Chapter 195: The Secret Guards in Yangcheng

Jiang Jingyan followed the maid to the kitchen, where there was not a drop of water, let alone hot tea.

What was originally a three-point thirst has now been magnified to a ten-point thirst.

Jiang Jingyan could only go out to buy water to drink, but there were no restaurants in Yangcheng. After all, the economic situation was bad, and those who could afford to eat out were mostly government officials. These officials' own small kitchens were far superior to those in the city's restaurants. Ordinary people, even if they had money, couldn't afford to eat out; they used it all to buy food.

Therefore, opening a restaurant is a losing proposition, not to mention the labor costs, making it a poor investment.

There were small stalls on the street, mostly run by the owners themselves, but they only sold dried food and there was no water to drink.

Jiang Jingyan walked around for a while, feeling a burning sensation in his throat, as if it were about to explode.

Between intrigue and overt schemes, blatant sabotage is the most intractable.

When Chunzhi heard the message from the secret guards, she couldn't help but smile. She hadn't expected that Su Zhenzhen could teach the other party a lesson without her having to lift a finger.

"Keep an eye on him. He'll die of thirst after seven days without water. Let's give this young master Jiang a good rest for now."

A slight rustling sound blew, and the shadowy figure quickly retreated.

Noble families train secret guards, unlike assassins who are specifically used for shady dealings, like a vicious blade.

The secret guards are responsible for reconnaissance and stealing information. They need a certain level of intelligence and are essentially the eyes and ears of the master. Sometimes they even act as the master's brain, making all the decisions.

In other words, the assassins are dead, while the secret guards are alive.

Training assassins only requires continuously improving their endurance and combat skills, while cultivating secret guards requires a comprehensive approach.

Since coming into contact with that group of private soldiers, Chunzhi has been consciously training some of them to become secret guards.

Her deceased husband, Xu Hua, also turned a blind eye to this.

Chunzhi didn't have many secret guards at her disposal, and on the other hand, fearing that things might change in the future, she didn't bring these people out into the open.

No one knew that there was a secret guard force within the Northwest Army; even Hensheng was kept in the dark.

Su Zhenzhen was unaware of this either, but she had sharp hearing and eyesight, and her body, after being upgraded and modified by the gene optimization fluid, could hear sounds from hundreds or thousands of times greater than those of ordinary people.

Even bodyguards are human; humans breathe.

Su Zhenzhen initially thought this person was there to monitor her, but after Jiang Jingyan left the courtyard, his steady breathing stopped, indicating that Jiang Jingyan was the one being watched.

At this time, who would send someone to keep an eye on Jiang Jingyan?

If Hu Wen had such a capable person by his side, he wouldn't have been caught in a trap back then.

The answer is undoubtedly Chunzhi, and it was she who said to invite people in to keep an eye on things.

Su Zhenzhen was sunbathing in the yard; it was really interesting.

Does Chunzhi have secret guards under her command? Does Hensheng know that?

The Northwest Army appears to be united in purpose, but the leaders all have their own agendas.

Hensheng's greatest asset now is not his status as the crown prince of the Jiang Dynasty, but the Northwest Army under Chunzhi's command.

The former Huo family army in the Northwest Army regarded General Huo as their leader, and General Huo firmly stood on Hensheng's side.

But it's hard to say about Chunzhi.

The saying "A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea" is not without reason.

Regardless of the circumstances, Xu Hua died because he hated life.

Since Old Mrs. Xu raised Chunzhi, she naturally couldn't resent her mother-in-law, who was like a mother to her.

If one night, in the dead of night, lying alone in her cold bed, Chunzhi thinks of her husband who left before her, it's anyone's guess who she will vent her resentment on.

The people of the Jiang Dynasty cannot be judged by ordinary standards.

This dynasty was a mad dynasty, and the people in this era were not very normal either.

Su Zhenzhen was speechless; this was simply a scripted murder mystery game with a terrible ending.

Currently, Hensheng's main mission is to reclaim the lost territories.

Jiang Sijin's main mission is to seize the Jiang Dynasty's throne from Hensheng.

Chunzhi's main mission is to protect the ordinary people of the Jiang Dynasty.

And what about yourself?

Becoming a qualified underworld messenger? But the progress bar has disappeared. Besides, my abilities are slowly awakening; theoretically, I should already be qualified.

Do we have to wait until the main quest of hating life is completed before we can see the real answer?

Su Zhenzhen even considered going directly to the capital and using the remaining Thunderbolt Pills to blow up all those powerful families.

In this way, Hensheng could directly enter the imperial city.

However, how to relocate the people from the aristocratic families' rule is a problem.

Thinking of this, Su Zhenzhen suddenly became motivated and rushed to the county government office to find Hu Wen.

Chunzhi has practically settled down in the county government office, and Hu Wen works a regular 9-to-5 job every day, just like clocking in for work.

However, he did not have a vacation.

Hu Wen is capable, but he is also limited by the times, as can be seen from the fact that shops of all sizes in Yangcheng have closed down.

It has been half a year since Hensheng took control of Yangcheng, and we can start working on restoring the economy.

Chunzhi is an outsider in this field. She can keep track of the general direction without making mistakes, but when it comes to studying the details, she is not quite qualified.

When Su Zhenzhen arrived, Chunzhi was reading a book in the main seat, while Hu Wen was idly slacking off.

Indeed, slacking off is a corporate culture that has existed since ancient times.

"Sister Chunzhi," Su Zhenzhen greeted first.

Chunzhi looked up from her book, her expression gentle. "You've come. Please make yourself at home."

Hearing the sound, Hu Wen stopped slacking off and began to look at the files on the table with feigned interest.

Su Zhenzhen was puzzled. No, there was nothing related to household registration at this time of year, so why was she looking at the case files?

Su Zhenzhen casually sat down next to Hu Wen and looked at Chunzhi, saying, "Sister Chunzhi, I have some questions for the Prefect."

"Then I'll go out first." Chunzhi began to tidy up the books on the table.

Seeing Chunzhi so deliberately avoiding suspicion, Su Zhenzhen wondered if she had misunderstood. Perhaps Chunzhi was indeed a virtuous and noble woman, and she shouldn't judge her with such petty suspicions.

"Sister Chunzhi, please sit here. We're all family here, there's nothing you can't listen to."

Hu Wen, forced to become "one of their own," had a complicated expression on his face. He originally only wanted to amass wealth as much as possible while in the position of prefect. If the country were to change, he would either flee and go into seclusion or surrender to a powerful warlord. In short, he only wanted to live a life of wealth and leisure.

After a leisurely life, I never imagined that at this age I would be conscripted into the army.

Hu Wen's intuition told him that what Su Zhenzhen wanted to "ask for advice" was not so simple.

As expected, seeing Chunzhi stop what she was doing and sit down, Su Zhenzhen spoke up.

“Prefect Hu, you have been in charge of Yangcheng for more than 20 years. I imagine you have a lot of experience in dealing with people’s livelihood.”

Upon hearing the flattering words at the beginning, Hu Wen immediately sensed something was wrong, but he didn't expect the following words to be even more dangerous.

"I wonder if there's any way to relocate the people from other cities without alerting their officials?"