The Assassin Organization Black Stone, The Four Great Secret Agents

Black Stone.

A killer organization hidden in the shadows.

Countless organizations like it exist throughout the jianghu, and the assassination industry is severely competitive.

However, Black Stone found its own unique path: assassinating officials.

In this regard, they have always been successful.

What truly made Black Stone famous was their consecutive assassinations of the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Personnel, and the Minister of War three years ago.

Furthermore, they subsequently assassinated the successors to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Personnel.

In total, they assassinated seven ministers!

This feat was something even the most feared killer organization in the Ming Dynasty's jianghu, the Azure Robe Tower, could not accomplish.

As a result, Black Stone's fame soared, and they began to be known as the foremost killer organization in the Ming Dynasty's jianghu.

There was even a saying, "Want to be an official? Worship Black Stone."

This meant that officials could only take office smoothly if they received Black Stone's approval; otherwise, they would die before assuming their post.

As for how to get their approval, it naturally involved paying them money.

The identity of the person behind the Black Stone organization was also a major mystery.

The jianghu whispered that the likely mastermind controlling Black Stone was the Grand Secretary Pei Ju.

This was because cabinet officials could not concurrently hold positions as ministers in the Six Ministries, let alone be the Grand Secretary.

Pei Ju was able to serve as Grand Secretary while also holding the positions of Minister of Justice and Minister of Personnel because Black Stone's repeated assassinations of the ministers of these two departments and their successors had instilled fear in the court, deterring others from taking on the roles.

Pei Ju could then use this as justification to hold both ministerial positions.

Therefore, the person behind Black Stone was, in fact, Pei Ju.

However, this was merely crude talk from the common folk.

Those who truly understood the court's dynamics would realize that Pei Ju had already been the head of a major faction in the court three years prior, which was why he was promoted by the late emperor to become Grand Secretary.

The positions of Minister of Justice and Minister of Personnel were offices he had previously held.

Upon his resignation, he had the power to submit a list of candidates to the emperor.

Given Pei Ju's capabilities, the individuals on the submitted list were naturally his own partisans.

In other words, even if Pei Ju couldn't hold the positions concurrently, the power of these two ministries was still firmly in his grasp.

The individuals who took over after the assassinations were also his partisans.

Pei Ju would have to be insane to go to such lengths to assassinate his own people.

As for the true mastermind behind it, it was likely those who desired the power of these two ministries but could not directly intervene.

They could only resort to such dirty tactics to clear the seats for their own people.

What they didn't anticipate was that Pei Ju would choose to hold both ministerial positions himself.

Even more preposterous was that the late emperor actually agreed.

Helpless, they could only give up.

As for whether that person was Cao Zhengchun or Zhu Wushi... either was possible.

The key to this matter was that Pei Ju would certainly seek revenge on Black Stone afterward.

However, three years have passed, and Black Stone is still active.

Where there is jianghu, there is the Azure Dragon Society.

But Black Stone, even the Azure Dragon Society, couldn't eliminate them.

It truly made one marvel at Black Stone's power.

However, Zhou Ming, knowing the plot, naturally understood that the reason Black Stone could evade even the Azure Dragon Society was that its leader was not in the jianghu, but outside of it.

More precisely, within the Imperial Palace!

Not the emperor, not a prince, nor any woman in the palace.

But a eunuch!

He wasn't even a particularly famous or high-ranking eunuch, but merely a ninth-rank eunuch, the lowest level!

The Azure Dragon Society's reach extended to every corner of the jianghu, and even some princes and ministers in the imperial court might be members of the Azure Dragon Society.

But within the Imperial Palace, the Azure Dragon Society could not extend its influence.

Even if they tried, they likely wouldn't have imagined that the famous leader of Black Stone was actually just a low-level eunuch!

Unfortunately, Zhou Ming had never entered the Imperial Palace himself.

Therefore, there were very few people with his mark within the Imperial Palace.

Thus, even though he knew Black Stone's leader was a eunuch in the Imperial Palace, he didn't know which one specifically.

Fortunately, Zhou Ming's marking ability had now awakened a new function, allowing it to transmit through sound as a medium.

It's estimated that after a while, the palace will be filled with people bearing the mark.

By then, finding the leader of Black Stone will be as easy as pie.

"Perhaps, I can also use that opportunity to accelerate things..." Zhou Ming thought.

A few days later, Yang Yuxuan's entire family was exiled and left the capital.

Logically speaking, as a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War, even with conclusive evidence, he wouldn't have been exiled so quickly.

However, Cao Zhengchun hated this person to the bone, so he expedited the process, wanting Yang Yuxuan's family to leave the capital so the Eastern Depot could act conveniently.

Accompanying them was the Eastern Depot's most elite Black-Clad Arrow Guard.

At almost the same moment, Dragon Guard Manor made its move.

And Shangguan Hai, the master of the number one manor in the land, was making frequent moves.

Zhou Ming had his subordinates' three teams leave one team behind to continue monitoring Shangguan Hai, while the other two teams followed, their sole purpose being covert surveillance without any direct action.

As for Zhou Ming himself... he was naturally resting comfortably at home!

Did they expect him to personally take action?

How could that be!

He was Pei Ju's adopted son, the future young master of the Azure Dragon Society, not some beast of burden!

For matters like this, he would naturally stay at home and strategize, not personally get involved!

Furthermore, why would something whose answer he already knew be worth a personal trip?

A few days later, the two teams returned with the results.

Zhou Ming then took the results and went to find Pei Ju.

The entire process was very simple: the Eastern Depot's Black-Clad Arrow Guard made their move, and then suddenly two great heroes appeared and dealt with them, saving Yang Yuxuan's family.

However, while Dragon Guard Manor could save them, they couldn't change their fate of exile.

Therefore, they could only return and find a way to appeal their case later.

Pei Ju looked at the intelligence report: "Black-Clad Arrow Guard? Cao Zhengchun really spared no expense! And the ones who made a move from Dragon Guard Manor were two people... Duan Tianya, Gui Hai Yidao?"

Zhou Ming was surprised: "Godfather, you know them?"

"Of course. Zhu Wushi, like me, never married or had children, so he adopted two sons and a daughter. These three have been helping Zhu Wushi with his burdens since they were teenagers; they are very capable!"

"..."

Zhou Ming had a feeling his godfather's words were subtly hinting at something, but he didn't ask.

Pei Ju put down the intelligence report: "I didn't expect Zhu Wushi to send his two adopted sons instead of dispatching the Four Great Secret Agents. If that's the case, then figuring out the identities of the Four Great Secret Agents will likely require finding another opportunity."

Zhou Ming said: "Godfather, do you think it's possible... I mean, just possibly, that Zhu Wushi's three adopted children are actually three of the Four Great Secret Agents."

"Hmm?"

Pei Ju was taken aback, then his face showed a look of sudden realization: "So that's how it is, there's indeed a possibility! If that's the case, then the master of the number one manor in the land, Shangguan Hai, is actually Zhu Wushi's adopted daughter, Shangguan Haitang? Heh heh, cross-dressing!"

This world is different from the original plot.

In the original work, Dragon Guard Manor had been established for over ten years, and Duan Tianya and the other two had been using their secret agent identities and working for many years, so many people knew who the Four Great Secret Agents of Dragon Guard Manor were.

But in this world, Dragon Guard Manor only began preparations for its establishment three years ago.

Excluding the preparation time, the actual time they started working is only about a year.

As for the Four Great Secret Agents, they only gradually took up their posts a year and a half ago, so very few people knew the identities of these four.

As the saying goes, the more you do, the more clues you leave behind.

Even without this incident, it's estimated that Pei Ju would have eventually figured out their identities after the Four Great Secret Agents made a few more moves.

"However, if that's the case, these three are only three of the Four Great Secret Agents. Who could the remaining one be?"

Pei Ju frowned.