Is there any disco dancing on graves?
Wang Shili, mounted on his horse, looked down at Cheng Junshi with a smug yet sarcastic smile.
Cheng Junshi remained calm, staring directly at Wang Shili without moving. He was not angered by this flippant provocation: "Young Master Wang has been escorting grain supplies all the way from Luocheng under imperial decree, a weighty responsibility. The grain supplies are related to the lives of countless people in Jinnan, so we must be extremely careful and not delay important matters here, thus failing to live up to the Emperor's grace." He emphasized the words "fail to live up to the Emperor's grace."
Wang Shili's smugness froze for a moment, then a surge of shame and anger welled up inside him. He snorted coldly, about to say something more sarcastic, when he was interrupted by a sneer from the side.
"Ha," Tang Qi crossed his arms and strolled forward lazily, blocking Cheng Junshi's path. He tilted his head, looking at Cheng Junshi as if he were looking at a noisy fly. "I was wondering why the sky was so gloomy. Turns out a crow flew over. Young Master Wang, Jinnan is a poor place with strong winds and sandstorms. Be careful not to choke your precious voice. The grain carts are still waiting behind. What's the point of blocking the road here? If you delay Lord Zhou's disaster relief plan, it won't be easy to explain, will it?"
He spoke quickly, each word barbed, specifically targeting Wang Shili's sore spots. Wang Shili turned pale with anger, pointing a finger and shouting, "You! You! Who do you think you are, daring to lecture me?! Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am in Luocheng..."
"Young Master Wang, this is Jinnan." Tang Qi interrupted him rudely, his smile bright but devoid of warmth: "I am but a humble commoner, naturally not as powerful as you, Young Master Wang, who carries the imperial mandate. However, I also understand some reason. If you linger here any longer, be careful that someone might accuse you of failing in your duties. Losing your official position would be a minor matter; if His Majesty were to take his anger out on your father, that would be a great loss. Don't you think so?" He deliberately dragged out the last sentence, his gaze sweeping meaningfully over Wang Shili and the grain carts behind him.
"You...you're being insolent!" Wang Shili trembled with rage, but he felt guilty looking at the stares around him. He had begged his father for a long time to get this job, and if Cheng Junshi really reported him, his father probably wouldn't let him off easily. In the end, Wang Shili didn't dare to do anything more outrageous in front of everyone.
He glared fiercely at Tang Qi and Cheng Junshi, squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth: "Fine! Very well! Cheng Junshi, we'll see!" With that, he abruptly reined in his horse, preparing to ride away, but then suddenly stopped, turned to look at Cheng Junshi, and said: "Do you know what happened to the last person who dared to be so arrogant with me?"
Cheng Junshi remained silent.
"He's dead."
Wang Shili stared intently at Cheng Junshi: "He's dead."
"I know."
"You don't know!" Wang Shili blurted out almost instinctively.
His expression was indescribable; it wasn't resentment, nor was it a sense of revenge, but rather a kind of inexplicable sadness.
Cheng Junshi didn't react much; he just stared quietly into Wang Shili's eyes.
"Whether he lives or dies is none of your business." Cheng Junshi's tone was flat, but his voice was so cold that Tang Qi couldn't help but turn her head to glance at him.
“Never before, and certainly not now.” Cheng Junshi spoke with almost absolute certainty, rarely so resolutely. He even seemed a little angry.
Wang Shili choked immediately, realizing what he had just said, before suddenly changing his expression and saying, "I don't care to have anything to do with him. What is Tang Qi? Does he deserve to be my brother? He deserved to die...he deserved to die!"
"You hate him that much?" Tang Qi, suddenly brought up, looked up at Wang Shili, who was sitting high on his horse.
“Can’t I hate him? Why shouldn’t I hate him! I hate him to death!” Veins bulged on Wang Shili’s neck as he spoke with a mixture of resentment and bitterness. “He looked down on me when he was alive, and now he expects me to mourn him at his grave? He’s dreaming! My biggest regret is not having a grand celebration at his funeral! And you—”
Wang Shili leaned down to look at Cheng Junshi, deliberately provoking him, "Didn't you write a petition on his behalf? Didn't you care about him? Next year on the anniversary of his death, when the grass on his grave grows tall, I will burn him and the grass to the ground. Don't you like to cry at graves? I'll let you cry your fill all at once!"
He practically roared, but the roar was utterly unsatisfying; in fact, his hands, gripping the reins tightly, began to tremble.
What's wrong with this guy? Tang Qi was even more confused.
“I’ll be waiting for you to burn it.” Cheng Junshi’s eyes remained cold. “Next year on the anniversary of his death, I’ll be waiting for you at his grave.”
“You—” Wang Shili choked up, looking at him in disbelief.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Cheng Junshi said firmly.
Wang Shili remained shocked.
“You don’t even,” Cheng Junshi said, emphasizing each word as he stared into his eyes, “dare not even come to his grave.”
The air froze instantly. After a long while, Wang Shili suddenly turned his horse around and angrily urged the grain cart convoy to hurry forward. However, his back view looked like a disheveled escape.
The grain convoy finally passed by, leaving behind choking dust and an even heavier sense of oppression.
"Pah!" Hu Xingche spat in the direction Wang Shili had gone, his anger still lingering: "What a piece of trash!"
Tang Qi raised his hand and gently pressed it on Hu Xingche's shoulder, signaling him to calm down. Then he turned to Cheng Junshi and said in a low voice, "Wang Shili has been like this since he was a child. He'll bite anyone. He's not thinking straight. Why are you arguing with him?"
Before Tang Qi could continue speaking, the hand on Hu Xingche's shoulder was suddenly pulled away. Cheng Junshi looked at him and said in an almost childish tone, "Don't help him."
"Huh?" Tang Qi looked completely bewildered.
Wasn't I just cursing him?
"Don't mention him anymore," Cheng Junshi said earnestly.
"This..." Meeting Cheng Junshi's gaze, Tang Qi could only give in: "Alright, alright, let's not talk about him anymore. Let's talk about serious matters."
Tang Qi's expression gradually turned serious. Looking in the direction where Zhou Keng and Wang Shili had disappeared, he lowered his voice and said, "The fact that the Vice Minister of Revenue put someone in Zhou Keng's team is definitely not just about letting his precious son take credit. The Ministry of Revenue, the Privy Council... they're all mixed up together, and he's got this guy in there. I just felt uneasy. I said those words because I couldn't stand his attitude, and I also wanted to find out more about him."
Ye Qian walked to their side, glanced around, and said softly, "Lord Zhou's orders are the real source of chaos."
“The daily grain distribution is limited and allocated per capita. Starving disaster victims are bound to fight amongst themselves, turn against each other, and even take desperate measures in order to get one more grain to save their lives. He only needs to wait for the conflict to break out so that he can rightfully raise his butcher's knife and completely solidify the charge of ‘popular uprising.’ At that time, we, the culprits who opened the granaries without authorization and mismanaged them, along with Lord Wu, will not escape our fate. He calls it pacifying the rebellion and restoring peace to the people, but in reality, he is just using others to kill. He wants to use the blood of the people to stain his official hat.”
Shen Zhiqing's face was pale as she looked at the elderly and children cowering in line under the threat of the soldiers' blades, her eyes filled with pity and anger: "They just want to live."
“If we want to live, we can’t just sit here and wait to die.” Tang Qi’s eyes brightened again. He looked at Cheng Junshi and Ye Qian: “Zhou Keng’s troops have taken over the city defenses and camps. We don’t have many men at our disposal. If Zhou Keng wants to ignite a popular uprising, we have to find a way to turn that fire back on himself!”
“How do you provoke it? Be careful not to get burned.” Wu Shunyi turned to Tang Qi and Cheng Junshi: “You must have come to Jinnan for something. I know this place well and I can help you solve it, but you should stop interfering in Jinnan’s affairs.”
Cheng Junshi was still in a daze when Tang Qi spoke first.
"To be honest, we came to Jinnan to find someone." As he spoke, he ignored everyone and began groping around on Cheng Junshi, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Wu Shunyi.
"Hmph," Wu Shunyi chuckled lightly, "Coming to Jinnan to look for someone? You really have a lot of free time."
Despite saying that, he still carefully put the note away, and before leaving, he waved to them and said, "I'll take you to see the person in two days at most."
"Thank you, General Wu." Cheng Junshi immediately bowed to Wu Shunyi's retreating figure.
"Alright—" Tang Qi gave him a push: "He's already gone far away, let's stop acting."
"You really are wicked." Ye Qian suppressed a laugh as he looked at Tang Qi.
Tang Qi shrugged and said with a sneer, "What can I do? Listen to what he said, he clearly wants to get rid of us. How can we let him have his way? He should do something worthwhile instead of talking nonsense. Cheng Wang came here for this very reason, and it's because of Jiao Niang and the others that we've been delayed until now."
"Do you have a solution regarding Jinan?" Ye Qian asked, looking at him.
"I can't say what the solution is, but there is an opportunity."
Everyone: ?
"Isn't there still a variable on Zhou Keng's side?" Tang Qi said with a wicked grin.
Zhou Keng's temporary headquarters was set up in the county government office. The study in the back hall was brightly lit by candlelight. Zhou Keng had changed out of his military uniform and was now wearing a dark purple casual robe. He sat in the main seat, leisurely sipping his tea. Wang Shili sat below him, his face still showing indignation, embellishing his account of what had just happened.
Zhou Ziye stood slightly behind his second uncle, his hands at his sides. He lowered his eyelids, pursed his lips, and his expression carried a hint of tension that was barely perceptible.
"Alright," Zhou Keng put down his teacup, the bottom of which lightly tapped against the table, interrupting Wang Shili's incessant chatter. His voice was flat, revealing neither joy nor anger: "Is it really worth you taking such a small argument so seriously? Your real job is to take good care of the Ministry of Revenue's grain registers and ensure that every grain of rice is used where it's meant to be, understand?"
He emphasized the words "should be used." Wang Shili's heart skipped a beat. Meeting Zhou Keng's gaze, all his resentment instantly turned into cold sweat. He quickly stood up and replied, "Yes, yes, I understand! I will definitely check carefully and make sure there are no omissions!"
"Hmm." Zhou Keng responded lightly, no longer looking at him, his gaze turning to the map hanging on the wall, his fingers unconsciously tapping the table, as if he were calculating something.
A silence fell over the study as Zhou Ziye's heart sank with each knock. He knew his second uncle, though seemingly calm, must have made a decision. Zhou Keng's orders were like a drop of boiling oil, waiting for the right moment to explode, providing the perfect pretext for a purge. Everyone in Jinan would become a sacrifice in this quelling of the rebellion. And he could only stand there, listening and watching, unable to do anything.
No, perhaps there is something else he can do.
“Second Uncle,” Zhou Ziye suddenly spoke, his voice low, breaking the silence. He slightly raised his head, his gaze falling on Zhou Keng’s face: “Just now at the city gate, I saw that Cheng Junshi and the others seemed quite concerned about the handover of the relief grain. Young Master Wang is new here, and he had these unpleasant encounters with them. The granary is a crucial location, involving the very foundation of disaster relief. Otherwise… should I personally lead men to assist Young Master Wang, verify and count the grain, and supervise the distribution? Firstly, to prevent petty thieves from coveting it, and secondly, to avoid further complications that would trouble Second Uncle.” His words were impeccable.
Zhou Keng's fingers, which were tapping the table, paused. He slowly turned his head, his narrow eyes scrutinizing Zhou Ziye's face. The man opposite him held his breath, forcing himself to meet his second uncle's gaze, his eyes frank and respectful, neither flinching nor avoiding it.
I don't know how much time passed.
“Very well.” Zhou Keng finally withdrew his gaze, his tone returning to its previous calm: “Ke’er, you are meticulous, I trust you to keep an eye on things. Remember, the grain register is fundamental, not a single grain can be wrong. As for those people—” A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips, “If they behave themselves, let them live a few more days. If they dare to make a move, you know very well what to do.”
"Yes, Ziye understands." Zhou Ziye bowed and accepted the order, his eyes flashing slightly.
He gained access to the granary and grain registers, which might be the only opportunity to pass on crucial information to Ye Qian and the others right under Zhou Keng's nose.
"Go ahead," Zhou Keng waved his hand.
Zhou Ziye bowed and took his leave, turning to walk out of the study. The door closed behind him, shutting out the suffocating pressure and candlelight. He stood on the veranda and took a deep breath.
In the distance, outside the county government gate, the sound of soldiers patrolling and the occasional suppressed voices reminded him that the city was being eroded into a "dead city" step by step.
He looked up toward the granary, which was brightly lit. He had to go there immediately and find a way to help his close friends, right under the noses of his second uncle and Wang Shili.
Our hearts are in the same place, but our bodies are not in control of our own destiny.
But this time, he could no longer remain silent.
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