Prefectural Governor's Residence Attacked

Following Ningxiang into the room, Huang Shaojie cast a glance around it.

The side room was about thirty square meters, furnished with a chaise lounge, a dressing table with a mirror, a small round table and several chairs. In one corner stood a seven-string zither.

Several landscape paintings and calligraphy scrolls hung on the walls, along with a vividly erotic spring palace painting.

Pretending to admire the erotic painting, Huang Shaojie walked over, intending to reach out and feel behind it for a hidden chamber door.

"Sir, come have a drink!"

Leng Ningxiang hurried over and took Huang Shaojie by the arm, speaking in a coquettish voice.

Huang Shaojie sneered inwardly. Leng Ningxiang must have been afraid he would discover the concealed door mechanism behind the painting, right?

He did not insist on checking it. Taking the opportunity, he grabbed Leng Ningxiang's wrist. It looked like a caress, but he was actually probing the cultivation within her body.

"Sir, don't be like this."

With a twist of her body, Leng Ningxiang slipped her hand free almost instantly.

Yet Huang Shaojie had already sensed the abundant true qi concealed within her.

He could not help but feel astonished.

This woman's martial cultivation was absolutely no weaker than Xiao Qiuyue's!

"Miss Ningxiang, how old are you?"

Huang Shaojie sat down in a chair beside the table and asked.

"This servant is nineteen this year."

Leng Ningxiang lifted the wine pot from the table, poured two cups of wine, and handed one to Huang Shaojie.

"Come, this servant offers Sir a toast."

Huang Shaojie had initially feared the wine might be poisoned, but then he remembered that he possessed the first level of the Indestructible Vajra Technique. Ordinary poisons could not harm him at all.

Besides, this woman did not know his identity. She would not poison him the moment they met, would she?

He raised the cup and drained it in one gulp. Setting it down, Huang Shaojie casually asked, "Who is the owner behind your Fountain Pavilion?"

Leng Ningxiang lifted the pot again and filled Huang Shaojie's cup. "I heard it is some high-ranking official in the Capital City. As for who exactly, this servant does not know. I fear even Madam Hua may not know."

A high-ranking official in the imperial court?

Could there be officials in the Capital City's court secretly colluding with the Japanese pirates?

Or was Leng Ningxiang simply talking nonsense, deliberately making the hidden owner of Fountain Pavilion sound immensely powerful—borrowing a tiger's hide to unfurl a grand banner and scare people?

Huang Shaojie did not press further, lest Leng Ningxiang grow suspicious.

So he drank with Leng Ningxiang and flirted with her. Every now and then, he pretended to be lecherous and tried to embrace her, but Leng Ningxiang nimbly evaded and pushed him away each time.

"Miss Ningxiang, accompany me for a walk outside."

After emptying his cup, Huang Shaojie rose and spoke to her.

"In the bitter cold of midwinter, why does Sir wish to go out and brave the chilly wind instead of staying in the pavilion?" Leng Ningxiang seemed somewhat unwilling.

Huang Shaojie sighed helplessly. "You will not let me touch you while I am in this room, leaving my whole body burning with pent-up heat. I might as well go out for a walk."

"If that is the case, then this servant will accompany Sir outside."

With that, Leng Ningxiang put on a fox-fur cloak and left the room with Huang Shaojie.

The two descended from the pavilion and strolled about Fountain Pavilion.

Fountain Pavilion did not occupy much land, only several mu or so, with more than ten pavilions and houses.

Several thugs dressed in fitted martial attire patrolled the grounds.

Huang Shaojie sensed a sharp aura from them, and their gazes were all keen and hostile.

These people were no ordinary brothel thugs.

Their cultivation had all reached at least the Xiantian Realm, and there were no fewer than eight of them.

After making a circuit, Huang Shaojie had grasped the general layout of Fountain Pavilion. He then returned to the room in the pavilion.

He listened to Leng Ningxiang play the zither for a while and sing for a while.

An hour soon passed, and only then did Huang Shaojie leave, pretending to be reluctant to part.

That night.

After Huang Shaojie finished circulating his internal energy in the small courtyard, Eight Lord flew back.

"Eight Lord, where did Cao Renqi go today, and what did he do?"

Eight Lord said, "Today, Cao Renqi was the same as usual. After breakfast, he went to the Commandant's Office to work, then visited the military camp to inspect the soldiers' drills."

"Oh?" Huang Shaojie frowned and asked doubtfully, "He did not go anywhere else? Or do anything different from before?"

Eight Lord cocked his bird head and thought for a moment. "In the morning, Cao Renqi summoned a deputy general and ordered him to lead a thousand soldiers to the coast of Yancheng, escort a batch of goods to the Dongsheng Merchant Association warehouse."

Transporting goods from the coast?

Yancheng lay on the East Sea coast. Could he be helping the Japanese pirates transport something?

The Dongsheng Merchant Association?

Huang Shaojie recalled that Cao Renqi had met with an unidentified association president in a secret chamber at Fountain Pavilion last night.

Could that president have been the president of the Dongsheng Merchant Association?

And could the Dongsheng Merchant Association actually have been established by Japanese people?

Was this what they had discussed in the secret chamber yesterday?

Then what exactly were the goods that the Dongsheng Merchant Association wanted Cao Renqi to escort from the coast?

Never mind. Tomorrow, he would report this to Commander Niu and see how he handled it.

As these thoughts flashed through Huang Shaojie's mind, he waved at Eight Lord.

"Alright, I understand. Go back to Cao Manor and continue watching Cao Renqi."

Eight Lord beat his wings and flew away.

The following morning.

As Huang Shaojie emerged from his room, Eight Lord flew back.

"Was there anything unusual about Cao Renqi last night?"

Huang Shaojie stretched, loosening his muscles and bones as he questioned Eight Lord.

Eight Lord said, "Last night, Cao Renqi slept with two women in his arms. At the fourth watch, someone came to report that the Prefectural Governor's residence had come under attack. Cao Renqi got up and rushed to the Prefectural Governor's residence with several dozen guards."

"What? The Prefectural Governor's residence was attacked?"

Huang Shaojie gaped in shock, scarcely able to believe what Eight Lord had said.

Who could be so bold as to launch a nighttime attack on the Prefectural Governor's residence?

The Prefectural Governor was the highest official in Jiangsu Province. His residence surely had numerous guards and experts gathered like clouds. Who had swallowed a leopard's gall and dared attack the Prefectural Governor's residence?

This was a damn rebellion in the making!

Huang Shaojie stood stunned for a long while before urgently asking, "What happened afterward? Was the Prefectural Governor in danger?"

Eight Lord said, "No. By the time Cao Renqi arrived at the Prefectural Governor's residence with his guards, the residence had already repelled the attacking enemies. Cao Renqi left those several dozen guards at the Prefectural Governor's residence to protect the Prefectural Governor's safety, then took several guards back to his manor to sleep."

After listening to Eight Lord, Huang Shaojie stroked his chin and pondered.

The night before last, Cao Renqi met with the president of the Dongsheng Merchant Association. Last night, the Prefectural Governor's residence was attacked by unknown experts.

Was it a coincidence, or were the two connected?

There was another point. Cao Renqi had left several dozen guards from his own manor at the Prefectural Governor's residence. Was he not afraid that his own residence would be attacked?

Normally, after seeing that even the Prefectural Governor's residence had been attacked, Cao Renqi should have been even more afraid that his own residence would also be attacked.

Yet he left all the several dozen guards from his own residence at the Prefectural Governor's residence, then went home and slept soundly.

This was utterly unreasonable!

Could the attack on the Prefectural Governor's residence have been the work of the Japanese pirates?

What conspiracy did they have with Cao Renqi?

If so, then Prefectural Governor Luo might be in danger at any moment!

At that thought, Huang Shaojie could not help but draw in a sharp breath.