Chapter 819

That night, Tongwan City implemented the highest level of city-wide curfew since Chen Yan took control.

The four city gates were lowered with thousand-jin locks from the inside, and a crossbow-wielding Mounted Cavalryman stood every ten paces on the city wall, the strings on the crossbow arms taut like a bowstring about to snap.

The 1,200 Mounted Cavalry led by Gao Jiong completed the encirclement of Zui Chun Ge at the beginning of the hour of Xu.

Zui Chun Ge was located at the end of the West Market in Tongwan City, a three-story wooden building with two large red lanterns hanging from it; usually, the sound of strings and bamboo wouldn't stop until the second half of the night, making it the most prosperous brothel in Tongwan City.

Tonight, the lanterns were still lit, and the sound of strings and bamboo was still playing, but when Gao Jiong looked at those two lanterns, the corner of his mouth tugged into an extremely unkind curve.

"Is the encirclement complete?"

The deputy team leader of the Embroidered Attire Envoys beside him answered in a low voice.

"Front and back doors, side doors, even the exit of the back canal in the backyard are blocked; six repeating crossbows are set up on the roof."

Gao Jiong slowly drew the horizontal blade from its scabbard, the blade reflecting a cold, bone-chilling white light in the moonlight.

"Enter."

The front door of Zui Chun Ge was a red-lacquered door panel carved with peony patterns, the thickness of the door panel twice that of an ordinary brothel, and the hinges had been replaced with fine iron.

Gao Jiong did not use a battering ram.

He thrust the tip of his horizontal blade into the door crack and twisted it violently.

The crisp sound of the lock tongue breaking came from the door frame, and the red-lacquered door was kicked open by him, the entire door panel slamming against the inner wall and shaking off a layer of dust.

The scene in the main hall was exposed the moment the door panel opened.

A dozen heavily made-up women sat scattered about, their lutes and flutes dropping to the ground with a clatter after seeing the Mounted Cavalry rushing in.

A middle-aged woman dressed in dark purple silk stood up from behind the counter, the smile on her face looking as if it had been painted on with a brush, layer upon layer.

"Oh my, this guest, the shop is full today..."

Gao Jiong's horizontal blade rested against her throat.

"Mother Zhao, or should I call you Zhao, the A-grade liaison officer of the Jingnan Guard?"

The pile of smiles on the middle-aged woman's face collapsed like it had been splashed with a basin of ice water, layer upon layer, until finally revealing a completely different face underneath.

Cold, guarded, and a hint of fleeting killing intent.

Her right hand reached into her sleeve.

Gao Jiong's blade pushed forward by a fraction.

"Don't try it; my men knew about that blowpipe in your sleeve three days ago; there are two poison needles in the pipe, right?"

The middle-aged woman's hand froze in her sleeve.

Gao Jiong jerked his chin behind him.

"Search."

The Mounted Cavalry poured into every corner of Zui Chun Ge like a tidal wave.

Under the counter on the first floor, inside the private rooms on the second floor, behind the secret chamber on the third floor, under the woodshed in the backyard.

The first sound of metal clashing came from the second floor, followed by a short, sharp scream.

A woman disguised as a courtesan flipped out of a window in a second-floor private room, clutching two daggers in her hands, the edges of the daggers reflecting the moonlight.

Her skills were excellent; after flipping out of the window, she turned in mid-air, her feet landing precisely on the roof tiles opposite, and she ran toward the depths of the night like a startled cat.

She ran three steps.

A crossbow bolt shot out from the shadows on the roof, nailing into her calf, the arrowhead piercing through the other side.

She fell onto the roof tiles, her body rolling down the ridge, and was seized by the wrists by two Mounted Cavalrymen waiting below.

In the cellar of the backyard, three men disguised as brothel attendants pulled out short blades hidden in broom handles and engaged in close-quarters combat with the Mounted Cavalry rushing in.

The combat lasted less than half a cup of tea's time.

The repeating crossbows and horizontal blades of the Mounted Cavalry displayed an overwhelming advantage in this narrow space; the three men were hacked to the ground, and iron chains wrapped around their wrists and ankles.

The things searched out from the secret chamber were carried out box by box.

Gold and silver ingots minted by the Qi State, packed in special copper tubes.

The contact codebook of the Shadow Department, wrapped in a cowhide cover, every page filled with tiny script.

And a list.

Gao Jiong spread out the list and scanned it twice, his finger pinching a heavy mark under several names on it.

He folded the list, stuffed it into his bosom, and walked out the back door of Zui Chun Ge with long strides.

"Take them back to the Governor's Mansion; not one left."

The lamp in the study of the Governor's Mansion burned all night.

Chen Yan sat behind the purple sandalwood desk, the entire material evidence searched from Zui Chun Ge and that final list spread out before him.

His cinnabar pen drew from the first name on the list to the last, drawing a circle beside each name.

One circle represented one life.

After the twenty-three circles were drawn, the cinnabar pen was placed on the edge of the inkstone.

He raised his head and looked at Gao Jiong standing before the desk.

"Arrest them simultaneously in all twenty-eight counties."

Gao Jiong hammered his fist against his chest armor.

"This subordinate will send the arrest warrants to all counties within the night."

Chen Yan leaned back in his chair, his finger drawing the last arc on the armrest.

"The Shadow Department of the Qi State has operated a dark web in Xiazhou for many years; after tonight, don't leave them even a single thread."

Gao Jiong turned and walked out of the study, the sound of armor plates colliding fading all the way away.

Chen Yan sat alone at the brightly lit desk, his palm covering the list.

The sky outside the window had changed from pitch black to deep blue, and a line of extremely thin, faint fish-belly white had risen on the eastern horizon.

Dawn was coming.

Five days later.

The urgent report sent by Chu Ci from Qinggui County was placed on Chen Yan's desk.

Gao Jiong spread out the silk scroll and read it once; when he read the last sentence, his voice was suppressed with an irrepressible excitement.

"Zhuguo, Chu Ci says that thanks to the irrigation of the siphons and the drive of the Spring Plowing Ceremony, the first touch of new green has emerged in the million mu of fertile land in Xiazhou; the growth of wheat seedlings in each county far exceeds the same period in previous years, and according to the current soil moisture estimation, the autumn harvest will reach at least three shi per mu."

Chen Yan's finger paused for a breath on the number "three shi" on the silk scroll.

"Three shi."

Zhang Wenqian stood before the desk, holding a thick internal affairs plan in both hands, his voice carrying an excitement that he was trying his best to suppress but couldn't.

"Zhuguo, with a population of 1.37 million, a million mu of fertile land producing three shi per mu, plus the income from animal husbandry and side businesses, Xiazhou's total tax revenue next year will break through three million shi."

He flipped the plan to the last page.

"This number means that Xiazhou will become the most prosperous prefecture in the northern frontier of the Great Zhou, without exception."

Chen Yan placed the silk scroll and the plan side by side on the desk, his fingers crossed to support his chin.

He did not speak.

The sunlight outside the window squeezed in through the gaps in the lattice, shining on the military sand table on the wall.

The small flags representing the twenty-eight counties of Xiazhou on the sand table had all been replaced with a uniform dark red, neat and uniform, like an iron-cast rampart.

Chen Yan stood up, walked to the sand table, and pressed his palm on the location representing Tongwan City.

"Old Zhang."

Zhang Wenqian's body leaned forward by half an inch.

Chen Yan's palm slowly withdrew from the sand table, and the curve of his mouth finally revealed a trace of true relaxation.

"The foundation is set."

He turned and walked with long strides toward the door of the study, the hem of his cloak raising an arc behind him.

"Next, it's time to let the Qi State people take a good look at what kind of fruit the tree I planted in Xiazhou can grow."

The wind outside the door poured in, flipping the silk pages of the internal affairs plan on the desk several times, with Zhang Wenqian's annotation on the last page.

Eight characters.

The foundation of Xiazhou, unshakable for ten thousand generations.