She instructed Wan Ji: “Go investigate Magistrate Tao’s family and see if they’re still in their hometown.”
“Yes.”
Regardless of Tie Ci’s inner doubts, at least this matter was now over. When the officials dispersed, their eyes still carried traces of shock.
Such a mysterious and confusing death would have required anyone else to conduct a city-wide search and make a great commotion, possibly creating a laughingstock. It was actually a very sinister trap, yet the Crown Princess had uncovered the truth in an instant. This intelligence made these officials, already intimidated by the Crown Princess’s methods in dealing with Qianzhou during this southern tour, feel even more chilled.
The current Crown Prince could command the loyalty of someone like Xiao Xueya, could control all military forces wherever she went, could fight the strongest people in the world, and also possessed the ability to see through the world’s confusing illusions at a glance. Being her minister was both fortunate and unfortunate, depending entirely on the minister’s inner character.
After the officials dispersed, Tie Ci ordered a proper burial for the corpse. The next day, Wan Ji reported that Magistrate Tao’s residence was empty, obviously confirming that this favor-seeking official had been part of a conspiracy from the beginning. But the trail had gone cold, so Tie Ci could only order the official’s burial, leave people to watch the grave and the Tao residence, and continue forward.
Three days later, the procession had advanced to within a hundred li of Kunzhou City.
Inside Kunzhou City, things were livelier than usual. The city gates had been reopened, and citizens gathered in groups of three to five, drinking tea and chatting, all topics revolving around the Crown Princess who was about to enter the city.
“I heard the Crown Princess will enter the city soon?”
“Regional Commander You has already ordered the entire city to welcome her. The Regional Commander will also arrange songs and dances outside the city to celebrate.”
“This is probably to cater to her preferences. I heard this Highness is very fond of male beauty. Having male favorites by her side isn’t enough—during this southern tour she specifically selected many officials from Qianzhou to accompany her, all handsome and elegant men. I heard that…”
“What did you hear? Stop being mysterious and tell us!”
“They say she took a fancy to a handsome magistrate from Qianzhou’s Liping Prefecture, summoned him for day and night pleasure, then… played him to death! Then claimed it was suicide!”
“…This is truly… debauchery!”
“Exactly. Such a future emperor, so debauched and tyrannical, wanting to reclaim Yannan, with three thousand concubines in the future, living in extreme luxury—what good days can we common people have?”
Someone else said: “Why worry about the future! We’re not having good days now. Recently, to welcome this Highness, Kunzhou built a new traveling palace, endlessly collecting taxes. Even our salaries have been cut!”
The speaker was probably a clerk. His words resonated with everyone, and complaints arose continuously. Suddenly someone said: “No need to curse anymore. Anyway, she’s coming. If you want to curse, do it to her face.”
Everyone had been planning this for some days and laughingly agreed. Someone said: “That’s not how to put it. How can this be called cursing? We’re just common people who have long suffered exploitation and can’t bear the burden. The Crown Prince is touring south—we’re just kneeling to beg His Highness to sympathize with people’s livelihood.”
Everyone agreed, their expressions excited.
People came and went continuously in the tea shed. Suddenly a group entered, looking dusty from travel in their clothes—they should be merchants from afar. Before they could sit down for a drink, they heard the discussions in the shed and couldn’t help asking in astonishment: “What? Kunzhou here also collects transit taxes and merchant taxes? I thought Kunzhou was at least the most prosperous place in Yannan, with the Yannan Prince’s mansion stationed here. Surely it wouldn’t act perversely—how are the taxes even heavier?”
Someone said: “What kind of joke are you making? What does this have to do with the Yannan Prince’s mansion? Isn’t it all caused by that Crown Princess? For her arrival, Yannan wastes money and hurts the people!”
The merchant said: “Now you’re joking. The Crown Princess toured south not just to your Yannan, but all the way from the capital through the Two Lakes to Qianzhou—how come there were no tax increases on that route?”
Someone asked in surprise: “How could there be none? I came from Qianzhou’s Pingyun Prefecture, and Pingyun Prefecture raised taxes even higher than Yannan! I just escaped from there!”
“When did you come? Didn’t you hear that the Pingyun Prefecture Prefect was dismissed on the spot during the birthday banquet for unauthorized tax increases?”
The crowd quieted, but then someone stood up and laughed: “No matter what, today the Crown Princess arrives, and we should go watch the excitement!”
The crowd agreed and swarmed out of the city.
On the official road, three thousand ceremonial guards stretched magnificently, their vague shadows already visible.
The moment the shadows were seen, gongs and drums rang loudly, firecrackers exploded in unison. The civil and military officials of Kunzhou City who had come ten li to welcome her, led by Regional Commander You, were properly dressed with grave expressions, enduring the blazing sun, having waited respectfully for a long time.
The Crown Prince’s southern tour entering Yannan’s capital was a major event for Yannan now. Present were the Yannan Prince’s mansion and its officials, Kunzhou’s military and political leaders, prefects and military-political officials from surrounding prefectures, magistrates and other officials from more distant prefectures, as well as the Kunzhou garrison commander and garrison commanders from surrounding prefectures—no fewer than a hundred people in total.
Strangely, though officials should be in front and civilians behind, today the civilians crowded forward, surpassing the officials’ group and welcoming from afar. Those officials who were usually arrogant and wished civilians would retreat three li away when they walked the broad streets were exceptionally reasonable today. At most they scolded a few words, mostly giving eye signals for their fierce servants to quietly step aside, letting those civilians who seemed eager to watch the excitement squeeze in front of them.
More and more people gathered, pushing more severely, quickly pushing the officials to the back.
Today Tie Ci used a carriage. The Crown Prince’s formal procession, when fully deployed, had a thousand people. Ceremonial canopies, royal flags, fans, and banners fluttered in the wind, surrounding the magnificent golden jade carriage in the center. Pearl curtains hung from the carriage, through which only vague shadows could be seen.
On both sides of the carriage were accompanying officials, each riding horses.
The roads had been cleared, with yellow earth padding the way, water sprinkling the streets, decorated with colorful banners, with a pavilion every five li.
When they were still about a li apart, suddenly there was a tremendous explosion!
The sound was violent, like thunder. The three thousand guards weren’t much affected, but the horses under the accompanying officials immediately reared in fright.
Most of these officials were civilian officials with ordinary riding skills. Once horses were startled, some would inevitably fall, and if trampling occurred, accidents would happen.
Some horses had already leaped up.
But at this moment, the Crown Princess’s guards beside those officials suddenly drew their long spears and pressed down in unison, pressing on the horses’ backs. Immediately, with tremendous force, they forcibly suppressed those horses about to go mad.
While pressing them down, the guards also grasped the officials’ shoulders, shouting: “Anyone who loses composure will be dismissed on the spot!”
This also steadied the minds of the officials who were about to cry out in alarm.
Because of this, when a group of naked men suddenly rushed up from both sides of the road, the officials who had been threatened and frightened maintained basic composure, though their eyes had widened.
It was a group of about a hundred people who suddenly rushed onto the official road. All were young and strong, with painted faces, bare chests and feet, wearing only grass skirts. Under the sunlight their bronze skin gleamed, and they held long spears and large knives that looked extremely sharp, with dazzling cold light.
They moved with agile grace and wind-like speed, reaching the official road in an instant with a strange dance-like rhythm, dancing before the procession, their long spears thrusting straight forward.
They looked like a group of road-blocking assassins!
Even the three thousand guards showed shock. Wan Ji shouted: “Assassins! Protect His Highness!”
With a sharp sound, the guards drew their swords—three thousand long blades reflecting flowing sunlight like rainbows.
But those assassins seemed not to see these cold weapons, still leaping and spinning to unknown drumbeats from somewhere, wielding their large knives and long spears, chanting and calling in strange tones, continuously approaching the procession.
Wan Ji coldly commanded: “Change formation!”
The guards pointed their long blades forward, slanting like a forest.
Figures flashed as bowstrings were drawn. Shadows appeared in the trees on both sides of the road, with black arrowheads emerging from thick shade, full of killing intent aimed at the assassins below. Just one command would leave these audacious assassins dead on the ground.
Inside the carriage.
The Crown Prince’s carriage was extremely spacious. Tie Ci sat cross-legged while Murong Yi lay on her lap, peeling grapes for her.
His hair was unbound, flowing like black water. His fingers peeling grapes were snow-white and crystalline like transparent jade, moving skillfully. After peeling one without getting any juice on his fingers, he smoothly placed it in Tie Ci’s mouth.
If the Yannan people and officials saw this scene, it would perfectly confirm the previous rumors of “debauchery.”
The carriage stopped. Tie Ci raised her eyebrows and smiled: “There’s a show.” She patted Murong Yi’s head, indicating he should get up.
But Murong Yi lazily refused to rise, saying: “From when I met you until now, most of the time I’ve lived like a dog. Rarely do I get to ride your carriage and feel the Crown Prince’s prestige. I haven’t had enough—I won’t get up.”
Tie Ci patted his dog head again and sneered: “If you think life with me is hard, go back and ride your heir’s carriage. Your Liaodong is like a land emperor—your heir’s carriage surely isn’t much worse than this one.”
“I’ve never ridden that one. If I’m going to ride, it should be the biggest one.” Murong Yi straightened up and glanced outside the window. “They’re here? That’s it?”
Both carriage windows were suddenly knocked on.
Wan Ji at the left window said: “Your Highness, please give the order!”
By rights, upon discovering assassins they should kill without question, but while the opponents had an imposing stance, they hadn’t actually attacked yet, though they kept approaching the carriage. Therefore, whether to kill, how to kill, how many to kill—Wan Ji needed Tie Ci’s instructions.
From the right window came Pang Duan’s voice: “Your Highness, please wait!”
Tie Ci: “Hmm?”
“Your Highness, these people may not be assassins.” Pang Duan’s voice was urgent. “I just observed these people’s appearance and, thinking carefully, it seems some Yannan tribe has a custom for welcoming distinguished guests—young strong men of the tribe bare their upper bodies, oil their bodies, hold weapons, and welcome with song and dance.”
Wan Ji said: “A welcoming ceremony? Are you certain?”
Pang Duan wiped sweat: “I’m not certain. Because this ritual is very ancient and rare, not a common Yannan ceremony at all, just an internal welcoming ritual of certain tribes. Even local Yannan people probably haven’t seen it much… But Your Highness, if this really is just a welcoming ceremony and we create a major incident with bloodshed, we’ll never be able to enter Kunzhou City!”
“But what if you guessed wrong? What if they really are assassins? What if they’re deliberately mystifying us so we can’t figure them out? They’re carrying weapons! If we let these people approach and their weapons strike at His Highness, can you take responsibility?”
Pang Duan’s catfish-like whiskers were soaked with sweat as he said hoarsely: “The evil of this matter lies precisely here! If Your Highness acts, you’ll be accused of making a mountain out of a molehill, killing innocents. Yannan has many ethnicities, and ethnic customs have always been respected by all people. Once there are casualties from this, the consequences are severe—Your Highness will never win the hearts of Yannan people! But if Your Highness allows these people to approach, these large knives might really fall. Your Highness has high martial arts and may not fear them, but most of these officials are powerless, and there are accompanying noble family young masters… If several get injured…”
Wan Ji angrily said: “That explosion earlier was also deliberately to frighten us! Just to make us mistakenly think they’re assassins, to make officials panic first, to use over a hundred lives to create trouble for His Highness in public—such hearts deserve death!”
On the official road, over a hundred men dressed with killing intent still spun and leaped closer.
Behind the crowd of people, Regional Commander You stood respectfully under an umbrella waiting, smiling as he asked: “Why hasn’t the front moved for so long?”
You Weinan was sitting while several boys and girls massaged his shoulders and back. Hearing this, he laughed: “Hunting dance welcome—such a grand and rare scene, perhaps our Crown Princess is stunned?”
Regional Commander You squinted: “Then we shouldn’t disturb her.”
He smiled amiably, looking even more approachable, yet no one dared approach him. All kept their eyes lowered outside the pavilion.
You Weinan glanced at him and leaned forward to whisper: “Sir should remain calm. Don’t let killing intent show, or the Crown Princess might notice later.”
Regional Commander You stared beyond the crowd, saying indifferently: “Are you trying to disturb my mind?”
You Weinan leaned back and laughed: “Not at all.” After a pause he added: “How would I dare!”
Regional Commander You said nothing, his gaze frequently turning toward beyond the crowd, his eyes unable to hide his anxiety.
You Weinan muttered to himself: “Speaking of which, this person is truly formidable. She quietly overturned Qianzhou’s officialdom and seized Qianzhou’s military power. She even broke through a certain-death situation and nearly finished off that person in Wanqing Mountain. Still no sign of him—looks like he won’t make it to this good show…”
Regional Commander You suddenly turned to look at him. You Weinan met his gaze with a surprised raised eyebrow.
After a long moment, Regional Commander You said quietly: “You seem quite pleased?”
You Weinan shrugged: “Think whatever you want.”
“You’re overthinking. You’ve always been very capable by my side—I need you very much.” Regional Commander You said gently, then asked: “Do you think today’s schemes will succeed?”
“No harm if they don’t succeed.” You Weinan smiled and spat out a grape skin. “We have plenty more gifts prepared for the Crown Princess, don’t we?”