The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 421 Traitor
"Return to Jin?"

As winter approached, Xiao Yan walked in along the corridor, his clothes and armor still a little cold. Several waitresses who were about to greet him stood in the distance with their hands folded, and no one came to disturb the scene before their eyes.

In fact, the scene of Bagu bowing to the ground was also really surprising. You have to know that in the past year since Bagu entered the mansion, although others did not say it, the people in the mansion knew that she respected her superiors but was slow to follow them. In front of the servants, she always had to show off a little bit, and would never let them have the opportunity to see her humble appearance.

Xiao Yan paused and looked back, then asked calmly, "What identity will you use to go back?"

Bago looked up in bewilderment, his eyes reddened, but he whispered, "Please grant me your permission, Your Majesty."

Xiao Yan frowned slightly, but did not speak immediately. He asked her to get up and follow him into the side room in the back courtyard. Then he asked her to help him take off his armor and said, "Li Keyong is dead. You don't have to worry about returning to Jin like before. But let me ask you one thing, what can you do after you go back?"

Bago carefully glanced at Xiao Yan, but after a moment, he just lowered his head and said nothing.

Xiao Yan glanced at her, waited for a moment, and walked away. "Jin State is very different from before you came. Some things can't just float on the surface. I hope you can take care of yourself."

As the man finished speaking, Ji Ruxue, who had just come in from outside, seemed to understand instantly. She first glanced at Bago, who had a graceful figure in the side room and was dressed more and more like a Han Chinese, and then looked at Xiao Yan, seeming to be hesitant to say something, but Xiao Yan came over with an expressionless face, just took her hand and turned away.

Bago raised his head again, a little dazed for a moment, and wanted to speak several times, but watching Xiao Yan's tall and majestic back going away without any reluctance, he just bit his lip with a cold body and remained silent.

All the words and explanations ended up being nothing more than a bow in the direction where Xiao Yan was leaving.

With Xiao Yan's permission, Bagu set out immediately, but he only put on a fur cloak for winter travel, and took his own short knife and the bloody little snake he raised. He took advantage of the early morning to find a yellow-maned horse, and after saying goodbye to the empress and several others in the mansion, he only accepted some gifts and left through the north gate of Bianjing.

As for the trivial matters such as Qianwu seeing him off and Zang He, Baguo's nominal uncle, being so frightened upon hearing the news that he begged to stay, there is naturally no need to elaborate on them.

Although Daliang had been in a standoff with the State of Jin for nearly a year, the war was finally settled and the autumn harvest this year was successfully completed, so the country was generally peaceful, with smooth traffic between the north and the south and few unexpected events.

Baguo rode alone across the river to the north. In just a few days, she passed Handan and went west across Taihang Mountain to enter Luzhou. After entering Luzhou, her identity as an important person under the Li School of Tongwenguan was reactivated, and the trusted subordinates she had arranged when she left Jin State a year ago were naturally reconnected.

However, what Xiao Yan said about the Jin State being very different was not false. As the saying goes, things have changed and people have changed. The situation in the Jin State has evolved to a point where even Bago is unfamiliar with it.

Li Keyong died suddenly, and Luzhou was naturally on full alert. All the prefectures and counties were also in a panic. The disciples of Tongwenguan who were originally all over Hedong were almost wiped out overnight and were rarely seen again. At the same time, waves of troops and horses were coming south from the north, apparently to consolidate Luzhou and Taihang line to defend against Liang State.

Correspondingly, in towns and villages, soldiers of the State of Jin could be seen galloping through, searching, detaining, etc. This kind of work, which would have been done by the Tongwenguan in the past, has evolved into this, and Bago can see the current situation of the Tongwenguan.

Fortunately, although Tongwenguan seems to be in a weak position, and many of its strongholds in various places have been abandoned and confiscated, both the Taiyuan court and the prince who may or may not return to the court are rational. Since the most threatening lord Li Siyuan is dead, Tongwenguan is still a weapon that Jin can control and rely on. How can it destroy the Great Wall?
"So, the one who is in charge of Tongwenguan is still our Sect Master? Everyone knows that the Sect Master is on good terms with the Saint Master, so how can the Prince trust the Sect Master? And where is the Fourth Sect Master? Why isn't he in charge?"

In Liaoshan County, the seat of Yizhou, in the so-called Yizhou Tongwenguan, Bago, with sharp eyebrows, brown hair tied up high, and dressed in a black military robe, sat in the main seat, playing with a red snake in his hand, and looked coldly at his left and right trusted subordinates, who were four or five fewer than before.

According to the Tongwenguan system, each gate had one captain and two colonels. Each colonel was in charge of five subordinate officials of varying numbers, namely the chief accountant, the flag bearer, the treasurer, the spy chief, and the inspector, to manage the disciples under their command.

For example, under the Li clan, the captain is Ba'er, and the captain is naturally Ba'ye and Ba'go. Under Ba'go, there are a total of eight or nine subordinates, all of whom are her confidants who have been trained and promoted over the years.

The subordinates who had been summoned and hurriedly gathered here from all over were obviously confused as to why their boss had disappeared for a year and suddenly appeared. Then they saw that their colleagues were about half less than a year ago, and those who knew Bago's temper were more than uneasy.

But after waiting for a long time, Bago neither vented his anger on them nor asked about the whereabouts of the visitors who had not come in the past. Instead, he asked about library affairs. Everyone was relieved but a little surprised. However, the accountant who was in charge of documents and files for Bago reacted quickly and responded hastily.

"Reporting to the Captain, it is indeed the Sect Master who continues to manage the Tongwen Hall. After the incident of the King of Jin, although the Fourth Sect Master (Li Cunren) received the most merit, he was mostly stationed in the northwest to defend the border, so how could he manage the affairs of the Hall. Although our Sect Master was indeed on good terms with the Holy Lord before, whether it was the King of Jin who ordered the Sect Master to guard Luzhou half a year ago, or the King of Jin personally appointed the Sect Master to take charge of the Tongwen Hall before leaving Taiyuan, there are quite a few rumors. Not to mention that the King of Jin trusts the Sect Master's arrangement, according to the qualifications and experience in the Hall, the Holy Lord is dead, the Second Holy Lord is in prison, the Fourth Sect Master is stationed at the border, and the whereabouts of the Fifth Sect Master (Li Cunyi) are unknown. Only the Sect Master is familiar with the affairs of the Hall and has the highest qualifications. Who else can he be?"

After speaking a long paragraph in one breath, the chief accountant calmed down for a while before continuing, "Now that the King of Jin has just passed away and there is the Liang Dynasty outside, the prince has no choice but to trust the master of the sect for the sake of the court situation. According to the news I got the day before yesterday, the prince has already promoted the master of the sect to the position of Inspector of Sikong and Marquis of Xue; and promoted the fourth master of the sect to the position of Inspector of Taiwei and the Governor of Daizhou; the other masters of the sects have also been promoted..."

Bago looked cold and didn't care.

The previous official position of Saint Li Siyuan was the Governor of Daizhou. Now that he was dead, it was not surprising that the position was taken over by the Four Sect Leaders who killed him.

She was fiddling with the red snake in her hand, and wanted to ask when the funeral of King Jin would be held, but when the words came to her lips, she suddenly asked, "Do you know where the Thirteenth Sect Master is?"

Baguo was not asking for no reason. You must know that when she was sent to the Central Plains to make plans, she was directly questioned by King Jin, and her immediate superior also changed from Li Cunli to Li Cunren.

It seems that her fake play with Xiao Yan was somewhat real, and she was even able to get a status from Xiao Yan by virtue of her relationship with the surrendered minister. Whether it was true or false, she naturally ignored the things in Jin State. But Baguo knew that she had no father or mother. She was a woman who could stand above others in Jin State and be domineering without anyone to control her. Even her relatives could barely be called a noble family. If she was not a member of the Jin King's family, how could she be like this? Moreover, among the tens of thousands of Shatuo people in Hedong, she was not the only one who regarded the Jin King as her father. Abandoning her relatives, not to mention the matter of betraying the Jin King, Baguo was still ashamed to talk about it most of the time.

Therefore, although he returned to Jin mainly for the funeral and did not need to worry about being punished by the King of Jin, he still needed to make up an explanation to Li Cunren.

Li Cunren has been the intelligence chief for many years. Based on Baguo's performance in the past six months, she may not be able to see some signs. And the world knows the status of this Thirteenth Lady beside the King of Jin. Even if the Crown Prince succeeds to the throne, she will surely still be able to be reused. Baguo knows whether he will stay or leave in the future, and whether the status of the old subordinates who have lost 50% or 60% in the past year can be restored. This Thirteenth Lady may have the spare energy to interfere.

But the strange thing is that no matter whether she contacted Li Cunren through the previous secret agents in Daliang or tried to restore the communication with Li Cunren after returning to Jin, all her methods were in vain. Not to mention contacting Li Cunren himself, even the disciples of Ren's sect seemed to have fallen apart and dispersed. Even the disciples of Ren's sect who followed Ba Ge to the Central Plains before were now out of touch with their Thirteenth Lady. As for the "Shang" organization, which used to be a lone organization in Jin but had an extraordinary status, Ba Ge was not qualified to contact it before, let alone now.

As expected, including the chief accountant, several people looked at each other in bewilderment, and then the chief accountant coughed dryly: "Captain, you need to know that since the day when Prince Jin got into trouble, the Thirteenth Sect Master has disappeared..."

Seeing that Bago's face was cold and he was not asking casually, as if he was asking him to continue, he was embarrassed again and said with a stiff face, "It is difficult for me to know the details. The captain should know that since the Saint Lord failed to assassinate King Jin in Taiyuan a month ago, our Tongwenguan has been a little different from before... I only heard that the news that the Saint Lord was in Yinquan Mountain that day was told to King Jin by the Thirteenth Sect Master, and then what happened when King Jin led the 500 Crow Army into the mountain was another story."

He had obviously heard the news from hearsay, so after sorting it out in his mind, he continued, "According to the rumors, the Thirteenth Sect Master must have died at the hands of the Saint Lord because he was protecting King Jin, but the strange thing is that the body of the Thirteenth Sect Master himself has not been found... So there is a second theory, saying that the Thirteenth Sect Master has actually always been the Saint Lord's man, so the Saint Lord dared to join forces with the Second Saint to kill King Jin in Taiyuan that day, and that was when he had the opportunity to set a trap in Yinquan Mountain to kill King Jin..."

"Who would believe the latter?" Bago couldn't help but sneer.

The chief accountant coughed dryly, "In fact, there are still many people who believe it... First, after the accident of King Jin, not only did the Thirteenth Sect Master disappear without a trace, but also the Renzi Sect and the Shang Organization quickly dissipated. According to the status of the Thirteenth Sect Master, whether he is alive or dead, the Renzi Sect and the Shang Organization should continue to be loyal to the prince instead of reacting like this; second, King Jin is so powerful, and he has 500 Yaer Army guards on both sides. If the Thirteenth Sect Master, who King Jin trusts the most, had not betrayed him, how could the Holy Lord succeed alone? It's just that the Holy Lord and the Thirteenth Sect Master may not have expected that the Fourth Sect Master had already received the secret decree from King Jin and accompanied him as a guard, so they failed at the last moment."

He smiled bitterly and added, "To put it another way, if the Thirteenth Sect Master had not betrayed King Jin, with the Fourth Sect Master accompanying and protecting him, the Saint Lord would have no chance of succeeding. It's just that the Fourth Sect Master probably never thought that the Thirteenth Sect Master would actually betray King Jin, which is why the Thirteenth Sect Master managed to escape by chance, and the Renzi Sect and the Shang Organization were all disbanded in one day."

"..."

Bago could not help but frown. This argument had too many loopholes, but if you think about it carefully, it seems to make sense. However, because of Xiao Yan's incident in the past year, she also got to know Li Cunren a little bit. According to the position of this Thirteenth Lady beside the King of Jin, if she was really the Holy Lord's man, wouldn't the Holy Lord have had the opportunity to ascend to the throne long ago? Why did he have to go to such an embarrassing point that he even lost his life?

But she hesitated for a long time, and finally gave up the idea. Without Li Cunren, it would be more conducive for her to regain her previous status in Jin State. So, in the tense waiting of everyone, she just stood up with a lack of interest: "Forget it, follow me to Taiyuan to see the sect leader."

"As ordered!"

------

At the same time, east of Yizhou, somewhere in Taihang Mountains.

"Pfft."

A bare dart took the lead and instantly hit the back shoulder of a man in black clothes and face. As the latter staggered, the next bare dart followed and hit him in the back, causing him to finally lose his strength instantly and fall forward, rolling several feet down the hillside, and finally lying in the grass, dying.

Three figures flashed from the slope and surrounded him. They were three tall men wearing hoods, their faces covered but in very different clothes. One of them had two axes on his back; one had a small hammer on his waist and another in his hand; and the last one held a single knife. However, judging from the darts on his waist, the previous masterpieces were obviously done by this man.

"died?"

"Hold on, you won't die."

"I can't even ask that. What should I do?"

The three of them asked each other in silence, but none of them could answer and they were frozen for a moment.

“No progress.”

The rustling sound continued to be heard from the slope. It was another unruly man carrying two axes, surrounded by several people. He stood with his hands behind his back facing the sunlight. "It's just a mere Shang, but you three chased and killed him for most of the day. If the five of them were here together, wouldn't you have been killed in return? You really are a disgrace to me!"

The three of them immediately clasped their fists and bowed their heads, saying "Master, please forgive me," and then they dared not say another word.

The unruly man standing on the hillside facing the sunlight was naturally the captain Bayeba, who was known for being invincible. He sneered and was too lazy to blame him any more.

"Pick him up. After all, we have captured one. It will be fine if we can explain it to the Sect Master."

After saying this, the man was surrounded by people and was no longer bothered to look down the slope. He just stood with his hands behind his back and scanned the jungle thousands of miles ahead.

"Thirteenth Lady? Humph, you'd better pray that you don't fall into my hands."

As he looked ahead for a few miles, in the vast mountains, a figure rushed out of the bushes, but fell face down into the dead branches and weeds. Several embarrassed figures following closely behind hurriedly pulled her up. They were panic-stricken and couldn't help talking.

"Master, someone is obviously trying to stop us from going to find the prince. Why do we have to force our way in? Many people have died on the way..."

Li Cunren ignored him and just gritted his teeth and stood up with the help of his sword.

"I must, I must tell the prince... the villain Li Siyuan is not dead!"

(End of this chapter)