There is a god in the sky

Chapter 151 Split Operation 4

Shen Lan helped Xiao Ji into Boss Yang's carriage.

The carriage was warm, and Boss Yang was already drunk, being served by a beautiful maid.

The maid glanced at Shen Lan, probably thinking that she was of similar status to herself, and did not interact with her.

The four merchants stayed in the town's carriage and horse stables, where the conditions were so basic that they were worse than those at a post station.

However, Xiao Ji didn't mind. What bothered him was that Boss Yang only prepared one room for him and Shen Lan.

"Miss Shen, please sleep on the bed. I'll just make do on the stool," Xiao Ji said awkwardly.

Shen Lan shook her head and refused, "Your Excellency is the master, how can I let you condescend? Please go to sleep, I need to think about some things."

"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Ji asked her.

Shen Lan saw that there were writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones in the room, walked over and sat down, and said, "Think about it, who is the person behind that Magistrate Luo, and where is that gunpowder being transported to?"

She didn't know much about the military affairs of the Da Xi Dynasty, but as far as she knew, they hadn't yet developed firearms like pistols and artillery shells.

Gunpowder is mostly used to make fireworks and firecrackers, with a small portion used for purposes such as blasting mountains.

However, they did not make bombs; they simply piled up gunpowder and lit it, with an effect similar to the explosion at Xikou Station.

During the Da Xi Dynasty, the private sale of fireworks and firecrackers was not allowed among the common people. Only shops authorized by the government could sell them, and the revenue went to the government.

This is why Magistrate Luo had to transport gunpowder privately; if he reported it to the imperial court, his entire family would be wiped out.

Xiao Ji brought over the quilt and let Shen Lan wrap herself in it while she wrote.

He sat opposite Shen Lan and watched her analyze.

"We first discovered gunpowder at Xikou Post Station, and the person in charge clearly belonged to some organization."

He used a cult to bewitch people into working for him, digging tunnels for sacrificial rituals; I still don't understand his purpose in doing so.

Xiao Ji crossed his arms and said, "I remembered halfway there that many tribes in the Lingnan area worship snake gods and use snakes as totems."

The man lured followers in the name of the Serpent King and then used blood sacrifices; he was likely performing a curse.

"A curse? Do curses really exist?"

"It naturally exists in the minds of believers, but whether it works in reality is unknown. But what if the person behind it only needs this ritual?"

Shen Lan wrote the words "cult, ritual, curse" on the paper.

She suddenly realized: "In other words, someone wants to do something bad, but needs a pretext for doing it."

"almost."

"We are now far from Jianzhou Prefecture, so let's leave that matter aside for now. But can we conclude that the gunpowder was sent out from Tongan County?"

“There are more than one gunpowder workshop, and it’s impossible that Magistrate Luo is the only one selling gunpowder privately. But it’s such a coincidence that his goods are being sent south, so it must be him.”

“He has powerful connections, and this person is very influential. He also uses gunpowder to make money and has great ambitions.”

“A mere seventh-rank county magistrate couldn’t possibly reach very high places; he must have been committing the crime along a single line.”

Corruption is everywhere.

Gunpowder was just a tiny thread.

But they can't be greedy for money from just this one line of business.

"Does Your Excellency intend to deliver this batch of gunpowder to the Emperor through the Marquis of Pingyang?"

"Correct."

"If you're unwilling to offend the people behind your back, would the Marquis of Pingyang be willing?"

Xiao Ji smiled and said, "That depends on whether he still has the will to fight. The Marquis of Pingyang I know is not someone who is content with mediocrity."

Shen Lan understood that risks and rewards went hand in hand, and it all depended on whether Marquis Pingyang dared to take the plunge.

He was, after all, a marquis with military achievements and imperial favor, making him more suitable to step forward than Xiao Ji.

"I wonder if Young Master Fu got beaten up."

Shen Lan suspected that Fu Qingyan was either lying in bed recovering from his injuries or kneeling in the ancestral hall reflecting on his mistakes.

Xiao Ji, however, was not worried.

"With his aunt and the old lady there, he'll be fine."

If Marquis Pingyang had been able to control Fu Qingyan, he wouldn't have developed such a carefree and unrestrained personality.

Late at night, Marquis Pingyang, dressed in plain clothes, led three hundred guards out of the city.

The city gates had been closed long ago, but the Marquis of Pingyang said he was going out of the city to hunt, so the guards dared not refuse to open the gates.

It was the first time Fu Qingyan had worn armor, and it was quite heavy, almost making it hard for him to breathe.

But he dared not show it at all, for fear of being disliked by his father.

Marquis Pingyang glanced at him frequently, and seeing him pretending to ride on horseback, he snorted coldly.

"Kid, if you fall behind halfway, I won't wait for you."

Fu Qingyan retorted, "I don't need you to wait."

"That would be best." Marquis Pingyang waved his hand. "Full speed ahead, we must reach Spring Breeze Town before dawn."

Spring Breeze Town is the small town where Xiao Ji and his companions stayed.

Xiao Ji had no idea that the person he was supposed to meet was already on his way.

He fought off his drowsiness and continued discussing several cases with Shen Lan.

When Shen Lan saw that he carried the case file of the Wu family massacre with him, she knew that Xiao Ji was obsessed with this case.

"There is an invisible hand stirring up trouble."

Based on the information he had gathered from the court over the past few years, he felt that the Crown Prince's faction was rising in power too quickly.

Of course, it's normal for the Crown Prince to have a stable position, given his noble status as the eldest son of the Empress and his maternal family being the leading figures in the literary world.

However, the actions taken by the Crown Prince's faction in recent years have been too radical, with a constant stream of methods used to eliminate dissidents, which is not a good sign.

Shen Lan had never been involved in court politics and was unaware of the turbulent events unfolding in the capital.

“His Majesty is not young anymore.” Shen Lan could imagine how fierce the power struggles in the court would be in the next few years.

As a court official, if one chooses the wrong side, the consequences can range from demotion and loss of office to the destruction of one's family and death.

The Xiao family must be a target for various forces to win over.

"The Emperor's health has been quite good these past few years; I've heard he's been taking a secret medicine."

"Could it be an elixir of immortality?" Shen Lan joked.

Xiao Ji didn't know, and such things couldn't be spread outside. He only found out because Fu Qingyan told him.

In the Empress's palace, a series of breaths, initially rapid, gradually slowed down, culminating in a long sigh.

A pair of fair hands lifted the bed curtains, and then a man dressed in white clothes got off the bed.

The man was fair-skinned and beardless, young and handsome, with a tall and straight figure like a pine tree, and eyes as bright as stars and the moon.

Two hands reached out from behind and hugged his waist.

"Don't rush off, stay here tonight."

The man froze for a moment, his eyes were icy, but his words were affectionate and soft.

“Your Majesty, this is not proper. This servant should not stay overnight in the Empress’s palace.”

The woman's hand slid down his lower abdomen, but the man held it down firmly.

A soft laugh came from behind.

"What are you afraid of, you eunuch? What can you possibly do to me?"

"Your Majesty, it is this servant who is useless."

"If you were useful, I wouldn't dare keep you by my side."

At her age, the Empress and the Emperor had long since ceased to share a bed.

But she's only in her early forties, and she also feels lonely and needs someone to warm her bed.