Chapter 133: The Director’s Fury
Just as Lu Yun and his sister went to view the Luo River under the moonlight, inside the Investigative Bureau just one li from Tianjin Bridge, there was a scene of chaos.
In the inner courtyard of the Investigative Bureau, torches lit up the sky, as all the officials, officials, and secret agents of the Investigative Bureau stood in orderly ranks without daring to breathe, heads bowed looking at the seven or eight corpses lying in the courtyard.
The firelight illuminated the faces of those corpses clearly, among them one old man was precisely Gao Guangning’s old servant…
Commander Huangfu, who had previously been ordered to protect Gao Guangning, and his subordinates, hung their heads dejectedly kneeling beside those corpses, each one trembling.
Director Lin of the Investigative Bureau, who had just made merit on Gao Guangning’s case and been restored to his position, paced back and forth irritably on the steps under the corridor with hands behind his back. But still unable to suppress his anger, he stopped and cursed at Commander Huangfu: “Stupid pig, stupid pig! No, you’re not even as good as a pig. If I raised a pig, at least at year’s end I could kill it for meat?! What can you bunch of wastes do besides getting me into trouble?!”
Commander Huangfu and the others kept their heads deeply lowered, letting him curse as he pleased. Because this time, they had indeed caused a huge mess. They had originally been ordered to protect Gao Guangning. But last night outside Liujia Village, they had been driven away by people sent by the Xiahou Clan.
Commander Huangfu had originally been full of anger and petulantly wanted to ignore Gao Guangning. But after walking more than ten li on the night road and being cooled by the autumn wind, his anger subsided. Calming down, he thought that his assignment was to safely escort Gao Guangning back home, regardless of what the Xiahou Clan did. Only by personally seeing Gao Guangning arrive home and confirming he was safe could he return to report.
Going back now wouldn’t that be asking for trouble? With this thought, Commander Huangfu broke out in cold sweat and hurriedly led his subordinates back to Liujia Village. Before reaching the village entrance, he saw firelight illuminating the sky in the village and voices rising everywhere, as if all the villagers had been startled awake.
Commander Huangfu’s heart leaped to his throat, and he rushed quickly into Gao Guangning’s residence, only to see the doorway surrounded inside and out by three layers of villagers, with rows of spectators even on the walls and rooftops…
“Make way, make way!” His subordinates hurriedly pushed aside the blocking villagers, clearing a path for the Commander.
Commander Huangfu, face dark, looked into the courtyard and immediately saw the corpses lying scattered all over the ground—they were precisely Gao Guangning’s followers!
Commander Huangfu’s vision went black, nearly fainting, and he hurriedly rushed into the room, searching frantically, but never saw Gao Guangning’s shadow.
In the end, it was Liujia Village’s village head who told him that he seemed to have seen a figure fleeing out of the village, with two people chasing closely behind, not knowing if they caught up…
Seeing that the direction indicated by the village head was precisely the way his group had come, Commander Huangfu’s vision went black again. He hadn’t seen a single person on the way back, which meant the escapee had either been killed or captured… He hurriedly returned along the original path, trying to find some clues, but even after searching until daylight, he still found nothing…
Helplessly, Commander Huangfu could only order people to bring those corpses back to the capital to report to Lin Chao. Rushing along the way, they finally returned to Luodu before the city gates closed.
.
Lin Chao had originally been in a very good mood. Previously under the Old Ancestor’s instructions, he had several times incited disaster victims to build momentum for the Emperor, and handed account books from an unknown sender to the Initial Emperor, ultimately making the Emperor turn defeat into victory and severely check the Xiahou Clan.
The Initial Emperor vented his anger and naturally rewarded merit. Zuo Yanqing had Lin Chao restored to his position. At the same time, he assigned him a task—to have people escort Gao Guangning back to his hometown. This assignment seemed extremely simple to Lin Chao. Gao Guangning had already been demoted from office to commoner, now just an ordinary commoner with no value—who would bother dealing with him?
However, Lin Chao still sent one of his most capable four commanders, Earth Rank Grandmaster Huangfu Qing, leading a group of elite subordinates to protect Gao Guangning along the way, lest he be torn apart alive by angry disaster victims.
In Director Lin’s view, with Grandmaster Huangfu Qing providing protection, Gao Guangning would naturally be safe. Who would have thought that not even a hundred li out, Gao Guangning’s servants were slaughtered clean, and he himself mysteriously disappeared…
Hearing Commander Huangfu’s report, Lin Chao nearly fainted from anger—how was he supposed to explain this to the Old Ancestor?!
However, Lin Chao knew the matter had blown up and involved the Xiahou Clan, no longer something he could decide. So he had Huangfu Qing and the others kneel in the courtyard, waiting for the Old Ancestor to come and deal with them.
In the midst of angrily cursing these useless fools, a report came from outside that the Old Ancestor had arrived. Lin Chao glared fiercely at Huangfu Qing, then hurriedly went out to greet him.
He had just reached the front yard when he saw Zuo Yanqing holding the Big Black Cat, slowly descending from the carriage. In the night, the black cat’s two glowing green eyes stared round, sending chills down people’s spines.
“Old Ancestor,” Lin Chao knelt in fear and pleaded guilty: “This subordinate deserves death ten thousand times, and has disappointed you again…”
“No need to rush with pleading guilty; first figure out exactly what happened.” Zuo Yanqing said expressionlessly: “Where are the people?”
“Kneeling inside.” Lin Chao hurriedly stepped aside respectfully to invite him.
Zuo Yanqing then slowly entered the inner courtyard, first looked at those corpses, then at Huangfu Qing and the others, and said with a half-smile: “The protection target is completely dead, yet you guards are unscathed—impressive…”
“Reporting to Old Ancestor,” Huangfu Qing hurriedly said tremblingly: “We had originally protected Gao Guangning very well, but who knew that last night at midnight, Xiahou Jun and Xiahou En from the Xiahou Clan brought people over, accusing us of intending to harm Gao Guangning. This lowly one spoke kindly to explain, but Xiahou Jun indiscriminately attacked us. Seeing people from the Xiahou Clan come to protect Gao Guangning, this lowly one feared causing conflict between our bureau and the Xiahou Clan, and had no choice but to temporarily withdraw with the men.”
As he spoke, he lowered his head dejectedly: “Who knew, when this lowly one returned, Gao Guangning’s followers had all been slaughtered, and he himself had disappeared…”
“You mean,” Zuo Yanqing lightly stroked the glossy fur of the black cat in his arms, and asked faintly: “This matter was done by Xiahou Jun and Xiahou En?”
“It could only be them…” Huangfu Qing said softly.
“Nonsense.” Zuo Yanqing’s tone was not high, but every word was clear, making people shiver from the bottom of their hearts. “Those two have been staying in Luodu City the whole time—how could they have time to go to Liujia Village to kill?”
“Ah!” In the Investigative Bureau, no one doubted Zuo Yanqing’s words. They all knew this eunuch had retired but devoted all his energy to supervising the Xiahou Clan. When it came to knowing the ins and outs of the Xiahou Clan, even Xiahou Ba himself could not compare.
“That’s impossible!” Huangfu Qing cried out: “Last night, this lowly one met those two face-to-face and even spoke with Xiahou En!”
“Then you really saw a ghost…” Zuo Yanqing sneered.
“You say you met them,” Lin Chao asked in a deep voice: “Did you look carefully?”
“It was pitch black, couldn’t see as clearly as daytime.” Huangfu Qing hurriedly said: “But those facial features and outlines were clearly them. Moreover, they held their respective famous weapons, and Xiahou En’s voice was indeed his…”
“You said they were famous weapons,” Lin Chao shook his head vigorously: “Naturally everyone knows, so forging replicas is no difficult matter.” Pausing, he said: “As for the voice, are you very familiar with Xiahou En?”
“Only heard him speak a few times…” Huangfu Qing was from the Imperial Clan, and in recent years the Huangfu Family had been at odds with the Xiahou Clan, naturally with little interaction.
“That kind of cultivation method that changes the voice line is enough to fool you!” Lin Chao was wise after the fact; after hearing Zuo Yanqing, he saw clearly: “As for appearance, it’s even simpler—in the dark, a simple disguise would do!”
