They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 10 What time is it already, and you're still fishing?

"Brother, where did you get these two big beads?"

Chen An's eyes widened, his palms cradling two pearls the size of longans, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
"This bead is so big... Goodness, one of them is worth twenty acres of top-quality paddy fields back in our hometown!"

He pinched a pearl between his thumb and forefinger and looked at it through the window, as if looking at it like that would reveal something about it. In reality, Chen An had never seen a pearl before, but he knew that it was very valuable.

Chen Guangrui leaned against the simple bed in the inn. The battle he had fought with the Dragon King in his dream the previous night still seemed to leave a chill in his bones. He glanced at Chen An and casually said,
"I just woke up from a nap and someone left this here. I thought you brought it for me."

His gaze swept lightly across the window, as if looking in the direction of the Jing River.

At the same time, I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, "As expected of the Dragon King, he's really rich."

Thinking of the shock when Lao Long's dead end was exposed last night, and the bitter expression on his face when he was extorted by Chen Guangrui, a very faint smile appeared on Chen Guangrui's lips.

This old dragon is not only reckless, but also easily fooled. With his cooperation, I don't believe Yuan Shoucheng won't show up.

Today, all we need to do is go to the Jing River and put on a performance...

As for the pearl, it's just an accessory.

Chen An, standing to the side, completely ignored the second half of Chen Guangrui's sentence, still immersed in the overwhelming feeling of wealth. He was still holding the two pearls, muttering to himself...
"One is enough to buy ten top-quality Turkic warhorses! Two! Goodness, we could buy a three-courtyard mansion in the West Market!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, stuffing the pearls into his pocket. Suddenly he was very generous, and his voice became louder, "Brother, you wait!"

As he spoke, he excitedly pushed open the door and headed for the front hall.

"Old man! Here you go!"

Chen An strode to the inn's counter, unable to hide his smugness, and gestured with his chin towards the innkeeper who was leaning against the counter picking his teeth. Then, he slammed a handful of copper coins onto the counter with such force that the oil lamp on the counter flickered.
"Here, the money I owe you for the meal, principal and interest! Not a penny less!"

These past few days, Chen An, who had been worried about not having enough money, didn't even dare to breathe loudly when facing the postmaster who was pressing for payment. Now that he had money, he had to show off a little.

He still had nearly three hundred coins in his hand, and without thinking, he handed over one hundred and thirty-six coins.

The postmaster slowly finished counting the money, his fingers gathering the copper coins. He glanced at Chen An, a forced smile creeping across his face.
"Oh, young master Chen, you've struck it rich? Could it be... from that guy in Yongxingfang?"

He deliberately pronounced the three characters "Yongxingfang" slowly and coldly.

Normally, Chen An would have already raised his fist upon hearing such sarcastic remarks, but today he was in a good mood and only cursed.
"Stop asking questions! I'll just take your money!"

"Humph!"

The postmaster exhaled a short, sharp puff of cold air from his nose.

"Still gloating? You probably won't even know when disaster is about to strike."

"What do you mean by impending doom? Bah! Grandpa's rich now, don't you dare bring me bad luck!"

As he spoke, Chen An waved his hand, seemingly trying to fan away the so-called bad luck.

But at this moment, the postmaster suddenly leaned forward and lowered his voice considerably.

"Young Master Chen, you slept like a log last night and didn't hear a thing. But before dawn this morning, the Imperial Guards had turned Chang'an into a real mess!"

After saying this, he looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice even further.

"Former Crown Prince's Chief of Staff, Lord Wang Gui, has his blood spilled at the gate of the mansion! Lord Wei Ting, the Deputy Commander of the Left Guard, has his head hung at the execution ground!"

He stared at Chen An's bloodless face, his withered lips twisting into a sinister grin, and his withered finger jabbed fiercely in the direction of Yongxingfang to the east.
"Guess which unlucky person will be next?"

"What Bodhisattva? I don't understand."

That's one good thing about Chen An, the martial artist; if you say something too profound, he really won't understand.

The postmaster seemed quite patient this time. Seeing that Chen An didn't understand, he even added a sentence from the side.
“Wei Zheng is the Crown Prince’s man. Now that the Crown Prince’s former officials have been beheaded, how can he possibly be alright? And you, Young Master Chen, you accompanied Scholar Chen to visit him yesterday.” “Ah?”

Upon hearing the postmaster's words, Chen An finally understood. His mouth gaped open, as if struck by lightning. All his strength was instantly drained, and he staggered back a step, his back slamming heavily against the door frame with a dull thud.

Looking at the postmaster's mean and smug face, his mind was filled with images of the blood-stained blades of the Imperial Guards and bloody human heads.

Yes!

We went to Wei Zheng's residence yesterday!
My brother even gave them a letter.

If Wei Zheng gets into trouble this time, my brother will definitely be in trouble too!
We went to Wei Zheng's residence yesterday!
Everyone else went to Sun Fujia's residence!
We went to Wei Zheng's residence yesterday.
Just as Chen An's mind was being consumed by that one sentence, he saw a figure suddenly pass by the entrance of the post station.

"open……"

Like a drowning man grasping at a last straw, Chen An shouted in a hoarse voice,

"Brother Zhang! Wait a moment!"

Zhang Changling's steps faltered as he stepped into the courtyard of the post station, his back instantly tensing.

He didn't even turn around, only catching a glimpse of Chen An's deathly pale face and the postmaster's undisguised schadenfreude out of the corner of his eye.

The next instant, Zhang Changling felt as if an invisible branding iron had burned his heel. He flung his wide robe sleeves and fled from the post station as if his feet were not touching the ground, leaving only a hurried and receding figure, completely severing Chen An's last shred of hope.

Don't ever say you're close to me!
Yesterday, before this happened, we were all good brothers. Today, someone from the Crown Prince's faction is in trouble, and I don't even know who you are!

Chen An, still reeling from the shocking news, returned to Chen Guangrui's bedroom in a daze.

"Brother! It's over! It's all over! The heads from the Eastern Palace have really been chopped off at the execution ground!"

Chen An scrambled back to the guest room, grabbed Chen Guangrui's sleeve, his voice trembling uncontrollably, his knuckles white with fear.

"The postmaster said... he said the next one is Wei Zheng! I've heard of Wang Gui and Wei Ting, they're high-ranking officials! These are all high-ranking officials! If we're going to behead them according to their rank, Wei Xima won't be able to hide for long."

"Oh? The King of Qin has made a move against the Crown Prince?"

Chen Guangrui was not surprised at all by the news Chen An brought back; on the contrary, he wanted to get more detailed information from the details.
"Two high-ranking officials have already been implicated! This Wei Xima is in a bad situation!"

Chen An stared at the pearl in his hand with a bitter expression, gritting his teeth.

"Brother, why don't you take these two beads and go to the Fang and Du residences? Wei Zheng is about to fall, we need to find a way to survive."

As he spoke, he stuffed the pearls into Chen Guangrui's hand again, saying, "These two pearls are valuable; they might even save our lives."

"Send something? Why would you send something?"

"Of course, it's to save my life!"

Chen An was a little anxious, "I've sent it to them. Maybe they won't make things difficult for you because of the beads."

Chen Guangrui then understood what Chen An meant.
However, he had no intention of setting off. Instead, he said with a smile, "I won't go to those two's residences. Without an introduction, it would be a waste of time to go."

As he spoke, he calmly stood up, completely unaware of the anxiety on Chen An's face.

Chen An thought to himself, "What time is it? Why are you still so calm?" So he asked,
"Brother, if we're not going to those two's residences, where are we going? None of the others are as important as these two."

Chen Guangrui nodded. "Yes, after all, how much does a fish weigh?"

As he spoke, he pulled Chen An to his feet, saying, "Let's go fishing!"

(End of this chapter)