After Fu Ge and his fellow disciples from Xianwu Island returned to the house at the end of the village, Zhu Lin was already putting Xingxing to sleep. Only Zhou Laoda and his wife were in the main room, waiting for Fu Ge to return.
Seeing that no one was hurt, they were relieved and instructed Jingjing and Xiaoxiao to take turns keeping watch while they went to catch up on their sleep.
When Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua came out of the main room, they were really startled to see ten men in black standing in a row in the courtyard.
"Uncle Zhou and Aunt Zhao, don't be afraid. These people are my men. I have some things to tell them, and I'll leave as soon as I'm done," Zhu Qiuyu explained with a smile.
"But why do these people's clothes look so much like the people who chased us before?" Zhao Guihua asked a thought-provoking question.
Isn't that the same group of people?
However, Zhu Qiuyu was afraid of scaring them, so he didn't tell the truth. He only said that the people he hired would not do anything immoral.
"You all go and keep watch at the village entrance tonight. If there's any movement, come and report immediately," Zhu Qiuyu instructed calmly, though her eyes subtly carried a hint of authority, warning the men in black not to try anything funny, or the consequences would be severe.
Watching the man in black leave with a look of apprehension, Boss Zhou and Zhao Guihua exchanged a glance, both seeing doubt in each other's eyes. Well, the people of Xianwu Island are incredibly skilled in martial arts. Since they dare to use men in black, they must be confident in controlling them.
The Zhou couple wisely refrained from asking any further questions and quietly went inside.
Ten men in black, six guarding various positions at the village entrance and four guarding several positions at the village's end. At this moment, the men in black were in a daze and in a fantastical state. They had originally come to kill people, but after midnight, they became the enemy's guards.
It was quite sudden.
On the other side, Prince Gong was at Quanshui Mansion when he learned that the men he had sent out had been wiped out. He couldn't believe it. Were those few men in white really that powerful?
Faced with the facts, he had to accept reality, but he simply couldn't swallow his anger.
"Pfft." Prince Gong spat out a mouthful of blood.
"The four hundred assassins I hired, costing sixty thousand taels of silver, are all dead. I myself have also lost two hundred of my own men..." Prince Gong could not continue; the cost was too high to bear.
"Your Highness, how are you? Are you alright?" A beautiful woman helped Prince Gong up. This woman was also Prince Gong's subordinate and had come specifically to serve him.
Do I look like I'm alright? Prince Gong glared at the woman, letting her wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief.
"The power of Nanyang Prefecture was destroyed before I even arrived, and now the power of Quanshui Prefecture has been severely damaged, and we've even lost a silver mine. Is Heaven really going to destroy me?" Prince Gong said with a look of resentment, closing his eyes in anger.
"Investigate! We must find out the origins of those men in white. I refuse to believe we can't deal with them." He wasn't so easily defeated; the forces of Anyang Prefecture and Pingzhou Prefecture hadn't even been mobilized yet.
These two prefectures are the truly powerful ones, and they won't be moved easily. They were originally intended to be used for attacking the capital later, but the current situation is not good, so he decided to send some people over to solve the current predicament.
It would be best to reclaim the silver mine. The man in white must not be allowed to live; we cannot let him take the real princess back to the capital.
Nanyang Prefecture.
Zheng Qingshu was summoned to the prefectural city by the prefect a month ago to assist in the investigation. Now there are some clues, but unfortunately Ye Yingtao from the Zhong family is too cunning. She managed to escape before the government officials could arrest her.
"That concubine from the Zhong family fled to Quanshui Prefecture with a servant. I didn't expect Ye Yingtao to be so skilled. We sent so many people but we still couldn't catch her," Zheng Qingshu said with a regretful expression.
The prefect paced back and forth a few steps with a stern face, and said in a deep voice, "It has now been confirmed that Ye Yingtao is Prince Gong's person. But why is Prince Gong's person a merchant's concubine? I heard that the woman is extremely beautiful. Since Prince Gong wants to develop his own power, why not let the people he cultivates seduce officials? Wouldn't that be more advantageous?"
After saying that, the prefect added, "I'm just giving an example. I'm not saying I want that woman to seduce me. I just don't understand."
Zheng Qingshu was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips into a smile. However, he still carefully analyzed the question raised by the prefect and finally came to the conclusion that...
"I thought Prince Gong was after money. But do you know that back in the capital, after his rebellion failed, one of his secret treasures was seized by the Emperor's men? Having lost his greatest asset, he had to find something else to compensate."
Prince Gong wasn't a particularly shrewd person; I reckon that's about all he was capable of scheming.
“That concubine in the Zhong family has been hiding in the Zhong family for six or seven years. She was planted there a long time ago,” the prefect said after thinking for a while. “The treasure of Prince Gong was very likely transferred from various merchants by these women. They not only made money by relying on women, but also used the merchants’ money to train assassins.”
Zheng Qingshu nodded in agreement, "However, this Ye Yingtao is clearly not very useful. After so many years of management, she has not cultivated much power, and in the end, all of her loyal followers were lost. Now she is openly fleeing to Quanshui Prefecture. Shouldn't we take advantage of the victory and send people to cooperate with the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture to capture her?"
"This matter needs further discussion. I have a minor grudge against the prefect of Quanshui Prefecture, so I'm afraid we can't cooperate."
The prefect looked somewhat embarrassed. He hadn't wanted to bring this up, but although Zheng Qingshu was his subordinate, the Zheng family's influence in the capital was not to be underestimated. In addition, Minister Tie was the Zheng family's son-in-law, so he couldn't afford to offend him. He could only tell the truth.
After returning to the county town from the government office, Zheng Qingshu went directly to Meizhoulou Restaurant and ordered bayberry wine and bayberry stewed pork. He sat in a private room on the second floor, accompanied only by Zheng Yue. Tie Qingfeng had returned to Yegou Village and had not stayed in the county town for a long time.
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