American Comics: BOSS Invasion

In the study, Qi Shan sorted through the threads of the whole matter. Actually, it was quite simple: the Little Prince was impatient and gathered a group of core members to try to ascend the throne.

To pull off such a big event, Wei Zhongxian must have played a role. Perhaps he wasn't directly involved, but he must have known about some of the undercurrents.

He simply chose to watch with folded arms for some reason.

The Eastern Depot under Wei Zhongxian was extremely arrogant, suppressing the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the point where they couldn't raise their heads. This is why the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander would eagerly recognize Wei Zhongxian as his adoptive father. If he didn't, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would have even less status.

In that case, the Eastern Depot's ability to investigate cases would be far superior to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. So, if an outsider in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a mere centurion like Shen Lian, could, by chance, figure out the whole matter, how could the Eastern Depot not know?

And within all this, the small actions of the Donglin Party were definitely indispensable.

The Emperor favored Wei Zhongxian too much, to the point where the eunuch faction dominated the court, and the Donglin Party, suppressed by them, could barely breathe. They lived in constant fear, as if walking on thin ice. Of course, no one wanted to live like that.

Through a combination of opportunity and tacit understanding from all sides, the Emperor unexpectedly, yet predictably, fell ill after falling into the water.

If the plan went smoothly, they would later administer a potent medicine to give the Emperor a final burst of energy, allowing him to交代(jiāodài) his final affairs.

At that point, Prince Xin would rightfully and legitimately take over the throne and rule the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Chongzhen Emperor clearly overestimated his own abilities and also mistakenly trusted the Donglin Party. He tried very hard to be a good emperor, to turn the tide, but unfortunately, due to various reasons, he still failed.

Qi Shan restoring Zhu Youxiao nipped Prince Xin's idea in the bud. No matter what, the Emperor still ruled the Ming Dynasty, and even if they had some power, they wouldn't dare to use dark methods openly.

The palace was like a dilapidated thatched hut with open sides, so any disturbance would be widely publicized outside.

Therefore, those who wanted to take action had to be very careful.

"Rest assured, sir, everything is under control!"

Someone said that at this moment. Qi Shan paused slightly, looked back at the chiliarch, who seemed a little puzzled, and quickly showed a smile.

It seems he's not a time-traveler, otherwise, a witty remark would have come out by now!

It's not that Qi Shan is paranoid, but the late Ming Dynasty was a popular period for time travel. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people traveled to the Ming Dynasty every year, seizing power and drastically altering the Ming Dynasty through various means.

To this day, the Jurchen of Nurhaci have been theoretically massacred not 10,000 times, but at least several thousand.

All sorts of methods exist, making it quite tragic.

Under such circumstances, Qi Shan naturally had to be careful.

However, so far, he hasn't found a second time-traveler.

Qi Shan was somewhat disappointed about this. The last time he encountered another time-traveler in '超时空同居(Chāoshí kōng tóngjū)' (Beyond Time 同居), Qi Shan didn't have such a useful trick as the 同心锁(tóngxīn suǒ) (Love Lock). Otherwise, he could have directly taken over the other party's time-travel channel with a link.

— —

The moon reached its zenith, the bamboo forest on the south side of West Mountain.

Shen Lian was fully armed, moving nimbly through the woods.

The moon was very large tonight, and the moonlight clearly illuminated the path.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him, glanced at Shen Lian coldly, and fled without saying a word.

Shen Lian frowned and gave chase relentlessly.

In the evening, he had just exhausted himself to get rid of Pei Lun. When he returned home, he was preparing to have a peaceful meal when he suddenly received a message delivered by a flying arrow.

It summoned him to the bamboo forest in West Mountain at this time.

The excuse used was Master Beizhai, whom Shen Lian was concerned about.

Shen Lian dared not refuse, partly because he feared that Beizhai was already dead, and partly because he feared that Beizhai was not dead.

After all, she was a beautiful girl, and she had had contact with Shen Lian. Although he didn't say it, in Shen Lian's lonely heart, Miss Beizhai was already a friend.

If it weren't for this, he wouldn't have fought with Ling Yun Kai when he searched Beizhai's former residence with Lin Yun Kai that night, accidentally killing him.

Shen Lian was also unlucky. The whole thing actually had nothing to do with him.

He just liked Master Beizhai's calligraphy and paintings, so he followed out of curiosity. He never thought that this one trip would land him in a quagmire from which he could never escape.

Only Beizhai knows about his killing a colleague, and if she tells, he won't be able to live.

So, whether this news is true or false, he must first confirm it.

Thinking of this, Shen Lian soared up and kicked hard at the base of a bamboo, flying directly behind the figure.

The Embroidered Spring Blade struck the person's back, making a sound of metal clashing.

The person's body sank slightly, their center of gravity shifted downwards, and they moved forward on all fours, pushed forward more than a foot by the huge force, before slowly getting up.

They looked at Shen Lian calmly, reached behind them, and when they pulled out their hands, they had a knife and shield in each hand.

Shen Lian was slightly puzzled, but saw the person facing him with the knife, making a long buzzing sound.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Lian noticed footsteps behind him. He turned slightly and saw a tall man carrying a mace in one hand, strolling leisurely out of the shadows.

Turning back, a woman in a Confucian scholar's robe walked out from the other direction.

The woman was extremely beautiful, but she had her own demeanor between walking, like a veteran of the army, or a general who had experienced life-and-death battles.

In short, this posture, placed on a woman, actually exuded a different kind of heroic spirit.

Shen Lian instantly became vigilant.

After a few seconds of confrontation, the woman calmly opened her mouth and said, "After killing that Embroidered Uniform Guard, you must be very regretful!"

Shen Lian didn't answer, but asked, "Where is Beizhai?"

"That person is the adult's accomplice, how can I bring her with me!"

"Want to extort silver?"

"I don't want silver. Silver is useless to people like us. I want you to set fire to the Embroidered Uniform Guard Archives!"

Shen Lian raised his head slightly, surprised in his heart: "What did you say?"

"The adult heard it, why repeat it again!" The woman's voice was calm, as if burning down the heavily guarded Embroidered Uniform Guard Archives was like visiting a neighbor.

"The Archives…"

Shen Lian was about to speak when a strange voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"The Archives are the Embroidered Uniform Guard's confidential area. Such actions will be punished by slow slicing!"