Chapter 734 - Travelling Merchant

Translator: Choufleur

When Ji Li and Ji Huan were discussing the deployment of troops outside the capital, Ji Wanxin must have heard it from outside the door and informed Jing Rong. Otherwise, how could he have known that they were lying in wait for them?

However, if she refused to admit it, Ji Li naturally was also at a loss. After all, he had no evidence. “I was merely asking casually. Don’t take it to heart.”

“Mn.” She agreed, docile and sensible, then curtsied slightly and left.

Ji Li’s expression darkened as he gazed at the frail figure moving away from him. His lovable sister couldn’t have been an informant, could she? He didn’t dwell upon it and hurried to the Ministry of War to hand over his duties.

......

Prince Rong’s Residence

Now that Prince Rong has received permission to remain in the capital, they naturally had to continue investigating the ‘Lin Capital Case’ that had been delayed for months.

Early in the morning, Ji Yunshu lugged out her two sandalwood boxes, preparing to head towards Zhuxi Court to draft out the portraits of the remaining 11 skeletons. Jing Rong originally intended for Lang Po to accompany her, but she rejected the offer. “There’s no need. Lang Po can be of help for matters between you and Prince Yi; it’s enough that I have Zijin with me. Moreover, I may stay within Zhuxi Court for the time being.”

“Alright then. You head over first and this Prince will go there this evening.”

“You’d better stay here instead.”

“Alright, you don’t need to care about where this prince goes. Anyway, this prince has rooms in both places so either would do.”

Shameless. Ji Yunshu didn’t say anything in reply. Just as she was about to leave, Tang Si arrived.

“Ah Ji, where are you going?”

“Why did you come here?”

“I asked you first.”

“I’m going out.”

“Then I’ll go out with you.” As she spoke, she hooked her arm around Ji Yunshu’s slim arm, insisting on following her around. This piece of sticky candy was hard to get rid of, so Ji Yunshu had no choice but to bring her along.

After Ji Yunshu left, Jing Rong summoned Lu Jiang and instructed, “Go investigate which highly-ranked courtiers are closest to Prince Yi.”

“Yes.” Lu Jiang answered. Then, he questioned, “Your Highness intends...?”

“Jing Yi has lost the assistance of the Ji brothers and will inevitably be quiescent for a while. During this time, it would be the perfect chance to draw some of his people over to our side.”

Oh! Lu Jiang replied, “This subordinate knows that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the closest to Prince Yi.”

“The Chief Justice is merely small fry and is inconsequential. Jing Yi was able to replace the guards at the capital and palace gates with his men; hence both the Yulin Army of the palace and the Lin Army of the capital are within his control.” Jing Rong pondered for a moment and continued analysing, “Other than His Majesty, the only person who could mobilize the entire Yulin Army would be the Yulin Army’s commander, Lord Xiao.”

“So, Your Highness intends...?”

“Investigate him thoroughly, inside and out. This prince wants to know every last detail about him.”

“Yes.” Lu Jiang receives the order!

......

Meanwhile, Ji Yunshu and Tang Si were in a carriage heading towards Zhuxi Court.

Although Tang Si had already wandered around the streets, everything was still new and fresh to her. She kept her head stuck outside the window, looking everywhere. Once in a while, she would chirp out a question, “Look over there, what is that?”

“And look at that...”

“Oh, and that!”

......

A whole lot of nonsense. Ji Yunshu didn’t have the leisure to care about all that.

Suddenly, the carriage shook. The horse reared with a whinny and the groom pulled the reins tight. “Yu~” He called out to soothe the horse, calming it down.

Tang Si, who had her head extended out, had been jolted back inside. The entire side of her body knocked against the walls of the carriage with an almost-audible rattling. She stomped her foot and exclaimed loudly, “What is going on!?”

“Teacher Ji, Miss Tang. Are you alright?” The groom hurriedly asked.

Tang Si bellowed, “Do you think we’re alright?”

In contrast, Ji Yunshu was much calmer. Fortunately, nothing serious happened. After she steadied herself, she asked, “Uncle Li, what happened?”

“There’s a caravan up ahead. Their horse seemed to have spooked and affected our horse as well.”

“Oh?” How curious. The two of them poked their heads out of the carriage and stepped down.

In front of them was a caravan of travelling merchants, with five or six horses, three carts of goods and a carriage. It wasn’t clear if the goods falling off had startled the horse, or the horse had caused the goods to fall when it spooked.

The dozen or so travellers were busy shifting the several large chests that had fallen off, while the horse that had been pulling that cart was still trotting around restlessly and snorting, almost as if it were shouting.

For now, that caravan had completely blocked off the entire width of the road. Their groom was also at a loss. What on earth could have affected the horse like this?

Ji Yunshu surveyed them for a moment, frowning, then glanced at a few of the large chests that had fallen to the ground. She seemed to have come to a realisation.

Uncle Li approached them for discussion. “Could you shift a little to the side? Our Teacher Ji has an urgent matter to attend to.”

The person-in-charge was very polite and quickly offered his apologies. “Please forgive us, some of our goods had fallen off just now and spooked the horse. We didn’t expect that it would startle your horse as well. Our sincere apologies.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

That person quickly bade his subordinates temporarily lead the horse to the side in order to make space for them.

However, that spooked horse was still sneezing and snorting nonstop. It just wouldn’t settle down no matter what, as if it had eaten some sort of stimulant.

Tang Si scoffed, “Isn’t that just a wild horse? They couldn’t even tame it?”

In her Houliao, wild horses like that could be found everywhere; there wasn’t a single one that she couldn’t tame. She was about to roll up her sleeves and get to work when Ji Yunshu stopped her. “Don’t cause trouble. That horse isn’t a wild horse.”

“If it isn’t a wild horse and is still so ornery, it should be butchered for food.”

Hopeless! Ji Yunshu was exasperated. She shouldn’t interfere in this matter, but the normally spacious road had been completely blocked off by the disturbance due to that horse. If this continued, they could be severely delayed.

She glanced around at her surroundings and noticed a vegetable stall. She went over to select several carrots, paying the vendor a few copper coins for it, then requested for a bit of aged vinegar from the noodle vendor to sprinkle on the carrots. Only then did she start to approach the spooked horse.

Uncle Li fretted, “Teacher, this horse is very wild. Please be careful and don’t get hurt.” Otherwise, His Highness would surely beat him to death.

She shook her head, dismissing his concerns. She reached out for the horse’s reins and brought the carrot up to its nose for it to sniff. Unexpectedly, the restless horse suddenly calmed down.

“What is this?” The caravan leader quickly asked in inevitable worry.

“Carrots.”

“I know, but...”

Ji Yunshu smiled and fed the carrot to the horse. She dusted off her hands then started explaining it to the caravan leader, “Your horse probably acted like that because it smelled something that it didn’t like. I let it sniff a carrot that had been sprinkled with aged vinegar; carrots are already something that horses like, and with the vinegar, it acts to conceal unpleasant smells. This is the same principle as how raw vinegar dipped in sesame oil can help people cover up the stench of corpses.”

Ah! That person’s expression froze. Couldn’t you have simply explained it? Why was there a need to mention the stench of corpses?

He gulped. “It’s been fine the entire journey. What smell could the horse have detected?”

Ji Yunshu’s gaze turned towards those chests that had fallen off the cart. “Those boxes should contain tiger pelts, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Although the tiger pelts had been sewn and processed, they hadn't been deodorized, right?”

“Young Master, you’re too awesome! You know everything.”