Chapter 48: Adventure (Part 3)
After the banquet, Yinzhen sat on the bed covered with thick fur without saying a word. The counselors and guards beside him looked at this master who seemed serious but actually had mood swings. One of them said tentatively, "Master, how about I go and arrest Huo Chong?"
"Oh? Why?" Yinzhen asked.
"That kid made the master unhappy, so he deserves to die." The guard replied with his head down.
Yinzhen thought this was correct, but waved his hand, "He's just a craftsman, don't touch him."
The counselor beside him heard what Yinzhen said and asked tentatively, "Who is the Fourth Master worried about?"
"Yes. The emperor likes the Glazed Fire given by the Fourteenth. This thing was given to the Fourth by the Eighth. I didn't expect it was made by this guy. Since the emperor likes it, what's wrong with keeping it?"
When the counselor heard this, he felt that he could follow Yinzhen's train of thought. He continued to probe and said, "Fourth Master, should we let Eighth Master know about this?"
"No need for us to tell him, the Eighth Prince will know. The rest depends on what he does." Yinzhen had figured out the idea and felt much better. This was just an accidental encounter, and if he didn't take advantage of it, his father would think he was being hypocritical.
In the past few years, the Eighth Old Man has been beaten by his father because he likes to win people's hearts so much that he is foolish. If the news of the Glazed Fire reaches the Eighth Old Man, he will use it as an excuse to make trouble behind his back. I can take this opportunity to explain this encounter to my father. The old man can also have fun when he hears such a strange story.
The guard was a little confused when he heard this and couldn't help asking, "Master, Huo Chong doesn't look like a good person."
"Good man? Ha!" Yinzhen was amused. Huo Chong was indeed funny. Thinking back to the time when he laughed at Huo Chong, it made more sense now. It is a great skill for a person to be able to tell the truth and make it sound like a lie. Yinzhen hoped that Huo Chong was a person who only told the truth. He said that he could only produce 10,000 kilograms in half a year. Isn't that good?
If Lao Ba knew that his father liked this Glazed Fire and did nothing... it was impossible. Even if Lao Ba did nothing, his subordinates would torture Huo Chong to death in order to please Lao Ba.
No matter which one it is, I won't lose anything. Now that I have Liulihuo in my hands, if my father likes it, I can be filial to him. If my father forgets about this little thing soon, that's also good.
Thinking of this, Yinzhen no longer wanted to waste time on such a small matter, so he asked casually, "Did you give him the money?"
Several servants looked at each other in bewilderment. After a while, Gouzi finally replied in a low voice: "I'll ask him to deliver the Glazed Fire to the palace and then give it to him."
Yinzhen knew the loyalty of his servants and did not want to criticize them for the sake of outsiders, so he just asked, "Did he say what the price for the two thousand kilograms was this time?"
"My Lord, Huo Chong said that we can take it ourselves this time, one tael of silver for ten catties."
"Oh? If he sends it to the capital, what price will he ask for?"
"He said there would be a lot of expenses on the road, one ounce of silver costs seven pounds."
"Humph! You are such a clerk. Gou'er, go give Huo Chong seven hundred taels of silver and ask him to send the remaining Liuli Fire to the capital!"
Huo Chong didn't expect that the prince actually gave him money, especially that it was his men who gave him the money. But when things got to this point, Huo Chong had no choice but to accept the money.
The yellow vest guard gave the money and stared at Huo Chong. Huo Chong could only take out a silver ingot and handed it to the yellow vest, "This is just a small gift, brother."
This ingot of silver must be twenty taels. The yellow vest's eyes wavered a little, and finally said: "Since you saved my brother's leg, I will accept it."
Huo Chong no longer dared to speculate about the customs and rules of this era, but he still felt that he could understand what the yellow vest meant. If he was not mistaken...
Whether there is a mistake or not, we need to communicate to understand. Huo Chong said: "Brother, what should I call you?"
"what you up to?"
"I am sending Liulihuo to the capital. Can you please come out and take over directly? I am only familiar with you, my brother."
After hearing this, the man in yellow vest shook the silver in his hand and said, "My name is Zhang Wei. You must remember it."
After respectfully sending Zhang Wei away, Huo Chong sighed. Even if he didn't know who Prince Yong was, putting the Fourth Master, the Prince, and the dragon robe together, it was impossible for him not to know what kind of demon he had provoked.
The indifference shown by Prince Yong and his temper of kicking even a stone are not much different from the descriptions in later generations. If there is really a place to escape, after finishing the 10,000 kilograms of solid alcohol, he can just run away.
An autumn breeze blew, and Huo Chong couldn't help but shivering violently.
It was already September 11th, which was the beginning of October according to the Western calendar. Perhaps because the total amount of carbon emissions from humans was not high during this era, everyone who met in the capital at least wore outerwear.
In a farm outside the capital, two teams of soldiers were starting a fire. The firewood was freshly cut and a little wet. One pile was almost full of dry grass for starting the fire. The other pile had some white blocks simply piled underneath.
The flints crackled, and soon the white blocks began to burn. A middle-aged man in his thirties stood with his hands behind his back, watching the changes on both sides. When he saw that the solid alcohol had been ignited, he ordered, "Use a torch to light the grass."
The dry grass finally burned up, and although the smoke was billowing and looked scary, it was still not as good as solid alcohol. After adding hay several times, the firewood still couldn't be lit. Looking at the firewood pile ignited by solid alcohol, it was already smoking and burning.
At this time, the guards came running in. The middle-aged man quickly ordered to greet them. Not long after, an elegant man who was a few years older than him came in. Looking at the two piles of firewood, he smiled and said, "It's not cold yet, Fourteenth Brother, do you want to warm yourself by the fire?"
The fourteenth brother sighed, "Eighth brother, this glazed fire is very convenient to use during the march."
"As long as father likes it." Old Eight said with a wry smile.
"Although my father didn't say it, he has released soldiers so many times, how could he not know the use of this thing. Myna, where did you buy it from?"
"It was brought from Jiangnan by a member of the Cao Gang. I'm also trying to find out who made it."
"If you find out, what are the plans of the starling?"
"I can no longer help with this matter, so Fourteenth Brother will have to handle it. If you can get the recipe, I will present it to Father. He will surely like it."
As the two were talking, another person was led in. When Lao Ba saw the person, he waved him over. The person hurried over, bowed and handed over a letter. Lao Ba opened it and looked at it with a complicated expression.
"Myna, what's going on?" asked Old Fourteen.
"I found that person." Lao Ba replied, but there was no trace of joy on his face.
"Now that we have found that person, why is Starling so unhappy?"
"The fourth brother has already met that man." The eighth brother sighed.
