After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"Han Qing?!"

The atmosphere in the study, successfully ignited by the piercing gaze of the young man, suddenly contracted Mu Shuyi's pupils!

As he gripped the other person's hands tightly, a thunderous shock ran through his mind.

Han Qing.

He was not only familiar with this name, but on the contrary, this was the person that their Sticky Rod Office had been trying to catch for twenty years without success, and whose case files filled an entire wall in the Sticky Rod Office's office.

Logically speaking, among the bandits who stormed the Forbidden City back then, the bandit leader Han Qing had already been beheaded, and only a handful of people, such as Chen Kebai and Tang Xuanzi, had escaped.

With Han Qing's death, the Heavenly Principle Sect fell apart, and its various branches were defeated one by one by the imperial court. When Chen Kebai and Tang Xuanzi, two major bandits, gathered a crowd to rebel again in Shandong, they were defeated and both beheaded.

But for some reason, a new figure named "Han Qing" emerged within the Heavenly Principle Sect.

This Han Qing possessed exceptional martial arts skills and was full of ingenious ideas. He gradually integrated the various altars of the Heavenly Principle Sect, making him a major threat to the imperial court once again.

If it weren't for the Heavenly Principles Sect, the imperial court could have marched south at least five years earlier. Why did it have to wait until now?

Moreover, because of something that cannot be recorded in writing or spoken aloud, the Emperor harbors a deep-seated hatred for Han Qing, Chen Kebai, and Tang Xuanzi, the chief culprits!

Whether this new "Han Qing" is the reincarnation of the old Han Qing or the old Han Qing never died but escaped from the Forbidden City that day, the Emperor is so angry that he wants to capture this person alive and execute him by slow slicing at the Meridian Gate to vent his hatred!

However, in the past decade, Han Qing has been hiding his true identity. Not to mention the Northern Dynasty, he has been almost nowhere to be found in the Southern Dynasty. He hides in the shadows and manipulates the Heavenly Principles Sect through a group of puppets such as Mu Ziying and Peng Liangang, making it difficult for them to find him.

"And tonight..."

Mu Shu's eyes flickered a few times.

"Han Qing has shown up? Right here in Beijing?!"

Mu Shu calmed herself, but her eyes and tone became tense as she stared at Ning Nan and said urgently:

"Brother Ning, are you truly serious?!"

"This is an extremely urgent matter! And since it's in front of a real person, how could I, brother, dare to lie?!"

Ning Nan took out a letter from his pocket and solemnly handed it to the middle-aged minister in front of him, who was wearing a black silk robe and had a small black mustache on his upper lip.

Mu Shu hurriedly took it.

The envelope was addressed to "The Prince Consort of Ning" in a formal, elegant script.

Sha pulled out the letter.

The letter begins with the words, "The illustrious ancestors, the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor, pioneered the way through hardships and difficulties to open up the mountains and forests."

The poem is a transposition of the lines: "The Ming Dynasty faced calamity, like a cuckoo taking over a magpie's nest. The shackles of clothing were easily broken, and the Han Dynasty was ravaged in the Jiazi year."

The poem concludes with the lines: "When will you expel the barbarians? Why wait another dynasty to mourn the people and punish the guilty? The sun has descended to earth, ready to shatter mountains and subdue seas. Why not meet once and devise a grand plan?"

He wrote, "Meet at Liuye Studio, or else we will meet King Jing tonight for a hunt in the northwest and drink water at the Great Wall," and finally signed it as "Han Qing, the unworthy leader of the Heavenly Principle Sect."

Sha Mu unfolded the letter, then carefully put it away without hesitation. He had no way of verifying the letter's authenticity and dared not make any decisions on his own at this point.

Ning Nan instructed:

"The Heavenly Principle Sect has been causing trouble in our dynasty, and our Empress has long wanted to eradicate it."

"I've heard that this cult leader, Brother Han Qing, is extremely cunning. If you, elder brother, send troops to surround Liuyezhai yourself and alert him, he might never show his face again."

Mu Shu nodded quickly in agreement, saying, "Don't worry, brother, I know what's important."

His gaze was solemn as he bowed to Ning Nan and said:

"Brother, I dare not make a decision on your own. I trouble you to wait in the side hall for a moment, while I immediately report to the Emperor for his decision!"

Ning Nan immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Please, elder brother!"

If we capture Han Qing, we won't have to worry about not being able to get Prince Jing back from the Heavenly Principles Sect, so we need to capture Han Qing... Hmm, this logic makes sense.

Three hundred cavalrymen are needed, both to capture Han Qing and to monitor me. No one can escape from three hundred iron cavalrymen alone... Hmm, this also suits their purposes.

Fei Ting, a pale young man standing beside him, stepped forward, bowed, and spread out a hand stained with black blood. His face was numb, clearly indicating that he was going to lead the way for Vice Envoy Ning.

Ning Nan loosened his grip and immediately turned to leave. After taking a few steps, he turned back and said:

"There's one more thing I need to ask of you, brother!"

Mu Shu narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Brother, please speak freely."

Ning Nan gave an embarrassed smile and awkwardly cupped his hands in a request:

"Brother, I've brought some attendants and servants. They've been traveling with you all night, so please trouble you to arrange some food for them, and also feed them the horse feed we brought. Their knives are also dull, so please trouble you to replace them with a new batch."

Mu Shu's expression immediately turned solemn, and he sincerely replied, "It is only right; it was my oversight, brother. Please rest assured!"

"Thank you so much, brother!"

After Ning Nan clasped his hands in thanks, he turned and walked towards the door again.

Mu Shu gazed at the figure in the moonlit robe from behind, her expression becoming slightly serious.

Thump, thump, thump, the moon-colored robe took a few steps, then turned back.

Mu Shu immediately put on a kind smile and looked directly into the other person's clear eyes:

"Brother, is there anything else?"

Ning Nan gave a wry smile and said, "There's one more small favor I need to ask of you, brother."

Ning Nan took a deep breath and looked at Mu Shu with clear, sincere eyes, free of any impurities.

"To be honest, in our dynasty..."

Ning Nan's expression turned bitter and filled with emotion:

"Our dynasty...our dynasty's Embroidered Uniform Guard has planted several spies in your capital. Now, firstly, we need manpower, and secondly, our two countries are now blood allies, so we should treat them with sincerity. Brother, I would like to ask you...to help me summon these spies over."

Mu Shu's expression froze: "A spy?"

Ning Nan looked a little embarrassed: "Exactly!"

He sighed:

"They are Chen Yaoqing from the teahouse, Zhao Yunji, the blacksmith from Dong'anmen Street, and Shi Sidong from the Sihe Restaurant on Chaoyangmen Outer Street."

"They should still have some men under their command. The situation is urgent, so I'll trouble you, brother, to summon them all. These men are familiar with Beijing and will be of great use to me in capturing Han Qing later. Please also not harm their families in the north. After our alliance is concluded, I will bring them all back to my dynasty and will never trouble yours again. Thank you, brother!"

Ning Nan bowed deeply.

Mu Shu quickly stepped forward, helped the other person up by the shoulder, and said with emotion:

"Brother, you flatter me! I'll take care of it right away!"

After explaining this matter, the figure in the moon-colored robe finally left the study, turned left, and went to the side hall for a short rest.

Mu Shu's smile and expressions vanished completely, and he shouted:

"close the door."

The guards outside the door quickly closed the study door.

After the door was closed, Han Chang, dressed in a light green striped mandarin jacket and wearing a melon-shaped hat, came out from behind the screen on the left side of the study, accompanied by a hunched and reserved eunuch.

Han Chang stared at the closed door of the study, his gaze seemingly piercing through the door and window to land on the departing young man.

"How much can we believe it?" he asked Mu Shu.

Mu Shu shook his head: "This servant dares not act on my own authority."

He didn't believe it at all, but when asked to explain his reasons, he couldn't articulate them.

Han Chang turned to look at Mu Shu: "Write down everything, including his requests, and give it to..."

He hesitated for a moment, initially intending to say "Give it to me to take into the palace," but ultimately changed it to:

"Give this to this eunuch, and bring him to the palace with me so that Father Emperor can make a decision."

Upon hearing this, Mu Shu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed in agreement.