Magistrate Li was overthinking things and tentatively asked, "Could it be that Prime Minister Chu and Vice Minister Cui, like King Liang and Chu Bu Nu, have come to assassinate Your Highness?"

Yin Jin'an understood the scheming behind it and smiled faintly: "It's alright, call them here. —Summon Xiahou Yan."

A short while later, Xiahou Yan came in. The master was finally going to use him. He was very happy.

"Master, please give your orders."

"Take two men outside the city. Prime Minister Chu and Vice Minister Cui have arrived in Ganzhou. Capture them and bring them back," Yin Jin'an said. "Exterminate all their secret guards and bodyguards."

Magistrate Li only saw that Chu Jiang and Vice Minister Cui each had two guards with them. How could such powerful officials only have two guards with them!

Chu Jiang brought more than thirty secret guards and assassins, but Magistrate Li didn't see them.

Chu Jiang and Vice Minister Cui left Yongle County without daring to enter Ganzhou Prefecture.

The two contacted Chunshui County, the closest county to the prefectural city. The county magistrate, Guo Qiming, was a disciple of Chu Jiang.

Upon arriving, Chu Jiang inquired about the "eldest prince" of Ganzhou Prefecture.

Guo Qiming said, "His Highness is wearing a mask, so his true face is not visible. He is tall and slender, with a majestic aura, and is not easy to approach."

From his detailed description, both Chu Jiang and Minister Cui felt that he was very different from the eldest prince they remembered.

The only distinguishable feature was her face, which was obscured by the mask.

The two settled down first, and then sent their secret guards and bodyguards in two separate groups to inquire about Yin Jin'an's whereabouts.

In order to increase the chances of spying, Guo Qiming reluctantly made a sacrifice and sent ten cartloads of grain and fodder to Yin Jin'an.

The ten men escorting the grain carts included Chu Jiang and four of Cui Shilang's bodyguards.

The group drove the grain cart into the yamen, where Wang Can received them.

The guard handed over the grain and respectfully said that Lord Guo had a letter to deliver to His Highness in person.

Wang Can was busy when he called out to the madman Chu, who was carrying the Nine Heavens, "Old Madman, the magistrate of Chunshui County has a personal letter to give to His Highness. Would you please take him in to see His Highness?"

Madman Chu was a rough man, and he said to the man in a gruff voice, "Where's the letter? I'll take it in for you."

Chu Jiang's guard said, "Lord Guo said that it must be handed over to His Highness personally."

Madman Chu scoffed, "You officials are always scheming. It's just a letter, what's wrong with me taking it in? Do you think I'd peek at it?"

Jiutian asked curiously, "Besides telling you to deliver the letter to His Highness, did Lord Guo have any other instructions?"

"No."

"Then give me the letter, and I'll take it to my second uncle."

That person insisted on personally delivering it to Yin Jin'an.

Madman Chu was annoyed. With a wave of his hand, six people suddenly fell from the wall and trees. Including the one who was clamoring to see Yin Jin'an, there were seven people in total. They were clutching their stomachs and rolling on the ground in pain.

Madman Chu curled his lip in disdain.

"A letter, saying this won't work and that won't work, do you think you're up to no good and no one can see it? We'll poison you!"

Wang Can looked at the six guards, both angry and anxious. The people who came to deliver the food were clearly ten others. When did these six sneak in?

“They were secret guards who wanted to assassinate my second uncle. They couldn’t get into the Ordnance Bureau, so they tried to sneak in with the messenger.”

Jiutian pinched his little finger and said, "None of them are good people."

When the madman Chu heard his master say that none of them were good people, he simply gave them a "quick death" poison.

The six guards were in excruciating pain.

Madman Chu said disdainfully, "Do you think I'm an old man with failing eyesight? You shifty-eyed fellow, you want to see His Highness? How dare you!"

"Speak! Why do you want to see His Highness? Tell me and you'll get the antidote; don't, and you bastards will suffer excruciating pain."

The seven men were in excruciating pain but refused to confess.

Wang Can ordered the yamen runners to tie up these men, and told the other nine to return to Chunshui County and tell Guo Qiming that they must come in person to apologize to their master, or they would bear all the consequences.

The nine men slunk away and happened to run into Xiahou Yan, who was out searching for Chu Jiang, on the street.

Chu Jiang's guards were taken aback.

If Xiahou Yan is here, then the person in the government office could very well be the Crown Prince.

Chu Jiang and Minister Cui waited anxiously at the post station in Chunshui County.

Guo Qiming already knew Chu Jiang's purpose in coming and said, "Prime Minister Chu, I believe this eldest prince must be a fake. How can someone who wants to achieve something never show his face to the people?"

Vice Minister Cui pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps his face is too distinctive, and I don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble."

The nobles of Western Xia have always had the habit of raising beautiful children. If they were not born into the royal family, or if Empress Wei's people were not so powerful, Xiao Jin'an's extraordinary beauty would make people fantasize.

Chu Jiang remained silent, neither alive nor dead, and he was always uneasy until he saw it with his own eyes.

Just as they were making wild guesses, Chu Jiang's guard rushed back from Ganzhou Prefecture and said to Chu Jiang, "Prime Minister, I have found Xiahou Yan in Ganzhou Prefecture."

Chu Jiang was startled. Xiahou Yan was here? That meant that the eldest prince might actually be real.

Before they could go back to investigate, Huo Dao and Xue Jingfei had already followed them to the Chunshui County government office, where they caught Chu Jiang and Vice Minister Cui red-handed.

Chu Jiang's guards knew Xiahou Yan, and Xiahou Yan also knew Chu Jiang's guards!

Xiahou Yan spotted Chu Jiang's guards and immediately gave the signal, and he, Huo Dao, and Xue Jingfei followed.

Guo Qiming had a total of thirty-six constables under his command, who were no match for Xiahou Yan, Huo Dao, and Xue Jingfei.

Thirty-two men stormed into the county government office and fought a fierce battle with Chu Jiang and Cui Shilang's guards, secret agents, and assassins for nearly half an hour. They killed all of Chu Jiang and Cui Shilang's men, gagged Chu Jiang and Cui Shilang, threw them onto horses, and took them away.

Guo Qiming was so frightened that he begged for mercy.

Mercy? Impossible!

Xiahou Yan killed Guo Qiming with a single blow and then led Chu Jiang and Minister Cui to the Ganzhou government office.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!