Chapter 82: The Higher the Yan, the Higher the Pei; Spies Arrive in the Capital (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Your subordinate pays respects to the Baron of Pingyang!"

Chen Zhongyi knelt down to pay respects as soon as he entered the door.

"Hahahaha, quickly rise, Flag Chief Chen."

Pei Shaoqing laughed and reached out a hand to gesture for him to rise.

Chen Zhongyi stood up and said with a smile, "I was shocked to hear of your promotion and ennoblement, my lord. I am overjoyed, but since I came in such a rush today, I shall bring a congratulatory gift another day."

Damn it, it really pays to have a good father!

Killing the Saint Child of Kaiyang was indeed a great merit.

But Chen Zhongyi believed that if it were him, being promoted to a Hundred-Household official would be the absolute limit; he shouldn't even dream of being ennobled.

He couldn't count on his father, so he could only work hard to cling to Pei Shaoqing's leg and let his son win at the starting line.

"Gifts are for outsiders; there is no need for such formalities between brothers." Pei Shaoqing waved his hand with a smile.

With this ennoblement, he was going to make a fortune again.

The stream of people coming to the city to deliver gifts would surely be endless.

Chen Zhongyi just kept a fawning smile on his face, not believing a single word of what Pei Shaoqing said. Years of experience as an official told him: the other party might say they don't want it, but he cannot fail to send it.

If someone sends a gift, Lord Pei might not necessarily remember.

But if someone doesn't send one, Lord Pei will certainly remember.

"Alright, let's talk business." Pei Shaoqing's expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Just now, the Shu Prince Heir, Yan Sichen, came to ask me for a person. I did not agree, and he left in a huff. It is highly likely he will break into the prison to silence the witness tonight."

"My lord, do not worry. Wang Wu is not in the Jing'an Guard prison at all," Chen Zhongyi said with a light chuckle.

"I know." Pei Shaoqing revealed a playful smile. "I want to set an ambush and catch him in the act."

He had deliberately provoked Yan Sichen just now precisely to make him anxious and desperate to silence Wang Wu.

Yan Sichen had already come to Tongzhou.

It was naturally impossible for him to have made the trip for nothing.

"The lord is brilliant!" Chen Zhongyi's eyes lit up, and he spoke with increased speed, "If we can catch Yan Sichen red-handed, he will have no way to argue his innocence."

Pei Shaoqing nodded slowly and added, "Yan Sichen's strength is not to be underestimated. To ensure nothing goes wrong, he will certainly take action himself, so Lady Gongsun will participate in the ambush.

Additionally, we must send people to keep a close watch on the three Sanyin Nu; Yan Sichen might send people there."

"Yes!" Chen Zhongyi replied solemnly.

Pei Shaoqing gave another instruction, "Find out where they are staying, then report back to me."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Chen Zhongyi turned and left.

Pei Shaoqing, meanwhile, began to study the ten bolts of Ice Silkworm Silk the Emperor had rewarded him with. They were all different colors, and even as raw material, they felt excellent to the touch.

He felt that the person who invented Ice Silkworm Silk should be canonized as a saint.

Soon, Chen Zhongyi sent someone to report that Yan Sichen and his party had checked into Hongbin Lou.

Pei Shaoqing immediately went to find Li Jiangjun.

At this moment, Li Jiangjun was patrolling the entrance of Xie Qingwu's alchemy room; this was its new task lately.

Seeing Pei Shaoqing arrive, Li Jiangjun kept its chubby little face taut and reported, "Reporting to the master! This subject has kept watch here day and night and has not discovered any suspicious persons."

"Mm, very good. After the lady finishes her seclusion, I will reward you with dried fish." Pei Shaoqing decided to offer an incentive.

"This subject does not want dried fish." Li Jiangjun shook its round head and said with burning eyes, "Does the master not feel that this subject is lacking something as a general?"

"Integrity?" Pei Shaoqing tentatively suggested.

Li Jiangjun's face darkened, "It's Armor!"

Pei Shaoqing was stunned. A cat wants this stuff?

"Master, this subject wants Armor!" Li Jiangjun stood up on its hind legs and looked at Pei Shaoqing, its eyes full of longing.

A great general fights on the battlefield.

How can one not have a handsome set of Armor?

"Fine, fine, fine. I will have someone craft a set of Great General Golden Armor for General Li." Pei Shaoqing agreed.

It probably wouldn't cost much silver anyway.

"Many thanks, Master!" Li Jiangjun was overjoyed and asked again, "Does the master have any further instructions?"

"Have your cats watch the guests in Tianzi Sanhao Fang at Hongbin Lou, especially the young man in brocade robes leading them. I want to know what they said and what their movements are," Pei Shaoqing said indifferently.

Although he had already predicted Yan Sichen's next move, he still had to install some cat-listening devices and cat-tracking devices on him to ensure nothing went wrong.

"Yes!" Li Jiangjun accepted the order, stood on its hind legs, and patted its chest, saying, "This subject is willing to lead the team personally."

"Granted." Pei Shaoqing's word was law.

Li Jiangjun received the order and left.

Watching the Li Hua cat dash away, Pei Shaoqing suddenly thought of the Sanhua cat that had led the army on the expedition.

He wondered if they had arrived safely?

At this very moment, at the East Gate of Tianjing Cheng.

Beneath the tall city walls, three travel-worn cats sat in a row, heads raised, looking up at the city gate.

In the middle was none other than Li Jiangjun's beloved concubine, the Sanhua cat.

After nearly a month of traveling, crossing mountains and ridges, and hitching rides on carriages, they had finally arrived at the Capital.

Before entering the city, the Sanhua cat had the two subordinates throw away the bundles they were carrying on their backs.

To avoid attracting attention if seen by others.

After nearly a month of tempering, the Sanhua cat's intelligence had clearly improved significantly compared to when it was in Tongzhou.

"Meow." The Sanhua cat let out a cry and stood up to walk into the city gate; the other two cats hurriedly followed.

Half an hour later, a scream came from the kitchen of a restaurant: "God damn it! Which starving ghost reincarnate stole my stewed chicken and pork knuckle!"

In the alley next door, the three cats, having eaten their fill and with their mouths glistening with grease, bathed in the sunlight, sprawled on the ground like they were lounging on a sofa, exposing their furry little bellies.

"Meow, meow, meow." The Sanhua cat let out several cries to its two subordinates, indicating that the restaurant they had just pilfered from tasted quite good, and told the two cats to settle down right here.

The two lean white cats, whose muscle contours were faintly visible beneath their fur, meowed and nodded their heads in agreement.

The Sanhua cat raised a paw and pointed at one of the cats, meowing to tell it to rest here for a day and then set off immediately, following the route they had come to convey the message of their safe arrival to the cats at the nearest relay station.

From one relay station to the next, until this message reached Li Jiangjun, and the master would naturally know that this intelligence line had been successfully established.

After arranging things for its two subordinates, the Sanhua cat left alone; it needed to find a water source to bathe first, and once its fur was dry, it would sneak into the Imperial Palace to approach Wan Guifei.

After all, if one wants to successfully seduce a woman.

One must first groom one's appearance.

…………………………

Tongzhou, Hongbin Lou.

In Tianzi Sanhao Fang, just as Pei Shaoqing had guessed, Yan Sichen was laying out his plan for tonight.

But there were also parts different from what Pei Shaoqing had imagined; Yan Sichen said indifferently, "Tonight we split into two groups. Commander Zhou, you take three men to the Jing'an Guard prison to kill Wang Wu and silence him. I will personally take two men to abduct those three Sanyin Nu who have such tenacious lives."

He guessed that Pei Shaoqing must have guessed that he would go to the prison to kill to silence witnesses, and would definitely set an ambush in advance.

Therefore, he had no expectation of being able to kill Wang Wu at all.

Sending people there was merely to confuse Pei Shaoqing.

As for him, he would personally take action to abduct those three Sanyin Nu; as long as that dead ghost's strength was greatly increased, he could then order it to come to Tongzhou to kill Wang Wu and Pei Shaoqing.

If a ghost kills, no one would suspect him.

Of course, if Commander Zhou could really kill Wang Wu to silence him tonight, that would be even better.

As far as he knew, the strongest person under Pei Shaoqing was only Liu Yuheng of the Iron Sword Sect, so their splitting into two groups tonight would surely make it difficult for him to attend to both.

"Yes, Marquis Heir!" Commander Zhou, who was tall and had a small mustache, replied respectfully.

He was the deputy commander of the Secret Guard under Yan Sichen.

Early Roaming Dragon Realm.

Yan Sichen solemnly instructed, "If the matter cannot be accomplished, you must prioritize preserving your own life."

"Yes!" Commander Zhou nodded solemnly.

Yan Sichen's plan was very good.

But Pei Shaoqing soon found out.

"I couldn't tell, this guy actually has such cunning," Pei Shaoqing was somewhat surprised.

After all, from his brief contact with Yan Sichen, the other party gave him the impression of being a hot-headed brute.

If he hadn't known in advance, he really might have been successfully outmaneuvered by Yan Sichen, but since he already knew, then he could only blame Yan Sichen for his bad luck.

However, another problem followed.

That was that he didn't have enough manpower on his side.

According to Ye Yu, Yan Sichen was in the early Roaming Dragon Realm.

Four of the guards beside him were in the Condensing Qi Realm.

The other three hadn't made a move, so he didn't know.

However, as Pei Shaoqing thought, since that Commander Zhou could be the leader, it was highly likely he was also in the Roaming Dragon Realm.

Yan Sichen's side could be left to Liu Yuheng, and he could have Zhao Zhilan and Ye Hanshuang take some people to help.

But what about Commander Zhou's side?

Even if Wang Wu wasn't in the prison, he couldn't let him come and go as he pleased, otherwise, what face would the Jing'an Guard have left?

It would be best to capture him; after all, since he was a high-level lackey, he surely knew more than Wang Wu.

But the problem followed: he was at the peak of the Condensing Qi Realm, and with a group of Body Refining Realm subordinates, even with the help of the Broken Gang Crossbow, it was absolutely impossible to take down Commander Zhou.

So he had to ask for outside help.

It was just a pity that the Saintess hadn't been arranged yet.

Pei Shaoqing suddenly thought of Wang Xianling.

Of course, he certainly didn't expect Wang Xianling, who was at the same peak of the Condensing Qi Realm as himself, to be able to capture Commander Zhou alive.

Rather, he remembered that Wang Xianling had said last time that the Saint Envoy of the Saint Palace was in Tongzhou, and judging by his incredible tone at the time, this Saint Envoy was likely also in the Roaming Dragon Realm.

If there were a Saint Envoy to assist, plus himself and Wang Xianling, wouldn't defeating Commander Zhou be easy?

As for why the Saint Envoy would help him?

That was a headache for Wang Xianling.

Anyway, with old Wang's current guilt toward him, if he made this request, he would certainly find a way to get it done.

Thinking of it, he did it; he immediately went out to the County Government.

He specifically didn't have anyone announce him and went straight into the inner hall.

"Brother Pei, why have you come?"

Wang Xianling was very surprised to see Pei Shaoqing, both shocked and happy; ever since the last incident, his heart had been filled with guilt, and he hadn't dared to take the initiative to contact the other party.

"I'm here to ask for a favor." Pei Shaoqing found a chair and sat down, speaking righteously.

Wang Xianling was not angry, but happy instead; he hurriedly stood up to pour tea for him himself, promising repeatedly, "Brother Pei, please speak. No matter what the favor is, I will definitely help."

He hadn't slept well for these past few days, and now he finally had a chance to make up for the guilt deep in his heart.

"What is the strength of the Saint Envoy who came to Tongzhou?"

Wang Xianling was puzzled as to why he asked this, but still answered truthfully, "They have been in the Roaming Dragon Realm for many years."

"Tonight, an expert will come to the Hundred-Household Office prison to break out a prisoner. I hope you can have this Saint Envoy help capture him," Pei Shaoqing said straightforwardly.

"This..." Wang Xianling was stunned, stuttering, "Brother Pei, I am willing to take action myself for this favor, but how can I persuade the Saint Envoy? We can't just expose the cooperative relationship between us, can we?"

"That certainly cannot be exposed. Anyway, you just agreed to help. What, you can't do it?" Pei Shaoqing's expression had already turned ugly, and he made a move to stand up and leave.

He was just like a green tea bitch, constantly stringing an honest man along.

"Wait!" Old Wang was quick-witted and fast-handed, grabbing his arm and saying through gritted teeth, "I'll find a way."

That Pei Shaoqing was still willing to come and ask for his help showed that he had truly forgiven his despicable actions from a few days ago.

How could he let the other party be disappointed?

"Many thanks," Pei Shaoqing said indifferently.

Old Wang revealed a smile, "I haven't congratulated you yet on being enfeoffed as a noble at such a young age, Baron of Pingyang."

"It is what I deserve," Pei Shaoqing said nonchalantly.

This familiar scent of pretentiousness made Old Wang feel great joy.

After Pei Shaoqing took his leave and departed, he immediately became worried and miserable again; how was he supposed to persuade the Saint Envoy?

Wait!

He suddenly thought of how this matter should be handled.

(End of this chapter)