Chapter 119: Hello Chang’an
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**Chapter 119: Hanging Lanterns
The man's expression changed.
His nephew...
His nephew had been silenced and dumped into the city moat!
He had been shocked to hear that before, but now it suddenly dawned on him that he seemed to have fallen into the same situation as his nephew...
“Do you really think that if you don’t say anything and don’t reveal who that person is, they will really let you go?” Chang Suining said. “On the contrary, the more you keep things under wraps, the less they will hesitate to silence you.”
A cold sweat broke out on the man's back.
He had been told that even if things were exposed today, as long as he kept his mouth shut and didn’t say anything, he would be helped to avoid the Chang family’s revenge, and he would be sent away from the capital safely...
All along, he had been more afraid of private retaliation from the Chang family than any minor punishment from the authorities.
But now, Chang Suining's words reminded him that perhaps the real threat was his “employer.”
Or rather, both were the Grim Reaper!
At this moment, the man wished he could slap himself a hundred times—he had no skills at all and had been living off his luck, so why had he foolishly dreamed of making a fortune by walking such a dangerous path?
The man, who had come crying and shouting, now wanted to cry but found he had no tears left, only boundless fear.
The girl, whom he regarded as the Grim Reaper, spoke again, “If you tell the whole truth, I won’t hold today’s mistakes against you. I can spare your life.”
The man was taken aback.
Why had the situation turned around like this?
But this temptation was indeed enormous; he hesitated for a moment, looking at the girl, “Do you really... keep your word?”
“Of course!” Chang Kuo interjected, his voice booming like thunder, “The Chang family always keeps their word!”
Chang Suining said, “This is your only chance to live. Whether you take it or not is up to you.”
“I choose…” Under the gazes of everyone, the man no longer hesitated: “I’ll tell everything! I’ll say anything!”
Those who recognize the situation are wise, and the clever bird chooses its roost. Taking a step back opens up vast horizons, and he just wanted to keep his life!
A flurry of literary phrases unrelated to his situation popped into the man’s head, and he spoke, “I was sent here to cause trouble by someone. They gave me the painting, and everything I said was taught to me by them!”
As a stir arose around them, everyone grew increasingly angry.
It turned out he was indeed instructed to deliberately ruin Chang’s reputation!
Whether out of loyalty to the Chang family or genuine admiration for the painting, they instinctively began to view Chang Suining as one of their own—empathy flooded their expressions as they shot glares at the man surnamed Zhou.
Seeing that even Hu Yi and others had joined the ranks of those wishing to punish him, one anxious thought crossed Chang Kuo’s mind—shouldn’t he hurry and wake the man up with a pot of cold water? Otherwise, once the man sobered up tomorrow, he would surely regret missing such an important opportunity for the rest of his life!
“Quickly tell us, who exactly was behind this?” Chang Suining returned the painting to the desk and quickly stepped in front of the man who was kowtowing and admitting his wrongs.
“This small man truly doesn’t know!” the man replied. “The one in charge looked like a maid and covered her face with a hood! I was just here for the money and didn’t dare ask too much!”
Hearing this, Chang Suining couldn’t help but think that this man and Zhou Ding truly deserved to be uncle and nephew; they were both so focused on money that they didn’t care about the people involved.
Seeing her expression, the man grew anxious—wasn’t this an indication that he couldn’t even provide useful information and was about to go back on his word?
He quickly added, “But I know they arranged for others to come too!”
The maid beside Madam Jie slightly trembled in her eyes.
The man continued, “I have long admired General Chang’s reputation, and doing such unscrupulous things made me quite nervous. Initially, I didn’t dare to accept the job... But that maid told me as long as I followed her instructions and made a scene, others would come to handle it, and I would be perfectly safe!”
Even from behind the hood, he felt the other party’s calculated confidence, and hearing such an arrangement seemed quite meticulous; a sense of security immediately washed over him.
Looking at it now, he felt like a fool!
This framing of the situation didn’t harm anyone else, but it certainly harmed him!
“Does that mean you had another accomplice present tonight?” Chang Suining asked, showing no surprise on her face as she looked at the crowd. “Did you see each other before coming here?”
Since the other party was determined to ruin her reputation at this banquet, they couldn’t possibly rely solely on this man.
He could only make a commotion; if they truly wanted to besmirch her name, they would need someone else working in the shadows to stir the pot.
Who that person might be, and who would be most suitable for this task, didn’t seem too difficult to guess.
The crowd immediately began to murmur among themselves.
The man’s face was filled with bitterness: “This small man doesn’t know who it is; I didn’t even see them…”
Now that he thought about it, those people were very cunning and had no intention of dirtying their own hands, fearing that he would drag them out later!
The maid by Madam Jie’s side breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
For a moment, she had worried that the lady’s actions were reckless and that she had revealed her lady's identity to this unreliable man.
Now it seemed that this person didn’t know much.
Although she had been embarrassed by Chang Suining earlier, Madam Jie’s expression gradually calmed down.
Earlier, she had considered the worst outcome—compared to that, the current situation was at least controllable. As for being contradicted, after tonight, she had ways to ensure the other party would remember their lesson.
“But since you are accomplices, to avoid any discrepancies, there must always be a timetable in place!” Yao Yi stepped forward and asked firmly, “How do you communicate, and how did you know when to appear here?”
Seeing a “case officer” step up, Chang Suining felt relieved.
Xi'er simply moved a chair over, and Chang Suining sat down to rest.
Yao Xia took the initiative to pour a cup of tea and handed it to Chang Suining, standing by her side in a posture of shared enmity.
“We use lanterns to communicate!” The man pointed out the window as he spoke: “That maid told me to wait in the alley across the back street; as long as I saw someone hang up a lantern at the alley entrance, that would be the signal!”
Once the signal was given, he would immediately rush over to cause a scene outside the building.
“I only came because I saw the lantern, but the alley was pitch dark, and that person hurriedly hung the lantern and left. I only heard footsteps and didn’t have a chance to see who it was!”
Yao Yi frowned and asked, “Which alley? How long does it take to get there from here?”
“It’s Fenggu Alley across the back street…” The man thought for a moment. “It takes about a quarter of an hour!”
Yao Yi immediately said, “Someone, send the bookboy downstairs to come and answer!”
As soon as he finished speaking, before he could call for anyone, two bookboys who had been eavesdropping on the second floor hurriedly ran over by themselves.
“About a quarter of an hour before this person showed up to cause trouble outside, who in the building went out?”
The two bookboys thought for a moment and recalled that three people had gone out.
One of them was a scholar; according to the bookboys, he had been dragged away by his wife, who had come looking for him, and hadn’t returned since.
Another was a maidservant from the Duan family, who also hadn’t come back.
Duan explained, “Seeing that it was getting late, I instructed the maidservant to return to the residence and inform the Marquis so he could rest early.”
At that time, she had planned to leave, but upon seeing the incongruous Madam Jie suddenly appear, she felt a bit uneasy, so she had asked the maidservant to return to deliver the message her husband, letting her husband wash up and go to bed first.
“I trust Duan Shi,” Chang Suining directly bypassed the topic and asked the bookboys, “Who is the other person?”
The two bookboys looked toward the maid beside Madam Jie in unison: “It’s this Madam’s maid beside Madam Jie…”
Seeing everyone look at her, the mentioned maid coldly replied, “I did go out, but it was because my lady couldn’t stand the tea in this building. I went downstairs to fetch some tea for her.”
Yao Yi glanced at the two bookboys, who nodded in agreement.
The maid indeed had a bundle of tea in her hands when she returned.
She raised her chin slightly: “I was only gone for a moment; there was no time for me to run to that Fenggu Alley to hang any lanterns.”
Someone instinctively followed her words to think... should they investigate the scholar who had been dragged away?
But they heard the girl, casually seated in her chair, speak up: “That lantern didn’t necessarily have to be hung by you, right?”
The maid furrowed her brows and looked at her.
“Madam Jie arrived by sedan chair; there are four bearers, so there’s no shortage of people to hang the lantern. You only needed to discreetly instruct someone while you went to fetch the tea.” Seeing the maid’s angry expression, Chang Suining added, “Of course, this is just my speculation—whether it’s true or not needs further investigation.”
As her words fell, she looked at Cui Jing: “Is it possible for someone from the Xuanzhe Army to come up and answer?”
Madam Jie’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
What does this mean?
Is she implying that there are people from the Xuanzhe Army stationed outside?
But she hadn’t seen any Xuanzhe soldiers when she arrived...
Cui Jing nodded, and soon a subordinate hurriedly left his side.
Facing the fearful and puzzled gazes, Cui Jing explained for once: “Today, there are many people here, so I had my people patrol near the Dengtai Tower to prevent any thieves or troublemakers from disturbing the festivities. We didn’t want to disrupt the joyous atmosphere, so they’re dressed in common clothes.”
Upon hearing this explanation, everyone felt relieved, with those of lower status and strong emotions beginning to tear up in gratitude—how could they, of such humble origins, deserve the protection of the Xuanzhe Army while enjoying their drinks?
This experience, when shared, would undoubtedly bring honor to their families!
And the experience wasn’t over; it seemed that as long as they hadn’t stepped out of the Dengtai Tower, they would never know what might happen next—
Soon, five or six members of the Xuanzhe Army in common clothes ascended the stairs with disciplined steps.
As she watched those soldiers, who, despite being in casual attire, were clearly well-trained, a bad feeling rose in Madam Jie’s heart.
The Xuanzhe Army was already tasked with maintaining stability in the capital, so Cui Jing's actions were understandable.
But the Xuanzhe Army was not like the usual incompetent officials; they were always secretly watching the area. Would they...
No, it shouldn’t come to that.
While they were monitoring the area, they couldn’t possibly follow every person coming and going for no reason.
Madam Jie slowly relaxed her tightly clenched fingers in her sleeve, masking any signs of worry on her face.
Until one of the Xuanzhe soldiers answered Yao Yi's question, stating that after Madam Jie’s maid brought the tea upstairs, one of her bearers had left with a lantern, returning about a quarter of an hour later—
“I saw with my own eyes that when that bearer returned, he no longer had the lantern.” The Xuanzhe soldier said sternly.
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions changed dramatically.
(I feel like I can’t keep up with the speed at which I’m repaying my debts _(:з」∠)_ Good night, see you all tomorrow!)
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