Dreams

Seeing this woman, Zhu Guangxiao trembled with anger. In the dead of winter, he was covered in cold sweat and his hands and feet were ice-cold. He realized how treacherous this world was, filled with oppression of men.

She toyed with my feelings, hurt my dignity, and now she swaggers back in front of me. Tears welled up uncontrollably.

Zhu Guangxiao suppressed the urge to punch, held back his urination, and turned to knock on Song Tingfeng's door.

Song Tingfeng, wearing a robe and seemingly just waking up, opened the door and complained, "What's the matter? Why are you visiting so late at night?"

"Come here, shh, keep your voice down."

Zhu Guangxiao's face was grim. He dragged Song Tingfeng out the door on tiptoe, and once in the corridor, he pointed to the downstairs hall and said, "Look!"

Upon seeing this, Song Tingfeng trembled with anger, his hands and feet turned ice-cold, and tears involuntarily streamed down his face.

The two boxers, their eyes bloodshot and their spirits shattered, gritted their teeth and said, "She actually has the nerve to come to the post station? Does she think we Nightwatchers are pushovers?"

Zhu Guangxiao said in a deep voice, "What should we do?"

This matter must absolutely not be leaked, otherwise they will be forever shamed and never be able to rise again. How will they ever be able to face anyone in the government office again?

"How about we send an empress to the cold palace—let's go all the way." Song Tingfeng made a downward cutting gesture.

"No."

Zhu Guangxiao was indeed taciturn, but he wasn't stupid. He analyzed, "Since she's here, it means that the cavalry general is here too. We can't make a move; if we do, we'll expose ourselves and be questioned by the governor."

"What should we do then?"

"I suggest we discuss this with Ningyan."

The two exchanged a glance, realizing that they had no choice but to go after that bitch.

Just then, Su Su downstairs sensed something, suddenly looked up, and upon seeing the two of them, a sweet smile immediately spread across her face:

"Oh, it's you guys."

Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao's faces froze.

"Guessing now is useless. My suggestion is to go to the Military Commandery tomorrow to check the accounts and confirm their authenticity. Then, issue a warrant for Liang Youping's arrest throughout the prefecture."

Governor Zhang offered his opinion.

Xu Qi'an glanced at the American woman with the oval face, feeling quite heavy-hearted. Even with Li Miaozhen's connections and relationships, she still couldn't find Liang Youping, which meant that the other party had a powerful backer.

A statewide warrant for arrest might not be reliable.

The key to this case lies with Liang Youping.

"Good idea!" Jiang Luzhong, however, didn't seem to care much and wholeheartedly agreed with Governor Zhang's suggestion, stroking his chin as he said:

"If we can't capture Liang Youping, we'll have to use Commander Yang Chuannan to explain ourselves."

This time, it was True Qi and trembling with cold.

Therefore, if this was Yang Chuannan's self-inflicted injury ploy, then he was simply courting death. Both Governor Zhang and Jiang Luzhong were seasoned veterans of the officialdom.

Those who roam the imperial court may have ambitions, but to say they are intolerant of injustice and are partners of justice would be naive.

Can someone obsessed with justice thrive in officialdom?

The answer is no.

Governor Zhang will try to find the real culprit and uphold justice, but he will also not hesitate to push Yang Chuannan out to complete the task and gain merit.

Yang Chuannan is not innocent. First, he cannot escape the charge of negligence. Second, he was a member of the Qi faction, and now that the Qi faction has fallen, the rule of officialdom is: dismissal!

"Jiang Jinluo, you're too reckless." Xu Qi'an struggled to open his large, bright eyes to fight off sleep, and spoke with righteous indignation:

Why was Zhou Min silenced? Who framed Yang Chuannan behind this? Is this a sign of distorted humanity or moral decay? We, who are entrusted with the imperial mission, should do everything in our power to bring justice to the innocent and restore order to the officialdom of Yunzhou.

Jiang Luzhong and Governor Zhang looked at him strangely; this young man wasn't one to spout grand, empty rhetoric.

"Well said!" Li Miaozhen exclaimed, slapping the table in admiration. She raised her beautiful oval face, her bright eyes sparkling as she looked at Xu Qi'an with eyes full of approval and affirmation.

Upon hearing Li Miaozhen's praise, the two seemed to have guessed something.

"Then, Ningyan, I'll continue to trouble you with this case," Governor Zhang said earnestly. "You must find out the truth."

"The governor is definitely a villain if he's dissected. I'm so stupid to try and outsmart him. "Xu Qi'an suddenly felt like he had shot himself in the foot. He glanced to the side and saw Li Miaozhen's beautiful eyes shining brightly as she looked at him hopefully.

"This humble servant can only do his best."

Xu Qi'an is no longer a hot-blooded young man; he doesn't speak too confidently anymore. Back when he was eighteen, his motto was. "My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens."

When he turned thirty-five, his motto was. "Please, God, stop messing with me."

At that moment, everyone heard a commotion outside the room, as well as a strong fluctuation of energy.

Jiang Luzhong was the first to push open the door and step out, his sharp eagle eyes scanning the surroundings. Then, he saw Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao covering their eyes with one hand and clenching their fists with the other, stirring up their energy and waving them wildly.

He shouted, "Don't come any closer! We won't make the same mistake twice!"

Opposite them stood the stunningly beautiful Su Su, her brows furrowed, her expression one of utter innocence.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding!" Xu Qi'an rushed out, spread his arms, put his arms around the shoulders of his two colleagues, and half-pushed, half-bumped them into the room.

"What's going on between you two?" he asked, frowning.

What's the deal with that female ghost?

The two men were visibly agitated, and said in deep voices, "Knowing all this, why did we still let her come to the post station? If word gets out, how will we face anyone?"

"She came with her master to discuss Yang Chuannan's case." Xu Qi'an said irritably, "If you two didn't expose this yourselves, who would go around spreading it? She's a high-mileage carriage; what kind of man hasn't she seduced? You two are just idiots."

Song Tingfeng felt much better then, and said irritably, "I don't care, I feel uncomfortable all over when I see her, I'm so ashamed I want to scream to the heavens. I don't want to see her."

Zhu Guangxiao nodded in agreement.

Xu Qi'an's eyes immediately filled with pity. There's a condition called "Su Su PTSD".

After being appeased by the scoundrel, Song Tingfeng asked, "Did Yang Chuannan give a truthful account? Was that cavalry general here to cause trouble?"

"This case is going to be tough," Xu Qi'an sighed, wishing he had a cigarette. "Do you know the real identity of the owner we met at the dog meat shop? He's an official from the Commandery of the Capital Region."

He briefly explained the situation.

The room was silent. Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao looked at each other in horror, feeling a cold sweat break out on their backs.

They felt they were on the fifth floor, but it turned out that others were actually on the fifth floor.

"If only we could have taken him back to the post station back then," Zhu Guangxiao muttered.

"Why didn't you remind me?" Xu Qi'an pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been experiencing dizziness and slight hallucinations lately.

"Who would have thought the person was a fake?" Zhu Guangxiao said in a deep voice, "At the time, the governor and Jiang Jinluo were out on an inspection. I was thinking that once they returned and reported on the progress, I could then order the arrest if needed. Besides, once we have the evidence, the person is worthless."

"Yes, if it's not fake, we can go back and look for it," Song Tingfeng said.

"You always just offer hindsight advice," Xu Qi'an said irritably.

"By the way, that name you just mentioned seems familiar," Zhu Guangxiao frowned, deep in thought. "Speaking of which, I had a strange dream. I dreamt that someone locked me in a dark room."

Xu Qi'an laughed, "Is that little dark room called 404?"

"What 404?" Zhu Guangxiao didn't understand and continued, "Someone locked me in a small dark room and kept interrogating me: Where is Liang something? I can't remember the name."

Song Tingfeng's eyes widened. "Liang Youping?"

Zhu Guangxiao asked in surprise, "Yes, that's the name. How did you know?"

Song Tingfeng: "I had the same dream too."

Xu Qi'an's expression changed drastically, as if he had heard something terrifying.

P. S.: This chapter is a bit short. Mainly, if it weren't short, I feel like I wouldn't be able to update until after midnight. I'll make the next chapter longer to compensate.