Scourge Messenger

Chapter 99 Solving a Dilemma
Flying through the palace is actually much simpler than flying outside.

People outside can live with their heads held high, looking around curiously, but those inside the palace cannot. Whether eunuch or palace maid, the first thing they learn upon arriving at the palace is to bow their heads and minimize their presence. Only when you become like furniture, seen by nobles but not given a second glance, can you be considered a qualified palace servant.

Even if they hear the roof tiles rattling, they won't check immediately, but deliberately wait a moment before turning around to look. "Do not look at what is improper, do not listen to what is improper, do not speak what is improper." If you can't see it, it's not my fault; if you can't hear it, it's not my problem; if I don't say it, it's none of my business. This is the survival rule for most members of the royal family.

Like the burning Imperial Study, everyone was working hard to carry water and put out the fire, but no one dared to suggest going in to save the books and memorials inside. Fighting the fire was everyone's responsibility, but saving books wasn't. Leaving aside the danger of rushing into the fire, what if the books and memorials contained content they couldn't read? Wouldn't that be suicide? And what if some important rare book was burned? Wouldn't the emperor be furious with these palace servants?

Why risk your life to solve everyone's mess?
Torn between despair, a sense of relief, and panic, the palace servants could only watch helplessly as the Ministry of Personnel was completely swallowed up, their fate to be decided by the Emperor and Empress Dowager's moods.

Thanks to the distance of the Imperial Study, most of the palace servants rushed there to fight the fire, allowing Shang Xinlei to arrive at the bedding storeroom without alerting anyone. It was early spring, and the palace had already switched to thinner blankets, with the thicker ones stored away. Unless it was for an inspection, the storeroom was rarely opened, so naturally no one would have discovered the kerosene barrel that Shang Xinlei had hidden there.

Shang Xinlei took out a fuse, measured its length with his thumb, counted out thirty-two thumb-lengths of fuse, tied the fuse to the kerosene barrel, then took out a small bottle, squeezed a drop of black oil onto his index finger, and lit it with a flint.

call!
After lighting the fuse, Shang Xinlei immediately stuck her index finger into the wall next to her and extinguished it. When she took it out, she saw that the tip of her index finger had been burned black. In addition to her index finger, her middle and ring fingers were also burned. Even though she was a second-tier messenger, she couldn't heal herself so quickly.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

Shang Xinlei turned her head sharply and saw a man in black wearing a yellow dog mask standing at the door. The palace lantern cast his long shadow, which stretched all the way to the end of the storeroom and reached Shang Xinlei's feet.

“I once tried burning my finger with a flame, and it hurt quite a bit,” Yan Qing said as she walked in. “Actually, the Thieves’ House has already unlocked our permissions. You can light the fuse directly; there’s no need to use your finger to light it.”

Are you stupid?

Seeing Yan Qing looking at her with pity, Shang Xinlei was furious...

Because she realized that Yan Qing was right, she could indeed light the fuse directly. However, tonight was only the second time she had acted as a thief without rules, so she subconsciously followed her previous methods, unlike Yan Qing, a sensitive player whose mind could adapt quickly.

"I plan to set this place on fire to attract the attention of the palace servants, and then take the opportunity to ransack the imperial treasury." Shang Xinlei rubbed her fingers vigorously, trying to reduce the pain from her burns. "You're here for the treasury too, aren't you?"

"I didn't ask you, what are you explaining?" Yan Qingyun said casually, "You remind me of a friend who is not good at debating. He always takes a long time to organize his views into words. He can only respond immediately when it comes to things he has thought of beforehand... Of course, Chi She, you are quick-witted and eloquent, so you are not similar to him in this respect. But what you just said sounds like you had thought it through beforehand."

"You told Black Wolf and White Fox you were going to Wenyuan Pavilion, but now you're telling me you're going to the Royal Treasury. Where do you really want to go?"

Shang Xinlei's eyes grew cold: "You could have gone with Black Wolf and the others to complete the mission, why did you have to bother me?"

“Because I suspect you’ll sabotage our mission,” Yan Qing said casually. “For example, you could call in a large army to surround us and capture the three of us, so that only you can complete the mission—after all, Shang Xuanwen is your father.”

"That sounds like something Black Wolf or White Fox would do." Shang Xinlei was so angry she laughed: "If I really wanted to deal with you, do you think I would have kept Rat Monk alive until now? You think I wouldn't recognize you just because you changed your name and shaved your head?"

As expected, she was recognized, Yan Qing thought to herself.

However, he felt it had nothing to do with the Rat Monk; the responsibility lay entirely with him. When he mentioned at the Thieves' House that he had a way to steal Shang Xuanwen's Heaven-Slaying Sword, he knew that the Rat Monk would most likely be recognized by Shang Xinlei, even if the name was no longer a number.

The reason is simple: the Rat Monk approached Shang Xuanwen on the very day the thief mission was announced! Coupled with his extraordinary combat skills, he saved Shang Xuanwen from danger, making him practically a bald, tall version of Jiang Shi!

Of course, a normal person wouldn't suspect a stranger of being Huang Quan's subordinate just because they see him. The problem is that Yan Qing took the initiative to say that he had sent an inside man to infiltrate Shang Xuanwen's circle. Shang Xinlei only needed to glance at him to notice that there was a very suspicious stranger next to her father.

Not to mention that this strange monk had even followed her and discussed Qian Gongyu's situation with her.

Shang Xinlei's ability to hold back until now and finally reveal her true colors is already a testament to her exceptional patience.

"Since you recognized the Rat Monk, why didn't you cooperate with me and let him steal the Heaven-Slaying Sword?" Yan Qing probed. "The explosion at the North City Armory was probably your doing, wasn't it? You deliberately lured your father away on the eve of the operation. Even if you weren't afraid of the mission failing, weren't you worried that Black Wolf and White Fox would fight with your father?"

"Or is this your purpose? Because your father framed Qian Gongyu, so you seek revenge for love and want to use the Black Wolf and White Fox to kill your treacherous father?"

Even with her face covered, Shang Xinlei couldn't hold back and burst out laughing, taking a while to recover from the shock of the word "rebellious father." Even so, her voice still couldn't hide her laughter, and her rebuttal lacked any force: "What nonsense are you thinking? What revenge for love? Qian Gongyu and I are just friends! And don't underestimate my father. He's a third-level messenger, after all. Let alone whether Black Wolf and White Fox can find him, even if they do, they might not be able to beat him."

"Doesn't that mean the mission is doomed to failure?" Yan Qing asked. "Aren't you just framing us?"

“Two of us might not be able to defeat him, but with the three of us, taking the Heaven-Slaying Sword shouldn’t be too difficult. Who knew you would insist on coming along?” Shang Xinlei waved her hand as if shooing away a mosquito: “You can still make it there now.”

“Okay, but you have to come with me,” Yan Qing said. “Since you’re not going to Wenyuan Pavilion, there’s no need for you to stay in the palace.”

Shang Xinlei remained silent, her head bowed, her hands behind her back as if grasping a flying ring, instantly creating a tense atmosphere. Yan Qing instinctively turned her body to the side to reduce her vulnerable area, and with her left hand, unseen by Shang Xinlei, gently pushed Bingzi Jiaolin out of its sheath, preparing to draw her sword.

I never expected my first battle would be an internal conflict between teammates. Yan Qing took a deep breath, his nostrils filled with the musty smell of the warehouse bedding, feeling both nervous and excited.

Although he had always been afraid of battle and distrustful of his abilities, now that he had changed jobs, become stronger, and possessed a legendary artifact, he couldn't help but feel a desire to show off in public. If Shang Xinlei insisted on fighting, he wouldn't mind using her to test his combat skills!

"Why are you interfering in my affairs?" Shang Xinlei asked again. "We are just a group of thieves who have nothing to do with each other. We only get together to commit crimes. You should prioritize the mission and not focus on me."

“Just consider it as Jiang Shi asking me to do this.” Yan Qing paused, then added, “You are one of her few friends.”

Suddenly, a cool breeze blew into the warehouse, seemingly dispelling the oppressive atmosphere. Shang Xinlei lowered her hands, tilted her head, and stared at Yan Qing with a strange light in her eyes, as if Yan Qing had just told a very bizarre joke.

"Didn't you say you didn't care about Jiang Shi? Why do you still care about her feelings?" Shang Xinlei carefully observed Yan Qing, as if trying to see Yan Qing's expression through the silly yellow dog mask: "Besides, I'm her friend, not your friend."

“I never said I didn’t care. I just said that I would not hesitate to send Jiang Shi to his death if necessary.” Yan Qing felt goosebumps under such a direct gaze and subconsciously gripped Bingzi Jiaolin: “Within my power, I don’t mind helping her friend.”

Shang Xinlei grunted, clearly not believing the answer. Just then, footsteps sounded outside, seemingly from a group of guards. Yan Qing immediately closed the storeroom door, and the two hid beside the doorway in ambush.

Once the footsteps faded into the distance, the two breathed a sigh of relief. The later they alerted the palace guards, the better. They exchanged a glance, and Shang Xinlei sighed softly, saying, "My target is the Emperor."

“I guessed it.” Yan Qing was not surprised at all.

From the very beginning, Shang Xinlei guided the thieves into the palace step by step, but her efforts to enter the palace were not for the secret vault. The only thing in the palace more valuable than the secret vault was the emperor.

"But why did you kidnap the emperor?" Yan Qing asked curiously. "To get the royal family to hand over the tokens or secret manuals you need? Surely it's not to get the emperor to pardon Qian Gongyu?"

"Haha, that's hilarious." Shang Xinlei's tone was devoid of emotion, but then she changed the subject: "But it is indeed half related to Qian Gongyu, and the other half is related to Shang Shang."

"I don't know if you know this, but the reason my father was able to remain in power in the court and hold the position of prime minister for so many years was mainly because he was a regent appointed by the late emperor. The emperor was too young to rule personally, so my father held all the power. But the emperor got married two years ago, with one empress and two concubines, and he has gradually reached the age where he can rule personally."

"The Empress came from a family of military merit, but the two Consorts came from the Qun family and the Zhou family, respectively. The Emperor's tutors were also scholars and luminaries from the Qun family."

"In contrast, the Shang family not only failed to establish any deep relationship with the emperor, but also hindered the emperor's consolidation of power because of my father." Shang Xinlei gently pushed open the door, and the light from the palace lanterns outside shone on her eyes, reflecting a flickering light: "The Shang family is destined to be squeezed out of the court, perhaps for a few years, perhaps for more than ten years. The seven great families always have their ups and downs."

"The seven great families will not fall, but the ups and downs along the way will be a lifetime for us."

Although it was a group of girls around twenty years old discussing court factional struggles, Yan Qing felt no sense of incongruity. In her words, the so-called court was no different from the neighborhood, the emperor was more familiar with the general public, and he would no longer associate with the merchants.

"My father's arrangements for Qian Gongyu were also for my future. A future third-generation cultivator with a legendary token is enough to help me gain a foothold in the business and even bring more allies to the business. He is preparing for his retirement and has also arranged our lives. Perhaps we are unwilling to accept it, but it is indeed the best position and the best ending that my father can find for us."

Yan Qing was somewhat surprised. He had previously thought that Shang Xinlei resented Shang Xuanwen and might even kill her father to escape his control, but upon closer reflection, how could she possibly hate him? She was too intelligent to understand all of her father's arrangements and see that behind each arrangement lay painstaking love.

“I didn’t have a way to get out of this predicament either.” Shang Xinlei walked back to the depths of the warehouse, squatted down and pulled the fuse she had extinguished: “If it weren’t for the Thieves’ House.”

"Do you know how the new ruler of Liang will announce his ascension to the throne to the world?" she suddenly changed the subject.

"Through a notice?" Yan Qing guessed.

"No, it's a general amnesty." Shang Xinlei turned her head slightly, glancing sideways at Yan Qing. The storeroom was dark, but her eyes were unusually bright, like the look of a king cobra. Her tone was clear and cold: "When the new emperor ascends the throne, he will surely grant a general amnesty to the world, showing kindness to all living beings. The poor will be punished one level less, while the noble families will be released without charge!"

Yan Qing's pupils suddenly contracted.

“Xiaoyu is my friend. She respects and trusts me. I don’t want to deceive her to gain her loyalty,” Shang Xinlei said. “The Shang family is my family. It gave me life and raised me. I have no right to do anything to harm my family.”

“Xiaoyu and the merchants are currently in a conflict of interest, a seemingly unsolvable dilemma. Am I forced to choose one side? No.”

"There are no unsolvable dilemmas, only indecisive decisions." Shang Xinlei pulled out a flint: "This is my determination!"

Shang Xinlei lit the fuse again, a small gesture that showed she would stick to her plan and no one could stop her!

"Assassinating the emperor is a dilemma." She turned to Yan Qing: "Yellow Dog, will you help me or not?"

(End of this chapter)