The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Opposite him, in another wicker chair, curled up like a little cat, was Jin Jian.

The girl was curled up entirely, sleeping deeply, snoring softly, with her fair and delicate face showing a furrowed brow, shielding her eyes from the light with a corner of her robe.

"...Therefore, Zhuang Xiaocheng will certainly not act as I wish, surely not really rescuing Lu Zhengchun, haha, I even suspect Lu Zhengchun was his plan to eliminate using me...although there's no evidence."

"But if I were the leader of Kuangfu Society, I would definitely not waste this opportunity; I would choose to cause disturbances throughout the city, forcing the court to split their forces, and as long as they split their forces, there is a chance to assassinate me, Zhao."

"In this way, there's illusion within reality, reality within illusion, and even if it fails, with two High Grade individuals joining forces, plus the Earth God being adept at escaping, they can't be retained... No matter how you calculate it, it's not a loss... Hey, are you listening?"

After finishing his analysis eagerly, Zhao Douan glanced at the deeply sleeping girl, rubbed his forehead helplessly:

"Like chickens talking to ducks, or playing the lute to a cow."

Paused for a moment, he said: "Five taels of silver."

"Huh?" Jin Jian woke up groggily, rubbing her eyes and staring at him:

"What silver? What five hundred taels? I heard something about five."

Zhao Douan, not in a good mood, tossed the Fengyue Treasure Mirror at her, along with a small piece of silver:

"The mana in the mirror has run out, fill it."

"Oh." Jin Jian did not feel disappointed, she first seriously placed the silver into her purse, then extended her slender fingers, pointing at the small bronze mirror.

Pure mana poured continuously into the mirror, sweeping away the dust, cleansing it like new.

"Charging it once costs five taels of silver, really expensive..." Zhao Douan complained, taking the mirror and repeatedly visualizing Yun Xi's visage in his mind over the past few days.

The mirror surface rippled slowly, clouds gathered and dispersed, Yun Xi's figure appeared within, walking along a mountain path with several companions.

Zhao Douan's spirit lifted, he quickly tried to adjust the "angle," and a villa built upon the mountain appeared within the mirror.

In the distance, the mountain was cloud-enveloped, and rocks rugged; borrowing Yun Xi's viewpoint, everyone saw a large arch appeared ahead, bearing the words "Forbidden Mountain Villa."

But as Yun Xi passed through the arch, the image in the mirror shook and flickered with "snowflakes," as if hit by some interference, losing the ability to perceive and track further.

"Found it!"

Zhao Douan excitedly stood up, startling Jin Jian: "What are you doing..."

"Quick, confirm what's happening with your senior brother!" He urged.

Jin Jian said "Oh," took out a mana conch from her bosom, and as the conch vibrated suddenly, she placed it close to her ear, listened briefly, then said:

"Qi Yuchun and Ren Kun attempted to assassinate you at the execution ground, realizing that the person going there wasn't you, they fled, and incidentally killed Lu Zhengchun."

"Reacting so quickly?"

Zhao Douan clicked his tongue:

"Looks like we need to hurry, let's go, we need to act quickly."

Sleep-deprived Jin Jian showed reluctance, muttering: "Working a day shift should add more pay..."

"Alright, alright, if we catch Zhuang Xiaocheng, all my reward money will be yours, hurry up."

Jin Jian's fair hand magically drew out a magic wand, pointing in the air, silently, a large illusion moon emerged.

The girl grabbed Zhao Douan's hand, bringing them both into the moon, disappearing without a trace.

...

...

Feng City's government office.

Qing Niao followed the group woodenly, breaking into the county government office, and seeing the "noble and righteous" people beside her, decisively killed several clerks left behind in the office.

Left several corpses on the ground.

As a former maid of the Thousand Faces God, later becoming a court spy in confusion, Qing Niao is the one exchanged with Yun Xi.

Yet she evidently didn't earn Zhuang Xiaocheng's trust, thrown into a team, temporarily receiving orders to set ablaze the county government office.

Everything happened too quickly, she had no time to contact the court, only proceed according to Zhao Douan's second mission sent yesterday.

"Quick! Feng City isn't large, the execution ground is not far from the county office, and when the cavalry responds, they will soon arrive."

"Place the wood in the archival repository, dismantle the gunpowder and pour it out, give them a big surprise!"

"Qi Chi, why are you taking down the main hall's plaque? Wasting time!"

As a woman dressed like a Confucian scholar, Magician Lin Yuebai loudly instructed, and the society members busily fetched flammable materials such as wood and straw from the firewood room, piling them in key rooms of the county office.

Someone else took rapeseed oil, poured it onto the floor, threw cloth strips on top, ensuring that when the fire started it would burn into ruin.

The young Kou Qichi, at the county office's main hall, removed the "Bright Mirror Suspended" plaque, hugging it as he jumped down, boasting:

"This stuff catches fire well."

Lin Yuebai furrowed her brows slightly, saying:

"We are here to fight against the Fake Emperor, not acting like bandits. Killing these clerks has been unwarranted enough; why damage this plaque?"

One society member didn't care and said: "They're all dogs of the Fake Emperor anyway, what's the difference?"

Another said: "Yeah, Miss Lin knows the score, but those court jackals, that Zhao Douan doesn't think like you."

"Being lenient to enemies is being cruel to your own people. Those who achieve greatness do not bother with trifles."

Listening to the indifferent words around her, Lin Yuebai raised her eyebrows, feeling a bit displeased.

Today's action has already exceeded her moral principles; in her view, grievances have heads and debts their sources; there's no need to be polite with fake emperors and corrupt officials, yet acting recklessly is inappropriate.

Especially she heard that today the Grand Tutor also arranged for people to burn down granaries, even to open the county office prison and release all prisoners... to create chaos, diverting the court's forces.