Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1548: Differentiation and Co-optation
  After hearing Fusu's verdict, Zhang Han and Li Si replied in unison:
  "Thank you, Mr. Geng!"

The delivery will be punished according to the law. Of course, it is not a gentle release, but it is not a severe punishment either. It is quite satisfactory.

The impact on Li Si is basically zero, with the most penalty points and salary.

Zhang Han's words are a little more serious. If there is no major meritorious performance in the future, his promotion will be affected to some extent.

Overall, it's barely painful or itchy.

After finishing the punishment for the two of them, Fusu looked at Li Si again and ordered:

"Due to their previous cooperation during the Battle of Guancheng City, Wei Zhuang and his Ni Liusha learned a lot of imperial secrets. Now that he has rebelled, these things must be sorted out as soon as possible."

"Master Li, you are responsible for this matter."

Upon hearing this, Li Si immediately responded, "I have given orders to cut off all connections with Niliuxha."

"But there is something I need to ask Master for permission."

"explain."

"Should Wei Zhuang also be included in the highest level wanted list?" Li Si asked.

"Well..." Fusu pondered for a moment, "He is wanted as usual, and he will be treated the same as Gai Nie."

"Yes!" Li Si looked as usual and bowed to accept the order.

It was not surprising that Fusu would agree to arrest Wei Zhuang. After all, the empire's arrest warrant... to be honest, that's all.

Those minor characters are often caught, but for truly high-level wanted criminals, whether they can be caught or not is purely a matter of chance.

Gai Nie has been wanted for such a long time, and even with Tianming as a dragster, hasn't the empire never caught him?
  By the way, a considerable number of the high-level wanted criminals arrested in recent years were caught by Zhang Han.

When it comes to catching fugitives, Shadow Guards are much more motivated than Snare.

There is no way, the Shadow Guard's first priority is to protect the safety of the imperial family members, but the empire does not enfeoff, and the princes are basically not sent out to perform their duties, and they stay in Xianyang most of the time.

There have been many anti-imperial organizations in recent years, and there have been endless planned resistance activities, but few people dare to go to Xianyang to cause trouble.

When the weather is calm, there is no way to carry out the work of the Shadow Guard, and they can only develop side businesses by hand.

Anyway, the results are gratifying.

Li Si asked this question just to express that he had no intention of going against the eldest son Fusu.

After all, he is different from Zhao Gao. It is impossible for him to really go all the way to Heihe and completely turn against Fusu's faction.

As a qualified prime minister, Li Si never thought of favoring any party other than the emperor himself.

Of course, loyalty is just a bargaining chip for betrayal most of the time, and Li Si is no exception.

Zhang Han then reported, "Master Qi, although this trapping plan failed, it is not without success."

"Just in case, the last general has deployed a back-up move. Once Bandit Zhidao Ding successfully escapes from prison, this back-up move should be effective."

"Oh?" These words immediately aroused Fusu's interest, and even Li Si cast a searching look.

………………

After a while, Zhang Han, who had discussed all matters, left Fusu's study and walked out along the corridor of the General's Mansion.

As he passed a corner, a feminine voice came from behind:

"General Zhang!"

Zhang Han frowned, turned his head slightly and glanced back. Sure enough, it was Zhao Gao, only his voice was so shrill.

"Is there something wrong with the CRRC government order?"

"This time Luo Wang failed to assist the general in completing his mission and caused the general to suffer a crime. Zhao Gao is really ashamed."

"I have already severely punished those useless slaves."

Hearing this, Zhang Han replied lightly, "The failure of the mission is due to Zhang Han's incompetence. Why should the CRRC Governor blame himself?"

"Ha!" Zhao Gao chuckled and said with a hint of reference, "The main reason is that His Highness's punishment is unfair."

"There are no omissions in General Zhang's plan. The only mistake is Wei Zhuang's defection in battle."

"And this point, haha... In any case, you, General Zhang, should not bear the main responsibility. No matter what happens, the Prime Minister should bear the responsibility."

Zhao Gao spoke cryptically. In fact, according to him, the main responsibility was neither Zhang Han nor Li Si, but should be the son Fusu and the national master Gu Xun.

After all, Wei Zhuang is actually a member of Quicksand, and this is the reason why the Empire will cooperate with Wei Zhuang.

In other words, Zhao Gao is putting eye drops on Zhang Han, intending to divide the relationship between Zhang Han and Fusu Guxun-their two mistakes, but in the end they were punished on you, are you angry?

Zhang Han is a smart man, so he can naturally understand the hidden meaning of Zhao Gao's words.

He didn't have any emotional changes and replied in a normal tone, "The CRRC government order is just a joke. The mission failed, so the responsibility is naturally mine. There is no problem with the salary penalty."

"Ha!" Zhao Gao raised the corners of his mouth slightly to both sides, revealing a slight smile, "This time the general has taken the main responsibility, and Luo Sheng has not been held accountable. In any case, Zhao Gao owes you a favor."

"If General Zhang is useful in the future, just ask, Zhao Gao will never refuse."

The previous step was differentiation, and the next step is indeed to win over.

Zhao Gao stopped Zhang Han because he wanted to take this opportunity to try to win over the leader of the Shadow Guard to his side.

Zhang Han turned around when he heard this, with a smile on his face, clasped his hands and bowed his thanks, "Zhang Han appreciates the kindness of Zhongche Fu Ling."

"I still have something to do, so I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, Zhang Han turned around and left.

His response was tantamount to directly rejecting Zhao Gao's overtures.

Zhao Gao didn't care about this, with the smile still on his lips, watching Zhang Han go away.

Ever since the Shadow Guard was established, Zhang Han, the main person in charge of the Shadow Guard, has had a close relationship with Gu Xun. The relationship built up over the years cannot be broken by him with just a few words.

He just gave it a try.

To be honest, the top management of Liusha have some weird personalities, which are difficult for an old official like Zhao Gao to grasp. Only Zhang Han, who is in charge of the Shadow Secret Guard, is much better and is his only breakthrough.

It would be best if Zhang Han showed signs of testing him. If not... then Zhao Gao could continue with the next arrangement with peace of mind.

………………

Mirage, alchemy room.

On the central high platform, flames were burning in the huge alchemy furnace.

Shao Yu carried Tian Ming, who was still erect, and followed Shi Lan towards the alchemy furnace.

"The top priority is to find out if there is an antidote to Tianming's poison." Shao Yu reminded Shi Lan while carefully paying attention to the surrounding environment.

"There should be an antidote. Let's go to the place where Yun Zhongjun makes alchemy first and have a look."

Before the three of them returned to the alchemy furnace along the suspended stone path, there were several low tables placed on the empty high platform. Some had tools for grinding and cutting medicine, and some had some writing slips, probably prescriptions. At a glance, there were only a few porcelain bottles that seemed to contain medicine, but there were no labels to indicate them.

Shi Lan went over and picked it up. After realizing that it was an empty bottle, she turned to look at Shao Yu:

"There should be no medicine here."

"The medicines refined by Yun Zhongjun may have been placed in or near his dormitory."

"Let's follow the code my brother left and head to Yunzhongjun's bedroom first."

Although Shao Yu was worried about Tianming's physical condition, there was nothing he could do about it without medicine. Shi Lan's suggestion was the best choice, and he had nothing to do with it.

Just when he was about to respond, he saw the previous door being pushed open. He quickly lowered his voice and reminded:

"Someone is coming, hide!"

There is no obstruction on the empty high platform. Fortunately, there are giant statues surrounding the high platform on both sides.

Shao Yu carried Tian Ming on his back, and he and Shi Lan ducked behind the statue's arms, not daring to look out for fear of being discovered.

Probably because they really didn't expect Shaoyu and the others to come back again, Yun Zhongjun and Xinghun did not notice the hidden three people and kept talking to themselves:
  "The three people who broke in this time were all fish that slipped through the Mo family's stronghold. They have been hiding in the mirage these days."

"They are just insignificant ants."

Although Tianming showed amazing fighting power that night, it was still not worth mentioning in the eyes of Xinghun - this was normal, after all, this was the Zuo Guardian of the Yin Yang Family who even Gui Gu Zongheng barely looked down upon.

Yun Zhongjun was calm and continued, "Escaped from Da Siming and me one after another, it seems that we should not completely underestimate them."

Xinghun sneered and responded, "That's because Da Siming is too stupid. He can even fail to deal with these three young boys!"

To a certain extent, these words hurt Yun Zhongjun by mistake, but Xinghun obviously didn't care - besides, it didn't count as accidental damage. In terms of actual combat power, Yun Zhongjun was not as good as Da Siming.

Yun Zhongjun did have a much lower attitude towards Xinghun, and was not angry. Instead, he took the initiative to make amends for himself:

"If the Moon God hadn't deliberately looked on coldly just now, they would never have been able to escape from the clutches of my giant spirit illusion!"

Xinghun didn't think about whether Yun Zhongjun was bragging for the time being, and only responded to the first half of the sentence:

"That kid has a sleeping curse planted by the Moon God in his body. He obviously has ulterior motives."

"Have the yin and yang visions around the alchemy room been turned on?"

Yin-Yang Vision, those weird and weird big brass eyes.

Yun Zhongjun nodded and replied, "Don't worry, Lord Xinghun, everything has been activated."

"Within the yin and yang field of vision, any movement made by the intruder will definitely be missed."

"The silver needles fired by Yin Yang Vision are all tempered with my unique anesthetic - zinnia. Just one needle can make a person lose all ability to move little by little, making it difficult to move even an inch!"

"Those who are poisoned can only regain their mobility by taking the Qingshu Dan that I specially prepared."

"Very good!" Xinghun smiled and nodded, then sighed, "Yin-Yang Vision... Only Gong Shuqiu can combine Yin-Yang and Mechanisms to design such a perfect defense mechanism."

"Gong Shuqiu is indeed a genius." Yun Zhongjun couldn't help but agree upon hearing this.

As the owner of the mirage, or the owner of the ship, Yun Zhongjun has a profound understanding of how talented he is at losing his hatred to the public.

Xinghun glanced at him sideways and said pointedly:

"The mirage was designed and built by Gong Shuqiu, and the Zibei Water Pavilion must also be his."

Xinghun is not a person who likes to flatter others, even in other fields, he naturally has his own purpose when it comes to public grudges.

When Yun Zhongjun heard this, his eyes lit up at first, and then he hesitated a little, "Master Xinghun meant it from him... but he may not be willing to get involved in our Yin Yang family's affairs, right?"

"As long as we catch those children, we can get a good bargaining chip, which should be able to impress him." Xinghun said confidently.

Since he dared to propose this idea, he must have determined that it was feasible.

As for whether they can capture Tianming and the other three, this has never been a problem in Xinghun's eyes.

The two of them walked onto the high platform while talking.

Although Shaoyu and the others did not dare to directly observe the movements of Xinghun and Yun Zhongjun, they could probably tell that the other party was approaching based on the changes in their voices.

Guessing that the two of them were about to reach the high platform, he quickly gave Shi Lan a wink, and the other party immediately understood. The two of them carefully walked around to the other side of the stone statue while holding Tian Ming.

The carvings of these two giant statues are relatively complex, with many gaps for the two of them to stand and hide themselves at the same time.

However, even though the two of them had tried their best to be careful, and the burning big alchemy furnace was interfering with the environment, Xinghun still seemed to notice the movement and turned to look in the direction where they were hiding.

Of course, he only saw stone statues.

It seemed that because he was not sure, Xinghun did not delve into it. He quickly withdrew his gaze and continued:
  "The biggest obstacle now is that the Moon God has been acting secretly in the name of the Eastern Emperor's headmaster."

Yun Zhongjun said cautiously, "If... it is indeed His Excellency Donghuang's arrangement..."

It is not difficult to tell that Yun Zhongjun has a deep respect for Donghuang Taiyi.

In comparison, Xinghun never seemed to be as cautious as other members of the Yin Yang family when faced with the words Donghuang Taiyi.

Hearing Yun Zhongjun's worry, Xinghun responded calmly:
  "If it is really the arrangement of Headmaster Donghuang, then it is up to you and me to complete it. Isn't it also a great achievement?"

This is pure nonsense. They both know nothing about Donghuang Taiyi's arrangement. What if they get involved and mess up the matter?
  And even if the two of them could manage it, it would still be an act of transgression. For the head of the Yin Yang family, Donghuang, who had absolute power of life and death, it would be equally unforgivable to overstep his bounds.

Xinghun knows this, and so does Yun Zhongjun.

Therefore, what Xinghun actually means is to be obedient and negative.

This is Songhai, which is thousands of miles away from Jiugong, the sacred capital of Xianyang. The sky is high and the emperor is far away. No matter how powerful Donghuang Taiyi is, he can't control them.

To be honest, if Donghuang Taiyi's name was really useful, neither of them would doubt that Yueshen was pretending to be Donghuang's order.

It's just that although Yun Zhongjun has let himself go a little bit, he hasn't let himself go enough, and Xinghun now wants him to completely get rid of the burden of Donghuang Taiyi.

So what is Yun Zhongjun’s choice?

Without much hesitation, a smile appeared on Yun Zhongjun's old face, "Master Xinghun is right."

Obviously, this old guy is not honest either.

At this time, Yun Zhongjun also suddenly glanced at the direction where Tianming and the others were hiding, and seemed to notice something was wrong, but in the end he took no further action.

Instead, he continued to say to Xinghun:
  "I have a way to remove this big obstacle!"

"Oh?" Xinghun cast an interested look upon hearing this.

At the same time, in the Zibei Water Pavilion.

Looking through the empty corridor and through the crystal clear glass jade, everything seemed to be reversed. In the huge water tank where the fish should have been, a completely symmetrical corridor appeared exactly like the outside.

Luna was standing in this corridor at this time. In front of her was the same water tank, and the fish in it was swimming as vividly as if it were a world in a mirror.

(End of this chapter)