Chapter 85: Chaos—real Chaos Has Begun
“Feng An was also forced by Young Lord and had no choice but to come up with this method. Main house, please do not blame him.” Liang Kun rolled up the bamboo slip in front of him, placed it by his hand, and said.
Yun Ce said to E Ji: “So, Peng Zeng is unwilling to be a slave?”
E Ji sighed and said: “Peng Zeng was a slave before, later learned martial art, worked hard to remove his own slave status. He told me that being a slave is not good, a person should not be anyone’s slave. If you insist on making him a slave, he would rather die.
I told him his body is strong, martial art is high, he can be Young Master’s vassal, no need to be a slave.
As a result, yesterday evening, he had the old woman tell me that he wanted to be my vassal, so I went to ask Feng An if a woman can have vassals, and he said those words to me.”
Yun Ce raised his hand and tapped her nose, saying: “In the future, when you have nothing to do, read some books with Feng An and Liang Kun, so you won’t be deceived and still think people are being good to you.”
Feng An, who hadn’t gone far, heard what Yun Ce said, knew he wasn’t angry, so he came back, knelt on the cushion, and continued reading quietly.
Yun Ce said: “If you dare to use those unseemly things to compare with E Ji again, I will definitely send you to keep Peng Zeng company in recuperating from injuries.”
Thus, the room became even quieter.
Days in the Royal Hunting Ground were always peaceful. Staying here long, people’s hearts would become calm, like the clouds drifting over from Gaoliang Mountain, sometimes pure white, sometimes pitch black. When the clouds were pure white, distant Chuyun City had good weather; if black clouds drifted over, there would surely be snow.
1 This day, Yun Ce obtained a wild beast called ‘Yellow’. This wild beast was similar to a deer, without antlers, only having two egg-sized bumps on its forehead.
1 Out of curiosity, Yun Ce used a knife to cut open one bump, exactly as he guessed: inside the bump was bone, like a deer that had just had its antler velvet cut.
1 Confirming that Yellow’s meat was similar to deer meat, naturally it had to be barbecued. Upon hearing this news, the whole family was very happy.
1 While Yun Ce was instructing E Ji on how to wrap the Yellow meat with wild boar fat, a large bird descended from the sky, and Zhang Min on the bird’s back had a serious expression, seeming to carry killing intent around her.
1 Yun Ce glanced at Zhang Min and thought she was quite rude, coming to someone else’s home to freeload food and drink without giving a good face.
1 Following Yun Ce into the Royal Hunting Ground, seeing no one around, Zhang Min opened her mouth and said: “Do you still have contact with Miss Hong?”
1 Yun Ce pointed at Zhang Min and said: “You are the only outsider I’ve seen in these ten days. By the way, what do you want with her?”
1 Zhang Min hesitated for a moment and was about to speak when Yun Ce directly interrupted her.
1 “Right now, I just want to quietly get the Shang Zao rank that I deserve, then take E Ji and the others to live in Chang’an, and never return to Chuyun Prefecture.
1 I don’t want any entanglements with the people and affairs here. If—I mean if—we still count as friends, please don’t drag me into any grudges or love-hate matters.”
2 Zhang Min thought for a moment, then slowly looked up at the distant Gaoliang Mountain shrouded in clouds and said: “Let me tell you a story.”
2 Yun Ce smiled and said: “If it’s a story, I’m willing to listen.”
2 Zhang Min pondered for a moment and slowly said: “The story starts four hundred years ago. At that time, the Dragon-Breaking Stone of King Huo’s tomb had just been lowered, and in Great Han Emperor Liu Shou’s harem, a baby was born.
2 Everyone said this baby was inauspicious, and that the baby resembled King Huo.
2 Han Emperor was furious and wanted to kill the baby on the spot, but was bitterly dissuaded by the empress, who was the baby’s birth mother. Because this empress’s family had great power, Han Emperor still needed the empress’s family’s strength to help him rectify the court without King Huo.
2 He didn’t kill the baby, but exiled him to Chuyun Prefecture Wasteland, which was Ling Kingdom land at the time. Just when everyone thought the baby would die in the wasteland, the wild beasts in the wasteland not only didn’t harm him; wild beasts with milk gave milk to the baby, and more wild beasts wrapped their bodies around the baby to shield him from wind and snow.
2 When the sun was too hot, birds in the sky would spread their wings to shield him from the scorching sun. When it rained, long-legged birds would surround him and use their wings to keep the rain off.
2 The Great Han national advisor Sang Shouliang heard this legend and personally came to Chuyun Prefecture Wasteland. Under his watch and that of his three hundred disciples, he proved that this baby indeed had something miraculous.
2 Then he used carriages and horses to bring the baby back to Chang’an. It was said that when the baby left Chuyun Prefecture, the fierce beasts in the wasteland followed the procession for five hundred li, and birds in the sky flocked together, spreading their wings to provide five hundred li of shade for the traveling baby.”
2 Yun Ce widened his eyes watching Zhang Min tell the story eloquently, until Zhang Min saw obvious resistance in his eyes and couldn’t continue, then he heard Yun Ce say: “You’d better just say what you want.”
3 Zhang Min sighed and said: “Do you have no respect for the divine at all?”
3 Yun Ce snorted coldly and said: “I only know that when you start talking about those miraculous things, I know you’re about to deceive me.”
3 Zhang Min, somewhat exasperated, raised her hand and said: “Fine, fine, fine, I’ll be concise. If you see Miss Hong and them, hope they can hand over the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》. She should clearly understand that thing is not for her to touch.”
3 Yun Ce stared at Zhang Min, but in his mind was thinking about the Divine Dragon gold statue that he had smashed into a gold ingot a few days ago, and that glowing bead that made Doggy sleep and not wake up. If that thing was the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》, then there was no such thing in this world anymore.
3 Yun Ce pretended to be puzzled and said: “How did she get involved with the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》? In Chuyun City, she was so poor she had to shovel snow and sell it for money.”
3 Zhang Min didn’t notice anything wrong with Yun Ce and continued sighing: “Now in Chuyun City, probably only your place is still somewhat quiet; the other places are already in uproar.
3 The ten hundred million tribute offered by Chuyun City to Great Han Emperor Your Majesty was robbed by unknown thieves.
3 City Lord Pang Bei and Inspector Han Du sent out all the troops that Chuyun City could dispatch.
3 Even we people from Panxing Tower were summoned back, and given a death order: no matter what, before Deep Winter Month arrives, recover the robbed tribute.”
3 “The robbers are Miss Hong?”
4 Zhang Min nodded and said: “Indeed her.”
4 Yun Ce looked into Zhang Min’s eyes uncertainly and said: “Why do I feel like you’re deceiving me again.”
4 Zhang Min said: “How so?”
4 “Ten hundred million money tribute would require a thousand carts, right?”
4 “Not quite, only five hundred seventy-seven carts.”
4 “The escort for the tribute wouldn’t be few, right?”
4 “Three thousand eight hundred people, led by Dianjun Captain Zhao Ling, who has the valor of ten thousand men undivided.”
4 Seeing Yun Ce stopped asking here, Zhang Min urged: “Keep asking?”
4 Yun Ce sat down on the threshold of Chang’an Palace, took out a handful of roasted nuts from his sleeve, gave some to Zhang Min, and said: “Secrets between two people are hard to keep, let alone something involving tens of thousands of people. I think, for such a case, your Panxing Tower people have no trouble investigating. The problem is whether you have enough strength to catch the ringleader.”
4 Zhang Min shook her head: “This matter has countless leads and is hard to trace. Once investigation starts, Chuyun Prefecture will surely be in great chaos. Currently, the quickest way to quell the turmoil is to have Miss Hong and them hand over the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 and the robbed tribute. Whether City Lord, Inspector, or we Panxing Tower, all can forgive her crimes.”
5 Yun Ce thought for a moment and said: “What exactly is the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 that makes you equate it with ten hundred million tribute.”
5 Zhang Min shook her head: “That thing in fools’ eyes is just a piece of gold; in the wise’s eyes, it contains supreme wisdom.
5 This thing is what that little prince I told you about left behind. It is said the Divine Dragon sought him, then he died, leaving the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 to his disciples, telling them it contains the power to save Great Han from peril.”
5 Seeing that smoke was rising from his own courtyard’s kitchen, Yun Ce invited Zhang Min to eat the rare barbecued Yellow meat together.
5 He thought Zhang Min wouldn’t refuse, but unexpectedly, after they came out of the palace garden, she mounted the large bird’s back.
5 Standing above, she instructed again: “When you see Miss Hong, please be sure to relay those words to her. Neither the 《Divine Dragon Scroll》 nor the tribute are for her to touch. I heard she is very sympathetic to poor people. If she doesn’t hand over these two things this time, Chuyun Prefecture will surely have heads rolling and rivers of blood.”
5 Watching Zhang Min come hurriedly and leave hurriedly, Yun Ce didn’t believe she didn’t know the trap set by City Lord and Inspector?
5 She must know, so at this time of great calamity, she went to handle some nonsense chaos in Sheyang City. However, even Zhang Min couldn’t figure out why City Lord and Inspector’s stratagem, which had clearly succeeded, failed so miserably in the blink of an eye.
5 In the end, even the tribute was lost.
5 Miss Hong and their days must be very hard now. Nowadays, everyone in the world wants to know where Miss Hong is.
6 To be honest, Yun Ce also wanted to know. If the price offered by City Lord and them was high enough, he felt it wasn’t impossible to sell out Miss Hong once.
6 Because, with Miss Hong’s current pure revolutionary personality, for the greater good, when selling him out, she absolutely wouldn’t even blink.
6 After all, in her heart, there was only the masses of the world, only knowing to break the existing injustice and build a perfect new world.
6 As for Yun Ce who was sold out, he would naturally understand these people’s difficulties.
6 Of course Yun Ce had no objections; he only knew that the more chaotic this world was, the more reference value it had for him.
