Infiltration

The main reason Southern City is poor is likely because the area south of Dragon Abyss City is mountainous and the roads are difficult to travel.

Even the official roads outside the city are winding and treacherous. Therefore, even merchants from the south prioritize entering the city from the east or west. Over time, this led to the development of the East and West Markets, while Southern City became a gathering place for the poor, with increasingly poor public safety, gradually forming a vicious cycle.

Walking seven or eight li along the official road out of the South Gate, one will see one of the many mountain peaks. It looks small and ordinary, so much so that it doesn't even deserve a name. On the back slope of this nameless peak, there is a cloth shop.

The plaque hanging above it reads "Longsheng Cloth Shop".

Early in the morning, Ling Yuanbao rushed to the station again, dragged Liang Yue out, and brought him here.

"Wow, it's huge," Liang Yue said, tilting his head back.

It was more like a mountain villa than a cloth shop, nestled among the lush green mountainside, almost covering the entire slope.

"This cloth shop is in such a remote place, it's definitely not normal!" Ling Yuanbao said with a frown, then turned her head. "All our men are following up on the Ministry of Works investigation, and I had to call you over. Sorry to trouble you."

"It's no problem," Liang Yue said with a smile.

He was more enthusiastic about the Zhen Changzhi case than Ling Yuanbao and should be thanking her for letting him participate.

"You've put so much effort into investigating the Ministry of Works, how much of a grudge do you have?" Liang Yue knew the Ministry of Justice was investigating the Ministry of Works, but he didn't expect them to invest so much effort and time.

It had been so long and it still wasn't over.

Naturally, it wasn't because they had no leads; it could only be that they were planning something big.

"It's normal for you Imperial Capital Guard to be far from the imperial court and not know these things," Ling Yuanbao explained to him on the way up the mountain. "The Right Prime Minister is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Rites, the three internal ministries. The Left Prime Minister is in charge of the Ministry of War, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Works, the three external ministries. That's how it is in name, but... each ministry has its own power base."

"The Right Prime Minister came from the Ministry of Personnel, and everyone there was promoted by him, so the Ministry of Personnel is his territory and they obey his every command. But the two ministers of the Ministry of Rites and Ministry of Revenue are relatively less willing to give him face. It's the same for the Left Prime Minister; he came from our Ministry of Justice and his word is law here. But the Ministry of War and Ministry of Works on those two sides are not so obedient."

"The Left Prime Minister doesn't have as good a temper as the Right Prime Minister, and he's long been unhappy with the Ministry of War and Ministry of Works. Grandfather Qi, the Minister of National Defense in the Ministry of War, goes without saying, no one can shake him; the Minister of Works, Lu Yuanwang, is the current Emperor's father-in-law, and Lu Fei is very favored in the palace, so he's also difficult to deal with, which is why he's tolerated it for so long. This time, the Ministry of Works finally had a problem, and the Left Prime Minister gave a death order that they must dig up the Ministry of Works completely."

"The imperial court is quite chaotic too..." Liang Yue listened, nodding thoughtfully.

"Of course, it's hard to find a more chaotic place in the world," Ling Yuanbao said. "My dad didn't want me to enter the imperial court, but I wanted to join the army, and he wouldn't let me, so I..."

"So what?" Liang Yue heard her stop halfway through her sentence.

"Hehe, nothing," Ling Yuanbao changed the subject, raising her hand and pointing. "Look!"

The two arrived at the top of the mountain on the other side and looked down to see long bamboo poles set up in the cloth shop, drying colorful fabrics that fluttered in the wind, like a sky full of ribbons. The large estate, however, revealed not a single glimpse of the scene inside.

In fact, staring at it for a long time would even make one feel a little dizzy.

For a while, they only saw two carriages enter through the main gate and leave through the back gate down the mountain. They couldn't tell where they were from, but it was definitely not a normal cloth shop.

"It seems there's some kind of formation. Looks like we'll have to go in and take a look," Ling Yuanbao said after shading her eyes and looking for a long time.

"If a fight breaks out, Captain Ling, you'll have to take good care of me," Liang Yue immediately reminded her, preparing himself to cling to her leg in advance.

"Don't worry," Ling Yuanbao patted her chest. "We're partners!"

Liang Yue nodded and said, "That's right! We're the best partners."

After interacting with Liang Yue a few times, Ling Yuanbao felt more and more that this person was useful... it was as if he was a brain she had outside, and if she didn't bring him along when she went out, she always felt less sharp.

Moreover, he was quite a good person and willing to help her.

However, she wasn't someone who didn't repay kindness. As the saying goes, you help me, I help you.

Before Captain Ling came, she had already guaranteed Liang Yue that in the future, whatever he needed, she would be the first to step up!

Liang Yue was also happy to have a friend like Ling Yuanbao... He had inevitably offended some people openly and secretly during this time, so having such a friend was definitely a good thing.

At least, putting aside intelligence and emotional quotient for now, she was truly very capable in a fight.

The two arrived near the hillside, found a corner to hide from view, and Ling Yuanbao said, "I'll go in first to scout the way. You can come in after I confirm it's safe."

Saying that, she leaped up and entered the cloth shop in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, she called out softly from inside, "Come in."

Liang Yue followed her over the wall. As soon as he landed, he saw pavilions and towers ahead, a place that looked like a back garden. The two crouched low and advanced along the long corridor. There was no one in sight. After passing through this garden area, they finally reached the edge of what seemed like the main courtyard.

Not long after, Ling Yuanbao waved a hand, "Hold your breath!"

Liang Yue immediately crouched down with her, pressing against the base of the wall, concealing their figures.

After a pause, he heard footsteps. There should have been two people. Their steps were light and uniform, sounding like they also possessed martial arts cultivation.

However, the formidable Ling Yuanbao naturally wasn't afraid. She leaned in and whispered, "Later, you go out and attract their attention, and I'll take care of them from behind."

"Remember to leave them alive." This was Liang Yue's only instruction to her.

Clap, clap, clap.

The footsteps circled around and finally approached. Liang Yue took a deep breath, suddenly darted out, raised his hands high, and said, "Everyone, look at me! I have something to announce..."

Across from an arched doorway, there were two people wearing black robes and brass masks on their faces. The moment these two saw Liang Yue, before they could even show surprise in their eyes, a black shadow flashed behind them.

Bang! Bang!

Ling Yuanbao's speed was terrifyingly fast. Liang Yue could barely catch it with his naked eyes, and she had already completed her flanking maneuver, following up with two palm strikes, one on the left and one on the right, completing her attack like lightning.

The two black-robed men fell down, revealing Liang Yue's somewhat awkward face. He gave a sheepish smile, "I didn't even get a chance to attract their attention."

"Good thing I already took care of it," Ling Yuanbao clapped her hands twice.

The two dragged the two black-robed men into a hidden thicket nearby. Liang Yue said, "Wake one of them up first."

Ling Yuanbao smacked her lips twice and directly slapped one of the black-robed men awake. Her decisive action made Liang Yue wince.

"Huh? You guys..." The black-robed man woke up and was about to shout.

"Shut up!" Liang Yue removed his mask, revealing the face of a man around thirty years old. Then he covered his mouth with his hand, "Now we want to ask you something. If you answer everything truthfully, you'll be fine. Don't even think about lying. Later, we'll wake up the one next to you and ask the same questions again. If the answers are different, you two..."

Fear showed in the man's eyes, and he quickly nodded repeatedly.

Liang Yue lowered his hand and asked the first question, "What are you doing in this cloth shop?"

"This... this is a money exchange," the man hesitated for a moment, then met Ling Yuanbao's murderous gaze and immediately said, "A lot of money is sent in every day, and a lot of money flows out."

"Do you recognize this?" Liang Yue showed him the Gold Silk in his hand.

"This is a voucher," the man said. "No matter who it is, as long as they come with Gold Silk, they can exchange it for silver ingots and take them away. One chi of Gold Silk can be exchanged for one thousand taels of silver."

Liang Yue looked at the Gold Silk in his hand and suddenly felt it was a bit heavy.

As expected.

This was an underground bank, specifically for storing ill-gotten silver of unknown origin. The Gold Silk was the token used to exchange for silver. Since Zhen Changzhi also possessed Gold Silk, it indicated that this place had a significant connection to corruption within the court.

This kind of underground bank likely didn't care about the owner's identity; anyone with Gold Silk could exchange it for silver, providing convenience for many crimes.

Whether it was related to Zhen Changzhi's death was hard to say.

He then asked, "Who is the owner of this bank?"

"I don't know..." The man shook his head, perhaps to save his life, and added, "I only know that the manager here is Mister Liu. We usually follow his orders."

"Where are the bank's silver vault and ledgers?" Liang Yue asked finally.

"I don't know... Ahhh, the important things should be stored in the Pivotal Secret Pavilion, but I really don't know if what you're looking for is inside!" The man was about to shake his head again when he saw Ling Yuanbao's murderous gaze. He immediately pointed in a direction, "Go straight along this path, the one in the very middle is it."

Bang.

After he finished speaking, Liang Yue gave Ling Yuanbao a look, and with another hand chop, the man softly fainted again.

"What do we do now?" Ling Yuanbao asked habitually.

Liang Yue's gaze swept over the two men in black, saying, "First, strip them of their clothes."

"Ew—" Ling Yuanbao's eyebrows furrowed, "What do you want to do?"

Liang Yue turned his head and said, "Of course, we're changing into their clothes. What are you thinking?"