Prime Minister

Chapter 227, Section 226: [The Mob]

Outside the city, at Daming Temple.

Xue Huai remained seated in the meditation room, his fingertips gently stroking the cool surface of the teacup, his expression calm and undisturbed.

The noise outside grew louder and louder, but it seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, failing to disturb the expression on his face in the slightest.

The dim candlelight danced on his handsome profile, reflecting a calm composure that remained unmoved even in the face of imminent collapse.

It wasn't that he was indifferent to the battle situation; on the contrary, every sound, whether near or far, strong or weak, and every sudden burst after a brief silence, was like a chess piece thrown into the lake of his heart, accurately recreating the external situation in his mind.

The night raid by the rebel cult was within his expectations, even a carefully planned move on his chessboard. He wanted to use this opportunity to blunt their edge and expose more weaknesses in the forces behind Liu Ying.

Ye Qing had already quietly left the meditation room, and Xue Huai knew that the real net was about to tighten in the West Garden.

Those cultists and rebels thought he would be distracted and that transferring his elite troops to Daming Temple would weaken the defenses of Shen Garden, but this was clearly a naive fantasy.

The Shen family has been operating in Yangzhou for decades. The resources and guards that Shen Bingwen has accumulated are far more than they appear on the surface. Moreover, the experts that Jiang Li has brought in will provide an additional layer of protection. If the thieves do not dare to make any rash moves tonight, that's fine. But if they dare to force their way into Shen Garden, they will surely be wiped out.

Time flowed on in a state of deep stillness.

Suddenly, a very short, rhythmic chirping sound came from outside.

A glint appeared in Xue Huai's eyes. This was the signal he and Ye Qing had agreed upon, indicating that the thieves were no longer harassing or probing, but had successfully broken through the outposts set up by the Jing'an Division on the perimeter and were about to approach the West Garden.

Without further hesitation, he led Jiang Sheng, Qi Qingshi, Bai Cong, and Yue Zhenshan through the back door of the meditation room with steady and swift steps. They walked quickly along an extremely secluded corridor, at the end of which was a slightly elevated, hidden corner tower with a panoramic view of the entire West Garden.

The corner tower is hidden among the trees. Push open a small window and you can see the pond water shimmering under the moonlight, which further accentuates the craggy rocks and swaying trees in the garden.

Just as Xue Huai opened the window, more than ten ghostly black shadows, like geckos crawling on a wall, silently slid down the steepest rock face on the back of the West Garden. They landed without stopping and moved with lightning speed, heading straight for the meditation room where Xue Huai had just been!

At the same time, two or three other figures, even more adept at stealth, moved like ink flowing into the ground, using the tall Taihu stones and the shadows of scattered flowers and trees to quietly approach the meditation room from another direction.

Standing on high ground, Xue Huai took in the entire scene by the light of the moon and the lights in the garden, gaining a clearer understanding of the ruthlessness of these bandits.

The other party's nighttime raid on Xu Zhiwei's fake tomb was clearly just a convenient tactic; their primary objective was actually to assassinate him, the Assistant Magistrate of Yangzhou.

Moreover, these thieves' target seemed very clear, which meant that they also had spies inside Daming Temple. This further confirmed Xue Huai's previous judgment that the infiltration of this heretical cult behind Jimin Hall into various parts of Jiangnan had probably reached a very serious level.

With this in mind, Xue Huai decisively said, "Send the signal!"

Bai Cong, who remained below the corner tower, immediately took out a small but exceptionally sharp-sounding golden gong and struck it with all his might!

The piercing sound of the gong, like a thunderclap, instantly shattered the false tranquility of the West Garden.

In an instant, the elite Jing'an Division soldiers who had been lying in ambush suddenly attacked like startled cheetahs. Several strong deer sinew nets were thrown out with great force, swirling in the wind as they covered the dozen or so bandits. Furthermore, spies skilled in close combat quickly closed in, their poisoned daggers aimed straight for vital points, blocking all the bandits' escape routes!
"Ugh!"

The dark figure charging at the forefront could not escape such an inescapable encirclement. One person was caught in the rope net, and in the instant his body froze, at least three short daggers pierced through his body, killing him instantly!
The other person was clearly more skilled in martial arts. With unpredictable twists and turns, he narrowly avoided the fatal dagger. With a backhand slash, he managed to cleave a corner of the rope net that was coming towards him. But immediately afterward, two skilled soldiers from the Jing'an Division swarmed him like maggots, and the flashing blades instantly engulfed him in a fierce close-quarters battle.

Two or three figures stealthily approaching from the other side of the meditation room were also not overlooked. They were trapped by guards who emerged from behind the artificial hill when they were still three or four zhang away from the meditation room.

The meticulously arranged West Garden was instantly transformed into a bloody and cruel battlefield.

Xue Huai coldly surveyed the fierce battle below, which had erupted instantly but was now confined to a localized area. He saw the most skilled man in black, after enduring a slash to the side, brazenly smash past a scout who was trying to intercept him, and his figure shot towards the relatively low wall on the side of the West Garden like an arrow!

Seeing the situation was dire, this man fled immediately, a stark contrast to the other men in black who were still fighting to the death.

Xue Huai's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately pointed in that direction and said to Jiang Sheng, "Tell Commander Ye to capture this man alive if possible!"

The order was quickly relayed.

Just as the man in black forced back the Jing'an Division spies who were blocking his way and climbed over the wall, a roar like a tiger's howl exploded from the woods outside the wall!

"Where to go!"

Ye Qing suddenly appeared. He had been lying in ambush for a long time, choosing an extremely tricky time and angle. His long sword whistled as it came down with the force of a thunderbolt!

The man in black was terrified and hastily raised his knife to block!

"Clang—!" A huge sound of metal clashing rang out in the moonlight. Ye Qing's all-out attack, which he had been preparing for a long time, was domineering and unparalleled. It actually cleaved away the steel knife that the black-clad man was blocking!

The blade's momentum hadn't subsided, forcing the man in black to step back. Ye Qing instantly closed in, his left fist striking the man's chest like a heavy hammer.

The man in black was bent over like a shrimp, and was violently thrown into the thick blue bricks of the wall, temporarily losing his fighting ability.

Ye Qing moved swiftly and fiercely, capturing and dislocating the joints in one smooth motion. Several fierce and ruthless elites from the Jing'an Division immediately pounced on him, pinning down and binding the large fish that was trying to break free of the net.

Outside the West Garden, amidst the shadows of the complex, rugged, and densely wooded mountains of Shugang, Hu Jiaoniang, who had specially changed into a tight-fitting outfit, stood at the edge of a slightly elevated dense forest, gazing at the scene in the garden in the distance. Her usually gentle face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost.

Since she knew that Xu Zhiwei had faked his death, she naturally wouldn't waste manpower investigating the authenticity of the tomb. Liu Ying had previously advised her to simply cause a disturbance, as long as she could keep Xue Huai's attention firmly drawn, so that the actions within the city wouldn't cause any unexpected complications.

But Hu Jiaoniang didn't want to make a wasted trip. She knew very well that the root of the problem was that the Ancestor wanted to kill Xue Huai. If she could achieve this goal tonight, and given that Liu Ying had made many mistakes that caused the Holy Sect to suffer losses, the Ancestor might be able to persuade the sect's higher-ups to remove Liu Ying from her position as Holy Maiden.

As for her successor... Hu Jiaoniang was naturally the obvious choice.

However, the scene before her eyes told her that it was a huge joke for the dozen or so people she had sent out to assassinate Xue Huai.

"Dharma protector."

A man in his thirties standing nearby called out in a low voice, a look of worry in his eyes. He was afraid that Hu Jiaoniang might impulsively rush into the West Garden to fight Xue Huai to the death. How would he explain that to the old patriarch?

Hu Jiaoniang took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, saying, "Let's go!"

The man and his two companions breathed a sigh of relief and quickly protected Hu Jiaoniang, disappearing into the mountains under the cover of night.

As time went by, the fighting within the West Garden gradually came to an end.

The elite troops of the Jing'an Division suffered two serious injuries and five minor injuries, but successfully killed eleven thieves who had infiltrated the garden and captured six others alive. Among them was the man in black whom Ye Qing personally stopped. In addition, they also made some gains during the previous probing and confrontation.

The night remained deep, with no light visible on the horizon.

Xue Huai walked steadily down the corner tower. The chaos at Daming Temple should be coming to an end. Now his mind was already on the city.

……

The commotion at Shen Garden attracted the attention of some prominent families in the city, but Xue Huai was prepared for this. Zhang Shi, the prefectural magistrate, personally led officials to maintain the curfew, thus preventing further disturbances.

The garden was brightly lit, as if it were daytime. In the spacious central courtyard of the East Garden, the thick stench of blood blended with the night, so viscous it was suffocating.

Dozens of black-clad, masked thieves lay dead on the ground, their blood soaking the bluestone slabs, shimmering with a dark red light under the moonlight and torches.

The experts brought by Liu Ying were almost completely wiped out. Only seven people survived, but they were all injured and were now bound to the ground.

As a saintess of the sect and a martial arts expert who had practiced since childhood, her fighting prowess, unleashed in her despair, caused considerable losses to the guards of Shen Garden. However, she was ultimately defeated by the combined attack of Qi San and Yue Ping.

At this moment, her arms were tied behind her back, and two cold long knives were held to her neck on the left and right. The blood flowing from the wounds on her shoulder blades almost stained half of her black clothes.

Liu Ying's carefully tied hair was completely disheveled, and strands of wet hair clung miserably to her pale and distorted face. The once unfathomable composure that she had always possessed had vanished, replaced by a ferocious expression twisted by excruciating pain and humiliation.

She was breathing heavily, each breath aggravating her wounds and causing even greater pain, but her eyes remained fixed on the solitary figure in pale blue within the open doorway, illuminated by the lamplight.

Xu Zhiwei felt as if she were in another time and space, and the fierce battle outside seemed to have nothing to do with her.

Qi San and the others did not disturb her rashly, and let Xu Zhiwei finish writing the last stroke on the Xuan paper.

She put down her pen very gently, as if afraid of disturbing something, then calmly stood up and looked again at Liu Ying, who had already been restrained.

From as far back as she can remember, her aunt had never looked so disheveled.

If time could be turned back three months, Xu Zhiwei would definitely be shocked and heartbroken, but right now she simply walked out of the room step by step, stood half a zhang in front of Liu Ying, looked at the woman who had raised her for nineteen years, and softly said something.

"aunt."

(End of this chapter)