Chapter 256: The Hen Crows at Dawn, the Female Fish Dominates the River

The sun was high.

It was nearly the hour of Si.

Inside the Headmaster’s boudoir on the second floor of Qingjiao Pavilion, two people were wrapped in a thin quilt. They hadn’t done anything improper, but they had no intention of getting up either.

…You caused me quite a bit of trouble yesterday!

Old Xu, that is where you are wrong. Although Chen Hong relies on the State Religion, he obeys Han Jingru in everything. By helping you eliminate Han Jingru, his only remaining reliance is the State Religion, which will only make him more loyal to it.

Do you take me for a three-year-old child?

As luck would have it, just as she finished speaking, she heard Shu Yao reporting from outside the door: “Headmaster, the Prince of Linping requests an audience.”

Refuse him. Tell him the Headmaster is busy.

…

Inside the room, it was Ding Suian’s voice that had overstepped its authority. Then, a low, dissatisfied protest from Xu Jiuxi followed: “Who gave you the right to make decisions for This Seat?”

Immediately after, her voice grew louder: “Let him come up.”

Come up?

Shu Yao was startled. Did the Headmaster intend to receive Chen Hong in her boudoir?

Come up, he can just speak from outside the door~

Understood~

Shu Yao acknowledged and turned to go downstairs.

Downstairs.

Chen Hong sat in the side hall on the second floor. His complexion was haggard, his eyes were bloodshot like spiderwebs, and even the robes representing his noble Prince status were noticeably wrinkled.

He was wrapped in an Aura of defeat and anxiety.

Prince, the Headmaster invites you upstairs to talk~

Shu Yao stepped forward and curtsied. Upon hearing this, Chen Hong’s bloodshot eyes instantly erupted with an expression of disbelief, and a flush of excitement rose on his oily, fat face.

The second floor of Qingjiao Pavilion was the Headmaster’s forbidden boudoir.

Did the Headmaster inviting him upstairs mean that he was, after all, a unique existence in the Headmaster’s heart?

In his great joy, it temporarily dispersed the gloom between his brows.

Shu Yao led him up to the second floor and casually brought over a brocade stool.

Chen Hong stood in the hall outside the boudoir, looking confused.

Please sit, Prince.

Sit?

Sit here?

Facing the closed door?

At this moment, a lazy voice came from inside the room: “Prince of Linping, This Seat has already heard about yesterday’s events.”

It was slightly hoarse, as if she hadn’t gotten up yet?

Chen Hong felt palpitations and hurriedly cupped his hands toward the door, saying in a mournful tone: “Headmaster, the Duke of Chu County appeared to be targeting the Heir of Prince Leyang yesterday, but in reality, he was trying to strike at me. He used the incident as an excuse to fabricate charges. If the Headmaster continues to indulge his arrogant behavior, I will have no choice but to go to Mount Tu and ask the Holy Ancestor to uphold justice!”

Oh my, is he trying to threaten the Headmaster?

Shu Yao, standing to the side with a bow, couldn’t help but feel a sense of absurdity.

The person Chen Hong was complaining about was currently inside the room holding our Headmaster Xu; it would be strange if he could win this complaint.

But Headmaster Xu was in a bit of a bind; she really couldn’t let him go to Mount Tu to complain to the Holy Ancestor.

There was some faint rustling in the boudoir, and then Xu Jiuxi said: “This Seat has plans for this matter, and I will also warn Ding Suian not to… mm… again, act recklessly!”

The last few words were spoken through gritted teeth.

Chen Hong was still a bit uneasy and continued: “What if they splash dirty water on me regarding the Wangchuan Ferry matter?”

Xu Jiuxi hummed twice, without giving a clear answer.

Chen Hong didn’t understand what she meant. He waited for a full dozen breaths before hearing Xu Jiuxi say again: “This… this matter ends here. Rest assured, it will not implicate… implicate you. You should go back first~”

Xu Jiuxi’s guarantee had some credibility, but Chen Hong was still unsatisfied and pressed: “What will happen to the Heir of Prince Leyang, he…”

This time, he was rudely interrupted by Xu Jiuxi: “Just take care of yourself; you don’t need to worry about other matters!”

Her voice trembled slightly, carrying undisguised annoyance: “Shu Yao, see the guest out~”

Shu Yao naturally guessed the reason and hurriedly replied: “Prince, please~”

…

Chen Hong opened his chubby mouth, but in the end, he didn’t say anything and followed Shu Yao downstairs, dejected.

The second floor was quiet for a few moments.

Immediately, a faint, weak chanting sound started.

Noon.

It was time for classes to end, and the Law Academy became lively.

Students gathered in twos and threes, discussing the two major cases in Central Heaven recently. One was the disappearance of their classmate, Yu Ruiyan.

The other was the major case from yesterday where the Duke of Chu County braved the tiger’s den alone, wiped out the bandits at Wangchuan Ferry, and implicated the Heir of Prince Leyang.

The second floor of Qingjiao Pavilion.

The two protagonists of the two cases had also decided their winner.

Snake, snake, defeated again.

Ding Suian, I warn you, if you dare to mess with me regarding Chen Hong again, I will definitely kill you.

Although Old Xu was defeated, her Aura did not lose.

She lay lazily on her side, her black hair spread out, and a thin layer of sweat glistened on her beautiful face, yet the moment she opened her mouth, it was cold, threatening words.

However, as a defeated opponent of Ding Suian, her appearance at this moment lacked intimidation.

It felt like the powerlessness of a child who, after being bullied, tearfully makes a threat: “Just you wait.”

Ding Suian lay on the bed, carefully examining the patterns on the Dragon horns. “Old Xu, how long can these Dragon horns grow?”

Seven or eight inches, I suppose. Hey? Did you hear what I just said!

Heard it, heard it~

Are you really not afraid of death?

Afraid, oh my, Sister Jiuxi, don’t kill me, I’m so scared~

…

Meanwhile.

Ziwei Ward, Princess Xingguos Residence.

Inside Wangqiu Hall, agarwood incense curled, and Princess Xingguo’s usually calm and indifferent face was covered in a layer of gloom.

From last night until noon today, carriages and horses were endless in front of the Princesss Residence, plus invitations flying into the residence like snowflakes.

The reason for all of them was to plead for Han Jingru and exonerate him.

This person’s status was noble and his social circle was wide, but that was just the surface.

The real reason was the confessions of Han Sui, Fei Rongbao, and others: Wangchuan Ferry had existed for several years, and the number of women and children abducted and sold through their hands was at least one or two thousand.

Where did these people eventually flow to?

Except for a few that could be traced and sold to brothels, most were hidden within the mansions of the nobles of Central Heaven.

Among those who visited today and spoke sincerely to plead for Han Jingru, how many were considering old friendships? And how many had ‘finished goods’ or ‘green goods’ hidden in their own mansions, fearing that Ding Suian would bite down hard and track it all the way to their own homes?

This kind of thing was never rare.

Since ancient times, forming an intertwined political alliance by committing some shameful illegal act together as a ‘pledge of allegiance’ has been common.

Presumably, Han Jingru was trying to use this to build a network of relationships for Chen Hong.

What gave Princess Xingguo a headache was this point: some things were easy to do, but the trouble lay in the aftermath.

If this lid was lifted, it would likely implicate half of the noble class in Central Heaven. At that time, the court would be in turmoil, people would be panicked, and it might cause chaos.

It would also force certain forces that were originally playing along with Chen Hong’s faction to be completely pushed into his camp.

If she didn’t lift it, she had already alerted the enemy.

Your Highness~

Lin Hansu held a stack of interrogation confessions that had just been sent from the West Yamen, placed them on the desk, and whispered: “Your Highness, how do you intend to handle this?”

Princess Xingguo, who was always decisive, pondered for a moment and waved her hand: “Allow me to think about it further~”

That night.

The moon hid and the stars sank, deep in the reed marshes by the Zhebei River.

Xu Jiuxi stood in crimson dew on the muddy riverbank, her deep purple robes flapping in the night wind.

On the river surface, a lotus lamp made of fish bones floated, and a deep blue flame burned quietly in the lamp bowl.

As she chanted in obscure words, the river water began to surge unnaturally, and countless plump carp leaped out of the water, densely packing the river surface.

They seemed to have received some order, their heads all facing Xu Jiuxi simultaneously.

She lightly pinched her fingertips, and a drop of bright red blood fell into the river.

In an instant, thousands of plump carp opened their mouths simultaneously, emitting a silent tremor.

This lasted for a full cup of tea’s time, then the fish gradually sank to the bottom of the river, and the river surface returned to calm.

The next day, the 24th of the fifth month, at dawn.

Fisherman San’er, who made a living by fishing, was thinking about the recent high fish prices. Before it was fully bright, he rowed his dilapidated little boat, ‘creak, creak’, into the thin mist that had not yet dispersed on the Zhebei River.

The river surface was unusually quiet; even the usually annoying frog croaks and insect chirps could not be heard at all.

He hadn’t rowed far when the oar didn’t feel like it was hitting water, but rather like it was hitting a solid wall of flesh, making ‘thud, thud’ sounds. The little boat also seemed to be seized by an invisible force, uncontrollably drifting westward on its own.

Fisherman San’er was bewildered and hurriedly leaned over to look down.

He saw that, in the faint morning light, the water surface was densely packed with countless exceptionally plump large carp, their backs pressing against backs, scales rubbing against scales, crowding the river surface so that not a single ripple could be seen.

He was happy at first, but then he noticed something wrong.

Tens of thousands, densely packed and terrifying, head to tail, paved a constantly wriggling silver-gray ‘thoroughfare’ on the wide Zhebei River, and they were desperately swimming upstream to the west.

Moreover, their bellies were swollen as if pregnant with pearls; they were all female fish.

Their scales shone with an ominous corpse-green color, forming a gray torrent that stretched for miles, reaching into the depths of the morning mist.

Eh? Where did the mist come from in summer?

Fisherman San’er was so shocked that he sat down in the boat.

This strange phenomenon, like a wildfire, spread throughout Central Heaven in just one morning.

By that evening, a ballad was spreading wildly in the market.

“The hen crows at dawn, the female fish dominates the river, swimming against the current, Great Wu’s heaven changes.”