TGCFNM -Chapter 435 Stick a Foot In

Uncle Hong led the five of them on a roundabout tour, then found a place to rest and had tea brought up.

Chu Ling lifted her mask, placed it on her head, and looked down from the second floor of the teahouse. People were coming and going, each holding a lantern.

Some stood on the bridge, some crouched by the water setting floating lanterns, others walked in pairs or groups, chatting and carrying their lanterns. They were enjoying the scenery, but they themselves were part of the scenery.

Chu Ling couldn’t help leaning on the window, quietly watching.

After pouring the tea, Wan Sanjin poked Chu Ling’s arm. “Master, tea’s ready.”

Chu Ling nodded and turned her head. “By the way, aren’t there a bit too many people at this blessing lantern festival?”

“That’s only natural,” Uncle Hong said. “After all, this is the emperor’s blessing lantern festival. Naturally, the more people, the better.”

Uncle Hong lifted his mask in the same way, pressing it on his head. Speaking with a stern face at this moment naturally made the others glance at him strangely.

Noticing their curious looks, Uncle Hong shot them a glance and lightly tapped the table. “You’ve done your business today, spread the news, stirred things up, and bought the goods. So have some tea, rest a bit, and then it’s time to go back.”

“Go back?” Wan Sanjin shook his head. “I’m not going back. It’s still early.”

Chu Ling nodded. “It’s just getting lively. There might be some good shows to watch.”

Uncle Hong looked at Chu Ling and Wan Sanjin, worry etched all over his face. “If there’s a good show, will you just watch silently, or stick a foot in?”

Su He spoke quietly: “Stick a foot in.”

Uncle Hong: “……”

“Just one foot, not many,” Wan Sanjin promised.

Uncle Hong snorted. “You only have two feet, and you still want to stick in several more?”

Wan Sanjin smiled. “I have two, you have two, Su He has two, Xiao Hua and Zhang Dong together have four. If we count yours, that makes twelve feet in total.”

Uncle Hong: “……”

“Hey, someone’s fighting over there!” Xiao Hua pointed excitedly. “Wow, one lady’s hitting with a stick on the head, the other lady’s aiming for the waist. They’ve learned so well… the guy’s dodging, not even running properly, and people around are trying to intervene—he should be beaten together with them!”

Chu Ling and the others immediately looked on with interest. When they saw the man kneeling, begging for mercy after being beaten, the two ladies finally left separately.

“Serves him right,” Chu Ling said. “Probably mixed two types of incense powders.”

Wan Sanjin suddenly remembered something. “Su He mentioned that two types will cause poisoning. The more types, the worse the poisoning.”

Chu Ling turned to Su He. “What kind of poison?”

Su He replied casually, “A madness-inducing poison. In severe cases, it can paralyze you in bed, unable to get up.”

“Have the antidotes been made?” Chu Ling asked.

Su He shook his head. “Not yet, but this poison is easy to treat. The simplest antidote on the market works, and it’s cheap. At a blessing lantern festival like this, I won’t let anyone die.”

“Business like this, who else could do it!” Chu Ling said, eyes lighting up. “After all, taking care of customers afterward is naturally our job.”

Wan Sanjin perked up as well. “Yeah, we have to take full responsibility.”

Su He raised an eyebrow. “The herbs are ready, but if we make them into pills for sale, we probably won’t sleep all night.”

“Then we won’t sleep,” Chu Ling said with a smile. “Sleeping isn’t as important as making money.”

Wan Sanjin nodded desperately. “One pill, one hundred taels. Not expensive, right?”

Su He was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously. “Not expensive at all.”

Chu Ling stretched his hand forward. “The price can’t be the same if the poison’s potency differs. Two types—one hundred taels; three types—one hundred fifty taels!”

If they ran into a real big spender, even a single pill could sell for a thousand!

Uncle Hong watched as everyone enthusiastically discussed how to make money. He drew in a deep breath and looked up at the rafters.

He hadn’t heard anything—he knew nothing at all!

“Ah, there’s another show to watch!” Xiao Hua shouted happily.

The others pressed to the window to look outside.

“This kind of matter is private; the authorities can’t intervene. All we can do is watch,” Chu Ling said, chuckling. “Serves them right.”

“Master, someone’s copying our sticks and selling them!” Xiao Hua exclaimed, pointing out a spot in surprise.

Chu Ling and the others looked over.

“Business seems to be going well,” Wan Sanjin remarked.

Su He nodded. “They’re selling sticks that look slightly thicker.”

Wan Sanjin whistled. “Tonight’s going to be lively.”

Uncle Hong furrowed his brows, observing carefully. The buyers seemed to be women, but following their trail, the sticks were dropped halfway along the way.

“This isn’t good—someone’s about to cause trouble. Stay here and don’t move; I’ll go check it out,” Uncle Hong said, getting up and leaving.

Chu Ling was stunned. “A lantern festival held by Young Master Xiao for the Emperor, and someone dares to cause trouble? That’s bold even for them!”

Wan Sanjin was also shocked. “Who is it? Are they suicidal?”

Ghost Scholar’s gaze darkened. “Perhaps their goal is simply to disrupt this lantern festival. Since it was organized by Young Master Xiao with the Wan family, both Xiao and the Wans could be held accountable.”

Chu Ling’s eyes narrowed. Xiao had nothing to do with them, but if the Wan family got implicated, their house would certainly be confiscated.

“Fireworks are coming! Fireworks are coming!”

“Fireworks time!”

“Let’s go see the fireworks! Let’s go see!”

Children’s shouts came from downstairs, gradually growing in number. As the crowd became more lively, children ran forward holding lanterns, and passersby on the roadside began moving along as well.

The footsteps on the street quickened; everyone was being guided forward, away from the stalls.

“The people have been taken away,” Xiao Hua whispered.

Chu Ling looked out to see a group that seemed to be buying the sticks, but in reality, they were confiscating the entire stall along with the sellers.

By this time, there weren’t many people left by the roadside, and since the crowd was moving forward, the disappearance of one stall didn’t draw much attention.

“Looks like it’s been handled,” Wan Sanjin said. “And it seems the ones who acted were from the authorities.”

Chu Ling suddenly remembered something and asked Su He, “By the way, Prefect Fang is related to the Si family, right? How come nothing went wrong this time?”

“Perhaps Prefect Fang isn’t closely connected to the Si family, or maybe there’s some other relationship we don’t know about,” Su He replied.

Chu Ling thought about her character relationship map. Could it be that Prefect Fang had connections unknown even to the world?

“Master, let’s go too! My elder brother really seems ready to launch the fireworks!” Wan Sanjin excitedly stood up.

Chu Ling’s eyes lit up. “Then let’s go.”

After leaving their silver behind, the group rushed downstairs. Following the crowd gathering in the square, they put on their masks and dashed forward.