I am the villain in the book

Although it was only a short sentence, the sheer amount of information stunned Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping for quite a while.

Using his inner strength to channel through his finger, Chu Xianping erased the small words on the table, his brow furrowed as if contemplating the authenticity of the message.

At this moment, Wei Changtian was also pondering the same question.

First of all, since the intelligence came from the Tongzhou Society, the person delivering the message must have taken the Puppet Pill, so there would definitely be no situation where false information was deliberately transmitted.

Unless, someone was deliberately setting a trap...

Such tricks to lure out spies were not uncommon, and the Suspended Mirror Division was extremely good at playing this game.

But if it was a trap, you first needed a suspected target, right?

He had not yet issued any instructions to the Tongzhou Society, so logically, no one should have been exposed.

And since the Tongzhou Society had not been exposed, then only the last possibility remained—

Within the court, or rather, by Ning Yongnian's side, there were other spies.

...

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. A small pile of fine wood shavings was scattered on the table, with a faint woody fragrance lingering in the air.

Wei Changtian pondered for a moment and asked Chu Xianping, "Brother Chu, what do you think of this matter?"

"It should be true."

Chu Xianping frowned and nodded, holding the mother-child jade in his hand: "It's just that I don't know if there are any other schemes involved."

"Yes, that's what I thought too."

Wei Changtian waved his sleeve to sweep all the wood shavings onto the ground, sat down, and took a sip of tea.

"Pass the order to the Tongzhou Society, let them keep an eye on the others who also know about this matter, and see if anything happens to these people."

"Okay, I'll take care of it later."

Chu Xianping responded, his expression gradually relaxing: "But no matter what, this is a good thing for us."

"It is indeed a good thing."

Wei Changtian smiled.

"I was just worried about not having enough chips, and now they've delivered them to our door."

Chou hour, Pingchang Ward, Jing City, Yao Tower.

Ever since the Xu family's rebellion, business in the brothels of Pingchang Ward had not been as good as before.

It wasn't because these courtesans and patrons were so "concerned about the country and the people", preoccupied with national affairs and unwilling to enjoy themselves.

The main reason for the decline in performance was the curfew system.

From Zi hour to Mao hour, no one was allowed to walk outside except for cases of sudden illness, death, or burial.

So, the brothel's guests either had to leave before Zi hour or spend the night in the brothel.

And many men did not have Wei Changtian's "family status". They usually visited brothels secretly, let alone staying out all night.

Therefore, the sharp decline in visitor traffic was only to be expected.

...

"Yo! Lord Xiang, it's been a while since you've been here!"

In the hall decorated with colorful silks, a flamboyantly dressed madam greeted a middle-aged man who had just walked in from outside with a beaming smile.

It was already past Zi hour, and strictly speaking, this man had already violated the law.

However, with this lord's official position, presumably no one would dare to say anything.

"Please, have a seat and have some wine to warm yourself up!"

"I'll go and have Qin'er prepare!"

"You few! Serve Lord Xiang well!"

Having finally waited for a benefactor, the madam would naturally not let him go.

She beckoned a few girls to accompany the man in drinking, while she turned around with a smile and quickly left, presumably to find the man's "old flame".

"Lord Xiang~ This humble servant has recently learned a new skill in the art of love~ Would Lord like to try it out~?"

"Yes, Lord Xiang~ Sister Qin'er just received a guest, why don't you bypass her~?"

"We sisters are no worse than Sister Qin'er~"

"Xing'er just learned a new tune of 'Spring River Flower Moon Night' yesterday, would Lord like to listen to it?"

...

Surrounded by chattering women, several girls were doing their best to "poach" the customer.

If Wei Changtian were here at this moment, he would probably sigh, "This industry is also becoming competitive," and then happily experience it.

However, the middle-aged man obviously wasn't in the mood. While forcing a smile to deal with the women, he kept casting his gaze in the direction the madam had left.

It wasn't until the latter reappeared and walked over that he finally secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lord Xiang, Miss Qin'er is ready."

The madam said with a smile on her face: "Would you like to go over now, or play with the other girls for a while?"

"Take me over."

The man casually dropped a bag of silver, pushed away the charming women nestled in his arms, and slowly stood up.

"Alright, this way please, Lord."

The madam nodded and bowed, walking in front, with the man following behind, all the way to the front of an embroidered room on the second floor.

"Lord Xiang, then I'll go down first. If you need anything, just call me." The madam kept her head lowered.

"Mm."

The man nodded, not noticing the fine beads of sweat on the madam's forehead. He reached out, pushed open the door, and walked in.

The embroidered room was very large, divided into two rooms, inner and outer.

Going past a screen into the inner room, there was hot tea on the table, but strangely, there was no one around.

In an instant, the man felt a great sense of foreboding in his heart and immediately turned around to leave.

But at this moment, an old eunuch wearing a purple robe suddenly appeared from nowhere, looking at him with a sneer.

"Li... Eunuch Li..."

"Hehe, Lord Xiang, weren't you just discussing matters with the Emperor?"

Li Huaizhong narrowed his eyes and took a step closer with a gloomy expression: "Why have you run to the Yao Tower so quickly?"

"I... I..."

The man was flustered at first, but he quickly calmed down.

He snorted coldly and shouted sternly: "Hmph! Eunuch Li, does me visiting a brothel require informing you in advance?!"

"Naturally, there's no need for that."

Li Huaizhong cupped his fist lightly: "This humble servant is only acting on the Emperor's orders to bring Lord Xiang back to the palace."

"Back to the palace?"

The man's body trembled slightly, but his expression remained unchanged: "What for?"

"Lord Xiang, this humble servant doesn't know."

Li Huaizhong looked up, a hint of sarcasm in his eyes: "Perhaps Lord himself knows better?"

...

The cold night wind blew in from outside the window. The laughter that had been rising and falling outside had stopped at some point.

"Whoosh!"

Several candles in the room suddenly went out, and then two figures disappeared in place. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed paths several times.

"Swoosh!"

"Bang bang bang!"

"Crack!"

...

As if everything that had just happened was an illusion, the room returned to silence after a few breaths.

The man, only at the Third Rank, was no match for Li Huaizhong, whose hidden injuries had healed. He was pinned to the ground with both arms broken by the latter in three moves.

"Lord Xiang, you're so stupid..."

Looking down at the man curled up on the ground and sweating profusely, Li Huaizhong whispered with a smile:

"Don't you think, how could the Xu family possibly defeat the Emperor?"