Chapter 2690: The Capital (Part 46)

"Did he really say that?"

"Yes, your humble servant heard it clearly and distinctly," Zhou Lezhi replied.

Wang Yehao nodded with satisfaction. It seemed he wouldn't need to expend much effort after all—the Kun's own evil deeds had already made this Hearthstone Daoist despise them. With such sentiments, there was no fear of him running back to them. The "Lingao Bandit Situation" written by Gou Chengxuan also contained quite a bit of damning material; he could show that to him as well.

For now, there was no rush to employ the strategy of "Mengde's Songstress"—keeping him through pleasure and comfort. Besides predicting the future, this Hearthstone Immortal could bring him many other benefits, and had already offered quite a few ideas on rehabilitation. Some bordered on empty talk, but the angles were novel and could inspire new lines of thought.

This was a capable man. He must be brought into his service!

Zhou Lezhi didn't harbor so many calculations; he simply felt that since returning from the countryside, the Teacher had become greatly different from before—silent and reticent. Every day, besides giving him lessons, the Teacher no longer frolicked with Jieyi at night, but instead shut himself away to write books.

Manuscripts piled up continuously. Originally Zhou Lezhi was responsible for copying and organizing them, but the Teacher felt this would take up too much of Zhou Lezhi's lesson time, so he had Liu Zhao find five book copyists instead.

Book copyists were craftsmen from printing workshops who specialized in transcribing paper patterns. Not only was their copying neat and fast, but most were also illiterate—a rather rare combination. Wang Yehao felt this was ideal, as it prevented any leakage of "Australian Supreme Learning." He even gave special instructions to make an extra set of copies.

Zhou Lezhi's task was to proofread whether the copying contained errors. Honestly speaking, he felt that even if the copyists were literate, it would be of no use—because the things the Teacher wrote, without his explanations, were mostly unintelligible.

The copied documents were sent to Wang Yehao's study. He had originally thought they would be "Spell Texts," but unexpectedly they were all Chinese characters. Aside from the fact that the font was mostly in vulgar simplified forms and the language approached the vernacular, there was nothing particularly special about them.

It was just that most of what he wrote belonged to the frustrating category of recognizing every character when holding it up to read, yet having no idea what any of it meant when strung together. This was somewhat awkward.

Some he presumably recognized as mathematics and Gewu—the investigation of things; some he couldn't fathom at all, such as "Outline of Principles of Political Economy." Another piece, "17th Century World Geography and Nations," might serve as reading material for hunting novelty and leisure, but had no real meaning—after all, who cared how many countries these red-haired Europa barbarians had or how many kings ruled them? "Principles of Mechanics" was covered with diagrams of various kinds of machines...

"These are the Supreme Learning that Hearthstone Daoist spoke of?" He was somewhat skeptical, and specially summoned Zhou Lezhi.

"Yes, the Teacher said exactly so."

"What kind of Supreme Learning is this!" Master Wang slandered secretly in his belly, but such words couldn't be spoken openly. Instead he asked, "Did he ever write books regarding spells and secret methods?"

The answer naturally disappointed him. Master Wang stared fixedly at Zhou Lezhi, sensing that this youth had changed somewhat—seemingly not as loyal as before.

Not that he could cause any trouble. Although Zhou Lezhi was an orphan, his clan remained in Guangdong. Exterminating the family would be merely a matter of raising a hand; presumably the young man understood this as well.

Moreover, this lad had already grown close to the Hearthstone Immortal; rashly replacing him would only arouse the Immortal's displeasure. So Wang Yehao spoke a few warm words, instructing him to help the Teacher write books well.

After sending Zhou Lezhi away, Wang Yehao gazed expressionlessly at the candle flame. Only after a long while did he speak to Liu Sha:

"The Heavenly Book Spell Texts—are there any leads?"

"Your humble servant has inquired in many ways; no one recognizes them."

"Act carefully; you must not let word leak out."

"Master may rest assured, your subordinate has his own methods. It's just..." Liu Sha paused, appearing as though he wanted to speak but was holding back.

"Speak directly, no need for concern."

"Master, your subordinate is bold to say: these Heavenly Book Spell Texts can only be read by Mr. Zhou. Why not force him to reveal the method of deciphering them?"

"Sigh!" Wang Yehao let out a long breath, remaining silent for a good while before speaking. "Since this concerns the Heavenly Book Spell Texts, this official won't hide it from you. This matter is enormous; having heard it, keep it in your heart. You absolutely cannot speak of it to others."

"Your subordinate will remember respectfully."

"The matter at Wanggongchang in the sixth year of Tianqi—do you remember?"

"I remember. The official gazette said it was caused by gunpowder catching fire."

"Hehehehe..." Hearing this, Wang Yehao couldn't help laughing aloud. "Tell me, what kind of gunpowder could produce such devastation?"

"Your subordinate is stupid; I hope Master will enlighten me."

"That day, this official inspected the neighborhood and saw Mr. Zhou among the ruined walls."

"Mr. Zhou is a person of the Capital City?"

Wang Yehao's eyes suddenly turned stern, his words carrying a thread of solemn killing chill: "I saw Mr. Zhou's human head."

"What does Master mean?"

"Just a human head, suspended in mid-air. It vanished in an instant."

This sounded too horrifying; Liu Sha didn't know how to respond for a good while. He could only ask as if talking in his sleep: "Re... ally?"

"This official originally didn't believe in such matters of strange forces and chaotic spirits, but this couldn't be faked." Wang Yehao calmed his mood, looking at Liu Sha who still appeared somewhat dazed. "This person being vulgar and lacking literary grace is true; his Iron Mouth fortune-telling is also true. His depths are hard to fathom; we cannot act rashly. Zhongda once said that Kongming never took risks in his life. If this official doesn't have absolute certainty, I definitely cannot play rough with him."

"It was your subordinate being rash."

"No harm done." Wang Yehao lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously. "Now my intentions are not on the Heavenly Book anyway. After arriving in Guangzhou and taking a look, the Kun's power is already established; in the future they will certainly become a great trouble to the Court's heart. This Hearthstone Immortal almost certainly has a significant connection with the Kun. For the Court to pacify them, this person will surely prove useful."

"Your subordinate understands!"

"This official came to Guangzhou on inspection; although the Kun have already retreated, every official in Guangzhou fears them like tigers. Probably quite a few are still secretly receiving the Kun's bribes. To deal with the Kun, relying on local yamens is unreliable. How is the matter I instructed you on progressing?"

"I have already recruited over twenty brothers, all capable hands."

"This official provides the silver; but the men must be useful." Wang Yehao fixed Liu Sha with a stare. "At the critical juncture, do not ruin affairs through incompetence, delaying military opportunities..."

"Delaying military opportunities"—those four characters were enough to cost a man his head. Liu Sha naturally understood the meaning within.

"Master may rest assured; your subordinate knows what is at stake."

"You may go."

Liu Sha didn't leave immediately but reported again: "Master, your subordinate has another matter to inform..."

"Oh, speak and let me hear it."

Liu Sha explained that he knew a brother who was part of the Guangzhou Liang family. According to him, Liang Cunhou harbored intentions of dealing with the Kun and was also secretly recruiting good fellows from the Jianghu.

"...I've heard the Liang family is among Guangzhou's most powerful gentry, with extremely great local influence. If Master can obtain his assistance, great matters may be accomplished."

What kind of person Liang Cunhou was, Master Wang naturally understood. But he had long heard that this Liang Cunhou had colluded with the Kun; the largest charity hall in Guangzhou City was co-founded by his family and Manager Guo.

Such a person actually wanted to deal with the Kun? Master Wang was somewhat skeptical.

"Is this truly so?"

"Indeed!" Liu Sha nodded, whispering, "Within the Liang family there is also a surveillance lieutenant—a person from the Eastern Depot."

"The Eastern Depot?"

"Yes," he noticed the look of worry and fear appearing in Master Wang's eyes, and hastily added, "Although this brother was originally ordered by the Eastern Depot to infiltrate the Liang family, after the Emperor removed official surveillance, he had nowhere to go, so he remained in the Liang Residence to serve."

"Oh." Wang Yehao let out a sigh of relief. After the Emperor ascended the throne, he had immediately removed official surveillance; who would have thought that after a few years, he had unexpectedly sent people again.

His activities these past few years had been frequent; if they were truly detected by the Eastern Depot and reported to the Emperor, he feared he would end up in the Imperial Prison to be "beaten while questioned."

Thinking of this, he involuntarily broke out in cold sweat.

Liu Sha continued to lower his voice. "This Eastern Depot detective lieutenant is also a brother of our Jinyiwei, so your subordinate contacted him through a reliable middleman."

"Speak!"

"According to him, ever since Viceroy Wang's campaign against the Kun failed, Liang Cunhou has always regretted his initial collaboration with them. It's just that massive interests were involved, connected to the whole Liang family, so he couldn't make a clean break with the Kun."

"So the Liang family has property tied up with the Kun?"

"Exactly so. Not only Cihuitang, but also several of Zizhenzhai's firms; I've heard the Liang family has shares in all of them."

"So that's how it is!" Wang Yehao thought to himself that the Kun had a local reputation for turning stone into gold; for the Liang family to have shares, the richness of the annual returns went without saying. No wonder they couldn't make up their minds.

"But Liang Cunhou feels the Kun have become Guangdong's disease, and sooner or later will also become a grave concern for the Court, so he has been secretly collecting intelligence on the Thief Situation, preparing in advance..."

Wang Yehao understood Liu Sha's meaning; this person could be cooperated with.

The Liang family was a famous local power clan in Guangzhou Prefecture; their influence was deeply rooted and intertwined. If he could obtain their assistance, dealing with the Kun would achieve twice the result with half the effort.

"It seems I should meet him once."

Fortunately, for a high regional official taking office, visiting local gentry was an expected formality. He summoned Jin Wenchi to arrange the connection. Sure enough, within a few days, the Liang family sent an invitation card, inviting Wang Yehao to a banquet.

At the banquet, Wang Yehao mentioned how the Kun were harming Guangdong, and asked if Liang Cunhou had any countermeasures.

"Speaking of the Kun, this student can also be counted as one of their benefactors." Liang Cunhou spoke of past events with a bitter smile. "At that time, I shouldn't have been confused by them. I pitied their difficulty making a living overseas, so I sent them a greeting card and co-founded Cihuitang with them to take in refugees. How could I have imagined I was raising a tiger that would cause such trouble!"

"Mending the pen after sheep are lost—it is still not too late."

Liang Cunhou and Wang Yehao hit it off instantly. Liang Cunhou wanted to make amends for his "faults" of those years; his attitude was especially enthusiastic. He revealed that he had secretly set up a library at home, specifically for collecting the Kun's various books, court gazettes, and sundry information. He had also organized some scholars to form a Yuyuan Society, specifically responsible for studying them. If Lord Wang was interested, they could share resources.

"There is such a thing? Are the people reliable?"

"Whether reliable or not, this student dares not say, but they are all people obsessed with Ao Learning." Liang Cunhou laughed. "Of course, this student wouldn't tell them that studying Ao Learning is for dealing with the Kun."

"There are scholars obsessed with Ao Learning?" This surprised Wang Yehao somewhat.

"Indeed. When it comes to practical craft techniques, Ao Learning does have its superior points." Liang Cunhou sighed. "If it could be used by the Court, that would be a fortunate thing. Pity that the Kun guard it so strictly; one cannot glimpse even a fraction of it!"

(End of Chapter)