Chapter 329: Being Watched

The public road outside the Imperial Capital city might just be the best-constructed road in the Great Han Empire. Even when it was pouring, the road wasn’t muddy and there weren’t any water puddles. The rain washed the road’s surface clean before it eventually flowed into the ditches at the side…

The Imperial Capital’s public road wasn’t paved with stone slabs, but large and sturdy paving bricks baked from the kilns. When Yan Liqiang visited the Forbidden City in his previous life, he was told by the tour guide that many places in the Forbidden City were paved with baked paving bricks. They were also known as the golden bricks, which were specially made for the royal palace, instead of stone slabs. The paving bricks on the Imperial Capital’s public road were quite similar to the golden bricks in the Forbidden City.

The heavy rain rinsed the paving bricks on the road, revealing their original ash green colors which gave them a touch of antiquity.

Yan Liqiang walked along the public road in his raincoat under his umbrella. Only the edges of his boots were slightly wet from the rain. Walking along the ancient ash green road, he felt oddly relaxed in the rain. He wasn’t nervous in the slightest about the task he was about to perform, even though it would get him into great trouble if he was exposed.

Looking at the road beneath his feet, Yan Liqiang sighed in amazement at the craftsmanship of the Great Han Empire’s artisans while the scene of baking these paving bricks popped into his mind. Baking paving bricks that were two feet in length and a foot in width like these was no easy feat. He recalled that the tour guide in the Forbidden City explained that baking such a large brick would require extremely high heat in the kiln. This was done to guarantee that the brick would be even-colored instead of being black or brittle in the center. Every golden brick in the Forbidden City was inscribed with the name of the artisan who was responsible for baking it. If any of those golden bricks had a problem, the artisan could be traced back and be beheaded. Therefore, no one dared to be careless. If the same temperature used to bake these bricks was used to bake clay or limestone, they’d turn into concrete instead.

That was referring to modern concrete. The so-called Roman concrete was even simpler to make. The most ancient concrete could be created with enough volcanic ash, quicklime produced through heating, water, sand, and stone.

The brick baking art in Ancient China was very close to producing concrete through heat.

The Great Han Empire currently didn’t seem to have any convenient construction materials like concrete.

Roman concrete built the Roman Empire. Yan Liqiang wondered what kind of Great Han Empire the concrete of this era would build.

Yan Liqiang got lost in his thoughts….

“Neighhhh…” A carriage came running amidst the misty rain and suddenly stopped when it passed by Yan Liqiang. The coachman wearing a conical bamboo hat and a woven rush raincoat shouted at Yan Liqiang, “Little Brother, it’s raining heavily now! If you don’t mind, I can give you a lift…!”

“Thank you, Uncle, but I fancy a walk. Besides, I’m only heading to the western gate which is not far from here!”

“Hahaha, alright. Have a nice walk, Little Brother. However, it has been thundering loudly over these two days, you mustn’t take shelter under the trees. I think a few of them along this public road got struck by lightning last year!” The coachman let out a hearty laugh. After giving Yan Liqiang a reminder, he shook his reins and drove his carriage into the misty rain.

That was the third warm-hearted person to offer Yan Liqiang a lift when they saw him walking in the rain.

Yan Liqiang didn’t accept the offer, but his heart was warmed by the little kindness shown to him by those strangers he met in succession.

Watching the carriage disappear into the rain, Yan Liqiang’s steeled his resolve. He definitely had to stay alive to make sure these millions of people would leave the Imperial Capital when the disaster struck in a few years time. By that time, he would mercilessly cut down anyone who stood in his way…

…

When Yan Liqiang arrived at the capital city’s western city gate, it was almost evening. The sky grew a bit darker and the rain had unexpectedly turned into a drizzle.

Yan Liqiang entered the capital city through the West Glorious Gate as usual. He barely made it fifty meters past the gate when he sensed someone’s gaze on him.

The person staring at him was an ordinary-looking man in his thirties dressed in green clothes, whom he had never seen before.

The man was taking shelter from the rain at the streetside near the West Glorious Gate. He was scanning the faces of everyone who entered the city. The moment Yan Liqiang entered the city, his gaze roamed onto his face a few times before he swooped to the side of those carriages that entered the city and silently followed behind Yan Liqiang.

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The first person who tailed Yan Liqiang at the West Glorious Gate was Fang Beidou. However, the person who was watching him this time obviously wasn’t related to Fang Beidou.

Even so, Yan Liqiang wasn’t surprised because everything was well within his expectations. Not only that, it had even confirmed his conjecture. News of him living in Deer Villa wasn’t really a secret. Anyone would know if they investigated. From Deer Villa, the West Glorious Gate would be the closest entrance to the capital city. Therefore, by placing someone at the gate to wait for him, Yan Liqiang would be spotted as soon as he entered the capital city from Deer Villa.

Watching out for someone was usually for the sake of gathering information and tracking that specific individual. This was the prelude of dealing with someone. Yan Liqiang knew exactly who wanted to deal with him, even if he was thinking with his knee. In the Imperial Capital, who else would it be if it wasn’t Xu Lang and his gang who loved to use despicable methods and had a past with someone ‘insignificant’ like him…?

It would seem like he was right in making the decision to strike first.

Yan Liqiang didn’t turn his head around and continued walking under his umbrella. He didn’t even try to purposely shake his stalker off. The smile on his face merely turned icy.

……

By the time he arrived at Sky Beyond, the rain had let up. A long string of lanterns had already been hung outside the restaurant. Gorgeous carriages were lined up outside the restaurant. Some wealthy and respectable people would come down from the carriage occasionally and enter the restaurant.

Yan Liqiang arrived half an hour earlier than the scheduled time as a courtesy. Lu Peien, who arranged this banquet, arrived even earlier. One of his stewards was already waiting at the restaurant’s entrance.

As soon as Yan Liqiang walked toward the steward from the Lu Clan, his eyes immediately lit up as he quickly welcomed him. “Young Master Yan…!”

“Hm, is Brother Lu here?” Yan Liqiang asked while he handed over his umbrella and raincoat to the two waitresses from the restaurant.

“The Sixth Master is already in the room. He ordered me to show Young Master Yan the way up there when you arrived…”

“Alright, let’s go then…”

When Yan Liqiang was entering the restaurant, he could see out of the corner of his eyes that the person in green was standing thirty meters away on the street, watching him enter the restaurant…

After Yan Liqiang went inside Sky Beyond, the man in green went toward the restaurant. However, he was stopped by a few receptionists before he could even get in.

“Dear guest, may I know which room you reserved with us at Sky Beyond?” Although the receptionist had a professional smile on his face, his sharp gaze briefly traveled from the top to the toe of that man in green and a hint of disdain could be seen in his eyes.

“My friend just went inside, I’m here to find someone…” the man in green replied.

“My apologies, but all of our valued guests have to make room reservations in advance. If your friend is inside, why don’t you tell me his room? I will show you the way in. If you don’t know which room he is using, I will have to ask you to wait for him outside…”

“It’s an urgent matter, can you kindly make an exception for me…?” The man in green was all smiles as he bowed and scraped to the receptionist.

“Then perhaps you can tell me your friend’s name, age, appearance, and what kind of clothes he’s wearing? I will go in and help you ask around!”

The man in green was immediately tongue-tied. “W-Well…”

Before the man in green could say anything else, the receptionist made a signal to the two strong-looking men at the side with his eyes. The two intimidating-looking guards from the restaurant came over, cracking their knuckles noisily while staring at the man with their burning gazes.

In the end, the man in green had no choice but to leave. However, he didn’t go too far. He just waited on the street which was several meters away from Sky Beyond.