Catching Monsters

Chapter 604 Where is Jiang Yun?

"Sir, nothing was found."

"Sir, we couldn't find anyone."

Soon, after a thorough search, the Imperial Guards found nothing and rushed to the living room to report to Gu Zhengyu, who was drinking tea inside.

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhengyu's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and then he looked at Tao Yuelan sitting to the side: "Madam Tao, in my opinion, you still have to come with me. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain myself when I get back."

Upon hearing this, Tao Yuelan remained silent for a moment before asking a question: "If news of my going with Lord Gu reaches the front lines, my son Xiaogang will likely be worried, which could affect his fighting ability on the front lines."

"Madam Tao, rest assured, His Highness the Crown Prince has issued an imperial decree ordering Xu Xiaogang to return to the capital immediately to attend his enthronement ceremony."

Upon hearing this answer, Tao Yuelan's heart tightened, and she sighed inwardly. For so many years, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had steadfastly refrained from getting involved in the struggle for the throne.

Unexpectedly, the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was implicated this time as well.

Xu Xiaogang was stripped of his military power, which clearly indicates that His Highness the Crown Prince intends to take action against the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

She slowly rose and said, "Lord Gu, I will go with you. However, please do not make things difficult for the many servants of our Duke Zhenguo's mansion. They are all meritorious officials who have shed blood and sweat for the Great Zhou Dynasty."

"Don't worry, Madam Tao." Gu Zhengyu had barely finished speaking when...

"I'll go with you! Let my mother go!"

"I am now married into the Jiang family and am no longer a member of the Duke of Zhenguo's family. Please do not implicate the Duke of Zhenguo's family!"

Suddenly, Xu Suwen walked in from outside the living room. She was dressed in a tight-fitting outfit and was holding a long sword in her hand.

Gu Zhengyu was overjoyed to see Xu Suwen appear, as he intended to use her to threaten Jiang Yun, though Xu Suwen was certainly more useful.

Tao Yuelan was extremely anxious and glared at Xu Suwen: "Why did you come out! Even if there is danger, Mother should go."

Then, Tao Yuelan hurriedly grabbed Gu Zhengyu's wrist: "Lord Gu, please take me with you and let my daughter go."

"Haha, I didn't expect you two to have such a deep mother-daughter bond. No need to rush, just come back with me." Gu Zhengyu's words had barely finished when

Suddenly, an arrow shot in from outside.

With a soft thud, the arrow pierced Gu Zhengyu's chest. Gu Zhengyu shuddered, his eyes widened, and he looked down at the arrow in his chest.

Soon, Wu Chi rushed in, carrying a longbow: "Madam, Miss, let's go!"

Gu Zhengyu took a deep breath. His cultivation level was not low either; he was a fourth-grade martial arts expert. He endured the pain and pulled out the arrow.

Unexpectedly, the arrowhead was coated with black toxin.

The poison instantly spread throughout his body, and a feeling of powerlessness surged up. Then Wu Chi rushed forward, took the curved knife in his hand, and slashed off his head with a fierce blow.

"Wu Chi, are you crazy? Lord Gu came with an imperial decree. If you kill him, our Zhenguo Duke's Mansion will truly become a traitor." Tao Yuelan's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

“Mother, what’s the point of worrying about this now? His Highness the Crown Prince is trying to harm our family. If we don’t fight back, are we just going to let him slaughter us?” Xu Suwen agreed with this approach.

At the same time, the Imperial Guards who were gathered outside were suddenly met with a barrage of arrows raining down from the eaves above.

"kill!"

The servants of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, armed with swords, rushed towards the group of imperial guards in an instant. Although these servants were few in number, only about seventy, they were all top-notch elites on the battlefield.

On the Imperial Guard side, due to Gu Zhengyu's death, they were temporarily leaderless, and the two sides were caught off guard when the battle started.

Xu Suwen and Tao Yuelan, under the protection of Wu Chi and ten servants, fled towards the back door.

"Where is Qiaoqiao?" Xu Suwen asked hurriedly. "Qiaoqiao is still in the underground secret room."

"Don't worry, Miss. I've already arranged for Qiaoqiao to wait at the back door."

Soon, under the protection of the crowd, they saw Jiang Qiaoqiao waiting outside the door.

Wu Chi pushed open the back door, but to his surprise, there were more than twenty Imperial Guards guarding the door.

The leader was a man in his thirties.

"Trying to escape?" The man's expression hardened, and he raised his hand. In an instant, many imperial guards drew their swords, ready to fight him.

"Ten thousand taels of silver!" Upon seeing this, Tao Yuelan hurriedly pulled out a large silver note from her person: "You twenty-odd people, let us go, and this ten thousand taels of silver is yours."

The other party's expression hardened: "Even if we kill you, the stuff will still be ours." "Your orders are to capture people, not kill them," Tao Yuelan said shrewdly, her voice low and menacing. "If you kill us, you will definitely not have a good end!"

“Take the money and pretend you didn’t see us. Ten thousand taels of silver, each of you will get more than five hundred taels.”

"How many years of salary have you received!"

"If it really comes down to a fight, do you think you'll come out unscathed?"

The man's expression hardened as he glanced at his comrades beside him, took a deep breath, and asked, "Did you see anyone come out the back door?"

The people present said, "Reporting to the centurion, we didn't see it."

The man stepped forward, took the silver note from Tao Yuelan's hand, and pointed in another direction: "Go that way, there are fewer people there."

"Thank you."

Immediately, under Wu Chi's protection, the group hurriedly fled in the direction the man had indicated.

Inside the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the fighting was exceptionally fierce. When the Imperial Guards started fighting, they discovered that the servants of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion were incredibly brave. Despite being quite old, they were able to fight two or even three opponents at once.

They'd fight to the death.

Soon, as the Imperial Guards provided more and more support, fewer and fewer people survived in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Finally, after the last servant fell into a pool of blood.

The entire Zhenguo Duke's mansion reeked of blood.

Qi Lang, upon hearing the news, rushed to the scene immediately.

"My lord, Commander Gu is dead!"

Upon seeing Qi Lang arrive in his commander's uniform, a soldier from the Imperial Guard immediately reported this.

Qi Lang's face turned ugly. He thought to himself that Gu Zhengyu was really unlucky. He was about to become rich, but he died here.

Then Qi Lang asked, "Where are the people from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion? Xu Suwen, Jiang Yun's sister, and Tao Yuelan?"

"Sir, they've all run away..."

Upon hearing this, Qi Lang kicked the soldier in the stomach: "So many people, and you let a bunch of servants guarding the house hold you back, and the target still escaped?"

"Sir, these people are not ordinary guards or servants..."

"Shut up!"

"Immediately notify the Embroidered Uniform Guard to conduct a joint search. I refuse to believe that they can just disappear like that."

"If I can't find him by dawn tomorrow, you'll bring me your own head!"

"Yes."

Soon, half of the Imperial Guards, including the Embroidered Uniform Guard, were mobilized to begin a thorough search of the entire inner city of the capital.

At night, the gates of both the inner and outer city would be closed, so Tao Yuelan and her party could only stay in the inner city.

On the streets, which were shrouded in torrential rain, Imperial Guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards carrying torches were searching everywhere.

They even forcibly entered and searched many courtyards.

At the same time, Dong Qiaofeng walked into the archives room of the Eastern Garrison Office carrying a number of blankets.

Xu Suwen and her group were hiding here.

"Madam Tao Yuelan, fortunately Lord Jiang heard that your Zhenguo Duke's Mansion was besieged and sent me over to see what was happening, and that's how I met you."

"You can hide here for now. Tomorrow at dawn, I will find another opportunity to send you to the outer city to hide."

Xu Suwen breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Where is Jiang Yun?"

Dong Qiaofeng replied, "Lord Jiang is in the outer city; it seems he has some urgent business to attend to immediately."

(End of this chapter)