svetikya Page 153
Page 153
These past few days, Wang Qinian's main task has been to integrate the Shangjing Luowang network, and he is well aware of all this information.
"Eight families, including the Duke of Zheng, the Marquis of Liyang, Minister Cui of the Ministry of Rites, and Minister He of the Ministry of War, each have more than thirty experts of the seventh rank. Other families have relatively fewer."
These people were all the young emperor's men, but they were all being closely watched by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and dared not make any moves.
They were either from noble or powerful families, and all of them kept skilled fighters.
However, over the years, Shen Zhong has held immense power in the court and, with his own strength, has suppressed these powerful clans.
Li Chang'an said, "Old Wang, tonight you arrange for men to kill all the secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guards near these eight houses."
"Then they lied and claimed that the young emperor had a secret decree to help Shangshan Hu retrieve Xiao En's body, so that Shen Zhong would be imprisoned for dereliction of duty!"
"Regardless of whether they believe it or not, or whether they are willing to help, take the Luo Wang people to snatch Sean's body once. Don't actually succeed, just kill some Jinyiwei."
Wang Qinian understood instantly and immediately went to prepare manpower.
In fact, Li Chang'an also had Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) keeping an eye on him, but even if Lang Tao came, he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Wang Qinian.
Li Chang'an then instructed, "Teng Zijing, tomorrow you will continue to openly visit the young emperor's people, so that the young emperor and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will think that we still have no clue."
Teng Zijing had already visited some people, but they either refused to see her or only exchanged brief pleasantries.
"As you command, Your Highness!"
The General's Mansion.
Uesugi Tora was still furious. "The Empress Dowager is stalling for time, and Shen Zhong is stalling for time too!"
"Godfather, I, Tiger, am an unfilial son! I couldn't save you while you were alive, and I can't even give you a proper burial in death!"
Not long after, Vice General Tan Wu rushed in. "General, I have secretly made contact with the leader of Panlong Mountain outside the city."
Uesugi Torata stood up and asked, "So? Are they willing to submit to me?"
Tan Wu shook his head and said, "They said that if you want them to submit, the only way is for the General to rebel against the Zhan family emperor. Only then will their three thousand-plus men be willing to obey the General's orders."
Panlong Mountain is a band of outlaws who have gathered in the mountains. The ones who have come these past few days are the best of them, and most of their men are still in the mountains.
Uesugi Tora sighed and said, "They've been like this for so many years."
Tan Wu said bluntly, "General, haven't you seen clearly what happened to the old master this time?"
"You witnessed Lang Tao assassinating the old master. If the Empress Dowager cared about your feelings, why would she assassinate the old master!"
"The Empress Dowager and His Majesty cannot tolerate you at all, and do not want the old man to come back to help you! Why not go back to the border, reorganize the troops, and start a rebellion!"
Uesugi Tora snorted coldly and said, "With my godfather gone, I have no more attachments to Northern Qi."
"With a Grandmaster around, we can't replace the young emperor of the Zhan family. We can only gain a foothold at the border and wait for the Grandmaster to die!"
"But I'm really unwilling to leave now!"
"My godfather isn't even buried yet! Lang Tao isn't dead! Shen Zhong is living a very comfortable life!"
Tan Wu said, "Do you want to avenge the old man and then return to the border to raise an army?"
Uesugi Tora replied, "That's right, if I don't kill Lang Tao and Shen Zhong, I'll be unworthy of being a son!"
"Tan Wu, go and discuss with the leaders of Panlong Mountain again, and ask them to help me kill Lang Tao and Shen Zhong!"
into the night.
Fan Xian was searching the whole city for Yan Bingyun, but Li Chang'an, with his foresight, had already found him.
He simply paid more attention to Shen Zhong's sister, and easily found Yan Bingyun's hiding place.
Now that Xiao En, whom Fan Xian brought to the capital, is dead, Yan Bingyun is being tortured even more severely.
The two sides agreed to exchange hostages, but Sean is already dead, and even if Yan Bingyun is dead, Nan Qing can't say anything.
Li Chang'an knocked out the Imperial Guards guarding Yan Bingyun and saw Yan Bingyun covered in wounds.
"Yan Bingyun!"
Yan Bingyun heard the shout and immediately looked up.
Yan Bingyun was greatly surprised to see a figure in the darkness whose features he could not make out!
"Who are you? How did you get in?"
Li Chang'an glanced at Yan Bingyun's stats; they were not bad, indicating he was a talent for intelligence work.
Name: Yan Bingyun
Age: 17 years old
Realm: Upper Seventh Rank
Talents: Intelligence (Rank 8), Management (Rank 8)
Abilities: Espionage (Rank 8), Management (Rank 6), Assassination (Rank 5)
Emotion: 0
However, now that the Luo Wang network has been established, Li Chang'an's need for talent is not so urgent, so he will not bother to recruit Yan Bingyun.
"I'm just here to complete a deal with your grandfather. Your life or death is none of my concern."
Yan Bingyun said weakly, "My grandfather? My grandfather has been gone for many years, what makes you say that?"
Li Chang'an said calmly, "You are not from Nanqing. You are the grandson of Xiao En, the leader of the Northern Wei Imperial Guards."
"Your mother was a courtesan named Yu Xiang. You were controlled by Chen Pingping from the moment you were born."
Upon hearing this, Yan Bingyun shouted angrily, "Nonsense! You were sent by Shen Zhong, weren't you!"
Li Chang'an said without any politeness, "Shut up! Do you think Shen Zhong can afford to hire me?"
“I’ll only say it once. If you keep yelling and miss something, I won’t repeat myself.”
Yan Bingyun is a very rational person. Although he is extremely loyal and steadfast to Nanqing, he is not the kind of person who acts impulsively and without thinking.
"Chen Pingping has trained you to be a loyal guard of Nanqing. If you remain unaware of the truth, he will continue to rely on you."
“However, your grandfather made a deal with me before he died. He wanted you to know the truth.”
"The truth is very difficult to find out, and it is very likely that Chen Pingping has completely destroyed the evidence."
“Once you start investigating, or even have this thought, you will be in mortal danger.”
"But your grandfather wants you to know the truth."
"As for how to choose, that's entirely up to you."
Yan Bingyun listened calmly, and when she looked up again, she found that there was no one in front of her.
He found it difficult to determine whether what Li Chang'an said was true or false, but due to his professional habits, once he had even the slightest doubt, he could no longer suppress the thought.
He is now somewhat afraid. If this is true, how should he deal with it?
Chapter 115 Zhan Doudou Wants to Continue Her Lineage! Shen Zhong's Entire Family is in Peril! (33)
The next evening.
Wang Qinian hurriedly entered the post station to report the news to Li Chang'an.
"Your Highness, last night I followed your orders and killed all the Imperial Guards near the eight families under the Emperor's command."
"However, the eight families of the Imperial Party were all cowards, and not one of them dared to take action to retrieve Sean's body."
Li Chang'an was not surprised at all. "The exact words the young emperor told me were, 'Shen Zhong is a man of immense power and influence, with henchmen everywhere.'"
"Imagine if our Emperor Qing were to pass away, but Director Chen Pingping were still alive, could the current Crown Prince possibly do anything to the Surveillance Bureau?"
"Therefore, the people under the young emperor's command must not get along with Shen Zhong under the empress dowager's command."
“Shen Zhong has used his power as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to deal with these eight families quite a bit. How dare these eight families step forward so easily?”
The Empress Dowager and the young emperor were feigning a power struggle, but they had to act very convincingly in public.
Therefore, the struggle between the Empress Dowager's faction and the Emperor's faction must have been bloody.
Throughout history, political struggles involving intelligence agencies have always been the bloodiest and most brutal.
Wang Qinian continued, "Then, as Your Highness instructed, I led the experts from the Luo Wang to retrieve Sean's corpse."
“We killed several Imperial Guards and escaped unscathed, but Shen Zhong still managed to find some clues.”
"Because our people got their feet stained with the white mud outside the Marquis of Liyang's residence, Shen Zhong was able to find out about the Marquis of Liyang's residence based on that."
Last night, all the secret agents of the Imperial Guard near the eight families of the Emperor's faction were slaughtered. Shen Zhong must be furious.
In his mind, it must be the Imperial Party plotting against him.
Sure enough, Wang Qinian continued, "Shen Zhong led the Embroidered Uniform Guard this afternoon to arrest and imprison the Marquis of Liyang, and all members of his family who hold official positions were also imprisoned."
Secret service agencies have always been directly controlled by the emperor, and attacking them is treason.
Moreover, the young emperor had decreed that Shen Zhong would be fully responsible for the handover of Sean's body.
"The people in the capital are in a state of panic. The remaining seven factions of the Emperor's faction are all trembling with fear, shutting themselves away from visitors, and wishing they could burn incense and pray to Buddha!"
In political struggles, the worst thing is to switch sides. These seven families dared not make any rash moves, otherwise they might be accused of being accomplices of the Marquis of Liyang.
"Your Highness, shall we do it again tonight?"