Chapter 153: Burning the Building (Part I)

Chapter 153: Burning the Building (Part 1)

Over the next few days, apart from a slightly more bustling world around him, everything else remained business as usual.

Upon returning to the Su residence, there were more people greeting him and they were more enthusiastic. There were more invitations from family members, more things that required polite rejection, and even a few students who had previously left his class at the academy began wanting to return. Relatives from the family came running over to lobby on various matters, and so on. All of this had been anticipated long ago; it was simply human nature and hardly a strange development.

Instead, after *Bending the Wind* spread far and wide, coupled with various exaggerated accounts of the epic battle between the Su and Wu families, the number of visitors coming to Yushan Academy to pay their respects also surged. It was much like the initial reception when *Water Tone Song* first came out, except that the visitors this time were of an even more complex background.

For example, a merchant like Puyang Yi of the Puyang family also came looking for him once, inviting him to a gathering on a certain painted barge, mentioning that Lady Qilan would be accompanying them and so on. Although Ning Yi still held a rather decent impression of the Puyang family, he naturally declined these gatherings with polite excuses as per his usual custom.

Regardless, Qilan held little temptation for him. He would occasionally visit the small pavilion to listen to Yunzhu play the zither and sing. Qilan simply could not compare to Yunzhu in terms of artistic attainment. Moreover, Yunzhu had already become familiar with the musical styles Ning Yi enjoyed, and at times could even sing a few quite unconventional songs following the modern vocal techniques Ning Yi had taught her.

And even though Qilan held the status of the foremost courtesan, over on this side there was also Yuan Jin'er, whose status was among the four great courtesans, yet she showed not the slightest inclination to even dance for him. Instead, she spent her entire day bickering noisily, completely drowning out any lofty aura a premier courtesan might have possessed. Still, at the very least, she possessed a genuine nature.

A few days later, he had a meeting with Elder Qin and Elder Kang. The two old men joked about his moniker of "calculating every ten paces," but when discussing the entire series of strategic deployments, they both remarked that it had been handled with effortless ease, displaying the demeanor of a great general. Afterwards, Kang Xian smiled and said, "Relatively speaking, though, that bandit moniker of 'Blood-Handed Human Butcher' is rather peculiar. Old man as I am, I had people make inquiries for several days, yet I have never heard of anyone in the past carving out such a reputation for themselves..."

The forces hidden behind Kang Xian were quite substantial. Since he was interested in Ning Yi's recent maneuvers, it was hardly surprising that he knew about the events at Shishipo. When he recounted to Elder Qin what Ning Yi had participated in that night, Elder Qin furrowed his brows. "In matters like these, you must cut the weeds and eliminate the roots. Once you truly provoke these pugilists and let a few escape, I'm afraid there will be future troubles. Has there been any resolution to this yet?"

Kang Xian smiled. "Upon learning of this matter, I already notified the authorities and issued a wanted warrant for such violent outlaws, rushing it by fast courier to the nearby prefectures and counties. This morning, I heard they already intercepted one of them. The man was severely injured and was killed when he resisted arrest."

Elder Qin nodded. "Since a full-force strike was made, these people probably won't be able to hide for many days."

The two of them were masters of Confucian scholarship. In the past, when they played Go and chatted, they would talk at length about principles such as benevolence towards others. But when Elder Kang opened this topic and Qin Siyuan followed up, not a single word expressed any dissatisfaction or admonition regarding the gang violence and bloodshed. Instead, from the very beginning, they treated it purely as a practical matter at hand that needed to be resolved.

Kang Xian had actually been using his influence over the past few days to intervene in the matter, something Ning Yi was not yet aware of. But upon hearing it now, he could not help but shake his head with a smile.

In the past, playing Go and relaxing together had given them a rough idea of each other's style of conduct. At this moment, it merely made things all the clearer: the two old men before him, who usually wrote moral essays, were not the least bit hesitant when it came to taking real, practical action.

In fact, when discussing this incident, their conversation simply revolved around the skill with which Ning Yi's sudden appearance had managed to pull back all twenty-some people who had been on the verge of breaking through the encirclement. As for the merchants taking action and the gang turf wars, neither Elder Qin nor Elder Kang seemed to care much about how many people died. After all, Su Boyong had been assassinated first, so retaliating was only fitting. If there was anything they truly cared about, it was probably that Kang Xian felt Ning Yi was meant for great things and had no need to risk his own life over such trivial matters. Should any accident happen, the lives of a few petty thieves could not possibly compensate for the losses of the state and the nation.

"That spyglass you invented has already been sent to Dongjing, and research and manufacturing are being stepped up here as well. Several finished pieces are already in production and have been deployed into military formations, proving to be immensely useful." Elder Kang and Elder Qin were playing Go, shaking their heads to toss the petty thieves of Shishipo out of their minds as they brought up what they truly considered important.

"It's just that you keep things so low-profile that it's difficult to even submit a merit report for you, which is quite frustrating... I have a group of technicians and artisans in my household. If you're interested, I'd like to assign all of them to your command. Whatever you wish to make, just let them get to work. Recently, I heard from Xiaopei and Junwu that you've been dabbling in things related to gunpowder. To be frank, the military is not without research into such matters. I know you have your own ideas, but after all, the danger is high. Even if you truly use iron for things like fire-lances, they might still explode and injure yourself; the military has tried it before. Why don't you just explain your ideas and leave the hands-on work to others?"

Nowadays, the armies of the Wu Dynasty were also researching gunpowder as a weapon, featuring all sorts of messy designs, but they could never escape the verdict of being flashy without substance. Kang Xian naturally held Ning Yi in high regard and did not want him to get hurt doing this research. Just thinking about the disaster-relief booklet plus the spyglass made Ning Yi's value astonishingly huge, not to mention the organizational and planning abilities he had demonstrated in many minor ways over this period. It was just that he wanted to recruit talent for the country, yet Ning Yi happened to have his own set of ideas—ideas that neither he nor Qin Siyuan had quite figured out yet, so they could only let him do as he pleased for the time being.

Ning Yi's enthusiasm for fire-arms was temporarily limited to this, mainly due to technological constraints. It was not yet time to truly develop this branch. No matter how firearms were developed further, they were still inferior to heavy crossbows for the time being. He had not yet decided what to work on next, so he simply shook his head and politely declined Elder Kang's good intentions. If he truly agreed, it would just be another layer of restriction.

"However, how much longer before a war breaks out?"

When Ning Yi brought this up, Kang Xian also smiled and shook his head. "It's still unclear. Talks are still ongoing over there. Minister of State Tong has been presiding over this matter for several years now. Although I haven't asked much on a daily basis, looking at the current situation, it should be about time. It's just that winter has set in now, and the weather in Liaodong must be even more punishing. If negotiations can be concluded successfully, perhaps there will be results after spring... What does Lord Qin think?"

Elder Qin thought for a moment and nodded. "Although Tong Guan is... cough, although he is a eunuch, he still handles matters quite well in the end. However, I am somewhat apprehensive now..."

"Apprehensive of what?"

Elder Qin held a Go piece in his hand for a long time before finally placing it down, letting out a sigh. "Apprehensive of haste."

Kang Xian had never entered officialdom, but Elder Qin had formerly been a man of high position and great authority. The current Minister of State, Tong Guan, had originally been ranked below him back then and perhaps even subject to his jurisdiction. It was just that Elder Qin usually did not talk much about these matters; at this moment, he merely said a few words and steered the conversation elsewhere. Still, Ning Yi could roughly tell that the old man probably cared deeply in his heart and thus was unwilling to speak of it much.

Playing Go with Elder Kang and Elder Qin rarely involved political matters. The vast majority of the time was spent discussing academic questions, trivial gossip happening within Jiangning City, and sharing a few laughs over them.

Time passed like this into the end of October. The relationship between Ning Yi and Su Tan'er grew increasingly harmonious. After the weather turned cold, everyone would gather in the living room in the evenings to chat, play Go, and tell stories—warm and cozy. Su Tan'er still appeared busy these days, but she had basically finished the matters that weighed most heavily on her mind.

From the perspective of the entire Su clan, things were actually quite bustling recently. In the past, the Su family usually calculated performance and distributed dividends around the end of November or early December. But this year, key managers from various regions had arrived a month early, and the year-end work was already being carried out successively. With a gathering of relatives and friends, the Su household was in a lively and bustling state every day—teahouses and taverns by day, pleasure quarters by night. Moreover, thanks to the turning point at the end of October, the Su family's reputation in Jiangning's business circles suddenly became even more resounding.

Because of these commitments, Su Tan'er was actually not all that idle. After the clan assembly, her cousin Su Danhong frequently came over to keep her company, leaving Ning Yi with not much time to spend alone with her. However, the bond between husband and wife had settled deeply regardless. Su Tan'er had her own mind and didn't require too much fussing over. It was just that upon returning home on the afternoon of the fifth day of November, Ning Yi saw Su Tan'er doing something rather peculiar.

Although the temperature had dropped, the weather that afternoon was quite nice. Ning Yi had returned home a bit early, and the small courtyard appeared serene. Ning Yi initially thought nobody was there, but after taking a closer look, he spotted Su Tan'er sitting in the gazebo, staring intently at the small building where he lived, lost in thought.

In theory, there shouldn't have been any major issues after the clan assembly—certainly nothing worth making her frown and fret to this extent. Ning Yi watched for a moment, feeling somewhat puzzled, but Su Tan'er seemed completely absorbed in her thoughts, her facial expressions shifting without noticing him. A moment later, he saw her press her lips together as if she had made a decision, stand up, cast one last lingering look at the small building across the way, and turn to walk toward the small kitchen nearby.

The expression with which she made her decision carried a trace of childishness—the expression belonging to a nineteen-year-old young woman—though it was impossible to tell what arduous decision she had just arrived at. Ning Yi shrugged and returned to his room first. Scarcely had he closed the door when he caught sight of Su Tan'er hurrying out of the small kitchen. Having apparently thought of something, she walked briskly to the courtyard gate and looked out in both directions several times. Concluding that nobody was around, she hurried back into the small kitchen and emerged carrying an armful of dry firewood.

Su Tan'er usually paid close attention to propriety and image. While she might occasionally lend a hand if goods were being moved in the warehouse, back home she was the absolute picture of a refined young lady of a prominent family; she practically never did chores like starting fires or hauling firewood. Yet the atmosphere at the moment was undeniably rather mysterious. Ning Yi secretly peered out from his room as Su Tan'er carried the firewood, glanced once more at the small building where he stayed, and then headed toward the back of the building.

Ning Yi closed his door and quietly followed them. He saw that Su Tan'er had piled those selected, highly flammable twigs right against the window at the back of the room where he lived, weighing and adjusting their placement for quite a long time.

Ning Yi was dumbfounded. The decision this woman had spent ages pondering... was she planning to commit uxoricide against her husband? Or was burning him alive her chosen method of cruelty?

Shortly thereafter, he discovered that the way things unfolded differed somewhat from what he had imagined...

Who could possibly guess what Tan'er was up to?