Chapter 190

Chapter 190: An Absurd Guess

Once that blazing anger found a target, it could be far more ruthless than any real fire.

“Let’s go,” Sheng Zhi Wan said from not far away as she lowered the curtain. Her carriage turned and left.

The mouths of the Scholar and nobles sometimes carried more power than real blades. Still, a guess was only a guess. Before long, some Scholar fumed with outrage, and Wang Huai Zhi, along with several other Young Master from good families, decided to send Retainer to Ji Zhou Manor to investigate in person.

Ji Zhou bordered Qing Zhou, and the capital city sat at the far southern edge of Qing Zhou. Riding hard, it took only two days.

Before those Retainer even reached Ji Zhou’s borders, they already felt how the wind grew sharper the farther north they went. Even though they had worn thick fur coats and fur gloves on purpose, cold air still cut in through their collars.

This was not like Ji Zhou Manor itself, where people cleared the snow and roads. Horses could not move easily here. Still, they did not need to enter the city to learn what they came for.

In only two days, the story of burning cotton had already spread across Ji Zhou.

“Yeah, burning cotton did happen,” an Auntie at a village entrance said with a sigh. “They said a Clerk did it. He bought three jin of cotton and still wasn’t satisfied. He kept trying to buy more so he could sell it at a higher price to others.”

“If everyone did that, what would the rest of us buy?”

“Black-hearted, rotten-gutted trash! He almost got the Ci Ji Hall kids killed too. If Boss Du hadn’t made people rescue them first, those kids would’ve burned to death!”

“Who’s Boss Du? Boss Du is Boss Du! The owner of Sheng Shi Hall!”

“He’s a truly good man. If it weren’t for him, our village wouldn’t know how many people would’ve died this winter!”

As she spoke, the Auntie proudly showed off her new cotton coat. “I made this with cotton from Sheng Shi Hall. It’s so warm!”

The Retainer looked at one another. This was already the sixth village they had asked, and the story stayed the same.

“Sheng Shi Hall…” At last, Wang Huai Zhi’s Retainer remembered why the name sounded familiar.

Last time, his Young Master had made a bet with Princess Qing Ning because of Sheng Shi Hall. Could this be Princess Qing Ning’s work?

The Retainer’s mouth twitched. He thought his Young Master had really lifted a rock only to smash his own foot. But it was too late. He was not the only one who had been sent.

After gathering what they could, the group prepared to return.

As for the rest of the painting, the cheap cotton was real. The burning cotton was real. Even Ci Ji Hall being burned was real. With those facts, what else was there to ask?

commoner might believe a single Clerk could do such a thing, but the Young Master would not. With that much cotton, there had to be strict guards. What could one Clerk do? Could he fly through the air and vanish into the earth?

The Bodyguard were also born commoner. Some had even lower status. They naturally held a kind of hostility toward the Gentry class. Their own guesses formed in their hearts.

They spurred their horses and hurried back to the capital city.

In those days, news that the Painting Immortal Xian Yuan Zi’s work had appeared again spread through the capital city. Many Scholar even came from other places just to see it.

Gathering Sages Teahouse was packed from morning to night. The painting’s contents, and the rumors around it, spread with every visitor to even more ears.

Some people even waited here on purpose for the Retainer who had gone to Ji Zhou. Wang Huai Zhi and the others were asked about it every day.

“Young Master!”

“Young Master!”

The moment the Retainer showed their faces after returning, the waiting crowd surrounded them.

Wang Huai Zhi ordered his Retainer to report what they had learned. The Retainer hesitated.

“What’s there you can’t say?” Wang Huai Zhi snapped, puffed up after days of being praised. “Say whatever you found, exactly as it was!”

With no choice, the Retainer reported what they had heard, and the other Retainer added details.

The moment Wang Huai Zhi heard the words Sheng Shi Hall, his ears rang. Beside him, a Scholar who did not know how to read the room blurted out, “Huai Zhi, I remember Princess Qing Ning donated supplies under the name Sheng Shi Hall. Could it be those cotton bales were donated by the Princess too?”

“It-it couldn’t be!” Wang Huai Zhi refused to accept it.

“So the burning cotton was actually real!” In the crowd, a Scholar knocked over a Talent Cup Token. The shards that scattered across the floor jolted everyone back to the main point.

“Then the Painting Immortal’s painting was real too?!”

“What Clerk? How could one Clerk have that kind of power?”

When many mouths forged one story, even bone could be ground to dust. Now the Scholar were furious. What spread from them was no longer simple guesses and rumors.

They had sent people to see it with their own eyes. It was a real tragedy, solid and undeniable.

At once, poems and essays flew out like snowflakes, all about Ji Zhou. Such a commotion naturally reached the Duke’s residence.

Meng Yang’s face turned ashen. She refused to believe it.

“No, it’s impossible!”

“It’s just a painting. Those Scholar are insane. They dare claim the events in the painting are real with no evidence at all!”

“And they’re spreading it like it’s fact. Third Prince only told people to burn cotton. He never said to burn the Ci Ji Orphanage’s children!”

“They’re spreading nonsense and writing poems and essays to slander the authorities. Aren’t they afraid the authorities will investigate and make them pay for it?”

Qi Shu Xian’s expression darkened. A Servant Boy had copied all the poems from outside and placed them on the table before him.

Burning cotton… Third Prince had ordered it, to gather wealth for His Majesty. Qi Shu Xian could not stop it, and he could not interfere.

But burning the Ci Ji Orphanage? Qi Shu Xian’s heart turned cold.

“What Painting Immortal?” Meng Yang shook her head. “I passed by Gathering Sages Teahouse and even went to take a look. It was nothing special. Those Scholar are truly mad…”

To Meng Yang, it was an ordinary painting, nothing worth all this worship.

But when Qi Shu Xian heard the words Painting Immortal, his face paused. He lowered his eyes as an old memory surfaced.

Back then, he had only just met Sheng Zhi Wan, and the Painting Immortal’s fame had begun to spread. Like everyone else, he had longed to see the painting in person.

Yet the very next day, Sheng Zhi Wan had brought him a Painting Immortal work as a gift.

There was no signature on it, but the brushwork and skill made it clear it was Xian Yuan Zi’s. No matter how he asked, Sheng Zhi Wan never told him where she got it. She only said she had bought it elsewhere.

How could it be that convenient? He had said he wanted to see it one day, and she had produced it the next.

He had not thought deeply then. But now, with what was happening, an absurd and unbelievable guess sprang into Qi Shu Xian’s mind.

Did Sheng Zhi Wan know the Painting Immortal Xian Yuan Zi?

Yes. Only if they knew each other could Sheng Zhi Wan get Xian Yuan Zi’s paintings so easily. Only if they knew each other would Xian Yuan Zi’s Ice-Sealed Thousand-Li Burning-Cotton Painting appear at such a perfect moment after Sheng Shi Hall’s cotton was burned.

With that thought, Qi Shu Xian abruptly rose and walked toward the study. Meng Yang was startled and hurried after him.

Qi Shu Xian had no time to speak to her.