Chapter 46: Becoming a Qualified Bodyguard

A strange feeling welled up in Seventeen's heart. He looked at Xie Qingyan and then glanced outside.

Seeing his expression, Xie Qingyan asked, guessing, "Does the Seventeenth Guard have something to do?"

"No."

Seventeen hesitated for a moment, suppressing the strange feeling in her heart for the time being, but her eyes kept falling outside.

"Go if you have urgent business to attend to; I won't run away."

Xie Qingyan spoke sincerely, but Seventeen still didn't agree: "No need."

"Sigh, with all this poison in my body, what's the point of running? Besides, even if I did run, where could I go? The seventeenth guard saw how I looked when I came down the mountain, so there's really no need to worry."

Seventeen's heart swayed slightly. She blinked and looked at Xie Qingyan. The other party's eyes were very sincere and serious. His black eyes were clear as water, completely unlike those bandits.

As he looked at him, he felt a sense of familiarity. Xie Qingyan's face seemed familiar; he felt he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place it...

"Okay, I'll just be out for a bit. Don't even think about running away. I'll be right back."

Seventeen warned him repeatedly, but Xie Qingyan remained calm and respectfully agreed to every word.

Only when that strange feeling in Seventeen's heart rose again did he finally turn around and leave.

The night was as dark as ink, and only a few lights could be seen on the mountain peaks in the distance, but they did not attract anyone's attention.

Seventeen pondered this in his mind, then leaped across the rooftops and reached the outside of the yamen. The yamen officials had not been sent to suppress the bandits, as those bandits were armed and the people in the yamen could not handle them.

Therefore, the government office was unusually quiet at this time, and there was not a single person there.

Seventeen thought for a moment, then followed the route in his memory, turning left and right, until he arrived at the magistrate's residence in Pu County.

The Pu residence was equally quiet, with only a few guards on night duty standing outside yawning.

Seventeen sneaked into the mansion and was about to head towards the main house when he saw a figure emerge from a room.

He quickly dodged to hide, but his eyes remained fixed on the figure.

He is the magistrate of Pu County.

The other person was dressed fully in the middle of the night, seemingly preparing to go out.

But Seventeen saw him look around and then go out through a side door.

Strange... Why should I enter through a side gate in my own residence?

Seventeen followed him silently to the magistrate's office, and was somewhat surprised.

Could it be that he's here in the middle of the night to handle official business? Or did His Highness instruct him to come and deal with it after the bandit suppression was over?

Seventeen was puzzled, but she still squatted down and stared at him.

After entering the yamen, the magistrate of Pu County did not attend to any business, but instead turned around and went into the backyard.

There were two rooms in the backyard of the yamen. One room was piled with case files from over the years, covered in dust, and the other room was the kitchen, where they usually ate their meals.

After entering the backyard, Magistrate Pu went straight to the kitchen. Seventeen followed behind, wondering: What are they doing in the kitchen? Are they hungry?

Seventeen, hiding in the shadows, kept a close eye on Magistrate Pu's every move. He saw Magistrate Pu enter the kitchen and lift up a large wooden lid. It was dark, so he couldn't see very clearly, but it vaguely looked like a rice jar.

What is the magistrate of Pu County doing at the rice bin? Is he cooking rice for dinner so late at night?

Seventeen became increasingly puzzled, but then he saw the magistrate of Pu County lift the wooden lid and seem to reach into the rice jar and rummage around for something. There was a soft "click" sound, and something seemed to have moved next to the rice jar.

The magistrate of Pu County looked back and, seeing no one following, reached out and lifted a floorboard, quickly crawled inside, and then immediately covered it up again.

Seventeen was stunned by this series of rapid actions and didn't know whether he should follow. He waited for a while and there seemed to be no movement. He thought to himself that Magistrate Pu didn't seem to be doing anything good. If he caught him red-handed, it would be perfect.

Thinking it over, Seventeen jumped off the roof and ran to the rice bin. He looked around and sure enough, there was a gap in one of the floorboards that was larger than the others. It wasn't very obvious, but perhaps because it had just been opened, and Seventeen had taken the time to look, he could spot it almost immediately.

He reached out and exerted a little force; his already slender body didn't require much movement, and he slipped inside like a nimble cat. From the outside, the kitchen remained completely calm.

Seventeen groped his way forward in the dark. Fortunately, his eyes had gradually adjusted, and although he could not see very clearly, there was only one path in front of him. When he reached out and touched the ground, he found that the surrounding area was full of pitted and uneven stone walls.

He walked along the road, his steps light and silent. He walked on and on, and Seventeen lost track of how long he had walked until he heard a faint, strange noise ahead.

Upon hearing the strange noise, Seventeen held his breath, bent down to lower his height, and continued walking in the direction of the noise.

After walking for a while, his vision finally opened up, and the surrounding stone walls had been replaced by neat wooden planks, just like someone's house.

In front of him was the interior of a house.

It's called a house, but it's actually a hidden cave, just decorated to look like the interior of a house, though rather rudimentary.

The magistrate of Pu County was in front of him, his back to Seventeen, groping around for something.

Seventeen focused his mind and pressed himself against the wall, breathing softly, thus failing to attract the attention of the magistrate of Pu County.

Magistrate Pu seemed to have pressed some kind of mechanism on the wall, and the wooden board next to him rose up, revealing the space inside. Seventeen was shocked to see that the small space was filled with a densely packed pile of glittering golden objects, which looked like some kind of treasures and gold.

How could a mere county magistrate like him have so much stuff hidden away?!

The 17th Party Congress was shocked, but he could only hide his shock and slowly retreated from the secret passage.

He squatted back down on the roof beam. After a while, Magistrate Pu came out. He seemed to be preoccupied. Finally, he gritted his teeth, made a decision, and turned to leave the kitchen.

After Magistrate Pu left and returned to his residence, Seventeen turned to leave. He was somewhat dazed the whole way. Didn't Magistrate Pu say that he was forced to cooperate with the bandits because they threatened his life and the safety of his family? How could he be hiding so many rare items? Could he be a corrupt official?

I've heard His Highness and Yue Ge mention that the magistrate of Pu County has mediocre political achievements, is honest and simple, and doesn't form cliques with others. That's why His Majesty sent him here in the first place.

Even after returning to the inn, Seventeen was still a little dazed. As soon as she entered, she saw Xie Qingyan leisurely making himself a cup of tea and drinking it.

"I'm asking you, do you know about the collusion between the county magistrate and that gang of bandits?"

Xie Qingyan had just raised a smile and was about to greet him when he heard these words, but his smile froze, and he asked with a puzzled look, "What collusion? They're colluding with the county magistrate?"

"I only know that the magistrate here is cowardly and honest. It's understandable that he's afraid of bandits, but to use the word 'colluded' seems a bit inappropriate."

Xie Qingyan frowned slightly, not understanding why Seventeen would ask such a question. Before Seventeen could answer him, they heard a sound from outside. It was His Highness and Yue-ge returning.

Xiao Mowen went along this time as well. For some reason, Seventeen felt that Brother Xiao didn't seem as fierce as before. He seemed to be in a good mood. She wondered if the bandit suppression had cheered him up.

"Your Highness, Brother Yue, Brother Xiao."

Seventeen greeted the three of them. The small room was quite cramped with four adults and Seventeen sitting inside.

"The bandits have all been temporarily imprisoned and will be interrogated again tomorrow."

Long Zhaoming was clearly tired. Although he did not participate in the operation directly, many of the plans had to go through him, and he was feeling weary at this moment.

Xiao Mowen's gaze remained fixed on him, filled with worry.

After thinking for a moment, Seventeen told the others what he had just discovered.

"You mean, there's a large sum of gold and silver hidden in the government office?"

Long Zhaoming was dumbfounded. What was all this about? Could he possibly get a good night's sleep?

Mingyue was also somewhat surprised. In his impression, the magistrate of Pu County was an honest and kind person. Back in Yejing, he never formed cliques with anyone. Although he was somewhat mediocre, he was indeed a well-behaved and good-natured person.

Are you sure? You didn't see it wrong?

Seventeen shook his head: "No, I couldn't have been wrong. It's just that I didn't see the specific way to open the secret passage, so I can't go there again in private."

"It's alright. The bandits have all been captured, and there are troops stationed in Fenglin Town now, so they can't cause any trouble."

Long Zhaoming yawned, propping his head up with his hand. Mingyue spoke up from the side, "Has Your Highness arranged for people to interrogate those bandits?"

"Well, let the garrison interrogate those bandits first, but I doubt it will be of any use. Tomorrow I will personally interrogate the bandit leader."

It was indeed late at night, and if they didn't go to sleep soon they would see the dawn. After saying their goodbyes in a hurry, the group went back to their rooms to sleep.

After Long Zhaoming and Xiao Mowen left, Mingyue paused and looked at the two people in the room, asking, "Xie Qingyan, come with me."

Xie Qingyan was taken aback and turned to look at Seventeen. The other party was also unclear as to why Mingyue had suddenly changed her mind.

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"He's with me, keeping an eye on things."

Mingyue's tone was indifferent, without any other meaning, as if she was simply afraid that Xie Qingyan would run away.

Seventeen tilted his head and thought for a moment. Brother Yue's skills were superior to his own, and he also had more experience than him, so he was indeed more suitable.

With a bewildered look on her face, Xie Qingyan followed Mingyue to the next room and slept soundly through the night.

......

The next morning, Seventeen rubbed her sleepy eyes. She had gone to bed late the night before and almost didn't wake up in the morning.

Fortunately, Mingyue came to call him and was sitting on the side of the bed.

"Are you awake? Then you go ahead and get ready, I'll wait for you outside."

Hearing his slightly amused voice, Seventeen felt a surge of warmth in her heart. After a while, she remembered that she was supposed to be a bodyguard! How could she be woken up by someone every day! It was simply outrageous!

So as Seventeen dressed, she secretly resolved to get up early and become a qualified bodyguard!

Actually, we got up quite early when we were in the Dark Guard Camp. Perhaps it was because we were more relaxed after following His Highness, or perhaps His Highness was too lenient with them.

After the seventeenth day had finished getting ready, the three of them went to the yamen together.

Xiao Mowen was left at the inn again, but he no longer felt the same sullenness as before; instead, he felt quite comfortable.

Seventeen was confused and didn't know what had happened last night. Could it be that the bandits could be credited with a great deed?

When they arrived at the yamen, the garrison's deputy general quickly stepped forward and saluted: "This humble general, Ke Zhenhai, greets Your Highness."

Long Zhaoming smiled and helped him up: "Vice General Ke, no need for formalities. You all worked hard last night. Let the brothers go back and get some rest."

"yes!"

Ke Zhenhai was a burly man, tall and strong, with a stubble of light blue around his chin, looking very reliable.

“Last night, the brothers interrogated everyone. They didn’t know much about the ordinary bandits. Most of them were idle people who couldn’t make a living in the area, so they were recruited into the bandit camp.”

As Ke Zhenhai walked inside, he reported the situation to Long Zhaoming.