The Empress's No.1 Lackey

A night without words.

In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, the government officer from the county office carried announcements and paste, posting the news of the destruction of the Zixiao Palace at locations throughout the county town where pedestrians must pass by.

Not only that, the Magistrate also ordered the announcements to be sent to all counties under the jurisdiction of the Prefecture, ensuring that within seven days, this matter would be known by everyone.

As expected.

When the common people saw the announcement, they were in an uproar, shocked beyond belief, and all the teahouses and taverns were filled with voices of discussion.

"Lu the Immortal of the Zixiao Palace colluded with the rebels? Imprisoned? Is it true?"

"How could it be possible, the Immortals of the Zixiao Palace are such figures? Not to mention the rebels, even if the official tries to capture them, can they catch them?" someone questioned.

"Hehe, you wouldn't know this, would you? Lord Prefect has long been in Feng City, moreover, there must have been some experts among the soldiers who entered the city yesterday. The Immortal techniques at the Zixiao Palace are formidable, but could there be no experts in the court's army?"

"The announcement also says that the Taoists on the mountain abducted and defiled women... If this is true, they should indeed be executed! Public executions in seven days? I want to go see it then!"

The townspeople had mixed reactions. Even if they were indignant that the Immortals they respected were captured, thinking about the soldiers in the city, they wisely kept their curses to themselves.

In the corner of a teahouse, Wu Ling finished a large bowl of tea, placed a few copper coins down, and got up to leave.

After twisting and turning, he arrived at a certain residence in the city.

After knocking on the courtyard door, inside there were over a dozen local Branch Leaders or small leaders gathered around a stone table, including Lin Yuebai in disguise as a man and the boy Kou Qichi with a small tiger-like temper, who all stood up and looked over.

"How are things on your side?"

A middle-aged man with a beard asked, he was the Branch Leader of the Feng City area.

Wu Ling took off his straw hat and face covering, and said seriously:

"It seems the Grand Tutor predicted correctly, the Zhao thief is indeed here, and not only that, he has captured Alliance Leader Lu."

Lu Zhengchun was codenamed "Alliance Leader" within the Kuangfu Society.

"Bang!" Another small-eyed Branch Leader from Linfeng Road slammed the table and said:

"Intolerable! The Zhao thief is malicious, clearly intending to use Alliance Leader Lu's life to lure us."

Lin Yuebai, whose eyes were large and bright, with a cloth bag hanging at her waist, frowned and said:

"It seems the Zhao thief is deliberately spreading the news everywhere, right now we cannot act rashly, we must consult the Grand Tutor."

Among the crowd, a middle-aged woman, also a core member of the society, said:

"Everyone, don't panic. Since the New Year, the Grand Tutor has secretly ordered us to gather members from around the Marine Road and outsiders from the Martial World to stealthily converge in Feng City, hiding and waiting. Isn't the purpose just to deal with the court's lackeys? With the Grand Tutor's wisdom, there will surely be arrangements. We just need to follow orders."

The young Kou Qichi looked excited:

"Then what are we waiting for? Quickly report to the Grand Tutor. Last time at Hu Ting, we failed to kill that Zhao thief. This time, the Grand Tutor has planned for a long time, deploying men, and now our large number of forces are hiding in various places around Feng City, just waiting for the Grand Tutor's order to rise up and kill the thief!"

The crowd was agitated, gearing up for action, filled with both anger and excitement.

Wu Ling glanced at everyone, sneering inside: Do you really think Mr. Zhao is easy to deal with? Just wait, seven days later, it might be your day of doom.

...

...

Inside a grape vineyard somewhere in Feng City.

Many exchanged members were still being kept in the vineyard, still unaware of the changes in the city.

At noon, Yun Xi quietly picked up lunch from the dining hall and returned to her room.

After recuperating, the scars on the girl's body had gradually faded, yet her delicate face revealed a coldness and maturity different from before.

No one was surprised.

Having seen the light of day again from the government jail, it would be abnormal not to mature a bit.

Yun Xi took a sip of soup, then grabbed a bun, eating it with pickles. But after a few bites, she suddenly frowned.

Lowering her eyes, she found that in the half-bitten bun, there was a paper roll inserted.

"..." Yun Xi was silent, got up and went to the window, carefully observed to confirm that there was no one around, then quickly extracted the oil-stained paper roll and unfolded it.

On the paper roll, there was a string of strange numbers and symbols.

Yun Xi quietly recalled the "password book" Zhao Douan had made her memorize firmly in her mind before her release, using a special method to decipher the codes.

Moments later, she understood the intelligence contained in the secret letter.

Yun Xi confirmed it three times to be accurate, decisively stuffed the paper roll into her mouth, swallowed it down with the help of the soup, and then sat down calmly to finish her lunch and returned the utensils to the kitchen.

During the process, she called out to a Kuangfu Society Member responsible for overseeing the captives in the village, "Mr. Wu, I have something important to report to the Grand Tutor."

The bald middle-aged man called Mr. Wu was stunned for a moment, "What is it?"

...

Forbidden Mountain Villa.

In the pavilion beside the cliff, Zhuang Xiaocheng sat cross-legged, a chessboard placed in front of him.

There were no pieces on the chessboard, only a letter containing the latest information from society members in Feng City, with Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun standing in the pavilion.

"Execution in seven days, just as you predicted, this Zhao Douan indeed has more plans." Qi Yuchun, never letting go of his long spear at hand, said with a grave expression.

Ren Kun, with an arm crossed, seemed somewhat dismissive, wearing an earthen yellow magic robe, glanced at the Grand Tutor whose demeanor could be considered unmatched by any National Scholar:

"So what will you do? They've already set the stage, clearly intending to use Lu Zhengchun and others as bait and openly lure us into a rescue. How will you respond?"

Zhuang Xiaocheng remained calm, seemingly unsurprised: