Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

As the second palm struck out, the fox-like woman's expression changed drastically!

This palm strike is an external palm strike that is a step further than the "Regretful Dragon" technique in the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

A few days ago, Xu Xian broke through to the second level of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and mastered a new palm technique. He had been practicing it privately for a few days after the breakthrough.

A thicker and more powerful golden palm shadow slammed towards Foxy Eyes. Foxy Eyes hurriedly abandoned her whip and used both hands to block the palm.

The dull thud of two palms colliding exploded in the private room, and the shockwave sent all the cups and saucers flying off the table.

Foxy Eyes was thrown off the ground by the shock, flying backward and crashing into the carved wooden window, sending splinters of wood and paper flying everywhere.

She coughed up a mouthful of blood, her figure flashed past the window, and a ripple spread across the surface of the inner lake below. She had already disappeared into the depths of the lake shrouded in night.

Xu rushed to the window and looked down. There were only ripples spreading across the lake and water splashes illuminated by the moonlight. The person was gone.

He turned to check on Zhang Hu and Zhao Bao. Zhang Hu had hit the back of his head against the wall and passed out. He had a fist-sized bump on his head, but his breathing was still relatively steady.

Zhao Bao was whipped in the chest, his clothes were torn open, and a purplish-red whip mark appeared on his skin underneath. However, the skin around the whip mark was faintly glowing with the residue of the medicinal bath.

Mo provided only top-quality medicinal herbs. After soaking in them for half a month, Zhao Bao and Zhang Hu's skin, flesh, and bones were indeed much stronger than those of ordinary people. If that whip had been delivered before they reached the level of being considered as having ...

  

After checking their injuries, Xu Xian breathed a sigh of relief, helped the two of them up and leaned them against the wall, and mentally reviewed the battle that had just taken place.

The assassin, at the fourth level of body tempering, wields a soft whip and possesses exceptional lightness skills, resembling a professionally trained killer.

Moreover, she was familiar with Xu Xian's fighting style and knew that he possessed the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

This indicates that the assassin's master possessed intelligence about his combat abilities, and that no more than ten people in the entire capital knew the details of his palm techniques.

He mentally reviewed the list and then ruled out everyone—Mo Fei would never leak information, Yang Xu was unlikely to be a suspect, and although Shen Weiya was a big mouth, she would never harm him.

That leaves only one possibility—the people behind the tax and silver fraud case have intervened!

...

In an unassuming yet exquisite courtyard on the western outskirts of Beijing, the gate was tightly closed and the walls were covered with withered vines.

A figure stumbled in through the side door and collapsed to the ground.

The woman's alluring eyes were half-closed, her face was covered in water and blood, and she was pale, clearly suffering from internal injuries.

A young man rushed out from the inner room to support her. He was in his early thirties, with a gentle and refined face, wearing a moon-white long robe and a jade pendant at his waist.

"Ouyang, how is it?"

"I underestimated Xu Xian! His palm technique has more than one move; the second palm strike is at least 30% more powerful than the first. I couldn't withstand it."

Ouyang Ruiming coughed twice, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth again.

"I was injured by him, but he didn't chase after me, so I jumped into the water to escape."

A sinister glint flashed in the man's eyes. He helped Ouyang to the bed and laid her down. He then took a bottle of medicine from the cabinet and handed it to her.

Ouyang took the medicine, feeling somewhat unwilling and guilty. "Sir, I've never failed a mission before. This time I failed and was even injured by him. I underestimated him."

"Get some rest and don't think about anything else."

The man stood up and walked to the window, looking at the night outside, his thoughts churning.

Ouyang Ruiming was a bodyguard he had personally trained for ten years. He was at the fourth level of body tempering, his soft whip technique was unparalleled in the capital, and his lightness skill allowed him to silently rise and fall on the third-floor windowsill of Taibai Tower.

Furthermore, since Ouyang was a woman, it would be easier for her to get close to Xu Xian in that kind of place. He thought sending her to kill Xu Xian was a sure thing...

Instead of killing him, he was injured and almost died at Taibai Tower.

Xu Xian.

The Iron Gate Pass mission case ruined his plans once, the Green Wolf Forest case ruined them again, and the tax silver case is developing in the direction he least wants to see, making the situation very unfavorable for him.

He turned to look at Ouyang Ruiming, who was lying weakly on the bed.

"Take good care of your injury. Once you're healed, there are more important things for you to do."

Ouyang Ruiming struggled to sit up: "Sir, I promise I'll do better next time..."

"Lying down, lying down..."

The man smiled. "You've done enough. Take a break."

He blew out the oil lamp, went out of the room, and an old man came to greet him.

"master..."

"Send a message: keep an eye on the Inspection Division, especially that troublesome junior officer."

...

When Xu returned to the courtyard that evening, it was already completely dark.

Pushing open the door, the courtyard was quiet, and the oil lamp in the kitchen was still lit.

Hua Xi sat on the threshold of the main house, holding a tortoise in her arms, her two short legs together on the bluestone slab, nodding her head.

Hearing the door open, she jumped down from the threshold and ran over, looking up at him, then at the newly wrapped bandage on his left arm, which Zhang Hu had helped to put on; it looked terrible.

She frowned slightly, but didn't ask anything.

"Brother, you're home so late today."

Hua Xi tugged at his sleeve and led him to the kitchen. "I've reheated the porridge three times."

A small iron pot sat on the stove, its bottom covered in a layer of black smear, but the porridge inside was still steaming.

Xu Xian peeked into the pot and saw that the porridge hadn't been heated three times; it had been heated three times, each time with a layer of burnt rice. By the third time, it was impossible to distinguish between the rice and the burnt rice.

Hua Xi pressed him down onto a low stool by the stove, then stood on tiptoe and scooped a large bowl of porridge for him with a wooden spoon. A few grains of rice were stuck to the edge of the bowl, and the spoon was stuck at an angle in the porridge, almost slipping to the bottom.

Xu took the bowl and drank a big mouthful. The burnt taste was indeed very strong. The rice grains were overcooked, and the cured meat was cut into different sizes, some like fingernails and some like fists.

But he chewed it twice and swallowed it, then took a big gulp.

"It tastes good."

Hua Xi sat on the small stool opposite him, holding the tortoise, and smiled, her eyes crinkling.

"Great! Brother, finish it all!"

???

Xu Xian's eyelids twitched, and he chuckled dryly. "Well, I've already eaten at the Inspection Department, one bowl is enough. The rest... let the turtle drink it!"

The turtle poked its head out from her arms, its green bean eyes wide open, watching incredulously as Xu Xian gulped down the bowl of porridge that had burned the bottom of the pot. Its front paws retracted, and as it withdrew into its shell, it seemed to be sighing.

...!

When Xu arrived at the headquarters early the next morning, Yang Xu was in his office, looking at a table full of interrogation records, looking worried.

After yesterday's reckless actions, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue have completely banded together. No one speaks, no one signs anything, and they even refuse to cooperate by serving tea or water.

Seeing Xu Xian enter, he slammed the refuted document on the table, saying, "These old foxes, their mouths are harder than the stone lions at the gate of the yamen."

Xu Xian pulled up a chair and sat down. "Lord Yang, we can't find anything with the Ministry of Revenue. I suggest we try a different approach."

"Which direction?"

"storehouse."

Yang Xu put down his pen and looked at him.

"you say."

Xu spoke first,

"The transport records show that the convoy stopped in Jingzhou for an extra day. If those two carts of silver were not switched in Jingzhou, then they were switched before they were put into storage in the capital."

"Regardless of the possibility, the warehouse receipt and the records in the archives will definitely not match, because the warehouse receipt has been altered, but the original warehouse receipt was handwritten on-site and cannot be changed."

"We need Lord Mo's warrant."

Yang Xu stood up and put on his coat. "The Ministry of Revenue's warehouses are directly under the jurisdiction of the Department of Finance. Without the Minister's approval, not even a fly can get in. The Minister almost got into a fight with me yesterday. I think Lord Mo's note is more effective than my face."