CHAPTER 506: CHAPTER 490: YING YI HAS NOT RETURNED

Upon learning it was the young Emperor’s idea, Lin Yi suddenly felt very blessed and yearned to be closely affectionate with the young Emperor.

But Ying Yi had not returned yet, so naturally Lin Yi was worried.

"Lin, it’s all your fault. You left the anesthetic needle on the pillow when you left Zhang Mansion, causing Ying Yi to worry about you and come to report to me."

"His Majesty immediately arranged for her to protect you, and now you are safe and sound, but I don’t know how Ying Yi is doing now?"

The young Emperor’s face was full of concern.

"I remember my father mentioned that the defenses on Yuquan Mountain are the strictest, with checks and balances, and it’s harder than reaching the heavens to infiltrate it."

"Even if one manages to infiltrate, it’s even harder to come out alive."

After Lin Yi told the young Emperor what happened today, it confirmed this point.

Learning that the National Treasury reserves on Yuquan Mountain were being gradually emptied by the Eighth Prince, the young Emperor felt powerless.

"So it turns out that my kingdom is being hollowed out bit by bit, and I was completely unaware."

"Eighth Prince had blackmailed those fifty thousand troops, he must have already been prepared. Father, your son is unfilial, I failed to guard our National Treasury reserves."

The young Emperor fell into deep self-blame.

Similarly filled with remorse was Lin Yi; if not for his own carelessness, Ying Yi would not have rashly gone to secretly protect him.

Seeing both women worrying for him should have been a matter of pride, but at this moment, Lin Yi only felt self-blame.

The top priority was to rescue Ying Yi, yet her whereabouts were unknown.

"Eighth Prince likes lively places, which cloth store in the Imperial City do you think is the most bustling?"

Lin Yi remembered after coming down the mountain, the bat drone stayed on a tree branch monitoring Ying Yi’s figure, following the transportation of food, Ying Yi then followed transporting silk.

Until Huang Jian ordered the boat to move, Ying Yi disappeared along with the boat on Yuquan River.

’Ah, why was I so foolish back then, not keeping the drone following her continuously.’

Thinking this, Lin Yi couldn’t help regretting.

At this moment, the young Emperor had already arrived at the desk. He listed all the larger, influential cloth stores in the Imperial City.

"These are all, the twenty I could think of."

Then, the young Emperor analyzed the specific situation of each cloth store, and then crossed them off one by one.

In the end, none matched the criteria.

"Wrong, there must be a mistake, Du Tong clearly said that Eighth Prince likes lively places, like the ’Zhang Family Grain Store’."

Upon hearing this, the young Emperor suddenly had an epiphany.

"You fool, what does ’as lively as Zhang Family Grain Store’ mean? Zhang Family Grain Store is not lively at all. I see, it must be Imperial Uncle purposefully misspoke to mislead everyone."

The realization dawned upon Lin Yi belatedly.

"Oh gosh, I didn’t expect the Eighth Prince to be so cunning, I almost fell for his trick."

With the new criteria in mind, the young Emperor and Lin Yi quickly identified two cloth stores that met the conditions.

The young Emperor sent the Shadow Guards to assist Lin Yi, splitting into two groups – the Shadow Guards to Qiankun Cloth Store, and Lin Yi to Mingyue Cloth Store.

By the time Lin Yi arrived at Mingyue Cloth Store, it was nearing noon.

To understand the situation, he visited nearby small vendors and inquired whether there was often a large volume of carriage traffic going through near Mingyue Cloth Store.

The vendors all shook their heads, saying that the geographical location was bad feng shui.

Anyone who did business here was waiting to close down, and originally, the once-popular Mingyue Cloth Store was appointed by the late Emperor as designated for Imperial use.

Until the late Emperor decided to appoint the current Your Majesty as Crown Prince, the State Preceptor re-planned and broke the Feng Shui point here, after which Mingyue Cloth Store never recovered.

The people remaining in this area are predominantly the elderly and disabled, who stayed because relocation was inconvenient.

After hearing this, Lin Yi immediately gave up on Mingyue Cloth Store and rushed to Qiankun Cloth Store.

In ancient times, emperors deeply believed in Feng Shui. Good Feng Shui planning of the Dragon Vein could secure prosperity for the nation, otherwise, misfortunes would follow.

At Qiankun Cloth Store, similar to Zhang Family’s two stores, nothing major had happened, it was slowly forgotten and weakened.

When Lin Yi arrived at Qiankun Cloth Store, only three people were guarding.

"Where are the others?"

"Sir, we found that a carriage passed by Qiankun Cloth Store this morning, and after loading, it returned to Zhang Family’s grain store, so I have already sent someone there first."

’Going round in circles back to Zhang Family’s grain store, it seems Huang Jian has been playing us for fools.’

Lin Yi was furious, missing yet another chance to save Ying Yi.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi guessed that Ying Yi, along with the laborers, was likely confined by Huang Jian in a secret room, to be let out only when it was dark enough to work.

But Ying Yi had been wearing the Human Skin Mask all day; if not removed to breathe, not only could the face be damaged, sweat could seep out from the seams,

Thus ruining the Human Skin Mask.

’Even if Ying Yi could wait until the evening, the Human Skin Mask cannot.’

Lin Yi decided to depart immediately.

He remembered there were at least 50 labourers in the surveillance footage.

If they all stayed below the granary it would be feasible, if at an inn, it would nearly

Fill three to five inns.

"Go investigate the nearby inns, I can go to Zhang Family’s grain store alone."

After giving the order, Lin Yi sent off the Shadow Guard, found an unoccupied corner, put on a spare Human Skin Mask and changed into luxurious clothes before heading directly to Zhang Family’s grain store.

The person who greeted Lin Yi was a middle-aged man filled with whiskers, who, seeing Lin Yi’s elegant attire, was very enthusiastic.

Not wasting any time, Lin Yi directly mentioned needing to buy a large quantity of grain, as the nearby granaries obviously didn’t have enough stock.

Hearing it was a big order, whisker-owner Ma Shan invited Lin Yi upstairs to a private seat.

"Esteemed guest, please wait for Master Huang to discuss with you."

Unexpectedly this business brought Huang Jian into play, Lin Yi was shocked, but could only quietly wait.

A few minutes later, Huang Jian indeed spiritedly came out.

Time was of the essence for Lin Yi. He immediately took out a silver note of 1000 tael from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"I can pay above market price for your grain, as long as you can supply enough. I don’t want to make many trips."

Though Huang Jian was a worldly man, a merchant doling out 1000 tael silver note was surely capable.

And now, he urgently needed to convert this grain into silver, to be sent to the Border.

"Sir, how much grain do you need?"

"2000 stones!"

Hearing this number, Huang Jian was thrilled. A big client was about to make a hefty payment.

Before he could even revel in his happiness, Lin Yi placed another 2000 tael silver note on the table.

... End of Chapter ...

ps: Sixth update of the day! Delivering 15,000 words, dear readers, please leave me a comment!