Catching Monsters

Chapter 465 He won't suffer a loss.
Upon hearing Xiao Jingfu's request, Qian Buchou's lips twitched. Then, he nodded in agreement without hesitation and asked, "When does Your Highness need it?"

Xiao Jingfu stood up slowly with his hands behind his back and said, "Let's go to your residence first and see that Jiang Qiaoqiao."

Hearing this, Qian Buchou couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but he could only bite the bullet and agree.

Soon, a carriage stopped outside the Crown Prince's residence, and Qian Buchou followed Xiao Jingfu toward the Qian residence.

Qian Buchou's current residence is no ordinary mansion; it is located on a main street next to the capital city's main thoroughfare and is a four-courtyard complex.

After the carriage stopped at the gate of the Qian residence, Qian Buchou respectfully led Xiao Jingfu and Huang Pingfeng down from it.

"Your Highness, please take your time." Qian Buchou helped Xiao Jingfu down from the carriage, then led him and Huang Pingfeng into the mansion.

They soon arrived at a cellar behind the Qian residence. Qian Buchou took out a key, opened the cellar, lit a torch, and led the two down into it.

The air in the cellar was stuffy and smelled unpleasant. Xiao Jingfu frowned slightly and covered his nose.

At this moment, a girl of similar age and appearance to Jiang Qiaoqiao is being imprisoned here.

Qian Buchou was meticulous after all. Four months ago, after Jiang Qiaoqiao stopped appearing at the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, he specially recruited a girl from another place who looked somewhat similar to Jiang Qiaoqiao to be a maid in the mansion, and paid her a full salary every month.

The only requirement was to stay in this cellar and pretend to be Jiang Qiaoqiao.

In the past few months, Qian Buchou has visited the girl several times and given her some basic training.

"Your Highness, it's a bit dark in this cellar, please be careful," Qian Buchou said loudly.

Upon hearing Qian Buchou's words, the girl followed the pre-arranged script and shouted loudly, "Qian Buchou, let me go! My brother has been so good to you, yet you secretly kidnapped me behind his back."

"If my brother finds out about this, he will certainly not let you off easily."

Hearing the girl's words, Qian Buchou snorted coldly and said, "Your brother has offended His Highness the Crown Prince, and he's doomed sooner or later. He might as well be used as a stepping stone for me, Old Qian, to get promoted and make a fortune."

Xiao Jingfu took the torch from Qian Buchou's hand, moved closer, and looked at the face of this 'Jiang Qiaoqiao'.

Upon seeing this, Qian Buchou's heart skipped a beat. He had originally locked the girl in the cellar in case Xiao Jingfu came to check on her.

Taking advantage of the dim lighting inside, they could easily slip through the cracks.

But now it seems...

Qian Buchou took a deep breath and couldn't help but think to himself, if he were discovered, he could simply deny it to the death, or say that he had tied up the wrong person...

After carefully examining 'Jiang Qiaoqiao's' face, Xiao Jingfu turned to Huang Pingfeng and asked, "Is this Jiang Qiaoqiao?"

Huang Pingfeng gave an awkward smile and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, this servant has never seen Jiang Qiaoqiao before, but there are quite a few people in the academy who know her. Why don't we call her over to recognize her?"

Upon hearing this, Qian Buchou frowned, somewhat displeased: "Your Highness, are you saying this because you don't believe me, old Qian?"

"I didn't mean that. One should always be careful." Xiao Jingfu smiled faintly upon hearing this, but he also gave up the idea of ​​having someone from the academy come and identify him.

After all, if this kind of thing gets out, it won't be good for one's reputation.

However, Qian Buchou wouldn't dare to deceive himself on such a matter. He said in a deep voice, "Tonight, cut off one of her hands and give it to me. I'll need it tomorrow."

After saying that, Xiao Jingfu turned and left, and Huang Pingfeng hurriedly followed.

"Yes, yes, yes." Qian Buchou nodded, then looked back at the girl, took a deep breath, and hurriedly followed.

After seeing Xiao Jingfu and Huang Pingfeng off, he returned to the cellar.

The girl looked at Qian Buchou with some fear and asked, "Master Qian, I'm just here to work as a maid in your mansion. Are you really going to cut off one of my hands?"

Qian Buchou gave the girl a deep look, then said, "Don't worry, just stay here obediently."

After thinking for a moment, Qian Buchou instructed the steward of the manor to secretly go to the morgue in the outer city and find a woman of similar age.

Such corpses are not hard to find. The capital city is very large. If it is a girl from a wealthy family, of course she will have a complete coffin and be given a proper burial.

However, children from poor families, especially girls, were often sent to morgues because their families couldn't afford it, and the imperial court would arrange their burial.

This system can be considered a benevolent policy.

Furthermore, Qian Buchou wasn't worried that His Highness the Crown Prince would discover this matter. The clerks in the morgue were already secretly selling corpses themselves, so they would never tell anyone.

After giving these instructions, Qian Buchou pondered for a moment, then immediately disguised himself and, after making sure no one noticed him following him, secretly headed towards the back gate of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

……

The Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, Xu Suwen's courtyard.

During this period, Xu Suwen rarely went out and claimed that she needed to practice her skills. No servants, except Wu Chi, were allowed to enter the courtyard.

As a result, in the past few months, very few servants have come near.

Inside the room, Jiang Qiaoqiao was sitting, intently flipping through books. Fortunately, Jiang Qiaoqiao was a patient woman.

If it were Linglong, and she were confined to a room like this for months without being able to leave, she would go crazy.

The door creaked open, and Xu Suwen walked in from outside.

Jiang Qiaoqiao hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law, is there any news about my brother?"

The news of Jiang Yun's arrival at Penglai Immortal Island had, of course, been learned by people from the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion.

However, having been unable to come down from up there for more than four months, Jiang Qiaoqiao was naturally quite worried about Jiang Yun's safety.

Seeing the worry in Jiang Qiaoqiao's eyes, Xu Suwen smiled, reached out and touched her forehead, and comforted her, saying, "Don't worry too much. After all, your brother has set foot on a legendary immortal island, not some dangerous place. There won't be any danger."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiaoqiao nodded. Just then, footsteps came from outside the courtyard. Xu Suwen frowned slightly, came to the door, opened it a crack, and breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that it was Wu Chi.

Behind Wu Chi was Qian Buchou, who was disguised. "Miss, Master Qian has arrived. He says he has something important to tell you." Wu Chi smiled, then turned and left.

Qian Buchou was wearing a hat and had a fake beard pasted on his face; if you didn't look closely, you really couldn't tell it was him.

"Something terrible has happened!" Upon entering the room, Qian Buchou quickly sat down in a chair and said, "That Crown Prince, I don't know what he's planning, he actually tried to cut off Jiang Qiaoqiao's arm..."

As he spoke, Qian Buchou recounted everything he had seen and heard in detail.

After hearing this, Xu Suwen's expression also became solemn. She paced back and forth in the room for a while and asked in a deep voice, "No, these four months have passed. Why would His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly want to take action against Qiaoqiao?"

After saying this, a look of surprise instantly appeared on Xu Suwen's face, and she said, "Could it be that he has news of Jiang Yun!"

Only under this possibility would His Highness the Crown Prince suddenly decide to take action against Jiang Yun.

"Well, I don't know." Qian Buchou quickly shook his head: "I just think I should inform you about this so that you're all in the know."

"I've already sent someone to the morgue to buy an arm to deal with this."

"But this kind of thing can't be kept secret sooner or later."

Jiang Qiaoqiao stood up and poured Qian Buchou a cup of tea: "Brother Qian, thank you very much."

"There's no need to thank me," Qian Buchou waved his hand and said, "We're all from Nanzhou Prefecture."

Xu Suwen paced back and forth, pondering for a moment, before saying, "Brother Qian, you should go back first. It's not convenient for us to stay here any longer. I need to ask Xu Xiaogang what he thinks."

After saying that, Xu Suwen quickly went out the door and walked briskly towards the courtyard where Xu Xiaogang lived.

The courtyard where Xu Xiaogang lives has not changed; it is still the same small courtyard as before.

Xu Xiaogang's eyes and expression are much more resolute than they used to be.

He was sitting alone in the courtyard, with a map of the southwest of Zhou on the table and many black and white chess pieces in his hand.

However, at this moment, these pieces are placed in various positions on the map.

He stroked his chin, looking at the situation on the map, his eyebrows constantly furrowed.

Perhaps hearing footsteps, he looked up and asked, "Sis, what brings you here?"

“His Highness the Crown Prince has taken some action.” Xu Suwen said, then quickly sat down in the chair next to him and said in a deep voice, “His Highness the Crown Prince may be planning to do something to Jiang Yun, so I came to ask for your opinion and attitude.”

"What opinions or attitudes could I possibly have?" Xu Xiaogang chuckled, then his expression turned serious as he said, "Our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion has never participated in the power struggles within the imperial court, no matter how many years or how many emperors have come and gone."

"When it comes to us, it will naturally be no exception."

Xu Suwen was a little anxious: "But you have to make a statement. Ever since you returned to the capital, His Highness the Crown Prince has sent people to invite you to the Crown Prince's residence several times."

"It's fine if you refuse..."

“In His Highness’s eyes, you certainly don’t support him.”

"If he really becomes the emperor in the future, wouldn't that be detrimental to our Duke's Mansion?"

Hearing Xu Suwen's words, Xu Xiaogang also frowned; he wasn't stupid.

But why did the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion establish the rule of not participating in the struggle for the throne?
The purpose was that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion controlled the Zhenchi Army, so no matter which prince ascended the throne, he could not underestimate the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

They will also continue to court the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

However, given the current situation, since His Highness the Crown Prince knows that Jiang Yun is the future son-in-law of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, if he still wants to take action against Jiang Yun...

The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion will inevitably be drawn into this struggle for the throne.

After all, in His Highness the Crown Prince's eyes, he had already offended the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion by laying a hand on Jiang Yun.

Can we trust the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?

Soon, Xu Xiaogang figured out the details. He closed his eyes, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and said, "Don't worry, sister. Our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion is not afraid of this Crown Prince right now."

"Our Duke's Mansion has the capital to stand firm."

As he spoke, Xu Xiaogang slowly fixed his gaze on the map in front of him and said, "My injuries are not serious, but His Highness the Crown Prince insisted on transferring me back to the capital to recuperate because of my poor health."

"Do you think I don't know what he's thinking? He simply wants Zhang Yuhu to lead the Tianqi Army, along with the Zhenchi Army that I left at the front, to crush Wang Longzhi and the other rebels in one fell swoop."

"This tremendous credit belongs to His Highness the Crown Prince and Zhang Yuhu."

"Unfortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't understand that this battle will be difficult to win," Xu Xiaogang sighed.

Wang Longzhi was originally a top general of the Zhou Kingdom, commanding 400,000 elite troops, and now more than 200,000 former rebels were also in his hands.

All told, there were a total of 600,000 troops.

When the southwestern rebels and Wang Longzhi merged into one force, Xu Xiaogang, on the front line, constantly contracted and retreated, barely managing to prevent a collapse.

Within a month, after Zhang Yuhu was replaced and sent to the front line, the rebels had already captured three county towns.

The situation at the front was a terrible mess.

Of course, even though the war at the front was going badly, the more difficult the situation, the more capital the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion held in its hands.

"As for my brother-in-law's matter, let him handle it himself when he returns," Xu Xiaogang said calmly. "If our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion openly opposes His Highness the Crown Prince, it will be detrimental to us."

Although Xu Suwen was worried, she could only nod in agreement.

Seeing Xu Suwen's worried expression, Xu Xiaogang smiled and said, "I have a lot of confidence in my brother-in-law. Don't worry, he won't suffer any losses."

(End of this chapter)