The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus

39

Photo above: Peiyu & Lu Jiu

Names:
Guo Xiu: Minister (The one who bought the incense)
Lu Jiu: Incense maker

"Do you guys remember the day they were investigating the incense?" Ling Miaomiao crunched the peanut between her teeth, "Guo Xiu, Lu Jiu and Imperial Physician Song were all at the scene. Amongst them, Imperial Physician Song's performance was rather normal in comparison to Lu Jiu, who seemed to be completely ignorant of everything. If we were to say that he was scared of becoming involved in power struggles, then we could understand the matter of hiding the bone ash. But what about the hallucinatory additions to the incense? How could an incense master possibly miss the addition of hallucinatory herbs in the incense? Moreover, even if he didn't say anything, Imperial Physician Song would immediately discover it right after him. Sooner or later, the truth would've come out into the open so why didn't he just say it out?"

Mu Yao's gaze immediately changed: "He reminded me before that the matters hidden under the surface were very complicated. That it was not advisable to dig deep into them. He looked like someone who was easily scared, someone without any guts. But now, from the looks of it, there was truly something off about Lu Jiu's performance that day..."

Liu Fuyi had been listening with rapt attention and suddenly opened his mouth now: "He wasn't scared. He was afraid of the consequences. He couldn't say the things that Imperial Physician Song could say. Was he afraid of something retaliating?"

Mu Sheng had just nailed the guess on its head. They all spoke up in unison: "Guo Xiu?"

"That goddamn Lu Jiu! Get your ass out here!"

A troop of people came out of the eastern side of the street, rushing over like a high tide. Then, they spread out with experience. The ten black clothed Imperial Guards carried blades on their waists as they surrounded the two floor high Zhixiang Store in the blink of an eye.

The one standing in front of all of them, stocky and strong like a tiger, was Guo Xiu. He stood in the middle of the encirclement as he shouted out profanities.

"So many Imperial Guards..."

"What happened?"

The people on the street had their mouths wide open, dripping saliva like fish with their mouth ripped open as they stood at a distance to point and gossip.

Beside the malicious fiend-like Guo Xiu, a calm and composed assistant stood. His expression was cool as he held up a piece of paper with an official's seal on it for all the spectators to see: "We are here to investigate a case, this incense store will be temporarily closed down."

It was clear to see. With Guo Xiu's imminent volcanic eruption attitude, those subordinates were already used to it.

Zhixiang Store was Chang An's most popular incense shop. Their business was absolutely thriving. The customers within were standing shoulders-touching and as soon as they heard that something happened, they all hastily and nervously rushed out.

The scene looked just like a broken jug of wine spilling its contents out in a gush. The rush lasted nearly 10 minutes before the insides had been cleaned out.

Chang An's public safety had always been very good. It was rare for people to gather up in a single place. Guo Xiu's voice immediately attracted many gazes over and in just a mere few moments, a massive ring of curious Chang An citizens encircled them as they stuck their heads out without breaking any rules.

The unperturbed assistant had already calmed Guo Xiu down somewhat. A small servant stood on his tiptoes, fanning him with all his strength while he stared fiercely at the entrance, his feet tapping the ground impatiently.