The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 338 Homing Pigeon
Zhu Yijing was still asleep. Liu Jin watched for a while, then slowly returned to the bed, snuggled into his arms, and closed his eyes.

The stove inside the house emitted billowing steam, which escaped through the open window, was carried by the cold wind, climbed onto the roof, and flew along the eaves, catching up with the carrier pigeon that Liu Jin had released.

This carrier pigeon must have been trained in some way; it makes very little noise when it flies, and its flight path is unpredictable. It flies close to the eaves and deliberately hides in the shadows, so that it is impossible to detect unless you are observant.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, we arrived at the city gate. We flew up the city wall, ready to fly out of the city.

Suddenly, someone spoke at the foot of the city wall.

"Brother You, thank you for your trouble."

"Easy to say!"

A figure suddenly leaped up, ascending along the city gate tower. Upon reaching the top, he pushed off and soared several meters higher, reaching out to grab the carrier pigeon.

The carrier pigeon made a sharp turn and went around.

"Oh, this is the real deal."

The person fell from mid-air without any disappointment; instead, their tone carried a hint of joy.

"It's up to you, Brother An."

Whoosh whoosh—

Suddenly, a series of clicking springs and rattling chains rang out from the ground, followed by a barrage of fine needles, like raindrops, shooting into the air.

No matter how miraculous a carrier pigeon may be, it cannot withstand a blade barehanded. In an instant, it was pierced through by dozens of fine needles, let out a mournful cry, and fell headlong to the ground.

You Zi'ang reached out and caught it, then somersaulted down the city wall and drifted slowly to the ground like a falling leaf.

"Hmm...no wonder I couldn't catch it."

You Zi'ang examined the dead carrier pigeons.

"A 'Flying Slave' raised with secret medicine—each one is worth at least a thousand taels of silver. No wonder they're so hard to catch!"

He looked up.

The mailbox is empty.

An Ziyang slowly stepped out of the shadows at the foot of the city wall and said with a smile.

"I think so too. It would be strange if letters could be intercepted so easily."

He reached out and took the carrier pigeon, raised his hand to signal it, and a subordinate ran out of the shadows to take it from him.

"Investigate its origins and see if you can find any clues. If you find anything, do not act rashly, and report back immediately."

"Yes!"

The man bowed, accepted the order, and left.

You Zi'ang then spoke up in confusion.

"Brother An, are you done?"

"Yes."

An Ziyang smiled.

You Zi'ang shook his head.

"I thought you had other leads, Brother An. We've been staking out all night just to catch a pigeon that didn't leave any message?"

"Leaving aside whether catching just a pigeon is useful, if we intercept the carrier pigeon, the messenger will definitely notice, and it will be difficult to catch it again in the future."

"Or do you know where the person in the city who was supposed to receive the letter is?"

An Ziyang smiled, his hands behind his back.

"If I had known, why would I have bothered to bring you here to stake out pigeons all night? I could have just gone to your door, arrested you, and interrogated you."

"Then how do you know you can catch carrier pigeons here?"

You Zi'ang asked in confusion.

"It's just a coincidence."

An Ziyang smiled.

“This is Shuntian Prefecture. Every night, carrier pigeons flutter around like locusts. Especially recently, the commander has started to clash with those civil officials. You can catch at least a dozen pigeons on the city wall every night.”

"I just got lucky tonight and caught the real culprit."

An Ziyang strode into the city, and You Ziang quickly followed.

"Brother You, do you know what the two commanders, Wang and Li, have been busy with since the moon-viewing banquet?"

"I don't know."

"After the incident at the imperial mausoleum, the commander took over the defense of the imperial city. After taking stock, he discovered that during the time he was rushing back to the capital from the imperial mausoleum, more than a hundred eunuchs and tens of thousands of taels of silver were missing from the palace. Even part of the secret vault where the celestial inheritance was stored had been moved away."

"Also, do you remember the person the garrison commander brought back from the foot of the mountain at the moon-viewing banquet? He was a eunuch, and it was later verified that Zhou Zijing, whose neck was snapped by the garrison commander, was someone he instigated."

"It wasn't just him; at the Moon Appreciation Banquet, there were more than a dozen evil experts who had colluded with them beforehand. If it weren't for the Commander of the Garrison displaying his might and subduing most of the righteous sects, who knows what kind of trouble might have arisen."

You Zi'ang paused in his tracks.

“Eunuch… could it be—” Since they were on the street, he couldn’t say it outright, so he raised his hand and pointed to the sky.

"That person's backup plan?"

An Ziyang smiled and nodded.

"Having sat in that position for over twenty years, there are always a few loyal ministers. Even in the imperial court, there are ministers who noticed his unusual behavior and went to test him, but they were all 'dealt with' by the commander."

Upon hearing this, You Ziang reached out and grabbed An Ziyang's sleeve. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, he lowered his voice and said...

"So...who was behind tonight's carrier pigeon?"

"Yes."

An Ziyang nodded.

“Even Brother You almost couldn’t catch it. It takes a barrage of arrows to shoot down a carrier pigeon; only the palace can train them.” “Then how could you just catch it so carelessly?”

You Zi'ang frowned.

"Since they've planted them in the capital, they must have some ulterior motive, perhaps even targeting the commander. Why would we capture a mere pigeon? Wouldn't that alert them?"

"We need to stir up trouble and alert the enemy!"

An Ziyang waved his hand and said decisively, which surprised You Ziang.

Everyone has their own expertise. You Zi'ang was a thief by trade, and his only outstanding talent was in light-footed skills. His comprehension of other martial arts was extremely poor. He spent his days doing secret investigations and delivering messages. He could be said to be the most dull-witted of Li Miao's subordinates, except for Mei Qinghe.

An Ziyang didn't keep them in suspense and continued.

“Every household uses carrier pigeons. If it were so easy to trace them, no one would use them anymore. Especially these pigeons bred by the palace, even the most skilled gamblers would find them difficult to catch. Where would we find so many skilled gamblers to go around staking out pigeons?”

"It's already lucky that we were able to catch this one."

"Let's get back to the topic we were talking about earlier. During the moon-viewing banquet, Commander Wang, Commander Li, and I were all there. We interrogated that little eunuch together, and we managed to get all the information out of him."

"This group of eunuchs was prepared by that person to replace the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They were selected from the best of the best, and they have access to all kinds of martial arts manuals in the palace. It can be said that they are more elite than the thousand-household garrison personally led by the Garrison Commander."

"They have methods for disguise, poisoning, assassination, both overt and covert investigations, and direct confrontations. They also know the truth about the imperial tombs. A group of people like this staying in Da Shuo poses a threat no less than that of Yingzhou."

"So I shared the tasks with Commanders Wang and Li."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the entrance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters.

An Ziyang led You Ziang to Li Miao's cell, nodded to Mei Qinghe who was leaning against the wall with her sword, took a stack of papers from the table, picked out a few and handed them to You Ziang.

You Zi'ang took it and glanced at it, his eyes widening in surprise.

"This is!"

"The message sent back by Commanders Wang and Li."

An Ziyang smiled, his hands behind his back.

"No matter how difficult this group is, they still have two weaknesses. First, they are few in number, and second, they lack experts. At most, there are only one or two Celestial Realm experts in charge, and they are only from one group."

"If they want to break the deadlock, they can only try to find a way here in Shuntian Prefecture, but they don't have enough strength, so they will definitely have to join forces with others."

"They're either heretics, officials, or from Yingzhou."

"Yingzhou is being investigated personally by the Garrison Commander, while the two commanders, Wang and Li, are investigating heretics and officials—they have recently made some progress. Now that Brother You has returned with a message, it's a good opportunity to bring this information back to the Garrison Commander."

"We can't rush things when dealing with these people."

An Ziyang then picked up another stack of papers from the table and handed them to You Ziang.

You Zi'ang's expression turned serious after just one glance.

"Brother An, who are these people?"

“After the incident at the imperial mausoleum, unfamiliar faces appeared near the commander, various commanders, high-ranking officials, and their families.”

An Ziyang reached out and tapped the stack of papers.

"After the incident at the imperial mausoleum, the court was in turmoil, and a new batch of people in the capital were also replaced, making it a bit difficult for me to conduct the investigation."

"But I'm certain that these eunuchs have the skill of disguise and must be lurking around some important figure. They might even be inside the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters... or even not far from the commander."

"To ignore it would be dereliction of duty, but if we go too far, we must be careful they might resort to desperate measures. If the commander is injured, how can I face the garrison commander?"

"So, intercepting a carrier pigeon will startle these damned eunuchs and make them slow down. That's just the right amount of trouble."

An Ziyang leaned against the table and looked at You Ziang.

"Brother You, please inform the garrison commander on my behalf."

"Commanders Wang and Li have already traced a lead pointing to Shuntian Prefecture. They should be able to find the culprit within a month or two. I can finish investigating the case within another month or two as well."

"We'll join forces in Shuntian Prefecture then, and we can wipe them all out in one fell swoop!"

"Rest assured, Commander, with me, An Ziyang, here, even if everyone in Shuntian Prefecture is wiped out—the Commander will not suffer any mishap!"

You Zi'ang nodded solemnly and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Don't worry, Brother An, I will definitely deliver the message!"

After saying that, he handed the paper back to An Ziyang, then slipped out the door, turning into a black shadow that swept across the rooftop with lightning speed and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

An Ziyang looked at the thick stack of papers covered with names in his hand, casually put them on the table, and turned to Mei Qinghe with a smile.

"Commander Mei, you've kept watch all night. You've worked hard."

"Come on, come on! I found a tea stall these past few days, and their breakfast is... wow, so delicious!"

"Would you do me the honor of having me take you to try it?"

Mei Qinghe opened her eyes.

"No, I'm going to practice my sword."

"Alright, you're busy, I won't bother you any longer."

An Ziyang stepped out of the room, stretched, and walked towards the outside of the yamen.

A morning breeze blew in through the open door, turning over the stack of papers on the table. Mei Qinghe walked over, reached for a paperweight to weigh it down, her gaze unconsciously sweeping over the papers, but then pausing.

She removed the paperweight, took out a sheet from it, and examined it closely.

A delicate face was sketched on the paper, smiling shyly at Mei Qinghe. Mei Qinghe frowned, feeling as if she had seen it somewhere before, but the impression was vague and she couldn't quite place it.

So she looked again and found the name of the face at the bottom of the paper, and read it aloud softly.

"Brocade robes".

"Liu, Jinyi."

(End of this chapter)