Chapter 291: Catch Them All In One Net?
No one knew how many people were burned to death in the Panxing Tower fire, nor who those burned people were.
The nobles from various places who came to Chang’an to attend the Wife of the Crown Prince of Changsha’s palace banquet did not care at all about what happened in Chang’an. They only wanted to quickly obtain the history books of the ancestral land and quickly learn what the ancestral land had become.
When the Yellow Emperor rode a dragon to this land, people did not mention the ancestral land much, but regarded the Great Han as a land one level higher than the ancestral land. After all, food was abundant here, and life was much easier compared to the ancestral land.
It was only after Huo Qubing arrived and single-handedly established the Great Han that people learned of the great changes in the ancestral land. Whether politics, economy, or culture, all far surpassed those of the people who migrated here, though they could not always eat their fill.
Now, the High Priest had obtained the inheritance of the ancestral land.
Originally, the High Priest could use this batch of ancestral land inheritance to gain greater authority. If handled well, the High Priest could establish a force based on the Divine Dragon Hall lineage that could rival the Grand Marshal.
Unfortunately, the High Priest had already entered the realm of gods and humans and had no interest in human world affairs. This led to the High Priest’s descendants—a crude and ignorant woman—actually using such a precious treasure to exchange for some dispensable gold.
E Ji did not care at all about being underestimated by others. Since returning to the Divine Dragon Hall, wherever the High Priest was, she followed with Zhang Min holding Yun Shuo and Yun Tui.
The High Priest liked to spend the night in the Divine Dragon Hall, so she and Zhang Min set up a tent in the Divine Dragon Hall. Not only did they sleep in the tent at night, but they also took turns watching the High Priest to prevent her from running away while they remained oblivious.
The High Priest sat by the fire pit, stretching his hand into the flames of the ancestral fire. His hand kept changing colors, looking extremely magical.
1 After observing for a while, E Ji carefully placed Yun Shuo in the High Priest’s arms. Seeing this, Zhang Min followed suit and placed Yun Tui in the old man’s arms.
1 The High Priest looked down and saw the two fair and lovely children in his arms grinning toothlessly at him, so he withdrew his hand from the ancestral fire. He first placed it on Yun Shuo’s little stomach and gently rubbed it until Yun Shuo fell asleep, then placed it on Yun Tui’s stomach and continued rubbing.
1 After placing the children in the old divine official’s arms, E Ji yawned and returned to the tent to sleep, leaving Zhang Min anxiously and eagerly waiting for the old divine official’s hand to fall on Yun Tui’s little stomach.
1 The King of Changsha’s palace banquet was actually very simple. Cao Kun did not come this time; the one who came was the Cao Clan’s steward Zheng Tianshou. Since he was an acquaintance, Zheng Tianshou had some knowledge from Cao Kun about this Wife of the Crown Prince of Changsha’s temperament, so when it was his turn to attend the palace banquet, he specially brought an extra thousand taels of gold.
1 The Yun Clan’s gold was always something they could accept more of—you could not give less. Giving more might bring unexpected benefits, while giving less could lead to endless troubles later.
1 Unfortunately, after entering the Changsha King’s Mansion, he did not see the Crown Princess Consort, only a young boy whose skin was mottled despite his young age.
1 The boy’s voice was hoarse, as if he had a mouthful of sand when speaking.
1 After two girls with similarly cracked skin brought a bowl of saizi noodles and a few side dishes, they took the gold Zheng Tianshou had brought and withdrew.
1 Not seeing the ancestral land secret manuals, Zheng Tianshou naturally had no appetite for food. Fortunately, the girl who had taken the gold earlier brought him a rattan box. Upon opening it, Zheng Tianshou saw the 《Historical Records》 placed on top.
1 He did not touch his chopsticks to eat the noodles but picked up the book and eagerly began reading.
2 Seeing this, Lei Ming could not help but worry about that bowl of saizi noodles. It seemed this person had no mind to eat such food. While Zheng Tianshou was engrossed in reading, before the noodles in that bowl could get soggy, he cleared away all the food. There were still many people at home who had not eaten.
2 E Ji woke up and saw the children also waking in the old divine official’s arms, so she picked up the children and prepared to enter the tent to nurse them.
2 She heard the old divine official say, “What are you afraid of?”
2 After Zhang Min also entered the tent and E Ji closed the gap, she nursed the child and said, “He Junnian nailed nails into Huo Qubing’s son’s head, wanting to make him into a Tiger Guard. As a result, Huo Qubing’s son could not endure it. Huo Qubing’s daughter did endure it. Concubine fears He Junnian will come to snatch these two children.”
2 The old divine official shook his head and said, “He Junnian left Chang’an after seeing the Grand Marshal the day before yesterday, so you do not need to worry.”
2 E Ji shook her head and said, “He Junnian uses any means to create Tiger Guards. The process is so bloody and horrifying. The better the child’s foundation, the more he wants it. With the precedent of Heng Ji’s two children, my husband has only this one bloodline. Concubine dares not be careless.”
2 The old divine official pondered for a moment and said, “The pair of children born to Heng Ji died at He Junnian’s hands?”
2 “Not exactly. Heng Ji sent Huo Qubing’s two children to He Junnian, planning to create two beautiful Tiger Guard dolls. The boy could not endure and died. The girl did endure and has not lost her mind yet. The big fire at Panxing Tower last night was set by that girl manipulating the Tiger Guards in the tower.”
2 The old divine official glanced at the shehuo and said in a low voice, “Liu Chang’an is in Chang’an right now, isn’t he?”
2 E Ji whispered similarly, “He is very angry.”
3 The old divine official pondered for a moment, finally letting out a long sigh. “If he is unwilling to come to the Dragon God Hall, then let him leave Chang’an quickly.”
3 E Ji poked her head out of the tent and saw the old divine official with his head lowered as if asleep, so she did not ask further. She had Zhang Min leave the children behind and hurried to the Changsha King’s Mansion to tell Yun Ce the old divine official’s words.
3 Zheng Tianshou left the Changsha King’s Mansion on an empty stomach. Seeing another envoy being welcomed into the mansion by that boy with cracked skin, he patted the book box in his hand and sighed deeply.
3 Merely skimming through a few short history books, the recording style different from the Great Han’s history books vividly presented one historical scene after another before his eyes.
3 With his goal achieved, he did not want to stay longer in this dilapidated Chang’an. Just as he raised his hand to summon an albatross to descend, a huge albatross croaked and plummeted from high altitude, along with the person on it who came to pick him up. With almost no reaction, it crashed onto a pavilion in the Imperial Palace. The massive albatross smashed open the pavilion’s roof, kicking up a cloud of dust, and then there was no more movement.
3 Zheng Tianshou glanced up at the sky and saw another albatross shot down by a giant crossbow bolt. The next moment, he unhesitatingly dashed madly into Chang’an City.
3 Yun Ce also witnessed this massacre unique to these precious giant birds of prey, the albatrosses. Countless giant crossbow bolts shot from the Imperial Palace toward the sky, leaving those circling at low altitude with no chance to evade. Despite their frantic wingbeats to reach high ground quickly, the crossbow bolts with ropes attached bit into them first. Even if not killed on the spot, they were controlled by the tough ropes and could not fly high for the time being.
3 Another volley of crossbow bolts shot from the Imperial Palace. The seventeen albatrosses originally circling in the sky, after a bout of desperate struggle, all fell to the ground one after another.
3 Huo Wudi, carrying her small bundle, was sprinting through an empty alley. Behind her came a violent clatter of hooves. She dove forward and, upon landing, quickly rolled left. As her small body squeezed through a hole, a squad of armored cavalry thundered past the alley she had just traversed.
3 Yun Ce had just finished cooking rice and was about to dig in with the recently stir-fried vegetables placed over the rice pot when the grubby Huo Wudi timidly appeared before him again.
4 Yun Ce sighed and served her a bowl of rice, then hugged the pot and ate voraciously.
4 Huo Wudi did not tell Yun Ce about the large groups of cavalry outside. She plopped down in front of Yun Ce, hugged the huge rice bowl, and ate voraciously just like Yun Ce.
4 In fact, it proved that eating a pot of rice required the same speed as eating a bowl. Just as Yun Ce set down the rice pot, Huo Wudi also set down her rice bowl.
4 Yun Ce poured some hot water from another pot into the rice bowl. Huo Wudi immediately hugged the bowl and drank. Yun Ce drained the remaining water in one gulp.
4 “Lots of cavalry came outside.”
4 “I know, but they are not coming for us.”
4 Huo Wudi scooted closer to Yun Ce and whispered, “You burned that building last night.”
4 Yun Ce gave Huo Wudi a look and said, “You commanded the Tiger Guards to kill many people and finally set a fire to burn down Panxing Tower.”
4 Huo Wudi’s small body paused, and she said, “You burned it.”
4 Yun Ce glanced at the little girl and said, “Your mother Heng Ji told you to burn it. Remember, if anyone asks, that’s what you say.”
5 Hearing this, Huo Wudi, no one knew what she was thinking, actually agreed outright: “Actually, it was Heng Ji who burned it.”
5 For a long time, Yun Ce had held a negative view of the father-son and mother-daughter affections among the Great Han natives. Hearing Huo Wudi’s words now made him feel that the familial ties among Great Han natives were truly poor.
5 “If I kill Heng Ji, will you take me in?”
5 “I think you do not need me to take you in; you seem capable of surviving on your own.”
5 “I want to see your wife nursing that little brother. I will not eat, just watch.”
5 Yun Ce looked at the little girl suspiciously and said, “Last time you were drooling.”
5 “I will not drool in the future.”
5 “We’ll see. I know a very skilled doctor. If he can help remove the Gui Fang people things from your body, I might agree.”
5 While the two were chatting idly in the two-story small building, more cavalry entered from outside Chang’an City. After the last cavalryman entered Chang’an City.
5 Chang’an City’s six wooden bridges, which had not been raised for a long time, were slowly rising until, with a clang, the wooden bridges locked tightly with the city gate, turning Chang’an City into a sealed city.
