Chapter 005: Fake Yang Xu

  The horse-drawn carriage was jolting along a bumpy road with only Xia Xun and Zhang Thirteen inside.

  The carriage was a horse-drawn vehicle made by the Yang family's own workshop, very spacious with a wooden compartment, adorned with intricate carvings on the panels. Inside the compartment there was a large and comfortable soft couch, several embroidered cushions and a small table, the lower half of the panels on both sides had a hidden compartment that could hold musical instruments, chess sets or fine wine and honeyed fruits for entertainment along the way. The carriage's four walls were all hung with light curtains, while the window positions used woven bamboo screens that were relatively sparse.

  There were four burly men in front of and behind the carriage, all dressed in riding attire and each with a horse. Even wealthy families usually didn't have the luxury of having their servants and guards ride horses, but the Yang family had this privilege. Since the imperial court allowed private stables to be established, some people began to try to open stables, and the Yang family opened one in Yidou.

  Four guards at the waist all wore narrow-edged single knives. As for the knife, the court allowed it to be worn, after all, the court did not want the good people to be harmed when the road was not peaceful. However, wearing a knife was okay, but bows and arrows, spears and other things were best not carried on one's person, even as collectibles, unless you wanted to give yourself a crime of attempted rebellion.

  Their destination this time is Xiashi Village, where Yang's family had just set up a quarry at the beginning of the year.

  Zhang Thirteen said, "If you appear in Qingzhou City at this time, it won't take half a day for your true form to be exposed. Therefore, we must find an excuse to leave Qingzhou first. The quarry at Shi Stone Shed was just established at the beginning of the year. The King of Qi wants to rebuild his palace, and all the stone materials needed are supplied by this quarry. You are the owner of the quarry, and because the stones are being supplied to the palace, you can't help but rush over to take charge of the situation. This reason is still plausible."

  "Yes!"

  "The several managers on the quarry side are all local people who were hired, and they are not familiar with Master Yang Wenxuan. It's easy to deceive them. However, the quarry is not the main industry operated by the Yang family, so it doesn't require the master to be there all the time. Therefore, we can only stay there for ten days or half a month at most. During this period, I will tell you everything about Master Yang Wenxuan's habits, temperament, personality, speech, and behavior, including his relationships with friends, close servants, and distant relatives in the mansion. You must become familiar with all aspects of Yang Wenxuan's life as soon as possible to achieve a fake identity that is indistinguishable from the real one."

  "Yes!"

  "King Qi's status is noble, and the opportunity to meet him is not great. If there is anything, the king will let the eunuch in charge of the palace discuss it with you. If the eunuch discusses business matters with you, you can be vague and wait until you return to discuss it with me again. Even if King Qi sees you personally, don't worry too much, as long as you can deceive your family and friends, it's easy to get past King Qi."

  "What? Still have to deal with the king?"

  Xia Yu's expression tensed up: "We... we..., this... the matter of treason, won't it have anything to do with Prince Qi?"

  Seeing his timid expression, Zhang Shisan couldn't help but worry: "This little guy is a country bumpkin who has never seen the world. The biggest official he's ever met is probably just a local administrator or something similar. How could he have ever met a noble? If we tell him that we're here on imperial orders and let him meet other officials, it might boost his confidence. But if we let him know that the person we're dealing with is a prince, I'm afraid this little guy will be like Qin Wuyang, the twelve-year-old who killed someone - as soon as he sees the prince, he'll turn pale and lose his composure, no matter how well he's pretending. A brave warrior who has never seen the big world will find it hard to remain calm in front of royalty."

  Thinking of this, he smiled and comforted himself: "Nonsense, what does it have to do with the King of Qi? The King of Qi is the son of the current Emperor, would a prince rebel against his own father?"

  Xia Fu's face was full of disbelief as he said, "If it has nothing to do with the King of Qi, then...then why did the officials come with the imperial edict, just say it and let the king know, catch the rebels together, why...why still be so secretive, even the king is in the dark?"

  Zhang Shisan was amused by him and thought to himself, "This stubborn commoner may not have much insight, but he's not stupid either. That's good enough. If he were as foolish as An Litong, even if I used all my strength to teach him, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to learn."

  At this thought, Zhang Shisan's heart moved and he suddenly thought of a wonderful reason. He said: "You want to know that the person who intends to rebel may be among the teachers or officials in the palace. The White Lotus Sect is accustomed to hiding their identity, relying on the wealthy families, and doing evil things secretly; while the officials in the palace have soldiers and money, with great power. If some of the officials in the palace are bold enough to seek wealth and glory by emulating the stories of Chen Bridge Uprising and Huang Pao's usurpation, plotting rebellion first and then forcing the king to surrender, it is not impossible."

  However, the evidence is currently insufficient, and these are just our guesses. If we go to the Wang Fu in a big way to investigate the case, but ultimately find it unsubstantiated, wouldn't that damage the father-son relationship between the Emperor and the Qi King? Or perhaps our information is incorrect, and the person who intends to rebel has no actual connection with the Wang Fu. Wouldn't our rash investigation be like beating the grass to scare away the snake?

  "So, let the king keep it a secret and assist in private, isn't that all right? When the county government's officers come to our village to catch thieves, they first notify the head of the household and secretly assist."

  Zhang thirteen raised an eyebrow and said in a deep voice, "Can the case of rebellion be compared to capturing thieves? Although you live in the countryside and are ignorant, you should have heard about the self-immolation of Tan Wang. Who knows whether the king's trusted people or his relatives and friends are involved in this matter of rebellion? Before the situation is clear, if we let King Qi know, what if the king becomes overly anxious and repeats the mistakes of Tan Wang? Who dares to take responsibility?"

  Years ago, Zhu Di's uncle Ningxia was accused of being a member of Hu Weiyong's rebellion. Zhu Di was terrified and Zhu Yuanzhang sent an envoy to comfort his son and summoned him back to the capital for an audience. However, Zhu Di thought that his father wanted to summon him back to the capital to punish him, and he became so anxious that he died. Since Zhu Di had no children, his fiefdom was abolished.

  This matter shook the world, and the imperial court even issued a special bulletin to inform the public of the details of this case. As a result, everyone under heaven knew about it. According to Zhang Shisan's account, it was precisely because of this reason that the emperor was extremely cautious when handling the case of Qi Wangfu's rebellion, fearing that if he didn't handle it well, he would also "scare to death" the son of Qi Wang. Therefore, the imperial guards were especially careful.

  After much persuasion, Xia Jian was finally calmed down. Zhang Thirteen let out a long sigh and raised the silver cup filled with grape wine, smiling: "Want to drink some?"

  Xia Liu shook his head and said, "I'm not thirsty."

  Zhang Thirteen picked up the tongs, clamped a few crystal-clear ice cubes from the silver plate into his cup, gently swirled it, listening to the pleasant tinkling sound, and took a light sip of the fine wine. With a slow and deliberate tone, he said: "You should have some too. Yang Xu's favorite wines are two kinds - one is iced grape wine, and the other is our homemade aged wine. This is one of them."

  "Yes!"

  Xia Liu poured a cup of wine, busy also pouring a cup of wine, learning from Zhang Thirteen's appearance, putting in a few ice cubes, gently shaking it, looking at the red wine and white ice cubes swirling out of the silver cup with an enchanting color, then lightly sipped a mouthful.

  Zhang thirteen saw him learn like a model, and couldn't help but smile, and said: "This Yang Wenyuan is from Jiangning, Ying Tianfu, on the other side, the Yang family has a large family, but over there, knowing a little about things is enough, you don't need to pay attention to too much, here no one will ask you about things over there, and Yang Wenyuan's father came to Qingzhou because he had a conflict with his family back then, so they left their hometown in anger. Neither of them likes to hear people talk about their hometown, so even if someone really asks you about your hometown, you can make an unhappy expression and avoid talking about it. Besides, Yang Wenyuan was only six years old when he left Jiangning, and he didn't remember much about his hometown anyway."

  Zhang Thirteen said, picking up a small hammer and lightly tapping on the silver plate holding a block of square ice. The ice was taken from under the soft couch, under which was a trunk filled with ice blocks, insulated by thick quilts to keep them cool during transport, serving both to lower the temperature in the carriage and for drinking purposes - killing two birds with one stone. The wealthy and noble were connoisseurs of luxury, many families built ice cellars on their estates, storing ice in winter and using it in summer, snow was used to brew tea, and ice to chill wine, both elegant and a display of the extravagance of the aristocracy.

  "When Yang Wenyuan was young, his parents had already arranged a marriage for him in his hometown. However, I don't know the details about this fiancée who has not yet entered his household. Yang Wenyuan never wanted to talk to people about anything related to his hometown, including this engagement, and would always be vague if someone asked, so you can just brush it off and ignore it."

  "There was a steward named Xiao in the Yang Wenxuan's mansion, who was the most trusted person by Yang Wenxuan. He was the only servant who accompanied Master Yang from his hometown in Jiangnan and had always been loyal to the Yang family. Yang Wenxuan grew up under his care, and two years ago when Yang Wenxuan was in mourning, some business matters that Yang couldn't attend to were handled by him."

  Xiao Guanshi had a fourteen-year-old daughter named Xiao Di. Although she was just a servant, Yang Wenyuan treated her like his own sister. Whenever Yang Wenyuan was at home, it was always Xiao Di who took care of his daily needs and meals. The people in the Yang household who knew Yang Wenyuan best were this father-daughter pair. For safety's sake, after you return to the manor, find an excuse as soon as possible to demote them far away, lest they see through the truth."

  "Yes!" Xiaoxiao imitated Zhang Shisan's action, elegantly sipped a mouthful of wine, slowly savored it, and nodded slightly in response.

  "Yang Wenyuan's father had passed away four years ago. His father was Yang Bingkun, who died at the age of fifty-four. At that time, Yang Wenyuan was only sixteen years old. After completing his three-year mourning period, he took the imperial examination last year and became a student in the prefectural school in Qingzhou..."

  Zhang Thirteen said, his eyes just looking at the ice plate, Xia Chuo quickly understood and picked up the tongs to add a few pieces of crushed ice to his cup. Zhang Thirteen gently swirled the beautiful wine in his cup, a comfortable smile appearing on his face.

  It was previously impossible for him to receive such treatment. Yang Xu is a formal officer who joined the Brocade Guard, with a life-saving official status. Since he passed the imperial examination last year and obtained an official title, his value has increased even more. Zhang Thirteen and Yang Xu are colleagues, but no matter what their public or secret identities are, he always has to lower his head in front of Yang Xu. Now, however, "Yang Xu" is being manipulated by him, how can it not make one feel proud and satisfied?

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  A burst of rushing water sound came from outside, Zhang thirteen gently lifted the curtain and took a look. He saw a wide river flowing rapidly, with clear water, flowing towards the distance, sunlight shining on the water surface, scales sparkling everywhere.

  "Have you arrived at Gu Shui River?"

  The coachman outside responded with a "yes", and Zhang Shisan said, "After crossing the river, drive the carriage to the shade of the trees, the young master wants to rest for a while."

  Xia Liu asked in a low voice: "Aren't you in a hurry to rush to the Shi Stone Village, why do you still want to stop here?"

  Zhang thirteen smiled slightly and did not answer.

  The carriage passed over the bridge, and the coachman drove it under the shade of a tree by the river. Zhang Shisan got out of the carriage and instructed the coachman and four guards: "You go into the forest to eat some dry rations and take a rest, the weather is hot, Young Master and Tingxiang are going to wash up by the river and cool off."

  A few people responded and walked away to a distant place. The master wanted to wash up by the river, which was fine, but since there were still women present, the servants had to avoid them. The weather was sweltering, and the women's clothing was thin and transparent, not suitable for others to see. By the river was a dense forest, where it was very cool, and the five people soon disappeared into the shade of the trees.

  Seeing they had gone far away, Zhang Thirteen returned to the carriage. Xia Liu was surprised and said: "Listen Xiang? Besides you and me in this carriage, where is any girl?"

  Zhang Thirteen smiled slyly and said, "Make way a bit, you'll be able to see her soon."

  Zhang Shisan walked over, lifted up the soft cushion and bamboo mat on the couch, revealing the ice-filled box underneath. He then opened the lid of the box, inside was a thick layer of quilts. Xia Chou knew that under the quilts were neatly stacked ice cubes. On the road, he had already tasted the chilled grape wine. Lifting up the quilts, underneath was indeed crystal clear ice, although it was sealed tightly, at this time it had already started to melt slightly.

  Xia Zhen suddenly understood something when he saw this, and remembered the iced grape wine he had drunk along the way. His throat suddenly tightened, with a feeling of nausea.

  Zhang Thirteen took out the quilt and spread it out, then placed the ice blocks on top one by one. Two layers of ice blocks were moved down, and underneath was another layer of quilts. When he lifted them up again, a girl curled up in a ball suddenly appeared.

  The girl in the box had an eerie pallor on her face, and as the ice melted, tiny water droplets condensed on her face. Her small mouth was slightly ajar, and those eyes that should have been charming were wide with terror, staring straight ahead, making Xia Jiu feel a chill run down his spine.

  "This is Yang Wenhuan's woman, just a woman he bought back, isn't she pretty? Yang Wenhuan has a good color, apart from lingering in the flower street and willow alley, he also has women in Qingzhou, maybe one, maybe several, maybe unmarried famous door young ladies, or maybe Lu Fu's married women. A wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a secret lover, it's just that such a secretive thing, even I don't know the details..."

  At this point, Zhang Shisan suddenly felt a bit abnormal. A rural person who had just seen such a corpse was too calm, wasn't he? Without warning, he suddenly turned his head...