Chapter 77 (Chapter 77) Things Get Out of Hand
"Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Wu."
Yan Dibai's piercing gaze swept over the three people on the ground, showing no reaction to the earth-shattering title of "Your Majesty," as if it were just a casual greeting.
"yes!"
This calm and decisive call made the three anxious people's blood boil, and they immediately put aside their unease and kowtowed heavily.
As if he had been waiting for a long time, Yan Di narrowed his phoenix eyes and opened his mouth as if cutting through gold and jade:
How can I trust you?
The three were shocked, and their last vestiges of intoxication vanished. They never expected that this meeting between the emperor and his ministers would be so devoid of any formalities; the young emperor was so straightforward and utterly devoid of any cunning.
In his haste, he momentarily forgot the words he had carefully rehearsed hundreds of times before coming, and hurriedly bowed his head:
"Your Majesty, our ancestors were the chief craftsmen who followed Emperor Taizu from the very beginning of the Yan and Jin dynasties, overseeing the construction of the imperial palace and mausoleum. After Emperor Taizu passed away, we swore to guard his tomb, and we have never slackened in this duty for more than two hundred years!"
Yan Di rolled her eyes and lowered her eyelashes: "Okay."
"I don't care if you're human or ghost, or where you came from." Giving them no room to explain or prove their loyalty, he suddenly curled his lips, "I only ask one question—if the Lu family kills me, would you dare to draw your swords for me?"
A deafening bolt of purple lightning thundered down from the sky, and the slender young man flashed, his eyes gleaming with a cold light that pierced the lightning array.
The three stared at the ground for a moment, then suddenly slammed one knee into the ground, their voices resolute:
"Your Majesty, we are willing to follow the example of our ancestors. We will do whatever Your Majesty commands, even risk our lives!"
"Good." Yan Dibai laughed heartily, no longer concealing his murderous intent. "I have three things that need to be done immediately."
“Zhang San, blend into the streets. Once it gets dark, spread rumors in the docks and taverns that ‘a member of the Yan-Jin royal family seems to have brought a token to Jiangzuo.’ There’s no need to search for anyone; just let the word spread on its own.” He spoke very quickly and methodically, clearly having rehearsed the plan countless times in his mind.
"Li Si, lie low at the inn and observe whether any special people come and go. Knock on the wall three times as a signal, and act according to the situation."
“Wang Wu—” His gaze finally fell on Qingqing, who was staring wide-eyed, and his tone left no room for argument: “If I’m not mistaken, you must have planned an escape route during the construction of the old Tiaoxi Pond. You escort Qingniang to the hiding place immediately. If I don’t appear at the inn before dawn tomorrow, take her away and fly away.”
"I'm not leaving!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Qingqing, who had been rapidly processing the information, lost all color in her face upon hearing this arrangement, and grabbed Yan Dibai's sleeve with unusual determination.
"Who doesn't know I'm with you? If I'm not around, won't they become even more suspicious of you?"
Yan Dibai frowned, about to speak, when Qingqing pulled him so hard he almost stumbled, staring directly into his dark, brooding eyes:
"Why should I run around without knowing anything? We clearly agreed beforehand that we would discuss things together no matter who it was! Yan Dibai, have you forgotten?!"
Everyone was shocked – had this young lady gone mad, calling out the emperor's name?
Yan Dibai was completely taken aback. In his fifteen years of life, aside from Yan Qi and Yan Xifang, who else would dare to be so reckless as to address him like that?!
The boy's eyes narrowed incredulously, and for the first time in front of a stranger, he lost his composure. "Yang Liuqing, you!"
“If anything happens to you, I won’t survive even if I’m far away.” She was unyielding. “Heaven and Earth are loyal to the ruler and the teacher, and the ruler is the subject and the subject. They are subjects, aren’t I? Since I’ve said before that I’ve always regarded you as the emperor, I would never run away in a time of crisis!”
Having gone through so much along the way, she was no longer afraid. Qingqing took a deep breath and solemnly bowed to the three people beside her.
"Although Yang Liuqing cannot yet understand your plans, I will do my utmost to cooperate with you and protect His Majesty with my life! Please trust me and regard me as a colleague, not a burden!"
The three of them were stunned into silence.
It's one thing for the seemingly gentle and considerate Imperial Attendant Yang to address the Emperor by his given name, but to refute His Majesty with such forceful and resolute words?
They knew the young man before them was notorious for his murderous and lewd nature, his infamy known far and wide. The three of them had prepared themselves mentally before deciding to show their faces. And this, this young woman?
They had vaguely heard rumors that a junior imperial attendant was quite favored by the emperor. But who would have thought she would dare to so brazenly provoke such a powerful figure!
Fearing trouble, the three quickly lowered their heads and pretended to be invisible.
Qingqing paused for a moment, then looked at Yan Dibai again, emphasizing each word: "Whether you give me a definite answer today or not, I will not leave."
She was incredibly stubborn, her eyes wide and sparking, igniting a sudden burst of heat within him. The heat burned him so intensely that he almost lost his balance.
Yan Dibai felt suffocated.
As the sky cleared, she said anxiously, "The rain is about to stop, please speak!"
"..."
Yan Dibai closed his eyes, and the shock in his eyes slowly settled into a do-or-die decision.
“Wang Wu, you are stationed at Tiaoxi Pond. If we do not show up soon, blow up the pond immediately to lure the people here.”
"yes!"
This resounding order sent the three men into action like dragons entering the sea, eager to get started and make a big splash.
Yan Dibai suddenly felt his sleeve loosen. Qingqing took a step back, slowly picked up the veil from the ground, brushed off the dust, and put it back on him.
"I'm afraid you'll leave me and say something reckless. If you're angry, wait until we get through this."
She wasn't exactly nagging, but the tense atmosphere had long since dissipated. Yan Di's mind was still buzzing; hearing the sound, her gaze followed her movements intently as she tied the ribbon and simply braided her waist-length hair into a plait.
Smooth, soft, and fine; glossy black and even. It has grown considerably.
In an instant, the rain stopped.
The owner of the hair held the umbrella to his chest, his clear eyes intently watching Yan Dibai, poised to strike.
"Walk."
The boy suddenly turned around, and under the veil, his eyes were surprisingly dark.
Everything at the inn was normal. A few more travelers had arrived temporarily due to the sudden downpour.
The proprietress treated them warmly as Qingqing and Yan Dibai returned side by side, and they even greeted her on the way.
There's nothing unusual about it at the moment.
I'm not sure what roles the proprietress and the others will play in this. Just before the door closed, Qingqing called out to the waiter who was about to slip away:
"Why aren't the lights down there yet? Won't we be unable to see anything in the dark?"
The same guy who collected money from both ends last time. He didn't get the job done, and he didn't get his money back. He was especially patient with Qingqing, wiping his face with a towel:
"They said that a storm blew out two lamps under the eaves around noon. They also found that the warehouse was flooded. It rains frequently in Jiangzuo during spring and summer, and even if we buy new ones now, they'll probably break anyway. We might as well wait until tomorrow morning."
Qingqing nodded: "I see."
Waiter: "Our master is always meticulous in his calculations. Does the young lady have any other requests?"
Qingqing smiled and said, "No, thank you. I didn't see you the other nights. Are you on night duty tonight?"
It was a casual, conversational tone. The waiter thought it was comforting that she didn't mention money and was even concerned about him: "We've had a lot of customers today, everyone's making a good deal."
Qingqing said she understood.
As soon as the door closed, Yan Dibai emerged from behind the clothes rack filled with garments.
The bucket of water the waiter had fetched was still steaming. Yan Dibai briefly soaked in the water; this was the first time in Jiangzuo that he hadn't taken the time to bathe properly.
He sat on the edge of the couch, wrapped in a loose robe still smelling of soapberry, his hair still wet. His long eyelashes cast two beautiful shadows under the light of the two lanterns by the window.
Qingqing leaned closer, her lips brushing against his jade-white ear for the first time in a long time.
"No lights, the contents of the warehouse are unclear, and there are many people. An ambush?"
Yan Dibai gave her a look that could be described as appreciative, and her lips moved:
"To capture them all in one fell swoop."
Only by dying completely can the news not leak out.
After soothing the itchy earlobe, Yan Di's eyes suddenly turned cold. Old man Lu Xu was shrewd and ruthless; he'd rather kill dozens and destroy his own business than let his grandson slip away. However, the governor's mansion would never miss this perfect opportunity to control the Lu family.
He'd better give that old scoundrel Wang Du a nice gift when they meet.
Qingqing silently repeated the lip movements, a chill running down her spine.
What exactly did Yan Dibai do to offend the Lu family? These days, besides eating and sunbathing, he's been exploring new maps in alleys and even playing gambling games like dice.
If Yan Dibai hadn't been penniless after the lantern incident, she would have seriously suspected he was going to gamble with those people. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else to do here except for dice games, which were somewhat interesting. Since they were right under her nose, Qingqing decided not to interfere after much deliberation.
She was watching him so closely, as if she were catching him cheating.
Qingqing frowned and unconsciously blurted out what was on her mind.
Yan Dibai paused for a moment, then sat up straight, feeling inexplicably pleased.
"It's not your fault. If you want to know... I'll explain in detail tomorrow."
Yan Dibai didn't realize that his words sounded unusually gentle and patient. Qingqing assumed he didn't want outside ears to hear, so she didn't think anything of it. She rubbed her right ankle. "How should we divide the work next?"
Although she was prepared to bleed, Qingqing still unconsciously rubbed her fingers while imagining it.
I felt nervous, but even more so, I was filled with an indescribable excitement.
Even the bloodshed couldn't compare to the time when the rebels burned and killed the palace, could it?
But this time, she wasn't afraid.
She nestled close to him, and Yan Dibai's heart inexplicably quickened by half a beat. A faster heartbeat wasn't unusual; it had happened before. He kicked off his shoes, rolled over, and lay down.
"Go to sleep first."
Qingqing then went to blow out the lantern.
To convincingly portray the scene of falling asleep as usual, the ripped, close-fitting undershirt she wore was her everyday pajamas. The neckline was quite low, and while it was fine for other movements, her skin became rather conspicuous when she bent over.
Normally, Yan Dibai would casually grab a palm-leaf fan and turn off the lamp, but this was the first time Yang Liuqing had knelt on him like this.
The girl's body had just shown signs of recovery when Yan Dibai's throat tightened slightly. He frowned; something was definitely off tonight. Yang Liuqing wasn't exactly a voluptuous and alluring beauty, and at this critical juncture of life and death, Yan Dibai thought with disdain—how could he still have the leisure to think about her breasts?
With a soft rustling sound, one of the lamps went out. She moved closer to his head, the hem of her sleeve carrying a clear and pleasant scent that brushed against his nose. Yan Dibai was startled, and his body suddenly tensed up even more.
"A young lady?"
The waiter suddenly called out from outside, and Qingqing opened the door. The sleeve that had fallen to the tip of her nose was roughly pulled away, and Yan Dibai opened his eyes wide.
Qingqing returned with the medicine bowl: "The medicine for noon and evening, the shop assistant said he added water and boiled it again because you didn't have time to drink it."
She opened her hand, revealing a few dark candied fruits in her palm: "He said he was sorry for cheating us, so he offered to compensate us with some candied fruits."
This thought immediately overshadowed his troubled mind. Yan Dibai turned over on the couch, glanced at the door, and said:
"I gave him two silver coins, that's all."
Qingqing rolled her eyes: "I gave her one too. It's better than nothing. This candied fruit smells delicious, it must be expensive. You're afraid of bitterness, so eat it."
"Fine, you eat too."
"You go first."
...
The lights were finally all turned off.
In the stairwell, the proprietress gripped the handrail tightly and listened for a while before lighting a tinderbox in her hand.
The men below understood immediately and exchanged glances. "Huff, huff," they poured tung oil all over their heads.
"set fire!"
She tossed the tinderbox aside. A series of whistling sounds came from the nearby storeroom. The proprietress didn't even look, hastily wiped her face dirty, and hurried to the carriage parked outside the alley.
"Husband, let's escape quickly! It's getting chaotic. Let's just take a boat south and get rid of that brat Lu's control, so we won't be bossed around anymore!"
The proprietress happily lifted the curtain, about to urge her husband to hurry up and leave, but a glance at the car gave her a fright.
"You, you!"
Li Si chuckled: "Does that thieving woman still remember me?"
The proprietress gaped, "Husband?!"
Behind Li Si lay a middle-aged man with his hands and feet tied behind his back—it was her husband, whom she had finally been waiting for. The proprietress felt a wave of dizziness; she never expected that her meticulously planned scheme would be ruined by this rogue northerner. Her eyes turned red, and in a fit of desperation, she tried to call for the Lu family's henchmen who were lying in ambush nearby, but Li Si swiftly knocked them unconscious. After binding them tightly, Li Si carried them one in each arm and casually stuffed them into a pit he had dug in the courtyard beforehand.
Flames were already visible ahead, shooting into the sky in the blink of an eye; it was unclear how many barrels of tung oil had been poured in.
"That wicked woman has such a cruel heart!" Li Si spat, then grabbed some water and flushed it inside.
They managed to stake out the thieving woman, but His Majesty and Imperial Attendant Yang were not notified immediately. Li Si's heart pounded, fearing that something might have happened to the two of them.
The main gate was blocked by a pile of firewood. Li Si banged on the wooden wall three times, then kicked open the back gate and drew his short knife, smashing open the iron lock on the storeroom. Water had been deliberately stored inside, preventing the fire from spreading. Several young men were imprisoned inside. Li Si quickly pulled the gag from their mouths, and they hurriedly jumped out, saying to Li Si, "Brave warrior, be careful! This fire suddenly started from inside; it's suspicious!"
Li Si was shocked. Could there be an undercover agent hiding inside?
Li Si dropped the bucket and looked up towards Yan Di and Bai Yangliuqing's house, about to call out, when he saw the window break open from the outside. The two, draped in thin blankets, waved their hands.
"Brave warrior, catch me!"
Li Si paused, then opened his arms wide, nimbly trapping the girl in his embrace. Qingqing threw away the quilt, which had been burned with many holes, and swung her arm vigorously at Yan Dibai, who was faintly visible in the firelight.
Yan Dibai understood, and Li Si carefully straightened his arms and steadily caught the boy as well.
The inn wasn't large, and the floors were cramped. Although she jumped from the second floor, she wouldn't have died if she had been careful. With Li Si acting as a human cushion to absorb the impact, it would have been virtually harmless for the slender Qingqing Yan Dibai.
I just got a bit choked by the smoke.
Yan Dibai disdainfully tossed the medicine-soaked quilt into the fire, then turned and gave the girl a slight glare:
"The fire is mainly on the second floor; going downstairs will at most result in some blackening from the smoke. This is because Li Si is here; if Li Si weren't here, would you still want your legs?"
Li Si blinked in surprise. It turned out that the idea of jumping off the building was not suggested by His Majesty, but by Imperial Attendant Yang.
Li Si was shocked again. This Imperial Attendant Yang... he really couldn't tell the difference.
Qingqing touched the purse on her waist and smiled apologetically: "Is it that fast? Smoking too much is bad for your lungs."
Yan Dibai snorted and said to Li Si:
"Did you handle the ambush?"
Li Si hurriedly bowed his head: "Your Majesty, they are all tied up in the courtyard."
Li Si secretly felt a sense of pride. After receiving the order, he drugged and bound all the skilled people around the inn. He cleared away any obstacles first.
Yan Dibai curled his lips and looked at Li Si properly: "My judgment is indeed excellent. Minister Li has the demeanor of the Imperial Guards in his every move, and he is the most skilled of the three."
The Imperial Guards were the royal guards of the Yan and Jin imperial palaces. All of them were carefully selected and were naturally synonymous with high combat prowess.
It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because once he did, Li Si was stunned, and there were tears in Yan Dibai's eyes.
It's unclear what nerve these words touched, but Li Si sniffed hard a few times and clasped his hands in a deep fist salute:
"Thank you for your commendation, Your Majesty! Li Si swears to follow Your Majesty to the death!"
Yan Dibai nodded, gazing at the house that was mostly engulfed by fire, and said:
"Li Si, you are hereby ordered to set fire to the area three miles outside this street."
Qingqing was startled. Yan Dibai had just been adding fuel to the fire with the lanterns, was he about to start a fire?
“Let’s do it together,” the boy said, taking her hand in one swift motion, “the bigger the commotion, the better.”
The night after, at the Lu residence.
"The retainers have vanished without a trace? How could that person be so capable?!"
Lu Xu, who had been sitting quietly in his room all night, heard the report and smashed the porcelain cup in his hand to pieces.
Lu Xu's cloudy old eyes pierced the two kneeling grandsons, and he punched his heart in anger at their lack of ambition.
"Inviting a wolf into the house! Inviting a wolf into the house!"
Alas, alas! He should have discovered long ago that this so-called offering of salt to show loyalty, repairing the ponds, and controlling the rice supply was actually a way to make the Lu family sit on the stove!
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