Seeing the gloomy look on Mo Xi's face, Lü Yun asked in confusion, "Miss, Fourth Young Master is deeply in love with you, what is there to be sad about?" She paused, then slapped her forehead and said, "I almost forgot the important matter you asked me to handle." She gathered her thoughts and then said solemnly, "Your thoughts are correct. Prince Rui Li Yi's army does indeed use the 'Black Cloud Horse,' which is known as 'unparalleled in its speed and strength.'" After a pause, Lü Yun's expression became even more solemn as she continued, "And indeed, as you said, the Fifth Prince's subordinates all have a knotted life tablet. After each battle, soldiers clean up the battlefield, collect the life tablets of the fallen soldiers, and place them in the Huguo Temple for a memorial service to honor their meritorious service in sacrificing themselves for the country."
Mo Xi nodded. Since ancient times, when an emperor is angry, millions will die and blood will flow for miles. In the eyes of those in power, everyone under heaven is a subject of the king, and the lives of ordinary soldiers are as insignificant as ants. Prince Rui's arrangement will indeed win people's hearts and establish his supreme authority in the army.
Green Cloud continued, "Reliable news has come from the capital that Prince Rui has indeed been ordered by the Emperor to personally lead his troops to secretly escort the fire tax silver paid by Jiangnan this year to the capital."
That day outside Jinling City, Mo Xi suspected that he had encountered an army, not some江湖 (jianghu, a martial arts world) gang carrying goods. The fine horses they rode were likely warhorses, and their manner of movement closely resembled that of a military march. The men were all calm and well-trained, with superb horsemanship but mediocre martial arts skills; they were probably not江湖人 (jianghu people) but soldiers.
After witnessing the "flower fertilizer incident" at Cherry Blossom Pavilion three days later, she became even more suspicious that the archers were the organization's second group, and that their mission was not to reinforce the first group, but rather to eliminate them all. The organization deliberately had the first group rush forward like a disorganized mob to conceal its own identity, creating the illusion that a group of rabble had attacked first, attempting to confuse the public. If she guessed correctly, those archers were the truly trusted people in this operation, very likely trusted subordinates of Prince Duan. This Seventh Prince had become addicted to robbing his own kin; last time, robbing military rations wasn't enough, and this time, it was highly likely that he had robbed the fire tax silver that Prince Rui was responsible for escorting to the capital. Therefore, the organization's order for them to hand over their life tokens was most likely a deliberate act by Prince Duan to undermine Prince Rui's prestige in the army, a slap in the face to him. The Seventh Prince Li Qi's move not only allowed him to make a fortune, but also caused Prince Rui to be criticized in front of the Emperor for his poor performance. It was truly a win-win situation.
"When the Fifth Prince escorts the fire tax silver to the capital, are there any military supervisors or similar personnel accompanying him?"
Green Cloud affirmed, "Yes. This person is a eunuch, and it is said that he is a favorite of the current emperor. He has been serving as the military supervisor since our dynasty launched the attack on Chiyan a few months ago."
Mo Xi thought to himself: The elaborately dressed corpse thrown out of the carriage that day must have been that eunuch who was used as cannon fodder. He was probably a trusted confidant the emperor had planted in the army because he didn't trust his son to maintain his power, but he didn't expect to die at the hands of Prince Rui, Li Yi. The man who fought him with a sword in the carriage that day retreated so calmly and composedly under the cover of twelve shields, and horses happened to come to meet him nearby. It must have been an ambush arranged beforehand. Could it be a deliberate trap? Could the owner of those eyes be Prince Rui? Only if he himself was in danger and suffered heavy losses would the emperor not suspect that Prince Rui was taking advantage of the situation to remove his spy in the army and deliberately set up a trap, nor would he suspect that he had embezzled the fire loss money. In that case, it is very likely that the silver seized in this operation was only a small part, or even fake. If Prince Rui was prepared in advance, he might have used his real identity to lure Prince Duan into the trap. Prince Rui, Li Yi, could easily embezzle this fire loss money and then shift the blame onto the other party. What a cunning and deceitful show! I wonder what benefits the organization gained from sacrificing so many skilled men, cutting off its own arm; and what its scheme is in keeping me, a mere nobody? Gu An, was that you?
Thinking of this, Mo Xi suppressed his chaotic thoughts and asked, "Do you know the total amount of silver lost due to fire tax that was turned over to the national treasury this time?"
Green Cloud shook his head and said, "Such details are really hard to know."
"Very well. It's already difficult enough that you managed to gather so much information. Given the current situation, I can no longer trust any information provided by the organization, much less ask questions."
“Miss, there’s no need for you to be so polite. As you know, with Tang Yun’s death, the agreement between the Tang Clan and the Seventh Prince is null and void, and the Fourth Young Master will never accept it. As a result, the Seventh Prince will not let the Tang Clan off the hook. The Fourth Young Master is inquiring about these matters partly for your sake and partly for the sake of the Tang Clan. Please take good care of yourself for the sake of the Fourth Young Master. If there is anything you can do to help Green Cloud, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
Mo Xi nodded gravely. The situation was not on the verge of erupting, and she herself was already deeply mired in it. She, Tang Huan, and even the entire Tang Clan were involved; no one could escape. She couldn't help but sneer inwardly: "You can seize the throne if you want, but if you want to use us as pawns, it won't be so easy!"
Author's Note: Okay. My cat's mischievous streak has kicked in again.
If Jinjiang keeps cutting back, my passion for writing will be completely evaporated. I'm so irritable...
My hatred for you is like the moon on the river, sometimes full, sometimes waning. Sometimes full, sometimes waning, when will we be reunited? (Song Dynasty, Lü Benzhong)
"An Ode to My Departure"
Zhang Jiuling
My longing for you is like a full moon.
The moonlight dims night after night.
Following the clues
( ) For the past few days, Mo Xi had been wandering around the towns surrounding Jinling, and the signs of the places she visited all bore the same two characters—"silver." She didn't know which silver companies were under the organization's control, nor did she know if this fire loss silver would appear among the organization's silver. But she knew one thing: official silver was marked with a special government seal and had to be melted down and recast before it could circulate in the market. Although the Seventh Prince had sent archers to rob the shipment, he would most likely still sell the stolen goods through the organization, as it would be too risky for him to handle it himself. And the fact that the archers immediately dispersed after robbing the silver was likely because they feared that a large amount of official silver concentrated in one place would be too conspicuous and difficult to handle, so they split it up and hid it. Furthermore, the robbery occurred in the suburbs of Jinling, so the probability of this silver appearing in Jinling was actually smaller.
Since the organization spared Mo Xi's life without provocation, they must have a backup plan. The current situation leaves her no room for retreat; rather than waiting to be killed, she should take the initiative.
On this day, Mo Xi came to a silver shop with an inconspicuous decoration, intending to sneak in and investigate. Just as he arrived at the counter, he heard a familiar voice asking the shop assistant a question.
"This silver hairpin is only so-so, and the design isn't very novel, so why is it twice as expensive as the others?"
"You picked this one at a glance, which shows you have good taste. Take a closer look; the quality of this silver hairpin is many times better than the others. This batch was just released in the last few days, and you just happened to be there at the right time."
The man asking the question was a middle-aged man in his thirties, dressed very respectably, like a steward of a wealthy household. Only after he slightly turned his head did Mo Xi get a clear look at his face: a square face with a touch of scholarly refinement. It was none other than Steward Zhou, a subordinate of the Fifth Prince Li Yi, who had appeared at Liu Yanhe's house!
"Okay, I'll take this one. Wrap it up for me." Manager Zhou was very straightforward and didn't haggle. He immediately took out his silver to buy it.
"Okay!"
After receiving the silver hairpin wrapped in red silk from the shop assistant, Steward Zhou proceeded to collect the silver. Mo Xi immediately followed closely, and they walked through the streets and alleys until they arrived at an old house with a separate courtyard.
Mo Xi sensed that although the house appeared deserted, it was heavily guarded inside and out. There were four skilled guards secretly watching the front gate alone. There was one guard on each of the two old locust trees near the side gate. The highest point in the entire house was a small building, where at least two people were patrolling back and forth. He thought to himself: It seems that Prince Rui's true form has indeed come to Jiangnan. And it's very likely that this is his hideout.
Although Mo Xi's lightness skill had improved considerably, she still dared not sneak in under such heavy guard. She had no choice but to quietly retreat from the alley.
If she wasn't mistaken, Prince Rui had indeed expended some money this time in his pursuit of the truth, and the stolen silver was likely genuine. Furthermore, Steward Zhou was most likely also investigating the whereabouts of the stolen silver. Prince Rui had very likely tampered with the silver, which would have allowed him to quickly track it down and locate the place where the stolen silver was received.
The silver smelting method used here was generally the "ash-blowing method." Silver mines permitted for private development typically had very low silver content, and the key to silver smelting technology was how to concentrate the silver. The "ash-blowing method," simply put, is a method of separating silver and lead. Utilizing the fact that lead and silver are completely miscible and have low melting points, lead was added during the smelting process, causing the silver to dissolve in the lead, thus concentrating it. Then, air was blown in to oxidize the lead, which was then added to the furnace ash, allowing the silver to be separated. However, even with this method, the purity of the refined silver was limited by the silver content of the ore itself; only state-owned silver mines had high-quality deposits with high silver content. The small amounts of silver handed over by the people generally came from official silver mines, meaning silver mined from rich silver mines monopolized by the state, and therefore had a higher purity.
Mo Xi guessed that the silver hairpin that Steward Zhou had just bought was refined from this batch of fire loss silver, which was why it was of such high quality, and it had just arrived in the last two days.
―――――
Steward Zhou stood with his head bowed in a simply decorated yet grand study, not daring to breathe loudly as he waited for his master to speak.
Standing before him was a young man with a solemn and somewhat aloof expression. That coldness, far from diminishing his charm, added a touch of majesty to his already elegant demeanor. At this moment, the young man was frowning, examining the silver hairpin closely, turning it over and over. After a moment, he took a thumb-sized transparent crystal bottle from the bookshelf, dipped the hairpin inside, and shortly after, the part of the hairpin submerged in the potion turned a pale green.
Whether it was a misperception or not, Feng Shao, who had been secretly observing his master's expression, suddenly felt that his master's face was also turning green. Seeing him grip the hairpin tighter and tighter, Feng Shao gradually felt immense pressure. His years of experience serving by his master's side told him that he was on the verge of exploding in rage.
After a long pause, Li Yi finally spoke up: "Do you know who the mastermind behind this bank is?"
"It's unclear exactly who it is. But my guess is that it's very likely the same group that robbed military supplies a few days ago."
Prince Rui gently placed the silver hairpin and crystal bottle on the table, turned around, and asked in a deep voice, "How do you know?"
"Your Highness wasn't present last time, but in my opinion, the group that robbed the military supplies last time was also a group of seemingly disorganized江湖人 (jianghu people) who appeared to be a motley crew. However, they were extremely skilled and caused us to lose a lot of men. It's the same this time. Moreover, although the group appears chaotic, they actually act in unison, advancing and retreating together, and their timing is often just right."
Li Yi immediately recalled the person who had peeked into the carriage that day. The newcomer was small in stature, but her skills far surpassed those of his personal guards. He had completely concealed his aura under the cover of his Zhanlu sword, gaining a significant advantage. Unexpectedly, the other woman remained completely calm and composed, striking with her sword without any apparent fear of being inside. Moreover, her sword was completely unaffected by the suppression of Zhanlu's own sword energy, suggesting it was also a peerless sword of extraordinary origin. Why, then, did she ultimately let him go, even though she clearly had the opportunity to attack? Even the guards only parried their swords, seeking only to escape unscathed? Could this person not have been sent by the Seventh Prince?
From that day on, Li Yi could never forget those cold, deep eyes. The owner of those eyes must have experienced countless trials and tribulations to be so calm and decisive.
Li Yi pondered for a moment and said, "What you said makes some sense. It seems that the other side did indeed plan this in advance. I wonder which group of martial arts figures Seventh Brother has colluded with?"
"Your Highness, rest assured. I will continue to investigate the clues about the silver, uncover the underworld organization behind it, and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
To everyone's surprise, Li Yi shook his head and said, "I don't care about these people. You can eliminate one, but the Seventh Prince will just find another to cooperate with. What I want is incriminating evidence of the Seventh Prince's collusion with Jianghu scoundrels. Once his shameful deeds are exposed, and the whole court knows, his reputation will be ruined. Even if Father Emperor favors the Seventh Prince and is still obsessed with passing the throne to him, the court officials will never agree. Then let's see how he can compete with me!"
Feng Shao said, "I understand. I will follow Your Highness's orders."
"You may step back."
"Yes." Feng Shao retreated while muttering to himself: This current emperor is truly muddle-headed. Not only is he incompetent in governing the country, but he is also easily swayed by his wife's words. If it weren't for the Seventh Prince's mother's enduring favor over the years, how could he possibly compete with the Fifth Prince?