A Taoist temple in Changle Lane beside the East Market of Chang'an.
A wandering Taoist priest selling medicine with a bell pushed open the side gate and entered, encountering two devotees who had just left the main hall. The old priest smiled and bowed to them.
"Reverend, do you only sell medicine, or do you also treat illnesses? Can you deal with evil spirits?" one devotee asked.
Before the old priest could answer, the devotee began rambling about how his mother had been unable to sleep peacefully since the Lantern Festival, suffering from night sweats, suspecting it to be a case of spiritual intrusion, and so on.
The old priest advised him to carve a peach wood sword and hang it inside the bed curtains.
The devotee repeatedly asked how long and thick the sword should be, how old the peach wood should be, whether it should be hung horizontally or vertically inside the curtains...
The old priest patiently answered each question in turn.
Lord Ji, the scholar from Suzhou, passed by them with a smile and went straight to the rear courtyard.
Before long, the old priest also entered the rear courtyard.
The atmosphere here was completely different from the serene tranquility of the temple's front courtyard. Several obviously strong and muscular "Taoist priests" stood guard at the entrance and within the courtyard. Seeing the old priest enter, they all crossed their hands in salute.
When the old priest reached the door of the house, a rather handsome young servant lifted the curtain for him.
Lord Ji was sitting on the couch drinking hot ginger cheese drink. Seeing the old priest enter, he asked mockingly, "I'm quite curious—does Lord Qiao truly know how to catch demons and deal with evil spirits?"
The old priest shed his kindly and amiable demeanor from outside, giving him a solemn look. "Did the Fourth Young Master go to that Shen's Shop tavern again today?"
"Yes," Lord Ji replied nonchalantly.
The old priest exhaled slowly and advised, "His Highness sent the Fourth Young Master here to serve as the banner commander. Given your noble status, it would be better to frequent such places less, where dragons and snakes mingle indiscriminately."
"'Banner commander'..." Li Yu, the "Lord Ji," chuckled. "I thought Lord Qiao only intended to use me as a mere ornament."
"Fourth Young Master!" Qiao Hai frowned at Li Yu. "If I were disloyal to His Highness, may Heaven forsake me!"
Li Yu laughed carelessly. "I was merely speaking thoughtlessly. Pay it no mind, Lord Qiao. As you know, I'm still young and inexperienced."
"Young and inexperienced" were the words Qiao Hai had once used to describe Li Yu. When Zhao Wang asked his advisors to evaluate his four sons, Qiao Hai had said the eldest, being both the legitimate heir and the firstborn, was quite capable and could shoulder great responsibilities; the second was brave and martial, the third honest and sincere—both could serve as capable assistants. As for the fourth son, born of Zhao Wang's favorite concubine, Qiao Hai had merely smiled and said, "The Fourth Young Master is still young and inexperienced. We shall see in time." Yet now...
Looking at the frivolous youth before him, Qiao Hai suddenly felt a pang of emotion akin to that of Zhuge Liang. Recalling Zhao Wang's words before their departure for the capital, he sighed inwardly—very well, all this was to repay his lord's recognition and favor.
Qiao Hai's expression softened. "Though the Fourth Young Master is indeed young, you are a descendant of dragons and phoenixes, destined to soar high and achieve greatness."
Li Yu smiled smugly and took a sip of his fruit drink. "Lord Qiao, how did your meeting with Wang Boshen go today?"
"It didn't go well. The emperor was about to send someone to Shen's Shop tavern to purchase hot pot base, but Qin Xiang's people ruined it."
"Scout General Wu Ju said the Imperial Guards had previously tried to buy plum drinks from Shen's Shop, but they refused the deal, citing that the guards' responsibility to protect the emperor was too great and that food procurement had its own regulations. He argued that if they were so cautious, they would surely be unwilling to sell hot pot base to the palace either."
Li Yu frowned. Was that young woman really so prudent?
"The emperor seemed quite approving of Shen's Shop upon hearing this. Wu Ju then mentioned that Shen's Shop later sold the recipe for the plum drink to the Imperial Guards and suggested simply buying the hot pot recipe as well."Li Yu pressed further, "Did the emperor send someone to purchase it?"
Qiao Hai shook his head. "The emperor said, 'That is someone's livelihood. Let it be.'"
Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief—at least the recipe hadn't been bought. Then he thought, what "caution" was that little merchant woman showing? It was merely the cunning of a shopkeeper. That recipe must have been quite expensive to sell, or perhaps it was a favor to curry favor with the Imperial Guards? That little woman from Shen's Shop was indeed rather clever...
Qiao Hai said, "It seems targeting the hot pot base will be difficult." The imperial kitchens had their own strict protocols, making it hard to interfere with the emperor's meals. But items specially permitted from outside the palace were much simpler. Imperial Guard Wang Boshen had agreed to help. In the previous emperor's reign, he had been a man of great influence, but now he was utterly suppressed by Qin Xiang.
Li Yu chuckled. "Lord Qiao, you just scolded me for going to Shen's Shop, but now it seems my visit was quite opportune."
Qiao Hai raised an eyebrow at him.
"Shen's Shop intends to host a 'Cauldron Blessing Banquet' for this year's examination candidates before the Ministry of Rites' trials. Given my cousin's temperament, wouldn't he want to attend such a gathering of talented scholars? A peaceful and prosperous age, civil governance and military achievements... hah!" Li Yu snorted with laughter.
Qiao Hai had also received intelligence about the Cauldron Blessing Banquet, but assassinating the emperor outside the palace... one could imagine the bloodshed that would ensue in the capital.
Qiao Hai had always preferred more "subtle" methods over outright violence—poison was already his limit. During the previous emperor's reign, they had used the Elixir of Immortality to unsettle his mind, Alchemical Pills to alter his temperament, and Prophetic Utterances to sway public opinion. Manipulating the emperor from behind the scenes was what he and his senior brother Dao Xuan—or rather, the "Great Virtue Pure and Subtle Supporting Origin Perfected Person"—had excelled at and enjoyed.
Li Yu, however, was clearly of the "swift vengeance" faction. "Luring the emperor to Shen's Shop and killing him there—how clean and efficient! If we wait for Imperial Guard Wang Boshen, wait for your old connections, wait for those high-ranking officials who take our money year after year but never deliver... I fear that while we wait, the emperor will only solidify his throne further, sire a brood of heirs, while my father grows older and sicker..." For once, Li Yu showed a rare glimpse of earnestness. "This empire should have been my father's!"
Back then, Zhao Wang's father had been the rightful heir but was too young, while the current emperor's grandfather was the elder brother. "The state relies on a mature ruler," so the throne ultimately went to the current emperor's grandfather.
It was said the elder brother and younger brother had been quite harmonious, which was why Zhao Wang had been spared—sent to guard the northern capital for over twenty years while other princes were confined to the capital.
Qiao Hai had no interest in dredging up these old tales. Even if Zhao Wang had no legitimate claim, so what? How many successful heroes in history had risen to power through rightful means? Once they succeeded, the historians could worry about the details.
"I'll visit Shen's Shop myself before making a decision," Qiao Hai finally conceded, somewhat swayed.
He had disguised himself as a down-and-out scholar and visited Shen's Shop twice before. The slow-acting poison would be administered during transit, so Shen's Shop bore little responsibility. His visits were partly out of caution and partly because Zheng Er and his men had previously met their downfall at Shen's Shop in Chongxian Ward.
"Fourth Young Master, don't give yourself away at Shen's Shop," Qiao Hai circled back to his earlier point, eyeing Li Yu's flamboyant attire with disapproval. "Mind your words and actions. The identity you're using now is that of a poor scholar."
Li Yu waved it off. "It's just a robe of Shu brocade—the kind my family's second-tier servants wear. If I dressed in rags all the time, how would I strike up a rapport with that little shopkeeper woman?"Qiao Hai was momentarily at a loss for words. If Fourth Young Master had any notable qualities, it was his appearance—back in the Northern Capital, he'd been entangled with countless young ladies...
But Qiao Hai still advised him, "Fourth Young Master, don't be careless. Have you forgotten what happened to Zheng Er and his men? They originally intended to abduct that Young Lady Shen to blackmail the Assistant Magistrate of the Capital, yet ended up defeated there."
"I've inquired carefully—it was only because the Capital's forces outnumbered them that they failed. As for that Assistant Magistrate—" Li Yu pursed his lips, "he might indeed have some skill. As for this shopkeeper from Shen's Shop you mentioned, I've dealt with her twice. Just a woman with some merchant's cunning, nothing more."
Li Yu said to Qiao Hai with a laugh, "Surely you don't think Shen's Shop is some dragon's den or tiger's lair, or that the young mistress of Shen's Shop is some sharp-eyed veteran of the prison courts?"
Qiao Hai thought of the charming female shopkeeper and ultimately said nothing more.
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