Chapter 47: Starting with the Braised Chicken

Xiao Rui returned to the residence and immediately found Jia Xu. He told him exactly what Emperor Xia had instructed.

Jia Xu also became puzzled. He prided himself on reading people accurately, but Emperor Xia’s actions always left him baffled. He felt Emperor Xia was profound and unfathomable, beyond ordinary comprehension. Yet, he believed there must be a deeper meaning behind it all.

“Since Emperor Xia asked you, the Imperial Prince, to investigate, it is naturally a test for you,” Jia Xu said with a smile. “Your Highness just needs to find the Night King Xiao Heding. Once you find him, you will understand Emperor Xia’s intention.”

“Sir cannot guess my father’s intention?” Xiao Rui asked.

Jia Xu shook his head. “No, I cannot. Emperor Xia’s methods are mysterious and his actions are always unexpected! However, I think the real purpose is not for you to find the Night King, but to learn something from the process, or even from the Night King himself.”

“Learn something?” Xiao Rui pondered carefully.

Jia Xu smiled. “Emperor Xia is cultivating a Crown Prince with great talent and both civil and martial virtues. Clearly, none of the Imperial Princes have satisfied him so far. So, he is beginning to train you all. A person’s character is formed over a long time and is not easily changed by a few words. But if they are touched by a hands-on experience, they can quickly learn lessons and gain knowledge. So, I suspect Emperor Xia might want you all to gain some insight through the search for Night King Xiao Heding?”

Xiao Rui nodded. He had never considered this point and even found it unbelievable.

“Is that possible? Just to make us learn something?” Xiao Rui still felt hard to believe.

Jia Xu smiled. “Your Highness, the Crown Prince is the future ruler. One can be a mediocre emperor, a cruel emperor, or a diligent and benevolent emperor. A tyrant is easy to become, and an average emperor is not too difficult either. What is truly hard is becoming the greatest emperor of all ages. I sense that although Emperor Xia has brought a golden age to Great Xia, he still has regrets. That is why he wants to nurture an excellent Crown Prince, to achieve that most difficult goal of the greatest emperor of all ages. For such an aim, no method is excessive. Do you know the story of Yi Ya cooking his son?”

Yi Ya cooked his own son and offered the meal to gain power. For the future of Great Xia, if Emperor Xia uses the world as his chessboard and all living beings as his pieces to select a Crown Prince, what is wrong with that?

“This is my speculation, because I truly cannot think of any other intention Emperor Xia might have,” Jia Xu added.

Xiao Rui asked, “What about Xu Xianyang? Did he really take his own life?”

“Naturally, it was with Emperor Xia’s silent approval,” Jia Xu chuckled. “It is not easy to commit suicide in the death prison of the Eastern Depot. Could Xu Xianyang really have done it by himself?”

Xiao Rui sighed. “So, it was I who caused his death?”

Jia Xu nodded, stroking his beard with a smile. “It seems Emperor Xia knew Your Highness visited Xu Xianyang in the death prison, so he ended the fate of that chess piece ahead of time. This is a small warning to Your Highness, telling you not to dwell on Xu Xianyang anymore. His mission is complete. Next, it is about finding Xiao Heding.”

Xiao Rui fell silent. He thought that from the beginning of the hunting ground murder case, Xu Xianyang’s fate was already sealed. He himself had entered the game and had, rather commendably, passed Emperor Xia’s test. Although he ultimately failed to bring down Xu Xianyang, he had done his best. Now with Xu Xianyang dead, indeed, the mission was over. There was no need to inquire further.

Unfortunately, Emperor Xia only knew that Xiao Rui went to see Xu Xianyang, but he didn’t know that Xiao Rui went to see Xu Xianyang precisely to look for Xiao Heding. This was the advantage given by the System. So, was Emperor Xia afraid that Xiao Rui would investigate Xu Xianyang too deeply, fearing he might uncover something else? Was that why he ended Xu Xianyang prematurely?

Very likely! Could Xu Xianyang have risen from a poor background to become Grand Secretary of the Cabinet by ability alone? Xiao Rui thought the most important thing was to gain imperial favor.

So he dared not think too deeply, afraid that the more he thought, the more fearful he would become.

At this moment, Jia Xu asked, “Your Highness, judging from the information Emperor Xia provided, he must have a purpose in having all the Imperial Princes investigate the Black Lotus Sect. What do you think?”

“I want to start the investigation from the clues Xu Xianyang provided, starting with the Ludong braised chicken!” Xiao Rui thought for a moment and stuck to his original plan.

Jia Xu approved. “Going against the expected path might yield better results. Your Highness, tomorrow I will search for clues within the Capital City!”

Xiao Rui bowed deeply. “Sir, I have too few reliable people around me. I must trouble you with this matter.”

“It is an honor, Your Highness. Please do not mind. With Your Highness’s character, numerous capable individuals will surely gather under your command in the future,” Jia Xu said with a smile.

“Thank you for your kind words, Sir,” Xiao Rui also smiled.

The next day, Xiao Rui and Jia Xu left the manor and began their investigation within the Capital City. Since it was Ludong braised chicken, they first looked into how many braised chicken shops there were in the Capital City. They didn’t need to do this personally. There were many professional errand runners on the streets who were familiar with the city’s streets and shops. They directly found ten men, gave them ten taels upfront, and asked them to find out about all the Ludong braised chicken shops in the Capital City, big and small. Any shop related to Ludong braised chicken must be recorded in detail. Whoever provided the most detailed record would receive an additional forty taels.

Two days later, all five men completed their investigations.

Then, Gao Quan compared the results from the five, identified any omissions, and finally compiled a fairly comprehensive list of Ludong braised chicken shops.

To Xiao Rui’s surprise, there were as many as twenty-two Ludong braised chicken shops in the Capital City. Among them, ten were in the East Market District, six in the poor Western District, five in the Northern District, and one in the Southern District.

Xu Manor was located centrally in the Southern District. If a retainer wanted to buy braised chicken, the shop in the Southern District would be the first choice. Slightly farther would be two shops in the Western District and one in the Northern District.

Anything farther would be quite a distance. One wouldn’t cross the entire Capital City just to buy braised chicken from the north or east, right?

Next, it was time to observe these four shops.

During these two days, the other Imperial Princes were not idle either. They began to mobilize all their resources to personally investigate the Black Lotus Sect. Given their abilities, it was believed the hidden parts of the Black Lotus Sect were gradually being revealed.

The braised chicken shop in the Southern District was called Five-Spice Boneless Braised Chicken Shop. The shop was a two-story building. The owner was a burly man from Ludong, very enthusiastic. The five-spice boneless braised chicken he made was famous far and wide for its color, aroma, and taste.

Xiao Rui and Jia Xu entered the shop and ordered two braised chickens. The owner saw they were new customers, unfamiliar faces, so he warmly greeted them and told his wife to pack the chickens.

His wife had a large frame, standing about one meter seventy tall. She wore a slight smile and seemed cheerful to everyone.

Xiao Rui observed for a while but didn’t notice anything unusual. However, Jia Xu had a sharp eye. He signaled Xiao Rui with his eyes to look at the hands of the owner and his wife.

Only then did Xiao Rui notice that both the husband and wife had thick, heavy hands with thick fingers. These were shaped by martial arts training, not by farm work or manual labor.

This was an unexpected delight. Xiao Rui didn’t expect to find a lead at the very first braised chicken shop they visited. But immediately after, Xiao Rui noticed something else hidden.

In a corner of the shop, there was an altar. It enshrined a black Buddha sitting on a black lotus. The Black Lotus Buddha had a fierce, glaring expression, and the offerings were not fruits but poisonous creatures like scorpions and centipedes.

From the materials he had seen, Xiao Rui recalled that this was exactly the way followers of the Black Lotus Sect worshipped.

This further confirmed that this braised chicken shop was suspicious!