good season

Li Qing is back?
The Fourth Prince's good mood vanished. Liu Wang hadn't returned yet, but Li Qing had come back first!
"Has Commander Li found those missing Imperial Guards? Like Ding Gao?" the Fourth Prince asked in a low voice.

The eunuch shook his head: "Commander Li only brought a few attendants with him, and I didn't see Ding Gao."

The Fourth Prince breathed a sigh of relief. Ding Gao and the others had already run away after getting the money. Unless Li Qing was in cahoots with them, they would never be found in this lifetime.

Yes, if Li Qing really was in cahoots with Ding Gao and the others, then he wouldn't have come back now. Not only would he have lost 100,000 taels of silver, but just those ten ships of disaster relief grain alone would be worth a huge sum of money in this situation.

That 100,000 taels is only the price of half of the grain in these ten ships; if it were the whole ship, it would be 200,000 taels.

Adding to the 100,000 taels of silver already received, that makes a total of 300,000 taels.

If the twenty people split the money equally, each person would still receive 15,000 taels. Moreover, with Li Qing around, how could the money be split equally?
Li Qing has obtained such a large sum of ill-gotten gains; unless he's out of his mind, he won't come back.

Now that Li Qing has returned, it proves that he did not see Ding Gao and the others, nor did he partner with them, and he is unaware of the resale of disaster relief grain.

The fourth prince sighed. He had been having many dreams these past few days, and even he had become suspicious.

Li Qing knows nothing. Even if Liu Wang returns in the next moment, I am confident that I can keep it from Li Qing.

The eunuch's mouth moved slightly; he actually wanted to tell the Fourth Prince that the attendants Li Qing brought back seemed to be people he had never seen before.

But just as he was about to speak, he heard the Fourth Prince say, "Burn mugwort in the small flower hall and let Li Qing fumigate inside. I will go see him in half an hour later."

Li Qing had just returned from outside, and who knew if he had contracted the plague? This was the Fourth Prince's residence, so he couldn't be allowed to enter.

I, the prince, shall condescend to see him in the small flower hall.

The eunuch hurriedly went out to make arrangements, forgetting what he had just wanted to say.

Half an hour later, the fourth prince entered the small flower hall with his mouth and nose covered.

The small flower room had just been fumigated with mugwort, and the smell hadn't dissipated yet, giving people headaches.

The fourth prince suppressed the urge to run away, sat down in the seat of honor, and asked Li Qing, "Lord Li, have you found those men?"

Li Qing shook his head: "This humble official is incompetent and failed to find them."

The Fourth Prince sighed, "Lord Li, please accept my condolences. When I return to the capital, I will certainly speak well of them before His Majesty."

At this very moment, the little devil in the Fourth Prince's mind was raging: What a load of rubbish! They can't escape their fate. If they're not sentenced to be executed along with their entire families, who will take the blame for the ten ships of grain?
Besides, I did not wrong them. They did indeed steal and embezzle grain and silver. They deserve to die!

These people were all under Li Qing's command, and Li Qing was undoubtedly to blame. He would certainly lose his position as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Fourth Prince's thoughts drifted away. Who should sit in this position? I need to think about it carefully. It's a lucrative post. If I can place one of my own people in it, it will be a powerful help to the great things I'm planning.

With this in mind, the Fourth Prince lost all interest in dealing with Li Qing.

Previously, I treated Li Qing with some respect because he was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. But now that he is in dire straits, I no longer need to deal with him.

He yawned and said to Li Qing, "Lord Li, you must be tired from your journey. Please rest well. I need to look at the map first. I'll go ahead first. Please make yourself at home, Lord Li."

The fourth prince left without warning, leaving Li Qing alone in the small flower hall in the blink of an eye.

Li Qing gave a mocking smile, looking at the map; he figured they were probably going back to take a nap.

When he arrived, he encountered two officials from the Ministry of Works. The two had important business to discuss with the Fourth Prince, but the Fourth Prince made them bathe and change clothes. He even had the imperial physician examine their pulses to confirm that they were not infected with the plague. They had returned yesterday afternoon. After all this trouble, they still haven't been able to see the Fourth Prince.

The Ministry of Works officials were repairing the river embankment at the front line. They had rushed back from afar, so they must have something important to report. However, the Fourth Prince was nowhere to be seen. This delay was not only a matter of time, but also the lives and property of countless people on both sides of the Tong River.

Li Qing walked out of the small flower hall and returned to his courtyard, where the few attendants he had brought back were all.

At the entrance of the courtyard, several trusted confidants of the Embroidered Uniform Guard were waiting for him.

Everyone ushered him into the courtyard. Once inside, they closed the gate. Li Qing asked, "Has anything happened these past few days?"

A trusted aide said, "No sooner had you left than the Fourth Prince sent Liu Wang out, and even gave him his own guards. I secretly inquired and learned that they were going to Huiji Granary."

Li Qing nodded: "I already know about this. Is there anything else? How is the Fourth Prince?"

Another confidant said, "These past few days, the Fourth Prince has had a poor appetite, is always nauseous, lacks energy, and is lethargic and sleepy. Apart from Prefect Qian, he hasn't seen anyone else, not even the people from the Ministry of Works."

Li Qing was taken aback: "Prefect Qian? The Fourth Prince has met Prefect Qian?"

As far as he knew, the Fourth Prince looked down on this green-hatted prefect. Before, Prefect Qian had tried to see him several times without success, so he stayed obediently in the manor and did not bother him again.

"Do you know why the Fourth Prince summoned Prefect Qian?"

The confidant said, "It seems that the Fourth Prince has a poor appetite, and he likes the hawthorn cake that Prefect Qian sent."

Li Qing narrowed his eyes slightly. Having spent some time with the Fourth Prince, he knew a thing or two about him. A few hawthorn cakes wouldn't change his taste. He must have seen some useful value in Prefect Qian.

"Where is Yang Fan? Has anyone gone to see him these past few days?"

Li Qing didn't trust Yang Fan, so before he left, he instructed his trusted confidants to keep a close watch on Yang Fan.

"Liu Wang wanted to see him, but I stopped him. After Liu Wang left, a eunuch from the Fourth Prince's side sent him some tonics, saying they were a gift from the Fourth Prince. I secretly buried them and didn't dare give them to Yang Fan."

Li Qing smiled, but he knew in his heart that with the Embroidered Uniform Guards here, even if the Fourth Prince was stupid, he would not send someone to poison Yang Fan to silence him.

Even if he wanted Yang Fan dead, he wouldn't let anyone use his name to poison him.

Another confidant said, "Two people left from here in the middle of the night yesterday. They were very skilled, and I couldn't catch them. Judging from their figures, they seemed to be Chen Feng and Chen Lei."

Li Qing was taken aback again. Xiao Zhen told him that the Fourth Prince would send shadow guards back to the capital.

Could it be that Xiao Zhen was right? Did the Fourth Prince really send his shadow guards to the capital?
What are you going to the capital for?
You should know that the bridge that was temporarily repaired when we came here has been washed away again. Without a prince to pass through, the bridge cannot be repaired in a short time. Unless there is a reason why we must return, the Fourth Prince will not send the Shadow Guard back.

Moreover, those are shadow guards!
The Fourth Prince only has four shadow guards. If Chen Feng and Chen Lei are sent back, then the Fourth Prince will only have two shadow guards left.

For the Fourth Prince, who was so afraid of death, this was a huge decision.

"Are you sure it's Chen Feng and Chen Lei?" Li Qing asked again to confirm.

The confidant said, "I trained with the Chen brothers for three months back then, and we were even in the same group. Chen Lei was a troublemaker, and Chen Feng liked to stand up for him, which meant our whole group had to be punished along with them. Therefore, I have a deep impression of the brothers."

Li Qing remembered that this confidant had been selected to participate in the Shadow Guard training program years ago, but failed the assessment and was reassigned to the Embroidered Uniform Guard three months later. As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Li Qing knew the two brothers somewhat. Chen Feng and Chen Lei were not only troublemakers, but also extremely ruthless. Just because he overheard a drunkard's drunken words on the street, Chen Lei killed his own wife. The Fourth Prince had settled the case for Chen Lei, so the two brothers were completely loyal to the Fourth Prince.

However, as shadow guards, Chen Feng and Chen Lei rarely showed their faces. If there was anyone in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who could recognize them at a glance just by their backs, it would probably only be that trusted confidant who had been punished with them before.

Li Qing said, "Thank you for your hard work. Now, wait for my instructions."

Several trusted men left, and Li Qing entered one of the rooms where the close followers who had returned with him were.

Before he could speak, one of them asked, "So, what did he and you say to each other?"

These attendants were all men sent to him by Xiao Zhen, none of whom he knew. However, because Xiao Zhen's men had been dealing with the yamen runners lately, some people in the manor recognized them. Therefore, in order to avoid suspicion, all of them wore human skin masks.

As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Li Qing had seen human skin masks before, but the ones he had seen were rather crude, the kind that were obviously fake.

The human skin masks worn by these people were so well-made that they were indistinguishable from the real thing.

Li Qing was secretly amazed, wondering where this elusive Young Master Xiao had obtained such a treasure.

He even suspected that Xiao Zhen might have faked his death and was now hiding in the capital wearing a human skin mask.

The person who asked the question at this moment, although he had the face of a middle-aged man, had a voice that sounded old.

Li Qing was puzzled as to why Xiao Zhen would send an old man to follow him.

The man hadn't spoken a word the entire way, so it wasn't until now that Li Qing realized he was quite old.

He said, "The Fourth Prince only told me to accept my condolences and didn't say anything more."

He's been reportedly feeling unwell and has had a poor appetite lately.

The old man was furious upon hearing this: "Lacking energy and appetite? Does he think he's here to enjoy himself? Those two Ministry of Works officials clearly had important matters for him to decide, but he avoided them. What a useless piece of trash!"

When Li Qing encountered the two Ministry of Works officials, they were also present, and they heard everything the two officials said.

Li Qing was stunned. This person had a lot of nerve, daring to call the Fourth Prince a good-for-nothing.

Although it is true, saying it in public is...
He said, "I just received news that the Fourth Prince sent two shadow guards away, most likely back to the capital."

One of the attendants asked, "With two shadow guards missing, can your Embroidered Uniform Guards take him down in one fell swoop?"

Li Qing was taken aback and asked, "Do you want the Embroidered Uniform Guard to arrest them? Shouldn't it be you who make the arrests?"

The attendant laughed and said, "Commander Li, did you think we came here with you to arrest people?"

Li Qing: "Isn't that right?"

He wasn't confident enough to personally capture the Fourth Prince!
Without an imperial edict, how dare he arrest a prince?

Not to mention him, even Lu Qian, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, wouldn't dare to come.

Before this, he really thought that Xiao Zhen had these people come back with him so that he could provide cover and then let these people take down the Fourth Prince.

Even so, he was prepared for his family to be raided and wiped out, and he made up his mind.

The attendant shook his head: "No, no, Young Master Xiao asked us to come back with you to cover for you, not to help you arrest people. Besides, we have no official position or rank. With the Embroidered Uniform Guard here, it's not our place to arrest people."

Li Qing was speechless. Had he heard correctly? These people were here to back him up?

Are they really going to bail him out?
"Do you know that arresting a prince without an imperial edict is a crime of deceiving the emperor?"

Several attendants nodded: "We know."

"The crime of deceiving the emperor not only involves confiscating property and exterminating the entire family, but it could also lead to the execution of nine generations of one's relatives. Do you know that?"

The group nodded again: "We know."

"Young Master Xiao asked you to back him up, but can you really afford to do so?"

Before anyone else could speak, the old man said, "I can handle this."

Hearing that aged voice, for some reason, Li Qing suddenly felt an urge to kneel down.

A thought suddenly struck him, and he remembered someone.

Could it be that person?

How could he forget that Xiao Zhen is also that person's blood relative?

He had only been a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for ten years. By the time he joined, that person had already left the capital, and he had no chance to meet him.

Li Qing's heart was pounding. Although there were still many uncertainties, his intuition told him that his opportunity had come again!
The last opportunity was when Xiao Zhen died. With Xiao Zhen dead, the Fourth Prince was injured, Deng Zheng lost his predetermined position, and others were also implicated to varying degrees. He was the only beneficiary of that tragedy. He became the governor and embarked on his path to success.

This time, it could very well be another opportunity for him, an even bigger one.

But last time he won by default, while this time luck and danger coexist.

If his guess is wrong, then he and the entire Li family will be doomed!
But what if he guessed right, and this old man was indeed that person?
Li Qing suddenly remembered what Xiao Zhen had said that day: "Fine, I'll find someone to back you up!"

Li Qing's heart raced. He looked at the old man with the fake face as if he were looking at the girl he had a crush on when he was young.

Zhao Xingzhou was startled. Why did that look in his eyes make him look like he was infatuated?
"you you you"

Li Qing stepped forward, lifted his robe, and then, as if remembering something, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This humble official will certainly live up to his mission, even if it means going through fire and water!"

After saying that, he turned around, head held high, and strode out.

The people in the room looked at each other in bewilderment. Jiang Ping said, "He just left like that? He's not going to bargain?"

Xu Le: "I knew it. Anyone who can rise through the ranks in the Embroidered Uniform Guard is no normal person."

Zhao Xingzhou habitually reached for his beard, only to find nothing. He then remembered that he had shaved off his goatee to match the fake face. (End of Chapter)