Chapter 820: Silent as a Cold Cicada (9)

White Horse Exits Liangzhou

It was rumored that near the Dragon Beard Ditch sky bridge, which was used to suppress the capital's water veins, there was a small, long-renowned restaurant called Nine-Nine Restaurant, constantly frequented by officials and nobles.

The proprietress was a widow who still possessed her charm, yet no rumors ever circulated about her over the years. Regardless of how fiercely scions of aristocratic families and pampered youths clashed over a table at the Nine-Nine Restaurant, and no matter how chaotic their fights became, it seemed that the restaurant, though reportedly protected by no major figure, always managed to open for business the next day. If one arrived late, once closing time came, the restaurant would politely turn away all guests, no matter if they were a minister's son or a general's grandson. The more exclusive the Nine-Nine Restaurant became, the more it delighted the capital's connoisseurs and discerning diners. Although powerful figures like court ministers might occasionally be treated rudely by the audacious waitstaff, everyone happily endured it.

The two Masters of the Song family, Tan Tanweng Huan Wen, Yao Baifeng of the Imperial Academy, almost all former Ministers of the Six Boards (except Gu Jiantang), and countless other central government officials—more than could be counted on both hands and feet—had all, without exception, dined heartily there.

This year saw the addition of another immensely important figure, Qi Yanglong. It was said that before the Grand Secretary officially became a subject of Liyang, his first act upon entering the capital was not to seek an audience with the Emperor, but to head straight for the Nine-Nine Restaurant, where he drank himself into a stupor. What's even more exaggerated is that this undisputed leader of scholars was almost thrown out of the Nine-Nine Restaurant by the proprietress.

Today, the Nine-Nine Restaurant's business was destined to be bustling once more. Even before its main doors opened, the luxurious carriages and tall horses lining the street by the river had already made it incredibly crowded, with many diners patiently waiting in long queues.

A short, lame old man arrived at the back entrance of the Nine-Nine Restaurant. Compared to the hustle and bustle of the main entrance, this narrow alley, unknown to most and requiring several turns to navigate, was exceptionally quiet. Perhaps due to its remoteness, faint green moss grew near the base of the walls, and the sunlight, blocked by high walls, gave the place an eerie gloom. The lame old man did not immediately knock, but instead stared at a young man squatting on the steps, yawning. The young man, in turn, stared back at the old man with wide eyes and an open mouth.

In truth, they "knew" each other. The old man, who usually reserved his valuable attention for vassal princes and high officials, remembered this rascal because the young rogue had inexplicably appeared on the street outside the Xiamawei Posthouse yesterday and even had a "peak battle" with the young prince. Upon returning to Zhaogou that day, the lame old man quickly learned the young man's background. He indeed possessed a travel permit issued by the Jinzhou government in Liaodong. The old man even knew precisely which inn he stayed at in the capital and what food he ate, right down to the detail of this fellow, Wu Laifu, haggling with the innkeeper over room rent, all recorded in the Zhaogou files. Originally, the old man had largely confirmed that this so-called "Foremost Young Swordsman of Jinzhou" and "Second Blade of Liaodong" was not some shadowy spy but merely an ignorant common rogue unintentionally caught in the capital's maelstrom. However, seeing Wu Laifu appear at this place and time ignited a murderous intent in the Zhaogou chief, who always believed there were no accidental people or accidental events in the world.

Wu Laifu, with his iron saber resting on his knees, suddenly blurted out, "Old man, I know you! Although you didn't make a move from beginning to end yesterday, I know that, like me, you're a true master!"

Wu Laifu gave a forced smile, contemplating how to discreetly kill the old man. The Nine-Nine Restaurant was forbidden territory for Zhaogou. Liyang spies, regardless of rank, were strictly prohibited from approaching it. This was a rigid rule established by Yuan Benxi. Though Master Yuan had passed away, the lame old man was unwilling to disturb the reclusive woman who was a "great hidden master" in the city over trivial "minor matters," unless absolutely necessary. This time, the lame old man had broken Master Yuan's rule, but it was out of necessity; the new head of Zhaogou had given the order, so he had no choice but to come here, unwelcome as he might be.

The lame old man, known only by his surname Yao even to the King of Beiliang and the Fusui Residence, looked at the young man cautiously holding his saber and asked with a smile, "Young Swordsman Wu, what brings you here, squatting idly and watching the sun?"

Wu Laifu's martial arts skills were subpar, but he was far from foolish; otherwise, he wouldn't have managed to steal the limelight before Li Haoran. Now, the name Wu Laifu carried significant notoriety in the capital. He had gone and returned twice yesterday, witnessing the entire battle from beginning to end. The aging of the middle-aged man and the death of the saber-wielding youth had left him in awe. Therefore, the lame old man, who had always remained unassuming, was naturally not someone Wu Laifu could contend with. So, Wu Laifu was very nervous, his palms sweating, but he maintained that provocative smile and said, "Senior, the sun can be watched anywhere, right? I came to the Nine-Nine Restaurant looking for work. I walked all the way from Liaodong to the capital, and my travel money ran out. I'm not one of those martial artists who flaunt their skills and break laws; I'm a law-abiding citizen."

The lame old man smiled slyly, "Looking for work? The capital is vast; you could look anywhere, couldn't you?"

The young man's smile became increasingly strained. His eyes darted about as he hesitated, then lowered his voice, "Senior, we're both straightforward people, so I'll be direct with you. Everyone in the capital knows the Nine-Nine Restaurant runs deep. I figure, for a mere woman to manage such an establishment, either she's a hidden, peerless master, or the staff are top-tier martial arts grandmasters, or perhaps a chef is a renowned martial arts figure who retired years ago. I came to the Nine-Nine Restaurant looking for a living, but making money is secondary. My main hope is to learn unique skills from a master—skills formidable enough to dominate the martial arts world!"

The lame old man stared at this fanciful young man, unsure whether to simply slap him dead or give him a thumbs-up and praise him for his innate talent.

The lame old man looked at the fellow whose "eyes were incredibly sincere, and face full of innocence," and couldn't help but tease, "If I'm not mistaken, Young Swordsman Wu is a master who only lost by a mere move and a half to the King of Beiliang. So, you still aren't satisfied and wish to advance even further in the martial arts?"

Wu Laifu chuckled ingenuously, "More skills never hurt. The martial world is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, so learning a few more secret techniques isn't a bad thing. Look at the King of Beiliang—his fists, his saber, his sword, and that final move, 'Summoning the Gods'—his methods are endless. Compared to him, I'm still a bit lacking."

The lame old man smiled, "In my opinion, Young Swordsman Wu possesses a certain skill that makes him much stronger than the King of Beiliang."

Wu Laifu quietly asked, "You don't mean thick-skinned, do you?"

The lame old man gave him a thumbs-up. "Young Swordsman Wu, truly a martial arts prodigy with extraordinary talent! Your future achievements in martial arts are surely limitless!"

The young man scratched his head and accepted the "compliment" with a smile.

For some unknown reason, the lame old man's murderous intent vanished. Ignoring the young swordsman from Liaodong, he ascended the steps and gently knocked on the door. There was no response from the backyard. The lame old man continued to knock, unhurriedly.

The old man was not in a hurry, but Wu Laifu, from initial curiosity, speculation, and anticipation, finally resorted to yawning, rolling his eyes, and picking his ears—he simply couldn't wait any longer. Wu Laifu stood up, adjusted his iron saber, and then slapped the heavily peeling wooden door with a loud thud, shouting, "Proprietress! Proprietress! It's Wu Laifu, the one who wanted to be your shop assistant yesterday! It's fine if you don't open for me, but there's a highly respected senior martial artist next to me who's anxious to see you! Don't delay important matters! Proprietress, truly, I'm not fooling you, a senior really has come to visit and has been waiting here for ages. At first, I was worried the senior would disturb your rest, so I rudely kept him back for half a day! Proprietress! Look how it is now, if you still don't open the door, whether in terms of martial ethics or the principle of guests being welcome, you'll have no excuse!"

The lame old man twitched the corner of his mouth and endured. Wu Laifu hammered on the small door with earth-shattering force.

When the door suddenly opened, Wu Laifu, caught off guard, nearly slapped the person who opened it. Fortunately, the latter subtly shifted, dodging the blow, but Wu Laifu stumbled inside, falling flat on his face.

That fleeting glimpse left Wu Laifu sitting on the ground, dumbfounded.

That young woman was certainly not the proprietress; the proprietress was past her prime but still quite charming. However, Wu Laifu wasn't particularly interested in that type. He preferred young women of similar age—pretty faces, large chests, slender waists, round hips, and long legs. His requirements weren't high, perfectly fitting his status as a young swordsman. The woman who opened the door, however, was the most captivating woman Wu Laifu had ever seen in his life, perhaps even the most beautiful woman he would ever see, in this life and the next.

Wu Laifu sat on the ground, staring at the figure standing in the doorway. This young man, who dared to scheme against the King of Beiliang, surprisingly didn't even dare to speak to her.

The lame old man, who was the second chief enshrinement of the Ministry of Justice, looked at the woman, top-ranked on the Rouge List, and hesitated to speak.

She should have become one of Master Yuan's most brilliant maneuvers, but unforeseen circumstances meant that even Master Yuan, who always had a plan, ultimately failed. On that chessboard back then, there was a three-player game. Although Master Yuan had prepared a series of fixed moves, unfortunately, someone ultimately made an "unreasonable move." In that confrontation, Master Yuan later claimed that both he and Huang Sanjia had lost, defeated by the same person—a great regret of his life!

Looking at the old man who had personally escorted her to the capital years ago, the woman calmly asked, "Is Master Yao here to urge me to go to that vassal prince's residence in Liaodong?"

The lame old man sighed and shook his head, "No, I'm here to see Shopkeeper Hong."

She frowned and shook her head, "Aunt Hong won't see you."

The old man also shook his head, addressing her directly by name, "Chen Yu, you don't get a say in this matter."

Chen Yu. Upon hearing that name, Wu Laifu was struck as if by lightning. The top of the Rouge List! The mysterious woman with the surname Nangong was only described as "no less than Chen Yu." One must remember that the third-ranked person on the Rouge List was Jiang Ni, the former Princess of Western Chu who entered the city like an immortal with a single sword stroke, now the Empress of Western Chu!

Chen Yu remained silent. Even the old man, long accustomed to beauty and no longer stirred by it, couldn't help but genuinely marvel at her innate grace and brilliance, no matter how many times he had seen her. No wonder even Master Yuan had once praised her, saying, "A bane in troubled times, an empress in prosperous ones."

Wu Laifu suddenly received a kick to his back, again falling face-first into the dirt. A woman stood beside Wu Laifu, not approaching the courtyard gate, and looking at the lame old man who had not crossed the threshold, she said coldly, "The Nine-Nine Restaurant has no bones for you to gnaw on!"

The lame old man, insulted as a dog, remained expressionless. With a flick of his finger, Wu Laifu's head was struck as if by a heavy blow; it swayed backward, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Then the old man quietly said, "Shopkeeper Hong, it is the Empress's will that you leave the Nine-Nine Restaurant this time."

The proprietress remained silent. Chen Yu lowered her gaze. The lame old man waited quietly for her response.

The proprietress finally spoke, her voice full of sarcasm, "What, do you want me to block the imperial palace gates? Or stand guard outside the grand hall? If they knew this would happen, why did they act that way back then?! Do they finally know fear now?"

The old man's eyelids twitched. He said, "The Empress's decree is... for Shopkeeper Hong to go to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau." After saying this, the old man, who was never indecisive whether speaking or killing, uncharacteristically emphasized his tone, repeating the last three words, "Imperial Astronomical Bureau!"

The proprietress, who had been calm until now, suddenly erupted in fury. "Get out!" She pointed a finger at the lame old man, seething with indignation, "You, Yao! Go back to the palace and tell that shameless woman! My relationship with Zhao Zhi is not that close!"

The old man seemed to anticipate the woman's attitude and continued with a stern face, "The Empress asked me to convey two messages to Shopkeeper Hong. First, if Shopkeeper Hong is willing to go to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, then Chen Yu will not have to go to the Liaowang's residence to become a consort."

The woman, enraged, laughed mockingly, "Zhao Zhi, Zhao Zhi! All of Liyang knows you favor Zhao Zhuan far more than Zhao Wu! Not only did you force the eldest legitimate son to give up the throne to his younger brother, but now you've even spared him the meager compensation he was supposed to receive!"

Chen Yu paid no heed, as if she were an outsider.

The Crown Prince of Beiliang, Emperor Zhao Dun, the First Prince Zhao Wu, the Fourth Prince Zhao Zhuan. Back then, her declining family, one of the ten great aristocratic houses of the Spring and Autumn Period, wanted her to enter the capital, first as an imperial concubine, then to contend for the position of Empress. Her benefactor and teacher, Huang Sanjia, however, wanted her to marry the young man who was traveling the martial world. Later, a mumbling Master Yuan wanted her to get close to the Fourth Prince, who had not yet married Yan Dongwu. Still later, the woman who became the Empress Dowager wanted her to marry the eldest legitimate son, King Liao Zhao Wu, who had no hope of wearing the dragon robe in this lifetime. No one ever asked her whom she wanted to marry. Her grandfather, once renowned in the Central Plains' scholarly circles for his integrity, only told her on his deathbed that the family's revival depended on her. Her esteemed teacher, whose identity was hidden, merely smiled and said that a book should be written this way. That "half-inch tongue" Yuan Benxi merely dipped his finger in wine and, in front of her, wrote six characters on the table: "You, empress; I, merely survive." Finally, she was summoned to the palace. From afar, she saw the woman, who seemed to nod, and then she was allowed to leave the palace. She never resisted, not once. Chen Yu never longed for the martial world, for she knew that men there, seemingly glorious, were in fact all bound by circumstances beyond their control. Nor did she ever long for the imperial palace, for she knew that women there were all caged birds. But while Chen Yu knew what she didn't want, she never knew what she did want. Thus, through her repeated, natural wanderings, Chen Yu felt no sorrow or self-pity, drifting like duckweed with the current.

When Chen Yu heard Aunt Hong, who had taught her paper-cutting, tell the lame old man to "get out" again, Chen Yu still felt no melancholy or sentimentality. Did it matter whether she went to Liaodong or became a consort?

The old man looked at the woman who had been a widow for many years. He wasn't angry; she was a legendary woman whom even the late Emperor and Master Yuan regarded with special respect. Even if she punched him in the head, the old man wouldn't mind.

The old man calmly said, "Shopkeeper Hong, the Empress's second message is that Xie Guanying is already at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, and the King of Shu, Chen Zhibao, might also be there."

The woman instantly fell silent, her lips turning pale. She closed her eyes in pain and murmured, "Zhao Zhi, you've always been like this. Before, you'd disregard everything for your man, and now, for your son..."

The old man glanced at the sky and reminded her, "If you don't go now, it will be too late."

She slowly opened her eyes and asked, "Is the carriage ready?" The old man nodded. The woman walked towards the door. As she passed Chen Yu, she suddenly held her hand and gently said, "Come with Aunt Hong. If we die there, that would be just fine."

Chen Yu thought for a moment, then smiled.

The Imperial Astronomical Bureau, while not widely known among common folk, was Liyang's foremost imperial stronghold in the capital. Many high-ranking officials from the Three Departments and Six Ministries never had the opportunity to set foot within it in their entire lives. Thus, whether an official could borrow a book or two from the Bureau's library implicitly became a measure of a capital official's standing.

Before resigning as Minister of War, Lu Baijie's last act was to secretly transfer eight hundred elite armored guards from the Inner City Imperial Army to defend the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. And just two days ago, the already heavily guarded Imperial Astronomical Bureau secretly added over six hundred more elite soldiers overnight.

Two generals, clad in armor rather than military official robes—one nearing sixty, the other in his prime—stood with their hands on their sabers, serving as "door gods" at the entrance of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. The two men, a generation apart, bore striking resemblances, looking like father and son. Indeed, they were. The elder general was Li Shouguo, Commander of the Archers, stationed in the northern Beijing metropolitan area. In the Spring and Autumn Wars, his military achievements were unremarkable, only accumulating enough merit to become a minor deputy. Thus, when Li Shouguo successfully rose step by step five years ago to become Commander of the Archers, one of the four commanders of the capital region, it was widely ridiculed in the capital's official circles and military as a joke. He was unceremoniously given the nickname "Peaceful Commander," implying that if Li Shouguo had been in a time of chaos, his meager abilities would have barely qualified him as a captain, let alone the most powerful commander in Liyang. He had relied on his exceptional flattery skills over the years, proving adept at officialdom rather than warfare, and particularly fortunate to have latched onto the influential General Ma Lulang, the Commander of the Northern Expedition, which allowed him to secure such a coveted and envied position.

However, such discussions gradually faded as Li Shouguo's eldest son, Li Chang'an, distinguished himself in the capital's military last year. Li Chang'an, barely thirty, was swiftly promoted to a core general among Liyang's permanent military officers after the current Emperor's ascension. He was a solid fourth-rank general, a position equivalent in significance to a civil official serving as a county governor after being a department director in the Six Ministries—a transition from nominal to substantive power. If he avoided major mistakes in office, his promotion and ennoblement were virtually guaranteed. Strangely, Li Chang'an, who had never been to the Liangliao border and had no military achievements, was not entirely unknown before this but was certainly overshadowed by younger figures like Yin Changgeng and Han Xingyan. Yet, he became one of the first military officers promoted by His Majesty, baffling capital officials. To double the good fortune, Li Chang'an's younger brother, Li Changliang, merely accompanied a few young scions, including Wang Yuanran, on a pleasure trip to Youzhou in Beiliang. Upon returning to the capital, he quickly received an order from the Ministry of War, instantly becoming a captain of the Duoyan elite cavalry in Liaodong.

With the father as Commander of the Archers, one son a core general, and the other a Duoyan captain, the Li family, as if their ancestral graves were emitting green smoke (a sign of great fortune), suddenly gained the reputation of being a "mini-Gu family" throughout the court and countryside.

Although father and son jointly guarded the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's gate, Li Shouguo and Li Chang'an kept their gazes straight ahead, never making eye contact. Compared to Li Chang'an's composure, Li Shouguo's outwardly calm demeanor belied a drumming anxiety within. His eldest son, Li Chang'an, had suddenly been summoned to the palace for an imperial audience some time ago and was soon transferred from the inner city to lead eight hundred capital imperial guards in defending the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, situated between the Imperial City and the Palace City