Chapter 592: Chapter 588, Chapter 589: Traces of the Imperial Guard in Yan State (Part 2)

Cui Yougen furrowed his brow: "What is your relation to Gangzi?"

"We are... friends of Cui Gang’s sister. It was his sister who asked us to come here to find him. Has Cui Gang returned?" the leader among the strong men said.

"Friends of Xiaohua?" Cui Youtian’s brow furrowed, then he changed his demeanor and, waving his hoe in the air, said, "Leave quickly. Peach Village does not welcome you. Xiaohua is nothing but trouble. If you don’t leave, don’t blame this old man for calling others."

Upon hearing this, several strong men exchanged looks. Before setting out, their superiors had instructed them to be careful and low-profile in Yanzhou as it wasn’t their territory.

The leader of the strong men deliberated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Old man, don’t misunderstand. We are good people. It was Cui Gang’s sister who asked us to take him to enjoy some happiness. We mean no harm."

"Enjoy happiness?" Cui Yougen snorted coldly, "Gangzi is dead, killed by Xiaohua. Enjoy what happiness?"

At this moment, Cui Yougen noticed some villagers approaching and quickly shouted, "Come quickly, everyone! These are wicked people sent by Xiaohua, trying to cause trouble for Gangzi’s family."

"What?"

"Even after they’re buried, they won’t let them rest in peace."

"Hurry, come quickly."

The villagers, upon hearing this, were filled with righteous indignation and surrounded the strong men.

"Boss, what should we do? If we return like this, we can’t fulfill our task." The strong men, evidently well-trained, stood back-to-back in a combat formation, one of them whispered to their leader.

"Leave first, then slowly gather information later."

The leader suddenly shouted sternly, "Don’t move! We are from the Government Office, and Cui Gang is related to a murder case. Do you want to be arrested and thrown in jail?"

As these words were spoken, the villagers of Peach Village were indeed scared and didn’t dare to move rashly.

In their eyes, the Government Office was scarier than King Yama, and they did not want to be involved with it.

At the same time, they harbored doubts. If these people were indeed from the Government Office, why weren’t they wearing official uniforms?

Seeing that he had intimidated them, the strong men’s leader did not linger, and left with his men.

The villagers dared not give chase. They were merely suspicious, and if the others were genuine, they did not dare to take such a risk.

The strong men’s decision to leave first was not due to fear of the villagers but rather the worry of alerting the local Government Office.

They were not from Yanzhou, having secretly infiltrated from Huai State, and were undocumented. If their identities were exposed, it would be troublesome.

At night, they quietly slipped into Cui Youtian’s house, restrained his family, and immediately said, "I ask, you answer. As long as you cooperate with us, no one will get hurt."

Cui Youtian, terrified, quickly nodded his head.

"Very good. You previously said Cui Gang was dead, is that true?"

"It... it’s true."

"How did he die?"

"He was killed by his sister Xiaohua."

"You’re toying with me."

"No... I wouldn’t dare. It was Shigen who told me. Xiao Gang was driven to suicide by his sister."

"Who is Shigen?"

"Cui Gang’s father."

"Where is he?"

"Dead."

"Dead?"

"Yes, he died just a few days ago, hung himself. His mother died too, buried on the back mountain."

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment.

The leader of the strong men pondered: "When did they return?"

"At the end of last month, exactly when I’ve forgotten, but it wasn’t long after."

"Where is the back mountain?"

"It’s Helan Mountain, the one behind the village."

"Release them, let’s go."

...

Inside a noodle shop in Sheng County.

"General Wen, are we just going back like this, can we fulfill our task..." A strong man hadn’t finished speaking when his companion slapped him on the back of his head.

Sitting opposite, Wen Heng said gravely, "How many times have I told you? Once we arrive in Yanzhou, call me Boss, not by my rank."

He looked around, confirming no one was observing them, and softly said, "This isn’t our territory. Once our identities are exposed, it could be death. Do you want to ruin us all?"

"Boss, I... I was wrong."

"Our task was only to confirm whether Cui Gang had returned and if so, take him back to Linzhou. But now that Cui Gang is dead and we’ve confirmed it, what happens next is no longer our concern."

...

When Wen Heng’s group was on their way back, they unexpectedly encountered a large caravan. Besides the caravan’s own guards, there were numerous escort masters alongside, causing pedestrians to evade to the sides of the road, Wen Heng and his men included.

After the caravan passed, a strong man curiously asked, "What are they escorting that requires so many escort masters and guards?"

"No, these are not escort masters," Wen Heng furrowed his brows.

"If they’re not escort masters, what are they?"

"They are all from the military. Did you see their shoes? All military boots."

"Military people?" Wen Heng’s subordinates were curious and puzzled, "If they’re Yanzhou army, why disguise as escort masters?"

"In my opinion, these are not Yanzhou troops. The Yanzhou army’s boots are not of this style. They look more like the Imperial Guard."

"Imperial Guard? That’s impossible. Why would the Imperial Guard be in Yanzhou?"

"Which is why I’m perplexed."

...

A few days later.

Outside Yuan County, the county closest to Huai State from Yanzhou.

"Phew, we’ll be able to go back soon, calculate the time, the provincial examinations have already started, right?"

"The provincial examinations on the tenth, today is already the thirteenth."

"Boss, look, it’s that caravan we encountered on the road before."

A strong man pointed to the convoy queuing to enter the city, saying.

Upon hearing this, Wen Heng glanced over and immediately furrowed his brows tightly.

This is Yuan County, not Yanzhou’s State City or any bustling county, why would a caravan come to such a place? Although Yanzhou and Huai State allow mutual travel for residents, commercial trade between the two sides has not been established.

Under such conditions, commercial activities between both sides are illegal.

Of course, both governments tend to turn a blind eye, provided nothing excessive occurs.

But with such a large scale, turning a blind eye is impossible.

And this confirmed Wen Heng’s previous suspicion.

This caravan is suspicious.

With lingering doubts, Wen Heng entered Yuan County.

Soon after entering the city, the authorities issued a ban: no exits allowed.

In the next two days, more caravans and escort masters arrived in Yuan County, making Wen Heng increasingly uneasy.

"This isn’t good. Something has certainly happened. We must promptly report the situation in Yuan County to Duke An," Wen Heng said solemnly.

...

And prior to this in Jiangnan, three days before the imperial examination.

Based on orders from above, the spies in Jiangnan planned to stir up major chaos.

They decided to attack the Treasure Ship sailing between Jiangnan and Huai State.

Since the end of last month, this Treasure Ship had been shuttling back and forth between Jiangnan and Huai State, responsible for transporting exam takers heading to Huai State for the exams.

Their mission was to create an accident, causing the ship to sink with no survivors on board.

This would place responsibility on the "Chen Mo regime."

The examinees from Jiangnan possess some status in the region.

If they perished, it would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar in Jiangnan, providing the "Chen Mo regime" with a significant crisis.

Unfortunately, their mission failed before it even began.

To stage such a massive accident, the spies in Qinhuai City couldn’t do it alone, requiring the mobilization of spies from all over Jiangnan.

This allowed for the "Chen Mo regime’s" intercepting forces in Qinhuai City to track and locate their assembly point.

The Fish Scale Guard was then deployed, capturing them all.

In the dungeon where the Fish Scale Guard kept the prisoners.

A man, his clothes in tatters and body covered in blood, was bound to a cross-shaped wooden post.

Led by Nangong Xian, Xiao Quan approached the man.

The man, seeing Xiao Quan, became agitated and, with blood-stained lips, exclaimed, "Patriarch, save me, save me, I am... from Xiao Pavilion. These people arbitrarily captured me. Patriarch, you must help me!"

"Silence," Xiao Quan commanded coldly.