On the Eve of Chapter 87

When Li Yang returned, Cen Yan didn't let go of Zhuang Dongqing's hand. Zhuang Dongqing tried to pull away several times but failed. Realizing that Cen Yan was doing it on purpose, Zhuang Dongqing looked at him. He looked down, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Zhuang Dongqing: "..."

never mind.

Anyway, there's no way to break free.

Lie flat.

The sleeves were wide, so it wasn't very noticeable when they weren't moving; it was just that the two people were standing a little close together... that's all.

It doesn't matter.

Anyway...

"What's wrong, Brother Dongqing?"

After reviewing the ledgers and confirming that the handwriting was not recent and hastily written, Li Yang returned and stared at the sleeves of the two men, asking them a question.

Zhuang Dongqing: "..."

Cen Yan: "It's nothing, I just saw some unlucky people."

Feeling vaguely that her question and Cen Yan's answer weren't the same thing, Li Yang asked, confused, "Who is it?"

"Hey."

Cen Yan raised his chin slightly.

Li Yang turned his head and saw two carriages driving away, which looked like... his third brother's.

Oh, this.

When Li Yang turned around again, Zhuang Dongqing had already boarded the carriage with Cen Yan's help. The two hands, which had been clasped together, naturally separated. Li Yang felt that something was wrong, but Cen Yan interrupted her gaze with the account book matter, and her mind returned to the salt affairs issue.

After Cen Yan finished discussing everything and got into the carriage, a pair of bright eyes stared at him.

Cen Yan: "What's wrong?"

Zhuang Dongqing didn't speak, just looked at him. After staring at him for a while, Cen Yan first laughed.

She has a pretty nice smile.

Zhuang Dongqing: "..."

Zhuang Dongqing: "Li Yang figured it out?"

Cen Yan: "Then you might be overestimating him."

Zhuang Dongqing felt a little relieved, but Cen Yan asked him again, "Are you afraid of others finding out?"

"ah?"

"Our relationship cannot be shown to others?"

Zhuang Dongqing paused for a moment, feeling that Cen Yan was using a fallacy to change the subject. "No, but isn't it a special period now?"

"What special period?" Cen Yan pressed on.

"The final stage of the salt inspection? And, it seems the succession struggle is coming to an end?"

That's all true, but...

Cen Yan pointed out, "The third brother has already become suspicious."

Zhuang Dongqing choked.

Zhuang Dongqing instinctively folded her hands, but Cen Yan grabbed them and placed them in his palm. He tried to pull them out but couldn't, so he let it be.

"Don't want him to know?"

Cen Yan asked softly, his light-colored pupils bright and gentle.

Reassured by his gaze, Zhuang Dongqing hesitated and said, "Shouldn't I think that way?"

Squeezing Zhuang Dongqing's hand, Cen Yan shook his head. "No, that's not the case. This is the best-case scenario, but the problem is, whether others know or not is beyond our control, isn't it, Qingqing?"

"……yes."

This is very worrying.

I was on tenterhooks.

"Don't do that," Cen Yan suddenly said.

"Um?"

Cen Yan leaned closer and said softly but firmly, "Don't panic."

"Don't worry about such trivial matters."

Zhuang Dongqing felt as if he had been seen through in an instant, and immediately lowered his eyes.

But when she looked down and saw their hands still clasped together, and thinking about their relationship, she suddenly lost her reason to avoid him. After a moment of stunned silence, Zhuang Dongqing slowly raised her eyes and met Cen Yan's gaze again, her panic clearly visible in her eyes.

Cen Yan touched his cheek and repeated, "Don't panic, it's not worth it."

"I……"

"Actually, I..."

After closing her eyes briefly, Zhuang Dongqing finally managed to gather her thoughts: "I'm having trouble controlling myself."

Cen Yan: "It's normal. People want things to be perfect and to go exactly according to their plans."

"But the truth is, this is an extremely rare and lucky situation."

Zhuang Dongqing seemed to understand but not quite. "And then, what do you want to say to me?"

Cen Yan's lips curved into a smile at these words.

There's an old saying that goes, "You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days."

"Actually, if it weren't for the need for an extra layer of protection and to make the Prince's Mansion as controllable as possible, I should have already petitioned for you to be granted a formal title."

Zhuang Dongqing was taken aback.

Her mind sluggishly processed the information. Oh right, the original owner of this body already had the status of a principal wife, so it didn't really affect anything.

But... Zhuang Dongqing couldn't say for sure whether Cen Yan cared about the original owner of the body or not.

You can't understand it just by reading between the lines.

In the original novel, the little brat Cen Yan took him everywhere he went.

Realizing something, Zhuang Dongqing's Adam's apple bobbed. "So?"

Cen Yan smiled, a hint of contempt and disdain in his voice, "Suffering such humiliation, if it were just to protect oneself from His Majesty, that would be one thing. But the third and sixth princes are just one of many princes; it's not clear why they insist on making any of them the crown prince..."

"Of course, so what if it's established? Until the very end, it can still be deposed, right?"

His words were arrogant.

But when Cen Yan said it, Zhuang Dongqing didn't find it out of place.

Even when the deposed crown prince was around, wasn't he trying to curry favor with Cen Yan?

Cen Yan held Zhuang Dongqing's hand and concluded, "It's best if they don't know, but what does it matter if they do?"

"He's just a prince, he doesn't command troops, and His Majesty is reluctant to relinquish real power. Even if they know, at most they'll use this as a breakthrough to threaten or win me over. If I don't respond, can they go around making a fuss about it? Secrets are secrets when only a few people know them, but when too many people know them and they're made public, they lose their effectiveness."

Now the princes are acting independently, and even if they know something, they can't possibly communicate with each other.

Zhuang Dongqing was led astray by Cen Yan's train of thought.

"Is...is that so?"

Cen Yan smiled: "Otherwise what?"

“My soldiers aren’t just sitting around doing nothing.”

Zhuang Dongqing: "What I mean is..."

Cen Yan knew this and continued, "What I just wanted to say is, if you care and don't want outsiders to know, then just go through with it, play along with Lao San, it's nothing."

"Just to relieve some boredom."

"But there's no need to worry too much about this."

“Li Zhuo is fickle. Despite being a prince, he doesn’t like to follow the right path. If he wants to use these petty tricks, that’s his business. It’s not right for you to be involved and unhappy.”

Cen Yan spoke with such certainty that Zhuang Dongqing could not refute him.

After digesting the information, Zhuang Dongqing asked again, "If you know..."

"When soldiers come, I'll block them; when water comes, I'll dam it. I'll play along with whatever moves he makes."

Zhuang Dongqing swallowed and stared intently at Cen Yan's hand that was holding hers.

Slowly, Zhuang Dongqing stretched out her five fingers, wedged them between Cen Yan's fingers, and grasped him tightly, saying firmly, "You're right."

Fear of not being able to solve the problem.

Sometimes, even being on guard doesn't necessarily prevent anything.

Not to mention the current situation in the capital...

Taking a deep breath, Zhuang Dongqing said, "Yes, whatever the problem is, that's the way to go in the long run."

With a change in mindset, Zhuang Dongqing's gaze also became firm.

Cen Yan touched the cheek of the person in front of him again and smiled, "Our Qingqing is so amazing, she figured it out so quickly."

Zhuang Dongqing was a little embarrassed by the praise, "No, not really."

"that is……"

"What?" Cen Yan asked.

Zhuang Dongqing glanced at Cen Yan again, "It's already... like this."

I've decided to stay and get involved in this story.

"I am not alone."

"With you and An'an, it would be better to follow the Prince's method; it would be good for everyone."

Cen Yan was surprised.

But I really like this sentence.

After staring at Zhuang Dongqing for a while, Cen Yan whispered, "I really want to kiss you."

"..."

Zhuang Dongqing: "You, you kiss me."

"What if Liu Qi comes in?"

Zhuang Dongqing's ears twitched, and she said in a low, evasive voice, "It's not necessarily true... um."

The second half of the sentence was lost in the sudden passionate kiss.

*

After adjusting her mindset, Zhuang Dongqing still went to the salt field with Cen Yan, treating him the same as before.

But Cen Yan seemed to have fallen in love with being close to him in public. Although it wasn't as excessive as that day, it was clear to anyone with eyes that they had a good relationship.

This change made Li Zhuo feel deeply mocked, as if he had been deliberately ridiculed.

Li Yang felt something was wrong, but when pressed to explain, he couldn't articulate it clearly.

They quickly explored all the salt fields in Hangzhou.

There are problems with the accounts; a significant shortfall has been discovered.

At the same time, the process went a little too smoothly.

Moreover, as the audit progressed, Li Zhuo's attention shifted from Zhuang Dongqing and Cen Yan to his own, becoming more involved. He even brought his own accountant to help, showing a completely different level of enthusiasm than before.

During a break from inspecting the salt fields, the prefect still hosted a banquet. This time, it was much more low-key, and he didn't dare to play any tricks. It was just a meal, and he finished in a simple and honest manner.

However, a small incident that occurred after the banquet caught Zhuang Dongqing's attention.

Li Yang was walking down the street when he encountered an orphan girl who had sold herself to pay for her father's funeral.

Seeing how pitiful the person was, he took out his money and brought her back to his mansion to be a maid.

Zhuang Dongqing glanced at the maid, asked her name, returned to the mansion, picked up her sketchbook again, and began writing things that only she could understand with her charcoal pencil.

"Why did you take it out again?"

After washing up, Cen Yan returned to the main room and saw Zhuang Dongqing studying late into the night. She asked in confusion.

Zhuang Dongqing: "Li Yang took in a maid today."

Cen Yan raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I heard from Liu Fu that you even went to take a look. What, are you curious? You've never seen it before?"

Neither.

It's another scene from the book.

The location may differ, but the characters and scenes are quite similar.

Zhuang Dongqing suddenly asked Cen Yan, "Is His Majesty going to take new pills?"

Cen Yan's relaxed expression froze as he realized something, and he looked at Zhuang Dongqing and said, "Why do you ask that?"

"I was wondering if there's any news about this?"

“No, but there is another piece of news.” Cen Yan sat down and said, “After His Majesty summoned that alchemist, he set aside a palace in the palace exclusively for him. The spies said they saw palace servants sending in a lot of medicinal herbs and treasures, as if he was going to refine elixirs in the palace.”

Zhuang Dongqing recalled for a moment, then sighed, "That's it."

"What is this?"

At this point, there was nothing left to hold back, so Zhuang Dongqing spoke frankly: "Once this batch is refined, it will become new pills."

Are you sure?

Zhuang Dongqing was silent for a moment, then nodded.

Cen Yan didn't ask how he knew. Sometimes, Zhuang Dongqing felt that Cen Yan might have discovered his strangeness, but he always managed to avoid the question in a very clever way.

Of course, it's best not to mention it, as he doesn't know how to explain it anyway.

As expected, Cen Yan didn't ask him how he determined it, but instead asked, "Is there something wrong with the new pill?"

"When do you think it will be ready?"

Is it inappropriate to eat someone to death?

However, since there is no crown prince yet, Zhuang Dongqing could not speak so definitively. After thinking for a moment, he simply said, "You should know when the time comes. The Imperial Observatory should be able to calculate the time for opening the furnace."

Cen Yan relaxed a little.

Zhuang Dongqing: "As for what will happen, I can't say for sure right now. Let's wait and see."

Cen Yan nodded.

Suddenly realizing something, Cen Yan asked, "Is this piece of paper... for some kind of divination?"

"ah?"

Cen Yan: "You seem to know some things that will happen in the future, right? You calculated them?"

“.

Zhuang Dongqing shook his head, looking at the Arabic numerals on the paper. These were things that didn't exist in this era. After thinking for a moment, he didn't hide anything from Cen Yan and said, "I do know some things, but they're not accurate. I... I'm just compiling them."

Summarize the important plot points to see which have already happened and which haven't even begun.

During his two years in Jiangnan, although he avoided the conflicts in the capital, he still kept up with news from the capital, albeit intermittently. The major plot points were still there, and much faster, as if the progress bar had been sped up.

Now that Emperor Shengwu has already started taking elixirs, Zhuang Dongqing has a feeling that the original story is probably coming to an end.

If that's the case, then...

Many unavoidable plot points may occur in a concentrated period of time; perhaps reviewing them can be helpful.

Zhuang Dongqing was doing this sorting out with that purpose in mind.

However, based on the current analysis, the plot appears chaotic and disordered.

Cen Yan: "Is His Majesty's time running out?"

Zhuang Dongqing was surprised by his blunt question and his eyes widened. Cen Yan chuckled and said, "There's no need to panic. Actually, I've had this suspicion ever since His Majesty started taking the elixir."

Oh, that makes perfect sense.

Zhuang Dongqing: "Probably. Taking pills will make people feel very unwell."

It's full of heavy metals, each one deadly.

Cen Yan: "Was it Li Yang in the end?"

Zhuang Dongqing was also troubled by this, and said with a bitter face, "I don't know."

Cen Yan nodded, not pressing him, and instead asked, "Did An'an go back?"

Zhuang Dongqing shook her head and pointed to the bed. Cen Yan leaned closer and saw their son sleeping soundly on their bed, snoring away.

The moment he saw the little brat, all his schemes and plots vanished from his mind. Cen Yan touched Cen An'an's hands and feet; they were warm.

Zhuang Dongqing put down her charcoal pencil, walked closer, and whispered, "She said she would wait for you to finish washing up before going to sleep, but no matter how I tried to persuade her, it was no use."

"Really?" Cen Yan smiled.

"Hmm, you little stubborn brat, I wonder who you took after!"

Cen Yan chuckled and pinched Zhuang Dongqing's cheek with his other hand. "There's no need to be so veiled in your criticism, Qingqing."

Cen Yan: "Should I carry him over?"

Zhuang Dongqing thought for a moment, "I'll wash my hands and go with you. He's thinking of saying goodnight to you, and he might wake up on the way."

"good."

When Cen Yan picked up the little one and took him to his grandmother, sure enough, the little one woke up rubbing his eyes as soon as he entered the room, asking, "Daddy?"

"Okay, An'an should go to sleep now."

"Oh, Daddy, hug me."

Cen An'an clung to Cen Yan's shoulder; she was soft and small, and her voice was muffled. Cen Yan's heart melted.

After holding her son for a while, Cen Yan put Cen An'an down on the crib.

The little one was also very clingy, reaching out to Zhuang Dongqing as soon as he saw her, saying, "Baba, hug me too."

Zhuang Dongqing kissed the little boy on the cheek, then placed her hand on his half-open eyes and coaxed, "An'an, be good, it's time to sleep, don't open your eyes."

"Hmm..."

As soon as her eyes were covered, the little one started to get sleepy. Grandma took off Cen An'an's clothes, and Cen Yan helped out. They were undressed very quickly and she was ready to sleep.

When Zhuang Dongqing let go, the little boy's eyelids were already tightly closed.

Grandma tucked the blanket around Cen An'an, and the adults tiptoed out the door.

After returning to the room, Zhuang Dongqing washed up before Cen Yan brought up the salt administration issue again.

"No, the accounts are never right."

"Given their brazenness, they should have flowed into the capital, but after investigation, it seems they haven't."

Zhuang Dongqing: "Have you not finished looking at the salt fields yet?"

Cen Yan nodded: "There's one more place, a large venue, but it's quite a distance from Hangzhou, so it's impossible to make a round trip in one day."

After a pause, Cen Yan said, "When I'm going, I'll bring everyone with me, including you and An'an."

Zhuang Dongqing knew this was a critical moment, so she nodded and said, "Okay, we can continue working tomorrow. Don't think about it anymore, go to sleep."

Cen Yan came over and hugged Zhuang Dongqing.

Zhuang Dongqing then kissed his forehead.

Cen Yan said wearily, "Okay, let's go to sleep."

*

The accounts were never balanced.

Some of the silver seemed to have vanished into thin air; if you add the smuggled salt, it would amount to a huge sum.

However, no such large outflow of projects was found in Hangzhou, in any form.

The stolen money couldn't be found, and it didn't seem like it had secretly flowed into the capital.

The trail went cold here.

Cen Yan even led a raid on the prefect's residence, but found nothing. Moreover, the prefect's residence was very well-behaved, and neither the mansion nor the outer residence was as luxurious as those of merchants, which made it seem strangely honest.

Left with no other option, they went to the last salt field to collect the accounts.

Li Zhuo was even more anxious than them, and set off a day earlier.

Cen Yan even felt that the Third Prince's series of actions seemed to be solely for the sake of money.

After Liu Qi arranged their accommodation, they set off the next day.

It rained that day, making the ground slippery and difficult to travel. The carriage got stuck in several places. If they continued on this route, they probably wouldn't arrive until dark. After discussion, Cen Yan only took a small group of people and rode ahead.

Li Yang had been staying up late these past few days to sort out accounts, so she was a bit groggy. She agreed to ride a horse, but first she wanted to catch up on some sleep in the carriage before riding to catch up with Cen Yan.

Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Cen Yan thought that he had indeed done a lot, so she didn't make things difficult for him and agreed.

Zhuang Dongqing didn't think anything of it at the time, until she saw a mountain in the distance, and her heart jumped.

After calling for the parking convoy, Zhuang Dongqing asked Xu Si, "Commander Xu, which way do we go next?"

Xu Si had no doubts: "Go around the mountain and walk a little further, and you'll arrive."

"Young master, don't be in a hurry. We don't take the mountain road. This salt field is always inhabited, and there's an official road built down the mountain."

Zhuang Dongqing wanted to laugh, but couldn't.

"This can't be the only road into the salt field, can it?"

Xu Si also noticed the oddity in Zhuang Dongqing's words, "There is a shortcut, but it's only for horses, not carriages. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Oh, the road that Cen Yan and the others took."

Zhuang Dongqing closed her eyes, unsure whether she should breathe a sigh of relief.

even,

He couldn't be sure which of the two scenes in the original work, which fit the situation, would actually happen.

If that's the case... then running away now is not an option!

He subconsciously turned his head, and Cen An'an, who was holding building blocks beside him, felt his gaze and said, "Bang bang?"

Zhuang Dongqing patted the little brat's head and forced a smile, "You play."

Okay.

Zhuang Dongqing got off the car.

"Don't leave yet, let me think about it."

Without giving any reason, Xu Si obeyed the order, and the entire convoy came to a complete stop.

Zhuang Dongqing: "Didn't Cen Yan say that you have to listen to me?"

Xu Si bowed and said, "Since the master is not here, the young master is naturally the most important. Please feel free to give any orders, young master."

Very good, orders are obeyed.

Zhuang Dongqing closed his eyes.

Silently tell yourself, "When soldiers come, we'll block them; when water comes, we'll dam it. Whatever happens, we'll solve it."

solve……

After repeating this twice, he calmed himself down, stood up straight, and said, "Go and invite the Sixth Prince."