Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 646 Wrong
Hiding a fugitive under one's command could at most be considered a momentary oversight. However, failing to stabilize the situation in time and allowing the cult to cause even greater chaos would certainly cost the prefect his job.

Prefect Qiu was well aware of the gravity of the situation.

Furthermore, this matter has already alarmed the Cining Palace, and the imperial family will surely receive the news soon. Anyone who tries to sabotage this is heading down a dead end.

He's not stupid; of course he wouldn't do something like that.

In order to make up for his mistake, Prefect Qiu ordered that a doctor be summoned immediately and the caravan members be carried to the yamen for treatment.

As Master Jingyuan and Xie Yuyan walked together, seeing that no one was paying attention, Master Jingyuan whispered, "Is there anything else you've gained?"

Xie Yuyan nodded: "The demonic sect is in turmoil, and the stationed garrison troops heard the commotion and went to capture the demonic sect members."

Upon hearing this, Abbess Jingyuan pondered for a moment and understood. Lady Xie had used a divisive tactic to make the demonic sect members suspicious of Xie Yizhi.

Master Jingyuan continued, "Do you want to investigate what happened back then?"

Xie Yuyan said, "More than ten years have passed, so it might not be easy for outsiders to investigate..."

Master Jingyuan's eyes lit up slightly: "But if the Demon Sect investigates on its own, then it will be a different story." This was a well-executed plan, and it was even more difficult to do so in just a few days. If it were her, she wouldn't be able to handle everything perfectly, both saving the caravan and causing chaos within the Demon Sect.

Master Jingyuan said, "Even if I don't make this trip, you can return to Bianjing safely."

“That’s different,” Xie Yuyan said with a smile. “With the nun here, the fire will burn even brighter.”

Master Jingyuan was pleased to hear this. Overjoyed, she pointed to the horse she was riding and said, "This horse is exceptionally fast. Can you guess who sent it to this humble nun?"

Since Abbess Jingyuan said so, Xie Yuyan no longer needed to guess; Wang Yan's face naturally appeared in her mind.

It's one thing that Master Jingyuan dislikes the Wang family, but she wouldn't take credit for someone else's work.

Xie Yuyan asked, "How is Bianjing?"

“Alright,” said Abbess Jingyuan, “Don’t ask me the same question twice.”

Xie Yuyan asked the same question, and Wang Yan asked it again, their words slightly different, but essentially the same – both were worried about the other. She just couldn't understand; two intelligent people, who could figure out the answer with a little thought, why did they need to keep asking?
Master Jingyuan held the Buddhist prayer beads in her palm. She had never had any romantic feelings in her life, and after becoming a nun, she wanted to stay even further away from them. Who knew that she would have to suffer these torments again now.

It's better to focus on doing your job.

Master Jingyuan sighed. "When Madam Xie gets older, she'll understand. Nothing is more interesting than conspiring and manipulating."

……

Longde Prefecture, the garrison of the Xiang Army.

The man sent by Xie Yizhi, carrying documents, used the pretext of sending official documents from the Privy Council to request a meeting with the military officer in charge.

The commander came to see him immediately.

This commander was Xie Yizhi's man. He had recently gone to Shanxi and had just returned. He was resting at home when he heard that someone from the Privy Council had come. He dared not delay and took the envoy to his tent to talk.

The envoy hadn't shown himself yet because he was waiting for the commander to return to Longde. They had originally agreed to meet again the next day, but he had heard some news and had to come here in a panic. "Has the commander heard the news?" the envoy asked. "The area has been unsettled lately."

Xue Long was informed that he would receive instructions from his superiors soon, and he was told to prepare accordingly. He then finished his duties in Shanxi early and returned to await further instructions.

Upon hearing the messenger's words, Xue Long quickly perked up. In his view, what the messenger was about to say was the task that the Privy Councilor had given him.

Xue Long said, "We did hear someone report that there seemed to be some bandits causing trouble, but the government office was handling it. It wasn't something our garrison could get involved in, so we didn't bother to ask about it."

Isn't this exactly what the secret letter mentioned, forbidding them from making any rash moves?

Xue Long felt he had done a good job.

The envoy said, "If the yamen (government office) can't handle it properly, then the local militia should step in to resolve it."

Xue Long hurriedly replied, "Of course." Upon hearing this, he immediately understood that someone must have offended the Privy Councilor, and the Privy Councilor wanted to use him to deal with that person.

This is a rare opportunity. If he does well, his relationship with the Privy Councilor will become even closer, and he might even become the Privy Councilor's confidant overnight.

The envoy looked at Xue Long, who seemed to be waiting for his orders, and felt inexplicably anxious. According to the previous plan, he only needed to tell Xue Long what Xie Shumi had instructed, but now... things seemed to be more complicated than that.

The spies sent by the envoy heard that the demon cult was in turmoil. Moreover, it seemed that Xie Yuyan's caravan had been detained beforehand.

Ling Shi was completely bewildered and still couldn't figure out what had happened in just a few days. He was hoping that Xue Long could enlighten him, but Xue Long also seemed to know nothing.

The Xiang Army had several camps in Longde, each with a captain. When there was no trouble, each camp sent an official document every three days. After Xue Long returned, he only listened to the deputy commander's report briefly. He hadn't had time to deal with the pile of documents on his desk. Furthermore, Captain Zhao knew that the government office was arresting the caravan, but he didn't actually send troops to help. These matters were only mentioned briefly in the documents and not discussed in detail. Today's dispatch of troops to pursue the demon cult was also a sudden situation, and he hadn't had time to report it to Xue Long.

Therefore, Xue Long was unaware that things had taken a turn for the worse.

The two were preoccupied with their own thoughts and unsure how to proceed when someone knocked on the door.

"Commander," the lieutenant reported, "Captain Zhao sent a message back saying that traces of the Demon Cult members were discovered around the camp. Captain Zhao led his men to investigate and happened to encounter internal strife within the Demon Cult. Captain Zhao led his troops to capture them, and a total of more than a dozen Demon Cult members were apprehended."

Upon hearing this, Xue Long was utterly astonished. He had just finished speaking with the envoy, and the Xiang Army had been waiting in their camps, doing nothing, when they received news that a captain had sent troops to arrest people…

Xue Long was consumed by rage: "Who told him to act on his own? He didn't even send anyone to ask him before leading his troops out of the camp without permission."

Naturally, no one could answer that, so the deputy general quickly called over the people around Zhao, to prevent others from being caught in the crossfire.

The messenger was considered to have performed a great service and was just waiting for the commander's praise. After entering the room, he recounted how they had bravely killed the enemy and captured the demon cultists.

“Some of the demon cultists escaped in the chaos, and our leader led his men to chase after them in order to capture them all,” the soldier said. “Before leaving, he instructed us to make sure that the demon cultists were delivered to the commander.”

After the soldier finished speaking, he heard no praise for a while, and then he looked up at the commander.

The commander's expression was complicated, and those around him looked even more grim. The soldiers were momentarily stunned; the situation before them seemed different from what they had expected.

Could they have done something wrong?

(End of this chapter)