Chapter 64: A Plan Within a Plan

There is strength in numbers. Soon, all the chicken feet in a large bucket were deboned. The deboned chicken feet looked very good.

Pour the prepared sauce in, mix well, and finally pour half a bottle of chili oil.

Hiss, my saliva starts to flow!

Chicken feet, after adding so many onions, coriander, lemon and other ingredients, have become nearly two buckets of cold dishes.

Xie Yanyan divided it into two buckets, placed a large bag of edible ice cubes transferred from the space on top of each bucket, wrapped it with oil paper, and tied the mouth tightly to block the bucket mouth.

He also handed over a wooden barrel of ice and said to Zhou Shaoyu, "Use ice to surround the barrel of chicken feet. It's best to marinate them for more than two hours before eating. Under refrigerated conditions, they can be stored for three days without any problem, and at most ten days. Any longer than that won't work."

It's hot now, and there's no air conditioning or refrigerator. Even with a lid on, the ice for Zhou Shaoyu probably won't last long.

But Zhou Shaoyu should be able to get ice himself.

Zhou Shaoyu handed both buckets to Zhou Jin and told him to ride back as fast as he could with the contents and put them in a cool place.

Zhou Jin hung the wooden barrel on both sides of the saddle and rode away.

Xie Yanyan remembered the thoughts of King Xi and Xie Xiangxiang, pondered for a while, and said to Zhou Shaoyu: "Before King Xi took Xie Xiangxiang away, they talked about something in the pavilion. I heard them say that there is a huge gold mine at the foot of Tiansha Mountain in Shuzhou, Jindi."

Zhou Shaoyu was shocked. At the foot of Tiansha Mountain in Shuzhou, Jin?

The last time King Xi wrote in his letter, it was written at the foot of Shensuo Mountain in Laizhou, Jin!

He wrote down the two addresses and suddenly felt annoyed. "You're so good, Fu Rui. Last time you said that Jindi Laizhou, at the foot of Shensuo Mountain was just a smokescreen, right?"

When he arrived in Jin, he found that there was no Shensuo Mountain in Laizhou of Jin, but there was a Shenpo Mountain. He thought that the other party had written the word wrong.

It seems that King Xi made the mistake on purpose.

They deceived Emperor Xuanwen and deceived him as well.

“They were going to the Prince of Nanhai’s fiefdom to spread the news that you went to Jin to check out the gold mine for His Majesty, and then they would make a big fortune in Jin. They also said that the Prince of Nanhai was rebelling, Concubine Chun, and there was poison and so on. His guards came, and I hid away, so I didn’t hear clearly.” Xie Yanyan said seriously again.

Zhou Shaoyu still had a smile on his face. What else did he not understand? He had destroyed the old lair of King Xi in Langming Mountain. He was desperate and wanted to take action in advance.

First kill the crown prince, then kill Zhou Shaoyu, thereby provoking a conflict between the emperor and his father. When the two fight, King Xi takes the opportunity to seize power!

[He wants to take advantage of the conflict between my father and His Majesty so that he can reap the benefits? Humph, wishful thinking.]

How did Xie Yanyan hear King Xi's plan? He wondered if Xie Yanyan's hearing was too good, or if King Xi and Xie Xiangxiang were too arrogant and would not lower their voices.

Xie Yanyan had a wooden face and thought, believe it or not, I have told you the information anyway.

The cold-mixed boneless chicken feet were ready, and what he wanted to say was said, Xie Yanyan said to Xie Anfeng: "Let's go."

She kept all 30 chickens Zhou Shaoyu gave her. She had worked hard to make so many chicken feet, so what was wrong with exchanging them for his 30 chickens!

Then I asked Xie Anfeng to kill it and make spicy chicken snacks.

Zhou Shaoyu asked in a mysterious way: "Huangfu Ming's rice shop has been robbed. Do you know who stole it?"

Xie Yanyan shook his head and said in the Central Plains dialect: "I don't know."

Zhou Shaoyu left only after the Xie family's carriage drove away.

Rushing back to the Yicheng Inn, he thought for a while and said to Zhou Jin, "Let's go to Xiangyang. King Xi wants to plot against me, and I'm going to give him some eye drops."

The master and servant arrived in Xiangyang just as the prince was about to set off.

Zhou Shaoyu was sweating profusely and looked anxious. He said to the prince, "I was originally going back to Nanhai to visit my father. I got the news that there were experts lying in ambush in the woods beside the official road leading to Kyoto outside Xiangyang City. I was worried that it would be harmful to Your Highness, so I hurried here to tell Your Highness."

The prince was shocked and asked for the address, which was indeed the only way for him to return to Beijing.

"Can you tell who it is?"

"I don't know! King Xi has been in Xiangyang for three days. Maybe he knows something."

The prince looked a little unhappy. Has he been here for three days?

Do I need to ask? It must have been arranged by my good brother.

His father knew that he came to Xiangyang, but he didn't even try to hide it!

No, this is exactly where King Xi’s cleverness lies.

Everyone knew that he was in Xiangyang, and if something happened he would surely be suspected. However, he did the opposite and did not cover it up, but killed the prince openly.

Even if the emperor asked him about it, he would protest his innocence, "Am I that stupid? How could I do such an obvious thing? Someone must have framed me," and try to clear himself.

"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing. Your Highness, please go back and tell His Majesty that King Xi has sent his confidant to Jin to mine gold again."

Zhou Shaoyu wrote down "At the foot of Shensuo Mountain in Laizhou, Jin" and "At the foot of Tiansha Mountain in Shuzhou, Jin" and showed them to the prince.

It was pointed out that the address King Xi gave last time was false, and some strokes were added deliberately to deceive Your Majesty. Your Majesty did not find any gold mines last time, so he would not take it seriously this time, and King Xi took advantage of the opportunity.

Prince Fu Hong was furious and called Dong Shisan and others over: "I will return to the capital immediately."

Ten identical carriages set off.

Zhou Shaoyu did not follow. He knew that Fu Hong had clothes that Xie Yanyan had bought for him that were invulnerable to swords and knives, and he also knew about the robbery and murder in advance, so he must have made perfect arrangements.

After leaving Xiangyang, Zhou Shaoyu said to Zhou Jin, "Fu Rui wants to lead me to Jin. If I don't go, it will be a waste of his efforts. Go, send people to Jin immediately to mine this gold mine. Before the emperor's people arrive in Jin, take away all the gold that can be moved from the surface."

As for himself, he went back to his father's fiefdom! He wanted to take so many chicken feet back to drink with his father.

The King of Nanhai's fiefdom was in northern Fujian, all the way southeast from Xiangyang.

If he took a horse carriage from Xiangyang to the Nanhai Palace, it would take more than ten days at full speed.

But the news Zhou Huo sent back said that his father was in Qingzhou and it would take him about eight or nine days to arrive.

I found a large vat, put the bucket containing the chicken feet in it, stuffed it with ice, sealed the mouth, and then wrapped it with a quilt.

He drove the carriage at full speed towards Gyeongju.

He remembered what Xie Yanyan said and told the fish to be marinated for two hours before eating.

He prepared it at noon, and only opened it and served out a bowl in the evening. He ate it in small bites at first, savoring it slowly, and then ate one after another, unable to stop.

Zhou Jin was so envious that he said with a wry smile, "Master, give me two as a reward."

"No! Go to the restaurant and order two dishes!"

"Master, I want to eat chicken feet."

Zhou Shaoyu was actually not that stingy and gave him two.

Zhou Jin didn't dare to eat it in big mouthfuls, so he ate it bit by bit. It was so sour and crisp that it really swallowed his tongue.

He never cared much about food before, but a real man has ambitions, how can he just think about food?

Now he wants to eat boneless chicken feet every day, so it doesn’t matter if people scold him for having no ambition.

Zhou Shaoyu refused to give it anymore.

"Master, could you give me some of the pickled vegetables inside?"

They had never seen onions before and didn't know what kind of vegetable it was.

The chilled onions are soaked in sour, sweet and spicy juice, which removes the sharpness of the onions themselves, making them crispy but not spicy, and have a unique flavor.

Zhou Shaoyu gave him a chopstick and said to him, "This is the last time. You are not allowed to ask for it again. Otherwise, you will return to your father."

Really, I've been with you since childhood, and we've been together for more than ten years, but you didn't even give me a bite to eat. How could you be such a prince? !

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, welcome the God of Wealth!

(End of this chapter)