Catching Monsters

Chapter 362 Zhang Yuhu

Despite asking the question, Jiang Yun quickly handed the list to Li Wangxin.

Li Wangxin quickly flipped through the list, and then his expression gradually became more serious. He said in a deep voice, "These people are all very important officials from various departments."

"And... many of the close relatives of military commanders who were leading troops in the field were also among them."

Soon, Li Wangxin roughly guessed the purpose of this group and said in a deep voice, "These bandits from the Western Regions probably have some connection with Wang Longzhi's side."

boom……

Just as Li Wangxin was speaking, the door was suddenly kicked open, and Zhou Yi rushed in, panting and looking anxious.

"Lord Li, something terrible has happened! Xiao Min'er has disappeared!"

"What?" Li Wangxin, who was sitting in the chair, was stunned for a long time. He suddenly stood up and rushed towards the direction of the Northern Garrison Prison.

Zhou Yi, now the commander of the Northern Garrison, looked extremely grim.

As the Northern Garrison Commander, he was all too aware of Xiao Min'er's importance.

If this guy gets away from my own territory, I'm probably doomed!
His gaze also fell on Jiang Yun inside the room, and he hurriedly said, "Brother Jiang, I know you are very capable. Please help me find out where Xiao Min'er is."

"Otherwise, bro, you're doomed."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun's expression darkened, and he couldn't help but ask, "Lord Zhou, Xiao Min'er was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison of the Northern Garrison Command. How could she have suddenly disappeared?"

"Let's go, I'll go check out the imperial prison too."

He and Zhou Yi followed the anxious Li Wangxin and rushed to the imperial prison. At this time, the prison was brightly lit, and many Jinyiwei from the Northern Garrison were searching inside with torches.

They were so eager to dig three feet into the ground, but they couldn't find a single trace.

With a livid face, Li Wangxin arrived at the cell where Xiao Min'er was being held, only to find it completely empty.

"What are you good for?" Li Wangxin rarely lost his temper with his subordinates, but at this moment, he glared angrily at Zhou Yi: "You ordered your men to watch over someone, and you couldn't even do that."

Zhou Yi lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with Li Wangxin, and said, "My lord, it was only at noon that the person delivering the food saw Xiao Min'er sitting inside reading a book."

"The guards around the imperial prison have never relaxed, and they are strictly preventing any entry or exit."

"But during our routine patrol just now, we discovered that Xiao Min'er had disappeared."

Jiang Yun stepped forward and looked down at the food placed at the door; it showed no signs of having been touched.

They then checked the iron lock on the door and found no signs of tampering.

Xiao Min'er seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Jiang Yun squatted down, tapped the ground, and fell into deep thought before asking, "Can the method of escaping underground be used inside the Imperial Prison?"

“It’s unusable.” Li Wangxin shook his head and said, “When the Imperial Prison was first built, we considered the possibility that Taoists might use earth-遁术 (earth-遁术, a technique to escape from the ground) to help people escape.”

"The ground below is not soil, but rather covered with iron sand, plus some specially designed magic arrays."

"The technique of escaping underground cannot be used."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun glanced back at the direction of the prison gate, still somewhat puzzled.

"Men, open the cell door," Li Wangxin ordered.

Soon, the cell door was opened, and the three men went inside to check.

But as soon as Jiang Yun entered the prison, he sensed a strange fluctuation of magical power.

"what."

"Brother Jiang, what's wrong?" Zhou Yi asked anxiously from the side.

Li Wangxin snorted coldly, looking at the book on the table: "This woman has quite the leisure time; even in the imperial prison, she still has the leisure to read military books."

"not good!"

Jiang Yun widened his eyes, quickly channeling his magic power into them, and looked into the prison. A blurry figure had already escaped outside.

"how?"

“She was just here!” Jiang Yun’s expression hardened. “Use a special illusion to make us think she has escaped and open the cell.”

Li Wangxin instantly understood, and he and Jiang Yun rushed out of the prison immediately.

Jiang Yun looked around, but couldn't find Xiao Min'er anywhere.

Then he flipped over, jumped onto the roof, and searched around the North Garrison Command.

They searched for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, but there was no trace of Xiao Min'er.

After jumping off the roof, Zhou Yi's expression improved considerably.

At least Xiao Min'er didn't escape from his hands. If he remembered correctly, it was Lord Li himself who ordered the prison cell door to be opened.

In a sense, it was Lord Li Wangxin who let the man escape.

Li Wangxin, his face dark and his teeth clenched, said, "Have everyone immediately seal off the surrounding area and search!"

Jiang Yun stood to the side, her lips moving slightly, but she said nothing more.

Xiao Min'er's method of concealing her figure was extremely unusual, allowing her to escape from him and Li Wangxin. It goes without saying that ordinary Imperial Guards would be able to find her.

Li Wangxin was certainly aware of this outcome.

He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth slightly, and said, "I must go to the palace immediately to see His Majesty."

Zhou Yi quickly stepped in to take the blame: "My lord, I bear an unshirkable responsibility for Xiao Min'er's escape from here. When you see His Majesty, you can simply let me take the blame..."

"Shut up, you think you can take the blame? Can you handle it?" Li Wangxin glared at Zhou Yi. "Your responsibility now is to find Xiao Min'er as soon as possible and make amends." As Xiao Yuzheng's absolute confidant, Li Wangxin knew very well that if the blame was shifted onto Zhou Yi, the consequences would probably not be a simple dismissal.

After saying that, Li Wangxin turned around and quickly headed towards the direction of the palace.

Jiang Yun and Zhou Yi couldn't help but exchange a glance.

"Brother Jiang."

"Good luck, brother. Keep searching, maybe you can find Xiao Min'er..." Jiang Yun said, and then immediately ran away.

He had only come to report on the case; he had successfully captured the criminals from the Western Regions.

As for Xiao Min'er's escape case, he didn't want to get involved.

……

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.

Xiao Yuzheng sat in the study, his face ashen: "Xiao Min'er escaped?"

"Yes."

Li Wangxin, who was kneeling on the ground, nodded and recounted the details of how Xiao Min'er escaped.

After hearing this, Xiao Yuzheng frowned deeply and regretted it. He wished he had ordered Xiao Min'er to be eliminated as soon as possible to nip the problem in the bud.

He trusted the Embroidered Uniform Guard too much, believing that the Imperial Prison was an impregnable fortress and that Xiao Min'er could not possibly escape easily.

At the very least, we must use Xiao Min'er to exchange for the Imperial Seal of the State.

“Li Wangxin, you…” Xiao Yuzheng sighed and said, “You will have to give up your post as Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for now. I will send someone else to take over.”

"You should reflect on your actions properly!"

"Yes." Li Wangxin did not refute in the slightest.

"Your Majesty, there is some good news." After a moment's thought, Li Wangxin quickly recounted the capture of the Western Region bandits.

After listening, Xiao Yuzheng asked, "Was it Jiang Yun who solved the case again?"

"This Jiang Yun is indeed a talented person."

As Xiao Yuzheng spoke, he coughed violently, then said to Feng Yu in the study, "Order Zhang Yuhu, the commander of the Tianqi Army, to take over the post of commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"As for Li Wangxin, you will first go to the Tianqi Army to serve as a commander and reflect on your actions."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Upon hearing this, Li Wangxin quickly kowtowed to Xiao Yuzheng to express his gratitude.

This is because Li Wangxin was Xiao Yuzheng's confidant for many years and was quite capable himself; otherwise, the crime of accidentally letting Xiao Min'er escape would have ruined his life.

Upon hearing that Zhang Yuhu would be appointed as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Feng Yu's expression changed slightly.

It’s over.

Jiang Yun's good days are coming to an end...

General Zhang Yuhu and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion are longtime enemies.

Jiang Yun also had a close relationship with the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion...

……

The next morning, inside the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, Jiang Yun was having breakfast with Xu Suwen when Wu Chi arrived, claiming that Qi Da from the Eastern Garrison had come and had important news to report.

Soon, Zidane hurried into the courtyard.

"Commander Qi, have you eaten?"

A small table was set up in the courtyard, on which were many breakfasts that Xu Suwen had personally prepared.

Qi Da, who had followed Jiang Yun for many years, sat down without ceremony. He then took the chopsticks Jiang Yun handed him, ate a bite of breakfast, and said, "Sir, have you heard? Our Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been replaced..."

"It seems that the Northern Garrison Command has released an extremely important prisoner... Commander Li has resigned to take responsibility."

Resign to take responsibility?

Jiang Yun was slightly taken aback. He then sighed and said, "Lord Li Wangxin, putting everything else aside, is truly a qualified superior."

"That's not the key point..."

Qi Da paused, glanced at Xu Suwen subconsciously, and then continued, "I heard that the person who will succeed as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is General Zhang Yuhu, formerly of the Tianqi Army..."

"Zhang Yuhu?" Jiang Yun frowned, looking at Qi Da's unpleasant expression, then chuckled and said, "Alright, Lao Qi, it's just a change of leadership..."

“This isn’t just about changing leaders.” Seeing that Jiang Yun seemed unaware of the matter between Zhang Yuhu and the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion, Qi Da took a deep breath and said, “Why don’t you ask Lord Li Wangxin if you can be transferred to the Tianqi Army?”

Jiang Yun frowned and noticed that Xu Suwen, who was sitting next to him, had a grim expression. He asked, "What does this jade tiger have to do with me?"

“It has something to do with my family.” Xu Suwen slowly clenched her fist and said with a grim expression.

Qi Da was somewhat surprised that Jiang Yun was unaware of this matter, but upon reflection, it made sense, given that Jiang Yun had come to the capital and held a high position as a commander.

But in reality, it took less than a year.

Jiang Yun wasn't really aware of many of the secrets within the capital.

However, Qi Da was hesitant to speak, as it concerned the secrets of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion: "Why don't you tell Lord Jiang about the matter between your Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and Zhang Yuhu?"

P.S.: Sorry for the late update today. There will be an extra chapter later. Also, today is the 1st, so please vote for me with your monthly tickets. Thank you everyone.

(End of this chapter)