Chapter 54: Returning to the Capital, Secret Schemes

Chapter 54: Return to the Capital, Hidden Schemes

Ning Xishi's identity in the martial arts world had to be kept completely under wraps, and the six extra days they spent here meant Ning Lanzhi would have to cover for him.

But those were the least of their problems. The biggest issue was Ning Xishi's amnesia.

"Once we return, the Emperor will surely summon you to the palace. But no one outside really knows you anyway. As long as you memorize your own background and don't call anyone by the wrong name, you'll be fine." Ning Lanzhi thought for a moment, then added, "Even if you do mess up a name, it's not a big deal. Just go with your gut."

Ning Xishi: "..."

Was he really that bold before he lost his memory?! Ning Xishi couldn't even picture it.

Ning Lanzhi could pretty much tell what his brother was thinking from the look on his face and said, "Actually, you weren't trying to be a troublemaker. You just wanted to live a quiet life, but somehow things always blew up at those events."

Ning Xishi: "..." Well, that took some talent, he guessed.

Luckily, the trip was long and they had plenty of time. Ning Lanzhi walked him through every detail of his life from childhood up to now.

When they got to topics that Ning Xishi found embarrassing, he'd automatically blurt out, "You knew about this too, Brother?!"

His tone was so shocked that Ning Lanzhi would just stand there, as if his little brother still remembered everything.

But then again, Ning Lanzhi thought having this cute, lovable little brother now was pretty great too.

However, Ning Lanzhi soon realized he was wrong. The Ning Xishi who'd lost his memory was only well-behaved for the first two days—he did whatever he was told, even doing his reading and writing homework without a fuss.

But on the third day, his old self came back out. He lay in his soft brocade blankets and flat-out refused to get up. When Dongshuang came to wake him, he buried his head under the blanket, exactly like he used to when he didn't want to get up.

Ning Lanzhi: "..."

Dongshuang didn't dare call him again and just looked at Ning Lanzhi.

Ning Lanzhi said, "It's been ages since I've seen him sleep in. Let him be."

Dongshuang: "..." So the young master had called him all the way here just to watch his brother sleep in?

Ning Xishi slept in that morning, but he actually focused on his reading and writing in the afternoon. Ning Lanzhi could tell his mind kept wandering to the birds outside and the street vendors yelling, but Ning Xishi never put down his book. Instead, he read out loud, really putting his back into it, and asked Ning Lanzhi, who was writing official reports nearby, whenever he had questions.

Ning Lanzhi was curious: "Don't you want to go out and look around?"

Ning Xishi shook his head: "Our family's on thin ice in the capital right now. The only way I can ease the Emperor's suspicion of Dad is to study hard and pass the exams, right?"

"And you too, Brother. If I keep doing whatever I want, it'll hurt your reputation at the Hanlin Academy. I don't want to drag everyone down because of me." Ning Xishi added, "Besides, General Xie told me that before I lost my memory, I'd planned to stay in the capital and take the imperial exams. It was just that things came up suddenly and he needed to go to the frontier, so I took his horse and went instead. Back then, I'd already thought about how it looked politically and wanted to be more responsible."

Ning Lanzhi sighed: "It's all because your big brother's no good."

That he'd need his little brother, who'd been spoiled his whole life, to be the sensible one.

·

By the time Ning Xishi returned to the capital, a month had passed. Carriages were obviously slower than troops on the march, and sticking to the main roads made the trip a lot longer.

Fortunately, the personal guards arranged by Xie Jingxing accompanied them the whole way, and nothing went wrong.

However, upon returning to the capital this time, Ning Xishi couldn't go back to the General's Manor—he went straight to the Minister's Residence.

Fortunately, the little courtyard he'd lived in before was still kept for him, and someone still came by to clean it. Everything remained as it had been.

"The Master Healer said A Xi's temporary amnesia was caused by excessive blood loss. Along the way, I walked him through everything from his childhood to now, and he's already starting to remember bits and pieces." Ning Lanzhi said.

Ning Xishi was still dissatisfied with this: "I only perk up when Brother talks about the dumb stuff I did as a kid. Everything else I still can't remember."

Qin Rong ruffled his hair and took his hand, saying, "I'm just glad my boy made it back safe. No rush on any of this. For now, only our family knows. Just settle in at home, and Mama'll cook you something good every day."

Minister Ning also let out a sigh, all choked up: "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back."

Although he'd only just found out that his second son had gone off into the martial arts world with his father-in-law and even become the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, Ning Xishi was in such bad shape he'd nearly died.

What else could he do? He had to forgive the kid.

He remembered that when he received Ning Lanzhi's letter, he and his wife had stayed up all night. His headaches had even gotten so bad he couldn't go to court for days.

The Emperor was suspicious, of course, and sent imperial doctors to check his pulse. Only after they confirmed it was just stress-induced headaches did the Emperor let it go.

From the Emperor's view, Minister Ning was pissed because he was scared his son was mixed up with the rebels and would drag the family down.

In reality, Minister Ning was just worried sick about his youngest son.

After returning to his small courtyard, Ning Xishi asked Xiao Shaoqing to help him put on a show.

"A show?" Xiao Shaoqing was quick, but he couldn't figure out what Ning Xishi was planning.

"Yes. I need to pretend I haven't lost my memory—not just in front of the Emperor, but in front of the Beggar Gang members too." Ning Xishi said.

His tone was steady, way more serious than before he lost his memory. He used to talk all light and carefree, but now that he was being earnest, it made Xiao Shaoqing feel like he had to obey him, and he didn't even know why.

"It doesn't really matter with the gang members," Xiao Shaoqing said. "You rarely showed your face around them anyway. They're used to having a Gang Leader who's always a ghost—never around."

Ning Xishi shook his head: "Once we changed our name to the Jule Gang, didn't we start doing business? We've stacked up so much silver over the years—that's a ton of grain we could buy."

Xiao Shaoqing froze.

Ning Xishi looked up at him: "Since General Xie's decided to rebel, we can't let his food supplies get cut off."

Xiao Shaoqing's throat went tight. The kid he'd looked after since he was little now had his whole heart set on another man.

"You really are head over heels for him."

"If war really breaks out, Jiangnan will go to hell fast. Even with the Beggar Gang's name behind us, we can't hold back that many refugees. You can't fight off everyone with your bare hands—no one, no group, can protect themselves alone. Everyone must choose a side." Ning Xishi's voice was cold and final. "The Jule Gang, and the whole martial arts world, has to back Xie Jingxing."

Xiao Shaoqing sighed and gave in: "Fine. What do you need me to do for this act?"

Ning Xishi smiled, sly as a fox. That look made Xiao Shaoqing wonder if he'd ever lost his memory at all.

Ning Xishi said, "Senior Brother, lean in."

·

With Ning Xishi's plan set, Xiao Shaoqing immediately called together the Beggar Gang's protectors and elders, and even the senior and second senior sisters showed up.

Guardian Ye had a hint about his memory loss, but the other protectors and elders knew nothing at all.

Ning Xishi sat in the seat of honor, looking at the crowd in the courtyard, and said, "Thanks for making the long trip from Shaozhou. Please, have a seat. I've got some wine set out—protectors and elders, help yourselves."

The Right Protector was pretty plugged in and said, "I heard the Gang Leader used the Mandarin Duck Swords to kill Wanyan Dahong? That's impressive—so young and already using the Mandarin Duck Swords."

"That was just luck, nothing more. But that's not why I called you all here."

The Right Protector spoke up, "The Gang Leader has never summoned us to the capital before. Is this related to the various rumors emerging from Jiangnan recently?"

"What rumors?" one of the Elders asked.

"I've heard that General Xie from the frontier has rebelled, raising the banner of 'cleansing the court,' and is now marching toward the capital," the Right Protector said, and the words sent shockwaves through the room.

"What? Our empire's guardian has actually rebelled?"

"How is that possible?"

"Isn't he the emperor's own younger brother?"

At this, the others seemed to understand somewhat.

The emperor's younger brother, holding great power—it's only human nature that he'd think about sitting on that throne himself.

Human nature.

Ning Xishi, however, sighed. "General Xie is not what everyone thinks. It's all because of me."

Before anyone could ask, Ning Xishi explained, "Actually, back then, when I transformed our Beggar Gang into the Jule Gang, it was partly to ensure more brothers could eat their fill, and partly to better blend in with the common folk. A bunch of beggars stands out, but a bunch of merchants? Who could tell if we're legit merchants or gang members? Over the years, everyone's been running their own businesses with great success, amassing a good amount of money and grain—but a tall tree catches the wind."

Ning Xishi sighed and went quiet for a long time.

The others felt like a long blade was hanging over their heads, about to drop, all of them growing suspicious.

"Could the emperor be trying to offer us amnesty?" the Left Protector asked.

"Amnesty? What's the point? At best, we'd get some official title, but they'd take all our silver and grain!"

Xiao Shaoqing chose that moment to speak up: "The emperor isn't offering amnesty."

The others breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, as long as it's not amnesty—we wouldn't stoop to being some petty ninth-rank official anyway."

"He's planning to wipe us out as bandits."

Those four words hit like a bombshell, even jolting the usually unflappable Right Protector to her feet. "What?"

"General Xie Jingxing has raised the banner of rebellion, and not long ago, when he went to Chuzhou to suppress bandits, he actually let the martial arts world run wild. Thus, the court officials have lumped the martial arts world in with General Xie's faction. As a result, the emperor is currently sending troops to suppress bandits in Jiangnan, planning to purge the martial arts world first before taking on the rebels," Xiao Shaoqing explained, pulling a rolled-up secret imperial edict from his sleeve. "I risked my life to sneak this out of the imperial palace. Take a look."

The others were furious.

Only the Right Protector, after studying it for a while, quietly glanced at Ning Xishi in the seat of honor.

She alone knew Xiao Shaoqing could forge documents so well they'd pass for the real thing. This thing was so new—whether it really came from the imperial palace was anyone's guess.

But since the Gang Leader wanted to side with General Xie Jingxing, she was on board. After all, the current emperor was an idiot, constantly hiking taxes in Jiangnan and turning rice fields into mulberry farms, leaving the people starving and forcing them to trade their own kids for food—definitely not a wise ruler.

Besides, even if the martial arts world sided with the current court, could they really hold out against General Xie's hundreds of thousands of troops?

The Right Protector only thought this far before deciding to keep her mouth shut and follow the Gang Leader's lead.

If they earned merit down the line by backing the new ruler, the Beggar Gang's future would definitely look brighter.

==========Author's Note:==========

Goodnight