Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 237 Super Turmoil (1.1 words, requesting monthly votes)

"Brother Gu, I'll go with you to wander the world as a ghostwriter from now on!"

As soon as Ye Jinglan returned to the Ye family, she found Gu Mo and said something that left Gu Mo completely bewildered.

"Brother Ye, are you feeling discouraged?" Gu Mo asked.

Ye Jinglan sighed and said, "Although I had suspected it for a long time, when I actually learned the truth, my heart sank. From childhood to adulthood, the idea I was taught was that no matter whether you are a good person or a bad person, the bottom line is to be loyal to the emperor and the country!"

Ye Jinglan poured a cup of tea, pointed to the ceiling, and said, "Although I was very arrogant when I was traveling the martial world, believing that there was no place I couldn't go and no person I couldn't suppress, and always looked down on the government and the imperial court, no matter how arrogant I was, I always considered the one on the dragon throne to be sacred, the true Son of Heaven!"

Although he did many things poorly, everyone believed it was because he was misled by treacherous people and too far away to see the truth, which led him to make wrong decisions. Later, after entering the court and becoming an official, and being received by him, he became even more convinced of this idea.

But now you're telling me about an underground ghost town, right beneath the capital, right under his nose? How could he not know about the countless families destroyed and innocent souls lost because of its actions? I always thought it was unmanageable, but it turns out it wasn't unmanageable, it's that no one dared to handle it!

Gu Mo said in a deep voice, "Have you found out?"

Ye Jinglan nodded and said, "During the time you were in seclusion, Su Ziyou and I thoroughly investigated the Sihai Chamber of Commerce and found out that it was actually the royal treasury's front man, while the Sihai Chamber of Commerce was controlling Ghost City behind the scenes, acting as the black man."

Many people have a misconception that the money in the national treasury is the emperor's money. In reality, that's not the case. The emperor cannot arbitrarily touch the money in the national treasury. The national treasury is managed by the Ministry of Revenue. The emperor also receives a salary. However, the royal family's expenses are enormous. The little money squeezed out from the national treasury is definitely not enough. Therefore, there is a special treasury to earn money for the royal family.

Even the royal family gets short of money. In this situation, it's normal for the royal family to try to make more money. So, it's also normal for the royal family to take control of Ghost City, which is the largest black market hub in the entire Tianzhou.

Gu Mo asked, "Were you suppressed?"

Ye Jinglan shook his head and said, "The person we arrested has already 'committed suicide' in prison, so it's difficult to continue the investigation. Then, they gave me two choices: promotion or demotion. I chose the third option: I'm not going to serve them anymore. I'll go and make my own way in the underworld from now on!"

Ye Jinglan then recounted the details.

After listening, Gu Mo was somewhat moved. He had thought that the other side would directly use their power to intimidate him and forcibly stop Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou, but it turned out that they were using underhanded means to disrupt their plans and then trying to bribe them with high-ranking positions and generous salaries.

However, upon closer examination, this makes sense.

Those who bully others and offend people to the point of death are mentally ill. Even royalty cannot afford to offend so many people.

“Brother Gu, I’m sorry,” Ye Jinglan said. “I originally invited you to capture the human-faced monster, but instead of finding the monster, I inexplicably led you on a long detour to Ghost City.”

Gu Mo chuckled and said, "Brother Ye, you're being too polite. I made quite a bit of money during my trip to Ghost City, over ten thousand taels of silver! But seriously, what are your plans after this?"

Ye Jinglan said, "Let's take it one step at a time. The process of resigning from office is quite complicated. I'm not alone and without any ties, so I can't just run away. It'll probably be more than a month before the handover is completed here. Once I leave, my old brothers who brought me here will definitely have to leave too. When that happens, I'll go back to Qingzhou, settle them down, and then I'll wander the world. I'll come find you then and follow you!"

Gu Mo chuckled and said, "No problem, plenty of food and drink, you come and help me fight."

Ye Jinglan said seriously, "Brother Gu, I'm not joking. To be honest, although I was constantly ambushed in Ghost City and it made me look a bit disheveled, it was really the most enjoyable fight I've ever had. Even though I was basically fighting people, the feeling of being able to attack without restraint with you protecting me was just amazing."

"I've got it all figured out! How about we form a ghostwriting team? Chu Dong can be the one collecting the money, and the two of us will be in charge of the actual fighting. I'll be the one attacking, and you can be the one covering our tracks. With us working together, every wanted criminal in the world will be a piece of cake!"

Just then, a servant from the Ye family came to announce that Su Ziyou, the Chief Censor of the Kyoto Prefecture, had arrived.

Ye Jinglan, who was excitedly planning to form a partnership with Gu Mo, had to suppress her excitement and go out to greet him.

After a while

Ye Jinglan led Su Ziyou in, his expression excited, and said, "Brother Gu, Brother Su is also interested in joining our number one ghostwriter team in the world. Tsk tsk tsk, I'll take the lead in attacking and you'll cover the back, while Brother Su will be in charge of finding people. This teamwork is simply perfect!"

Su Ziyou entered the room and bowed to Gu Mo and Gu Chudong.

Gu Mo and Gu Chudong returned the greeting. Gu Mo asked in confusion, "What's going on with Chief Justice Su?"

Su Ziyou sat down and said, "Like Brother Ye, I have a lot of pent-up anger that I can't let go of, so I decided to resign from my official post. However, I don't know any martial arts, and I don't know where to go for the time being. I just heard Brother Ye say that he wants to form a ghostwriting team. I thought I would also join in and make a living because I know some criminal investigation methods!"

Gu Mo smiled and said, "I believe Brother Ye when he says he wants to roam the martial world, but I don't believe you, Chief Inspector Su. Brother Ye is a martial artist by nature, and he has no family. He can indeed roam the martial world if he only has himself to eat. But Chief Inspector Su, it's different. As far as I know, you have a virtuous wife and children. How can you roam the martial world?"

Su Ziyou smiled helplessly and said, "As Master Gu said, I have too many ties and cannot be carefree. However, I do have a pent-up anger in my heart with nowhere to release it. Therefore, it is true that I am resigning from my post. I plan to take my wife and children back to my hometown after I have handed over my affairs. I have some land and wealth in my hometown, which is enough to support my family. I am thinking of going back to farm and live a carefree life!"

Ye Jinglan said with considerable disappointment, "Oh, I really thought you were going to roam the world with us!"

Gu Mo smiled and said, "Brother Ye, whether you can roam the martial world or not is another matter. When you left Qingzhou, you brought the old brothers of the Heavenly Blade Sect to the capital. You could say that although you gave up the martial world, you led them onto another broad road. But now you're taking them back to Qingzhou and to the Martial Alliance? Can they still integrate? It's not that Alliance Leader Chu Tianqing doesn't accept them, but can they adapt on their own? So, if you go to roam the martial world, can you really be without any ties? Can you really settle them down properly?"

"This……"

Ye Jinglan didn't know what to say for a moment. After pondering for a while, he said, "Forget it, let's talk about it later. If it really doesn't work, we'll just take them back to the martial world. As long as I, Ye Jinglan, am alive, I can make a name for myself anywhere!"

Gu Mo smiled and said, "I believe that."

……

Ye Jinglan's resignation meant that the investigation into the human-faced monster was put on hold. Gu Mo did not intend to stay in the capital any longer. The next day, he took Gu Chudong to the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion outside the city, intending to obtain an imperial edict from Zhang Daoyi to go to Longhu Mountain in Luzhou.

Ye Jinglan did not try to persuade him to stay, because he was about to resign and would be very busy. If Gu Mo stayed in the capital, he would not be able to provide adequate hospitality.

However, before leaving the city,
Gu Mo first took Gu Chudong to the Chengyang Princess's residence.

Upon learning that Gu Chudong was leaving, Li Li was extremely anxious and refused to agree to it no matter what. Only after much persuasion and when Gu Chudong promised to come to the capital to visit her next year did Li Li let Gu Chudong go, her eyes red with tears.

When we arrived at Wuwei Mountain again,
Gu Mo felt a pang of emotion.

My first stop in Beijing was Wuwei Mountain, where I stayed for several days. Now that I'm leaving, Wuwei Mountain is my last stop.

Although his time in the capital was short, he had a rich experience. He gained a lot from discussing Taoism with Zhang Daoyi. Afterwards, he killed the infatuated Shang Wujiu and then went to Ghost City, where he killed four major wanted criminals.

but,

The biggest achievement, of course, was the successful creation of the Wuji Guiyuan Qi.

The brother and sister rode their horses up the mountain and soon arrived at the gate of the Imperial Preceptor's residence.

The one who came out to greet them was still Zhang Daoyi's young apprentice, Huaisu, a Daoist boy who, despite being over fifty years old, looked like a seven or eight-year-old child—both young and old.

The young Taoist priest Huaisu led Gu Mo and Gu Chudong into the back courtyard of the Imperial Preceptor's residence, saying as they walked, "Master went to the Imperial Observatory last night and is catching up on sleep now. If you're not busy, you can wait for Master to wake up naturally. If you are, you can open up the roast chicken you brought. As soon as the aroma wafts out, I guarantee Master will wake up very quickly!"

Gu Mo and Gu Chudong had stayed at the Imperial Preceptor's residence for a while and knew that Zhang Daoyi had a special fondness for chicken. When they left, Zhang Daoyi specifically told them to remember to bring him roast chicken when they came back.

Therefore, when leaving the city,
Gu Mo went out and bought two roast chickens.

The roast chicken in the capital was delicious, but it was also quite expensive; one chicken cost the equivalent of ten in Yunzhou. Gu Chudong's heart bled as Gu Mo paid.

really,

As the young Taoist Huaisu said,
After Gu Mo placed the roast chicken wrapped in lotus leaves on the table in the courtyard and opened it, Zhang Daoyi suddenly appeared in the courtyard like a ghost, his big, fat feet bare. He wiped his mouth and said with a grin, "I knew you two siblings weren't the stingy type. You would definitely bring me roast chicken when you came...wait, where's the chicken leg?"

Zhang Daoyi looked at the roast chicken missing its two legs, raised his head blankly, and then fixed his gaze on Gu Chudong.

Gu Chudong looked around and whistled, avoiding eye contact with Zhang Daoyi.

"Fine, since there's still one left, I'll..."

Zhang Daoyi's words came to an abrupt halt, because when he opened the second lotus leaf, he discovered that the two chicken legs of the second chicken were also missing.

"unacceptable!"

Zhang Daoyi's face turned fierce as he tore off a piece of chicken and took a big bite, saying, "You probably won't be able to leave for the time being!"

Gu Mo asked in confusion, "Why?"

Zhang Daoyi asked, "What is your purpose in coming to the capital?"

"We need to capture the human-faced monster," Gu Mo said, "but we can't investigate it now."

"You mean Ye Jinglan's resignation?" Zhang Daoyi smiled and said, "Last night I went to the Imperial Observatory and then saw the Emperor. I saw two imperial edicts, one for each of the two officials. One edict promoted Ye Jinglan to the rank of Lieutenant General of the Imperial City Guard, raising him from a fifth-rank official to a fourth-rank official. The other edict transferred Su Ziyou to the position of Commandant of the Imperial City Guard, maintaining his rank but giving him far more power than a mere judicial officer."

Gu Mo asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Daoyi said, "The Imperial City Guard is the emperor's personal army, responsible for the security of the capital, the palace guards, ceremonial processions, and secret intelligence surveillance, and is directly under the emperor. Don't you understand? The emperor has taken a liking to Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou!"

Gu Mo said, "But Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou may not be interested in such a high-ranking official position and generous salary!"

Zhang Daoyi said, "These two are upright and will naturally not be tempted by high positions and generous salaries. But the problem is that they wronged the emperor. Under such circumstances, the emperor still values ​​them. Isn't it worth it for them to enter the Imperial City Guard to await imperial orders?"

"Injustice?" Gu Mo asked doubtfully, "Isn't the Emperor the person behind the ghost city?"

Zhang Daoyi said, "Everyone thought that the Imperial Treasury belonged to the Emperor, and the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, as a directly affiliated chamber of commerce of the Imperial Treasury, naturally belonged to the Emperor. Now that it has been found that the Ghost City is backed by the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, it is natural to assume that the Ghost City also belongs to the Emperor."

"Isn't that right?" Gu Mo asked.

"No."

Zhang Daoyi said, "His Majesty has only been on the throne for seven or eight years. Before that, he served as the Crown Prince for nearly twenty years. The late Emperor was a man of great talent and ambition. He made good use of people from humble backgrounds and commoners, and he also used the power of our Daoist sect to suppress powerful families and clans, which successfully made our Qian Kingdom a powerful nation in the world."

Before such a monarch, the current emperor, though he was the crown prince back then, actually had no real power. To some extent, the establishment of the crown prince was merely to appease the court officials. At that time, the late emperor was strong and healthy, with immense inner strength, even slightly surpassing mine. He had at least another twenty years of robust health ahead of him, so naturally, he could not allow the crown prince to wield power.

The former crown prince, now His Majesty, was well aware of his situation, so he lived a very leisurely life, reading books and tending to flowers, essentially holding the title of crown prince in name only. However, who could have imagined that the late emperor would suffer a qi deviation due to his eagerness for quick success in cultivation eleven years ago, an injury that even my Great Formless Tribulation Technique could not undo?

From then on, the late emperor fell seriously ill and passed away after only three years. This led to a huge problem: the late emperor had not groomed a crown prince, who was weak, lacked support, and had no faction in court. The late emperor's collapse caught the crown prince completely off guard. His ascension to the throne was entirely due to the protection of our Daoist sect; how could he possibly have had time to manipulate the Ghost City?

Gu Mo frowned and asked in surprise, "No, according to you, when His Majesty ascended the throne, he did not have much power. In fact, he even encountered resistance when he ascended the throne. So who holds the power in the court now?"

"Queen Mother."

Zhang Daoyi said, "Eleven years ago, the late emperor suddenly fell ill due to a qi deviation. Not only did he fall ill, but he was also mentally unclear for a long time. As a last resort, the ministers had to let the crown prince oversee the country. But at that time, none of us expected that the current empress dowager, then Empress Yan, would secretly contact the powerful families that the late emperor had suppressed."

His Majesty suddenly fell ill, and the Crown Prince, having never held power before and lacking experience and a loyal following, was quickly suppressed by the Empress, eventually leading to the farcical situation of him ruling from behind a screen.

At this point, Zhang Daoyi suddenly laughed and said, "Do you know why our Emperor approved of me breaking Prince Ji's leg? He's his own son."

"Why?" Gu Mo asked.

Zhang Daoyi chuckled and said, "Back then, Empress Yan devised a plan to lure me out of the capital, which was the time I was beaten by Su Qianqiu. I don't know what method she used to persuade Su Qianqiu, but unfortunately, although I was beaten, Su Qianqiu didn't dare to kill me."

Upon returning to the capital, I learned that Empress Yan had already begun ruling from behind the curtain, and her power was irreversible. The Crown Prince was powerless and had no powerful backers. Everyone thought the matter was settled. But I, in the Daming Palace, pointed at Empress Yan and berated her, then proceeded to beat all the ministers who had sided with her, knocking them all to the ground, forcing Empress Yan to abandon her regency!

Gu Mo said in shock, "One person alone, forced them to retreat? Back when Empress Yan was in power, the Imperial Guards should have been able to be commanded, right? What if they directly accused you of treason? You might not care, you could definitely leave, but what about Longhu Mountain? Don't you want to think about that?"

Zhang Daoyi said, "Do you think His Majesty... that was the Crown Prince at the time, really had no backbone? He couldn't beat Empress Yan, but he understood the principle that a common man's anger can lead to bloodshed. I stood up for him so much, how could he back down? He directly drew his sword and blocked the door. What could the Imperial Guards do? At that time, although the late Emperor was seriously ill, he hadn't passed away yet. Empress Yan didn't dare to really make things out of control in the Daming Palace. After all, she hadn't reached the point of having absolute power."

Gu Mo's impression of the emperor had changed somewhat.

His first encounter with the emperor was through Bai Chaoxian, the Marquis of Guangyang in Yunzhou, who was also Yan San Niang's father and a victim of the current emperor's compromise with powerful clans.

Although Gu Mo didn't like Bai Chaoxian, he didn't deny Bai Chaoxian's contributions to the Qian Kingdom. Therefore, Bai Chaoxian's final fate left Gu Mo with a very bad impression of the current emperor.

Afterwards, the ghost town incident occurred, and the mastermind behind it all pointed directly to the emperor, which made Gu Mo's impression of him even worse.

Zhang Daoyi continued, "It was also during that court struggle that Empress Yan was forced to concede, which finally gave the Crown Prince a chance to counterattack. He began to win over court officials and build his own faction. And he was lucky; the late emperor gradually began to wake up and helped the Crown Prince a lot, and Empress Yan's faction began to be suppressed."

Unfortunately, the late emperor's lucidity was short-lived, and he passed away soon after. The new emperor ascended the throne, and Empress Yan became Empress Dowager Yan, creating a power struggle between the empress dowager and the emperor in the court. Empress Dowager Yan had the support of powerful aristocratic families, and her clan was the leading family among the commoners promoted by the late emperor.

To put it simply, the imperial court was roughly divided into three main factions: the aristocratic families, the commoners, and the Taoists. The aristocratic families supported Empress Dowager Yan, while the Taoists supported the Emperor, maintaining a near balance. The crucial choice then fell to the commoners.

Originally, we all thought the commoner faction would unhesitatingly support the emperor, but to our surprise, the majority of the commoner faction chose to support Empress Dowager Yan. This is because we overlooked a crucial point: initially, the commoner faction consisted of ordinary people promoted by the late emperor, but after achieving success, they transformed from commoners into powerful families, gaining control of advancement channels and upper-class resources, essentially becoming like aristocratic clans.

The defection of the commoners faction put the emperor at a disadvantage in the power struggle with the empress dowager, ultimately forcing him to relinquish control of the Imperial Treasury in exchange for complete control of the Imperial City Guard. Therefore, while the Imperial Treasury was nominally the emperor's private treasury, it was effectively in the hands of the empress dowager. You might not believe it, but our Emperor was so poor that he owed the empress a huge sum of money, and he even seemed somewhat powerless in her presence.

Gu Mo said in a deep voice, "I have heard that after His Majesty ascended the throne, in order to appease the powerful clans, he sacrificed a group of commoners who had been promoted by the late emperor. When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked!"

Zhang Daoyi chuckled and said, "It was Empress Dowager Yan, or rather the Yan family, who sacrificed the commoner faction. The Yan family was the leader of the commoner faction, and it was precisely because of this status that they were able to win over the commoner faction to support them. However, there is actually an irreconcilable conflict between the commoner faction and the aristocratic families, because in order to suppress the aristocratic families, the late emperor promoted a large number of poor and commoner students. These people were the knives in the late emperor's hands."

Comparatively speaking, Empress Dowager Yan needed the powerful clans to help her restrain the Emperor, so she ultimately chose to abandon the commoner factions. Meanwhile, the Emperor, betrayed by the commoner factions, was determined to eliminate them. Therefore, not long after his ascension to the throne, the commoner factions were jointly suppressed by Empress Dowager Yan and the Emperor!

Gu Mo laughed and said, "So, in the end, after going around in circles, it has returned to the way it was during the reign of the late emperor, with the emperor leading the Taoist sect against the powerful clans. All those years of wasted effort have been for nothing."

“It’s not entirely a waste of time,” Zhang Daoyi said. “The aristocratic families have been weakened, but it’s a pity that the commoner faction that the late emperor worked so hard to promote has almost vanished. There are quite a few people among them who are truly a pity, such as Bai Chaoxian, who is still somewhat related to you.”

Gu Mo asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Daoyi said, "I trust Empress Dowager Yan too much. She was promoted by the late emperor in her early years. At that time, Empress Dowager Yan and the late emperor were deeply in love and faced the suppression of powerful families together. Empress Dowager Yan was also a remarkable woman who was no less capable than men. She won people's hearts and comforted the soldiers for the late emperor. Therefore, in Bai Chaoxian's eyes, Empress Dowager Yan has always been Empress Yan."

So even after being betrayed by Empress Dowager Yan, he still wouldn't believe it. I tried to persuade him, but he firmly believed that His Majesty was compromising with the powerful clans and sacrificing the commoner faction. In the end, I had no choice but to severely injure him, and His Majesty subsequently purged him. Alas, the Bai family, the true victims.

Gu Mo sighed and said, "Everyone says that the late emperor was a man of great talent and ambition, but how will history record it? Will it be about short-sightedness or overwhelming power?"

Zhang Daoyi said, "Is it because you are too eager for quick success? The ideal state for the late emperor was a tripartite balance of power between aristocratic families, commoner factions, and Taoist forces, with the imperial power mediating and suppressing them in the middle. This would ensure that ordinary people have avenues for advancement and that the country would be stable."

But this matter was only half-finished when the late emperor went mad. Then, Empress Dowager Yan appeared, making everything almost futile. Frankly, even now, I still suspect that there was something very wrong with the late emperor's madness.

"You suspect Empress Dowager Yan?" Gu Mo asked.

“Yes,” Zhang Daoyi said, “It’s too coincidental. As soon as the late emperor went mad, Empress Dowager Yan immediately became entangled with powerful clans. I don’t believe it was premeditated.”

Gu Mo wasn't very interested in the internal affairs of the royal family, so he changed the subject and said, "So, Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou misunderstood and thought that the Emperor was behind the Ghost City, but it was actually the Empress Dowager?"

Zhang Dao nodded and said, "The ghost city has existed for hundreds of years, but it didn't happen overnight. It has evolved over hundreds of years to reach its current size. Especially in the last fifty or sixty years, as the court has been recuperating and the capital has gradually become prosperous, the ghost city has grown larger and larger, and that's when it started to get out of control."

Initially, the imperial court felt that it was better to guide than to block, because there was really no way to directly prevent the ghost city from appearing. However, later on, various powerful families and martial arts forces gradually set their sights on the ghost city, and it began to get out of control.

Approximately forty years ago, Emperor Qiande summoned the heads of various powerful clans to discuss joint governance of Ghost City. From then on, Ghost City entered an era of dark order. However, more than twenty years ago, the previous emperor, Emperor Lie, ascended the throne and broke ties with the powerful clans. Ghost City completely spiraled out of control, becoming a trump card for the powerful clans to use against imperial power. The previous emperor even considered sending a large army to cleanse it, but considering the costs and risks, he ultimately had to abandon the idea. Since then, Ghost City has never been officially administered by the imperial family.

Gu Mo nodded and said, "I see. So the current situation is that His Majesty wants to use Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou to investigate the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce in order to regain control of the Imperial Treasury!"

Zhang Daoyi spat out a chicken bone and said, "In the past few years, the emperor and the empress dowager have fought many times over the control of the inner treasury. After all, he was on the side of righteousness and gradually suppressed the empress dowager in recent years, gaining the upper hand. Several times he almost took back the control of the inner treasury."

But ultimately, failure occurred either because the people in charge were incompetent and messed up at the last minute, or because they were bribed and betrayed at the last minute. Therefore, Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou were very much to his liking this time.

Gu Mo continued, "Even if what you say is true, it only means that Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou will investigate the Sihai Chamber of Commerce and participate in the power struggle within the Imperial Treasury. What would I do if I stayed? I am a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world), and I have no interest in participating in the power struggles within the royal family."

Zhang Daoyi chuckled and said, "But you're interested in the human-faced monster, aren't you? The human-faced monster is controlled by the Four Seas Merchant Guild."

"Hmm?" Gu Mo asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Zhang Daoyi said, "Master Gu, let me tell you the truth. In this capital city, there are all kinds of spies and secret agents, and countless talented people. How can there be so many unsolved cases? Ninety-nine percent of unsolved cases are actually the result of power struggles, which force them to remain unsolved cases."

When did the human-faced monsters first appear? It was thirteen years ago, when Empress Dowager Yan, who was then the late Emperor, gained the trust of the Emperor and was given control of the Imperial Treasury. The Four Seas Chamber of Commerce also emerged around that time. At that time, the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce was not a directly affiliated chamber of commerce of the Imperial Treasury, but rather Empress Dowager Yan's personal chamber of commerce, and it developed very rapidly.

There were two reasons for its rapid development. First, it had the protection of the Imperial Treasury, which allowed it to secure a lot of monopolistic business. Second, a human-faced monster appeared in the capital, killing people indiscriminately, and coincidentally, it killed many of the wealthy merchants who were rivals of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce.

When the late emperor returned from his campaign, he ordered an investigation into the human-faced monster. However, not long after, he suffered a qi deviation, and the matter was dropped. In recent years, the human-faced monster has frequently wreaked havoc, seemingly killing without any pattern. But if one were to truly investigate, it wouldn't be difficult to discover that almost every time it appeared in the mortal realm, among those killed, were imperial merchants.

Gu Mo said, "So, it's all to curb the Emperor's financial power?"

“That’s right,” Zhang Daoyi said. “Because the Empress Dowager controls the Imperial Treasury, the Emperor is constrained in every way. So he selects suitable people outside to make money for him, but once they are discovered, they will inevitably be attacked by human-faced monsters.”

"Can't kill him?" Gu Mo asked.

Zhang Daoyi said, "There are two major intelligence networks in the capital: the Imperial City Guard and the Night Guard. The Imperial City Guard is now in the hands of the Emperor, and the Night Guard is in the hands of the Empress Dowager. The two organizations are watching each other closely. Any slight movement from either of them will be immediately detected by the other. Since they are both royal intelligence organizations, they are essentially taught by the same master, so there is no way to break their strategies."

Then it's up to me. But even the Imperial Observatory is a sieve; there are many of the Empress Dowager's people, which is why I don't want to stay there. I've only intervened three times. The first time, I was escaped by the human-faced monster. The second time, I encountered the mirror polisher; that guy, whose gender I couldn't tell, ruined my plans. The third time, I encountered the boatman, and my plans were disrupted again.

"Oh!" Gu Chudong exclaimed in surprise, "Rumor has it that the most mysterious leader of the Night Tribe, the Boatman, was caught by the human-faced monster, but actually the Boatman was the one who stopped you!"

Zhang Dao nodded and said, "That's right. There's no chance now. The Imperial Observatory has been completely infiltrated. Once they detect the whereabouts of the human-faced monster, they'll arrange for it to escape before I even set off. But right now, with only a few people in our National Preceptor's Mansion, we don't have the ability to detect the whereabouts of the human-faced monster."

"Can Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou do it?" Gu Chudong asked.

Zhang Daoyi said, "It's very possible, because the Emperor and Empress Dowager have already made their moves public. In the past two years, the outcome of their struggle has begun to emerge, with the Empress Dowager already at a disadvantage. This time, taking advantage of Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou's discovery that Ghost City Cloud Peak Sandalwood is related to the Four Seas Merchant Guild, the Emperor intends to seize the opportunity to openly contend for control of the Imperial Treasury. Once the Four Seas Merchant Guild is shut down, the Human-Faced Demon Beast will naturally have nowhere to hide. So, you can wait and see; the outcome should be clear soon!"

……

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.

Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou are meeting with Emperor Qian.

Emperor Qianlong was already in his fifties, but whether it was due to good health maintenance or the practice of health-preserving martial arts, he looked no more than forty years old.

In this study, Emperor Qian did not put on any airs. Instead, he sat at the same table with Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou in a very peaceful manner and even poured tea for them personally.

"My two ministers, this is the situation!"

Emperor Qian poured tea for the two men, then poured himself a cup, and continued, "I know that you two are upright and loyal men, so I specially invited you to the palace to explain to me in person that the Four Seas Merchant Guild is not mine, nor is Ghost City under my control. Please do not let me suffer an unjust accusation!"

Emperor Qianlong even cracked a joke, which was quite humorous.

However, Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou were both in a very awkward situation.

Because the two of them were convinced that the big boss of the ghost city was Emperor Qian.

Seeing that Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou both looked embarrassed, Emperor Qian felt inexplicably pleased and raised his hand to indicate, "My two beloved ministers, have some tea! This tea is specially supplied; you can't get it anywhere else!"

Ye Jinglan came from a martial arts background and had a strong martial arts spirit. Although he had been an official for a while, his personality was still the same as when he was in the martial arts world. He didn't have much patience and directly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please get straight to the point. You've been explaining and promoting us both. You must have some instructions. Please tell me first so that I can feel at ease!"

Emperor Qianlong took a sip of tea and said, "I want to reclaim control of the Imperial Treasury."

Neither Ye Jinglan nor Su Ziyou showed any particular reaction.

Having just learned from Emperor Qianlong about his rivalry with the Empress Dowager, they knew that Emperor Qianlong was determined to regain control of the Imperial Treasury.

Emperor Qian continued, “In recent years, I have launched five attacks in order to regain control of the Imperial Treasury. However, on two occasions, my men failed at the last minute. On the other three occasions, the people in charge betrayed me, making it very difficult for me to regain control of the Imperial Treasury through internal political means.”

Therefore, after nearly two years of preparation, I have finally brought this four-nation trade agreement to fruition. Now, delegations from the Southern Jin, Northern Zhou, and Yue kingdoms have entered the capital. I have arranged for several merchant caravans to engage with them. These caravans will become the future imperial merchants, serving as my treasury. If this four-nation cooperation succeeds, I will no longer be financially dependent on the Empress Dowager, and I will truly begin my full-scale counterattack, reclaiming the power that rightfully belongs to me.”

Su Ziyou asked, "What does Your Majesty need me and Lord Ye to do?"

"Investigate," Emperor Qian said. "My actions this time are already out in the open. The Empress Dowager cannot remain indifferent and allow me to successfully establish a new Imperial Treasury. She will definitely sabotage it in secret. But so far, I have not noticed anything unusual. I don't know what she has done in secret, but I am certain that the Empress Dowager is plotting something. Therefore, I need my two ministers to find out what the Empress Dowager is planning behind the scenes. We only have seven days!"

"So urgent?" Ye Jinglan was shocked.

Emperor Qian said, "The sixteenth of this month is Princess Chengyang's birthday. I will take this opportunity to invite the delegations of the three countries to the palace for a banquet in order to sign a trade agreement between the four countries. Once the agreement is signed, the matter will be settled. Therefore, the Empress Dowager will definitely try to sabotage the trade agreement between the four countries within these seven days."

At this point, Emperor Qian took a deep breath and said, "I have been worried all this time, but I have not been able to find any clues. Time has already passed. Now, it has been seven days, or even less than seven days. So, my two ministers, your task is very difficult!"

Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Emperor Qian continued, "The main duty of the Imperial City Guard is to maintain order in the capital. Compared to the Ministry of Justice and the Kyoto Prefecture where you two previously served, the Imperial City Guard is more suitable for this task. I can guarantee that everyone in the Imperial City Guard will fully cooperate with you!"

As he spoke, Emperor Qian looked at Su Ziyou and said, "Minister Su, I have been watching you for a long time. Your ability to investigate cases is unmatched in the entire capital. You are absolutely capable of handling things properly. Your only weakness is that you don't know martial arts, and in that respect..."

Emperor Qian looked at Ye Jinglan again and said, "Minister Ye is just the right person to make up for your shortcomings. He is a master of martial arts, and you are meticulous. The two of you are a perfect match made in heaven."

As he spoke, Emperor Qian stood up, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the two men, and said, "Whether I succeed or not is in your hands!"

Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou dared not accept the Emperor's courtesy, and quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "We will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

……

After leaving the palace,

Su Ziyou and Ye Jinglan were both dizzy. A gentle breeze blew by, and their minds cleared up considerably. They then looked at each other and gave each other a helpless, bitter smile.

Su Ziyou sighed, "Brother Ye, we've been tricked by His Majesty into taking on such a thankless task!"

Ye Jinglan gave a wry smile and said, "But it's alright, at least it's helped me get rid of that feeling of resentment."

Su Ziyou nodded and said, "That's true. I've calmed down now. Danger is danger, whirlpool is whirlpool, I'm willing to accept it."

Ye Jinglan said, "From now on, we'll have to work together."

“No,” Su Ziyou laughed, “you are my superior, you are the Lieutenant General, and I am the Captain, your adjutant.”

Ye Jinglan waved his hand and said, "His Majesty wants me to be your bodyguard. I'll be the chief officer, so whatever open or hidden attacks come my way, I'll take them on to protect you, the civil official. However, I'm not good at investigating cases, so you'll have to take the lead in this matter. I suppose you agreed so readily, you must have some ideas, right?"

Su Ziyou nodded slightly and said, "There are two directions. First, since we want to investigate the Empress Dowager's conspiracy, we should start with Yunlu Sandalwood. The fact that the Empress Dowager did not sabotage the trade between the four countries from the beginning shows that she was happy to see it happen. She probably wanted to reap the benefits and let His Majesty work for nothing. In the end, the trade between the four countries fell into the hands of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce."

Secondly, I feel that His Majesty's five attempts to reclaim control of the Imperial Treasury, failing twice and being directly betrayed three times, are highly unusual. Failures and betrayals are understandable, but the fact that those in charge betrayed him three times is definitely problematic.

……

The Imperial City, Xingqing Palace.

Empress Dowager Yan was sitting in front of her dressing mirror, with two maids helping her remove her makeup. Her wide sleeves were embroidered with dark gold lotus patterns, exuding elegance and nobility.

Although Empress Dowager Yan was called Empress Dowager, she was actually only a few years older than the current emperor, just over fifty. This was because she was neither the late emperor's first wife nor the current emperor's biological mother.

The current emperor was born when the previous emperor was the crown prince. His birth mother passed away when he was a teenager, and the previous emperor then married his second crown princess, who is now Empress Dowager Yan.

Beside Empress Dowager Yan was an old eunuch, bowing and reporting.

"Ye Jinglan and Su Ziyou, these two have refused my offer and joined the Emperor's side!" Empress Dowager Yan slowly turned around, looked at the old eunuch, and said, "Eunuch Wei, if I were to ask you to kill Ye Jinglan, how confident are you?"

Eunuch Wei said in a low voice, "If we were in the capital, this old servant would be 90% confident in killing Ye Jinglan. However, outside the capital, I am 70% confident in defeating Ye Jinglan, but less than 20% confident in killing him. This old servant does not recommend that Your Majesty take this step. If something goes wrong, it could easily give you a handle to use against you."

Those two in the Imperial City Guard are not to be underestimated, and the Grand Preceptor is also keeping a close eye on us. Moreover, there's a great hero from Yunzhou in the Grand Preceptor's residence who is a good friend of Ye Jinglan, and Ye Jinglan might call him in for help at any time.

"Isn't Gu Mo leaving?" Empress Dowager Yan asked.

Eunuch Wei said, "It would be fine if he left directly, but since he went to the Grand Preceptor's residence first, the Grand Preceptor will definitely keep him here."

Empress Dowager Yan thought for a moment and said, "It's just that we'll have Ye Jinglan and Gu Mo together. How about this, Gu Mo said he wanted to capture the human-faced monster, right? Then we can lure him and Ye Jinglan to Ghost City to be food for the human-faced monster!"

At this point, Empress Dowager Yan looked up at Eunuch Wei and said, "The entire Ghost City, plus a human-faced monster, could kill Gu Mo and Ye Jinglan, right?"

Eunuch Wei said in a deep voice, "I'm afraid they're determined to escape. With Gu Mo's defensive capabilities and Ye Jinglan's offensive methods, it will be difficult to trap them if they're determined to escape. We can only try to delay them."

"Everyone has weaknesses," Empress Dowager Yan said.

Eunuch Wei said, "Ye Jinglan is not a threat. Once he escapes from Ghost City, he won't have much fighting power left. But Gu Mo's internal strength is incredibly profound, so his fighting power will probably not be weak after he escapes. However, the main objective below Ghost City is to delay, so waiting for him to come out won't make much difference. The overall situation is already decided!"

Empress Dowager Yan said coldly, "We cannot place our hopes on possibilities; we must be absolutely certain."

Eunuch Wei quickly said, "Gu Mo has a fatal weakness, which is his sister. If he really comes out of Ghost City before we settle the overall situation, we can use his sister as a hostage to threaten him, and then he will be no threat!"
The Ghost City is dangerous, and Gu Mo can't possibly take his sister, Gu Chudong, down with him. In that case, Gu Chudong will have to stay at the Imperial Preceptor's residence or attend banquets at the palace. For safety's sake, we can arrange for two experts with Grandmaster-level combat power to do only one thing: capture Gu Chudong. Once Gu Chudong is in our hands, Gu Mo will surrender without resistance!

Empress Dowager Yan nodded slightly and said, "Do as you say, but be careful not to go too far. Gu Mo... has the potential to become the next Su Qianqiu. Try not to offend him. Even if you do offend him, don't do it to the point of death unless absolutely necessary."

Then, Empress Dowager Yan turned around and looked at her face in the mirror. Although she was over fifty years old, the corners of her eyes and brows still retained the beauty of her past.

"Ha, the emperor!"

(End of this chapter)