheng and set off alone toward Ninghai.
He hid the Cold Moon Blade inside an ancient zither, changed into an azure scholar’s robe, disguised as a scholar traveling to enjoy the scenery, and alternately traveled by water and land, making his way circuitously through Shaoxing Prefecture and Jinhua Prefecture before entering Taizhou Prefecture.
It took seven days to finally reach the territory of Prince Ning, Ninghai County.
Upon entering Ninghai County, he did not recklessly barge into Prince Ning’s residence. Instead, he found an abandoned dilapidated wooden hut in the city to hide, passively collecting traces of Prince Ning while quietly observing the layout of Prince Ning’s mansion according to the information provided by Yang Tiansheng...