Chapter 28: Mourning Parting, The Pledge of Allegiance, Weaving an Intelligence Network (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Gongsun Yi hired a carriage, and after moving all the items onto it, he stood by the carriage to bid a reluctant farewell to his wife.

Liu Yuheng pressed her red lips tightly together, looking at the husband she was about to part with; although she had a thousand words in her heart, they ultimately turned into a single sentence: "Senior Brother, take care on your journey."

"Mm, you must also take good care of yourself and Lan'er," Gongsun Yi instructed in a gentle tone.

"I will." Liu Yuheng nodded, her gaze firm as she said, "Don't worry, I will protect Lan'er well and will never let her be bullied by Pei Shaoqing."

Gongsun Yi did not respond to this, but simply smiled tenderly and reached out to tidy her hair.

On the other side, Zhao Zhilan was also saying goodbye to her Senior Brother, her face full of tenderness and reluctance as she chattered on: "Senior Brother, when you return to the mountain, you must listen to Master. Don't run around all day, wash up diligently when it's hot, and remember to add clothes when it's cold..."

"Junior Sister, why have you become as long-winded as Mistress?" Jiang Yebai interrupted her, grabbed her hand, and said, "I'm a grown man, you don't need to worry about me. Instead, it's you who must be careful not to be bullied by that lecher Pei Shaoqing."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother, I certainly won't let him succeed," Zhao Zhilan said, forcing a smile.

Jiang Yebai always felt uneasy in his heart. He looked back at his Master and Mistress in the distance, gathered his courage, and whispered, "Junior Sister, let's get married next year."

"Mm," Zhao Zhilan responded gently.

"Yebai, it's getting late, it's time to go."

Just then, Gongsun Yi's voice arrived.

"Junior Sister, I have to go, you must take good care of yourself." Jiang Yebai reluctantly let go of Zhao Zhilan and ran toward the carriage, looking back and waving every few steps as he shouted, "Junior Sister, wait for me to come see you!"

Zhao Zhilan stood blankly on the spot, watching the carriage move away, and could no longer hold back her tears.

Senior Brother, I'm sorry, I lied to you.

"Alright, stop crying." Liu Yuheng walked over and pulled her into her arms, comforting her: "It's not like you'll never see him again. Besides, you still have Mistress here with you."

"Mistress! Sob, sob, sob, sob!" Zhao Zhilan hugged Liu Yuheng back tightly and began to wail.

Liu Yuheng gently stroked her beloved disciple's back, assuming she was just feeling sentimental about the parting, and did not think much of it.

"Let's go, Lan'er, let's go inside."

Just as the two stepped onto the front stairs, a voice came from behind, "May the two of you please stay your steps. I am Chen Zhongyi, a Flag Officer of the Jing'an Guard Tongzhou Hundred-Household Office. I have come to visit Young Master Pei and hope you can report my presence."

About half a cup of tea later, Pei Shaoqing walked into the main hall and met the Flag Officer Chen who had been waiting there.

Chen Zhongyi did not dare to sit at all and had been waiting while standing. Upon seeing Pei Shaoqing, he knelt down cleanly and decisively, knocking his head heavily against the floor.

"Sinner Chen Zhongyi pays respects to Young Master!"

"Oh? This is quite curious. What crime has Flag Officer Chen committed?" Pei Shaoqing asked with a half-smile.

Chen Zhongyi maintained the kowtowing posture, not daring to rise, and answered with his rear end stuck high in the air: "Zheng Xuancheng, instigated by Wan Guifei, intended to harm Young Master. I was coerced and bewitched by him into conspiring and becoming an accomplice. I truly deserve to die, but I hope Young Master will show mercy and spare my dog's life. From now on, I am willing to go through fire and water for Young Master!"

"Then where is the sincerity in your plea for mercy?" Pei Shaoqing raised a foot, used his toe to lift Chen Zhongyi's chin, forcing his head up, and looked down at him, saying indifferently: "I am granting you the gift of life here."

"My lord, please wait a moment." Chen Zhongyi stood up, bent over, ran to the table to pick up a wooden box, returned to kneel before Pei Shaoqing, and held the box high with both hands, offering it up: "My lord, this is my sincerity!"

Pei Shaoqing opened the wooden box with curiosity.

Inside was the fresh head of a man.

Based on his extensive experience in 'harvesting', he estimated it had been removed from the neck no more than an hour ago.

The blood pooled at the severed end had not yet coagulated.

"Who is this?" Pei Shaoqing closed the lid.

Chen Zhongyi put down the head, took out a copper waist token, and handed it over, answering in a low voice: "This is a lackey sent to Tongzhou by that Demon concubine. Zheng Xuancheng arranged for me to be responsible for entertaining this person. I ask that my lord verify the identity."

Zheng Xuancheng and Xu Zhiyong were both dead; he did not think he had any chance of escaping under these circumstances.

Therefore, even though Wan Guifei's power was overwhelming, distant water could not quench a near fire. He could only kill Wan Guifei's man as a 'pledge of allegiance' to offer to Pei Shaoqing in hopes of saving his own life.

"Does the County Magistrate know of this person?" Pei Shaoqing asked nonchalantly while taking the token to examine it. There was a character 'Jiang' on it; Wan Guifei's original surname was Jiang, and this person was clearly her confidant.

"The County Magistrate was dragged into the water by Zheng Xuancheng to share the risk; he does not know of this person's existence." After answering, Chen Zhongyi gritted his teeth and said: "Does my lord need me to go and kill that man surnamed Wang for you?"

He had initially thought about killing the County Magistrate as a pledge of allegiance to apologize, but he feared Pei Shaoqing might have other plans for the County Magistrate, so he dismissed the thought.

"Heh, that won't be necessary. Flag Officer Chen, why don't you guess how I knew about your plan?" Pei Shaoqing said with a half-smile.

Chen Zhongyi was stunned at first, then his expression changed abruptly. In his heart, he greeted the County Magistrate's ancestors for eighteen generations and said bitterly: "I never imagined the County Magistrate would be so sensible and have already defected to Young Master."

He had thought Xu Zhiyong had leaked the secret before dying; he hadn't expected it to be that two-faced bastard, the County Magistrate.

Scholars really are all bastards!

"It's not too late for you now." Pei Shaoqing toyed with the waist token nonchalantly and said: "I suppose they will send a Trial Hundred-Household here in a few days. What do you think?"

"What kind of bullshit Trial Hundred-Household? In my eyes, there is only Young Master!" Chen Zhongyi said decisively.

Pei Shaoqing laughed, "Very good. Only those who understand why they are alive can live longer."

After speaking, he turned and strode away, a draft blowing through the hall and lifting his wide sleeves and hem.

"This subordinate respectfully sees off Young Master! Please walk slowly, Young Master!"

The overjoyed Chen Zhongyi knocked his head on the ground again behind him, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Only after he could no longer see the hem of the robe and could no longer hear the footsteps did he stand up and walk out.

He had originally wanted to invite Pei Shaoqing to his home as a guest tonight to arrange for his wives and concubines to serve him as an apology, but fearing the other party might not be interested, he dismissed that thought as well.

…………………………

When Pei Shaoqing returned to his room, he found that General Li had returned at some point and was lying on the vanity table licking its fur.

"Where did you run off to?" He stepped forward, pinched General Li by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.

"Oh my, Master, let go! This action lacks the dignity of a ruler, it lacks dignity!" General Li, suspended in mid-air, transformed from a ball of cat into a long cat, waving its claws and shouting: "This subject went to handle business for you, Master!"

Pei Shaoqing keenly discovered several cat hairs on it that did not belong to it and sneered: "Handling business for me? I think you went off to flirt with little female cats!"

This was a lecherous cat.

"Uh..." The struggling General Li's body stiffened for a moment. Its large round eyes rolled around, and it said with a straight face: "Master, your words are mistaken. This subject was infiltrating the local cat community to weave an intelligence network to help you control the county! For this, even if I have to sacrifice my looks and my chastity, this subject will not hesitate!"

Although Pei Shaoqing suspected it was just looking for feline fun, he had to admit that the matter had feasibility.

Xie Qingwu was initially in a mood to watch the fun.

But thinking that if General Li could really organize the cats in the city into an intelligence network, then from now on, any movement in the city would not escape Pei Shaoqing's control.

This web could even be continuously expanded; after all, Li Jiangjun's advantages as a Demon are truly unique.

Her expression could not help but turn serious.

"Then tell me in detail about your intelligence network weaving plan." Pei Shaoqing released Li Jiangjun.

"Huh?" Li Jiangjun, landing on the ground, was instantly stunned upon hearing this; it had just been spouting nonsense in a moment of desperation, where would it have any plan? It broke into a cold sweat, and biting the bullet, said: "Your subject has been plotting this for a long time... Your subject... your subject intends to get all the female cats in the city pregnant, and once my children and grandchildren cover the entire city, they will all be the eyes and ears of my lord!"

Xie Qingwu's mouth twitched; it really is true that like master, like cat—both are lecherous demons.

"You want to mate by imperial decree, is that it?" Pei Shaoqing rolled her eyes in annoyance, seeing clearly that it had no plan at all, and instructed: "Next, you will become the cat king of the city in the shortest time possible, gather all the cats, and make them your underlings."

"That is improper, improper; how could your subject overstep? My lord has yet to claim the throne, how would your subject dare to do so?" Li Jiangjun shook its head and wagged its tail, then continued: "My lord might as well form a new army and bestow upon it the name Heavenly Cat Battalion; this military advisor and grand general shall personally lead this battalion, specializing in intelligence and reconnaissance."

Heavenly Cat Battalion? I might as well call it the JD. com Battalion!

"Let's call it the Cat Battalion," Pei Shaoqing said casually.

Although Li Jiangjun felt it wasn't imposing enough, it dared not defy the sovereign's order: "Yes, this general obeys."

My cat keeps going into heat and has already been neutered; please give me monthly tickets! Please keep reading!

PS: I went to the hospital to change my dressing yesterday, but the doctor doesn't work on weekend afternoons, so I made a wasted trip. I went today to change the dressing and have the catheter removed; I can only describe it as torture. When I changed the dressing last time, I hadn't been discharged yet, and I was screaming like a slaughtered pig. A man does not easily shed tears, it's just that he hasn't reached the point of heartbreak yet.

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(End of chapter)