Chapter 422: Governor Luan, please take a look at who I am.
Chapter 422: Governor Luan, please take a look at who I am. (5k)
In the morning, a caravan from the north arrived in Fengcheng County.
The carriage was driving on the main road that ran through the ancient city from north to south, and the wheels rolled over the bluestone slabs, making a monotonous sound.
Zhao Duan sat in his own carriage, opened the curtain, and scanned the ancient buildings on both sides of Fengcheng Street - the houses on Binhai Road were different from those in the capital and Huaishui.
Most of the buildings are two-story buildings, and the roofs are steeper and larger than those in the north. There are ditches dug on both sides of the streets to drain rainwater.
According to the "Geography of Dayu", Binhai Road is low-lying and close to the Dadonghai Sea. Fengcheng is particularly low-lying. Also, because it is nearby a mountain range called "Yunling", it has formed a particularly rainy geographical pattern.
It is said that Yunling goes south in fits and starts, leading to the "Luo Mountain" on Jiancheng Road, which is the place where emperors of all dynasties performed "fengshan".
If you go east from Fengcheng to the end, you will reach the Daqing Mountain in the East China Sea, which is shrouded in sea fog all year round.
"Qingshan is located on the coast, so there are many underworld forces in Binhai Road. Wanted criminals often cross this border. Zhuang Xiaocheng hid here, which really took a lot of thought."
Zhao Duan withdrew his gaze, holding the ancient and mysterious "Mirror of Love and Lust" in his hand.
At this moment, the bronze mirror reflected his ordinary face after he was disguised with a mask.
"Zhuang Xiaocheng..."
Zhao Duan stared at the mirror, recalling Zhuang Xiaocheng's appearance in his mind. Clouds of mist surged on the mirror surface, rolling endlessly. He could vaguely see an image in the mirror, but it was so blurry that he could not see clearly.
"As expected, although Zhuang Xiaocheng is a mortal, he must have a way to avoid being tracked by magic, and Fengyue Baojian cannot spy on him...
However, the reaction of the treasure mirror shows that this person is most likely in Fengcheng, otherwise the spell would fail instead of being blurred..."
Zhao Duan was not surprised at all, as this meant that the method of directly finding the headquarters location through the Fengyue Treasure Mirror failed.
It’s not surprising. If it were so easy to find, the Kuangfu Society would have been destroyed long ago.
Sensing that the convoy was turning, Zhao Duan turned his wrist, put away the bronze mirror, and waited silently.
……
Soon, the carriage made many turns and stopped behind an inn in a somewhat remote location.
The imperial guards disguised as members of the caravan got off the carriages and knocked on the doors, then led the carriages and the goods into the backyard of the inn.
It looks like a normal business accommodation.
Zhao Duan got out of the car, looked at his colleagues who were also coming out, exchanged glances with each other, and the group went into the backyard, and under the guidance of a waiter, entered the main hall of the courtyard.
The main hall is not big, with tables and chairs on both sides and cheap calligraphy and paintings on the walls.
"This is a base of the imperial shadow guards. Haha, the inn is real too. It is run by the outer shadow guards and used to pass messages."
Haitang looked at Gongshu Tianyuan and the listless Jin Jian with curiosity, and took the initiative to explain in a low voice.
The fat priest nodded slowly, put his hands behind his back, and looked around the room with his chest puffed out proudly:
"When we are away from home, disciples of the Tianshi Mansion can go to any Taoist temple with their magic talismans to stay overnight. Even if we go to any government office, we will be guests of honor."
As a Zhudian priest, Gongshu Tianyuan joined the government team this time to repay a favor, but he was always thinking about maintaining the noble image of Tianshi Mansion.
"The priests of the Tianshi Mansion represent the face of the leader of the Taoist sect when they are outside. They cannot lose face!"
Before leaving the city, Gongshu Tianyuan repeatedly gave Mihu Jinjian instructions.
At this moment, even though the young priestess's palm-sized face was full of sleepiness and her eyelids could not help drooping, she still straightened her face and said proudly after hearing what her senior brother said:
"Yes... yawn..."
No... Fatty Gongshu is always worried about not losing face, but you're already so sleepy, why are you joining in the fun... Zhao Duan complained in his heart and suddenly felt a headache.
Given Jin Jian's behavior, does that mean he can only fight at night from now on?
As soon as the group sat down in the hall, two figures came out side by side. They were:
He was dressed like a scholar, with a sickly pale complexion, like a sickly young man who would fall down at the slightest breeze.
A woman who looks like a female martial arts heroine, with a long sword tied to her back and a bronze mask covering most of her face.
At this moment, two sharp eyes shone through the holes in her visor.
As soon as the two of them stepped into the room, they looked around and locked onto the strange man who was obviously sitting in the main seat, and bowed:
"Your subordinate greets Lord Zhao. I didn't know you were coming into the city. I'm sorry for not coming to greet you."
The secret spies waiting at the Jinfu Inn were actually the two "gold medal shadow guards" who had arrested the county magistrate Wang Chusheng in Taicang.
The man's code name is "Scholar" and the female hero's code name is "Red Leaf".
Since the latter was suspected to be the descendant of Pei Niannu, Zhao Duan had reviewed the files in the palace and was deeply impressed.
In addition, out of recognition of the two men's abilities, when Zhao Duan was planning to exchange prisoners and plant spies, he ordered that the task of contacting the spies be given to them.
This time when they came to Fengcheng, they made arrangements in advance and the two shadow guards arrived early and stayed in the inn as "travelers" for several days.
"No need to be polite, sit down and talk,"
Zhao Duan smiled and asked when he saw the two shadow guards sitting down a little stiffly:
"I came here incognito, and you should know my purpose. Has there been any change in this place during this period?"
The scholar and Hongye exchanged a glance, and the former said seriously:
"Reporting to you, sir, according to your instructions, we have been maintaining secret contact with the spies headed by the 'Playboy'. The many rebels who were exchanged for prisoners are still being placed in a manor ten miles east of the city and have not been moved yet.
During the New Year a while ago, the rebels had a gathering here, and Zhuang Xiaocheng showed up... Unfortunately, there were no signs in advance, and by the time the spies reported back, the people had already dispersed."
"As for these days, I didn't contact them for the sake of caution. But we secretly investigated and found something wrong."
"Oh?" Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows.
The sickly scholar was about to speak when suddenly, Jin Jian, who was slumped in his chair and drowsy, opened his eyes and looked outside as if in response to stress.
Then, Ji Yue, Lang Shiba, and Gongshu Tianyuan all looked outside the house in astonishment almost at the same time.
"The sound of horse hooves... and swords... A lot of people... are coming this way, surrounding the inn."
Drunkard Lang Eighteen suddenly spoke.
The former lieutenant general of Jubei City had a sharp look in his eyes. He walked quickly to the corner of the room, opened the window a crack, and spoke in a deep voice.
Surrounding the inn? Swords? Zhao Duan was stunned and looked at the scholar and Hongye in astonishment.
The two gold medal shadow guards also had confused expressions and did not understand what was going on.
"Let's go out and take a look." Zhao Duan stood up and said, walking out first, and the people in the room followed him.
As soon as they walked out of the room, they heard a commotion coming from the main entrance of the inn, accompanied by people exclaiming and shouting:
"The court is arresting the traitors. Everyone, get down quickly!"
At the same time, Zhao Duan, with his outstanding hearing, caught the sound of footsteps filling the entire inn.
He turned his head left and right, and saw archers jumping up from the roof of the building next door outside the walls on all sides.
They all held military crossbows and aimed at the patio in the backyard of the inn. The sharp arrows flashed coldly in the sunlight.
"My Lord, be careful..."
The Jinyi soldiers who were originally tidying up the rooms in the inn also rushed out. Hou Ren suddenly drew his sword from his luggage and ran out. He looked up and glanced at the archers at several "shooting points" around him. His face changed:
"It's a magic crossbow!"
"Protect your lord!"
A group of Jinyi officers drew their swords and surrounded Zhao Duan and his men in a circle, alert for the rain of arrows that might come at any time.
They seemed to have completely forgotten that compared to the four worldly realms beside Zhao Duan, the ones they should protect more are themselves...
"Dangdang!"
Immediately, the front door of the inn was kicked open with great force. The entire door flew out horizontally and hit the ground in the backyard hard, raising a cloud of dust.
Zhao Duan looked on coldly, and saw a group of fully armed elite officers in armor and holding knives rushing into the yard like a torrent, surrounding everyone in the yard in a semicircle.
The leader of this group of officers had a dark complexion and sharp eyes. Unlike the others who wore soft armor, he was only wearing a constable's robe with dark red cuffs and collar embroidered with silver thread. Zhao Duan recognized it at a glance as it was the standard robe that only constables at the government level could wear.
Zhang Han from Mudan Hall was obviously stunned. Zhao Duan glanced at him and asked in a low voice:
"know?"
Zhang Han lowered his voice and said:
"Zhang Jian, the head constable of Binhaidao West Prefecture, has the same surname as me, but we are not from the same family. He is a very powerful guy. I have met him once before."
The head of the Xifu Yamen? Luan Cheng's subordinate?
How did he get to Fengcheng County? When Zhao Duan was puzzled, he saw a man in a crimson official robe approaching aggressively from behind a large group of officials.
Behind him followed a county magistrate with a restrained look on his face.
The prefect Luan Cheng, who looked like a middle-aged scholar and wore a black hat, shouted:
"You are such a bold rebel, you dare to hide in the jurisdiction of this government and parade through the streets. You are guilty of a crime that cannot be forgiven. Please quickly lay down your weapons and surrender. I may give you a lighter sentence!"
Zhao Duan's expression suddenly became extremely strange, and the Lihuatang Jinyimen around him also changed from being as if they were facing a formidable enemy to being bewildered and stunned.
no……
Are we the rebels?
Jin Jian was no longer sleepy. She took out a pair of ground crystal glasses from her pocket with her little hands, put them on her nose and watched the show seriously. If the scene was not inappropriate, she would have wanted to grab a handful of melon seeds.
Tsk, it's really interesting to follow the government in solving cases...
"You guys..." On the side, Haitang raised her eyebrows, took a step forward with her long legs, put one hand on the flying knife at her waist, and was about to speak.
But he was suddenly pulled by Zhao Duan and stopped.
"The fourth-rank prefect Luan Cheng in Fengcheng area?" Zhao Duan stepped out from the crowd and confirmed with a strange look on his face.
Before he went on a business trip, he also did his homework carefully and read the information of local officials.
I still remember this prefect Luan very clearly. He was a Jinshi in the ninth year of Jingyun. Like Lu Zhi, he served as a judge in the Dali Temple. Later, he was assigned as a county magistrate. Because of his mother's mourning, he resigned for several years, and then resumed his post... and he became the prefect of Binhai...
His resume is not special. What really makes him famous is his ability to handle cases. He is known among the people as "the iron-faced and impartial Luan Qingtian."
He was one of a group of local officials that the empress particularly valued after she ascended the throne.
It is said that there was a master beside him who used to be a martial arts master and later served him as a guard and police chief.
How should I put it... It feels like the combination of Yu State version of "Justice Bao and Guard Zhan", the difference is that the black-faced one is not Luan Cheng but the head constable Zhang Jian, and there is no crescent moon on his forehead...
"It is this government!"
Yu State's Justice Bao's gaze pierced over with solemnity. He swept his sight over a group of people dressed in merchant caravan clothes but holding sharp blades. At first glance, they were the rebels of the military. He felt both surprised and delighted.
I am glad that the information is true. Who would be so good as to draw his sword and resist the police when he sees them coming?
What is shocking is that the rebel party is so large, with dozens of people, and it is not known whether they can be captured.
Luan Cheng said sternly: "Since you know our name, just surrender. It is better than giving your life to that traitor Zhuang Xiaocheng!"
Zhao Duan seemed to smile, without any fear that the rebels should have when they were in desperate situation.
He looked at Luan Cheng with disdain and asked, "How did you know we were coming? When did you enter Fengcheng?"
Luan Cheng was stunned, and the officers were also bewildered, thinking to themselves, are all the traitors this generation so tough?
Why does he act like he's interrogating me?
"How dare you!" Luan Cheng sneered with an angry look on his face.
"What a traitor! You are so arrogant that you even dare to question this government. Well, well, well, do you think you dare to go against the government with so many people? Zhang Jian!"
Give an order.
The captain of the police, with a cold black face and wearing a short shirt with iron edges, took a step forward. His shoes stepped on the floor tiles with a "click" sound, leaving spider-web-like dents.
Magistrate Luan, who is different from a mortal body.
Zhang Jian, who had been wandering the world for half his life and was once a martial arts master, felt a vague sense of pressure after entering the inn.
The pressure is not on those knives-wielding Jinyi.
And there were several obviously weird people around the rebel leader:
A fat man with his hands behind his back, chest puffed out, and nose facing the sky.
A confused girl wearing strange glasses and trying to keep her eyelids open with her fingers.
A man carrying a wine gourd and holding the handle of a machete.
The woman huddled in the corner, lowered her head, and buried her face in her messy black hair...
A sickly scholar and a woman with a bronze mask on her face.
This team almost has the word "evil" welded on their faces.
Out of ten, twelve points were clearly wrong.
Even the man and woman who looked the most "normal" always gave him a faint sense of threat.
Zhang Jian groaned in his heart and thought, "Sir, please don't say anything. It seems like I have hit a wall this time."
However, things have come to this point. Having been in the martial arts world for half his life, he knows that when two brave men meet in a narrow road, the brave one wins. In the current situation, it is impossible to retreat safely. Instead of passively defending, it is better to capture the leader first, or there may be a glimmer of hope.
Therefore, when the prefect uttered the word "Zhang", he had already moved. He took a step forward and drew out the two knives from his waist with both hands at the same time.
The two knives are one long and one short. The long one is thick, long and narrow, and is called Zhen Lei.
The short ones are as thin as cicada wings and are called autumn leaves.
At this moment, the long sword vibrated and hummed like morning thunder, and the energy turned into wisps of illusory flames in a burning posture, spurting out from the pores, wrapping around the narrow sword that was similar in style to the East China Sea Ronin, flowing down from the tip of the sword, dripping onto the ground, burning the floor tiles into mottled charred marks.
The short knife Qiu Ye was thrown out suddenly, spinning like a wheel in the air, and with the speed of lightning, it attacked Zhao Duan who was standing in the front from another angle.
"Good sword skills!"
Zhao Duan's eyes lit up. With his current vision, there were very few martial arts in the world that could amaze him.
But I don't know where this sword technique was learned from. The two swords are one light and one dark, one is unconventional and the other is righteous, good and evil complement each other.
The timing and decisiveness of drawing the knife were also remarkable, making Zhang Han worthy of being called the iron catcher who had been remembered in his mind after only meeting him once.
Well, leaving aside other things, this man's solid martial arts alone is on par with Zhang Han from the Mudan Hall's judicial department.
Even in the capital, he could have earned a position, but being a prefect's guard here is really a waste of his talent.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and the flying autumn leaf knife had already pounced on his face.
Zhao Duan's hair was lifted back slightly. He was just about to try out the "Buddhist Golden Bell Cover" he had just mastered, but Lang Shiba had already rushed out from behind him.
Beidi Xuedao, who was carrying a wine gourd on his back, had a weathered face covered with green stubble, and his pupils reflected the Autumn Leaf Knife that was spinning like a wheel.
He moved the scarred thumb on his waist upwards and picked out the gleaming Western scimitar.
The courtyard seemed to be lit up by a pool of moonlight.
Lang Shiba's fingers flicked frivolously, and the scimitar flew out like a leap of joy, pulling his hand, and with a "ding" sound, it hit the flying autumn leaf knife.
The autumn leaf knife, which looked as thin as a cicada's wing but could actually cut an adult man in half, offered no resistance and was knocked away by the scimitar.
With a whoosh, it deviated from its trajectory, brushed past Jin Jian's scalp, and stabbed fiercely into the pillar behind the crowd. The blade was halfway in, and the handle was still vibrating!
Jin Jian, who was holding up his eyelids with both hands, was stunned for a moment, and the shadow of a blood-red moon behind his head slowly faded away.
Lang Shiba of the World Realm slashed out with his sword, unstoppable, and appeared in front of Zhang Jian in the blink of an eye. Zhao Duan's lazy voice came to his ears:
"A small punishment but a big warning."
Lang Shiba casually dropped his scimitar, spread out his five fingers, turned the knife into a palm, and in front of Zhang Jian's horrified gaze, he knocked the famous captain of the police off the ground with both feet, sending him flying backwards like a cannonball.
"boom!!"
Zhang Jian smashed the window of the inn, rushed into the room, knocked over the tables and chairs, and only a large human-shaped hole was left on the window.
Lang Shiba kicked the scimitar with his foot, sheathed it, and walked back to the team calmly, as if he had done something trivial.
Gongshu Tianyuan and others looked bored and did not show any surprise.
So what if he was a martial arts master? He was only at the Divine Chapter Realm. With Lang Shiba's full strength attack, the opponent had no chance of turning the tables.
A silence.
"Dangdang!"
One of the officers' hands trembled and his knife fell to the ground. The other officers in the government office also looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"A warrior in the world?" Someone guessed it was possible, but then he felt extremely confused.
When has such a powerful person appeared in the world among the rebels?
Prefect Luan Cheng stood there in a daze, anger still frozen on his face. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead and quickly froze in the winter.
According to his idea, during this arrest, they would at most encounter a few people in the Divine Chapter Realm, which was already the limit. Zhang Jian and a group of officers would be able to handle it.
But obviously the situation was beyond expectations.
At this time, Gongshu Tianyuan, who was determined not to lose face in front of the court, curled his lips, grabbed a scarecrow from his loose sleeves, and flicked the scarecrow's head with his fingers.
"what!!"
In an instant, the archers who were ambushing on the rooftops from all directions screamed at the same time and were thrown away, each of them with a bloody head.
"It's just a superficial wound. It's nothing serious. It's just a small punishment, a big warning. I understand."
Gongshu Tianyuan explained to Zhao Duan with a smile.
You learn very quickly, but you shouldn't compete with others in everything... Zhao Duan complained in his heart. As expected, he saw that the remaining half of the officials looked pale:
"Warlock! He's a warlock!"
Luan Cheng's scalp went numb, and then his heart was dead, and he had a premonition that he was about to sacrifice his life for his country.
"Prefect Luan," Zhao Duan walked slowly to his side.
During the process, the officers hesitated and did not dare to step forward.
Zhao Duan stretched out his hand, straightened his collar while the latter looked expressionless, and said softly:
"Let me ask you one more question. How did you know we were here and when did you arrive?"
Luan Cheng's face twitched, cold sweat broke out on his back, but he gritted his teeth and stared at him fiercely, his eyes red:
"Traitor, even if you kill me, you can never make me submit!"
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, and stared coldly into the eyes of the middle-aged scholar, almost face to face:
"You want to die?"
Luan Cheng closed his eyes, his heart sank to the bottom of the valley, his whole body was cold, and he said with his last bit of strength:
"Just kill me."
The expected death did not come, and a laugh was heard in the almost silent courtyard.
Luan Cheng opened his eyes blankly and saw the rebel leader smiling gently, then slowly walked back and said:
"Old Hou, put away your knives. It seems that our whereabouts have been exposed. Haha, we originally wanted to sneak into the city without firing a gun, but it seems that our opponents are more cunning than we thought. So let's stop pretending."
Hou Renmeng and other Jinyi officers sheathed their swords and looked at the officials from the government office with disdain:
"Sir, the local officials are a disgrace to the court. If it were us, we would not be able to defeat them even if we were defeated."
Zhao Duan said with a smile:
"Don't say that. Are you willing to sacrifice your life for a few taels of silver?"
Jin Jian felt bored, took off her glasses, put them away like a treasure, and put them in the bag around her waist.
"Cough...cough..."
In the inn room, Constable Zhang Jian stumbled out coughing, and saw this scene. He turned to look at Luan Cheng with a blank expression:
"Your Excellency the Prefect, this is..."
Luan Cheng was equally confused.
At this moment, Zhang Han walked out of the crowd, glanced at the head of the police Zhang Jian with a paralyzed face, and said:
"Do you still remember me?"
Zhang Jian was stunned. He carefully identified the person in front of him and felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember clearly. It was not until Zhang Han drew the seven-foot sword from his waist that he opened his mouth in astonishment:
"You are...Zhang Jisi of the Peony Hall of the Imperial Court?!"
Next to her, Haitang, who had a string of flying knives hanging from her waist, walked over with long legs. She glanced at the group of people with some annoyance, took out her waist badge from her waist, shook it, and said:
"You haven't reacted yet?"
The Imperial Court Judicial Office... Another Judicial Office... Yu State Justice Bao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something. He stuttered, widened his eyes, and looked at Zhao Duan:
"You are... you are..."
Zhao Duan grabbed his hand, took off the disguise, revealing his original appearance, turned to look at him, and smiled:
"Prefect Luan, please take a look at who I am."
Thanks to Jianxin Jingdu Dahuo for the 100-coin reward
(End of this chapter)