My low-key cultivation of immortality was discovered by the emperor in my diary.

The moon hangs high in the sky, a chilling wind blows.

The quiet room was deserted, without a sound of human voices. (Note)

On the quiet street, the night watchman struck his clapper and called out, "It's midnight, all is well."

However, at that moment, a burst of fire shot into the sky, illuminating half of the night sky.

The warehouse storing materials from Kyushu inexplicably caught fire, and the fire was so fierce that it instantly engulfed everything around it.

Moreover, the fire spread extremely quickly, and the warehouse guards were in a panic; they had never seen such a fierce fire before.

Upon hearing the news, the Prefect of the Capital was filled with shock and anger. He threw on his clothes, got up, and rushed to the scene despite the deep night.

His heart was filled with doubt and anger. Who on earth dared to attack the warehouse at such a sensitive time?

How dare they do such an outrageous thing right under the emperor's nose and in front of the imperial advisor!

Could it be spies from an enemy state, intending to disrupt the fate of the Great Xia? Or perhaps treacherous officials in the court, willing to take such a risk for their own selfish desires?

"Who is so audacious as to commit such a rebellious act within the capital!" the Prefect of the Capital thought to himself, his steps quickening.

Upon arriving at the scene, one sees flames shooting into the sky and waves of heat hitting the face.

The scene was extremely chaotic, with firefighters rushing back and forth, but they could not stop the fire from spreading.

The Prefect of the Capital quickly composed himself and shouted sternly, "Assemble your forces immediately and fight the fire with all your might!"

He immediately directed his men to try to control the fire as quickly as possible, and ordered a thorough investigation to find the mastermind behind it.

"Sir, the fire is too fierce and I'm afraid it's hard to control!" someone shouted anxiously.

Upon hearing this, the Prefect of the Capital frowned and said, "Continue to put out the fire! What will happen if we let it continue?!"

He ordered all available personnel to be mobilized to fight the fire in the warehouse.

Meanwhile, many local residents spontaneously came to help fight the fire, carrying their own basins or buckets and repeatedly fetching water in an attempt to control the blaze.

In his anxiety, the Prefect of Jingzhao suddenly remembered something else.

Were the artisans who were busy preparing for the grand ceremony also in danger?

The murderer dared to set such a large fire, so he must be after the Nine Cauldrons. Therefore, the craftsmen who were temporarily housed in the inn are probably also in danger.

These artisans are all pillars of the nation. If they were to be lost, wouldn't that also affect the Shangsi Festival?

Upon realizing this, the Prefect of the Capital immediately dispatched another elite team, armed with torches, to the craftsmen's quarters to ensure their safety.

The fire in the warehouse, like an ominous sign, hung over the mind of the Prefect of the Capital, making him somewhat worried about what would happen tomorrow.

What kind of conspiracy lies behind all this? Perhaps only when the truth comes to light will the truth be revealed.

……

Beneath the deep darkness of night, an unseen undercurrent quietly surges.

Several assassins, dressed in night clothes and moving like ghosts, silently crept up around the inn.

The leader was calculating the plan he was about to execute, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Tonight, I must eliminate that Qingzhou craftsman," he murmured to himself, his fingers gently stroking the sharp dagger at his waist as he made up his mind.

Inside the inn, the candles had long been extinguished, leaving it dimly lit.

In a guest room on the third floor, Old Zhang, a craftsman from Qingzhou, tossed and turned in bed with his eyes closed, unable to fall asleep.

His heart was filled with tension and unease, all because the special envoy had come tonight to explain to him that the Qingzhou Cauldron would be cast ahead of schedule and that he should enter the palace early tomorrow morning to follow instructions.

He knew that he had only been chosen by chance, and if he did anything wrong in front of the emperor, not only would his life be in danger, but his wife, children and elderly parents would also be implicated.

This heavy pressure prevented him from finding peace and from sleeping soundly.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from outside the window, breaking the silence inside the room.

Old Zhang felt a chill run down his spine and suddenly opened his eyes. His years of experience in the underworld instantly sharpened his senses, and he looked alertly out the window.

The window, which had been closed before I went to bed, was now pried open a crack, and a hand was resting on the windowsill, as if someone was about to climb in through the window.

Old Zhang immediately realized that a thief had broken in.

He quietly got up, picked up the iron hammer he had been leaning against the bed, and carefully approached the window.

Then, he spotted the larger hand reaching in and swung the hammer down hard!

"Ouch!" The hand was pulled away quickly, and a cry of pain rang out from outside the window.

Then came a thud.

Old Zhang then realized that he was no longer living in a mud house in the countryside, but on the third floor of an inn.

He hurriedly opened the window and sure enough, there was a man in black lying on the ground downstairs, his body twisted and screaming in pain.

Not far away, a group of yamen runners carrying torches were jogging over.

Seeing this, Old Zhang panicked, fearing that he had caused the "thief" to fall and become disabled, and that the officials would discover him.

He closed the window and turned to open the door, but a gleaming dagger suddenly lunged at him—another man in black had silently crept up behind him!

Old Zhang instinctively dodged and swung his hammer in retaliation, knocking the dagger away.

The man in black was clearly caught off guard by Old Zhang's sudden turn and the way he used his hammer to knock away his dagger.

But without the slightest hesitation, he sprang up and once again tried to kill Old Zhang.

Although Old Zhang was just an ordinary citizen, his years of experience as a craftsman had given him strength far exceeding that of the average person, allowing him to hold his own for a while.

"Who exactly are you people?!" Old Zhang shouted as he fought.

He was now fully awake. The two men in black were not burglars breaking into his house, but assassins who wanted to kill him.

The assassin remained silent, his attacks becoming increasingly fierce, clearly intending to end the battle quickly to avoid being captured on the spot by the authorities.

He tried to snatch the hammer, which enraged Old Zhang. He roared and swung the hammer at the assassin's face.

The assassin was caught off guard and was knocked to the ground, lying on his back.

Old Zhang then realized he had used excessive force and, in a panic, immediately dropped the blood-stained hammer.

A few moments later, the yamen runners who had arrived saw the man in black who had fallen and was injured downstairs. Realizing that the Prefect of the Capital's worries had probably come true, they kicked open the door and stormed into the inn.

_______________________

Note: This is from Sima Xiangru's "Ode to a Beautiful Woman".