"Report."

The carriage stopped just two streets away from the Suzhou Prefecture. The Tiger Guards vigilantly watched the surroundings. An agent from the Overwatch Council, dressed in civilian clothes, approached. After verifying the waist token, he leaned toward the carriage window and whispered.

Inside the carriage, Fan Xian was carefully examining a document. He nodded and said, "Speak."

"The Ming Garden did not resist. Our people have entered and are searching. No results yet."

Fan Xian pondered briefly and said, "Be careful. Tell Ziyue not to be too arrogant."

The agent responded and turned to leave the carriage, disappearing into the morning crowd of Suzhou City.

The carriage moved slowly again, advancing half a street toward the Suzhou Prefecture. Another agent from the Overwatch Council emerged from a street corner, approached the carriage, and reported in a low voice, "No unusual activity at the docks."

Fan Xian remained silent and waved the person away.

From the Hua Garden to the Suzhou Prefecture, one had to traverse half of Suzhou City. Along this route, the carriage traveled quietly, not attracting much attention. Most of the citizens of Suzhou did not know that this morning, officials from the Overwatch Council had stormed into the Ming Garden like wolves and tigers.

And during this distance, the crows temporarily mobilized by the Overwatch Council began to report information from all sides. All information related to the Ming family's response was collected into this moving carriage.

For example, the situation in the Ming Garden, the normal operation of the Ming Clan's trading company, and the response from the governor's office were all transmitted to the carriage at the fastest speed, allowing Fan Xian to make overall considerations.

In other words, this carriage was the central command tent for today's Overwatch Council operation.

Fan Xian also sensed a hint of anomaly. Even if the Ming family was feigning weakness, it was impossible for him to have humiliated them so thoroughly without any counterattacks. On the contrary, the governor's office was beginning to become nervous, and there were rumors of troop movements.

In today's plan, observing the Ming family's reaction was one aspect, while capturing the Zhou family's steward was of paramount importance. For the past few days, the Ming Garden had been under close surveillance by the Overwatch Council, and that Steward Zhou should not have had any opportunity to escape.

Of course, the most crucial thing was that the Ming family should still be unaware that the Overwatch Council had already learned about Steward Zhou being hidden in the Ming Garden.

Thinking of this, a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of Fan Xian's lips. If the rich and powerful families in this world were attacked from the outside, they were always like centipedes that would not die easily, but if they were to be disrupted from the inside, they would face real difficulties—this was what Cao Xueqin had said in *Dream of the Red Chamber*. The reason he had such feelings at this time was that the hiding place of Steward Zhou was informed to Fan Xian through some channel by a member of the Ming family, a person with great power within the Ming family.

Otherwise, with the Ming Garden's stringent defenses, how could the Overwatch Council, which had not successfully placed a high-level spy for more than ten years, have accurately predicted that Steward Zhou was in the Ming Garden?

As long as Steward Zhou was in the Ming Garden, today's matter would be a success.

…

…

The carriage gradually approached the Suzhou Prefecture. Another Overwatch Council agent came to report more news. After that, there were no more anomalies. The carriage then drove into an inconspicuous alley, leaned against a thick wall, and stopped there, not knowing what it was doing.

Ten zhang away from the side of the Suzhou Prefecture Office was the prison for detaining prisoners. People were killed in the prison in autumn and raised in spring, so now was the time when it was "prosperous." A single cell actually held forty or fifty people.

From the iron gate of the prison, all the way to the end of the straight path, there was a spot where the light shone down from above, providing a little more warmth and dispelling some of the dampness, making it much more comfortable than other dark and sunless cells.

This cell was lined with dry grass, and under the grass, prohibited items such as cotton quilts were faintly visible. A middle-aged man was drinking wine alone with a pale face, enjoying treatment that ordinary prisoners could not enjoy.

This was Ming Fourth Master. Because the Overwatch Council wanted to deal with the Ming family, he became the first person to be sacrificed. He had been forcibly imprisoned in the Suzhou Prefecture for more than ten days, and there was no news of his release. However, the Ming family was, after all, a powerful and wealthy family. The Suzhou Prefecture seemed to be supported by them, so his life in prison was naturally taken care of by people from top to bottom, and his life was still comfortable. Some Jiangyang bandits in the adjacent cells looked at him with envy.

Ming Fourth Master was too lazy to pay attention to those petty thieves. He just squinted at the three jailers outside the cell door, a sneer appearing on the corner of his lips, and said, "What's the matter again today?"

The cell door slammed open by the jailers. One jailer bowed and said with a fawning smile, "Fourth Master, you've suffered these days. It's just that the Overwatch Council is keeping a close eye on us, so it's not easy for us to arrange a single room for you."

Ming Fourth Master shook his head and sighed, "Being able to get out earlier is the main thing. Has the family said anything?"

At this time, the other two jailers had brought in good food and wine, arranging it in front of him, the fragrance wafting in the air.

Ming Fourth Master was slightly surprised, thinking that it was not yet lunchtime, why were they bringing food so early today? Suddenly, he thought of something, and his expression changed drastically. He said in a hoarse voice, "What does this mean?"

"Eat this meal and get ready to go on your way," the jailer sighed.

Ming Fourth Master's face was pale, and he couldn't believe his ears. He thought that he was at most involved in bullying the market, but it wouldn't be a capital crime, and he was a member of the Ming family, how dare the government kill him so casually? He subconsciously retreated backward, looking at the jailer with venomous eyes, and said fiercely, "What are you talking about? This master doesn't understand."

The jailer lowered his head slightly and said, "The Overwatch Council's intention, Fourth Master, don't blame us."

Ming Fourth Master was not a confused person. After thinking about it for a while, he understood the ins and outs of the matter. After a long silence, he laughed miserably and said, "What Overwatch Council! I'm afraid the family wants to kill me, right?"

The jailer straightened up and said in a low voice, "Since Fourth Master understands, then don't mind too much. It's all for the good of the family... The Overwatch Council is pressing the family hard now. I heard that they entered the Garden this morning. If they don't do something and make some noise, how can the Overwatch Council be willing to stop? You are the Fourth Master. Using your life to temporarily ensure the family's peace for half a year is always worth it."

Ming Fourth Master was furious and cursed, "You bastards! Why don't you let the Old Matriarch die! I'll fuck her ancestors!"

Now that it was a matter of life and death, he certainly knew why the Ming family would send someone to kill him. This was definitely not to silence him, he didn't know the core business of the family at all. This was just a smear of ink, a smear on the face of the Overwatch Council. The Ming family's strategy of showing weakness and being emotional, drafted at the end of last year, needed to use the death of the dignified Ming Fourth Master as the trigger for the explosion.

Thinking of this, how desperate and unwilling he was, how angry he was.

The jailer's face changed, and he said, "The Old Matriarch is the protector of the family, Fourth Master, please show some respect in your words."

Ming Fourth Master smiled miserably, retreating towards the corner of the wall, cursing in his mouth, "I am also a master of the Ming family, why should I die? Just because I am not her own son?"

At this time, two jailers had already walked to Ming Fourth Master's side, ignoring Ming Fourth Master's screams and resistance. They took out a dirty rag and stuffed it into his mouth, blocking his foul language, and tied his hands behind his back at the same time.

At this time, the commotion in the inner room had alarmed the entire prison. Many prisoners looked at this side curiously and fearfully.

The leading jailer frowned and shouted, "The Overwatch Council is handling affairs, be quiet!"

Even if they were locked in prison, these prisoners knew that the Overwatch Council was now suppressing the Ming family, but everyone did not expect that the Overwatch Council would actually go deep into the prison to assassinate Ming Fourth Master, and they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, and gradually developed some injustice for the Ming family. But no one dared to look at that side again, for fear of causing trouble for themselves.

…

…

The jailer looked at the food plate in front of him, shook his head, and said with regret, "The last meal, and you can't even eat it well, it's really hard on you."

After saying this, he waved his hand, and the two jailers who were holding Ming Fourth Master put a rope around Ming Fourth Master's neck.

Ming Fourth Master's neck was tied, his face was flushed red, and his feet kept kicking the ground, kicking the dry grass around.

The rope was tied tighter and tighter, Ming Fourth Master's eyeballs seemed to bulge out, his nostrils were wide open, looking extremely terrifying. The strength of his feet kicking was also getting smaller and smaller, like a dying frog, weakly bouncing.

One can imagine the despair in Ming Fourth Master's heart when he was about to die, and the resentment towards the Ming family's old woman and Ming Qingda. It was just that he was about to die, so what could he do?

The jailer, who was coldly watching the dying Ming Fourth Master, suddenly felt something strange. In his peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of the prisoner in the adjacent cell looking at him.

Looking at himself very indifferently, not like watching the excitement coldly, nor with a trace of fear.

He turned around in shock, and then saw that the prisoner had taken something out of the haystack, aiming at himself.

A crossbow!

…

…

Zheng zheng zheng! With three sounds of the crossbow mechanism, three crossbow arrows were fired, accurately piercing the throats of the three jailers. The three of them covered their throats, not even having time to make a sound, and fell to the ground, kicking their legs twice before dying.

With the death of the jailers, the ropes were immediately loosened, and Ming Fourth Master, who was already dying, gradually regained strength in his feet that were weakly kicking.

He slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the prisoner next door with dazed and cloudy eyes, not knowing why the other party wanted to save him, and even more unclear how the other party had saved him.

At this time, the prisoner looked as if nothing had happened, looking straight ahead, squatting next to the railing.

Ming Fourth Master was sore all over, and there was incontinence in his pants, which was foul-smelling, but he knew that he had escaped from death.

At this time, behind him, the thick wall opened a crack silently, as if it was moved by ghosts and gods, revealing the bright blue sky outside!

…

…

Gao Da retracted the long saber, his face slightly pale. Forcibly opening the thick wall of the Suzhou Prefecture prison also cost him a lot of true energy. He entered the cell, picked up Ming Fourth Master with one hand, and left the prison.

Another official from the Overwatch Council entered, pulled out the crossbow arrows from the throats of the three jailers, and carefully arranged the scene in the cell before walking to the railing and reaching out.

The prisoner, who had previously saved Ming Fourth Master's life, handed the hidden crossbow in his hand to the Overwatch Council official without saying a word, and pointed to the food box next to him.

The Overwatch Council official picked up a chicken leg and put it in his hand.

The prisoner smiled, somewhat satisfied.

The Overwatch Council official lowered his voice and said, "Wait two more months, the master still needs you as a witness."

The prisoner nodded while gnawing on the chicken leg.

Not long after the Overwatch Council official retreated, the prisoner flicked the chicken leg he had gnawed on into a cell diagonally across from him. Suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and he was extremely frightened, shouting hoarsely, "Help! Help! Someone is killing people and robbing the prison!"

————————————————————————

The carriage left the small alley behind the Suzhou Prefecture and slowly drove towards the location of the Governor-General's Office, but at this time, there was one more person in the carriage.

Ming Fourth Master slumped on the floor of the carriage in extreme fear, looking up at the young and handsome figure, unable to speak for a long time.

Fan Xian shook his head and sighed, "Rich and powerful families, indeed, are full of filth and dirt."

He immediately smiled and said, "Now you naturally understand, and I don't need to say more. In the future, you must grasp the Ming family well and cooperate well with Ming Seventh Master."

Ming Fourth Master swallowed, the scene of escaping from death had too much psychological impact on him. He nodded fiercely without any consideration.

Fan Xian said softly, "The Old Matriarch wanted to kill you and blame it on my Overwatch Council, publicize it among the people, create an image of me, Fan Xian, being shameless and cold-blooded, and provoke public sentiment to protect her Ming family... But now that I have saved you, I will instead blame the Ming family, saying that the Ming family robbed the prison... Tell me, how will she respond?"

Ming Fourth Master's eyes were dull, and he shook his head, enduring the pain in his throat, and said in a hoarse voice, "Master... don't underestimate the old... that old bitch."

…

…

(It turns out that the state is not just a mental state problem. I have a cold, a bad cold, it hurts hissing... I wrote less, but the quality seems to be better, and my self-satisfaction is rising.)