There is a god in the sky

Chapter 148 Split Operation 1

The man in black took out a porcelain bottle, and immediately knew that its weight was wrong.

He turned the bottle upside down, and there was nothing left except a little bit of powder.

He panicked.

"Quick! Open all the boxes and check, where's the goods?"

A group of people hurriedly opened all the boxes and checked them. The porcelain was smashed everywhere, but the gunpowder was nowhere to be found.

"Damn it! They managed to sneak away with us!"

At the Tongan County government office, Magistrate Luo waited anxiously.

If this shipment is lost, his official career is over.

What's even more terrifying is that if that Xiao fellow reports his possession of gunpowder to the imperial court, even the Crown Prince won't be able to save him.

When the news came back, Magistrate Luo was furious.

"Send more people to search immediately! If they can't find him, spare the life of that Xiao fellow!"

The man sitting quietly to the side glanced at him and reassured him, "Don't worry, sir. As long as the goods haven't arrived in Bianjing yet, there's still a chance."

“Xiao Ji is not a poor scholar without any background. He is backed by the Xiao family, which is related to the Marquis of Pingyang by marriage. Both Lord Xiao and the Marquis of Pingyang are highly regarded by the Emperor.”

"He's still a few days away from Bianjing, there'll always be a chance."

"But as you just heard, he asked the Xiangzhou government to send troops to escort him."

"So...open assassination won't work, we have to find another way."

Magistrate Luo asked expectantly, "Does Mr. Zhuo have a brilliant idea?"

"This matter is no longer just yours alone. Everyone in the court who has been involved is on edge. You can let them take action!"

"Would they agree?"

"If you refuse, we'll all die together!"

Shen Lan sneezed.

It was so cold in the carriage; it was moving so fast that the cold wind was blowing in from all directions.

The carriage was arranged at the last minute, and there was no time to prepare charcoal or anything like that, so we could only wrap ourselves in thick clothes to keep warm.

"I'm sorry to have troubled Miss Shen."

Xiao Ji, who was sitting to the side, was in a better position than her, since he had grown up in Bianjing and was used to the cold of the north.

"You're too kind, sir. This case is far-reaching, and there will be many difficulties and dangers to face. Aren't you afraid?"

Xiao Ji smiled and said, "There is not much risk in dealing with a mere magistrate of Tong'an County."

"Then what about his superiors..."

"Even if they can't move now, they'll cut their losses and try to survive."

"They might get rid of one Magistrate Luo, but they'll just send another one. It'll never end."

"Therefore, the new magistrate of Tongan County has been approved by the Emperor."

Xiao Ji wasn't fearless, but he wouldn't confront those people directly. He only wanted to deal with Magistrate Luo; as for the people behind him, that was something the Emperor wanted to investigate.

Given his rank, the emperor would never entrust this case to him.

"I wonder how Xuan'er and the others are doing," Shen Lan said worriedly.

After they landed, they split into two groups.

Led by Xiao Ji, most of the people, carrying the tribute prepared by Prefect Song, went to the capital, escorted by soldiers from the Xiangzhou government. The procession was grand and attracted much attention.

Another group, disguised as peddlers traveling to the capital, slowly made their way to Bianjing, pulling several carts with mules.

They tried to avoid large cities to avoid being strictly inspected by guards at the city gates.

The gunpowder collected from those porcelain bottles weighed about a thousand pounds. They hid it under the wine barrels. If the guards checked carefully, they might expose the deception.

Sui Feng had a beard pasted on his face; he was the owner of a tavern and was taking several cartloads of wine to the capital to sell.

"Sir, you've worked hard. Here are a few jugs of wine to warm everyone up."

He opened the lid, and a rich aroma of wine wafted out.

The guards in the small county town weren't so strict; their eyes lit up at the smell of the aroma.

"Is this Xiangzhou rice wine?"

"Sir, you have a good eye. We are indeed from Xiangzhou."

Sui Feng proudly said, "My family's wine was selected by the Prefect to be offered as tribute. The wine you are drinking is the same kind that the distinguished guests drink."

"How dare you..." the guard said, tucking the wine jug into his robes.

The convoy passed safely.

Xuan'er breathed a sigh of relief as she sat on the mule cart.

"Brother, how many days will it take us to get there?"

Sui Feng, leading the mule, replied, "Three to five days, let's take a shortcut."

"Will I be able to catch up with my sister?"

"Not necessarily, but they will be waiting for us outside the city."

Once they reached the outskirts of Bianjing, where people were coming and going, even if someone wanted to hunt them down, they wouldn't dare to make a move.

"I hope they are safe and sound."

Sui Feng was also a little worried, but when he thought about how many people were around the adult and that Miss Shen was there, he felt much more at ease.

Miss Shen's medical skills are superb; as long as the person doesn't die, there's an 80% chance she can be saved.

On the contrary, if they are exposed, they will truly have nowhere to turn for help.

"Xuan'er, why do you want to come with our team?" Sui Feng asked, puzzled.

Xuan'er lowered her head and said, "I'm useless. I'll only be a burden to my sisters if I follow them."

If she encounters danger, she won't be able to outrun the enemy and will need to be rescued. Wouldn't that make her a burden?

Sui Feng thought about it and realized it made sense.

Of the group, only Xuan'er lacked martial arts skills and was quite young.

Shen Lan was also worried that her body wouldn't be able to handle the long journey with the team.

"Achoo!" Shen Lan sneezed again.

Seeing this, Xiao Ji took off his cloak and hung it on the window on Shen Lan's side to block out some of the cold wind.

"Sir, please don't catch a cold."

"It's alright, I still have some warm clothes."

Seeing that he had pulled out a cotton coat and put it on, Shen Lan didn't say anything.

With the windows covered, the temperature inside the carriage wasn't so low, and the light dimmed.

She wasn't originally entitled to ride in the same carriage as Xiao Ji, but the convoy was carrying too much cargo and the government office couldn't spare any horses, so she had no choice but to squeeze in with Xiao Ji.

Of course, the government hadn't even considered her in the first place.

Staying at the post station at night, everyone was very cautious. The water and food they ate were all thoroughly inspected, and a whole team of guards was arranged to watch over them.

The leader of the group from Xiangzhou was surnamed Wu. Judging from the way these people acted, he thought that this was how Lord Xiao traveled, and he complained to himself that he was difficult to please.

However, the advantage of this was that none of them dared to underestimate Xiao Ji.

In the middle of the night, a fire broke out at the post station. The fire started from the stables and quickly spread to the guest rooms.

Fortunately, everyone was alert and quickly ran out of the house, avoiding being trapped by the fire.

Looking at the neatly dressed and spirited people around him, Officer Wu wondered to himself: Could these people be prophetic?

With nowhere to stay, the group had no choice but to continue their journey through the night.

Over the next two days, they encountered all sorts of troubles.

There were huge rocks blocking the way, and assassins lying in ambush along the way. The most dangerous time was when I was almost poisoned by a roadside tea stall.

They were exhausted both physically and mentally from the journey.

Passing by a tea stall, everyone was both thirsty and hungry.

I thought that since we were getting close to Bianjing and there were many tourists coming and going, the tea stalls wouldn't have any problems.

They had tested the poison with silver needles and wild rabbits they had caught beforehand, and nothing happened, so everyone lowered their guard.

As a result, Shen Lan discovered that the tea had changed color after being poured into the teacup. Upon testing, she found that the murderer had put poison in the cup.

The tea stall owner protested his innocence, saying that the tea set was a replacement for a customer who had broken a cup earlier.

He was naturally pleased to see that the set of cups was beautiful.

He only gave Xiao Ji and his group this set of cups because they were officials, but he never expected that they would almost be poisoned.