Chapter 90: High Spirits

"Greetings, Your Highness."

Upon seeing Zhao Xu, everyone in the secret chamber stood up.

The veteran members of the Flame Guard had seen Zhao Xu before, so they were not particularly surprised.

The newcomers, however, were clearly somewhat nervous; a man who looked like a scholar muttered blankly, "Your Highness? Yan Wang?"

Xu Ke then said to the scholar, "You should believe it now. We are His Highness's men; we are not deceiving you."

The scholar nodded unconsciously, then bowed to Zhao Xu, "Your Highness, this humble one is Xu Wei, willing to die for Your Highness."

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment, feeling a bit bewildered by the scholar's excessive enthusiasm.

Xu Ke said, "Your Highness, Xu Wei is a tutor I invited. He will be responsible for teaching the Flame Guard members how to read and write, but he never believed that we were working for Your Highness."

"I see." Zhao Xu walked to the table and his gaze swept over the new faces. "Since you have joined the Flame Guard, you must have signed a life-and-death contract. Now, I can officially tell you that Xu Ke is under my direct jurisdiction in Yan Commandery and is also an official of the Prince's Mansion. Since you have joined the Flame Guard, you are my people from now on."

Zhao Xu's words caused the breathing of the newly joined Flame Guard members to grow heavy.

Hearing it from Xu Ke versus hearing it from Yan Wang himself—the feeling was quite different.

At this moment, their blood seemed to heat up, and their hearts were surging with passion.

"Your Highness is like a parent to Yan Commandery; we shall serve you with our lives," Xu Wei called out loudly.

The others nodded one after another.

Xu Ke looked at Xu Wei and smiled, "As expected of a scholar, you certainly know how to speak."

Everyone laughed upon hearing this. They were not mocking Xu Wei, but admiring him.

After all, he was the only one in the entire Flame Guard who could read the books bestowed by Yan Wang.

From these books, they had learned many intelligence-gathering methods they would never have dared to imagine.

After the commotion, Zhao Xu said to Xu Ke, "Not bad, you recruited so many people all at once."

"Your Highness, although there are over thirty people, I did not just pick them randomly. Firstly, they have no family, their backgrounds are clean, and they have no attachments. Secondly, they have all received Your Highness's grace, whether directly or indirectly."

Xu Wei interjected at this point, "My parents were killed by the Huang Family. It was Your Highness who gave me the opportunity to judge them face-to-face. I will never forget Your Highness's kindness."

Xu Ke continued, "Furthermore, before letting them join the Flame Guard, I asked each of them if they were willing to die for Your Highness. They were willing and signed the life-and-death contract, which is why I brought them here."

Zhao Xu nodded upon hearing this. He came before Xu Wei and patted him on the shoulder. "I know you have suffered greatly. In Yan Commandery and throughout the Great Song, there are many more people as miserable as you, or even worse. What I must do is save them from this suffering. To achieve this, I need myself, but I also need you to walk in the darkness and bring light to them."

"Your Highness... this humble one will remember."

Xu Wei's body trembled slightly; the blood that had not yet cooled was ignited once more by Zhao Xu.

Yes, he believed that what Yan Wang said was true, because that was exactly what Yan Wang had done since arriving in Yan Commandery.

And more importantly, Yan Wang had made him understand the significance of joining the Flame Guard—to bring prosperity to more of the common people.

Not just Xu Wei, the other new members also revealed expressions of relief at this moment.

Seeing this, Xu Ke sighed, "His Highness is still the most impressive. I wore my tongue out trying to coax them, but it wasn't as effective as a single word from His Highness."

"Do not be discouraged, just keep working hard." Zhao Xu chuckled twice, then added, "What were you discussing just now?"

"I was explaining the matter of disguise." Xu Ke picked up a writing brush and a rouge box.

He paused and said, "There are many disguise techniques in Your Highness's book."

Zhao Xu nodded. He had collected quite a lot of knowledge to put into that book.

Inside were many superb makeup techniques, such as some contemporary film and television makeup skills, including how to make some makeup props, such as wigs,

and eyelashes.

"Also, I am setting up monitoring points." After finishing, Xu Ke spread out a map.

Zhao Xu looked over; it was a map of the Yancheng area. Many points were marked on the map.

These points were the monitoring points Xu Ke spoke of.

On the map, the points near Tianxiang Lou and the Zhang Family were relatively dense.

Other points were sporadically scattered throughout Yancheng.

Besides that, there were similar points distributed in the countryside near the Wubao of the Rich Clans.

Of course, the Zhang Family's Wubao was also given special attention.

Seeing that Xu Ke had things set up quite properly, Zhao Xu felt reassured.

He said, "Not bad, it looks like something. Alright, you all go back to your work; I am going to eat hot pot."

Xu Yuan was happy to see Xu Ke praised by Zhao Xu, "The Flame Guard's hot pot will not disappoint Your Highness."

"Good, I shall feast to my heart's content today." Zhao Xu and Xu Yuan left the secret chamber.

Arriving outside the room, Xu Yuan turned, and the secret chamber closed once again.

At this time, Zhao Xu and Xu Yuan returned to their superficial relationship of host and guest.

Xu Yuan went downstairs, and Zhao Xu returned to his private room.

"Your Highness, this servant is going to starve to death." Seeing Zhao Xu, Feng'er puffed out her cheeks and pouted.

"What is the rush? There is food for you." With him away, the others naturally did not dare to order dishes.

He called the waiter and picked up the wooden tablet on the table.

This wooden tablet was nothing else but a menu similar to those of the modern era.

"Sliced mutton, duck intestines, venison..." Zhao Xu read them out one by one.

The waiter noted them down and went off. Before long, various dishes were brought up.

To Zhao Xu's surprise, a basin of ice was also brought up.

Then, two maids wearing clothes with the character for 'fire' walked in, holding large fans and fanning the ice basin.

Wisps of coolness spread through the air along with the breeze.

Although the effect was a far cry from air conditioning, it was better than nothing.

"Interesting." Feng'er giggled.

Zhao Xu saw that everyone was still standing and said, "Everyone sit down. Today I am traveling incognito, there is no need for formalities."

The group looked at one another, none of them daring to sit.

Zhao Xu frowned, pulled Feng'er to sit on his left with his left hand, pulled Luan'er to sit on his right with his right hand, and gave Xu Lie a look.

Xu Lie's expression struggled for a moment, then he and the guards sat down cautiously, but they all crowded to the other end of the table.

"Start eating." Once everyone was seated, Zhao Xu, Feng'er, and Luan'er shared one pot, while the remaining pots were for the guards.

Picking up some vegetables, Zhao Xu began to swish them naturally, and the others followed suit.

Feng'er asked in confusion, "Your Highness, have you eaten hot pot before?"

Hearing this, Zhao Xu nodded subconsciously, then shook his head, "The shopkeeper just taught me. How does it taste?"

Luan'er chewed a slice of venison with enjoyment, "This way of eating tastes very unique."

As the group was laughing and talking, suddenly a crowd of people walked past the door of the private room.

The woman in white, surrounded by the crowd, stopped in her tracks and said in a delicate voice, "No wonder Your Highness is indifferent to me; so it is because you have a Beauty by your side."

As the woman's voice fell, Feng'er and Luan'er both raised their heads at the same time, casting their gazes toward the woman, their eyes filled with hostility.