Every county and prefecture in Dayan State has a pawnshop with the brand name Ding, and even some of the more prosperous towns have them. The nominal head of these pawnshops is Huo Jincheng, but the real owner is Crown Prince Murong Kuanhao. Besides generating revenue to fund their activities, these pawnshops are also used for gathering intelligence and establishing connections.

The prince's father, Murong Hai, was the founding emperor of the Dayan Kingdom, which ended the conflicts among the five kingdoms and unified the Central Plains. Before becoming emperor, he was just a small vendor selling Eighteen Transformations in the Qing Kingdom.

The Eighteen Changes are small gadgets made of two thin bamboo sticks and paper. When you shake them in your hand, they can change into different shapes. One Eighteen Changes is sold for eight cents, and three cents must be paid every day as a lucky money. One day, because the prince's father only sold one Eighteen Changes, he had an argument with the city official over the three cents in lucky money and accidentally killed the city official. After that, he took up the banner of rebellion and embarked on the bright road to the throne of the emperor.

During his rebellion, the Crown Prince's father used pawnshops as liaison stations. After the founding of the People's Republic, his sons also became keen on opening pawnshops. From the Crown Prince to the Princes Yong, Rui, and Qi, who had ambitions to seize the throne, as well as other princes who did not, all opened pawnshops across the country. Because they were not the official owners, the Emperor could do nothing about them even if he knew about it, and could only turn a blind eye.

Prince Yong's recruits, including Luo Junxian, had attracted the attention of the Ding clan upon their arrival in Jin County. Yesterday, upon Huo Jincheng's arrival, the local steward reported to him that the disappearance of the children in Jin County might be the work of these scoundrels under Prince Yong's command. While they hadn't yet established any definitive evidence, they had tracked down their whereabouts in a mountain villa outside the city.

Huo Jincheng sent people to closely monitor the manor outside the city early this morning, demanding that they must catch the criminals red-handed. As long as it is confirmed that the missing child case was committed by this group of people, the impression of their master, Prince Yong, in the eyes of the people will be greatly reduced, and Prince Yong will also be punished by the emperor, which is what the prince will like to see.

That afternoon, Jian Ning and Ah Man arrived at the county road and immediately came into the sight of Huo Jincheng's men. One of them, Huo Ye, was Huo Jincheng's household servant, having been sent to Jin County to train at the Dingzihao last year. Huo Ye, unaware of Ah Man's arrival in Jin County, was puzzled by the possibility of two people so similar. Later, seeing Ah Man and Jian Ning acting out their own drama, the two of them sneaking into the manor one after the other, he was utterly bewildered, unable to determine whether the old man and the young man were friend or foe.

When another group of people followed Luo Junxian all the way from the city to the outskirts, they met up with Huo Ye and his men to exchange clues. Huo Ye mentioned Jian Ning and Ah Man. He asked the person who returned to report the news to pass on a message to Huo Jincheng, asking if the old man and the young girl were the ones arranged by Huo Jincheng, and said that the girl looked a lot like the young master Ah Man.

When Huo Jincheng learned about this, he was extremely anxious. He thought that A'man had sneaked away from Yang Jinyu and fell into the hands of Luo Junxian's gang. In addition, he had solid evidence, so he took the prince's token to Shouzheng to borrow city defense soldiers.

After Ma Fuquan and Jian Ning engaged in a fierce battle with Luo Junxian and his men from both inside and outside, Huo Ye sent someone back to report to Huo Jincheng. At that moment, he spurred his horse over, tightened the reins, and the white horse beneath him let out a long neigh. Suddenly, all four hooves leaped into the air, leaping over the courtyard wall that had been half-collapsed by Ma Fuquan's grenade, and landed in the courtyard like a killing god.

"Aman!"

"Daddy?" Ah Man poked his head out from behind Ma Xiaomai. "It's Daddy! My Daddy is here, my Daddy is here!"

Ah Man ran out cheering.

"Go back!" Jian Ning shouted urgently.

Ah Man turned around and ran back. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and ran fast. As soon as she turned around, a poisonous arrow fell where she had just stood.

"Luo Junxian, you bastard!" Huo Jincheng trembled the silver spear in his hand and pointed it angrily at the second floor. "You are surrounded. If you know what's good for you, get down here and surrender!"

Captain Guan, who had already led his men in, was blocked by a rain of arrows on the first floor. After hearing his call, Captain Guan was about to organize his men to launch a new round of attack, but Luo Junxian, who was fighting like a trapped beast on the second floor, suddenly launched a counterattack and led his men to kill them.

At the same time, the sound of hurried horse hooves was heard on the county road again, and a longer fire dragon appeared on the county road, heading towards the manor at the speed of a 100-meter sprint.

Dazhou County was the fief of King Zhao, who was the full brother of King Yong. The princes of Dayan State all had their own private armies, but the number of people was controlled within 500. Those with more than 500 people would be regarded as having rebellious intentions.

Huo Jincheng suspected that the troops who arrived were from the Prince of Zhao's palace. Although Dazhou County was a fiefdom of the Prince of Zhao, it was not governed by him but by officials from the imperial court. The Prince of Zhao had simply arrived with his troops to stir up trouble and allow Luo Junxian to escape. If Luo Junxian escaped, even if they found the missing child, there would be no evidence to prove his disappearance.

Luo Junxian had already released the carrier pigeon when Jian Ning sent out the signal flare, prompting Ma Fuquan and Captain Guan to lead their men into the front yard. He knew his only escape today was a desperate charge, so he attacked with ruthless abandon, each move a lethal blow. The iron fan he wielded was rigged with numerous poison needles, which pierced several of Captain Guan's officers, sending them screaming in agony.

"Go in and capture Luo Junxian alive!" Huo Jincheng shouted to the captain of the city gate who followed him in, then jumped off his horse. When he got off his horse, he noticed that Ma Fuquan and Jian Ning rushed in one after another.

At this time, Huo Jincheng didn't know that the woman who rushed in with Ma Fuquan was Jian Ning. He just found that they were using the same strange weapon, and the two of them took turns moving and coordinated very tacitly, like old partners who had fought side by side for many years. Seeing this, he had a big question mark in his mind. He didn't know what the hell they were using. It was so powerful. Why didn't he see Ma Fuquan use it when he was escorting the convoy last time?

Under the combined fire of two submachine guns, Luo Junxian and his companions retreated back upstairs within a single round. He was deeply upset. What a tumble! He had fallen prey to a woman and a constable! That woman had also killed his eldest brother, Feng Qingzi. There had never been any mention of this woman in the martial arts world. What was her background? What strange weapons did she and the constable wield?

He couldn't figure it out.

Downstairs, Jian Ning and Ma Fuquan looked at each other, and then the two of them performed a serpentine movement under Huo Jincheng's nose. They took turns using submachine guns to suppress the people who were shooting poison arrows upstairs, and rushed up to cover each other and blew open the door on the second floor with a grenade.

Under the crushing force of modern weapons, the henchmen around Luo Junxian were all beaten to pieces. Finally, he was the only one left. He was shot in the legs by Jian Ning and Ma Fuquan, and fell to his knees on the ground.

Huo Jincheng ordered his men to tie him up, and Captain Guan did it himself. He stabbed several of his runners in the throat with poison needles. He wished he could cut him into pieces!

When Luo Junxian was dragged downstairs, King Zhao arrived with his men.