The most dissolute couple in the capital

The dilapidated gate of the Taoist temple creaked in the cold wind.

Inside the hall, Chief Clerk Wang rubbed his hands together, glancing at "Master Qian," who was wrapped in a heavy fox fur coat, while his eyes kept glancing at the heavy wooden box.

"Master Qian, have you brought the three thousand taels of silver notes?"

"Master Qian" slowly lifted a corner of the wooden box, revealing a thick stack of large-denomination silver notes inside, but then snapped it shut before Clerk Wang could reach out.

"Clerk Wang, why haven't your goods arrived yet? I've brought all the money with me, don't try to fool me."

Registrar Wang smiled and said, "Master Qian, please don't be impatient. The road up the mountain is difficult to find; perhaps we were delayed on the way. Please wait a little longer."

Master Qian lowered his voice, adopting a greedy yet cautiously shrewd demeanor, "But this is a business that could cost you your head. Lord Wang, I'm just running errands for a few big bosses in Jiangnan. If you want this business to last, you and Doctor Zhang alone might not be able to cover the losses, right? Just what kind of powerful background does your head manager have? If you don't tell me the truth today, I dare not invest all three thousand taels."

Wang, the registrar, frowned and adopted an official air: "Master Qian, your appetite is far too great. How deep are the waters in the capital? How could a mere out-of-town merchant like you possibly know? The identity of my superior is so great that it would terrify you! Just take the money and pick up the goods, and I guarantee you'll make a fortune. Don't ask about anything else you shouldn't!"

"Oh? Is that so?" A barely perceptible sneer appeared on Master Qian's lips. Just as he was about to continue trying to get more information out of the Taoist temple, a deafening sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out from outside!

"kill--!"

"Leave no one alive! Chop them all up, take the money!"

The deafening shouts of battle, accompanied by the chaotic sound of footsteps, surrounded the dilapidated Taoist temple.

Clerk Wang trembled with fright and turned sharply to look out the window, only to see a group of fierce-looking bandits wielding large knives rushing into the courtyard.

"Bandits?!" Wang, the registrar, collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way. His voice was hoarse and shrill. "What's going on! How could there be bandits here?!"

Zhang, the physician standing nearby, was so frightened that he wet his pants and cowered under the offering table, trembling with fear.

At the critical moment, "Master Qian" calmly straightened his cuffs, his previous shrewdness vanished, and he looked down at the trembling Wang, the registrar, mockingly saying, "When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked. Registrar Wang, you've certainly made a very interesting deal. It seems your superior not only doesn't intend to deliver the goods, but also treats you, a pawn, as a disposable tool, planning to be 'robbed and killed' by the bandits!"

"No... impossible! How..." Wang Zhubu's mind went blank, and he screamed in despair. He finally realized that he had been silenced by his superiors!

Before the words were finished, the dilapidated gate of the Taoist temple was kicked open, and the leader of Black Wind Stronghold stepped in with a sinister grin, holding a bloodstained broadsword.

"Die, all of you!" the leader roared.

Just as the broadsword was about to strike—

"Whoosh—snap!"

A jet-black arrow pierced through the air, precisely striking the leader's wrist as he held the knife.

"Ah—!" The leader screamed in agony as his broadsword fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, in the darkness surrounding the Taoist temple, the sound of armor plates scraping together in perfect unison rang out, a chilling noise. Like an iron torrent, the Imperial Guards surged out from the dense forest from all directions, the sound of bows being drawn echoing in unison, the cold arrowheads gleaming with the light of death in the firelight.

"By order of the Prince of Yan, annihilate the Black Wind Stronghold bandits! Those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

They crumbled at the first blow!

The Black Wind Stronghold bandits, a disorganized rabble who only knew how to bully the weak and fear the strong, were like winter melons on a chopping board, easily sliced ​​and chopped down by the fully armed regular imperial guards of Da Ning. In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the outside fell silent, leaving only the wails of the bandits.

Under the firelight, Prince Li Zhao of Yan, dressed in a dark gold cloud-patterned outfit, stepped into the palace with a cold and stern expression, stepping over the bloodstains on the ground.

"Niece, you're moving way too slowly."

A lazy voice came from behind Li Zhao. There was Prince Liang, carrying a delicate hand warmer in his hand, slowly strolling in.

He avoided the bloodstains on the ground with disgust, muttering, "In this desolate wilderness, the wind is like a knife. It's amazing they could find such a place."

Li Zhao's cold lips twitched almost imperceptibly. She suppressed the urge to sigh and said in a deep voice, "Uncle, rest assured, my people are always efficient."

The bandit leader was terrified, his liver and gall bladder about to burst. He knelt on the ground with a thud, threw his broadsword far away, and frantically kowtowed, "Your Highness, spare our lives! Soldiers, spare our lives! We're just doing this for money!"

Li Zhao slowly walked up to him, looking down at him: "Oh? Paying to do things? Whose money?"

"It's...it's Manager He from Baicaotang in the east of the city! He's the one who brought the invitation from the bandit leader!" To save his life, the bandit leader spilled the beans. "He said there's a fat sheep with three thousand taels of silver in the Taoist temple today, and he wants us to double-cross him! After it's done, the silver notes will be his, and the rest will be ours."

Li Chengjing took the name card presented by the Imperial Guards, glanced at it, and sneered, "The evidence and witnesses are all there. Deputy General Zhao!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Tie up all these prisoners, including this terrified Registrar Wang! Take this bandit's confession and immediately muster the troops to come back to the city with me to capture that bastard!"

"Yes, sir!"

-

Two hours later, in the backyard of Baicaotang in the capital.

In the warm, spring-like study, fine yellow wine simmered on a small red clay stove. Manager He leaned comfortably back in his armchair, the pair of smooth, rounded walnuts in his hands making a rhythmic "click, click" sound.

He took a leisurely sip of wine, estimating the time.

As long as these mountain scoundrels kill everyone, they'll get the three thousand taels of silver, and Wang, the clerk who knew the truth, will also be dead. The case will then be just an ordinary bandit robbery and murder case, and no matter how hard they investigate, they won't be able to trace it back to him.

He was happily planning how to use this windfall to buy another two-courtyard house in the south of the city when a loud "boom" suddenly came from outside the courtyard, as if the earth was shaking.

"What's going on?!" Manager He sat up abruptly.

"It's terrible, boss! The soldiers are coming in!" The waiter scrambled in, his face completely pale.

Before Manager He could react, the study door was kicked open and smashed to pieces, and a cold wind mixed with a murderous aura rushed into the room.

Two rows of imperial guards, armed with open flames, filed in and quickly blocked all escape routes.

A burly Imperial Guard general strode forward, slamming a confession bearing a bloody handprint onto the table in front of Manager He. He shouted sternly, "Manager He, you colluded with the Black Wind Mountain bandits, intending to rob and kill at Luoyun Temple! Now the bandit leader and Chief Clerk Wang have implicated you, and we have your name card and physical evidence! Guards, seize you!"

The color drained from Manager He's face instantly, and the walnut in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud," rolling into the corner.

"This...this is impossible..." His face turned ashen, his legs went weak, and he collapsed like a rag doll in front of the armchair.