Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 276 Unexpected People, Unexpected News
That night.

The dim moonlight seemed to foreshadow an approaching light rain.

Liu Fuchen arrived at the most famous Yinyue Tower in Datong Prefecture, as usual, to admire the moonlight and listen to music in the brothel. But the moment he entered the private room, a figure dressed exactly like him, even with the same appearance, replaced him.

Yan Yimei stood high above, looking down from the clouds, and saw all of Liu Fuchen's tricks below.

"Such an exquisite disguise technique."

"The method of substituting one thing for another is no wonder that the secret guards investigated for so long without discovering the problem."

The bodyguard following behind Yan Yimei nodded silently: "Yes."

Who would have thought that Liu Fuchen, who was drinking and making merry in the Moonlit Pavilion, was just a stand-in prepared in advance?

The moment he entered, the real Liu Fuchen had already slipped through a hidden door into the shadows, while the fake Liu Fuchen, under his own identity, was drinking and making merry in the Yinyue Tower, and was even sitting openly by the window drinking and admiring the moon.

There's no need for a stand-in to do much; just sitting for a few hours is enough for Liu Fuchen to accomplish what he truly wanted to do.

Unfortunately, even the wisest can make a mistake.

Liu Fuchen never dreamed that Yan Yimei, who had made a pledge to Zhu Jinzhen to give him a result within a day, would personally keep an eye on him. In front of a powerful figure above all others, his methods and his underhanded tricks were completely exposed.

Unaware that he was being targeted, Liu Fuchen, as always, remained cautious, entering through a hidden door and exiting through a tunnel. He changed his clothes three times along the way before finally arriving at a mansion that appeared to have been abandoned for a long time from the outside.

When Liu Fuchen arrived at the place, several figures had been waiting for a long time.

"Greetings, Your Excellencies." Liu Fuchen bowed respectfully.

The purple-robed man at the head of the group, with his hands behind his back and his back to Liu Fuchen, nodded slightly and said, "Red-letter coded message, what's the matter that's so urgent? Could it be that there's some news from Prince Su's side?"

"Your Excellency, that is not the case."

Liu Fuchen shook his head and recounted in detail what had happened in the government office that day.

And also truthfully state your own needs.

"A wise decision. Rescuing people from the secret guards is as difficult as climbing to the sky. Unless those lords personally take action, we will only be throwing our lives away with our strength."

"But killing them to cover it up is much simpler."

The man in the purple robe spoke in a chilling tone, as if he was absolutely certain that he could kill all the aristocratic families before the secret guards could deal with them.

However, after the man in purple robes finished speaking, he was met with endless silence.

Liu Fuchen stared wide-eyed at the uninvited guest in front of him in horror, but the words he was about to utter seemed to be choked by an invisible hand, and he couldn't utter a single word.

The others also looked like they had seen a ghost.

"Ok?"

The man in purple robes sensed something was amiss and turned around in a flash, only to see several figures that made his pupils shrink and almost cause him to fall over in fright.

Yan Yimei, and... her four accompanying secret guards.

"Commander Yan?" the purple-robed man exclaimed in surprise.

Yan Yimei was surprised by the purple-robed man's reaction and asked in a cold voice, "Are you a secret guard?"

"Gulu!"

The man in purple robes nodded with difficulty.

From the moment he saw Yan Yimei appear here, he knew that he and all the people he had brought with him were... doomed.

Yan Yimei's cold brows furrowed as she stared at the man in purple robes, her eyes filled with chilling killing intent: "No wonder the secret guards' investigation has been so unsuccessful. Every time, the clues are cut off at just the right moment. I thought it was because they were all as cautious and meticulous as Liu Fuchen, which is why the secret guards' investigation was so difficult."

"I never expected that it would be a traitor."

"Okay, very good."

The secret guards were almost entirely aware of how the secret guards investigated.

Tracking and counter-tracking are also among their specialties.

Yan Yimei had suspected there might be a traitor within the Secret Guard. After all, the vast majority of the Secret Guard were elites and experts recruited from various industries through the martial arts world. Although their character was vetted, no one could be certain that someone wouldn't succumb to temptation and betray the Secret Guard. However, Yan Yimei never expected that several internal screenings would fail to uncover any problems.

But here they bumped into a secret guard.

Sensing the overwhelming killing intent, the man in purple robes was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud, prostrating himself and kowtowing repeatedly: "Commander Yan, Commander Yan, spare my life! I... I had no choice!"

The purple-robed man, who had just been extremely mysterious and confident in front of Liu Fuchen, was like a quail terrified in front of Yan Yimei.

Having come from a secret guard background, he naturally knew better than anyone Yan Yimei and the secret guards' methods for dealing with traitors.

Yan Yimei stared at him coldly: "Number!"

Each Secret Guard has a unique identification number assigned to them when they joined the Secret Guard.

The ten Heavenly Stems, twelve Earthly Branches, and five elements are used to correspond to the year and month numbering.

“My number is… 戌九·土二十七,” the purple-robed man replied tremblingly.

“Shou Jiu, Tu Ershiqi?” Yan Yimei’s eyes flashed with surprise as she looked at the man in purple robes: “You joined the Secret Guard in September of the eleventh year of Zhengde, Tu Ershiqi, and your records are sealed within the Secret Guard.”

"You were killed, or rather, faked your death, during a purple-level mission last May?"

"Commander Huiyan, I did not fake my death," the purple-robed man replied cautiously, his voice trembling.

"Not a fake death?" Yan Yimei narrowed her eyes. Could it be that this traitorous secret guard in front of her had really come back to life?
And those who seem to have come back from the dead, could they have been brought back to life by the same means?

Such a thought only lingered in Yan Yimei's mind for a moment before she dismissed it.

Because it's impossible.

Apart from His Highness, Yan Yimei has been in charge of the secret guards for many years and has never heard of anyone coming back to life.

seeing is believing.

No matter how eloquently Shu Jiu spoke, Yan Yimei didn't believe him.

"Tell me everything you know." Yan Yimei's words carried the pressure of the Heavenly Man's will. No matter how strong one's spirit, no one below the level of a terrestrial immortal could withstand such overwhelming power.

Although Xu Jiu transformed into a master of the Finger Profound Sect, he was still like an ant in front of Yan Yimei.

Unable to control herself, she recounted everything she knew, from faking her death to betraying the secret guards, and eventually becoming a member of the mastermind behind the scenes, carrying out some shady missions, and so on.

In the thirteenth year of Zhengde's reign, Xu Jiu did indeed die tragically while carrying out an internal mission for the secret guards, but his resurrection was not as mysterious as Yan Yimei had imagined, nor was it some kind of divine or demonic means.

According to Xu Jiu, it seems to be a magical artifact or a martial art.

At first, Shu Jiu was unaware of these things. When he woke up again, he was already at the stronghold of some faction, where he met Xie Dong, the leader wearing a tiger-striped mask. After some coercion and enticement, plus the honey trap, Shu Jiu finally couldn't hold on.

Instead of returning to the Secret Guard, he simply went into hiding, faked his death, and began serving the mysterious organization.

As a result, they learned many secrets about the organization.

"The leader, Xie Dong?"

"Commander Huiyan, according to my investigation, the leader Xie Dong is not his real name, but only the leader in charge of a region. He is very likely Xie Wangsun, the father of Sword God Xie Xiaofeng."

"Xie Wangsun?" Yan Yimei glanced at Shu Jiu, somewhat surprised.

People in the world of martial arts have extremely long lifespans. If they can cultivate to the Finger Profound Realm, they can extend their lifespan by 60 years. It is not uncommon for them to live to be 150 or 160 years old. Xie Wangsun was already at the peak of the Finger Profound Realm before he died.

If it was a case of feigning death, coupled with a breakthrough in one's cultivation level, then surviving to this point is not too unbelievable.

"Yes."

"Besides him, there are many other experts in the organization who appear under aliases. They are very likely the same people who were rumored to be dead in the martial arts world, but in reality, they were resurrected by the Brahma people in the organization through some means, just like his subordinates, and then absorbed into the organization."

"As far as I know, there are several people who are all legends of our Great Ming Dynasty."

When faced with Yan Yimei's divine will, Xu Jiu revealed all sorts of secrets that he shouldn't have said, which finally moved Yan Yimei.

(End of this chapter)