"Your Highness, please command."
"The Shipping Governor’s wife and daughter have returned to their hotown. In a few days, they will co back, and they will certainly travel by river. The river route is your Cao Gang’s territory. Capture them for , hide them, and then..."
The man nad He Xiaolou, Sect Leader of Cao Gang, infamous in the gang world of Jiancheng Road and even Huai River, listened quietly, his forehead slightly damp with sweat, while holding sway over countless followers in the underworld.
"Rember?" Xu Jinglong asked after giving instructions.
"I rember."
"Oh? I didn’t hear clearly," said the Princely Heir.
"...Forgot. I forgot everything," He Xiaolou corrected himself.
"Very well." Xu Jinglong, timid in front of his father yet aggressive with others, smiled contentedly, tossing aside the half-eaten pear and letting it roll across the cabin as he walked out casually. "The Sect Leader of Cao Gang lives comfortably; the fruit here is fresher than in the Royal Mansion."
He Xiaolou bowed his head and said, "I will have the freshest fruit selected and sent to the Royal Mansion imdiately."
"I’m leaving," Xu Jinglong departed without looking back and disembarked.
Only after watching the Young Master depart did He Xiaolou slowly gather his emotions, regaining the deanor of a cultured scholar, though a gloomy look persisted between his brows.
A trusted aide glanced at the dust-stained hem of the Sect Leader’s robe and crouched to brush it off.
He Xiaolou, holding a folding fan, looked at the flowing river and said, "Take so n and make a trip."
Behind him, a Martial Artist carrying an iron rod and with red silk wrapped around his right arm, softly replied, "Yes."
"I shall return to rest. Instruct them to sail ho," He Xiaolou turned and re-entered the cabin.
Before long, the whole ship glided along the river towards the distance, and as it left, the Martial Artist with the red silk stood expressionless at the stern, tossing a fresh corpse into the turbulent waters.
"Splash!"
The follower who had just brushed He Xiaolou’s knee opened his eyes wide as the lifeless body rolled away, stirring a burst of white spray.
...
...
The people of Qingshan quietly left the Capital without drawing much attention.
The martial arts contest was rely the prelude to the once-in-a-century showdown between the Empress and Wu Xiankui.
Aside from causing a significant stir in official circles, the event gradually spread into the Martial World through the words of those in the know, but it would be a lengthy process.
And after the contest ended, a few days later, an official ship set sail once more, departing from the Capital’s docks heading south.
...
"Hua——"
Amidst the familiar sound of waves, Zhao Douan, guided by his biological clock, concluded another round of ditation and breathing techniques.
He opened his eyes to see the familiar setting of the cabin room.
"I never got to be on a boat in my last life, but I’ve sure had my fill in this one," Zhao Douan sighed softly, rubbing his cheeks to relieve the fatigue accumulated from long boat travels.
"In this era without entertainnt, sitting on a boat is truly dull. Suddenly, I sowhat understand why Xu Fu took three hundred boys and girls on his voyage... what foresight, what anticipation... he knew how to enjoy himself... in comparison, Zheng He’s voyages to the West weren’t as successful; the ship had only male crew and old won for laundry... Zheng He didn’t get it... oh, Zheng was an eunuch... nevermind then."
Since leaving the Capital, several days had passed, and due to the deepening spring, the favorable winds on the Grand Canal allowed the ship to travel quickly.
Last ti, he sailed south only as far as the border of Linfeng and the Huai River, but this ti he passed through the Huai River, reaching within Jiancheng Road.
Logically, the Sealing Team should have been grand, traveling on a massive Dragon Ship, unfurling bright yellow Dragon Flags, welcod by governnt officials and citizens along the way.
But such grandeur is reserved for when the Empress travels south in sumr. This ti, with Zhao Douan leading the vanguard, it naturally couldn’t be that extravagant.
Moreover, considering the imnse hatred directed at him, Zhao Douan remained exceptionally low-key on this journey, even ordering secret agents to seal off information, trying to enter the region quietly, delaying the attention of the local aristocratic families in Jiancheng Road and his old adversary, Prince Jing.
As a result, the ship barely stopped along the way, except for necessary resupply, the journey was tedious, and the few books he carried were read to the point of being worn out.
"Knock knock knock,"
Suddenly, the cabin door was knocked, then opened before he could respond.
Standing outside was a Bodhisattva with a full figure, porcelain-like skin, long hair that rivaled Zhenbao, and nearly transparent eyes.
Bodhi Bodhisattva, draped in a robe so thin it was almost sheer, smiled and said, "Master Zhao, it is ti for your midday vegetarian al."
Zhao Douan took two steps back instinctively, helplessly saying, "Bodhisattva, how many tis have I told you to knock before entering... uh, though you did knock this ti, you should wait for my permission to enter first; what if it was inconvenient for , and you just barged in, wouldn’t it be..."
Bodhi Bodhisattva, with a face that showed no signs of her over fifty years of age, free of wrinkles and as smooth as a peeled egg, smiled brilliantly, "Wouldn’t that be just perfect?"
"...Bodhisattva, please mind your conduct! Do not forget what His Majesty said before we left the Capital!" Zhao Douan felt his scalp tingle, his nerves frayed by this candid and bold Bodhisattva of Yu Country.
Bodhi Bodhisattva’s smile remained, but she looked sowhat somber: "Of course, I rember. His Majesty said that if I dared to consu you, she would flay . But here we are, thousands of miles from the Capital, the Emperor far away. I am confident I can perform a spell to silence the noise. Are you not tempted, Master?"
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