Chapter 478: The Duke of Qin’s generous piece of work (1/2)

Coal-liked powder streamed out from the cracks in the jug to pour out on the floor. They had found their gunpowder—hidden in the wine jugs at the basement of the restaurant!

Han Yunxi was delighted and immediately dug out some poisons to reward Lil Thing. “You did a beautiful job! You’re better than either of them!”

Lil Thing seemed to almost understand her words as it took the poison and jumped around in joy. Long Feiye only pretended not to hear as he said coldly, “Zhangsun Zelin’s smart enough to hide the stench of gunpowder beneath the smell of wine! By hiding them in porcelain jars, he’s fireproofed them as well!”

“Your Highness, this is both the safest and most dangerous place to store them. There’s nothing but alcohol overhead. If anything caught on fire, the consequences would be unimaginable!” Han Yunxi said with feeling. If the gunpowder ignited and shattered the wine jugs aboveground, the alcohol content would be strong enough to act as a bomb. Long Feiye nodded with interest at the idea before walking over to pick up a wine jug. He seemed to be testing its weight.

“Your Highness, what do we do now?” Han Yunxi asked seriously. They had found their evidence, but now came the hard part! How were they supposed to link everything back to Zhangsun Zelin? Were they supposed to threaten him directly with knowledge of the gunpowder, thus forcing him to hand over the evidence of his secret dealings with Medicine City? Under normal circumstances, a threat like that might work, but this was the black market. Zhangsun Zelin was in charge of half the businesses here. How could he be so easily threatened?

If they failed, they’d only startle the snake in the grass. Heaven only knows how much help Zhangsun Zelin had in the black markets. If they really pressured the man, they might never take another step out of the black markets themselves. As a result, the matter merited further discussion and a step-by-step plan.

“Your Highness, should we hand over the matter directly to Tianhui? Then extend an olive branch to Zhangsun Zelin?” Han Yunxi suggested. The imperial court had allowed the black markets to exist without persecuting them, not because they feared the powers here, but because they didn’t want to end up implicating their own people in the investigations. Thus, it had always kept a blind eye to everything that happened here. As long as the black market wasn’t doing anything too outrageous, Emperor Tianhui wouldn’t find trouble for them.

However, hiding gunpowder was an altogether different beast. This was a direct threat to the capital city and its imperial powers. Once Emperor Tianhui found out, he’d probably destroy the entire Sky Domain Black Market. Thus, as long as Long Feiye reported these news to Emperor Tianhui, the sovereign would exterminate Zhangsun Zelin without mercy. When their target was backed into a corner, Long Feiye could offer to guarantee his survival as long as the man gave him details of his deals with Medicine City instead.

Han Yunxi thought this over before adding, “Your Highness, we could have Zhangsun Zelin expose the Chu Clan first, then save him! This way, we’ll shoot two targets with one arrow!”

Rather than threatening Zhangsun Zelin with gunpowder, it was much better to threaten his life instead! Han Yunxi really was getting more and more crafty. But Long Feiye only replied, “That’s all unnecessary.”

Han Yunxi gave a start. “Your Highness has a better idea?”

Aside from raising a row until the imperial palace intervened, Han Yunxi really couldn’t think of any better methods. Long Feiye didn’t reply, but continue to walk deeper into the basement. He checked multiple wine jugs to make sure all of them contained gunpowder inside. After making a circuit around the space, Long Feiye had a good sense of what to do next. He took Han Yunxi’s hand and said, “Let’s go.”

Han Yunxi knew that Long Feiye had a plan, but she couldn’t guess what he’d do. By the time they returned to Wu Shu’s grain shop, Long Feiye simply gave the man a few muttered instructions before Wu Shu’s expression shifted as he ran out the door.

“Your Highness, this…?” Han Yunxi couldn’t help asking.

Long Feiye smiled without saying a word, before taking her to the highest roof in the black market. Puzzled Han Yunxi was about to speak while he suddenly hugged her from behind. She loved it when he drew her into his world like this to protect her back.

“Your Highness, what’s gotten into you?” Han Yunxi’s tone softened.

Long Feiye still didn’t speak, but cradled her in his arms as he rested his chin against her shoulder. Seeing this, Han Yunxi stopped asking question and indulged in his warmth instead. At this moment, they was no distance between them at all. The 100 steps separating them seemed to have disappeared, making it seem like they’d never separate.

At a nearby point around the same height, Gu Qi Sha was lying on a tree limb with his arms behind his head. He had a wonderful dream from when he was very, very young, during the days before he was punished or abandoned. Back then, he was nothing more than an ordinary boy being carried in his arms by the head of the medical academy, his biological father. As the man held his son in his arms, he gently coaxed him to sleep.

“Qi’er, be good…Qi’er, be good…”

But after a while, an explosion suddenly shattered the silence. Very soon, Han Yunxi saw various people fleeing in panic from the direction of the restaurant. Gradually, more and more people filled the streets until they were surrounding the area around the restaurant. Amidst the panicked cries, Han Yunxi hear someone shout, “Zhangesun Zelin was secretly storing gunpowder! It’s all going to blow!”

“The eastern district’s going to blow up as well! Hurry and escape!”

“Get out of there, quick! Or else you’ll lose your lives!”