Taichu Yandao: Starting from the Villain

The convoy set out from Gyeongju Prefecture in early March. The troops hurried along the way and finally saw the city gate of the capital on April 25th.

"Brothers, hold on a little longer. We will go to Qunfang Tower tonight." Wang Qinghu shouted the moment he saw the city gate.

The soldiers instantly became alert, their eyes sparkling with excitement at Lord Wang's words, and they couldn't help but quicken their pace.

The truth is that although everyone had a huge amount of money on the way, they couldn't spend a single cent. Lord Wang had strict military law, and two groups of people took turns eating and sleeping, for fear that someone would poison and attack them.

As the sun set, the convoy finally arrived at the city gate.

"Where are you from and what are you doing in Beijing?" an officer shouted from afar.

The capital was originally the safest place, but Wang Qinghu still did not dare to let his guard down. He did not want to cause any more trouble, so he smiled and went to meet him, saying:

"I'm here to escort the convoy. Here is our pass. It's not easy for people in the underworld to make a living. General, please give me some convenience!" As he spoke, he put a twenty-liang silver note under the document and handed it over with both hands.

As soon as the officer took it, he touched the banknotes underneath. His expression softened instantly and he asked:

"Have you brought any prohibited items? No weapons are allowed into the capital."

"General, don't worry. Some of the beggars in the escort agency are always in trouble on the road. We will leave them here with you. We will come to pick them up after the goods are delivered."

The officer nodded and was about to let him go when a voice suddenly came from behind him and asked:

"What's in the box? Open it and take a look." The man who spoke was wearing armor and had a sword hanging from his waist. He was an officer of a higher rank.

"General, please spare me a moment to talk." Wang Qinghu cursed inwardly and hurried forward.

The new officer was overjoyed, but when he turned around, what Wang Qinghu handed over was not a silver note, but a heavy tiger talisman.

"It's a secret military matter. You can check the records." Wang Qinghu straightened his back and said seriously.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go down and check it out." The officer's face changed slightly and he clasped his fists.

"Thank you for your help, brother." Wang Qinghu also clasped his fists.

About a cup of tea later, the military officer came back with his men. Before he even got close, he shouted, "Let them pass."

The convoys entered the city one after another, and Wang Qinghu started chatting with the officer. The two of them talked back and forth, and it turned out that they had both worked in the border army, so their relationship instantly became much closer.

When the entire convoy entered the city, the officer came to hand over the document, with the twenty taels of silver note sandwiched in between.

"This guy is worth making friends with!" Wang Qinghu thought, and asked with a smile: "I wonder when the brothers will take over? I have heard of Chunshui Pavilion for a long time, but I don't have any connections."

The officer smiled knowingly, hooked his arm around Wang Qinghu's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Let's not talk about the top-notch prostitutes, as for the lesser-known prostitutes, I'll take care of them."

Wang Qinghu chuckled twice, then agreed on a time and place with the other party, told them that official business came first, and went straight into the city.

As the military and political center of Yan State, the capital city was much larger than other cities. It had three million households at the beginning of the founding of the country and was expanded again during the reign of Emperor Xuan.

Wang Qinghu and his group were large in number, but faced with the criss-crossing streets, they were still like a shrimp entering the dragon palace - they couldn't find their way.

Fortunately, the Chengwang Mansion was a large and prestigious compound, and the servants quickly found out the route and led the convoy straight to the Chengwang Mansion.

At nightfall, in front of the gate of Chengcheng Palace.

Two stone lions stand tall on the bluestone-paved street, illuminated by lanterns behind them, casting long slanted shadows.

At the end of the shadow, there were three people standing side by side. Wang Qinghu recognized one of them. He was Qiu Zongwu, the captain of the Yongzi Camp. This man was known in Qingzhou as the bravest of the three armies. Wang Qinghu felt he was inferior to him in martial arts.

"Lord Wang, you have worked hard on the journey!" Qiu Zongwu came forward from a distance.

"What a coincidence! I wonder how Lord Qiu got here first and is waiting for my brothers here?" Wang Qinghu said with a fist salute.

Qiu Zongwu picked up a bag of keys and shook it, saying, "Aren't you here to give the keys to Lord Wang?"

"I was wondering who the mysterious master was, but it turned out to be Brother Qiu. Lord Yu really knows how to use people well!"

"I don't dare to call myself a master!" Qiu Zongwu said modestly, but his face was full of smiles that he couldn't hide. He stepped aside and introduced: "This is Eunuch Liao from the Palace of the Gods. Brother Wang, go and meet him quickly."

"The Palace Supervisor, he's someone from the palace!" Wang Qinghu was shocked, and hurried forward, kneeling on one knee, clasping his fists and saying, "Your humble servant pays respect to Eunuch Liao."

He is actually on the same level as the other party, so such behavior is full of flattery.

"Oh, I don't deserve it. Lord Wang, you must have worked hard on your mission." Eunuch Liao smiled.

"This is the Minister of War, Gong Junzhi, Lord Gong." Qiu Zongwu continued to introduce.

"Your humble servant pays his respects to Lord Gong." This person was a genuine third-rank official and also his superior. Wang Qinghu paid his respects to him as a subordinate.

Gong Junzhi had a blank expression on his face and without any polite words, he said coldly: "It's good that you arrived a few days earlier. Then we should strike while the iron is hot and send you directly to the palace." After he said that, he walked straight towards the official sedan chair without giving Wang Qinghu any face at all.

"Send it directly to the palace? No one has ever said that." Wang Qinghu was full of doubts and looked at Qiu Zongwu.

"Let's go, brothers. The sooner we finish the job, the sooner we can finish it." Qiu Zongwu said to the large group, "Brothers, please bear with me for another trip. We will send you directly to the palace."

Wang Qinghu no longer hesitated, turned around and shouted, "All soldiers, listen up, let's follow Eunuch Liao to escort the tribute into the palace."

The sound of horse hooves rang out, and the team set off again, following closely behind the two official sedan chairs.

After the team walked for a while and turned a corner, Wang Qinghu slowed down, pulled Qiu Zongwu aside, and asked, "Brother Qiu, I wonder what taboo I just violated, and why Lord Gong is so unhappy."

Qiu Zongwu lowered his voice and said, "Hey, it's not about the tribute! I heard that the things sent in by Prince Cheng's Mansion were average, and Lord Gong must be in a bad mood because he was assigned by Prince Cheng to do this."

Wang Qinghu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "But is it a matter of quantity? To be honest, I have military orders. If you are short of something, you will be beheaded."

"Don't worry, brother Wang, it has nothing to do with us. These things, hey, are a bit mysterious."

"Mysterious?"

"Yes, I heard from Bazhou..." Qiu Zongwu stopped talking halfway and laughed, "It's nothing... Sir Wang, do you have any fun tonight?"

"Yes, yes. Can you first tell me what's so strange about these things?"

Qiu Zongwu looked around and said, "I just heard about it, so I can't be sure. I think we'll know the answer when we get there."

Wang Qinghu rolled his eyes, but since the other party didn't say anything, there was nothing he could do.

After about a cup of tea, the convoy arrived at the side gate of the palace. The imperial guards shouted from a distance: "Stop for a moment, the ones ahead haven't finished yet."

When Wang Chou and the other man heard the shouting, they immediately ordered the team to stop, then trotted forward to meet Gong Junzhi and the other man who had just got out of the sedan chair.

In front of the red roofs and green tiles, dozens of lanterns illuminated the night as if it were day. A row of long tables were set up, and several eunuchs were working at their desks taking notes.

In front of the long table, there were a dozen iron boxes. An old eunuch was bending over, reaching into the boxes with a short ruler in his hand.

In the middle of the short ruler, there are three soybean-sized gems. As soon as it enters the box, one of the gems emits a soft yellow light.

After a few breaths, the second gem also lit up slightly, but the light was very dim.

"Remember, Prince Fu pays tribute with a box of mid-grade Grade C merchandise." the old eunuch shouted.

"Middle grade, it's actually middle grade. I am glad that I have fulfilled my mission!" Not far away, an old man wearing a fu hat and a brocade robe had tears in his eyes and was very excited.

Next to the old man was a middle-aged man in dark purple official uniform. He was smiling, with his head held high, staring at Gong Junzhi provocatively.

Gong Junzhi's face was already gloomy, and after seeing the other person's gaze, his brows furrowed even deeper, and a chill ran down his body.

Wang Qinghu was standing behind Gong Junzhi, so he naturally noticed the delicate situation. However, he did not know the reason, so he asked, "Eunuch Liao, what kind of treasure is that ruler?"

"Oh, that's hard to say. We dare not gossip."

Wang Qinghu was very depressed, and he nudged Qiu Zongwu with his elbow and made a five gesture.

Qiu Zongwu was stunned, but eventually understood what the other party meant. He took out a banknote from his pocket and stuffed it into the pocket of Eunuch Liao, saying, "We saw it with our own eyes, but we are just too ignorant to report it to the higher-ups."

When Eunuch Liao saw the banknotes, his attitude immediately changed 180 degrees. He said with a smile, "We also heard it from others, but we can't be sure. The treasure you saw is called the Tianji Ruler. It was made by the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy. It can measure whether the person copying the scriptures has a pure heart."

"This can also be measured?" Qiu Zongwu exclaimed.

"Then I wonder what the glowing gem means?" Wang Qinghu asked.

Eunuch Liao had already spoken, so he no longer hesitated and continued, "This tribute is divided into three grades: A, B, and C. If it is C, the Tianji ruler will emit yellow light, and for B, it is said to be orange light. A, B, and C are further divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower, and it depends on how many gems are lit."

"Then I wonder what kind of light the A grade emits?" Wang Qinghu asked.

"I don't know about that. We have never even seen the orange light, let alone the first grade." Eunuch Liao said with a smile.

While the three were talking, the old eunuch had finished checking the remaining boxes. He was about to close the last box when a child's voice suddenly rang out:

"Are you trying to fool me? It's not even a middle-grade C-grade. It's ten boxes of low-grade C-grade."

The person who was speaking was wearing a Zhuangzi scarf and a plain silk Taoist robe. He was about eleven or twelve years old and was lying leisurely in a rocking chair.

Next to him was a small coffee table filled with fruits and pastries.

"Change it. Prince Fu will pay tribute of ten boxes of lower grade C-grade merchandise." The old eunuch's face was filled with fear.

At the big table, the two people who were excited before suddenly looked depressed, and the middle-aged man in purple robes even muttered: "It's better than being a nobody."

When Qiu Zongwu heard the words "not up to the standard", he was very confused and asked, "Eunuch Liao, what does "not up to the standard" mean?"

As soon as he said this, Wang Qinghu immediately coughed loudly, Eunuch Liao turned his head to look at the sky, and Gong Junzhi, who was standing in the front, had an extremely ugly expression on his face, as if his wife had been taken away from him and his parents had just passed away.

A quarter of an hour later, Prince Fu's tribute was finally checked. The two men, with frustrated faces, walked to the long table to complete the handover procedures.

"This is not the first time for you gentlemen to come here, but the Imperial Master's decree must still be emphasized. When you leave here, you will remember everything you have seen and heard today. You all know the capabilities of the Supervisory Office." said the old eunuch.

The two of them changed their expressions and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Master Li, for your advice. We dare not tell anyone."

Soon, the two men left with their men, leaving only Wang Qinghu and his group in front of the palace gate.

"Eunuch Li, King Cheng's tribute has arrived today." Eunuch Liao stepped forward and said.

"Lord Gong, let's start now." Eunuch Li looked at Gong Junzhi.

Gong Jun had a look of despair throughout the whole night, but now he greeted him with a smile and said, "Eunuch Li, you have worked hard all day. Thank you for your help!"

While the two of them were talking, the guards began to unload the boxes, and Qiu Zongwu quickly took out the key and went forward to unlock them.

In a short while, ten large boxes were placed in front of the long table.

"Everyone, please look carefully." Eunuch Li walked forward and put the ruler into the box.

Wang Chou and his companions held their breath, staring at the ruler in Eunuch Li's hand. They were extremely nervous, not knowing what color the ruler would turn into and how many gems would light up.