In Li Du Mansion, storm clouds were gathering.
The dragon boat’s launching ceremony was suddenly canceled, leaving Song Muchuan, who had prepared for so long, caught completely off guard.
Wanyan Jun seemed to have sensed something. He cleared away all the craftsmen and personally led his men to thoroughly inspect every inch of the dragon boat, inside and out.
Fortunately, Song Muchuan was extremely cautious in his work, and Wanyan Jun found nothing.
But when the east doesn’t brighten, the west does—in another matter, he had made enormous progress.
The Yucheng Army had always been a knot in his heart, even becoming a lingering nightmare that haunted him. At the time, forced by circumstances, he had accepted that outcome, but he still felt there were huge doubts within it.
Gusha’s death made him vaguely aware that beneath the deep waters of Li Du Mansion lay even greater secrets.
He could refuse to acknowledge it, but he had to know the truth.
So he secretly sent people to excavate in the ruins of Tiger Kneel Mountain. Even though much time had passed and excavation had become extremely difficult, Wanyan Jun was determined that no matter how much effort it took, he would confirm that the Yucheng Army’s bodies were buried there.
This project would take a long time and originally wouldn’t have yielded results so quickly, but recently heaven sent a torrential downpour that lasted several days, washing out the sand and stones in the mountains and exposing the corpses buried within.
It could truly be said that human calculations are inferior to heaven’s plans.
Upon counting, they discovered that in the ruins there were only the armor and clothing of the Yucheng Army—the number of bodies didn’t match.
For Wanyan Jun, this wasn’t the best answer, but knowing the truth meant grasping the initiative.
Tiger Kneel Mountain had been searched thoroughly without finding the Yucheng Army, so this group of living men was very likely hiding right under his nose.
What channels could transport so many people into the city without attracting attention? Where in the city would be best for hiding people?
Wanyan Jun thought it through and could only think of the massive shipbuilding project right at hand.
Connecting this to how Gusha had bitten down on Song Muchuan before his death, and how Wanyan Puo had sent word to cancel the launching ceremony, the long-standing blockage in Wanyan Jun’s mind finally cleared at this moment—when Gusha died, the archives library that was burned to ashes was meant to cover up these traces, fearing they would be investigated.
So the problem was with the shipbuilders!
On this rainy day, the ground seemed covered with a layer of sticky water vapor. Looking down the narrow street, it seemed only crowded umbrella tops were moving forward.
Xie Queshan didn’t carry an umbrella; his shoulders were already soaked. He was about to take shelter under the eaves by the earth god shrine to retrieve intelligence when an umbrella suddenly appeared above him.
Turning around, he saw Song Muchuan.
People came and went, clear rainwater fell to the ground and merged with the dust. When people’s footsteps trampled over it, it completely became a puddle of mud.
Yet he said: “Chao’en, long time no see.”
Xie Queshan’s hand in his sleeve suddenly clenched tight—he could hardly believe it, his entire body trembling imperceptibly.
He hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. Even when the Qi people discovered his identity, he could remain calm, his brain rapidly working to devise countermeasures. But at this moment his mind was completely blank.
He simply hadn’t figured out how to face his old friend.
He even suspected he had misunderstood. But through the veil of water vapor, Song Muchuan’s gaze was clear.
Song Muchuan had vaguely suspected before, but had no concrete proof. When “Goose” was Nanyi, he had actually believed it at the time.
But the intelligence from Jinling said that Zhang Yuehui was the Goose, and subsequently Nanyi had nominally remarried Zhang Yuehui and left Li Du Mansion.
Others might not understand, but Song Muchuan knew very well that Zhang Yuehui wasn’t a member of the Bingzhu Bureau—this intelligence was wrong. Thinking superficially, one might only believe that Zhang Yuehui, to save his beloved, hadn’t hesitated to sacrifice his own bright future.
But Song Muchuan detected something strange in it.
Since Zhang Yuehui could switch intelligence, he could intercept intelligence. Since they were fleeing anyway, there was no need to use such a mutually destructive method to save Nanyi.
Unless the person they really wanted to save was someone else.
Someone had to take on the Goose’s identity, otherwise that person would be in danger.
During the time from when Wanyan Puo went to Jinling to when the intelligence came back, someone in Li Du Mansion had quietly disappeared and then returned as if nothing had happened.
Xie Queshan.
As this thought grew stronger, Song Muchuan couldn’t sleep night after night. He even wanted to rush directly to Xie Queshan and force him to answer: Are you the Goose? Have you endured humiliation and heavy burdens for so many years? Are we still close friends of one heart?
But Song Muchuan ultimately did nothing. He made himself calm down and not think about this matter.
He had once said to Nanyi: just believe in him. No matter who he is, he must be fighting alongside us in the shadows.
If he was Xie Queshan, that would be like sending charcoal in snowy weather, but they absolutely couldn’t show any flaws because of this matter.
But Song Muchuan still couldn’t help thinking: all these years, had anyone ever asked him, Xie Chao’en, does it hurt?
He had thought he would remain silent until the day of celebration, when they could reunite in the joy of victory, and all past discord would vanish with their great triumph. But the situation had changed dramatically, and he too was forced into a corner—he had to come see him.
Next to the shipyard was a large flat area crowded with temporarily built thatched houses where most of the workers and craftsmen involved in shipbuilding lived. Due to the large numbers, the scale of the thatched houses almost equaled that of a neighborhood, with complex winding paths within.
Wanyan Jun led troops to surround this place.
But strangely, every room was empty.
The more Wanyan Jun searched, the angrier he became. The Yucheng Army had actually escaped? At the crucial moment, was he still one step too late?
Suddenly, a horn sounded from somewhere unknown, a fire was lit, and one thatched house instantly burst into towering flames, the fire spreading to the surroundings. Immediately drums thundered, and countless soldiers with weapons jumped down from the thatched piles where they’d been hiding on rooftops, engaging in fierce combat with the Qi soldiers.
It was the Yucheng Army!
Hidden among the crowd, they were the most ordinary common people, but when they took up weapons, they became soldiers defending home and country. They had never for a moment forgotten their mission to fight.
When the enemy changes, we change—the plan was advanced.