The First Lackey Under The Empress

Da da da…

Behind the mighty procession, a resolute young man in dark armor, riding a fine horse, came to Duke Anguo and said earnestly:

“Father, the weather is cold and the journey back to the capital is long. Please, Father, rest in the carriage at the rear!”

Cao Mao, with frost at his temples and deep nasolabial folds, looked at the young man before him—his adopted son, whose ability to lead troops was outstanding and whose prestige in the entire Jubei City army was second only to his own, and whom he deeply relied upon—and suddenly said:

“Do you think I’m too old and can’t withstand the march?”

The young man in dark armor was shocked and hurriedly explained:

“I dare not! Father is in his prime. How could a mere march be a problem? I misspoke. Please punish me, Father!”

Seeing that Cao Mao did not respond, the young man even raised his hand to slap his own face.

“What are you doing?” Cao Mao finally spoke, stopping him, his face displeased: “I didn’t blame you.”

The resolute young man lowered his head and listened to the reprimand.

The corners of Cao Mao’s mouth turned up slightly, and his voice softened. He rode alongside his adopted son and said with emotion:

“You’re right, the road back to the capital is long, and now is not wartime. The main general of the army should conserve his energy. But you must also know that the words and actions of the commander are a model for the soldiers in the army. If the commander indulges in pleasure, how can the soldiers be willing to risk their lives?”

The dark-armored youth suddenly understood: “Father’s teachings are correct!”

Cao Mao smiled and said:

“This time, I’m not taking anyone else back to the capital, only you. Do you know why?”

The young man said solemnly: “Father is cultivating me, that’s why you are willing to promote me. When I enter the capital, I will definitely be cautious in my words and actions, and not disgrace Father’s prestige!”

Cao Mao laughed loudly, tapping him lightly with his horsewhip, as if in praise, and also with a hint of other meaning.

Suddenly, his smile faded, and he said:

“It’s good that you know. This time back to the capital, reporting on duties is one thing, the New Year is another, but there is one more important thing.”

The dark-armored youth asked doubtfully: “What is it?”

Cao Mao said calmly: “Do you still remember the Blood Saber of the North?”

The dark-armored youth was stunned, revealing an angry expression:

“How could I forget? This thief, as a military adjutant, disregarded military law for his own selfish reasons, massacred his comrades, assassinated his superior, and resisted arrest by the army. He even stubbornly resisted, killing and wounding countless of our soldiers. It’s extremely hateful…

It’s a pity that this person disappeared without a trace during the arrest later. We haven’t stopped searching for this person in the past two years, but there’s no news…”

Of course he remembered this person.

But what he didn’t dare to say was that the reason why the Blood Saber of the North was frantically wanted and arrested in Jubei City was not only because he killed his comrades.

More importantly, one of the generals assassinated by this person in a fit of anger because his wife was defiled was one of Duke Anguo Cao Mao’s sons.

A biological son, not an adopted son like him.

The Duke Anguo, who had experienced the pain of losing his son, could be imagined to hate that person. He was even unwilling to mention the adjutant’s name, only referring to him by his nickname, “Blood Saber of the North.”

The young man said halfway, then suddenly woke up, and said in disbelief:

“Father suddenly mentioned this person, could it be…”

Cao Mao nodded, his eyes gloomy:

“I only recently learned that this person did not die back then, but hid his name and lived in the capital, and even has a new identity.”

“New identity?”

Cao Mao gave a sound of agreement and slowly uttered a name: “Lang Shiba.”

The dark-armored youth was at a loss: “I haven’t heard of this name.”

Cao Mao smiled: “Not only have you not heard of it, but I didn’t expect it either…”

He paused, not saying anything more, just turned his horse’s head and walked towards the spacious carriage at the rear of the procession:

“I’m going back to take a nap, you lead the way.”

“Yes!” The resolute young man cupped his fist.

…

…

Purple Forbidden Mountain Villa.

After entering winter, the plants and trees on the entire mountain withered, and even this building, built on a high mountain that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, appeared to be declining.

Qi Yuchun, draped in a loose robe, with a long spear wrapped thickly in cloth strips slung across his back, concealing its sharpness, walked alone on the corridor of the villa.

This former commander of the Imperial Guards in the capital looked a little weak, and his walking was not as vigorous as before.

However, the members of the Kuangfu Society he encountered along the way all saluted him.

Qi Yuchun stepped forward and walked to the pavilion above the cliff. On the table in the pavilion was a plain zither, and at this moment, a withered leaf fell on the zither strings.

Qi Yuchun looked at the old man standing in the pavilion with his hands behind his back, wrapped in a cotton robe.

Zhuang Xiaocheng turned around and said with concern: “Your injuries haven’t healed yet, why are you out walking again?”

Qi Yuchun, who was seriously injured by the angry Eunuch Hai, Lang Shiba, and Ji Yue in the Battle of Yansuo Lake, twitched the corner of his mouth:

“I’m just injured, not dead.”

Zhuang Xiaocheng smiled and said:

“This old man has no strength to truss a chicken. The Kuangfu Society can survive, and it still relies on Commander Qi’s martial strength, so naturally I’m concerned.”

Qi Yuchun smiled, frankly accepting this flattery, and said:

“I heard that the imperial court has taken action.”

Zhuang Xiaocheng nodded and sighed:

“The imperial court is using the Shadow Guards to send us a message, wanting to exchange prisoners, using those captured members of our society to exchange for the imperial soldiers in our hands… I have already agreed.”

Qi Yuchun’s expression was solemn: “I’m afraid there’s a trick in this. They haven’t shown any intention of exchanging prisoners before.”

Zhuang Xiaocheng sighed softly and said quietly:

“Even if there is a trick, can we just ignore it? The end of the year is approaching, and the families, wives, and daughters of those captured members are also hoping that they will come back alive and be reunited.”

Qi Yuchun was silent and said: “They will be released by the end of the year? How does Grand Tutor plan to arrange those people?”

Zhuang Xiaocheng said calmly:

“We have already sent people to negotiate with the imperial court to discuss the exchange of prisoners, but in order to prevent the imperial court from taking the opportunity to track us, we have to spend some extra effort. However, the members of the society are very enthusiastic about welcoming back the prisoners and are willing to risk welcoming back their comrades.

So, they should be able to be brought back in the next few days… As for the people who come back, let’s temporarily settle them in one place and heal their injuries.” Qi Yuchun was silent. He knew that the so-called healing was just an excuse.

The real purpose is to temporarily control this group of prisoners to identify whether there are spies who have been turned against by the imperial court.

“Commander Qi, our enemies are becoming more and more cunning.”

Zhuang Xiaocheng suddenly said with a deep voice:

“The pseudo-emperor’s position is also becoming more and more stable. Next year, I’m afraid our days will be very difficult.”

“Grand Tutor…” Qi Yuchun opened his mouth.

But the latter waved his hand to interrupt. Zhuang Xiaocheng, with his sleeves fluttering, said:

“Go back and heal your injuries. Only by recovering as soon as possible can you exert greater value.”

Qi Yuchun nodded and turned to leave.

Watching the nominal second-in-command of the Kuangfu Society leave, Zhuang Xiaocheng walked out of the villa with his hands behind his back and strolled in the mountains.

As if to relax.

After an unknown amount of time, he walked to a hidden cave in the mountain and began to talk about the recent events in the Kuangfu Society to the cave.

The winter sun shone into the cave from behind him, and a figure sitting cross-legged on the ground could be vaguely seen.

“I know.”

After a long time, the person in the cave said.

Zhuang Xiaocheng waited for a while, and seeing that the latter didn’t say anything more, he sighed softly and turned back to the villa, stepping on the withered branches and leaves of winter.

His gaze turned towards the direction of the capital, recalling the name mentioned in the intelligence, the person who promoted the prisoner exchange.

That name, which had made him hate countless times in the past six months, regretting that he hadn’t completely killed him back then.

“Zhao… Du… An…”

…

…

Deep in the northern snowfield, it seems to be snowing all year round here.

Rarely visited by people.

However, in this area, where the soldiers of Jubei City rarely patrol, there is a huge ice lake.

The ice lake is on the top of a mountain. The surrounding shores are hard stones and ice and snow, but the lake water is not completely frozen. There is only a thin layer of ice on the edge. The closer to the center of the lake, the clearer and purer the lake water is.

If Zhao Du’an was here, he would definitely see that this is a dormant volcano, and this lake is where the crater is located.

In the snow mountain, the cold wind howled, and a warlock rode the wind, returning from the north, riding the wind to the top of this mountain.

When he arrived around the "Tianhu", he pinched the magic to reduce the surrounding wind force, and vaguely visible illusory gods floated behind him like ghosts.

“Stop!”

The snow on the surface of a snow-covered stone suddenly melted, and another warlock drilled out of the stone, staring at the person who came.

The warlock riding the wind bowed and looked towards the center of Tianhu, saying:

“I want to see the leader and report the discovery in Mubei Forest.”

The warlock “Stone Man” shook his head and said: “The leader is in seclusion, no one is allowed to disturb him.”

The warlock riding the wind was stunned and looked forward again in disappointment: “Why did he suddenly go into seclusion?”

The Stone Man shook his head: “This is not something we can know.”

The two looked together at the center of Tianhu. There was a floating boulder in the center of the lake, like a black isolated island.

On the island, a middle-aged man with long hair draped over his shoulders was sitting cross-legged, with a mysterious temperament. A fishing basket was placed beside him, and a fishing rod was fixed in front of him.

He was actually fishing.

People in the Jianghu only know that the "Fashen Sect" is a powerful organization of warlocks, and its leader is mysterious and elusive, suspected of having the ability to walk outside with "clones".

The last time Zhao Du’an returned to the capital from Taicang, he encountered a clone of the leader of the Fashen Sect, but it was killed by Eunuch Hai, who was secretly escorting him.

But Eunuch Hai also failed to capture the real existence of the leader of the Fashen Sect.

At this moment, the eyelids of the leader of the Fashen Sect, who had been closing his eyes tightly, trembled and suddenly opened his eyes.

“The leader has awakened!”

Around Tianhu, warlocks with different means suddenly emerged from their hiding places and looked at the center of the lake at the same time.

…

At the same time.

Inside the Buddha Hall of Shenlong Temple in the capital.

The green smoke of incense and candles rose slowly, and the huge golden body of the Buddha looked down on the hall with majesty.

Xuan Yin, the abbot wearing a brown monk’s robe, with a short, thin, and old figure, faced the Great Buddha, holding a wooden mallet and gently tapping the wooden fish.

His eyes slowly closed.

“The abbot has gone wandering again.”

Bianji glanced at the old monk who began to tap the wooden fish and said calmly.

Then he turned around and looked at the Dragon Tree Bodhisattva and Prajna Bodhisattva standing behind him.

—

Misspelled words will be corrected later.