The Empress's No.1 Lackey

He had to do tonight was to pull out these needles, one by one.

Playing the role of a coachman, and wearing a bamboo hat, Hou Renmeng shook the reins:

"Understood!"

...

...

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the Capital welcomed another night.

For the vast majority of the common folk, they were neither aware of the turmoil stirred up by the Demon Path State Preceptor among the upper echelons, nor did they know about Yama Zhao's moves tonight.

Huang Jinrong was the name of a bookshop in the Capital, implying that one could find 'a house of gold' within books.

However, because of its remote location, the business wasn't very good. The neighbors all knew that the bookshop owner was a poor scholar, who spent all day inside the shop flipping through a few worn-out books.

On good days, he might sell a few volumes; on bad days, he'd only peddle a few sheets of Xuan paper and some writing brushes all day.

His impoverished state was in stark contrast to the name "Huang Jinrong."

When night fell, Huang Jinrong closed his shop door and picked up his vegetable basket, heading to the nearby markets to buy some wilted vegetables that were going cheap at the end of the day.

After making a round, he returned and hung up "Closed" signs outside the shop, then in the back kitchen, he simply cooked some vegetables and ate them with water-soaked flatbread.

Huang Jinrong was about forty years old, lived alone, with no family, and was reticent—a loner in others' eyes.

However, few knew his real identity: he was one of the Kuangfu Society's spies in the Capital.

As a mid-level member, Huang Jinrong had several subordinates, and he also had superiors though he was unaware of which layer of the entire intelligence network he belonged to.

All he knew was that this isolated intelligence network was personally established by Grand Tutor Zhuang Xiaocheng.

Yet, compared to the era when Grand Tutor was in charge, in the past six months, the organization had been constantly suppressed, and the sporadic messages from superiors sometimes filled him with surprise and at other times with worry.

"Bang, bang bang..."

In the darkness, Huang Jinrong was silently eating his dinner when he suddenly heard a knocking on his shop door.

He furrowed his brow, got up, and went outside, shouting, "We're closed, go somewhere else."

"Bang, bang bang..."

But the knocking grew more urgent.

Huang Jinrong's expression tensed. He walked to the table, grabbed the dagger hidden inside a rice bag and cautiously approached the door to listen, when an urgent voice came from outside: "Golden Eagle, it's me!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Huang Jinrong hesitated, then peered through the door crack and indeed saw a familiar round face.

He hurriedly opened the door, let the man in, and after looking around to make sure the coast was clear, he closed the door.

"What brought you here?" Huang Jinrong said with a grim expression, looking at his subordinate.

According to the rules set by Zhuang Xiaocheng, informants were forbidden to meet unless it was an emergency.

The round-faced young man looked anxious as he pulled Huang Jinrong into the back of the house and into a room lit with candles. After shutting the door, he said urgently,

"Something happened! I've got the latest intelligence, the keystone is dead!"

"What?" Huang Jinrong exclaimed in shock.

The round-faced young man said,

"The keystone approached Zhao Douan at the White Horse Hall today and then died there. I heard that the Imperial Court suspects that he was already dead when he went there, being manipulated by... the State Preceptor... The State Preceptor has returned!

I got the message, and the situation was so urgent, I had to take the risk to find you. What exactly is going on?"

Huang Jinrong was stunned for a moment then suddenly slumped down into his chair, murmuring,

"Just as I thought, just as I thought..."

His face turned ugly as he continued,

"I got a message tonight from my superiors, saying that the State Preceptor has returned, and he has already contacted the keystone and some high-ranking society members. There's something not right with the situation, but it's still unclear."

The round-faced young man cursed out loud,

"Tell me the truth, is he dead or not? I heard that the State Preceptor has put out word to the court, threatening the Fake Emperor to restore his honor and also claiming that the Second Prince's coup wasn't his doing, it was all the Second Prince's own idea..."

Huang Jinrong, feeling anxious and disturbed, warned sternly,

"Shut up, where did you hear such things? I don't care what you think, but in public, we must stick to the script set by Grand Tutor."

The round-faced young man said angrily,

"Is there anyone else here? Who doesn't know that the Second Prince instigated the coup? Grand Tutor's speech is just to fool those bookish scholars; I won't talk out of turn.

Besides, it's that Demon Path spreading rumors now – and the keystone is dead! Does Grand Tutor know about this?"

Huang Jinrong remained silent, then despondently said,

"I can't reach the higher-ups, so how would I know? Anyway, I had no prior notice about the State Preceptor's arrival; maybe my rank isn't high enough!"

After complaining for a few moments, he suddenly had a sense of wrongness, lifted his head, and stared at the familiar member before him with a suspicious look,

"Wait, there's something off about you today... No! Who are you?!"

The round-faced young man, expressionless, his face contorting and his stature cracking and stretching, reverted to the appearance of the Thousand Faces God.

He said with a cold laugh, "Mr. Zhao has said, surrender and you won't be killed."

Huang Jinrong's hair stood on end; the dagger hidden in his sleeve glinting coldly as he stabbed towards the face of the Thousand Faces God!

"Whoosh!"

The Thousand Faces God, whose dantian was sealed by the Magic Prohibition Nails, rolled and dodged, not engaging in combat.

After Huang Jinrong lunged with the dagger, he stumbled and burst through the door and window, fleeing toward the back door of the bookshop!

"Heh heh." The Thousand Faces God chuckled without a word, silently counting, "One, two, three..."

There was a thud from outside; like a sandbag, Huang Jinrong was thrown back into the shop, Jin Yi captains dressed in night clothes emerged from the darkness, capturing him alive.

As the group, under the cover of darkness, threaded through the quiet alleys, reaching the entrance of the alley under the moonlight,

The Thousand Faces God kneeled obsequiously: "Sir, we've got him."