Chapter 279: A fine play, a grievance of the ages

Several days later.

As the first light of dawn just spilled over the ward walls of Zhuque Avenue, only half of the eastern gate had been opened, and the food stalls at the street corners had already propped up their oilcloth awnings.

On the rough wooden tables sat ceramic bowls and plates, filled with golden-brown flatbreads, along with steaming bowls of lamb offal soup; the wheat fragrance of the sesame flatbreads drifted far and wide.

The stall owner, dressed in coarse cloth short-sleeved attire, was using an iron spatula to flip the pancakes on the griddle; oil droplets sputtered, glinting with fine light in the morning sun.

Young men preparing to head to work sat on wooden benches, slurping their soup from ceramic bowls, chewing on flatbreads, and vaguely discussing the latest news from the wards.

There were already a few pedestrians on the street—peddlers carrying shoulder poles, women clutching bamboo baskets—hurrying across the bluestone road, their heels tapping out crisp sounds.

Chen Yan, Yuwen Ze, Zhu Yi, Hongye, and Lu Cangfeng, the five of them dressed as ordinary wealthy folk, sat gathered around a rough wooden table.

"A Xiong, are you not going to the office for duty today?" Yuwen Ze asked as soon as he sat down, unable to hold back.

His A Xiong, who had always maintained perfect attendance and put official business above all else, actually had the leisure to invite them for breakfast; this was the first time in such a long while.

"I am on leave today!"

Chen Yan smiled indifferently, resting his face in his hand, looking at the bustling street not far away, and said meaningfully, "It just so happens that coming to this Zhuque Avenue allows me to experience the life of ordinary people and the smoke and fire of the human world!"

After speaking, his wandering gaze lingered on the gate.

"A Xiong, I heard you rounded up Dugu Zhang and his lot in one fell swoop..." Yuwen Ze lowered his voice and asked, "How do you plan to make a story out of this?"

His eyes were full of anticipation.

Based on his understanding of A Xiong, since they had actively walked into the trap, using the opportunity to make a move was inevitable...

It was just a matter of how to set the price!

Thinking back to the last time, he had swallowed the entire gambling industry of Chang'an...

And this time, the chips in his hand were even greater.

"You will know after today!" Chen Yan withdrew his gaze, smiling but not smiling, deliberately keeping them in suspense.

The stall owner wiped his hands with a coarse cloth towel and brought over a rough ceramic tray, his footsteps thumping on the wooden boards under the awning: "A few guests, your breakfast is all served..."

"Please, eat slowly!"

The flatbreads were baked crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with oily, braised lamb stuffed into the side slits, a mix of fat and lean, sprinkled with bright green coriander. As the heat rose, the aroma of the meat mixed with the wheat fragrance, drilling straight into their noses.

The fermented milk in the ceramic bowls beside them was milky white, with a thin layer of milk skin floating on top. Taking a sip, the sweet and sour taste carried a hint of tipsy wine fragrance.

It turned out to be mixed with some freshly brewed rice wine, cool as it slid down the throat, perfectly balancing the warmth of the flatbreads.

"Hmm~"

Hongye sniffed lightly with her nose and sighed, "So fragrant!"

"Eat while it's hot!" Chen Yan laughed.

"This bread tastes quite good..."

When Hongye took a bite, the crisp sound of the crust mixed with the richness of the meat juices exploded on the tip of her tongue.

The Sichuan peppercorns and fennel in the braising spices were just right; they didn't overpower the flavor but added a long-lasting base note to the meat's aroma.

"A Xiong, we came here, surely not just to eat breakfast, right?" Yuwen Ze drank some lamb offal soup and asked with a smile.

Having spent so much time together, he understood his A Xiong's personality well...

He wouldn't do anything without a reason; there must be something going on, but Yuwen Ze couldn't see the clues.

"Of course!"

Chen Yan took a sip of the fermented milk and laughed, "Eating breakfast is just a side benefit... We are mainly here to watch a play!"

"A play so good that even the Pear Garden would find it hard to choreograph in decades!"

Chen Yan had been brewing this play for a long time...

It had started a long time ago.

"Watching a play?"

Yuwen Ze was startled, looked up at the street, and asked suspiciously, "A Xiong, there is neither a stage nor actors here; who is going to sing for us?"

His eyes, which had gained nothing, were filled with confusion.

But this confusion did not last long.

Because from the direction of the eastern gate, earth-shattering cries came:

"A grievance of the ages!"

"Tragic, inhuman, and devoid of conscience!"

"A grievance!"

"A grievance!"

Suddenly, a white shadow of paper money drifted over from that side, like snow rolled by the wind.

Immediately following were intermittent wails, tearing through the newly awakened tranquility of Zhuque Avenue.

A group of more than a dozen people filed in, led by a man in mourning clothes, clutching a black-lacquered spirit tablet tightly to his chest. The characters on the tablet were dampened by the morning dew, making them unclear.

The old, weak, women, and children following behind him were all dressed in mourning white, clutching paper money in their hands. Every three steps, they would kneel in unison, their foreheads striking the bluestone slabs with a dull, heavy thud.

"A Ze, look, hasn't the play started now?" Chen Yan took a sip of the lamb offal soup, nudged his chin toward the direction of the cries, and said playfully.

"What is going on over there?"

Yuwen Ze looked over and muttered in confusion, "Why is there a group of people, dressed in mourning, holding spirit tablets, scattering paper money, and crying out grievances on the street with every step and kowtow?"

A bold guess couldn't help but surface in his heart:

Could it be A Xiong's handiwork?

Combining it with his previous words, Yuwen Ze was eight or nine parts certain...

"The wind has risen..."

Chen Yan felt the morning breeze brushing against his face, and the corners of his mouth hooked into an arc.

This was the day he had chosen after studying for a long time.

The paper money was blown into the sky, dancing everywhere.

The atmosphere and visual impact were fully maximized.

On both sides of the procession, two old men in hemp clothes each held a suona; the copper horn mouths were polished bright by the morning dew, yet they couldn't blow a single festive note.

When the funeral music started, it sounded like sobs squeezed out from the throat, dragging long tails, entwining among the fluttering paper money.

"What desolate funeral music!"

Lu Cangfeng watched intently, thinking to himself, "With such thorough preparation, what kind of grand play has Chief Chen choreographed..."

At that moment, even he was extremely curious.

"Wei Duke Chen Tongyuan, extorting taxes, bullying the people, forcibly seizing women, defiling their innocence, and cruelly murdering them, leaving their corpses exposed in the wilderness!"

"Poor my little daughter, she was only fifteen years old when she died!"

The leading man's voice was hoarse, paper money scattering from his trembling fingers as he accused them with all his might.

His forehead was bruised and swollen, blood beads seeping out mixed with the dust on the stone slab, yet he seemed completely unaware, only holding the spirit tablet and raising his face, his hoarse voice tearing a hole through the funeral music: "Wei Duke Chen Tongyuan encroached on civilian land, colluded with the enemy, and smuggled warhorses!"

"To cover up the truth, deceiving the court and His Majesty, he did not hesitate to treat human lives like grass, slaughtering over three hundred households and over one thousand two hundred people in our Taiping Village!"

"Over one thousand two hundred people!"

"Five or six out of ten were old, young, women, and children!"

The spirit tablet trembled violently in his arms, white banners sweeping across his tear-stained cheeks. He slammed his forehead against the ground again, the bloodstains on the bluestone slab deepening a few more points: "Wei Duke Chen Tongyuan treats human life like grass, treats the Great Zhou laws as nothing!"

"We surviving lowly people risked our lives to come to Chang'an, hoping His Majesty, the Grand Chancellor, and the court will uphold justice for the over one thousand two hundred Great Zhou people who died under Chen Tongyuan's butcher knife!"

"Return a bright and clear world to Great Zhou!"

Every time the leading man spoke, he would grab a handful of paper money and toss it into the air, white fragments sticking to his sweat-dampened temples, like a layer of frost.

The women and children behind him cried out.

The words "A grievance" mixed with his accusations, hitting the ward walls on both sides and echoing back.

The surrounding people witnessed this scene, and discussions immediately erupted.

"Wei Duke Chen Tongyuan?"

Liu Chuncao was thoughtful and was the first to express doubt: "That seems to be Lord Chen Yan's father, right?"

"Do not confuse Lord Chen Yan with that inhuman Wei Duke!"

Sun Laoshi heard this and immediately shouted to stop him: "Lord Chen Yan is a top-tier good official!"

"A blue-sky official of the current age who upholds justice for the people and does not fear the powerful!"

"Exactly." Feng Geda echoed, then looked at Liu Chuncao and asked back: "Have you forgotten how Lord Chen Yan entered the Heavenly Prison Death Prison in the first place?"

"I know, it was that conscience-less Chen Tongyuan who personally reported and falsely accused him!" Qian Xiaosi raised his hand and said loudly.

Feng Geda curled his lips and cursed: "To support a concubine's son, he could even be cruel enough to let his legitimate eldest son die..."

"What else is there that Chen Tongyuan wouldn't do!" ===== CHAPTER 280 =====