At that moment, it was as though there were a delay between the press of a camera shutter and the beginning of the exposure. Gu Yun became acutely aware of the other’s movement. Turning his head, he looked over. In the dim, murky daylight, a few pale rays outlined the sharp contours of the man’s profile.
His gaze lingered for several breaths before shifting leftward. From this angle, he could not tell whether Chao Yan’s left shoulder had been soaked by the rain.
Chao Yan was the Crown Prince after all. Surely he would not place himself in danger.
Thinking no further of it, Gu Yun obediently followed behind him. They walked for a long while. The watchers lurking in the shadows remained. He kept his composure.
Just then, Chao Yan stopped and folded the umbrella. Rainwater streamed from its tip, splashing onto the ground.
Handing the umbrella to Li Lan, he extended a hand towards Gu Yun. “Come.”
Ahead stood a secluded residence. The location was remote. A bare crabapple branch protruded over the grey-white wall.
Someone opened the courtyard gate.
The courtyard itself was not large. A simple single-courtyard residence, it possessed a quiet elegance. Smooth paving stones covered the ground from end to end, the rain creating layer upon layer of glistening ripples upon their surface. Lanterns hung everywhere one looked. Beneath the eaves, a startled-bird bell clattered in the wind.
Smiling, Chao Yan said, “There are too many people in the Eastern Palace, and you’re not accustomed to it. So tonight we’ll spend our wedding night outside, just like an ordinary husband and wife.”
Meeting his gaze, Gu Yun guessed his intention.
He raised his hand and placed it atop Chao Yan’s. His fingers curled slightly, but he did not clasp the other’s hand in return.
Chao Yan clasped his first. His grip was tight. So tight that it hurt.
“Your Highness,” Gu Yun called softly.
Chao Yan loosened his grip and led him through the courtyard gate, around the screen wall, and onto the covered corridor that circled the surrounding buildings.
Their footsteps rang crisply against the wooden floorboards.
As they walked, Chao Yan said, “From this day forward, may we share a thousand springs together, and may we grow old side by side with hearts as fresh as when we first met.”
He made no effort to lower his voice. Everyone accompanying them heard every word. Gu Yun cooperatively voiced his agreement.
When they reached the main hall, two maidservants brought over wine jugs and filled the cups before them with a clear liquid.
Chao Yan lifted his cup. Gu Yun followed suit.
The two cups lightly touched. Concealing his emotions, Gu Yun lowered his head and drank. The taste was faint.
Water.
Immediately reassured, he drained the cup in a single swallow.
“The heavens are not cooperating,” Chao Yan said. “Otherwise, we could have seen the lantern festival tonight.”
Setting down his cup, he pointed towards several lanterns outside swaying in the cold wind.
“Your Highness’s thoughtfulness alone is enough to make this servant-consort happy,” Gu Yun replied.
The two chatted idly. Roughly the time it took for a stick of incense to burn passed before Li Lan approached.
“Your Highness, Superintendent Liu’s men have left.”
Chao Yan signalled for Gu Yun to accompany him and change clothes. Only then did Gu Yun notice that Chao Yan’s left shoulder was soaked through.
At this point, however, saying anything would seem overly affected, so he ignored it and walked alongside him.
“Your Highness,” he asked, “why didn’t you find some excuse to stop Superintendent Liu’s men this time, as you did before?”
The incident he referred to was the occasion when Chao Yan had gone to the Meng Residence, attempted to mediate a dispute, been injured instead, and subsequently left the palace in search of a physician.
Chao Yan replied, “If we do that every time, they’ll become suspicious. Besides, we have to let Superintendent Liu discover something now and then. Otherwise, if he remains stationed in the Eastern Palace and uncovers nothing at all, he may provoke the Emperor’s dissatisfaction. If they replace him with someone more intelligent, things will become troublesome.”
Gu Yun frowned. By now, he fully understood that the relationship between Chao Yan and the Emperor was poor. Yet there remained something he could not make sense of.
“From the way you speak, it sounds as though His Majesty knows Superintendent Liu isn’t particularly clever. If so, why send him here at all?”
Had Superintendent Liu possessed any real intelligence, he would have known better than to rely upon the Emperor’s favour and monitor the Crown Prince so brazenly.
Chao Yan smiled and leaned slightly closer. Not too close. Just enough. He maintained a perfectly appropriate distance.
“Usefulness is more important than loyalty,” he said. “And loyalty is more important than intelligence. The Emperor may be old, but he isn’t a fool.”
Gu Yun understood immediately.
The two entered a bedroom. Chao Yan changed first, followed by Gu Yun.
Several sets of clothing had been prepared in advance and stored in a cabinet against the wall. Although their styles differed, the materials used for both inner and outer layers were similar to what they had worn before.
Gu Yun’s shoes had become soaked through, so he changed those as well. As meticulous as ever, Chao Yan had even prepared footwear in his exact size.
Once they were finished, they donned bamboo hats and straw rain capes before setting off together for the outskirts of the capital.
Villages were scattered across the outskirts. There was not even a proper road.
Gu Yun trudged through the mud, one foot sinking deep while the other slipped shallowly. He nearly became trapped in a muddy pit before finally reaching their destination.
The place consisted of several ordinary buildings hidden beneath the cover of trees. The nearest village lay roughly one li away. Calculating the time, Gu Yun estimated that if nothing delayed them along the way, the journey from the Eastern Palace to this location took approximately two hours.
A man stood waiting outside. After exchanging a few words with Li Lan, he led them into one of the buildings.
Inside, more than a dozen people were crowded together. One person stood out immediately.
He was of average height and dressed in a plain black robe devoid of any embroidery, paired with lightweight cloth shoes. His complexion was pale. Standing among the others, he resembled a white crane.
Yet whether from exhaustion or natural disposition, this crane appeared perpetually half-asleep. At a glance, his eyes seemed barely open, like the stitched buttonholes on a new pair of trousers that had not yet been cut through.
The man stepped forward first and bowed to Chao Yan. Afterwards, he turned his gaze towards Gu Yun.
Though his eyes were small, they possessed a remarkable presence. One could instantly tell when he was observing someone. After only two or three breaths, he withdrew his gaze and smiled. “And how should I address you?”
“You can all get acquainted amongst yourselves.”
Having said this, Chao Yan walked over to inspect the stacked materials.
After a moment’s thought, Gu Yun replied, “My surname is Zhang. I’m the second child in the family.”
The man’s smile broadened considerably. “Zhang Er-xiong*.” His eyes narrowed into slits. “My surname is Jia, given name Ming. Everyone calls me Boss Jia, but since you’re Zhang Er-xiong, you may simply call me by my name.”
(*TN: er= two, xiong=elder brother/ elder male relative/ courteous form of address between two male friends.)
Jia Ming. A false name. Gu Yun understood immediately. This man was almost certainly Yan Zhao, commander of the Night Patrol Guards.
On the journey here, Chao Yan had explained that he had established an organisation responsible for gathering intelligence from important regions.
Its name was the Night Patrol Guards. Its commander bore the surname Yan and the given name Zhao. He would remain in the shadows, protecting Gu Yun’s safety alongside Li Lan. To avoid exposing their identities before the craftsmen, both sides would operate under false names.
Originally, Gu Yun had assumed Chao Yan would invent an identity for him and formally introduce him. Unexpectedly, Chao Yan allowed him complete freedom, offering not the slightest interference. That suited him perfectly.
Gu Yun felt an immense sense of freedom.
After finishing the introductions, Yan Zhao led him over to the craftsmen. There were four master craftsmen present.
Pointing towards the tallest, Yan Zhao lowered his voice. “His surname is Huang. He’s from the capital.”
He then pointed at two men who looked remarkably alike despite one being fat and the other thin. “They’re brothers. The fat one is the younger brother. The thin one is the elder. Their surname is Chong.”
Finally, he indicated a dark-faced, burly man. “His surname is Wang. His temper isn’t particularly good.”
Once the four craftsmen had been introduced, Yan Zhao continued. “Of the remaining five, three are apprentices. You’ll be able to tell who their masters are later simply by observing where they stand.”
He pointed towards two others. “The last two came with me. One is clever, the other is strong. Use them however you see fit. If you don’t need them, tell me and I’ll take them back. If you need more people, tell me that as well. Don’t stand on ceremony, Zhang Er-xiong.”
Gu Yun committed everything to memory before turning his attention to the materials.
Metal materials: wrought iron ingots, bronze ingots.
Gunpowder materials: saltpetre, sulphur powder, willow charcoal.
Consumable materials: rice wine, lead ingots…
Everything was present. And the quality appeared quite good.
The only exception was the saltpetre.
As one of the essential ingredients of gunpowder, its purification had long been tightly controlled. The current grade was only sufficient for fireworks and firecrackers.
Fortunately, that was not a major problem. Traditional methods could easily increase its purity.
Turning towards Chao Yan, Gu Yun asked, “Where’s the workshop?”
Chao Yan rose and motioned for him to follow. They walked to several nearby buildings. After taking a look, Gu Yun felt his heart become colder than ice. To call this a workshop would have been generous.
One room contained a furnace in which something was being heated, waves of heat rolling outward. That was all.
Silently staring at Chao Yan for a while, he finally said: “Your Highness, I’ll be leaving now.”
With only materials and no workshop, how exactly was he supposed to manufacture anything? By hand? What a magnificent waste of his time.
Chao Yan caught hold of him. “The workshops aren’t here. Building workshops in this location would attract too much attention. Besides, concentrating every workshop in one place would easily arouse suspicion.”
Maintaining his smile, Gu Yun asked, “Then where exactly are your workshops? Don’t tell me they’re scattered all over the place.”
Chao Yan did not answer. And not answering was answer enough.
His workshops were indeed scattered everywhere.
Gu Yun nearly rolled his eyes.
Still, workshops were workshops. As long as they existed, he could transport craftsmen and materials to each site, manufacture the individual components, and then return to assemble everything together.
It would take longer, certainly. But it could be done. Once assembly was complete, they could conduct testing. If the results proved satisfactory, large-scale production would become straightforward.
The casting of individual components could be divided amongst the craftsmen. Once completed, the parts could be transported back and assembled under supervision.
Since none of the craftsmen would initially be taught the entire production process, and each would only know how to produce one or several components, the manufacturing method of the fire lance could be effectively kept secret.
Moreover, an assembly-line production model would make it possible to fulfil quantity requirements very quickly.
Gu Yun explained all of this to Chao Yan. Chao Yan nodded.
“Very good. It seems I’ll have to trouble you with it. Visiting all these workshops will take roughly a month.”
He produced a folded sheet of paper. Written upon it were workshop names, locations, and the names of the individuals responsible for each.
Gu Yun: “…” The workshops were even more widely dispersed than he had imagined.
At that moment, he no longer wished to acknowledge this blasted Crown Prince. Because this meant he was about to become a working drudge. A miserable drudge condemned to endless days of work under relentless pressure.
Putting away the paper, he turned and walked off.
He needed to become acquainted with the craftsmen who were about to be dragged into the mire alongside him and transformed into the next generation of miserable overworked labourers. He decided to start with the plump craftsman surnamed Chong.
The man wore a perpetual smile and looked easy to talk to. If he truly was easy-going, then Gu Yun had already decided that he would accompany him on the first workshop visit. A good beginning was important.
Silently following behind him, Chao Yan lowered his eyes and thought to himself: Why hasn’t the Emperor managed to eat himself to death on vegetarian food at Cining Temple yet? Are the Imperial Physicians simply too competent? Perhaps I should kill a couple of them.
The two returned to the building where they had first arrived.
Inside, the craftsmen were discussing Gu Yun in low voices. Yan Zhao had already informed them that they would henceforth be following Gu Yun’s instructions.
They were unconvinced. In their eyes, Gu Yun was merely a young upstart who knew absolutely nothing about firearms.
Gu Yun pushed open the door. Looking at them, he smiled pleasantly.
The craftsmen: “…”
For some reason, a chill ran down their spines. It felt as though they had just been marked by a drowned ghost.
