The Empress’ Livestream

“Second Langjun, this is what I’m told…” The driver whispered in a low voice so that no one else could overhear.

After a while, Jiang Pengji asked, “There’s no family symbols on this carriage, right?”

The driver replied, “No. I’ve prepared this carriage as you required.” He did not understand her intentions, but he managed to find a plain one among the few carriages of the Liu’s which were designed for different occasions.

“Very well.” Jiang Pengji closed her eyes and told the driver, “Take me west of the town.”

“No problem!” He grabbed his lash. The horse leisurely headed towards their destination, avoiding the noisy crowds.

While they were leaving, the guards from the Meng’s continued to keep an eye on the gambling house. Their tea had long become cold; they hadn’t taken a single sip of it during the hours of observation.

The subordinates were sitting at positions that could best protect their leader, whose gaze was following the departing carriage.

Suspiciously, he pointed at the carriage and asked a waiter at the diner, “Whose carriage is that?”

The waiter tried his best to recognize it, but in vain. An ordinary carriage like that was affordable even to commoners. Without family symbols, one could not tell who it belonged to.

As Hejian was home to countless houses and significant families––which certainly possessed their own carriages––it was impossible for the waiter to remember half of their symbols, let alone their vehicles.

Thus, he answered, “Sir, that’s the most common model in Hejian. I really can’t tell whose that is.” Since the men had changed, the waiter did not realize they were the ones who had committed shocking crimes in the town.

“Leader, what should we do?”

The leader could not decide either. Out of a strange feeling, he ordered a soldier to follow the carriage. Families that could afford a ride usually avoided bloody scenes. Why would that be an exception?

Yet, the soldier’s report that night seemed to prove him wrong.

“It doesn’t look like Meng Hun’s carriage,” said the man who had chased after the vehicle. He had followed it to various parts of the town.

“Then why did it stop at the gambling house?” asked the leader.

The subordinate thought for a moment, and suggested carefully, “Maybe… it’s just trying to avoid the crowd nearby?”

“…” Oh, right. He had long forgotten about that. He was used to running people over on the street in Cang. Still, they were in Hejian, where the practice was not as common.

Realizing he had asked a stupid question, the leader’s mood was further worsened.

“What should we do now? We’ve been here the whole day but have found no clues about where Meng Hun might be.”

While many of them assumed Meng Liang was unlikely to survive, the leader believed otherwise. So he said, “We must go back and tell this to Master immediately.”

Some soldiers hesitated. “What if Master blames the kidnapping on us?” one of them asked, who then anxiously made a cutting-neck hand gesture.

The leader shook his head. “I’m sure that Langjun’s still alive. Meng Hun wouldn’t have the courage to kill him and provoke the master.”

The same soldier listened attentively. “Why?”

“That’s simple.” The leader opened the two rolls again and pointed at the part written by Meng Liang. “Don’t you see that the langjun’s writing is tidy and at a casual speed? In other words, he was certain that he would face no fatal danger. Still, I can’t believe the amount Meng Hun’s asked for! Two thousand stones! I wonder if his stomach can hold that much!”

Meng Hun’s demand was substantial, but the value was nothing compared to the langjun’s life.

“You’re the cleverest man, Leader!” The soldiers flattered him.

“Now, we must waste no time in sending these rolls. Even if the master will punish us for the kidnapping, he will also reward us generously for saving Langjun. Besides, he will understand that the Langjun has fallen into Mang Hun’s hands mostly because of his naughty secret from us.”

That would guarantee them light punishment and a prosperous career. What was more, they would receive a good amount of jewelry and silver.

In fact, they had thought that they could complete the task sooner, assuming that Meng Hun would come quickly after hearing about their deeds in the gambling house. Hours had passed, most corpses had been cleared away, but the men in the diner had not seen Meng Hun.

The leader ordered, “All right. Let’s go back to Cang.”

A strange voice spoke behind them. “Good day, everyone. Well, it might not have occurred to you, but we Hejian guards won’t let you get away so easily.” The team turned to the speaker.

Behind them were the guards of the Hejian County Chief, and they were not less muscular than the leader and his soldiers. “You’ve committed a serious crime in this town, you know.”

In a foreign environment, they had to follow foreign rules. After a standstill, the leader arrogantly replied, “Tst! When we leave, I want the whole group of you to walk me out of town.”

His words irked the Hejian guards, who made all their efforts to resist the impulse to kill them on the spot.

“Let’s see,” answered a guard with a stiff face. They could hardly bear the imperious people from Cang!