Chapter 248: Cut Him

Outside the Area Watch Office, braziers blazed in front of the Baihu Fasi Hall, illuminating the hall's facade as brightly as day.

Inside the Baihu Fasi Hall, several tables were pushed together, holding a map spread out across ten feet. Gu Yuan, Quwu Mountain, Zi Wu Ridge, and Long Mountain were all marked on it.

At this moment, Li Xuan was pointing at the map and speaking in a low voice to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, today I went up to the city wall to take a look. I only saw the packed tents and cooking smoke of the Jing Chao Tian Ce Army from a distance. Before I could look closely, Zhou You sent people to drive me away..."

The Crown Prince looked at the map and sighed: "Such a beautiful land, yet we are trapped inside this Gu Yuan city, as if blindfolded, unable to see clearly or do anything."

Li Xuan said shamefully: "This humble official is incompetent."

The Crown Prince smiled: "There's no need for Director Li to blame himself. The Yu Lin Army is the Imperial Guard, ordinarily trained as royal guards. Coming to this Gu Yuan border naturally leaves you with your hands tied."

Speaking of this, the Crown Prince thought: "Perhaps that wise brother Chen Ji has new gains. I wonder if he will come to the door tonight."

Li Xuan's expression changed, and he immediately cupped his fist and said: "Your Highness, if we are to discuss intelligence gathering and adapting to circumstances, Chen Ji is indeed far superior to this humble official. This humble official is willing to admit defeat."

The Crown Prince laughed loudly: "Director Li, it is not said that your greatest advantage is honesty. In this era, there may not be many who are willing to admit they are not as good as others."

Li Xuan said seriously: "This humble official knows his own worth clearly in his heart. But this Chen Ji has too much of a marketplace air, and is blinded by greed and desire, actually daring to sell Your Highness's news. If Your Highness heavily relies on him, I'm afraid it's uncertain what else he might sell later... Although this person is respectful to Your Highness in his words, he actually lacks reverence in his heart."

If Chen Ji were here, he would definitely shudder inwardly.

The commander of this Yu Lin Army's words pointed out the biggest difference between him and ordinary people: Ordinary people view their monarch as a father, but Chen Ji had transmigrated, and in his bones naturally carried criticism against feudal dynasties, lacking reverence.

Kings and generals, how can they be kind?

The Crown Prince's gaze fixed on the isolated Gu Yuan city on the map, his tone calm: "The Qi family, the Yang family, the Hu family, the Xu family, the Chen family... how many people truly revere the Heavenly Family's majesty?"

Li Xuan's face straightened, and he knelt on one knee, cupping his fist and saying: "This humble official was attached to the Qi family and lived under their protection, suffering from people's scorn day and night. Now that I have the opportunity to follow Your Highness, I should go through fire and water for Your Highness and not hesitate in the slightest."

As they spoke, footsteps could be heard outside the Baihu Fasi Hall. The Crown Prince quickly helped Li Xuan up and said in a low voice: "Director Li's intentions, this orphan understands. Quickly, please rise."

Li Xuan rose and turned his head to look at Qi Shensuo, who was striding in. He asked with an unchanged expression: "Today is your duty shift, what are you doing here?"

Qi Shensuo cupped his fist and said: "Reporting to Crown Prince Your Highness, Commander Li, this humble official received a secret report from an informant that there is a brothel named Hong Xiu Tian on Guizi Street, which is a base point for Jing Chao spies."

The Crown Prince was a little surprised. He smiled and looked at Li Xuan: "Vice Envoy Qi actually has informants in the streets and alleys of Gu Yuan. It seems that even without wise brother Chen Ji, my Yu Lin Army can still rely on our own abilities to find Jing Chao spies."

Li Xuan felt blank in his heart. He naturally knew that Qi Shensuo had not arranged any informants... Where did this sudden informant come from?

He secretly glared at Qi Shensuo, signaling him not to speak nonsense. Qi Shensuo, however, gave him a reassuring look back.

The Crown Prince asked curiously: "Vice Envoy Qi, when did you arrange these informants? I haven't heard you mention it before."

Qi Shensuo quickly explained: "This humble official has not been idle during his time in Gu Yuan. He has always been quietly visiting the streets and alleys and arranging informants. There were no gains before, so he dared not report to Your Highness. Now that he has found the location of the Jing Chao spies, he immediately came to report."

The Crown Prince showed a smile on his face: "Now the border army does not allow us to intervene in the defense. If we can catch some Jing Chao spies, it will also be considered sharing the worries of General Hu and General Zhou... Vice Envoy Qi, if you can truly catch the Jing Chao spies, you will take the first merit!"

Qi Shensuo's face lit up with joy.

Li Xuan cupped his hand and said: "Your Highness, I will go assemble the troops now and go to Guizi Street to capture the Jing Chao spies."

The Crown Prince shook his head: "I will go with all of you."

Li Xuan said with difficulty: "Your Highness, it is getting late. You should also rest early."

The Crown Prince patted his shoulder: "Let's go."

Li Xuan put a pure white fox fur coat on the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince thought for a moment, then took off the fox fur coat and threw it on the map: "Let's imitate Chen Ji and blend into the streets and alleys. All the Yu Lin Army will remove their armor, change into civilian clothes, and go separately. We don't want to show off."

"Yes."

At Zi hour, over a hundred riders of the Imperial Forest Army filed out from the Area Watch Office, divided into three teams, and galloped towards Guizi Street. They wore no armor and carried no weapons openly.

Upon arriving outside Guizi Street, Li Xuan silently gave hand signals. One team approached from the front street, one team surrounded from the back alley, and one team climbed onto the roofs, quickly approaching by stepping on the gray tile eaves.

Li Xuan stood firmly by the Crown Prince's side, not leaving an inch, waiting for his subordinates to capture all the Jing Chao spies inside Hong Xiu Tian.

In the cold wind, the Crown Prince wore white clothes with arrow sleeves, his hair tied up with a silver crown, exuding heroic spirit.

He held the reins and said in a low voice: "Director Li, have you noticed any movements of the border army nearby?"

Li Xuan replied in a low voice: "Reporting to Your Highness, this humble official paid special attention when he came. There were none."

The Crown Prince nodded: "This time, we want to leave them alive and see if we can interrogate them to find out the big fish behind them."

Just at this moment, a Yu Lin Army soldier ran from a distance, knelt on one knee in front of the Crown Prince's horse, cupped his fist, and said: "Your Highness, Hong Xiu Tian is empty, not a single person!"

Qi Shensuo said in shock: "What!"

The Crown Prince turned his horse and left. He dismounted at the entrance of Hong Xiu Tian and walked into the room.

Only the candles in Hong Xiu Tian were still burning, and thick candle tears had already dripped onto the candle holder. However, the tables, chairs, and benches in the room were neatly arranged, and not a single person was seen.

The Crown Prince and Li Xuan both turned their heads to look at Qi Shensuo, who followed behind. Li Xuan asked angrily: "What's the matter?"

Qi Shensuo mumbled for a long time and didn't say a word.

Li Xuan raised his whip to strike, but his hand suddenly stiffened in mid-air. This little brother-in-law was his wife's treasure; he really couldn't hit him.

A moment later, he said in a bad mood: "I'm asking you something, speak up!"

Qi Shensuo was still unwilling to speak.

The Crown Prince pressed down Li Xuan's raised hand and comforted him: "Vice Envoy Qi, perhaps something went wrong midway. Why not call your informant here and ask? Perhaps he knows something."

Qi Shensuo lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Xuan was extremely angry and roared: "Speak up! Where is your informant? Military matters are no joke. If you dare to falsely report military information, be careful of military law!"

Qi Shensuo suddenly raised his head and said: "Chen Ji!"

The Crown Prince was slightly startled: "Chen Ji?"

Qi Shensuo said urgently: "It must be Chen Ji who tipped them off, causing the Jing Chao spies to get the news in advance and the building to be empty of people!"

Li Xuan said doubtfully: "How is this related to Chen Ji? What does Chen Ji have to do with this?"

Qi Shensuo could only grit his teeth and confess: "Tonight at Hai hour, Chen Ji came to the Area Watch Office. However, Director Chen had previously ordered that he not be allowed to enter the Area Watch Office again, so I blocked him on my own authority."

Li Xuan raised his eyebrows: "Then what?"

Qi Shensuo explained: "Then he threw down the sentence 'Guizi Street Hong Xiu Tian is a Jing Chao spy base point' and left. Thinking about it, it must be because I blocked him, which led him to harbor resentment, so he secretly tipped off the Jing Chao spies."

Li Xuan hated that iron could not become steel: "Since Chen Ji came to deliver the news, why did you deceive Your Highness?"

Qi Shensuo shrank his neck: "I just didn't want to see that kid being too arrogant, like a lone wolf, as if only he had the ability."

The Crown Prince no longer lingered on this matter but looked at Li Xuan: "What does Director Li think? Did Chen Ji really let the Jing Chao spies go in advance?"

Li Xuan did not answer. He walked like a tiger patrolling inside Hong Xiu Tian, constantly lowering his head to check the fine details.

A long time later, Li Xuan suddenly squatted on the ground and said: "The Jing Chao spies didn't run; they were killed."

"Killed?" The gazes of the Yu Lin Army all turned.