Chapter 258: 250 A Shocking Revelation

"Pay respects to... the Marquis?"

"Is it the Gaoyuan Marquis?"

Tang Zhao's heart stirred, and he said, "Is the Marquis someone I can just pay respects to whenever I want?"

To Yunzhou, the Gaoyuan Marquis is far more yearned for than the Imperial Court; it is a case of "only knowing there is a Marquis, not knowing there is an Emperor."

If this were a time of peace and prosperity or if a powerful ruler were on the throne, such a figure would have been wiped out under some pretext long ago. But now, the central authority is weak, the regions are out of control, and more than half the world listens to the various local lords; the Imperial Court can no longer manage them. The Gaoyuan Marquis is not a special case; it is just that in many places, one cannot even count two lords capable of taking charge.

At the very least, the Yunzhou Land Inspection Division is directly responsible to the Marquis, which can be called a force of personal troops. As a member of the Land Inspection Division, Tang Zhao has been influenced to some extent and naturally feels a sense of longing for the Marquis. Furthermore, being able to meet the Gaoyuan Marquis in person would be of great benefit to his future.

The Inspection Envoy said, "Ordinary people naturally cannot pay respects at will, but you surely can. The Marquis has heard your name. If you want to go, I will report it before the Marquis, and you can just go along when Deputy Envoy Mai reports to the Marquis. Once you've made a name for yourself before the Marquis, everything will be easy to handle in the future. By then, for the Deputy Envoy to transfer you to Xun City would just be a matter of a wave of the hand."

Tang Zhao was stunned, and Mai Shiyu laughed, "Xiao Tang was sent by the Land Inspection Division to Zhuoyu Villa to learn Sword Casting, and he will return when his studies are complete. There will naturally be a position for him then; I might not even be able to snatch him up."

The Inspection Envoy laughed, "A Sword Smith? That's great, then I must snatch him up even more. With Laofeng retiring this time, the Deputy Envoy will surely move up a step. If you are to be a Main Envoy, you must have a few capable people under your command. The near-water pavilion gets the moonlight first; if you keep Xiao Tang for Xun City, you are also keeping him for our Riyang Jun, isn't that a great thing?"

Tang Zhao suddenly realized that Deputy Envoy Mai's return to the provincial capital was not just to report on the situation of this turtle-bandit invasion, but perhaps also to be promoted to Town Guardian. After all, although Feng Zhilie had saved his life, he was clearly no longer suitable to be a Town Guardian, right?

If Mai Shiyu were confirmed to have merit and no faults this time, he could logically succeed as Town Guardian. A Town Guardian in his twenties would be even younger than Xing Ji was at the time.

Tang Zhao is currently learning Sword Casting; after his studies are successful, he probably won't return to the normal Land Inspection Division sequence. However, if there were an internship period where he served locally first, Mai Shiyu's place would be a good choice, though of course, he would still wait for Xing Ji to speak.

At this moment, he heard the Inspection Envoy say, "It just so happens that this kid Xing Ji won't be fighting you for him anymore..."

Tang Zhao felt a chill and blurted out, "What happened to... Mr. Xing?"

The last time he and Xing Ji corresponded was a few months ago. At that time, he only knew that Xing Ji had a mission, which seemed very secret; every word was cautious, and he hadn't dared to ask too much. Hearing the Inspection Envoy mention it now, seemingly with displeasure, his heart sank.

The Inspection Envoy didn't mind his abrupt interruption and said to both Tang Zhao and Mai Shiyu, "Speaking of which, it's a strange affair. I don't know what kind of madness took hold of that kid Xing Ji, but he suddenly killed a Prison Warden without authorization. How could this be allowed? The Prison Warden Division is also a branch split off from the Land Inspection Division; now that they are on equal footing with us, how could he kill one at will? The Prison Warden Division came to demand an explanation immediately, and they almost started a fight."

Tang Zhao listened, dumbfounded. It was the first time Mai Shiyu had heard of this, and he blurted out, "Could it be Jie Ya?"

The Inspection Envoy said, "Exactly. Have you heard the rumors too?"

Mai Shiyu sighed, "I don't know about the affairs in the capital. Senior Xing had confirmed the intelligence on Jie Ya with me before. I thought it was strange at the time, but I didn't expect him to actually take action."

Tang Zhao was shaken, recalling what he had seen and heard while he and Xing Ji were in Li Huo Prison.

At that time, Xing Ji and Jie Ya were still very good friends.

Could it be that their falling out was caused by a single word of his?

It couldn't be called a single word, but rather a trigger. Three years had passed since that word, and only then did Xing Ji take action. Tang Zhao surmised that he must have investigated from many sides and confirmed that Jie Ya was indeed colluding with human traffickers and doing unspeakable things before finally taking action.

He hurriedly asked, "What happened later? How is he?"

The Inspection Envoy said, "Actually, I only heard about this myself. In any case, our Land Inspection Division couldn't possibly hand over our own people to the Prison Warden Division. It is said that Xing Ji had evidence of the crime in his hands, but that was useless; no matter how you put it, you acted on your own authority to kill someone, and the Prison Warden Division couldn't possibly admit it. The two sides went back and forth for a long time. Later, the Marquis personally intervened, separated the two sides, and then brought him out for questioning. The final disposition was: Jie Ya deserved his punishment, but Xing Ji's private execution was also illegal, so he was stripped of his Land Inspection Division official robes and demoted to a commoner."

Tang Zhao felt desolate and sad in his heart, but he also breathed a sigh of relief—as long as he was safe, not being an official... then so be it.

Mai Shiyu said incredulously, "How could it come to this? Since there was evidence, they should have just arrested him and punished him according to the law; why resort to a private execution? That's not what he taught us."

The Inspection Envoy lowered his voice and said, "I heard that in this matter... I heard my foot! Rumors are flying everywhere over there now, and the Prison Warden Division is practically making up stories. Since you are familiar with him, go ask him yourselves. He is currently in Zhongtian Prefecture. You can see him when you go to pay respects to the Marquis."

Mai Shiyu asked in surprise, "He is still in Zhongtian Prefecture? He didn't return to his ancestral home?" Logically, after being stripped of his official position, he should have returned to his ancestral home.

The Inspection Envoy said, "That's why the Prison Warden Division is dissatisfied. Although the Marquis punished him, he told him to stay in Zhoucheng instead of letting him go home to live in idleness, so he surely still intends to employ him. Keeping him under the Marquis's nose also saves others from finding trouble for him. Once the limelight passes, there will be arrangements, though he probably won't return to the Land Inspection Division, right?"

Tang Zhao nodded, feeling a slight sense of loss; with Xing Ji not in the Land Inspection Division, he felt as if he had lost something.

It just so happens that he is going to Zhongtian Prefecture to see this old chief; they probably haven't seen each other for three years.

After chatting a few more sentences, the Inspection Envoy, being busy with official duties, parted ways with Deputy Envoy Mai to patrol along the city wall.

Mai Shiyu originally wanted to send Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi back to rest, but Tang Zhao knew that manpower was still insufficient at this time. The Inspection Envoy was a Sword Hero, which is why he arrived so quickly, but there was only one of him, and manpower in the city was still lacking. He still needed to do his best, and Mai Shiyu didn't stand on ceremony, letting them join the mobile city patrol.

Before leaving, Mai Shiyu called Tang Zhao over again and said, "Do you want to go to Zhongtian Prefecture?"

Tang Zhao said, "I want to go."

Not to mention paying respects to the Gaoyuan Marquis, even just to visit Xing Ji, he should make a trip to Zhongtian Prefecture.

He added, "However, I have been away from the mountain gate for a long time, so I must return to the mountain to report on things. Senior Brother also has to return to the mountain; this is a matter for the Land Inspection Division, so I will go alone." He had been out for quite a while, which had actually far exceeded his expectations. A trip to Zhongtian Prefecture and back would take some days, and there were many things at Jiugao Mountain that he had to rush back to handle.

Mai Shiyu said, "That's fine. Once things are settled here, you rush back first, and then meet up with me in Zhongtian Prefecture at the end of the month. You will arrive in Zhongtian Prefecture just in time to be with Zhang Xiansheng Rong and the others."

Tang Zhao nodded and added, "Is Zhang Xiansheng also going to Zhongtian Prefecture?"

Mai Shiyu said, "Naturally. However, he is not going to report on his duties like us; after we reported it, the Marquis personally sent an invitation and specifically dispatched an envoy to invite him into the Hou Mansion for a chat. This is only because the fact that Zhang Xiansheng knows the Heaven Expansion Art should not be publicized; otherwise, the Marquis might have come to visit him in person."

Tang Zhao laughed, "Zhang Xiansheng is worth it."

Mai Shiyu said, "There is also the Town Guardian... Town Guardian Feng. He also has to return to Zhongtian; his situation is more special, and he must report to the Marquis in person. Listening to his intentions, he is also going to retire after this matter is finished."

Tang Zhao's heart stirred, thinking secretly: If he could invite Chief Xing, Laofeng, and the others to live in seclusion at Zhuoyu Villa, far away from right and wrong, wouldn't that be carefree and happy? Plus Gui Ye and Zhu Yang, Jiugao Mountain could be considered a gathering of "heroes."

Having made the agreement with Mai Shiyu, Tang Zhao went on patrol again, and Jiang Shenyi, having nothing to do, followed him to walk around the city.

They patrolled like this for a day, and no accidents occurred throughout.

A few more days passed, and the scouts outside the city returned one after another, bringing various pieces of news. They discovered several turtle-bandit strongholds, but they were already empty. Once the turtle-bandits failed in their strike, they went underground again. Only this time, the Yunzhou government would not act as if nothing had happened; they would dig three feet into the ground to catch all the fish that slipped through the net.

This thunderous operation would probably start immediately, or perhaps it had already started; Tang Zhao could not know. He only knew that the scouts reported that the garrison of Riyang Jun had already arrived at the north of the city and would reach Xun City tomorrow.

"In other words, we can go back tomorrow?" That evening, the two shared this news in the small courtyard where they were staying, and Jiang Shenyi was very happy, specially pouring a cup of fruit wine.

Tang Zhao also breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Exactly. The large-scale search in Xun City over these past few days has also come to an end. It is said that they didn't catch the turtle-bandits' inside agents, and digging deeper is not a matter of a day or two. This matter has to be suspended for now; the next step is to go to Zhongtian Prefecture to listen to the Marquis's arrangements. If we are fast, we can set off to return to the mountain tomorrow!"

Jiang Shenyi said happily, "That's great! I've been outside for too long, and I miss home. You can go to that Zhongtian Prefecture yourself; I don't want to go on a long journey."

Tang Zhao laughed, "Senior Brother says that now, but maybe in a few days you'll be clamoring to go with me..."

Just at this moment, the sound of fluttering wings rang out in the night sky, and a shadow flew down.

It was exactly an owl.

Jiang Shenyi said, "Is your owl here to deliver a message?"

Tang Zhao's expression sank, and he patted his beast bag, saying, "It's not my owl. It's not the one Senior Sister usually uses either; this owl looks so familiar..."

Whose was it?

The owl was looking for him, flying straight toward them and landing on his shoulder, extending its leg with a bamboo tube tied to it. Tang Zhao took off the bamboo tube, but the owl did not leave, instead landing on the stone table in the courtyard. Tang Zhao thought it was hungry, so he turned back into the room to fetch water and meat to treat it.

Just as he put it down, he heard the sound of wings again. Tang Zhao looked up and saw another owl flying over.

This one... he recognized it!

Tang Zhao felt a sudden, inexplicable panic, and Jiang Shenyi recognized it too, smiling as he said, "Is this Senior Sister's owl again? What's going on today, sending messages one after another?"

Taking the letter from the owl's leg, Jiang Shenyi only glanced at it, and his breathing abruptly stopped.

Hearing that his voice sounded strange, Tang Zhao rushed up and asked, "What is it?"

Jiang Shenyi woodenly handed the slip of paper in his hand to him; under the moonlight, he saw his face turn ashen, and suddenly he reached out and swept the wine cups and bottles off the table, which shattered all over the floor with a clatter.

Tang Zhao's heart was filled with foreboding as he took the thin slip of paper, and the first thing that met his eyes were a few large characters:

"Shi Chunqing has defected!"