Chapter Fifty-Six: At the Sound of the Command

Xiao Zhi took a sip of tea and looked around the surroundings.

This teahouse was quite large. The first floor featured a small stage, about three to four steps deep and only eight or nine steps wide. Beaded curtains were rolled up on both sides, where an old man and a young performer were singing, reciting, acting, and acrobatically fighting, performing a scene about a family's property being confiscated and heads rolling.

Below the stage were the casual seating areas of the ground floor, with seven or eight tables arranged in an orderly fashion.

The second floor consisted of private rooms, about seven or eight of them. Lifting the curtains, one could see people leaning against the balustrades to listen to storytelling, while hanging curtains likely meant wealthy patrons were discussing commercial trade matters.

After listening for a while, Xiao Zhi felt quite awkward.

"My lord, why do I feel like what they're talking about on stage is your story?" Qian Tang asked with a puzzled expression.

Xiao Zhi had figured it out long ago. What absolute, damn nonsense!

The beginning part about the confiscation was passable; the prototype was indeed Bai Yan.

The story that followed had zero bottom lines. There was no helping it; throughout history, what listeners loved most was romance and passion. Without such dramatic plots, how could they capture the audience's interest?

An official's daughter insisted on marrying no one other than Xiao Zhi—this was a standard plotline, as beauties always loved heroes.

The girl's own mother steadfastly refused—this was also standard plotting, since the biggest obstacle to marriage is the mother-in-law, nothing wrong with that.

Later on, the mother and daughter fought over Xiao Zhi like jealous rivals, even going so far as to come to blows.

Fine, the mother and daughter were willing to go all out for love; although it was crazy, it was still within the realm of human comprehension.

Yet after that, Xiao Zhi handled the mother and daughter together—together!

From then on, the mother and daughter turned into besties.

Now that was utterly preposterous.

The crucial part was that the audience below enjoyed it immensely, breaking into thunderous applause.

Xiao Zhi thought to himself that if he ever conquered Yingzhou one day, he would definitely send this storyteller there to write scripts. After all, the people of Yingzhou loved such dramatic tropes. They enjoyed watching storylines about fixing plumbing and taking out the trash.

He Qing listened blankly for a while, cast a peculiar glance at Xiao Zhi, then lowered his voice, leaned over, and asked Qian Tang, "Is this story about my lord? That mother and her own daughter..."

Xiao Zhi wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into; life was simply unbearable.

After finishing his own "melon" of gossip and having Qian Tang settle the bill, the group returned to the inn.

The night was long, and Xiao Zhi had no heart to sleep.

At this time, it was barely the Hour of Hai, which meant around nine-something in the evening.

After making the bed for Xiao Zhi, He Qing stood with his hands tucked into his sleeves to one side, tilting his head slightly as he looked at Xiao Zhi.

Xiao Zhi noticed his gaze and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

"My lord, do you like that young lady?"

Xiao Zhi instantly felt as though he had one head growing as big as two.

"I am still unmarried to this day. Do you think I have some young lady and her birth mother at home?"

He Qing twisted the hem of his clothes with both hands, muttering under his breath.

Not wanting to hear what he was saying, Xiao Zhi waved a hand and said, "You go get some rest too."

After a moment, Xiao Zhi heard no movement. He turned back, and that stubborn girl He Qing was still standing right there.

"Why aren't you leaving?"

"My lord, He Qing is not a young lady, nor do I have a mother, but I can..."

"Get out!" Xiao Zhi finally had to curse aloud. He had already explained everything, yet what kind of absurd situation was this?

He Qing wept with grievance, yet still refused to budge.

"Aren't you going back to sleep instead of standing guard here?"

He Qing raised his chin, stubbornly jutting out his lower lip. "If that young lady can do it, He Qing can too. The lord himself said I'm all grown up, and quite well-developed at that."

Xiao Zhi was speechless. He Qing was indeed well-developed, and a fine person besides, but Xiao Zhi couldn't possibly bed every single woman he met.

In this era, as long as one could afford it, having multiple women was nothing much. However, Xiao Zhi's heart was set on the princess; what would happen in the future?

Ignoring him further, Xiao Zhi picked up a charcoal stick and began to draw with intense concentration.

Earlier, the comic strip he was drawing for the princess about Mu Guiying Taking Command had ended in a rushed mess.

He had stopped drawing just as Yang Liulang was about to exit the stage; no one wanted to watch such a tragedy, and Xiao Zhi didn't want to show it to Princess Changping either.

Yet if he changed the direction of the storyline, Xiao Zhi didn't know how to proceed. Weaving stories was not his forte.

Most importantly, Xiao Zhi was growing a bit too tired to draw.

It took too much time and consumed too much energy, yet after Xiao Zhi spent a whole day drawing, Princess Changping could finish reading it in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Right now, Xiao Zhi had some free time, so he picked up the charcoal stick once more.

The new work Xiao Zhi was preparing for Princess Changping was titled The Peerless Prince Consort.

The main plot was the untold story between himself and Princess Changping, and the opening chapter depicted the scene where he and Princess Changping rode together on a single horse.

Xiao Zhi's implication was very straightforward.

Girl, you are gorgeous, I like you, I want to marry you—how about it?

As the night grew deeper, Xiao Zhi stretched lazily and yawned, preparing for bed.

Turning his head, however, he discovered that the girl He Qing had fallen asleep right on his bed. By the bedside was a basin of water she had prepared for him, presumably to wash his feet and relieve his fatigue.

The girl lay curled up against the inner side of the bed, still pouting in her sleep as if she were somewhat displeased.

Xiao Zhi was truly exhausted and didn't bother being overly particular. After all, this girl had already served him during his bath; whose body hadn't the other seen by now?

The next day, when Xiao Zhi woke up, He Qing had already prepared hot water, and the towel was ready as well.

Yet the look He Qing gave him was distinctly unfriendly. He slammed the copper basin down heavily and roughly shoved the towel right into Xiao Zhi's arms.

Xiao Zhi smiled helplessly. Was this a young maiden acting spoiled or throwing a temper tantrum?

Unruly and lacking boundaries—had she forgotten who the master was?

"Master Mu is outside," He Qing finally tossed those words at Xiao Zhi, then whirled around and stormed off, stomping and banging things as she went.

Mu Weihu had arrived, having traveled through the night.

Xiao Zhi calculated the time: from the moment he had the captain notify Mu Weihu until this exact moment, it had been a mere six or seven hours at most.

The captain had spared no horses galloping all the way to Tai'an, and Mu Weihu's group had set off immediately without a moment's delay.

Xiao Zhi was extremely satisfied with Mu Weihu's performance.

Firstly, Mu Weihu had not grown negligent toward him just because he was about to leave the Imperial City Commandery.

Secondly, his words still carried the absolute weight of military orders, just as they had before.

Xiao Zhi also knew that Mu Weihu was seizing this opportunity to declare his allegiance and demonstrate loyalty through action.

Inviting Mu Weihu into the room, He Qing had the innkeeper prepare top-quality tea while she stood quietly to one side to serve.

Xiao Zhi motioned for Mu Weihu and the several thousand-man commanders not to stand on ceremony with such trivial formalities, and they all sat down accordingly.

Xiao Zhi said, "Originally, my coming to Jinan Prefecture was a casual affair. If I could conveniently confiscate Shi Weizhi's assets, all the better; if there was no opportunity, it wouldn't matter either. Who would have thought that yesterday, while going out for a meal, I would happen to run into Shi Weizhi's spoiled young master."

This time, it wasn't Shi Weizhi offering an opportunity, but rather the result of him blindly colliding into a solid wall.

Mu Weihu said, "The evidence of Shi Weizhi's crimes has been prepared for a long time; we were just waiting for your command, My Lord."

With that, Mu Weihu produced all the thoroughly prepared materials.

To be precise, the black materials on officials at all levels across Shandong and Jiangsu provinces had all been compiled.

Xiao Zhi had previously instructed Mu Weihu to establish a department within the Imperial City Commandery similar to an archives division, tasked with collecting, organizing, and preserving such information so that it could be retrieved immediately whenever needed.

If this matter were successfully executed, the life or death of the vast majority of officials would be tightly gripped in the hands of the Imperial City Commandery.

Xiao Zhi glanced through the documents briefly. There were no flaws whatsoever; even if there were any recording errors in the evidence, once fallen into the hands of the Imperial City Commandery, they naturally had countless methods to force a thorough confession.

Tossing the incriminating evidence aside, Xiao Zhi instructed Mu Weihu, "You will make your move at noon. I will go meet this Prefect of Jinan Prefecture at the third quarter of the Hour of Si."

Mu Weihu and the others stood up solemnly, cupping their fists in salute. "Understood, My Lord."