Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

The expansion and reorganization of Night Owl acted as a powerful catalyst, causing this already nascent intelligence network to spread wildly to the vicinity of Cold Abyss and even more distant areas at an unprecedented speed and density.

Its reach is no longer limited to military targets and political centers, but extends to the economy, culture, people's livelihood, and even the most subtle aspects of people's hearts.

The capital city, the heart of the Great Xia imperial power.

This place is not only the main battlefield for the open and covert struggle between Prince Yong and the Crown Prince, but also an intelligence stronghold that Xiao Chen pays close attention to.

The owl's layout here is both meticulous and daring.

"Yuelai Teahouse" is located in an inconspicuous corner of the western part of Beijing. The storefront is small and the business is barely breaking even.

However, this place is one of Night Owl's largest intelligence hubs in the capital.

The shopkeeper was a chubby man in his fifties with a friendly smile. He was originally an accountant for a large merchant house in Jiangnan, but his family was destroyed and he was recruited by Night Owl after his boss was framed by the Yongwang faction.

The waiters, storytellers, and even the down-on-their-luck scholars and minor officials who frequented the teahouses were all peripheral members or informants of Night Owl.

Here they exchanged information about the slightest developments in the court, secrets and anecdotes from various residences, fluctuations in grain prices, and the mobilization of the Imperial Guards... These seemingly fragmented pieces of information, after being sorted and analyzed, could be pieced together to create a clear picture of the power struggles in the capital.

Besides "Yuelai Teahouse", there are several pawnshops, warehouses, and even a second-rate brothel called "Chunfeng Pavilion" in the capital, all of which have Night Owl's background.

They not only provided funding and cover for the owls, but also became a bridgehead for infiltrating all levels of society in the capital.

Through bribery, coercion, and even seduction, Night Owl's tentacles have quietly extended to the servants of Prince Yong's mansion, the prince's retainers, low- and mid-level officials of the Six Ministries, and even the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace.

Although core secrets were difficult to access, a large amount of secondary intelligence, such as the appointment and removal of officials, the allocation routes of military rations, the private gatherings of court officials, and even the emperor's daily records, were continuously transmitted to the distant northern border via carrier pigeons and secret caravans.

Jiangnan, a place where wealth and chaos intertwine.

After Yu Qian's defeat and death, Jiangnan fell into a power vacuum and a quagmire of warlord infighting.

Although the Prince of Yong nominally controlled the major cities, he had little influence over the vast countryside and remote counties. This provided fertile ground for the activities of the Night Owls.

The Night Owl's mission here is threefold: First, to continue using the cover of the grain trade to purchase large quantities of grain, cloth, and medicinal herbs, thereby establishing a larger commercial network.

Many small and medium-sized grain merchants and ship owners in the Jiangnan region, under pressure to make a living and seek profit, became collaborators or even peripheral members of Night Owl.

Secondly, they gathered intelligence on the Prince of Yong's troop deployments, logistical supplies, and the appointment and removal of officials in Jiangnan, and sought out weaknesses in his rule.

Night Owl's spies disguised themselves as refugees, merchants, and even defeated soldiers, infiltrating Prince Yong's military camps and government offices to obtain a wealth of firsthand information.

Thirdly, and also as Xiao Chen specifically instructed, was to secretly investigate the truth behind the "Lin family old case" from back then.

Night Owl mobilized a great deal of resources to find survivors involved in the case, former officials who handled the case, and even soldiers who ransacked the house back then.

Although the clues are fragmented and dangerous, they are being pieced together little by little.

Northern Yan, an ambitious neighbor.

Although Murong Han and Han Yuan reached a superficial peace and trade agreement, the covert struggle between the two sides never stopped.

Night Owl's mission in Northern Yan focused on monitoring the movement of the Northern Yan army, the upgrading of its weapons and equipment, its communication with other tribes on the grasslands, and the movements and health of Murong Han himself.

Night Owl spies have been spotted in the capital of Northern Yan, border towns, and even near important iron mines and military horse farms.

They disguised themselves as fur traders, horse dealers, and even Han Chinese artisans employed by the Northern Yan army, carefully gathering intelligence.

The grasslands, a world beyond the Canglang tribe. Although Batu Khan has allied with Hanyuan, the grasslands are vast, dotted with numerous tribes, and the remnants of Temujin's forces still lurk in the northern desert.

Night Owl's cavalry scouts, like ghosts, roam the depths of the grasslands, drawing more precise maps, monitoring the migrations, conflicts, and alliances of various tribes, and searching for potential threats and allies.

The interior of the Cold Abyss is not a monolithic entity.

With the rapid increase in population and the expansion of spheres of influence, it is inevitable that a mixed bag of people will emerge.

Night Owl's "Internal Guard Division" operates like an invisible filter within the body of Cold Abyss.

They monitored newly surrendered refugees, merchants, and artisans, identifying potential spies among them; investigated corruption and dereliction of duty by officials; cracked down on internal criminal gangs; and even conducted regular "loyalty reviews" within the Han Yuan Army.

Although the methods were secretive and even ruthless, they effectively maintained the purity and stability of the interior, preventing the fortress from being breached from within.

This vast spy network, like a giant spider with countless compound eyes, lies silently on the web of chaos, sensing every tremor from all directions. Every day, hundreds of intelligence reports, delivered by carrier pigeons, fast horses, caravans, and even messages from passersby, converge deep beneath Zhenbei New City, at the heavily guarded "Night Owl Headquarters."

Here, Zhao Tie and his analysts act like the most sophisticated instruments, filtering, classifying, comparing, and analyzing this massive amount of seemingly chaotic information.

They pieced together fragmented clues to form a complete picture, found the inherent connections between seemingly unrelated events, and predicted the enemy's next move from subtle actions.

"Prince Yong is secretly reinforcing his troops in Jiangnan, but he seems to be having difficulty procuring supplies, and there are signs of mutiny in some of his troops."

"Murong Han of Northern Yan has recently fallen ill, and his sons are intensifying their open and covert struggles for the right of succession, leading to signs of a reduction in the number of troops stationed on the border."

"The remnants of Temujin's tribe on the steppe are migrating westward and may have come into contact with a certain country in the Western Regions."

"The Crown Prince's faction in the capital is secretly contacting border generals, seemingly plotting something."

"Traces of a suspected key witness in the old Lin family case have been discovered in a certain area in Jiangnan, and the investigation is underway."

Each piece of high-value intelligence, after being refined, analyzed, and verified, was compiled into concise secret reports and delivered to Xiao Chen's desk every morning.

These eyes from the darkness provided Xiao Chen with the clearest and most timely perspective for decision-making, enabling him to strategize and win battles from afar.

The spy network is intricate, silent, yet omnipresent.

It is another sharp blade in Han Yuan's hand, sharp, concealed, and deadly.