Chapter 683: Imperial Decree (5/2, Autumn Subscription)

Hurrying back to the Green Division, Dou Hongyi personally handled the matter of forging an identity.

Very soon, the original owner's information for the White Clothes Token was laid out in full.

It turned out to be...

"Name: Yese Liming."

"Place of Birth: Gu Yue Cun in Heiqing Shanmai."

"Position: Former Captain of Gu Yue Cun, currently White Clothes of Qingsi County."

"Grade A Merit: Slaying a monstrosity, saving Qingsi County, propping up a collapsing building, turning back the raging tide — counted as one Grade A Merit."

"Grade B Merit: Repelling the Wuyu Clan monstrosities that had once massacred Mo Cun, Man Shui Cun, and other villages in Heiqing Shanmai, saving the surviving villagers of Gu Yue Cun — counted as one Grade B Merit."

"Grade C Merit:...

"Recorded Infractions and Punishment: Privately embezzling a massive amount of pills from the Qingsi County treasury, causing injury to the guarding personnel; calculated by the value of the pills, a large sum of merit is to be deducted..."

Row upon row of information left Dou Hongyi dazzled.

Especially since the records showed that this Ye Baiyi had only been in the Green Division for a little over a month, yet so much had already happened.

Both grave offenses and great merits.

After offsetting merits against faults, the merit points were already enough to vault straight to the Blue Clothes position, and even the Red Clothes position was not far off — only waiting for actual strength to catch up, followed by a written application and report.

His heart gave a sudden thump, and Dou Hongyi faintly sensed something ominous.

Could it be that this Yese Liming had actually been killed by the senior, and the identity was being used to impersonate...

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

As for reporting the position and merits upward — that was absolutely impossible.

Being a fake and acting so conspicuously — wasn't that just seeking death?

But... why had Yese Liming's White Clothes Token fallen at 【Dongliu Mountain】 and been picked up by the senior?

Yese Liming, Ye Niu Niu...

Could it be?!

Dou Hongyi's pupils contracted. Could Ye Niu Niu be Yese Liming? And Yese Liming had already died at 【Dongliu Mountain】.

This this this... this couldn't be counted as his fault!

Had he known earlier that this Ye Niu Niu had such a huge background and such a shocking record.

He wouldn't have dared to issue a warrant for Ye Niu Niu even if it killed him.

Now that the person was dead, he had to quickly withdraw the warrant on his side and distance himself from the matter.

And then there was the identity matter the senior had instructed...

Dou Hongyi sighed. How had things become so troublesome?

Gathering the information, intelligence soon showed that Ye Niu Niu... that is, Ye Baiyi, after leaving Chunuan City, had headed in the direction of Dongliu Mountain.

Things seemed to all line up...

Just then, a subordinate suddenly came running in to report.

"Lord Dou, the intelligence from 【Dongliu Mountain】 has also arrived. The Night Thieves of 【Dongliu Mountain】 have been scattered to the winds. Of the top ten on the wanted list, apart from the few heads you brought back, the rest have all vanished without a trace. The Night Thieves are leaderless and have already fallen into great chaos — some have fled the Chunuan City area, others have gone into hiding. Initial estimates suggest that within the short term, no Night Thieves should appear near Chunuan City.

And according to the intelligence, the one who caused havoc at 【Dongliu Mountain】 was a man with a ring atop his head..."

A stream of information came in, slamming Dou Hongyi into a daze.

But very soon, he keenly caught hold of one piece of information.

That was... a ring atop his head?

"A white ring or a black ring?"

This was a crucial question, but the messenger blankly shook his head.

"Unknown."

"..."

That was troublesome.

But on closer thought, it seemed there was no difference either way.

If it wasn't killed by the senior, then it was killed by a monstrosity born from the senior's Qi Deviation.

It seemed that the unlucky Ye Baiyi had gotten caught up in it and been killed.

Sigh...

How could it be so troublesome...

Dou Hongyi let out a long sigh, sat down in his chair, and picked up his hot tea in vexation.

But before he could take a single sip, another person came rushing in panic, knelt on the ground, and reported: "Lord, Lord Dou! Latest news — an urgent 【Document】 has been issued from Jingcheng and will arrive at the Green Division branch in 【Chunuan City】 within days. It is suspected to be an 【Imperial Decree】!"

Bang.

The teacup dropped to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Dou Hongyi's hands trembled. He had already leapt up from his seat in shock, eyes wide, staring at the man before him in disbelief, his whole body quivering.

He almost thought he had misheard.

"Im, Im-Im-Im-Im-Imperial Decree?!"

His Majesty... how could His Majesty possibly take notice of a small place like Chunuan City??

What on earth could have drawn His Majesty's attention?

Dou Hongyi was afraid, shocked, terrified.

Don't be fooled by 【Chunuan City】's booming appearance — in truth, the dirty dealings behind the scenes were countless.

Any single major matter dragged into the open and dealt with would cost people their heads!

The Phoenix Organization? Bribery within the 【Green Division】? Collusion between merchants and thieves? The Sky Merchant Alliance growing too powerful? The underground black market? The indiscriminate sale of intelligence?

For a moment, a flood of atrocities committed in Chunuan City flashed through Dou Hongyi's mind, and his whole body trembled with fear.

Shivering, his voice quavering, he asked, "D-do you know what matter has disturbed His Majesty?"

"A rumor from the grapevine says it has to do with a White Clothes of the Green Division in Chunuan City. The specifics are unknown."

White Clothes?

Is there any White Clothes Green Guard in Chunuan City who's particularly famous, or who's done something that would draw Jingcheng's attention?

There shouldn't be… not at all… wait!

His pupils contracted. Dou Hongyi's body trembled as a single name surfaced in his mind.

Yese Liming… Ye Baiyi!

Could the person His Majesty is looking for be the already-dead Ye Baiyi?!

His breath caught, and Dou Hongyi nearly fainted on the spot.

His Majesty wants to find someone, but that person is already dead… if the blame falls, the entire Chunuan City will be in trouble!

No! I can't let that happen!

Senior… if Senior pretends to be Ye Baiyi, and Senior can play the part well, then once the matter is over, leave Chunuan City far behind, and then vanish into thin air. The crime won't fall on Chunuan City.

His thoughts growing clearer, Dou Hongyi pressed a hand to his chest where his heart was pounding, took a few deep breaths, and steadied himself.

Not bad, this plan can work. With Senior's cooperation, plus a certain amount of maneuvering, it can be carried out successfully. Before the Imperial Decree arrives, have Ye Baiyi return to Chunuan City, then vanish into thin air. On my end, there'll be no further entanglement!

The two below had no idea what was going through Dou Hongyi's mind. Watching his emotions shift from panic to gradual composure, they exchanged a glance, their faces full of confusion.

"You two, regarding the matter of Ye Baiyi, from today onward it is classified as a confidential case file. You are not to let anyone else know."

"Yes!"

"Also, you two pass down the order…"

Dou Hongyi, following the plan in his mind, began issuing orders one by one for the others to carry out.

If you're putting on a show, you have to put on the whole show!

……

At the inn, Fang Yue was disturbed for the second time.

The visitor was not Dou Hongyi, but Yang Hongxia of Dayang Fu.

"What are you doing here?"

Fang Yue was somewhat taken aback.

He had indeed told her the location of the inn he was staying at, so that she could come there for help if she ran into danger.

But for her to come in person—wasn't that a bit too conspicuous?

(End of this chapter)