Chapter 172: Jiao Cang "Delicate Concealment" / Are You the One

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 Jiao Cang "Delicate Concealment" / Are You the One

 

 Chapter 172: 

 

As a result, Mian Tang managed to get through the entire bowl of bird’s nest soup with egg, somehow sustaining herself until noon.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, but Mian Tang was sleeping so soundly she was almost snoring.

She hadn’t felt this exhausted even when chased around the mountain by Cui Xingzhou's men. At that time, she never would have imagined that falling into the hands of her long-standing enemy, Prince Huaiyang, could be so... pleasant.

On the other hand, Cui Xingzhou looked invigorated and relaxed, feeling a sense of relief. He coaxed Mian Tang to wake up for breakfast, but she coldly kicked him in the face.

Cui Xingzhou didn’t mind; instead, he indulgently tucked her little feet back under the blanket before heading off to eat and continue with his official duties.

Now that Ko Island had been subdued, the internal strife still hadn’t been resolved. If it weren’t for the collusion between the Japanese and the pests in the court, they wouldn’t have become increasingly rampant in the North Sea.

The five cannons made of fine iron were linked to the cannon-making techniques recorded in the capital's Bureau of Military Supplies.

Without someone secretly providing them with these confidential blueprints, even with the fine iron, Eagle Temple's Japanese Pirates wouldn’t be able to cast such precise cannons.

The urgent matter at hand was to uncover the evidence of Shi Yikuan’s collusion with foreign enemies and expose the secrets of this national father-in-law.

Unfortunately, the man Eikushi-ji, whose legs were crushed by the cannon fire, stubbornly held on and refused to confess.

On the other hand, some of his subordinates were less resilient. After enduring severe torture, they finally admitted that Eikushi-ji had special channels to obtain various weapons and ship blueprints.

As a result, their ships were always more agile and faster than the local North Sea navy’s vessels.

However, they truly did not know who the mysterious person was that provided Eikushi-ji with the blueprints; it was a direct line of communication between the general and him.

As for the two escaped imperial envoys, after leaking the date of the North Sea navy’s mobilization, they were captured without any trouble by the people sent by Cui Xingzhou, thus fulfilling their duty.

Prince Huaiyang politely asked them to temporarily endure confinement in a prison cart, and they would go to the capital's Criminal Justice Bureau to explain in detail the intricacies of their collusion with Eagle Temple’s Japanese Pirates.

Cui Xingzhou had already written a memorial outlining these events, which was sent directly to the imperial court.

News of the complete annihilation of the North Sea bandits and the fact that they had captured the Japanese warships without any losses soon reached the capital.

In no time, the people were in an uproar, and the heroic deeds of Prince Huaiyang were fantastically transformed into various stories. These tales were eagerly recounted by storytellers in tea houses large and small throughout the Great Yan.

After Prince Huaiyang had restored order and cleared out the remaining Japanese remnants, he piled the captured Japanese goods in the small parade ground and had Mian Tang lead a group of military families to divide them for distribution to the nearby villages.

In recent years, these villages had suffered the most severe hardships.

The common people were living in dire poverty, and many poor families had twelve- or thirteen-year-old girls who didn't even have cloth skirts to cover themselves. They used a locally unique type of palm leaf to make thin ropes and tied them around their waists as skirts.

In stark contrast, the various supplies on Ko Island, along with the fabric and porcelain obtained from plundering merchant ships, had piled up like small mountains.

Aside from what needed to go into the national treasury, they selected some ordinary fabrics and utensils for registration and could distribute them to the local poor people, as a gesture of thanks for their support of the soldiers from Zhen Prefecture during this time.

Looking at Lord Su, he no longer had the cold demeanor he once had. He took the initiative to help the princesses set up shade awnings and sort the supplies, being exceptionally considerate.

Lord Su remarked that he had lived to witness the Great Yan's heroic forces driving out the Japanese; even if he died old in the North Sea, he would have no regrets in this life.

As for this task, Mian Tang was quite familiar with it. It was quite similar to her previous experience of robbing the rich to help the poor on Yangshan, and she never expected that after being taken by Prince Huaiyang, she could once again return to her old trade.

Although Cui Fu was not visibly pregnant yet, she was still worried about overexerting herself. Therefore, Mian Tang had people set up a reclining chair in the grass hut for Cui Fu to rest in while she enjoyed chilled coconut milk and watched the excitement.

Mian Tang had someone bring a ladder for her, and she sat at the top of the ladder under an oil umbrella, surveying the scene from above. She directed everyone on how to sort the items while occasionally reminding some women who liked to take advantage to be cautious.

“Zhou An's family, be gentle with that! Take out the teaware with the engraving from the bottom of the pot. That stuff is valuable! If you give it to an ordinary family, they won't know how to treat it properly, and if they break it, that's a loss of a hundred taels of silver! We fought such a great battle; we should let the emperor see some good stuff too! We need to show our respect to the emperor, so don’t mess up the inventory…”

Saying this, she poured a sip of water into a small porcelain teapot and then glanced over, adding, “And Li Shan’s family, what are you secretly sitting on? I’m not saying this to pick on you, but how many times have I told you? Every time you see good fabric, you think about taking some home. The general’s rewards will be calculated separately by the prince. You've been sitting on so much that you're almost about to float away! Don’t worry; the fabric we give you will be enough for you to change your foot wrappings every day!”

Her words drew a burst of laughter from the military families in the small square. Li Shan’s family, embarrassed, explained that the ground was cold, which was why they had the fabric under their skirts.

In the midst of the laughter, someone suddenly rushed over in a hurry.

“Princess, Eldest Miss, something big has happened!” Mo Ru came running, drenched in sweat.

Mian Tang frowned and said, “What’s going on? Take your time and explain; there’s no need to panic.”

Mo Ru swallowed hard and said, “There’s news from Zhenzhou; they say… they say the old princess consort isn’t doing well…”

At these words, Cui Fu immediately stood up, her body trembling slightly.

Mian Tang hurried down the ladder and went over to support Cui Fu, frowning as she asked, “What exactly happened?”

Mo Ru shook her head and replied, “I can’t explain it all right now. It’s better for the Princess and Miss to hurry back to the manor and ask the prince for more details.”

When Cui Fu and Mian Tang anxiously made their way back to the manor in a sedan chair, they saw Cui Xingzhou and Li Guangcai sitting together, looking serious as they discussed matters.

Before Cui Fu had even entered, she tremblingly asked, “What… what happened to my mother?”

Li Guangcai quickly stood up to support her arm, comforting her, “Don’t worry, Old Princess Consort is merely suffering from a chill. With a skilled doctor’s care, she will be fine.”

Cui Fu took the family letter and discovered that her mother had caught a cold at a banquet recently. At first, it seemed like just a minor discomfort, but over time, she began to feel a constant ache in her back and a heaviness in her chest. The last time she was in the royal garden, she even fell to the ground while walking. If the steward hadn’t quickly called the physician from the manor and given her some Danshen to help her, she might not have survived.

The steward didn’t dare to conceal the old princess consort's illness from the prince and quickly sent a letter via express horse from the relay station to Cui Xingzhou.

Under normal circumstances, even high-ranking officials in the court would be expected to return home when their parents fell gravely ill. After all, failing to see their parents off in their final moments would be considered a serious moral failing.

Given the situation, Cui Xingzhou should return to Zhenzhou to visit his mother. If the old princess consort couldn’t endure this trial and passed away, as her son, he would have to return home to mourn and observe the three-year mourning period, during which he couldn’t serve in the court.

As for Liu Mian Tang, she couldn’t remember much about her mother-in-law and naturally had no strong feelings of sorrow. 

However, on the way back, she listened to Cui Fu talk about how healthy her mother had been, looking even younger than some women in their thirties. How could she suddenly become so gravely ill?

Hearing these words, Mian Tang suddenly thought that if the empress dowager was gravely ill, the Shi family could take advantage of Cui Xingzhou's absence from the court to overturn the ironclad evidence and escape a great disaster.

But for now, there was nothing else to think about. Fortunately, they had packed their luggage earlier because they were afraid of being defeated and fleeing.

Cui Xingzhou planned to set off the next day, taking his family back to Zhenzhou first. After assessing his mother’s condition, he would decide whether to return to the capital.

That evening, after playing with little Yi’er for a while and watching the nurse take him away to sleep, Cui Xingzhou suddenly said to Mian Tang, “I just received news that someone attempted to assassinate the two imperial envoys and Eikushi-ji while they were escorting them to the capital...”

Mian Tang furrowed her brow and said, “Lord Shi is desperate. He wants to eliminate Eikushi-ji and the two envoys, the witnesses, to cover up his collusion with the Japanese and the crime of framing the prince. So, did they succeed?”

Cui Xingzhou narrowed his eyes and said, “The assassins acted very strangely, like specially trained killers, showing no fear of death. They were all strapped with explosives; when they couldn’t break through, they ignited the explosives to take the guards down with them. I sent many guards, including several skilled ones, yet they were forced to blast a path through with their own flesh and blood. What’s odd is that these assassins targeted Eikushi-ji and not the two imperial envoys at all... In the end, Eikushi-ji was blown to smithereens and died.”

Mian Tang listened, puzzled. When she thought it over, it was evident that the strongest evidence of Lord Shi’s collusion with the Japanese was indeed the two imperial envoys, as they had intentionally leaked military secrets to Eikushi-ji!

It made no sense that those killers would only kill Eikushi-ji while leaving the two living witnesses, the envoys, alive!

Could it be that those assassins were not sent by Shi Yikang? If not, who could they be? What deadly secret were they trying to conceal?

After pondering for a moment, Mian Tang asked, “Did you check the study Eikushi-ji had on the island? It was dedicated to handling correspondence.”

Cui Xingzhou replied, “I had all the items from his study brought back, and I’ve already reviewed his letters, including those written in Japanese, which have been translated by someone fluent in the language. There are indeed letters confirming his dealings with Lord Shi regarding smuggling iron ore, but there’s no mention of the five cannons.”

Mian Tang fell silent, deep in thought for a while, still without a clue. She said to Cui Xingzhou, “I... want to take a look at the items Eikushi-ji used; perhaps I can find something.”

The night was somewhat chilly. Cui Xingzhou picked up a large cloak and draped it over Mian Tang. The two of them walked hand in hand out of the house, under the cold moonlight illuminated by the twinkling stars, heading to a courtyard.

At the entrance of the courtyard, several guards were on duty.

Mian Tang and Cui Xingzhou entered the room, lit some candles, and saw that the writing desk and the floor were covered with neatly stacked letters and various items, all clearly having been carefully examined.

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