Chapter 173: Great Calamity

Chapter 173: Great Calamity

The incident of ruffians breaking into Qingsong Bookstore at night quickly became a hot topic of conversation over tea. What surprised everyone the most was that Qingsong Bookstore actually employed so many guards—quite unexpected.

Ever since Xin You took over, the success of the storybooks *Painted Skin* and *Journey to the West* had greatly boosted the reputation of Qingsong Bookstore. Even without knowing about the wealth moved from Shaoqing Mansion, many people had become envious and harbored ill intentions.

After this incident, those who were restless became quiet.

Qingsong Bookstore really dared to kill—this was a matter of life and death!

That day, as Duan Shaoqing left the yamen, a colleague couldn't help but remark to him on the way out, "Duan Shaoqing, your niece is truly extraordinary. A dozen bandits raided the bookstore, and they ended up dead or injured—none escaped unscathed."

Duan Shaoqing chuckled lightly but turned serious once he was in the carriage.

A small bookstore keeping over a hundred guards—was this just burning money?

Thinking further about where this money came from, Duan Shaoqing felt even more disheartened.

This incident served as a wake-up call for him. It seemed that going after the bookstore wouldn't work. To take that girl's life, he needed to be more cautious.

In the palace, a young attendant handed a cloth-wrapped book to the chief eunuch, Sun Yan, with both hands. "Godfather, this is Mr. Songling's newly released storybook *Journey to the West*."

Since Emperor Xingyuan had previously expressed interest in Mr. Songling's storybooks, Sun Yan had already instructed his subordinates to keep an eye out for Mr. Songling's new releases.

"Well done," Sun Yan said casually, then asked, "How is Qingsong Bookstore doing recently?"

He had a strong impression of the owner of Qingsong Bookstore. After all, Miss Kou had received rewards from the Emperor.

Being clever enough to be valued by Sun Yan, the young attendant had already gathered the details of the recent events. "After the release of Mr. Songling's new book, business at Qingsong Bookstore has been booming. However, this also attracted thieves. Fortunately, the bookstore had many guards, and not only did the thieves fail, but they also ended up in prison and lost their lives."

After listening, Sun Yan was curious. "So, more than a dozen bandits were wiped out in one fell swoop. How many guards do they have?"

"I heard several hundred!"

Sun Yan was astonished.

A bookstore keeping several hundred guards?

He didn't know whether to say Miss Kou was bold or just had more money than sense. Sun Yan checked the new book and then went to see Emperor Xingyuan.

Emperor Xingyuan had not slackened despite the approaching New Year. Sun Yan quietly accompanied him until he finished processing a batch of memorials and stood up to stretch before presenting *Journey to the West*.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Songling from Qingsong Bookstore has a new book out," Sun Yan said, slightly bowing his head and holding the storybook with both hands.

The Emperor initially wanted to take a look but decided to finish the memorials on the desk first, recalling how reading *Painted Skin* had kept him up all night.

That's how it is with storybooks—once you start, you want to finish them right away. But if you haven't started, you can hold off.

By the afternoon, Emperor Xingyuan had finally finished his work. Just as his hand reached for the storybook, an official came in urgently with matters to report. The book, once picked up, was put down again, buried under the pile of documents.

Seeing this, Sun Yan didn't remind him again.

He secretly hoped the Emperor would use the time spent on leisure reading to rest instead.

Xin You had noticed that there were palace attendants coming to buy books.

Even though these attendants were dressed as ordinary people, their mannerisms were still somewhat different.

The only uncertainty was which palace the attendants buying books were from.

However, since the emperor had specifically instructed Lord He to investigate Mr. Songling, those around the emperor would surely send Mr. Songling's new book to him in order to show their diligence. It was only a matter of time before *Journey to the West* would be noticed by the emperor.

If they were unlucky and there was no response from the palace for a long time, they could only subtly remind Lord He as a last resort.

But this was a last resort, and Xin You did not want to go that far.

Fortunately, she understood that many things could not be rushed and required patience.

At present, what troubled everyone at Qingsong Bookstore were the patrons who came to urge the release of the second volume of *Journey to the West* after finishing the first.

These patrons were mainly students from the Imperial Academy, who took advantage of their proximity by dropping in during a free afternoon. As soon as they entered, they would ask when the second volume of *Journey to the West* would be released.

It was almost noon, and Liu Zhou glanced at the students heading towards the bookstore, frowning as he complained to Hu Boss, "What I fear most now is noon and evening. I can't keep up, I really can't keep up!"

Hu Boss slapped Liu Zhou on the back. "Stop being cheeky and go greet the customers."

In the past, when they were so idle they counted ants, who would have thought that these youngsters would one day pack the bookstore, crying and shouting to buy a new book that hadn't even been released yet?

This was a troublesome problem, but also a sweet one.

Though Liu Zhou complained, he actually felt the same way in his heart, and he greeted the incoming students with an enthusiastic smile.

"Little brother, don't just smile. When will the second volume of *Journey to the West* be out?"

"I really don't know, sir," Liu Zhou replied.

"I want to see your boss, Miss Kou!" The leading youth slammed his hand on the counter.

Liu Zhou knew this youth's identity; he was the grandson of the prime minister, someone they couldn't afford to offend.

Fortunately, the boss was especially good at handling these young masters.

Liu Zhou glanced at Hu Boss, and seeing no objection, he said with a smile, "Please wait a moment, sir. We will inform our boss right away."

Zhang Xu nodded in satisfaction.

Upon receiving the message, Xin You headed to the front.

The students who had been waiting in the library hall were starting to grow impatient, but when the cloaked girl wearing a silver cape walked in with a calm expression, most of them suddenly lost their impatience.

Ahem, it was mainly because they thought of Miss Kou keeping several hundred guards, which quickly sobered them up.

Zhang Xu, facing Xin You, had none of the arrogance he had displayed earlier: "Miss Kou, I'm glad you're finally here."

"I heard that Young Master Zhang was looking for me? Is there something you need?"

"Nothing much really, just casually asking. When will the second volume of *Journey to the West* be released?"

"Probably after the Lantern Festival."

Zhang Xu clapped his hands: "Miss Kou is as straightforward as ever! Ahem, but the Lantern Festival is still far off. Miss Kou, could you give us a sneak peek? What happened to the Monkey King after he was trapped under the Five Elements Mountain?"

"Yes, did the Monkey King escape? Did he take revenge?" the students chimed in.

Xin You casually glanced at these young men, her gaze stopping on one boy and refusing to move.

That boy stood on the outermost edge, his appearance and figure were utterly ordinary, yet he made Xin You, who had seen all kinds of scenes, change her expression.

A sudden vision appeared before her eyes, of the boy being crushed by a collapsing wall, with only his head and face exposed.

But it wasn't this scene alone that caused Xin You to lose control of her expression in front of others; what truly alarmed her was the backdrop of the vision—large areas of houses collapsing, and countless people buried or crushed.

This wasn't an accident involving one person, but a disaster affecting many!

Although the library hall was packed with so many people, Xin You felt a cold that pierced to the bone.

This was the first time she had witnessed such a large number of casualties, and she couldn't remain expressionless.