Chapter 282
The reason those boys secretly ate the livestock in the military camp was simply that the animals had been grazing on the grass from Fuguang Farm for a while.
It was a pity that the royal family's grass was all used to feed horses. This time, he had to make the Court of the Imperial Stud use this grass to raise some chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep.
Yue Fuguang didn't bother to care whether Emperor Mingxi eventually received the spiritual rainwater brought by his trusted ministers.
Instead, she turned her attention to another matter.
"System, are you saying that Matsuyama hasn't left the capital city of Shangjing? Are you sure?"
[Host, the system has never made a mistake. He is indeed still in Shangjing.]
"According to their itinerary, the Dongyi delegation should be almost out of Great Yan's borders by now. Why would he return?"
[Host, Matsuyama's sneaky return definitely means he is up to no good.] It was a pity that it couldn't foresee the future; it could only predict the course of events based on the system's precise calculations.
Yue Fuguang nodded. She didn't need the system to tell her to know that this Matsuyama definitely had an ulterior motive.
The first time she saw the Dongyi people, it had stirred up bad memories for Yue Fuguang.
Therefore, out of the other five nations, if asked which one she hated the most, Dongyi would definitely rank ahead of the other four nations that had once organized her assassination.
Simply because they were too similar to the people from her old home, making it impossible for her to feel the slightest bit of goodwill towards them.
"System, can you find out where he ended up staying?"
Just as Yue Fuguang ordered the system to track down Matsuyama's whereabouts, two groups of people were also secretly discussing her.
In a secret room within an ordinary courtyard somewhere on South Street, a bean-sized oil lamp could only illuminate a palm-sized area in the dark, cramped space. Four people, three men and one woman, sat around a small square table in the center.
One of them, a middle-aged man with an honest-looking face, said, "Leader, Mao Wu sent word that today Yue Fuguang did nothing special other than visiting the new recruit camp with Yu Chongshan and the others."
The old man addressed as the leader had his eyes slightly lowered. His deeply wrinkled face was etched with the vicissitudes of a lifetime of toil for a livelihood, a look typical only of the common people at the bottom of society.
"Have you found out why they went to the military camp and what they did inside?"
The middle-aged man opposite him shook his head. "Their group was escorted by twenty or thirty guards. Our people didn't dare to get close. We only watched from a distance as they entered the camp and stayed inside for nearly two hours before coming out."
"Who accompanied them?"
"The Yu father and son, Wei Ping, Cai Xian, the Bao father and son, Huo Ying, Lin Congxue, Ji Hongming, Zhang Zhongping..."
He rattled off more than a dozen names in one breath. The group consisted of both civil and military officials, and prominent figures like the Ministers of the Six Ministries were all present without exception.
It looked exactly like the entourage of an emperor's excursion, which momentarily confused these people as to what they were actually doing. After all, the spies they had planted in the imperial court hadn't received any related official news either.
Thinking of something, he hesitated for a moment and said slowly, "There is one more thing..."
The old man lifted his eyelids and glanced at him. "What is it that makes you stammer so?"
He wrapped his coarse cloth gown tighter around himself. "Chou Yi, just say it."
"Mao Wu said he noticed that more than an hour after the group entered, Wei Shouyi led a squad of men towards the West Mountain.
Fearing exposure and also worried that Yue Fuguang and the others might come out, he and Mao Nine didn't follow them."
"Towards the West Mountain? Is there anything special there?"
"Other than mountains, there are just a few villages over there, and further past that is Pingling Town."
He frowned, shook his head, and said, "Your subordinate really can't think of anything special about that place. Perhaps it's not a matter of importance?"
The leader shook his head. "Given Yue Fuguang's current status as the most favored person right under the emperor, with her present, for Wei Shouyi not to accompany her but instead take men outside, something we don't know about must have happened."
He suddenly raised his head, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. Beneath his hooked nose was a pair of thin lips. At this moment, he didn't look the least bit like an ordinary commoner.
He looked exactly like a scheming, shrewd old fox.
"Furthermore, if something really did happen, it definitely wouldn't be a small matter."
The young man sitting next to the middle-aged man asked, "Leader, should we intervene?"
The implication was that this was not within the scope of their mission.
The middle-aged man chimed in, "Yes, Leader, our top priority right now should be to first find out the origins of movable type printing and snow-flake salt.
We've been following Yue Fuguang for a while. Her life is very regular. Other than leaving the city today to go to the new recruit camp, she hasn't been anywhere else besides the Yu Residence and the Imperial Palace."
The young man added, "Exactly, we've been watching her the whole time, and she hasn't visited those two workshops at all. Your subordinate believes these things probably have nothing to do with that little girl."
Otherwise, with such a massive achievement that could merit being enfeoffed as a noble or appointed as a prime minister, she couldn't possibly not have a hand in it. If it were any of them, they wouldn't bear to truly wash their hands of it, unless it really had nothing to do with her.
Little did these people know that Yue Fuguang now treated wealth and fame like dirt... well, she still cared a bit about her reputation!
These rats hiding in the dark judged others by their own standards, committing the error of empiricism, and thus completely missed the correct answer.
"Leader, there's one more thing," the middle-aged man continued to report. "Mao Wu said they followed those people's convoy from a distance back to the city today.
On the way, the convoy suddenly turned towards the imperial estate, but they didn't go inside."
The old man nodded, not finding any issue with that, and signaled him to continue.
"He said that just as the convoy turned onto the small path next to the imperial estate, the previously clear sky suddenly broke into a heavy storm.
Mao Wu originally wanted to follow them in, but right then, a group of men dressed as guards rushed out of the imperial estate. Therefore, he didn't follow but took another route around.
After waiting for almost half an hour, he finally saw the convoy coming out from the path by the imperial estate.
He said he saw it as clear as day, that rain seemed to have fallen entirely on the land near the imperial estate!"
"Is this true?" Hearing the latter part, the leader's initially nonchalant expression instantly vanished. His half-closed eyes suddenly snapped open, shooting a sharp gaze straight at him. "Where is Mao Wu? Have him come report in person."
"Your subordinate has already sent Xin One to relieve him; he should be arriving any moment." Just as he spoke, there was a knock on the secret room's door, three long and two short taps.
"Enter." Following the leader's aged voice, a young man with an ordinary face, dressed like a small peddler, walked in.
"Mao Wu of the Earth Camp greets the Right Leader of the Earth Branch."
Not only did this person have a completely average appearance, but even his voice was devoid of any distinct characteristics, and his accent was an authentic Shangjing local accent.
The Right Leader of the Earth Branch pointed to a stool lower down. "Mao Wu, sit down and give your report."
"Thank you, Leader." Mao Wu sat down, perching only half of his body on the stool.
"Tell me again in detail everything you saw and heard today."
"Yes, today your subordinate..."
The leader nodded. "Are you certain there are no omissions?"
"Yes. Your subordinate dares not conceal anything. Mao Nine and I followed them all the way, and everything we saw and heard was exactly as described."
The old leader asked a few more questions. Finding no omissions, he waved his hand at him. "You may step down for now."
He turned his head and said to the middle-aged man, "Chou Yi, get him twenty taels of silver."
"Mao Wu thanks the Leader for the reward!"