Chapter 191: Tomorrow's Duel
The Shaanbei Daoqing performance concluded, and the crowd began to disperse.
The boisterous, lively crowd began to thin out.
Xing Honglang, usually swamped with her trade, rarely had time to sit and enjoy a performance. She’d found this opera quite delightful, and, like others, tossed a small silver ingot onto the stage.
When it finally concluded, she still felt a lingering sense of enjoyment, a slight yearning for more.
She stood up to leave, only then remembering the simpleton still sitting beside her. They had actually spent the entire performance seated shoulder-to-shoulder, watching the play together, almost like... a couple.
Xing Honglang suddenly bristled. “I never agreed to anything like that!”
Gao Chuwu blinked. “Agreed to what?”
Xing Honglang huffed.
After huffing, she seemed to remember something. Reaching behind her, she unhooked the heavy-backed saber from her back. “This saber,” she declared, “feels like it would suit you. Take it.”
Gao Chuwu’s face lit up.
Xing Honglang immediately bristled again. “What are you grinning about? This saber doesn't mean what you think it means!”
“Huh? Was I thinking of something?” Gao Chuwu asked, genuinely bewildered.
Xing Honglang stared.
An awkward silence, strangely profound.
After several long seconds, Xing Honglang realized she didn't need to be embarrassed at all. The big lug hadn't misunderstood anything, nor did he even grasp *why* she was feeling awkward. There was no need for the awkwardness. She huffed again. “This saber is a thank-you gift for helping me last time,” she declared. “It has no other meaning. Understood?”
Gao Chuwu grinned broadly. “Understood! But I can’t take it.”
Xing Honglang’s fury surged. “Why won’t you accept something I’m giving you?!”
“I offered you chocolate, and you wouldn’t take it,” Gao Chuwu explained. “So, if you offer me a saber, I can’t take that either.”
With a sharp *crack*, Xing Honglang cracked her knuckles. “Tomorrow, we duel. If I win, you take this saber. If I lose, you’ll pay!”
Gao Chuwu jumped. “You’re not still injured, are you?”
“My injuries healed ages ago,” Xing Honglang retorted. “Tomorrow, a fair duel!”
“Alright!” Gao Chuwu agreed.
While the two happily bickered, on the other side of the square, Gao Yiye, having finished the performance, was just about to head back to continue drawing her comic books when she suddenly heard the Heavenly Lord’s call: “Yiye!”
Gao Yiye quickly looked up. “What are your commands, Heavenly Lord?”
Li Daoxuan instructed, “Follow the dispersing crowd. On the street outside, there are two newcomers looking utterly bewildered. Go find them and speak with them.”
Gao Yiye smiled. “Alright, I’m on my way!”
She skipped and weaved through the thinning throng.
San Shier’s twelve-year-old daughter, trailing Gao Yiye like a shadow, also skipped along. In a flash, the two girls appeared before the two artisans.
At that moment, Xu Dafu and the lamp maker were still anxiously glancing this way and that, hoping to spot Xing Honglang in the crowd to ask what they should do next. Little did they know, Xing Honglang was up ahead, happily challenging Gao Chuwu to a duel, with no intention of returning for them.
The two artisans, utterly flustered, suddenly saw two girls—one older, one younger—smiling and running right up to them.
The older girl, looking as though she’d been up for several nights with dark circles under her eyes, announced, “Found you!”
The two artisans pointed to their own noses. “Young lady, are you looking for us?”
Gao Yiye yawned widely. “That’s right, looking for you.”
The two artisans regarded her with curiosity. They first observed her clothes—not luxurious, but made of cotton, far superior to the coarse hemp worn by the poor. Her garments were also immaculately clean, not a speck of mud, which suggested she didn't have to toil in the fields.
She was, at the very least, the daughter of a prosperous household.
Unwilling to be disrespectful, they quickly bowed to Gao Yiye. “What instructions do you have for us, young lady?”
Gao Yiye rubbed her dark circles. “Is one of you a lamp maker?”
The lamp maker gasped in surprise. “I am the lamp maker, Your Ladyship. How did you know?”
Gao Yiye replied, “The Heavenly Lord, of course, told me.”
The two artisans thought to themselves: *The Heavenly Lord? The one who just awarded the “Heavenly Lord Special Prize” to those three masons? He must be an incredibly wealthy and powerful lord. To catch his eye means instant fortune.*
At this thought, the lamp maker’s spirits soared. *I’ve been singled out! Hahahaha, I’ve been singled out!* He quickly adopted a fawning expression. “Young lady, what instructions does the Heavenly Lord have?”
Gao Yiye pointed towards the Gao Family Village commercial district. “You’ve seen what this street looks like now, haven’t you? It’s dark everywhere, with no beautiful lamps. The Heavenly Lord needs a large number of lamps to light up this entire area.”
The lamp maker’s spirits lifted considerably. *So it’s for this, hehehe.*
Gao Yiye tilted her head, listening to the voice from above, then smiled. “The Heavenly Lord says: all-inclusive room and board, three taels of silver a month, to make lamps for Gao Family Village. Do you accept?”
Three taels of silver!
Upon hearing that wage, the lamp maker nearly dropped to his knees and kowtowed on the spot. He was a mere artisan, working with bamboo and paper, a humble craft. He’d barely been able to feed or clothe himself before; when had he ever seen such a colossal sum as three taels of silver?
Hearing the figure, he almost didn't believe his own ears.
He vigorously dug into his ears, extracting a surprisingly large chunk of earwax. Feeling his hearing was now clearer, he asked again, “Three taels? Truly three taels?”
Gao Yiye chuckled. “Why would I deceive you? Our Gao Family Village artisans’ wages have always been
generous. If you agree, go report to San Shier.”
“San Shier... the one who was giving out awards on the fortress wall earlier?”
“That’s right!”
The lamp maker let out a cheer and sprinted towards the main fortress, completely forgetting Xu Dafu, who was now left in a truly awkward spot.
He didn't know whether to chase after the lamp maker or remain there, searching for Xing Honglang. He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Li Daoxuan, seeing the man’s helpless, bewildered expression, felt a flicker of interest. “Yiye, ask him what he does.”
Gao Yiye relayed the question truthfully.
When asked about his profession, Xu Dafu felt a prick of panic. He was a residing artisan, specifically a gunpowder artisan—a craft closely monitored by the imperial court. Ever since the great explosion in the capital, anyone involved with gunpowder was under strict official scrutiny. If he revealed his identity here, would he be handed over to the authorities?
His work with gunpowder had instilled a cautious, wary personality, and he truly dared not easily reveal his trade or origins.
He hesitated for a long while, mumbling, unable to articulate it.
Just then, Xing Honglang arrived, with Gao Chuwu trailing behind. The two walked along, loudly discussing when they would have their duel tomorrow.
Reaching Gao Yiye and Xu Dafu, Xing Honglang uttered a surprised gasp and slapped her forehead. “Oh! Xu Dafu, I completely forgot about you two! Where’s the lamp maker? Where did he run off to?”
Xu Dafu smiled wryly. “The lamp maker found work. He went to the main fortress to find San Shier.”
Xing Honglang laughed. “Why the long face? You don’t need to worry about not finding work; you’re someone the Heavenly Lord specifically requested.”
She turned to Gao Yiye, smiling. “Saintess, please tell the Heavenly Lord that this person is a gunpowder artisan. I brought him here from Xi’an Prefecture.”
Upon hearing this, Li Daoxuan immediately rejoiced: *So he’s a gunpowder artisan!*
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