Chapter 163: Traces Hidden

The poker-faced man looked at Wang Yang, his eyes filled with extreme contempt: "What are you so proud of, you fake aristocrat? Your life is in my master's hands. What can you do by plotting against me?"

Chen Qingshan glanced at Wang Yang when she heard the words "fake aristocrat," while the strong man showed no change in his actions, as if he had heard nothing at all.

Wang Yang was not angry; he smiled and said, "I plot against you, and then I hold your master's life in my hands."

The poker-faced man sneered, but was choked by the blood in his throat and began to cough again: "Don't... don't dream. I won't say anything."

"Actually, whether you say it or not is unimportant. But if you can leak some information to me, I can spare your life. For example, what is your master's goal? Who is behind him? I don't believe he wants to frame the Prince of Badong based on a few fabricated words."

"If you want to kill me, then do it. I won't say anything." The poker-faced man sneered and closed his eyes.

"Facing death as if returning home? Fine, I will grant your wish."

Wang Yang picked up the short sword, raised it with both hands, and stabbed downward.

The strong man stopped him and said, "Young Master, why not use torture to interrogate him and see how long he can hold out?"

Chen Qingshan said, "I can hit him with my horse lance, the kind that hurts a lot." Her tone was extremely serious.

The strong man's mouth twitched.

Wang Yang only said five words: "No need, no interrogation, kill."

"If that's the case, I'll do it!" The strong man shouted and stabbed down with his blade!

The tip of the blade stopped at the poker-faced man's heart, and the strong man turned to look at Wang Yang.

The poker-faced man opened his eyes and mocked, "Stop playing these games, I am not—"

Wang Yang looked at the strong man and nodded.

The strong man confirmed Wang Yang's intention and did not hesitate any longer. The tip of the blade sank first, then he exerted force and stabbed it in!

The poker-faced man's eyes widened instantly, and the mockery on his face had not yet faded before it was replaced by pain and shock.

A vague, indistinct sound came from his throat, as if he were groaning from the unbearable pain, or perhaps wanting to say something, but he only managed a few syllables before they were drowned out by a large mouthful of blood. His body twitched in the pool of blood like a dying shrimp, emitting an increasingly thick, fishy stench.

When he first transmigrated, he hadn't watched the death process of the handsome boy and the strong man in detail. Firstly, he didn't want to, and secondly, he was in danger himself at the time, with more to think about regarding what to do next, leaving him little energy to pay attention to anything else.

But it was different now. Almost every step happening now was within his calculations. This murder scene had already been rehearsed back when he offered the Ever-Normal Granary strategy to the Prince of Badong.

Wang Yang watched from close range as the scene he had simulated in his mind for so long became reality, and suddenly he felt nauseous, his head feeling heavy. This feeling was similar to motion sickness, but not entirely the same. Motion sickness was a dizziness in a muddled state; but now, it was a dullness in a clear state, as if two stones had mixed into his brain, stirring the blood flow on both sides, and he was perceiving all of this with absolute clarity.

Seeing Wang Yang's poor complexion, the strong man whispered, "Young Master, you should go over there and rest for a while. I will call you when I'm done."

"No need."

Wang Yang did not walk away, nor did he look away, because he knew that if he wanted to survive in this world, he would have to get used to it.

He didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps less than a minute, or perhaps as long as several minutes—but the poker-faced man's body finally stopped twitching.

The strong man checked his breathing, pulled out the blade, and reported in a low voice, "Young Master, he is dead."

That nauseous feeling was still echoing in his body, but Wang Yang's eyes remained fixed on the poker-faced man, never shifting for a moment. He said in a calm voice, "Stab him a few more times. Don't let him come back with some trick like holding his breath to fake death."

The strong man didn't know where Wang Yang got this idea. He was dead through and through, how could he fake death! Holding his breath? What was holding his breath?

But since the Young Master said so, he would follow orders. Ever since the Young Master took him and his daughter as retainers and saved A-Wu without fearing to offend the Du Sanye who was under the protection of the Prince of Luling, the strong man had already made up his mind to risk his life to serve the Young Master.

As long as the Young Master said go east, he would go east; if the Young Master said jump into the sea, he would jump into the sea. Never mind whether the Young Master's aristocratic status was real or fake, even if the Young Master asked him to assassinate the Emperor, he would do it without blinking! Because he knew that the Young Master was someone who could truly be entrusted with his family. As long as the Young Master was alive, he would never have to worry about A-Wu's problems, and there was no need to specifically ask for help.

As for the implication of assassinating the Emperor and the execution of three generations of his family, he didn't need to consider such things. Since the Young Master asked him to do it, the Young Master must have his own arrangements.

So when Wang Yang said to stab him a few more times, the strong man, though not understanding why, did it without hesitation.

"Why didn't you interrogate him?" Chen Qingshan asked, realizing it only after the fact.

It wasn't that Wang Yang didn't want to extract some information from the poker-faced man's mouth. But interrogation required time and a location. It was obvious the poker-faced man wouldn't speak easily. Interrogating him in the warehouse was definitely out of the question, so where would he lock him up? And how could he guarantee absolute secrecy?

This poker-faced man was Wang Yang's key card against Wang Tai. Once found by Wang Tai, Wang Yang would lose his capital to contend with him.

So before making the plan, Wang Yang thought it through carefully and later realized that the safest approach at the moment was to turn the poker-faced man into a dead man, because hiding a dead person was much easier than hiding a living one.

It was a pity his foundation wasn't deep enough, otherwise he could have used this card better.

But greed is insatiable. Waiting for an egg to hatch into a chick is certainly good, but when there's a possibility that the egg might not be kept, it's better to just make it into an omelet and eat it.

Xie Xinghan's men should be arriving soon; he had to clean up the scene quickly.

"Strong man, the stones, rooster, oilcloth, wood ash, and wine I asked you to prepare earlier..."

"Young Master, rest assured, I have prepared everything. The people transporting the wine and food are still waiting outside the warehouse. I will call them when it's time to start moving the goods."

Wang Yang showed Chen Qingshan a smile that could be called "brilliant": "Qingshan, why don't we put down the horse lance first and free up your hands?"

Chen Qingshan looked vigilant. Why did it feel like his smile was a bit malicious...

When the strong man entered the warehouse with a large group of Xie family men and the stewards responsible for shipping, the poker-faced man's corpse was no longer there. There were only two dead roosters, and a pool of blood mixed with chicken feathers on the ground.

"Steward Hei, what is this..."

"My Young Master said, we're shipping at night, so we're painting the doors with chicken blood to ward off evil! Everyone, start moving the goods! When we're done, I'll treat everyone to wine!"

The crowd cheered and thanked him, then began to move the goods. The strong man and Chen Qingshan also personally moved the goods, carrying boxes and walking out with the flow of people. With people coming and going, entering and exiting, the people at the warehouse naturally wouldn't discover that the man with the stiff face who had arrived with Wang Yang at the beginning hadn't actually "walked" out of the warehouse.

The night was as dark as ink, and torches reflected on the river and sky.

Three of the Xie family's ships were docked at the shore, and figures were moving back and forth, transporting goods to the first two large ships. The third ship was slightly smaller, but it had two decks and was decorated more exquisitely.

Wang Yang was riding on his horse, looking at the third ship, and asked curiously, "What is that ship for?"

The strong man said, "I've already asked. The Xie family people don't know either. Should I go and inquire again?"

"No need, I was just asking casually."

"It's late at night, Young Master, you should go and rest first. I'll keep an eye on things here."

"No rush, I just happen to want to catch some breeze."

The city gates were already closed, and Wang Yang was staying at the Linjiang Warehouse. Since it was close, he wasn't in a hurry to return to his room, so he simply watched them finish moving the goods.

At this moment, in the second-deck cabin of the third ship, someone was reporting to Xie Xinghan:

"... I was loading the cargo boxes when Steward Hei came and said he had brought wine and food to reward us. Not only those moving the goods but also the people on the ship had a share, so he asked me to go and receive it. I went with Hao Da and the others, but the wine jars were too big and there were too many, so Hao Da asked me to go back and get the deer cart (single-wheeled cart), saying there were two left in the tail cabin. I returned to the ship, and after entering the tail cabin and finding the deer cart, I heard movement outside. I looked through the ventilation hole and saw Steward Hei and that guard of Young Master Wang pushing a box into the river from the side of the ship facing the shore. I didn't know what was going on, so I didn't dare to make a sound. It wasn't until they left that I came out of the cabin, feeling that something was amiss, so I thought I should tell the Young Lady."

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Since I started writing this book, there have been voices saying that I add chapter notes to pad the word count. I am a person who doesn't like to explain, so I haven't said anything, but these voices are always there, and they even go so far as to say that my adding notes is perfunctory to the readers. I really feel wronged.

I never expected any profit from writing a free text, and what's more, I haven't even received full attendance bonuses, nor have I ever asked readers for gifts. Padding the word count has no meaning for me! I currently have over 23,000 words of discarded drafts—things I thought were "boring" or "felt wrong" and deleted from the main text, but I couldn't bear to throw them away, so I created a separate file for them. I am writing this work from the bottom of my heart, and I truly feel that the readers who like my writing are all super cute. Furthermore, I feel that my text is free anyway, so I have a responsibility to those readers who send gifts, because they didn't need to watch ads or send gifts in the first place.

In my view, adding chapter notes is very necessary. Firstly, it restores the foundational details of the historical world, and secondly, it clarifies historical rumors and explains the plot. For example, if I hadn't explained the stirrup issue in the previous chapter, many readers might have been curious: why didn't Wang Yang invent the stirrup? Thirdly, it points out some key points that can delicately control the historical context.

A scholar once said that for the papers he writes, ordinary people read the main text, while experts read the notes, because the essence is in the notes. Naturally, my novel focuses on the story, but the notes are definitely not for padding. I won't add things that can be directly found on Baidu to the notes. Sometimes, the time spent writing one note is several times that of the main text. If you find that Baidu AI, popular science videos, or books do not match my notes, believe my notes. If you encounter serious academic works that do not match my notes, wait for further examination.

So, this is not me being perfunctory to the readers, but rather me writing notes out of a sense of responsibility, seriousness, and love for the readers, and striving to write every note well. Because I don't want to fool the readers, I don't want to fool history, and I don't want to fool the words. Everything now is fast-paced, everything seeks quantity, and everything seeks algorithmic recommendations; without quantity, there are no recommendations, and few people care about details. But please allow me to persist in that serious yet lonely "ambition." Thank you.