Aoyama

Chapter 371 Si Cao Ding

Bianyifang.

The most famous restaurant in the capital was located on Qipan Street, the most prestigious street, and its patrons were all distinguished and powerful.

Two dim oil lamps were lit in the main hall of Bianyifang, and a man named Xiao Jiu was hanging from the roof beam with his hands bound by hemp rope.

Uncle Hu whipped him on the back with a woven bramble: "Do you know how many people those 400,000 salt permits could support, how many people depend on this business for their livelihood?"

With only the whites of his eyes remaining after his blindness, Old Master Hu glared menacingly at Xiao Jiu: "How many days will it take to transport the grain to Datong? And how many days to transport it to Guyuan?"

"How much grain can these 400,000 salt permits be exchanged for? Enough to feed the border troops in Guyuan for a few days?"

Master Hu asks a question, and he takes a cigarette.

The rattan cane lashed Xiao Jiu's back. Xiao Jiu gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound of pain, enduring the pain as her skin was torn and bleeding, and sweat dripped down her chin and hair.

Just then, footsteps could be heard.

The woman in black slowly walked from the darkness into the lamplight; her face was obscured by the black veil of her hat. Behind her, the coachman carried a brown deerskin bag tucked under his arm.

Master Hu stepped aside and slowly put down the rattan cane in his hand: "Master."

The woman in black approached Xiao Jiu, who was hanging upside down: "Do you know you were wrong?"

Xiao Jiu gritted his teeth and said, "Master, I will bring you the heads of that bastard Chen Yue and those people from Plum Blossom Ferry within seven days. Don't dirty your hands. I'll take care of myself after I bring back the salt."

The woman in black reached out to the side.

The coachman squatted down and unfolded the deerskin bag he had been carrying. Inside the bag were three short knives of different thicknesses.

The driver pulled out a knife and handed the hilt to the woman's hand.

The woman plunged the knife into Xiao Jiu's abdomen, then pierced through his back and emerged: "Greed."

After saying that, she reached to the side, and the driver handed her a second knife.

The woman plunged a second knife into Xiao Jiu's abdomen: "Angry."

The woman plunged the third knife into Xiao Jiu's abdomen: "Foolish."

Three cuts, six holes.

Uncle Hu sighed softly.

"Don't worry, they've all avoided the vital points, they won't die." The woman turned to look at him: "You know what those salt permits are for, no one can touch them. You have to make the border households make money so they can continue to transport grain to the border town. If you make them lose money, then no one will care about the border town. Rules are rules, you can't get rid of them by putting on a show."

Uncle Hu said in a low voice, "I know."

The driver brought over a chair, and the woman sat down: "Tell me what happened."

Master Hu explained in a low voice, "Xiao Jiu just returned from Datong with his men. They were planning to find a middleman to exchange the salt certificates for grain when Chen Yue, the head manager of the Chen family's salt shop, came to their door and promised 20,000 taels of silver. He thought that if he didn't make money from this, he would be doing it. If the Chen family on Fuyou Street wanted to destroy a brothel owner in Baishun Hutong, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?"

The woman asked casually, "And then?"

With a complicated expression, Uncle Hu said, "Who would have thought that the owner of Plum Blossom Ferry would be so shameless and ruthless, manipulating the head manager of Chen Family Salt Shop so easily? Now all the managers of Chen Family Salt Shop have disappeared overnight, and they may have been tricked and killed by the Chen family."

The woman frowned: "What does the owner of Plum Blossom Ferry want to do?"

Old Master Hu recounted in detail: "Previously, a salt exchange market suddenly started at Plum Blossom Ferry. He used the influence of scholars and literati from the south to invite them... After the salt exchange market was established, he took one-tenth of every thousand transactions from both buyers and sellers, and stipulated that sellers must pay a 20% deposit, which would be returned in seven days..."

The woman suddenly said, "This man has great ambitions."

Having been a seasoned veteran in dealing with money, he immediately discerned the underlying meaning.

The other party taking a commission and ruining the salt shop owner are just means to an end; taking away the 20% deposit is the real goal.

The woman closed her eyes and carefully went over what Master Hu had said, only to realize that he had been paving the way for this step from the very beginning.

She opened her eyes and said, "Well done."

Master Hu nodded: "The manager of the Chen family salt shop did not die unjustly."

The woman turned to look at Master Hu: "What kind of background does the owner of Plum Blossom Ferry have? He is definitely not an unknown person. An unknown person would not have this kind of confidence."

Uncle Hu hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

The woman's voice was calm: "What, is there something you're hiding?"

Master Hu waved to the men on either side: "Carry Xiao Jiu away to recover from his injuries. Guard the front and back doors. He is not allowed to come in without my and the master's permission."

After everyone had left, the woman said calmly, "Tell me, who exactly is the owner of Plum Blossom Ferry? Why is it so mysterious?"

Master Hu said with certainty, "Traces of the past."

The woman sat silently in the dim light.

silence.

silence.

After a long while, she exclaimed in surprise, "How could it be him?"

Master Hu sighed, "Boss, neither you nor I expected this."

The woman in black stood up and paced around the main hall of Bianyifang: "Wasn't he an apprentice at Taiping Medical Hall before? Shouldn't he have been learning medicine there? How did he suddenly become a government official and suddenly know how to do business?"

After a moment's thought, Uncle Hu said, "Perhaps it's because of you. But boss, I can understand your business, but I can't understand his."

The woman lowered her head and pondered for a moment: "Just who is Physician Yao? Where did Physician Yao go after the Jing Prince's Mansion was destroyed?"

Uncle Hu shook his head: "It's gone."

The woman sat back down in her chair, tapping her fingers on the armrest: "There's something strange about this Physician Yao. Logically, after Prince Jing died, he should have been transferred back to the Imperial Hospital in the capital, but he disappeared? Third brother, investigate Physician Yao and see what he did in the past."

Master Hu clasped his hands and said, "Yes... what about the 400,000 salt permits? Should we try to force Plum Blossom Ferry to hand them over?"

The woman fell silent again.

This was the first time that Master Hu had seen a woman caught in a dilemma regarding business matters.

He leaned against a pillar and calmly said, "Master, there's no need to make things difficult for us. Actually, one of Chen Ji's men from the Gelaohui has already come to us. He said that the salt permits can't be returned; there's no reason to spit out meat that's already in our mouths, but..."

"but what?"

Master Hu continued, “But the salt permits from the border households can be consigned to Meihua Ferry in the future. No matter where the salt permits are transported, they can fetch a much higher price than before. For example, a salt permit from Taiyuan Prefecture could only be sold for one tael and six qian, but now it can be sold for four taels and two qian at Meihua Ferry.”

This means that the salt permits held by the border households have become valuable commodities, allowing them to transport more grain to the border towns in the future, and the border troops in Guyuan will no longer have to go hungry.

Master Hu chuckled and said, "Master, that brother-in-chief bluntly stated that cooperation benefits both sides, while division harms both. I think it will be difficult to get the salt permit back." The woman slowly replied, "A calculated scheme. He's not afraid of trouble from the border residents at all. Let's put the salt permit matter aside for now and talk about how Deng Huo's investigation in the south is going."

Master Hu became serious: "Our men followed the clues in the post station documents and actually caught a spy from the Jing Dynasty. It took seven days of interrogation to get him to talk. According to his guess, the framing of General Wen Tao was the work of Si Cao Ding, because all the military intelligence spies in the capital were under his control back then."

The woman muttered to herself, "Si Cao Ding..."

Master Hu nodded and said, "This man is a veteran of the Military Intelligence Bureau. After General Wen Tao was murdered, he disappeared from the capital. Three years later, he reappeared in Nanjing, and from then on, everything south of Nanjing was under his control."

"Unfortunately, this Si Cao Ding is extremely cautious in his actions. No one has ever seen what he looks like. All that is known is that he has another nickname, Long Whale."

“Long Whale…” the woman said in a deep voice, “Any other clues about Si Cao Ding? Is he still in Jinling?”

Master Hu shook his head: "No. That military intelligence agent said that he was originally under the jurisdiction of Si Cao Ding, but since last autumn, he has not received any orders from Si Cao Ding in Jinling. After that, Si Cao Geng took over Jinling. According to this statement, Si Cao Ding is either dead or has left Jinling."

The woman pondered, "Where will I go after leaving Jinling?"

She closed her eyes and pondered: "A while ago, the Secret Service and the Jiefan Guard sealed off the passes of Yuzhou. Among the crimes charged against Prince Jing and the Liu family was collusion with the Jing Dynasty. The timing also matches up. In this case, it is very likely that Si Caoding went to Luocheng at that time. The Secret Service claimed to have killed the Jing Dynasty traitors in Luocheng. Could Si Caoding have died in that incident?"

Master Hu said solemnly, "If Si Cao Ding dies, I'm afraid this matter will be lost forever."

The woman refused to give up: "Investigate, keep investigating. We must find this Si Cao Ding, alive or dead."

"Don't worry, boss, we'll continue the investigation," Master Hu nodded. "...Are you really not going to see Chen Ji?"

The woman got up and walked out: "Third brother, the news that I am still alive must not be leaked at all. That person is vicious and meticulous. We must not let him notice anything amiss. The farther I am from Chen Ji, the safer Chen Ji will be."

Old Master Hu sighed, "I understand the logic. I originally wanted to avoid him too, but boss, when he was just a sapling, I could easily walk around him by turning to the side, but now I have to take a detour to avoid him. If one day he grows into a towering tree, even if we walk around the trunk, when we look up, we will still be under his shade. How will we avoid him then?"

The woman said without turning her head, "It takes a hundred years for a sapling to grow into a big tree, so there's no need to worry. By the time it grows into a towering tree, you and I will both be buried."

Hu Sanye suddenly said, "Master, after I left Guyuan, I investigated many things about the ancient site. Would you like to hear about it? You've been in Taiyuan Prefecture all this time, so you probably haven't heard of it..."

The woman stopped in front of Bianyifang and turned around to interrupt Master Hu: "Third Brother."

"Ok?"

The oil lamps at Bianyifang were not bright; the light cast from afar only illuminated the women's skirts and shoes.

The woman calmly said, "Don't investigate his affairs anymore."

“Alright,” Master Hu hesitated for a moment, but finally tried to persuade him: “When you have time, you can go and see the Four Dreams of Bianliang in the Jiaofangsi. It contains his story with Princess Zhu Baili.”

The woman asked in confusion, "Zhu Baili?"

……

……

"Zhu Baili".

"exist."

"Liu Pin'e".

"exist."

In front of the main hall of Jingyang Palace, the chief eunuch of the Divine Palace, dressed in a red robe, was holding a register and calling out names one by one. Princess Baili and other female Taoist priests stood inside the main hall with their hands at their sides, answering each name.

When Zhu Lingyun's name was called, the supervising eunuch read out, "Xuanyun."

Zhu Lingyun replied with a smile, "Yes."

Like Xuan Su, Zhu Lingyun also adopted her own Taoist name.

The supervising eunuch closed the list and said in a soft voice, "On the first day of the third month, Her Majesty the Empress will offer sacrifices at the Altar of the Silkworm Goddess. The Grand Chancellor has granted you permission to go together to perform the 'Three Offerings Ceremony'."

Upon hearing this, the female priests were all incredulous and exchanged joyful glances.

Jingyang Palace was a cold palace; those who practiced Taoism there were actually under house arrest.

Unless they encounter the grand Taoist ritual held once every sixty years, their only chance of leaving is to die of old age here, and then have their bodies carried out.

At this moment, Xuanzhen, dressed in a blue Taoist robe with his whisk draped over his arm, bowed slightly to the supervising eunuch and asked, "May I ask, Supervising Eunuch, why did the Grand Chancellor allow us to leave the palace this time?"

The eunuch in charge chuckled: "You dare ask me, but I dare not ask the Grand Chancellor. It's good enough that you've been granted permission to leave, so don't ask any more questions."

Xuanzhen bowed again: "Yes."

The supervising eunuch reminded them, "Keep an eye on your people and remind them not to have any improper thoughts. Once they leave the palace, they are not allowed to look around or talk nonsense. If anyone breaks the rules, I'll cut out their tongue. Also, let Princess Yongchun stay in Jingyang Palace. Don't let her go out and cause trouble for everyone."

"Yes."

The supervising eunuch continued, "Also, from today onwards, each of you must write a prayer. When you offer sacrifices to the Silkworm Goddess, you must use this prayer to pray to Heaven. Remember, not one can be missing. I will personally come to check it the day before you depart."

Xuanzhen nodded slightly: "Understood, I will supervise and check daily."

The eunuch in charge beamed: "Alright, I trust you to handle things. I'm off."

Xuanzhen said respectfully, "Admiral, please take care."

After the eunuch in charge left, the female Taoist priests in the palace began to chatter in front of the statues of the Three Pure Ones. When Xuanzhen turned around, his gaze swept across each of their faces like a knife.

As soon as they were seen, the female Taoist priests fell silent, bowing their heads and not daring to speak.

Xuanzhen said calmly, "I see that you have been cultivating the Dao for years but have ended up cultivating other people. You lose your composure at the slightest thing. Xuanyun, you keep an eye on them, kneel in front of the statue of the Dao Ancestor and recite the Daoist scriptures until midnight before going back to sleep."

Zhu Lingyun quickly agreed: "Yes, don't worry, Master, I will definitely keep a close eye on them."

Xuanzhen turned and walked towards the side hall. Zhu Lingyun pointed at the female Taoist priests and said, "Begin reciting the Taoist scriptures."

The female Taoist priests knelt obediently before the statues of the Three Pure Ones, reciting in a low voice: "The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao..."

Just as Bai Li was about to kneel down, Zhu Lingyun stopped her by supporting her arm: "What are you doing, sister? We can just watch them recite the scriptures. You don't need to recite them."

But Bai Li said softly, "Now that you're in charge, you have to be fair, otherwise they'll definitely hold a grudge against you behind your back."

Zhu Lingyun raised an eyebrow: "They wouldn't dare."

Bai Li smiled and said, "It's alright, I'll recite the scriptures with them."

Having said that, she gently lifted the hem of her Taoist robe, knelt on the prayer mat, straightened her body, and began to recite scriptures in a very soft voice, but it was not the Tao Te Ching.

"To be selfless is to be detached from emotions; to gain emotions is to be detached from emotions. The Tao gives birth to all things, with emotions as its root; emotions give rise to all phenomena, but non-attachment is the true path..."

(End of this chapter)