Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 306 New Year’s Eve
Sitting in seclusion in the garden.

Chen Qingzhi looked at his yard after the explosion, his face showing nine parts of shock and one part of annoyance.

"With such a powerful force, why don't you detonate it outside?" The Fifth Dimension quickly scolded the two.

"I didn't know the whole piece was so powerful. I broke off a small piece and tried it, and it felt just average." Ren Yuan explained weakly.

"Without any magic power, it has such great power?" Chen Qingzhi was a leader after all, so he had a broad mind. He suppressed his unhappiness and asked, "Are there many of these things?"

"They have already made hundreds or even thousands of them, and they are still working overtime to make them." Ren Yuan said solemnly, "Looking at the situation, it won't be a problem for them to make dozens of them a day."

"If this thing explodes, even a demigod wouldn't be able to handle it." The Fifth Dimension smacked his lips and said, "It's almost as good as my level in Dreamland."

"You imagined that, but this really exists." Chen Qingzhi frowned and asked in a deep voice, "What are they going to do?"

"It looks like it's disguised as bricks and built into a building." Ren Yuan speculated reasonably.

"What building?" Chen Qianzhi looked at him.

“Although there are many large-scale construction projects in Beijing, not many of them use such large bricks,” Ren Yuan said.

"You might as well make your words clear." Chen Qianzhi said with a smile.

"For example, I mean for example... the Altar of Heaven." Ren Yuan said, "The Emperor is about to offer sacrifices to the Heaven, and it was built in Xiao Zhengde's villa, so it's hard not to think about this."

"You have a point." Chen Qingzhi said without commenting, "But the civil engineering of the Temple of Heaven has been completed and has entered the final decoration stage."

"As long as the work is not finished, there is always a way to put it in. Even if it is finished, there are still ways." Ren Yuan insisted on his opinion.

"That makes sense." The Fifth Dimension agreed.

"No matter whether the target is the Temple of Heaven or not, with so many explosives, we must be highly alert." Chen Qingzhi made the decision:

"Don't alert the enemy yet. Keep a close eye on those 'big yellow bricks' and find out who is making the bricks on the island as soon as possible!"

"Yes!" Everyone responded in a deep voice.

~~
Return to Lingguangwei.

The Fifth Dimension held another small meeting and announced Chen Qianzhi's order.

"The Xiaoyingzhou Villa is in the hands of Xiao Zhengde's son Xiao Jianli. He is a brutal and rough man. He always wears short clothes and holds a long sword when he goes out of the streets. The royal family does not want to be in the same circle with him." Yan Fei introduced: "But he is only fourteen. Maybe he is being used as a gun."

"That makes sense." The Fifth Dimension nodded and said, "Although he has sufficient motives to commit the crime, I'm afraid he doesn't have the ability to do it. According to what Ren Yuan and the others saw, the other party's organization is quite thorough and their actions are quite covert. There should be more experienced people behind the scenes."

"If they were really experienced, they wouldn't do it in Beijing," Nangong sneered, "Where are there no toilets or pig pens? Where can we scrape the frost off the ground? If they do this in a remote place, we will definitely be kept in the dark."

"This behavior is very similar to those of the nobles who are ignorant of worldly affairs. They think they are smart, but in fact they have a lot of flaws." Song Jingxiu laughed and said, "Haven't we encountered many of them in recent years?"

"Yes, if everyone is so stupid, how can the country be good?" Yan Fei said cynically.

"Stop complaining. The world has been like this for a long time." While trying to stop Yan Fei, Diwuwei complained. Then he ordered in a deep voice:

"Old Song, please do some secret research on this side. Who is the boss behind Xiaoyingzhou?"

"Yes!" Song Jingxiu responded in a deep voice.

The fifth dimension said to Ren Yuan again: "You keep a close eye on that batch of goods, and don't let them disappear from under your noses!" "Don't worry, no one can escape." Ren Yuan also responded in a deep voice.

~~
After returning, Ren Yuan arranged capable personnel to work in shifts day and night to keep a close eye on any movement on Xiaoying Island.

However, the island continued to boil saltpeter and make bricks day after day, with only money coming in and no money going out. As the year drew to a close, there was still no movement...

At the end of the year, Jiankang City became lively. Various temple fairs were held one after another, and the people were busy preparing for the New Year, making new clothes with cloth, sweeping the house and sending off the Kitchen God... The New Year atmosphere became stronger day by day.

The festive atmosphere also attracted wanderers from other places to rush back home, and the emperor's sons were no exception. The second prince Xiao Zong from Guangling; the third prince Xiao Gang from Xiangyang; the fourth prince Xiao Ji from Yuzhou... they all rushed back to the capital to celebrate the New Year with their father.

They were particularly active this year because they had heard that Uncle Jiu, who had succeeded Pei Sui, had been poisoned and was half dead.

Although my father never announced who the murderer was, he put my eighth uncle under house arrest...

In this way, the position of commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition will be vacant again, and it will most likely fall to these brothers.

All the brothers stared with their eyes wide open. Who wouldn’t want to reap the tempting fruits of a successful Northern Expedition?

Of course, Uncle Nine was not dead yet, so they would not fight directly. So they competed to please their father and eldest brother, boasting about their own political achievements, hoping that they could occupy a favorable position when Uncle Nine died.

~~
In the blink of an eye it was New Year's Eve. From morning on, the sound of firecrackers could be heard everywhere in Beijing.

The firecrackers used in those years were real "firecrackers", which were made by burning bamboo in fire to produce crisp popping sounds. The purpose of the firecrackers was to drive away evil spirits, and it was called the Courtyard Fire Ceremony.

The crackling sound of firecrackers also announced the official start of the New Year. In Pinganli, every household decorated with lanterns and the whole family worshipped their ancestors together. Even the hardworking people like Uncle Bing’s family closed their stalls and went home to celebrate the New Year.

Yang Zhong's house was a little deserted. Although there were lanterns hung and peach charms pasted on the wall, there were only two women, Lu Kutao and Su Xiaoxiao, at home.

While Lu Kutao and Su Xiaoxiao were busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner, they complained, "This Gou Chen Division is really something. They are busy at ordinary times, but during the New Year, they won't let people go home to celebrate the New Year?"

"It is said that the emperor will offer sacrifices to heaven tomorrow, so they will definitely be busy all night." Although Su Xiaoxiao said this, she still looked towards the door expectantly.

Sure enough, Yang Zhong came back.

"Oh, you're finally back." Lu Kutao cheered, wiped her hands on her apron and went out to greet him, but saw that there was no one behind him. "Hey, why did you come back by yourself?"

"My third brother ordered me to come back to spend the New Year with you." Yang Zhong said, "Originally he wanted my eldest brother to come back as well, but he didn't agree, so I came back on my own."

"Then why did you come back? It would seem so disloyal." Lu Kutao is indeed a Shandong woman, and righteousness is her most important thing.

"I'm afraid you'll be unhappy." Yang Zhong said awkwardly, "Then I'll go back?"

"When you come back, eat the New Year's Eve dinner first, and then serve them the meal." Lu Kutao called him again.

"Hehe, okay." Yang Zhong smiled innocently. In fact, he thought so too, but he had to wait until Lu Kutao said it.

~~
But Ren Yuan and the other two did not have the chance to enjoy the New Year's Eve dinner sent by Yang Zhong.

After dark, Ren Yuan suddenly felt something and said in a deep voice, "The box moved."

"Damn it, they're so patient!" Chen Baxian slapped his thigh. The three of them hurried out of the cabin and ordered the oil-bi boat to sail towards Xiaoyingzhou.

(End of this chapter)