Chapter 126: Greenwood Counterattack

"The two of you, the harem must not interfere in politics." Chu Danqing let the palace maids help up the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, who were paralyzed on the ground, and said earnestly.

Being blinded by greed and gathering a group of mobs as their trump card was too stupid.

If they really succeeded, and then let the greenwood bandits manage the court, with their robber thinking that was still stuck in the primary stage, they wouldn't be able to develop at all, only harm the world.

Proper robber thinking was about colonizing and plundering outward; they couldn't do that, only internal exploitation and extraction.

Seeing that the two didn't speak, Chu Danqing continued: "Send these two to the bedroom where they should rest; don't return to the Yangqi Hall and Qingrong Palace again."

"That is not where they should live; it is His Majesty's residence."

Several Imperial Yulin Guards surrounded them, 'escorting' the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, who were supported by palace maids and eunuchs, away from the banquet scene.

"Alright, Your Majesty, you can go back and live there." Chu Danqing said to the young Emperor.

The young Emperor's mind was very chaotic.

The result was one of the situations he had anticipated, but the process wasn't quite right.

How did it look like this Commander Chu was truly a loyal minister?

But from his words and actions, there was not a bit of awe and respect, which was very contradictory.

"Thank... thank you, Commander Chu." The young Emperor still maintained that cowardly appearance: "There... there is a reward!"

As soon as the words fell, several eunuchs carried a screen wall made of jade bricks.

"I heard that Commander Chu loves treasures, so I specially bestow this upon you, my dear official." The young Emperor said hurriedly.

With Chu Danqing's help, he was able to successfully relocate the palace to show legitimacy, and next, he could further plan to take back power.

Chu Danqing reached out and touched it, and joy appeared on his face.

【Imperial Tribute · Spring Flower Autumn Moon Wall】

【Type: Treasure】

【Quality: Excellent】

【Effect 1:...】

【Effect 2: Sell to Dimension Paradise, selling price: 20,000 Paradise Points】

Upon seeing the selling price, the idea of looting the royal treasury arose in his heart.

But this idea was immediately suppressed by him.

They hadn't treated him badly, and the work bonus was also very rich.

One couldn't be greedy and do such a wicked thing.

If he really had the idea of "after I die, let the flood come," Chu Danqing would have usurped the throne and become Emperor long ago.

After looting, the situation would inevitably become chaotic again, and the stability measures he had taken would all be in vain.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Chu Danqing accepted it; he took his labor earnings with peace of mind.

Although there might have been a misunderstanding in the middle, the boss gave too much bonus; he wouldn't come to ask for it, and Chu Danqing certainly wouldn't take the initiative to return it.

Bonus and looting were fundamentally different.

Seeing Chu Danqing's demeanor, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

They were afraid that Chu Danqing wouldn't accept it and would take the opportunity to make trouble.

The young Emperor's doubts grew more and more, and he couldn't see through Chu Danqing more and more.

"I am a bit tired, so I will go to rest first; Commander Chu, please enjoy." The young Emperor had no appetite looking at the mess on the ground.

Not to mention he had to rush to move, lest there be any accidents if he waited too long.

Chu Danqing replied, and after the young Emperor left, he also took Dabao and left.

As soon as he went back, he had people go to the Investigation Bureau to check the intelligence.

He wanted to find out the cause and effect.

After Li Wanwu and Lady Fengsheng died, the position of Investigation Bureau Commissioner was taken over by Chu Danqing.

After clearing out the personnel who were blinded by greed and colluded with the outside, the Investigation Bureau became much purer.

The intelligence was sent over quickly, and after reading it, Chu Danqing learned the truth.

"Those few foster children of Li Wanwu gathered greenwood bandits and formed a force, intending to clear the monarch's side." Chu Danqing only felt like laughing and crying.

"I have to say, Li Wanwu's background combined with his eye for people is truly not bad."

"These few foster children have extraordinary abilities; it hasn't been long, and they have gathered three thousand greenwood bandits."

"Just right for me to catch them all in one net."

Chu Danqing had previously found some diaries from Li Wanwu's residence, and after investigation, he deduced Li Wanwu's identity and also knew why Li Wanwu was so abstract.

When Li Wanwu was born, his whole family was exiled.

Except for him, the whole family died in the bitter cold place.

Fortunately, he was saved by a friend of his father, and only then was he able to fake his death and escape.

Later, in order to take revenge, he changed his name and surname, was castrated, and entered the palace to become a martial eunuch.

He practiced martial arts hard every day just to have a chance to assassinate the Taichang Emperor when he got close.

It wasn't until he obtained the Flesh Scholar's spellbook that he transformed himself.

Only then did he have a greater idea of revenge.

Killing the Taichang Emperor wasn't enough to calm his hatred; he also wanted the entire Taichang Dynasty to perish.

So his series of seemingly contradictory behaviors all pointed in one direction, which was internal chaos.

And the foster children he adopted and focused on cultivating, besides having aptitude requirements, also had background requirements.

Their families had all been persecuted by the Taichang Emperor.

Of course, there was no lack of his own small push in this.

With such a layer of relationship, and then raised from childhood, not only did they have a common goal, but they also had the grace of upbringing.

The foster children were naturally loyal and would not betray him.

After Li Wanwu died, the foster children he had scattered also received the news, and it was normal for them to use all the resources in their hands to avenge Li Wanwu at the first opportunity.

The mobs arranged by the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager to act as executioners were arranged by one of Li Wanwu's foster children.

It was to expand the internal contradictions of the court and give them enough breathing time to develop their forces.

Once the force successfully developed, it would give the Taichang Dynasty a fatal blow.

The idea was very good, but... mobs were mobs after all.

The force gathered by this group of people didn't even reach Chu Danqing's ears, not because someone was hiding it, but because they were simply no match for regular troops.

Especially since they abandoned their original advantage of guerrilla warfare; not to mention being killed and losing their armor, they were also fleeing in panic.

Chu Danqing's cleanup behavior did cause a large number of power vacancies in the Taichang Dynasty, but the least lacking were capable people; these people only needed a platform to display their talents to quickly fill these vacancies.

"My lord, your tea is ready." A servant placed a cup of hot tea on Chu Danqing's table.

"I didn't order tea." Chu Danqing looked up at the other party suspiciously, and just as he was about to let the other party withdraw, a change occurred.

The other party suddenly pulled out a dagger and stabbed it towards Chu Danqing's neck.

The idea was not bad, but it was instantly grabbed by Dabao's claws, which not only deflected the attack but also left the arm that moved bloodied and mangled.

Then it was quickly pressed down, and because of the struggle, the human skin mask on the face fell off.

"Dog official, you killed my whole family; today, although I die, I will wait for you in the Yellow Springs!" The person cursed loudly.

It was a woman; under the human skin mask was a beautiful face, but Chu Danqing was not the type to be influenced by appearance.

"Are you Prince Fu's illegitimate daughter?" Chu Danqing was a bit suspicious.

If you talk about killing the whole family, it meant killing Prince Fu's wife and children; it hadn't affected Prince Fu's servants.

"Bah, you dog official actually forgot the blood debt of the Canghe Society!" The woman was flushed with anger: "First you killed my uncle, then you killed my whole family; you will surely die by the five thunders!"

Hearing this, Chu Danqing remembered Zhang Cai and the small Jianghu force, the Canghe Society.

He had been busy these days and had long forgotten about it.

As for how they were destroyed, it was also very simple; the local officials solved it.

"Tell me who helped you escape with your life." Chu Danqing questioned coldly.

Escaping with one's life after the whole family was killed was one thing, but being able to smoothly enter the capital and touch his side was another.

There must be someone helping in this; since he had caught her, he would follow the vine and pull it out by the roots.

It would also save him from worrying next time.

"Forget it, take her down and interrogate her well." Seeing the other party's demeanor, Chu Danqing knew that asking directly wouldn't yield any results.

Let the professionals under his command handle it.

As for showing mercy because she was a beautiful woman? Then why didn't she show mercy when she was assassinating him?

The other party didn't show mercy, so Chu Danqing wouldn't show mercy because of gender and appearance.

He didn't look at gender and appearance when doing good deeds, and he wouldn't treat people differently because of gender and appearance when he hated them.

The person was quickly dragged down; the other party opened her mouth to curse, but after being slapped twice, she was physically silenced.

Cursing their leader in front of their subordinates, and a leader who was willing to share the meat—did she really think they were dead?

"Nine times out of ten, it's that group of greenwood bandits playing tricks again."

"If it's not them, then it's the Sushen." Chu Danqing currently had two enemies.

The possibility of the Sushen was relatively small; after all, with Xiong Zhigang holding them back, the Sushen probably didn't have that much energy to deal with Chu Danqing.

On the contrary, his bandit suppression behavior forced the greenwood bandits to burn their boats.

If Chu Danqing didn't die, then they would die.

Fortunately, the Ghost Market was handled; if the Ghost Market hadn't been handled and he had suppressed bandits, he might have encountered obstacles from the beginning, rather than just starting now.

"Let the people under me strengthen their vigilance." Chu Danqing ordered the people under him.

Once or twice was fine, but if it happened too many times, Chu Danqing wouldn't be at peace either.

"Then let them speed up the progress of bandit suppression, notify the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue to increase support for local bandit suppression behavior, and let the Ministry of Revenue strictly supervise and urge."

Chu Danqing once again strengthened the intensity of bandit suppression; as for the consequences, he didn't know.

He wasn't into politics and economics; he only knew that bandits harmed ordinary people, so they had to be solved.

Rather than letting ordinary people bear the pain, it was better for the court to bear the cost.

The court wouldn't perish, but ordinary people would die because of bandits.

"Commander, it's already fast enough; if you add more pressure, the local army won't be able to bear it." A registrar beside him said hurriedly.

Chu Danqing wasn't professional, but he listened to advice.

"Then strengthen vigilance, focus on the defense of the capital, and don't let them touch His Majesty." Chu Danqing didn't ask for too much; he wasn't afraid of assassination, but the young Emperor's side might not be the same.

Everything Chu Danqing did was based on the young Emperor stabilizing the situation so that it could proceed smoothly.

He could not use the young Emperor's card, but he couldn't be without this card as a general trend.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 127 =====