In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Yuwen Qin recalled for a moment.

He held up three fingers: "They will only make it if three conditions are met."

First, ten thousand taels of cash.

Secondly, they will have the buyer kill someone.

Third, they would ask the buyer to help promote someone's official rank.

Upon hearing this!

Shen An realized that neither the Shenji Sect nor the Shenlong Society were good people; they both wanted to infiltrate the imperial court.

Even the Divine Machine Sect can make human skin masks, and under certain circumstances, even the Divine Dragon Society has to obey them.

This also made him realize that he still knew too little about this world.

He has only seen what is on the surface; he knows too little about the behind-the-scenes power struggles and forces at play.

"My lord, I need to add something!"

Zhang Chi stood up and said, "The conditions that Shenjimen offered us at the time were indeed 10,000 taels of cash for killing one person, in exchange for a promotion."

However, the other party demanded that if they wanted to cooperate, they must reveal their true identity.

I think they treat people differently based on who they are.

The amount of money may be fixed, but the two things that follow will differ for everyone.

Shen An agreed with Zhang Chi's idea: "That should be the case!"

"Damn it, doesn't this mean the Divine Mechanism Sect can make human skin masks and replace whoever they want?!" Wang Junfeng cursed, "What a bunch of despicable scoundrels!"

Zhang Chi shook his head and denied it, saying, "That's not the case at all. Each of the human skin masks they make requires the faces of a hundred young boys and girls, and each mask can only maintain its vitality for no more than three months."

Once more than three months have passed, it must be replaced with a new one.

There are many dead people in this world, but it's difficult to find hundreds of living boys and girls, kill them, and keep it a secret.

Therefore, they cannot simply replace anyone they wish to replace!

Yuwen Qin asked in surprise, "How do you know all this?"

"I secretly arrested a member of the Shenji Sect afterward and got the information out of him," Zhang Chi replied. "Unfortunately, that was all the man knew. Even after I beat him to death, he still didn't reveal the specifics of how it was made."

"You little rascal, you've got some nerve. Aren't you afraid of the Divine Mechanism Sect retaliating against you?" Yuwen Qin said, still feeling a bit scared.

"I can kill without leaving a trace, and no one will be able to find me," Zhang Chi said nonchalantly.

"What! A hundred faces of young boys and girls! These people are beasts!" Wang Junfeng roared. "Even though I fight on the battlefield, I would never kill innocent children!"

Shen An's face also darkened.

Although the effect of the human skin mask was not as good as he had expected, they dared to use the faces of young boys and girls as raw materials.

This is utterly depraved!

"If I have the chance, I will definitely eliminate this Divine Mechanism Sect!" Shen An's voice was filled with murderous intent.

"Me too!" Wang Junfeng patted his chest.

"We will definitely assist our lord in accomplishing this task!" Yuwen Qin and Zhang Chi also expressed their commitment.

"So, Master, you also contacted the Shenji Sect and had them make you a human skin mask?" Zhang Chi asked.

Shen An had always wanted the human skin mask, wanting to give himself and those around him an extra means of survival.

But the method of making it is utterly immoral.

It is absolutely impossible for him to use the faces of young boys and girls to make human skin masks.

Besides, the effect of that human skin mask is too short.

but!

He wouldn't make them kill young boys and girls just to get the human skin mask for himself.

However, he can steal the masks that Shenjimen already has!

Shen An snorted and asked, "Is that branch of the Shenji Sect still there?"

"They've moved, but we've worked with them before. They gave us a contact number, and after we contacted them, they sent someone to tell us the exact address," Yuwen Qin replied.

"Very good. After I deal with Yuwen Bingyu, you contact the Shenji Sect! I'll double-cross them!" Shen An said with a wicked smile.

"My lord," Yuwen Qin advised, "wouldn't that offend the Divine Mechanism Sect? They are deeply intertwined with the Divine Dragon Society and have connections with countless other forces within the Liang Dynasty. We must reconsider this matter!"

"Brother Yuwen, you're mistaken!" Zhang Chi poured himself a glass of wine and took a sip.

Hearing Zhang Chi address him by that name, Yuwen Qin was somewhat dazed.

But considering they were all now serving Shen An and were of equal status, he couldn't show his displeasure. He simply asked, "Where did we go wrong?"

"The warlords and feudal lords of this world are all rulers who have seized land. On the surface, they are subjects of the court, but in reality, they are all rebelling."

We were no exception before, and our lord is no exception now.

"Since we've already rebelled, why should we be afraid of those so-called江湖 (jianghu) organizations?" Zhang Chi said disdainfully, "If we're afraid of even such organizations, how can we talk about conquering the world?"

"Zhang Chi, aiming for the throne isn't about acting on a whim! All actions must be based on self-interest!" Yuwen Qin reminded him.

"Haha, there must be some benefit to be gained from this, otherwise why would our lord do it?" Zhang Chi asked.

Yuwen Qin was stunned.

Only then did he realize the gap between himself and Shen An and Zhang Chi.

They didn't do things out of loyalty or for personal gain; they were all doing things for profit, but he hadn't considered that.

"It was my oversight! I didn't even think of this," Yuwen Qin said, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone has their own expertise. What I need you to do for me is not to offer advice, but to be a wise minister and help me consolidate my territory!" Shen An patted Yuwen Qin on the shoulder. "This double-cross seems risky, but the potential rewards are also huge. They should have a lot of the human skin masks they made. Let's take them all."

Arresting some people might bring unexpected gains!

As for their retaliation?

There are many forces that want to kill me now, one more won't make a difference!

Zhang Chi and the others were not surprised at all. With Shen An's rise to power, there must be many people who wanted to kill him.

One more or one less won't make a difference.

After finishing the meal, Shen An called to Yuwen Qin, "I'm going to deal with Yuwen Bingyu. If you want to kill her, come with me!"

"My lord, if keeping her alive would be more beneficial to you, then it's fine not to kill her!" Yuwen Qin's attitude changed.

"What? You can't bear to do it anymore?"

"I hate this woman to the core, but after much deliberation, I've decided that now that I'm serving you, I should prioritize your interests."

Keeping this woman around will stabilize the situation in Nanling Prefecture; she can be used as a puppet.

"What you say makes some sense, but this woman must die!"

Shen An's attitude was firm.

Although Yuwen Qin's words made sense, Shen An also had a vague feeling that this woman had to die.

If she doesn't die, she'll definitely cause her a lot of trouble in the future!

Yuwen Qin already wanted to kill Yuwen Bingyu himself, and since Shen An's attitude was firm, he naturally wouldn't try to persuade him anymore.

into the night!

Shen An met Yuwen Bingyu.

At this moment, Yuwen Bingyu felt that she was now very useful to Shen An.

Your attitude isn't as humble as it used to be.

"Oh, Shen An has arrived. What brings you here tonight?" Yuwen Bingyu asked.

Before he could finish speaking, Yuwen Qin walked in.

Seeing that the two didn't seem like enemies at all, Yuwen Bingyu became dissatisfied: "Shen An, what do you mean by this? This person is our enemy, why are you still keeping him alive?"

"Yuwen Qin was framed and driven out of Nanling Prefecture by you back then. He started from scratch and became the military governor of a prefecture. He is very talented. I cherish talent, so I kept him," Shen An said with a smile.

Yuwen Bingyu was still dissatisfied: "No! If you want me to stabilize Nanling Prefecture for you, you must, you must, you must kill him!"

"Kill me? Haha!" Yuwen Qin threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Why are you laughing?" Yuwen Bing sneered. "Don't you know your current situation? Don't you know that Nanling Prefecture needs me to stabilize the situation?"

"I laugh at your stupidity! You overestimate your value. Even without you, my lord can maintain stability!" Yuwen Qin said.

"Bullshit! What makes him think he can stabilize the situation? Weren't we able to breach the city gates because of my influence in Nanling Prefecture? Otherwise, we'd still be struggling to figure out how to defeat you!!"

Yuwen Bingyu scoffed, "When will you stinking men ever see reality? When will you ever acknowledge the gap between us?"