[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn":3,"chapter-thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-76":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Thirteen Years as King of the Great Song, I Learned I Was the Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2271771,4437,"Chapter 76: Qin Yun Xiao Zhu","thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-76",76,"\u003Cp>Yanziwu, Canhe Zhuang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The officials all showed puzzled expressions; the Water Camp Commandant fell to the ground with a thud: “Your Highness, I… I know about this place.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All eyes turned to him, bewildered by the Commandant’s sudden reaction—was Canhe Zhuang really such a significant place?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant inwardly groaned; he couldn’t deny it. Even if Taihu was vast, the navy had patrolled its waters and surrounding canals for years—such a large estate couldn’t have gone entirely unseen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he denied it outright, he’d face punishment for negligence later; better to admit he knew, perhaps leaving room for maneuver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know?” Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes. “Tell me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Your Highness.” The Water Camp Commandant wiped sweat and stammered: “Since I took office in Taihu, this estate has existed—thirty li west of the city, deep within the reed marshes of the lake channel. Veteran soldiers all know of it; it’s said to have stood for many years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh?” Zhao Ti’s face was expressionless. “Have you investigated it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… I naturally investigated it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant bowed his head: “I went several times, but only servants and maids were home—I never saw the lord, so I left.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti sneered: “You probably took silver and left, didn’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, this…” The Water Camp Commandant’s heart tightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not asking you that.” Zhao Ti’s lips curled slightly. “Didn’t you notice anything strange?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I… I never entered inside,” the Water Camp Commandant pressed his forehead to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You never went in?” Zhao Ti frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness, the maid said… said…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Said what?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant said: “She said her master’s family is related to the great Wang clan of the city. Seeing how refined and elegant the estate was, I didn’t enter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti pondered: The Wang clan of Suzhou—descended from the Langya line, relocated to Suzhou after the Yongjia chaos, again during the Jianyan era, and yet again after the Southern Song’s fall. Many of Suzhou’s Wangs now serve in our court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant said: “The maid said the old matriarch was a daughter of the Wang family. Though she’s gone now, they’re still kin. I thought, since they’re Wang relatives, they couldn’t be suspicious, so I didn’t investigate further.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti snorted: “There are countless Wangs in this world—who knows if it’s a fake? And even if she was a real Wang daughter, she’s been dead for years. Can you still rely on her family’s name?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness is right. I am negligent. I am negligent.” The Water Camp Commandant lay motionless on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti said: “Since you know the location, tomorrow gather the navy and go to that estate. I’ve received word the residents there are not decent people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Your Highness…” The Water Camp Commandant finally exhaled in relief—but then he realized: if they captured anyone and he admitted taking silver, he’d have no defense. His vision darkened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti turned to Sun Tong: “Sun Qianxia, gather a hundred soldiers and requisition boats. Come with us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Tong hurriedly agreed, astonished—he’d spoken out of turn earlier yet faced no punishment, and now was being entrusted with duty. His heart swelled with surprise and joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dismissing the officials, Zhao Ti sat in the hall watching Tong Guan snuff the lamp wick, lost in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A year has passed since the Wuliang Mountain affair. Perhaps because Empress Dowager Gao Taotao suddenly revived briefly before dying—no one knows why—the Western Xia’s Helian Tieshu never brought the Yipintang to the Song. Perhaps documents were sent, but Gao Taotao, gravely wounded, refused them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the Western Xia Yipintang never came to Jiangnan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Qiao Feng, he had no meeting with the Yipintang, but the Beggar’s Sect assembly must have still been held—his lineage was likely revealed. How far it went, whether he returned to Shaoshi Mountain or even reached Juxian Zhuang, is uncertain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Murong Fu’s impersonation of the Western Xia Yipintang warrior Li Yanzong, and the Yipintang’s appearance in Jiangnan, never occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The timeline has begun to unravel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Murong Fu is home now, perhaps I can capture him directly. His martial arts are strange—seemingly stronger against strong foes, weaker against weak ones. Could it be tied to the Duan Zhuan Xing Yi technique?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Murong Fu is not home, don’t alarm him. First stabilize the situation, deal with the Ming Cult, then act later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After pondering, Zhao Ti retired. The next morning, the officials reported in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Sun Tong and the Water Camp Commandant accompanied him as troops were assembled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti selected a hundred elite capital guards skilled in swimming. Many of them were accustomed to water—the capital had several rivers, was near the Yellow River, and often swam for recreation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Tong also selected a hundred state soldiers who could swim, then had the Water Camp Commandant lead them out the west gate straight toward Taihu’s waterways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the shore, the scenery was beautiful—willows tender, flowers red. The Water Camp Commandant arranged navy boats; Sun Tong gathered the requisitioned wooden vessels, each carrying ten or twenty men, totaling roughly four to five hundred, heading down the canal toward Taihu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water was calm, green ripples gently undulating. After several bends, they entered Taihu’s edge—mist and waves stretched endlessly, merging sky and water into one, with no visible horizon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Guided by the Water Camp Commandant, the boats sailed toward a small harbor. The water grew thick with lotus leaves and blossoms, exquisitely serene. After passing through a thicket of reeds and water caltrops, they saw a labyrinth of intersecting waterways, like a chessboard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After winding through them for an unknown time, they glimpsed, beyond the willows, a corner of a tiled eave rising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant said: “Your Highness, we’ve arrived.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti studied the front: “This is Yanziwu, Canhe Zhuang?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant said: “Your Highness, this is Qin Yun Xiao Zhu. It’s the main gate of Yanziwu. Behind it lies Tingxiang Shui Xie, then Canhe Zhuang. A maid guards this gate—I always come here first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti nodded: “See if anyone’s home.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small boat neared shore. The Water Camp Commandant leapt ashore first. Zhao Ti disembarked. Before them stood four or five modest, delicate buildings, exquisitely crafted. The nearest hut bore the characters “Qin Yun.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant knocked: “Miss Abi? Miss Abi, are you home?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No response. He knocked again, several times. “Could she have gone to the city to buy things?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti said coolly: “Check the other buildings.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Water Camp Commandant followed orders, knocking on the other houses—all empty. Zhao Ti thought a moment: “Go to Tingxiang Shui Xie.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They boarded again, soon reached Tingxiang Shui Xie—a refined, tranquil place. They went ashore and searched everywhere—but still no one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ti remembered: one was Abi’s residence, the other Zhu’s. Normally, they wouldn’t both be gone. Since the Yipintang never came to the Song, and their Jiangnan mission never happened, they shouldn’t both be absent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said: “Go to the back estate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Canhe Zhuang was now close—almost connected to Tingxiang Shui Xie. They rowed over, landed, and saw the estate: ancient, simple, utterly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>",1193,"2026-06-19T22:30:31.989Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","34a711ba785c47f21a30aebaf92b9a3f2480d0be46ffbc81c204ef23d4d1f1ab","thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-77","thirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-chapter-75",270,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthirteen-years-as-king-of-the-great-song-i-learn-cover.jpg"]