Chapter 56: Could They Be Any More Vile?

Er Gouzi was somewhat displeased: "Isn't it you all who wanted to find suitable work? You found it but won't do it. If you won't do it, I'll find people from the neighboring village to do it."

The village chief hurriedly said: "You child, why are you so impatient? It's not that I dislike that chicken and duck manure, it's just that I'm a bit curious what that lord needs the feces for."

Er Gouzi could guess a little; previously, he had heard a loud bang in the middle of the night. After being startled awake, he worried that Yan Ning and the others might be in trouble, so he went over to take a look and heard them talking about "explosives" or something similar.

He followed them to Yan Ze's room and saw several Explosive Packages.

Er Gouzi guessed that these Explosive Packages were things that needed to be made using fermented animal feces.

He guessed this but did not tell the villagers, to avoid it spreading from person to person, which might result in things unfavorable to Yan Ning's family.

Er Gouzi only said: "I took on two jobs. One is to make that, what's it called, potassium nitrate, or whatever the name was; in short, it's something made by fermenting feces."

"The other job is white sugar, which uses sugarcane, not bamboo. There should be plenty of sugarcane in the forest; it's also segmented, much thinner than bamboo. Making white sugar is a bit troublesome, but fortunately, it pays well."

Er Gouzi then demonstrated it three times, and the villagers of Taohua Village finally learned it.

With the Potassium Nitrate and white sugar from the Taohua Village villagers, Yan Ze made many more Gunpowder Bags.

Yan Ze collected as many as the villagers made. Now, the stock of gunpowder was already quite large, piled up quite a bit in Yan Ning's space, and the excess Potassium Nitrate was just right to be used as fertilizer for those fields.

Yan Ze had to ensure that if someone sent tens of thousands of elite troops to encircle and suppress them, they could still pass through safely.

The Capital.

The old Emperor held a letter and frowned: "Ze'er is already dead? Who did it?"

A Eunuch at his side weighed his words: "Perhaps it was someone found by the Third Prince, but this Nudi feels that the First Prince should not have been killed by an assassin; I fear this intelligence may be incorrect."

The Emperor slammed the letter onto the Table Desk, "I want to see who is so bold!"

He had the First Prince exiled, but that did not mean others could kill him at will.

Soon, the Emperor received another letter, a letter sent by 800-li express; this was one the Emperor had specifically sent a trusted aide to investigate.

The letter read: The Third Prince has been sending people to kill the First Prince, and the First Prince can no longer be found at the stone mine; I fear the First Prince has met with disaster.

The Emperor seemed to have his strength drained all at once, sitting on the Dragon Throne.

During this period, he had been thinking about whether he should summon Yan Ze back.

The Crown Prince had already been deposed, and no matter how the Imperial Concubine pleaded, it was useless; the Third Prince was even more of a good-for-nothing, indulging in pleasure districts every day, and reprimands or confinement were of no use.

The Fourth Prince had died prematurely, and the Fifth Prince and Sixth Prince were young, and their birth mothers were not of high rank.

After thinking it over, he still had to summon Yan Ze back.

For the sake of the country and the state, even if the Emperor disliked the Empress, he had to bring the First Prince back.

But he did not expect that before he could make a decision, the person had already been killed by the Third Prince's maternal grandfather.

The Emperor slammed his hand heavily on the table, scaring the Eunuch at his side so much that he dared not move.

At the morning court the next day, the Emperor was furious.

"Conspiring to murder a royal descendant warrants the execution of the nine generations of one's kin."

The Third Prince hadn't been jumping around for many days, and his maternal grandfather's family was about to be beheaded!

However, because the Emperor had no direct evidence to prove that it was the Third Prince's people who did it, the Emperor changed his words and exiled them to Lingnan.

No one in the court dared to speak.

After all, the First Prince's death was too suspicious; not executing the nine generations, but exiling them, was already an act of mercy beyond the law.

Finally, the Emperor sighed: "Bring the First Prince's remains back and bury them in the Imperial Mausoleum."

Cining Palace.

At this time, the Empress Dowager was somewhat incredulous: "Did they really kill A-Ze?"

The nanny nodded: "Eunuch Li said it himself, could it be fake?"

The Empress Dowager could not control herself, and tears fell down.

Thinking of the suffering Yan Ze and his wife and daughter had endured, the Empress Dowager was somewhat angry; now the person had actually been murdered in Lingnan!

The Empress Dowager was overcome with rage, and coupled with excessive worry, she fainted that very day.

Upon this fainting, the Imperial Physicians took turns attending to her.

The Empress Dowager remained unconscious for two days before slowly waking up.

When the Emperor came to see her, the Empress Dowager threw a teacup, which almost hit the Emperor's head.

The Emperor turned and left, feeling somewhat stifled in his heart.

At this time, the nanny who always accompanied the Empress Dowager reminded her: "A pigeon message has arrived from Fu Gonggong's side, Your Majesty can rest assured."

The Empress Dowager became spirited all at once, "What does it say?"

The nanny lowered her voice: "Someone did indeed attempt to assassinate the First Prince, but they did not succeed. His Highness found a safe place to stay, and no one can hurt him."

Xiao Chengtian rushed to Shawan County at full speed, taking only two days and riding two horses to death.

Seeing that Yan Ze's family was safe, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Ning pulled Xiao Chengtian to drink water and asked: "Uncle Xiao, why did you come so urgently? Is there something important?"

Xiao Chengtian gulped down a large cup of water before saying: "There is indeed something important."

Yan Ning placed a fruit platter in front of him: "Uncle Xiao, try the fruit first, I'll go call my father."

Before long, the father and daughter came over together.

Xiao Chengtian then spoke of the serious matter: "The Emperor thinks you are dead, thinks that the people on the Third Prince's side killed you. He originally wanted to execute the nine generations, but considering there was no evidence, he exiled the entire Wan Family to Lingnan."

Yan Ning clenched her fists: "Coming to Lingnan, eh? Watch how I deal with them."

Xiao Chengtian rubbed her head: "When the time comes, Uncle Xiao will vent your anger for you."

Xiao Chengtian continued: "The current situation is that the Emperor thinks you are dead and wants to bring your remains back to the Capital to be buried in the Imperial Mausoleum. Do you think we should send a fake corpse over?"

Yan Ze thought for a long time and asked Yan Ning: "Ningning, do you think we should get a similar corpse?"

Yan Ning thought for a moment, and the corners of her mouth curved up, "That won't be necessary. Firstly, Great-Grandmother will worry if she hears the news of death; secondly, we can anger the Wan Family to death. They have already been exiled; if they find out we aren't dead, they will surely be infuriated to death."

Yan Ze thought about that scene and made the final decision: "Alright, then let things be as they are. When the time comes, we'll get a wind instrument, and we'll play it while they walk."

Xiao Chengtian...

Could they be any more despicable?

Xiao Chengtian did not stay here long; after eating and drinking his fill, he returned the next day with quite a few gifts, including fine wine, new styles of Glazed Hairpin, and a pile of snacks that Yan Ning had tinkered with.

After seeing him off, the Yan Ning family began to discuss countermeasures again.

Ji Lan frowned: "I think that if the bodies were not found, it means we did not go to the Cai Shi Chang to serve our labor; in that case, wouldn't we be guilty of deceiving the Emperor?"

Yan Ning frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said: "It wouldn't go so far as the crime of deceiving the Emperor; it is just that we didn't go to serve our labor, and it's not like only our family has done this. The Gou Huangdi shouldn't go so far as to..."

"Then again, if the Gou Huangdi insists on Father going to the Cai Shi Chang, we can think of countermeasures when the time comes."