"Come and see, come and see, our newspaper has the latest exclusive news, a stone turtle has emerged from the water in Ling'an River, Yuan Tianfeng's shocking words have reappeared..." A newsboy with a cloth bag full of newspapers was waving newspapers and shouting in the street. When people along the street heard the shouting, many of them, even those who seldom bought newspapers at other times, would stop to buy a newspaper and take a closer look.
"Come here, give me one..." An old man who was selling rice noodles on the roadside saw a newspaper boy passing by. He wiped his hands on his clothes, took out a few copper coins, asked the newspaper boy to come over, and bought a copy of "Han Empire Times".
Yesterday’s events had spread all over the Imperial Capital. Many people who had not witnessed it with their own eyes had heard about the birth of the stone turtle in Ling’an River yesterday. The prophecy on the turtle’s back had made everyone in the Imperial Capital tremble with fear: Next September, a catastrophe would descend upon the world, and the stars would fall. The capital and the imperial city would become a dead land, and thousands of miles would become a desert. The bones of the people would be crushed and turned into ashes…
People on the street were talking about the news that Shigui had gotten into trouble.
…
At the alley next to the rice noodle stall, several men, young and old, were basking in the sun and chatting about what happened yesterday.
"If the imperial city really becomes a dead place and a thousand miles of land becomes a desert, then wouldn't all the people in the capital be wiped out? What a disaster that would be..."
"Didn't you see what was said in the newspaper? It was a catastrophe from heaven, with thousands of stars falling. How could this disaster be small?"
"That's what was written on the back of the stone turtle. It's absolutely true. My cousin was at the Ling'an River yesterday. He said he saw it with his own eyes..."
"Could it be that someone made it up? This is too exaggerated..."
"If it was a fabrication, then only the last sentence would have been on the stone turtle. But you see, Yuan Tianfeng was clearly afraid that you wouldn't believe it, so he made several predictions before it. When the first one comes true, will you dare not believe it?"
"What Lao Chen said is true. Now we have to see whether there will be a solar eclipse in Liuzhou in May..."
"What if there is!"
"If there really is one, my family will probably have to pack up and go to Luzhou to seek refuge with relatives. We can't just wait to die in the imperial capital. As long as we are alive, there will always be a way. Not only me, I think even His Majesty the Emperor will have to move the capital..."
These people were talking until one of them saw a few detectives coming over from a distance. They tugged at the sleeves of the people next to them, and they stopped immediately.
"What are you gentlemen doing here, whispering to each other? Disperse..." A detective walking by glanced over here and started to scold, "Stop gossiping. His Majesty is still sitting in the palace, and the officials are also in the Imperial Capital. Those evildoers of the White Lotus Sect love to stir up trouble out of nothing. Don't let them lead you into trouble, or you'll regret it later..."
"Haha, sir, you're joking. We were just talking about the story of Journey to the West that was told by the immortal Guo in Wangyou Tower yesterday. Let's make an appointment to go and listen to it together today!" The "Old Chen" who had just spoken smiled and bowed to the officers from the Ministry of Justice. Then the old and young men dispersed, and the patrolling criminal continued to move forward.
Yan Liqiang passed by those detectives. Seeing Yan Liqiang's honest and rustic appearance, the detectives just glanced at him and ignored him without even looking at him a second time.
Yan Liqiang was walking on the street, watching and listening to the public opinion in the city brought about by the birth of the stone turtle. He felt comforted in his heart, while paying attention to the terrain and buildings on both sides of the street, especially those high-rise buildings with more than four floors and good views.
Since they had decided to assassinate Lin Qingtian, it was absolutely necessary to survey the terrain and the location of the action before the battle. After entering the Imperial Capital City, Yan Liqiang had already walked back and forth between the Prime Minister's Residence and the Imperial Palace twice.
To assassinate Lin Qingtian, one must first grasp Lin Qingtian's whereabouts and activity patterns. As the prime minister, Lin Qingtian's most regular activities are undoubtedly attending court and going home every day. Lin Qingtian's route to court is from the Prime Minister's Mansion, passing Chaoyangfang, walking along Suzaku Avenue in the Imperial Capital, and then to the Imperial Palace. The entire distance is nearly two thousand meters. This is also the route he takes to go home, so if he wants to take action, he can only do it on this route.
Yan Liqiang was walking on the street while thinking about the details of the assassination. It would not work during court sessions because it would be daybreak and people would be alert. The capital city would be full of people. After the assassination, whether he succeeded or failed, it would be very difficult for him to escape because he might be seen wherever he went. Therefore, the best thing to do was to wait for Lin Qingtian to return home. As the prime minister, Lin Qingtian had a lot of daily affairs to deal with and was said to be quite diligent. Most of the time, he would return home after dark. Therefore, it would be best to act after dark. If the assassination failed, his chances of escaping would be greater.
If it was someone else, Yan Liqiang would not be so cautious, but when dealing with Lin Qingtian, Yan Liqiang had to be cautious. Even if he had decided to take action, Yan Liqiang was treading on thin ice and was extremely wary of Lin Qingtian. Yan Liqiang knew that he only had one chance to shoot an arrow, and if he failed, he had to escape immediately. Once Lin Qingtian got close to him, even if Yan Liqiang was already a martial arts master, he would not be sure of escaping from Lin Qingtian.
Moreover, according to Fu Guang, the heavenly calamity that occurred a year later was "man-made" and the secret of heaven had been concealed. Unless one possessed the divine realm of heaven and could predict it in advance, it would be impossible for ordinary people to know about it. However, Lin Qingtian's actions when the heavenly calamity occurred were as if he knew it was going to happen. This is a terrifying thing to think about carefully.
Yan Liqiang wandered the streets for three or four hours, from morning to noon, and finally he had identified several places where he could take action. Those places were on both sides of Zhuque Street, some a few hundred meters away from the street, and some several thousand meters away. Two of them were attics in the courtyards of wealthy families. Standing on the roof of the attic, one could get a good shooting angle. There was another one, a tall tower, which faced Zhuque Street. The tower was sixteen stories high and more than fifty meters high. It was a famous scenic spot in the imperial capital city, and it was located behind a temple called San Sheng Temple. The San Sheng Temple was just an ordinary temple in the imperial capital city. The monks in the temple only ate vegetarian food and chanted Buddhist scriptures every day, and seldom practiced martial arts. He had never heard of any masters in the temple.
At noon, Yan Liqiang just squatted on the street and ate a few buns for lunch. After eating, in the afternoon, he slowly went to the places he had initially selected and the surrounding areas to learn more about them. He felt more confident...
…
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(End of this chapter)