Chapter 102 Is Dongping Unmanned?

"Does Xi Ling think that Dongping has no one?" Tan Xiaopei lovingly hugged Tan Weixin's head and said with some annoyance, "I will let Xi Ling know that this kind of method... hehe, this kind of method will make me angry."

Among the rulers of the four Central Plains nations, Tan Xiaopei was the only one who rarely referred to himself as "Zhen" (I, the emperor), but every time he called himself "Zhen" it meant he was truly angry.

When he received the report from Nie Rui, the Imperial Guards had already temporarily taken over the defense from the city guards and closed the four gates.

Because at the Xuan Mountain Pass, Dongping's other troops had not yet been deployed, a large number of Imperial Guard troops were still滞留(zhiliu - held up) there. Currently, only a little over 40,000 Imperial Guards remained in Danyang. And according to the rules of the Imperial Guards, one-third were always on duty, one-third were in camp for training, and one-third were on leave.

Tan Xiaopei did not hesitate to send all the Imperial Guards in camp for training to join the ranks of searching the entire city for suspicious people. The Imperial Guard soldiers who were out on leave were recalled, and after regrouping, those who were necessary to guard the camp were left behind, and the remaining soldiers were immediately sent out to perform their tasks.

Half of the city guards manned the city walls to guard against unforeseen events, while the other half were organized into several search teams and began searching the areas surrounding Danyang.

But even more effective was the almost simultaneous launch by the families of the Blood Kirin Army officers of meticulous searches in all aspects of Danyang. When he learned that Chi Yun and Chi Lei, who were with Ye Tao, Tan Weixin, and others, had almost been affected by the Xi Ling spies' nearly successful plan, Chi Xianping was furious. In the process of organizing clan soldiers to rescue the Blood Kirin Army earlier, the various families had already recognized the role of the Blood Kirin Army in uniting the court and the public, and what the Blood Kirin Army's continuous meritorious service meant to the various families. Everyone reached a private agreement to fully support the Blood Kirin Army. And this threat made everyone a little indignant.

The city guards and Imperial Guards might not have the ability to make almost all the restaurants, inns, brothels, and all kinds of large and small figures in all walks of life in Danyang willingly help, but the combined families had such energy. A large number of well-informed people provided all kinds of trivial details, and only the family servants, clan soldiers, and martial arts experts who had good relations with the various families had such abundant manpower and resources to investigate one by one.

Lao Feng (Old Feng) had no chance to leave Danyang at all. As the foreman in charge of the top-floor construction, he was highly suspected, and the investigation into him had been going on from the very beginning. Two hours later, Lao Feng, who had nowhere to hide, was caught.

A considerable number of Xi Ling assassins and death warriors were also caught one after another. To maintain such a group of people who could carry out missions of no return at any time, it was necessary to keep their emotions relatively "normal" at all times. After all, apart from a few fanatics, most people still cherished their lives very much. And to keep these people in a normal mood, the usual expenses, entertainment, food, and drink were not small, and all these expenses, all these people with strange behavior, were the easiest to trace through people who had infiltrated all walks of life.

Before dinner time, in the prison of the Imperial Guard Command, under the torture of some masters in the inner court with peculiar hobbies, the name Sun Xiaofan surfaced.

"Sun Xiaofan?" Why does this name sound so familiar? Such an impression arose in Zeng Man's mind as he silently recited the name. Yes, he was getting old, and it was impossible for him to be as familiar with the contents of every report he was qualified to read, and with every name that appeared in it, as those young people who had newly emerged in the intelligence field. He raised his eyes and looked at the assistants around him, and soon the assistant found a thin page from the vast amount of data.

That was information collected in Xi Ling when Federal Express was conducting a high-risk smuggling delivery business. The content was roughly that a young man named Sun Xiaofan learned in Suoshi Town that a wealthy household was oppressing the villagers. He stepped forward to uphold justice, broke into the wealthy household's home at night, killed the entire family, and scattered all the valuables from the wealthy household's home on the street. Although the local government's pursuit basically confirmed that Sun Xiaofan had done it, and a large number of people were sent to besiege and arrest Sun Xiaofan, Sun Xiaofan was finally imprisoned without resistance. However, the situation took a turn for the worse. This Sun Xiaofan was actually the closed-door disciple of the Daoming Sect's sect master, and was traveling the world to gain experience. The Daoming Sect had a lofty status in Xi Ling, and the Daoming Sect's forces were distributed in the Xi Ling court and the public, and had a great influence on Xi Ling. After this incident, it came to nothing. Two months later, Sun Xiaofan transformed himself into a minor official in the Ministry of Personnel.

It should be this person. No matter from the name, resume, and qualifications to command the Xi Ling spies operating in Danyang, I am afraid there would not be a second Sun Xiaofan. So Zeng Man reported this situation.

"Daoming Sect..." Tan Xiaopei sighed. The world was changing too fast. Back then, when he was fighting on the border, he had also encountered a master of the Daoming Sect. After a bloody battle, his close followers almost died before he killed that guy. Since then, the Daoming Sect had left a deep impression on his mind. Times have changed, and now he was the ruler of a country, and the Daoming Sect had become a force that could almost dominate the Xi Ling court. In the Xi Ling court, two ministers openly declared that they were members of the Daoming Sect, and there were even more who secretly leaned towards the Daoming Sect. Some regulations involving the people's livelihood could not be implemented at all without the Daoming Sect, which had a great influence, high credibility, and appeal among the Xi Ling people.

If such a scene happened in Dongping, Tan Xiaopei would inevitably have difficulty sleeping and eating. He would definitely think of ways to weaken the Daoming Sect, control the Daoming Sect, or simply get rid of the Daoming Sect. However, the Xi Ling ruler happened to be in control of the world's most powerful country, but he increasingly relied on the Daoming Sect to solve his problems. Those ministers who saw the disaster in it were either suppressed and unable to express their opinions directly, or simply excluded from the power center of Xi Ling.

If the Daoming Sect's ambition was only to control the Xi Ling court, then Tan Xiaopei would not care. The more chaotic Xi Ling was, the more it would conform to the expectations of his wise ruler who had the ambition to unify the world. But the Daoming Sect was an expansive organization with strong erosion and expansion of religion, economy, and politics, and the Daoming Sect's tentacles had quietly probed into Dongping, and had caused considerable damage.

"Call Cha Ziming, and also let Zeng Man and Dou Anqi come. Let Tao Ze, the envoy of Chunnan, immediately come to see me." Tan Xiaopei did not avoid the family who were gathered together to comfort Tan Weixin, and who had begun to play cards and chess after discovering that Tan Weixin was in a good mood. A series of orders were issued.

Now, the number one family in Dongping had actually been completely captured by Ye Tao's sugar-coated bullets. Even the ritual vessels used for royal sacrifices were now supervised by the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites and built by Ye's Workshop. The entire palace, except for the throne that had been passed down for hundreds of years and the set of desks and chairs in the imperial study, were almost all furniture produced by Ye's Workshop at various levels. Even the pen holders, document boxes, filing cabinets, pen boxes, and other things used on a daily basis were all produced by Ye's Workshop.

Two months ago, the new type of windproof lamp produced by Ye's Workshop completely won the large order for palace lighting. The Inner Palace Construction Department was discussing with Ye's Workshop the comprehensive project of improving the daylighting in the Council Hall during the day and the lighting at night. Ye Tao was afraid of taking on too much responsibility and was not very willing to take over. But in terms of comprehensive lighting, in this era, probably no one but him could fully utilize the existing technical means to light up such a large space in an economical and reasonable way.

As for the boiler bathing equipment that was causing a sensation in the entire Danyang, how could the royal palace lag behind those big families? A total of six sets of the highest-end boiler equipment were installed in the entire palace, and the daily coal consumption exceeded two thousand catties.

Let's not mention these projects, which wouldn't be too eye-catching if you didn't think about them. Just looking at the board games of the number one family in Dongping, you can understand how deep Ye's Workshop's "invasion" was. Crown Prince Tan Weiming and Prince Tan Weiran were both experts in military chess, especially in the grand strategy gameplay. Now, even Empress Zhuo Xiu was addicted to that game called chess.

The chess of Ye's Workshop was not a replica of Chinese chess, but a local version of international chess. It was not because Ye Tao had any prejudice against Chinese chess, but simply because Ye Tao felt that the chess pieces of Chinese chess were very boring to make, and the revision of international chess could allow him to "show off his skills" even more. It must be admitted that the chess pieces carved from ivory and black crystal were so lovely, the chessboard pieced together from obsidian and white marble, the chess clock installed with the first-generation shockproof system, and the chess table that integrated the space for placing the chess pieces and the chessboard were so exquisite and concise. Even the two "game soft chairs" specially made by Ye Tao that could be bent into any shape and put on them were so comfortable that people didn't want to get off them, had become an indispensable part of the daily life of the number one family in Dongping. Being able to make the family happy, Tan Xiaopei had nothing to be dissatisfied with, but when he thought that all of this came from Ye Tao, and were all the tricks that Ye Tao had come up with, he felt a burst of annoyance.

Finally, the people summoned by Tan Xiaopei arrived. He ordered: "Let Tao Ze go to Fengxian Hall, and I will go there."

Tao Ze was the second resident envoy of Chunnan in Dongping, succeeding Luo Ping. Now, the relationship between countries was still at a fairly simple level. In addition to the plenipotentiary envoys temporarily sent to handle important affairs, this kind of resident envoy was already a very advanced diplomatic means. As for dividing them into different levels, that would probably be many years later.

Unlike Luo Ping, Tao Ze's family background was much deeper. He didn't need to be ambitious, and he didn't need to deliberately make achievements as a stepping stone to promotion. When Tao Ze interacted with the many courtiers of Dongping, he was much more likable than the original Luo Ping. He was more like a playboy from Chunnan living in Danyang. He played whatever he wanted, occasionally complaining that Danyang's eating, drinking, and playing were far from Yuhang, and even summoned his own chef from Yuhang from thousands of miles away, making indelible contributions to the exchange of catering industries between the two countries...

Being suddenly summoned by Tan Xiaopei when the atmosphere in Danyang was quite tense, Tao Ze couldn't figure out what it was for. After paying his respects to Tan Xiaopei, he fell silent and respectfully waited for Tan Xiaopei's instructions.

Tan Xiaopei smiled faintly and said, "I asked you to come here for a few things. First of all, it's a good thing. Consort Lian is already pregnant with my child. You should already know about this, right?"

Tao Ze quickly said, "Yes, Your Majesty. This is a good thing for both our countries." While sending out a bunch of flattery as usual, Tao Ze was even more puzzled. He knew that Tan Xiaopei would never summon him at this juncture for this matter.

"Yes, of course this is a great thing. No matter whether Consort Lian gives birth to a boy or a girl, they will be granted titles according to the custom of Dongping. But... there is one thing that needs to be reported to Chunnan."

"Please give your instructions, Your Majesty," Tao Ze said, bowing.

"In order to ensure the safe birth of the child in Consort Lian's belly, I want to replace Lady Han Qi Han, the maidservant official beside Consort Lian," Tan Xiaopei said lightly.

"Lady Han has been widowed for many years, and her character is dignified and gentle, but is there anything that has offended Your Majesty?" Tao Ze hesitated a little. From the time Princess Bailian married Tan Xiaopei and became Consort Lian until now, Tan Xiaopei has always been very magnanimous in arranging the people around Consort Lian. Even if there were any adjustments or arrangements, he would inform Chunnan in advance. In fact, even if he wanted to replace Lady Han, who could be regarded as Consort Lian's close and closest maidservant official, he didn't need to let anyone know in advance.

Tan Xiaopei shook his head and said, "I'm afraid you don't know that Lady Han is now a spy of the Daoming Sect, right?"

While Tao Ze was shocked, Tan Xiaopei ordered, "Summon Cha Ziming, the commander of the Imperial Guards, Dou Anqi, the Minister of Rites, and Zeng Man, the Executive of the Inner Palace."

After the three of them came in and paid their respects, Tan Xiaopei said, "Zeng Man, tell us what's going on. Let everyone understand."

"Yes," Then, Zeng Man began to narrate a series of things that had been investigated recently. In this operation against Xi Ling, due to the obvious incident of information leakage, a series of possible situations were investigated, led by Zeng Man. During the investigation, a very strange situation was discovered: a deputy general of the Imperial Guards who knew the specific situation had a private affair with Lady Han. While Zeng Man was investigating the deputy general, he even asked Tan Xiaopei to have the Ministry of War transfer the deputy general away from the sight of Cha Ziming, the commander of the Imperial Guards, and then secretly interrogated the deputy general, and the deputy general confessed to leaking information. Although this kind of thing was not intentional, the crime was equally unforgivable. And what made Zeng Man even more curious was that Lady Han, who was only a little over thirty years old, was able to be elusive in the arrangement of time and place when she had a private affair with the deputy general, and did not let anyone else know. This was not something that ordinary people could do. As for how Lady Han sent out the information, and why she had an affair with Xi Ling, it was another question that made people unable to understand. Zeng Man sent people to conduct a background investigation on Lady Han's situation in Chunnan, and also sent experienced subordinates to monitor and control Lady Han, and finally there was a breakthrough. An undercover agent discovered that Lady Han's incense burning and Buddhist chanting twice a day were a little strange. From lip reading, it was known that Lady Han was silently chanting not Buddhist scriptures or any related prayers at all, but a section of the Daoming Sect's prayers. Subsequently, the undercover agent infiltrated Lady Han's residence again when Lady Han was doing things during the day, opened the Guanyin statue on the wall, and found the Dharma image of the Daoming Sect's sect master affixed to the wall behind the Guanyin statue, and also found an order from the Daoming Sect, roughly similar to a regional supervisor, written in cipher in the jewelry box interlayer in the room.

Having already controlled Lady Han, Zeng Man was determined to play a long game. Originally, Tan Xiaopei also agreed with Zeng Man's opinion. But the sudden "Skyscraper Bombing Case" forced him to reconsider this matter. Sun Xiaofan and Lady Han belonged to different channels, but both belonged to the Daoming Sect. And now the Daoming Sect had actual actions of destruction and killing against Dongping. Controlling Lady Han, but also ensuring that Lady Han would not threaten the child in Consort Lian's belly in any case in a desperate situation, this was really beyond the ability of any undercover agent system. At this time, Tan Xiaopei felt that it was more important to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, and to comprehensively attack the power of the Daoming Sect in Dongping through thorough tracing. Eliminating those action personnel was important, but clearing those who were lurking to collect information was equally urgent.

"Your Majesty, I was negligent." Cha Ziming immediately knelt on the ground. The deputy general under his command leaked information, causing the first batch of reinforcements to be wiped out, which made the entire battle situation once fall into a passive state. This crime was by no means small.

"Get up! I would have pursued you long ago." Tan Xiaopei did not take this matter too seriously.

Tao Ze also understood why he had to be informed in advance about replacing Consort Lian's maidservant official, Lady Han. Tan Xiaopei definitely wanted to do more than just replace Lady Han. He would also interrogate her and torture her later, and he would draw out a series of Daoming Sect people from her. Lady Han was just a widow with no great background in Chunnan. Otherwise, she would not have been sent to be this maidservant official who had almost no hope of returning to her country for life and was destined to die in a foreign land. But Dongping's handling of Lady Han, after all, involved the issue of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Tao Ze pondered for a moment and said firmly, "Your Majesty, the matter is urgent. Lady Han should be handled by Your Majesty. I will naturally clarify this matter to my lord, but the issue of evidence cannot be ambiguous."

Tan Xiaopei said with satisfaction, "Naturally, Zeng Man will hand over the previous investigation documents to you, and you can send people to follow the arrest of Lady Han and the search of her residence. But those people in your country in Jingu Garden must also be restrained by you."

Tan Xiaopei looked at Dou Anqi standing on the side and said, "Minister Dou, I summoned you here today, do you understand why?"

Dou Anqi stroked his beard and bowed, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Yuhang in person to tell the Lord of Chunnan about this matter."

"Well, I originally wanted to send someone to go, but it's best for you to run in person. Thank you for your hard work." Tan Xiaopei nodded and said, "However, it's not just that. It would be even better if we could persuade the Lord of Chunnan to maintain consistency with our country on the issue of investigating the Daoming Sect."

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ps1: Sorry for writing the wrong chapter name, there are two 102s, VIP chapters are not easy to modify, please bear with me~

ps2: Very long two chapters, it's enough, continue to ask for monthly tickets, please encourage everyone~