36. Shadows in the Sun

On the official road of Luocheng, Yunyang was sitting on his horse waiting. It would only take an hour for Jiefanwei to rush over from the Mengjin camp. With Jiaotu holding the king's banner, no one should dare to disobey his orders.

Behind him, more than ten secret agents stood on their horses, silent.

These spies were dressed in black and were like solid reefs in the river. The flow of people on the official road was like the river water, and they would go around them when they saw them.

The Secret Service Department and the Chief Criminal Department are so notorious that ordinary people dare not provoke them.

At this time, the sound of horse hooves came from afar, getting closer and closer, as loud as thunder.

But Jiaotu, dressed in black, was leading the way, followed closely by five hundred Jiefan Guards, raising a cloud of dust.

Jie Fanwei was wearing a straw raincoat, a conical hat, a long sword across the saddle behind his waist, and a black cloth scarf tied between his mouth and nose, looking as stern and murderous as a dragon.

"Okay, okay, the whole camp is here!" Yun Yang chuckled and rode his horse to meet them, with the joy of having won for sure in his laughter.

When the two sides met, Yun Yang's face turned dark.

He frowned and looked at Lin Chaoqing in the crowd: "Commander Lin, why are you here too?"

Lin Chaoqing said in a deep voice, "I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Criminal Division. You mobilized the Jiefan Guards for no reason, so naturally I must come to question you. I need to know why you mobilized the Jiefan Guards. The King's Flag is useful, but if used improperly, the consequences can be serious."

Yunyang rode his horse up to Lin Chaoqing, the two standing only two feet apart. They exchanged sharp words, "This matter has already been reported to the Internal Minister. With the King's banner in hand, there's no need to tell you. Furthermore, I need to be wary of any of you colluding with the enemy. If the news leaks out, you won't be able to bear the consequences."

Lin Chaoqing looked around, his gaze from under his bamboo hat slashing through the spies like a knife: "What about that masked guy? Was this his decision?"

"What do you mean?" Yun Yang frowned. "Why would my Secret Service need a little harrier to make decisions?"

Lin Chaoqing snorted softly, "If you get into a disaster this time, no one will help you turn the tide. Let's go, I'll see what you plan to do."

"Haha, Lin Chaoqing, you will be envious when Jiaotu and I achieve great merit this time!" Yunyang kicked his horse's belly and led 500 riders straight to Beimang Mountain.

Along the way, Lin Chaoqing looked at the direction they were heading, and the more he looked, the more frightened he became. Until he vaguely saw the cemetery on the mountain in the distance, he couldn't help but ask aloud, "Are you going to the Liu family's ancestral tomb?!"

Yunyang laughed heartily. "Jiaotu and I have discovered that there is only an empty coffin in Old Master Liu's tomb. A while ago, the Liu family petitioned His Majesty to posthumously confer a title on Old Master Liu. Now, they have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor! Now, no one is allowed to leave, or they will be treated as leakers!"

Five hundred riders rushed up Beimang Mountain, but more than a hundred guards at the Liu family's ancestral tomb blocked their way, with a long wooden barrier placed in front of the gate.

Someone shouted at Yun Yang, "This is my Liu family's ancestral tomb. All the ministers who have served are buried here. There are also twelve imperially bestowed loyalty and filial piety archways. How dare you trespass here?"

Yun Yang ignored him and shouted, "Follow me and ride on Beimang Mountain. This is the time to make a name for yourself! Anyone who stands in my way will be killed without mercy!"

He rushed out first, and with a leap he even jumped over the wooden barriers.

Among the Liu family guards, one man leaped up and slashed with his sword in mid-air.

However, behind Yun Yang, Lin Chaoqing drew his long sword and threw the scabbard casually. The scabbard flew like lightning and knocked the warrior raised by the Liu family down in the air.

Jie Fanwei rode over one after another, and the cavalry charged back and forth, killing all the Liu family members.

This line of defense was like a piece of paper in front of Jie Fanwei and was easily broken through.

In the blink of an eye, Yunyang had already arrived in front of Old Master Liu's tomb. He pointed at the stone gate in front of him and said, "Jie Fanwei, break into the tomb, open the coffin, and examine the body!"

However, at this moment, a familiar voice came from a distance: "Master Yunyang, do you know what the consequences of doing this will be?"

Yunyang looked over and saw that Liu Mingxian was still in mourning and slowly walked out of the crowd.

There were more than ten people following behind him, staring at him with eager eyes, ready to kill at the command.

Jiaotu whispered, "He's an official raised by the Liu family."

"No matter how powerful the officer is, he can't break the military formation alone, unless those people come!" Yun Yang didn't care about that: "Liu Mingxian, your old man is obviously not dead, so you can take off your mourning clothes! Come on, open the tomb!"

Liu Mingxian shouted angrily: "Let's see who dares?!"

"It's not up to you!"

untie

The Fan Guards are the elite of the inner court. They only know how to obey orders. It doesn’t matter whether you are the Tongpan of Luocheng or the Tongpan of Jingcheng.

The next moment, the Jiefan Guards jumped off their horses, swords drawn, and rushed over to kill the Liu family completely, and arrived in front of the tomb of Old Master Liu!

Jiaotu snatched the long sword from the Secret Service officer beside him and said coldly, "Get out of the way!"

The Jiefanwei team made way for her in unison, allowing her to drag her sword forward to the front of the mausoleum and chop it down with one blow!

With a loud bang.

With one cut, the stone mausoleum collapsed in two, revealing the coffin inside.

Yun Yang strode forward, stood in front of the coffin, and sneered, "Liu Mingxian, let's see how you can keep your stubbornness!"

After saying that, he struggled to open the coffin!

The world was silent. All those who were fighting stopped what they were doing and looked over in a daze... The coffin was really opened!

Everyone says that after being put into the coffin, one cannot look up at the sky or down to the ground, otherwise the soul will wander between heaven and earth and will never be reborn!

But Old Master Liu served in the cabinet and ruled for more than ten years, but his coffin was opened after his death!

Yun Yang said, "Liu Mingxian, do you have anything else to say?"

Jiaotu, who was standing by, looked into the coffin and asked in surprise, "What's going on?!"

Yunyang turned his head and was stunned for a moment. He saw Old Master Liu lying quietly in the coffin.

Liu Mingxian burst into tears and collapsed to the ground. "Grandpa, I'm such an unfilial grandson. I allowed the eunuchs to commit such a horrible act! I'm such an unfilial grandson. I deserve to die!"

Yunyang looked at Jiaotu in surprise: "Didn't you say..."

Jiaotu was also stunned: "When we investigated that day, there was indeed no one inside!"

Yunyang took a step back.

How could that be?

There should be no one in the coffin, and Old Master Liu should be alive, so how could he appear in the coffin!

How could this happen?!

Liu Mingxian's eyes were red from crying as he looked at Lin Chaojing and said fiercely, "Lin Chaoqing, is this how you, the Criminal Division, do things? You allow the Secret Service Division to persecute meritorious officials?!"

Lin Chaoqing looked at Yunyang and Jiaotu with a sullen expression: "Is this what you are going to do? Come, arrest them both and take them to the capital to await your punishment!"

Yunyang suddenly raised his hand: "Wait!"

As he said this, he was about to touch Old Master Liu's body, but before he could do so, someone suddenly jumped up from behind Liu Mingxian and kicked him out: "You still want to disturb the old master's peace? You're looking for death!"

This person's strength is actually much stronger than what he showed before!

When Jiaotu saw Yunyang suffering a loss, he picked up his knife and attacked.

Another person suddenly stood up from behind Liu Mingxian and rushed forward. The two men separated immediately in front of the coffin. This time, Jiaotu flew backwards and fell heavily to the ground.

When Jiaotu got up again, he raised his hand angrily, ready to cut his eyebrows and start a killing spree.

However, Yunyang shouted, "Jiaotu, stop! You can't reveal your cultivation methods!"

Jiaotu looked at Yunyang coldly: "It's not impossible to defeat him. Kill him and hide your identity."

"Five hundred Jiefan Guards are here, we can't defeat them," Yunyang shook his head and said dejectedly, "Even if we hide our identities, there's nowhere else to hide. Let's go back to the capital and see the Minister."

Lin Chaoqing jumped on his horse and said, "Take them both away!"

Liu Mingxian's eyes were red and he gritted his teeth, "Just leaving like that? I want these two to be buried with my grandfather!"

Lin Chaoqing snorted coldly, "When will it be your turn to make the decision on matters concerning the Imperial Household Department? The Minister of Internal Affairs will give you justice, but if he doesn't speak, no one can touch them."

With that, Lin Chaoqing took Yunyang and Jiaotu away.

Yunyang was standing on the mountain road of Beimang Mountain, staring at Luocheng in amazement: when they came, they were holding the royal flag and were the twelve zodiac animals of the Secret Service, but when they left, they had become prisoners.

The trouble this time is so big that even the Prime Minister cannot cover it up.

Yun Yang looked at Jie Fanwei beside him and said impatiently, "Don't keep holding me. I can't run away. Step aside and let us talk."

The Jiefan Guards glanced at him, but were ultimately intimidated by his reputation for ferocity and silently took a few steps back, surrounding him from the front and back as they walked down the mountain.

Seeing this, Jiaotu came close to Yunyang and whispered, "What's going on? Did the Liu family get the news in advance and know that we would open the coffin for an autopsy? But this old man Liu can't just die like that, right? Did I see it wrong that day... Wait, did Chen Ji ask the Liu family for help?

Delivered the message?"

Yun Yang suddenly frowned and subconsciously looked around to see if Chen Ji was there.

He always felt that the apprentice was watching him from the shadows.

Yun Yang knew that he would not die, and the Minister of Internal Affairs still needed him to kill people. But if it was really Chen Ji who did it this time, when he returned to the Secret Service, he would probably be ridiculed by someone.

He hesitated a bit. "Chen Ji didn't know we were going to open the coffin and perform an autopsy today. If he could even guess this, he'd be incredible."

"He is indeed very powerful," Jiaotu said frankly.

Yun Yang was unwilling to admit that not only had he failed to gain advantage by borrowing a knife to kill someone, but he had also been framed and thrown into prison. "He should be preoccupied with himself right now. Concubine Jing has lost her son and now her nephew, whom she had watched grow up. She's already lost her mind and will definitely seek revenge on him."

Jiaotu was being escorted, but her tone became relaxed again. She lowered her voice and said, "Let's not talk about who leaked the news for now. We need to find someone to find Chen Ji and ask him to find a way to save us! Give him money!"

Yun Yang was silent for a moment: "But we are being watched by Lin Chaoqing now, where can we find someone?"

"Too……"

Yun Yang suddenly said, "I have an insider in the Liu family. Maybe I'll soon know who passed on the information."

After the two were escorted down the mountain by the Jiefan Guards, Liu Mingxian stopped crying. He stood up from the coffin with a calm expression, wiped away his tears, and said calmly, "Let's find out who passed on the information to us."

"It's said that a letter suddenly appeared in the house, and the guards didn't notice who put it there."

Liu Mingxian frowned. "How could someone sneak into the inner house without making any noise? What are all those experts I hired for? When will you recruit some real experts for me?"

There was complete silence all around, and no one dared to respond.

Liu Mingxian took a deep breath and said, "To think there's a high-ranking official hiding somewhere unknown to us, and even sneaking into my inner house? Even if it's difficult to investigate, we have to investigate!"

…

…

Chen Ji walked slowly down the long street, in the shadows beneath the eaves. People streamed by him, and he seemed to have nothing to do with the world.

Fallen autumn leaves covered the streets, creating a bleak scene.

This is not the Los Angeles that Chen Ji imagined. It is more cruel than he imagined. If you don't kill people, people will kill you.

When he first arrived, he had to be very careful in everything he did, for fear of doing something wrong or saying something wrong.

And now, he has learned how to deal with this world.

Although life is not glamorous, it doesn’t matter.

A furry head popped out from Wuyun's arms: "Chen Ji, there's a roast chicken over there. Buy me one."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Okay, you've done a great deed today, you can eat whatever you want, and it's reasonable for you to sleep on my head."

At this time, they heard the sound of laughter behind them. Chen Ji turned around and saw dozens of people riding tall horses, walking happily towards them in the sunshine.

Someone shouted, "The prince is back! The prince and the two princesses are back from Donglin Academy!"

But he saw a young man wearing a white sable fur coat sitting on a horse. Liang Gou'er, who had chopped Lin Chaoqing's hat at night, was holding the reins for him with a flattering look. Liang Mao'er was holding the long sword and following behind with a distressed look on his face.

Five or six women followed behind on white horses, whispering and laughing from time to time.

When the group of people approached, Chen Ji suddenly saw two people riding horses behind the crowd. They were his two elder brothers from the Chen family.

The two men rode their horses alongside the prince, one of them jokingly saying, "Prince, my brother and I returned to Luocheng a few days ago. You left the academy even earlier than us. Why did you only come back today? Where did you go to play?"

The prince laughed: "If I go back to Luocheng, I will be under the supervision of the old man. Of course, it is better to come back later!"

Wu Yun whispered in his arms, "Chen Ji, who are they?"

"unimportant."

As he was talking, people passed by the eaves where he was, and no one even glanced at him.

The brilliant light of noon shone on their white horses and brocade robes, and they were in high spirits and the sun was shining brightly.

Chen Ji stood in the shadow under the eaves, and in the shadow there were only the boy and the cat.

…

…

Volume 1, Prologue (End)