The Covert Agent

"While we were drinking tea just now, I observed that the soldiers guarding the city paid particular attention to adult men traveling alone. They not only checked their travel permits but also touched their faces," Xu Qi'an said.

"Touch her face?" The princess was taken aback for a moment before realizing what she meant, and furtively lowered her voice. "Checking if she's disguised?"

"Not stupid at all," Xu Qi'an nodded. "They're definitely not looking for you, because someone kidnapped by barbarians would never travel alone."

No wonder he suddenly suggested having tea and resting in the pavilion. The princess suddenly understood.

Moreover, areas like Sanhuang County, which are adjacent to Jiangzhou, are generally not targets of barbarians, so such strict checks are unreasonable.

"Furthermore, this incident shows that the promise of slaughtering three thousand miles is definitely not just empty talk. Otherwise, the people of the Northern King wouldn't be so cautious," Xu Qi'an sneered.

If you have nothing to hide, you wouldn't be so wary of the legendary crime-solving expert, Xu Yinluo, whose divine power is like that of a prisoner.

The two found an inn in the city and booked a superior room. As soon as the door closed, the princess, who had always appeared obedient and submissive, erupted in anger, shouting:

"You're just trying to take advantage of me, aren't you? Just like those lecherous men in those stories. You deliberately only booked one room."

"What's the name of the book you're looking at? Let me borrow one to talk." Xu Qi'an sneered, "If you're willing to take off your bracelet, I'd be happy to spend the night with you, Princess. As for your current appearance..."

He pointed to the dressing table by the window and teased, "Take a look in the mirror first."

The princess gritted her teeth in anger, glared at him fiercely, and retorted with a cold smile, "Fine, then tonight you sleep on the floor and I'll sleep on the bed. If you touch me, you're a beast."

"Alright, I'm going to take a bath now. Please leave."

After so many days, she wasn't as wary of Xu Qi'an as before, knowing he most likely wouldn't touch her. But her proud personality and habit of arguing made it difficult for her to get along peacefully with Xu Ningyan.

"I won't be back tonight. Go to bed early." Xu Qi'an waved and turned to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" The princess's expression changed slightly.

Although she didn't want to admit it, this guy had indeed given her a sense of security for a long time, and his sudden departure left her feeling somewhat uneasy and uncertain.

"Now that I'm in Sanhuang County, I want to see if they have any Sanhuang chickens," Xu Qi'an replied.

Upon hearing this, the princess beamed with joy. "I'll go too! I want to eat there too!"

Xu Qi'an said irritably, "I'm going to a brothel!"

"."

The princess sat on the edge of the bed, turned her head to the side in a huff, and showed him the back of her head.

In the alleyway across the street from the inn, Xu Qi'an kept an eye on the inn for half an hour, but he didn't see any suspicious people following him, nor did he see the princess sneaking away.

"She didn't even try to escape? Is this princess out of her mind?"

This result surprised Xu Qi'an quite a bit. In his view, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to escape. From now on, the sky's the limit for birds to fly and the sea's the limit for fish to leap.

She has shed the identity of a princess and no longer needs to live in fear of becoming "medicinal material."

Is she unwilling to give up the wealth and glory that comes with being a princess? Well, after spending the last few days with her, she seems more like a naive girl, proud and willful, without any airs of worldliness.

Besides, is wealth and glory more important than life?

Judging from the tone she uses when mentioning Prince Huai, she has no feelings for her nominal husband. Sometimes she would space out at night, displaying a negative and pessimistic attitude. Was she despairing of her inescapable fate? What a tragic woman.

Xu Qi'an set off under the cover of night, wandering around the city for a long time before finally stopping in front of a brothel called "Ya Yin Lou".

As mentioned earlier (Chapter 21), the grade of a brothel can be determined by the suffix of its name; first- and second-class brothels mainly use terms like "courtyard," "hall," or "pavilion."

Third- and fourth-class brothels often used names like "building," "class," or "shop."

"Yayinlou" could only be considered a lower-middle-class brothel, but in a small county like Sanhuang County, it was probably the highest-class brothel.

Women dressed in colorful gowns and skirts greeted and saw off guests at the door, chatting and laughing.

The Nightwatchers's undercover agent was a seafood merchant at Ya Yin Lou, whose nickname was Cai'er.

The Nightwatchers's spies were spread throughout the Great Feng, representing all walks of life and professions, which enabled them to gather intelligence from all angles.

Before leaving the capital, Wei Yuan gave Xu Qi'an a list containing the contact information, names, and details of spies throughout Chuzhou.

"Oh, sir, please come in, please come in."

As soon as he stepped into the hall, a madam came up to him, her venomous eyes scrutinizing Xu Qi'an from head to toe. He was dressed plainly, but his appearance was incomparably handsome.

Looks are secondary; the most important thing is a bulging purse around the waist—that's a high-quality customer!

The madam appeared enthusiastic, but was actually somewhat reserved. Because she was unsure of the customer's skill level, she was unsure how much enthusiasm to give and was afraid of inadvertently offending him.

At that moment, he saw Xu Qi'an open his arms.

In a brothel, this gesture signals to the madam to hug one's arm as a sign of intimacy.

The woman, clearly an old lecherous brothel madam, beamed with a smile through her heavily made-up face, as if she had seen family. She eagerly took Xu Qi'an's arm and said in a sweet, coquettish voice:

"My lord, please have a seat here and some tea. I'll pick out a few pretty girls for you."

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Qi'an waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "I've come to find Cai'er."

"Oh dear, you've come at a bad time. Cai'er has a customer. Would you like to look at some other girls?" The madam's smile remained unchanged.

"I only want Cai'er." Xu Qi'an took off his purse and tossed it to the madam.

"This"

The madam, feigning reluctance, led Xu Qi'an upstairs, but inwardly she was overjoyed. Compared to the piles of silver, what did rules matter?

In brothels, there are countless examples of people fighting over a girl. Fighting is nothing serious; at worst, the troublemakers are kicked out. Of course, those who pay less or have no connections are kicked out.

The two arrived at a room where they could hear sounds of a man and woman making love, and the bed creaking.

Xu Qi'an kicked open the door, startling the man and woman inside. On the bed, a fat middle-aged man was on top of a delicate and beautiful woman.

The man looked towards the door with a terrified expression, then his face hardened with murderous rage as he roared, "Get out!"

The beautiful woman, however, had her eyes light up when she saw the incomparably handsome young man.

Don't be angry. Okay, any man would be furious about this. Xu Qi'an strode forward, adopting the posture of a spoiled brat vying for a woman, and dragged the man off the bed, giving him a good beating.

"Brother, brother, let's talk this out."

After taking two punches and a kick, the man realized that his opponent was incredibly strong and knew he was no match for him, so he promptly begged for mercy and admitted defeat.

"Put your clothes on and get out," Xu Qi'an cursed.

The man quickly put on his undershirt and trousers, then grabbed his coat and trousers and fled in a panic.

The madam standing at the door cast an inquiring glance at Cai'er on the bed, who shook her head slightly.

She didn't recognize the handsome man.

The madam, too lazy to interfere further, said with a smile, "We won't disturb your romantic night. Cai'er, serve our guests well."

After saying that, he closed the door.

Xu Qi'an sat down at the round table, amplifying his hearing as he listened to the madam's footsteps receding into the distance, followed by the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs.

Cai'er sat up, revealing her fair upper body, her face still flushed, and said with a smile, "Little husband, what are you waiting for? I'm getting impatient waiting in bed."

As she spoke, she sized up the handsome, unfamiliar man.

For her, the change of the man on her body from a pot-bellied old man to a handsome young man with outstanding looks was a stroke of good luck.

Having confirmed that there was nothing unusual in the surroundings, Xu Qi'an stared at Cai'er and said leisurely, "Blue-robed attendant."

Those four simple words caused the woman on the bed to change her expression drastically. She hurriedly threw off the covers, got out of bed, knelt on the ground, and whispered, "I would die without regret."

The code was correct, and the portrait was right too. Xu Qi'an nodded and said in a deep voice, "Get dressed. I have something to ask you."

Cai'er suppressed her coquettish manner, picked up the silk skirt from the ground and put it on, then began to put on her undergarments. Before long, she was dressed neatly.

Cai'er, who appeared to be a courtesan but was actually Nightwatchers's undercover agent, gracefully bowed, gazed at Xu Qi'an, and said, "Sir, may I see your identification token?"

"Can."

Xu Qi'an took out his unique waist tag and placed it on the table. The tag was silver-plated, with Nightwatchers's anti-counterfeiting pattern on the back and the character "Xu" engraved on the front.

Cai'er pursed her lips, shifted her gaze from the waist badge to Xu Qi'an, looked at him with admiration, and asked, "You, you are Xu Qi'an, Xu Yinluo?"

Xu Qi'an smiled, "You know me?"

"Of course I know. If I didn't know that the government had produced such a young genius as you, then my intelligence-gathering skills would be far too poor."

Cai'er's face lit up with excitement as she said, "I know everything about you. You are the Great Feng poet of Dafeng, and you are a brilliant judge of cases. During the year of the Capital Evaluation, the capital was in turmoil, and it was thanks to you that the storm was calmed down."

"I also know that you defeated Buddhist School monk in the capital; and that in Yunzhou you single-handedly held off tens of thousands of rebel troops, earning you great renown."

Xu Qi'an's smile froze.

Honestly, who's been praising me? It's already reached the North! In the eyes of truly knowledgeable experts, I've become a complete laughingstock, haven't I?

"Cough cough!"

He coughed and said, "Enough with the pleasantries, I'll ask you, how is the Northern Border lately? Has there been any large-scale war?"

Cai'er shook her head. "Although the barbarians have invaded the border, they are only small groups of cavalry plundering, looting here and there. If there is a large-scale war, the people will flee south, and they will inevitably pass through Sanhuang County. I know that."

Xu Qi'an nodded, then asked, "Are there any strange phenomena in different places, such as a sudden large-scale disappearance of people?"

Cai'er frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "This servant has not gathered any relevant information. However, your reminder has reminded me of something, which is quite strange."

Xu Qi'an raised an eyebrow and quickly asked, "What is it?"

"A while ago, I received a guest who was a gentleman who owned his own caravan. He traded goods all over Chuzhou year-round. That time, he drank too much and complained that Xikou County and its three subordinate counties had been blocked by government troops for some reason, and the official roads were completely blocked."

"He made a wasted trip, and the food and supplies for the horse along the way cost him several hundred taels of silver."

Xu Qi'an tapped his finger on the table. "Where is Xikou County?"

Cai'er bowed and said, "Please wait a moment."

She pulled a box from under the bed; at the bottom was a geomantic map. She took it out, spread it on the table, and pointed to a certain spot, saying, "This is Xikou County."

Xikou County was located at the westernmost edge of Chuzhou, bordering the territory of the Buddhist kingdoms of the Western Regions. Beyond Xikou County lay the Western Regions, hence the name.

Xikou County did not border the north.

"The war can't possibly reach there unless the northern barbarians take a detour, but the Buddhist kingdoms of the Western Regions won't let us pass. So why blockade Xikou County?"

A bold guess emerged in Xu Qi'an's mind.

He nodded calmly and said, "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

Cai'er said, "I don't know about outsiders, but the defenses in Sanhuang County have been strengthened considerably. Previously, no travel permit was needed to enter or leave, but now the checks are extremely strict."

Xu Qi'an smiled, "Is it something that happened in the last few days?"

To everyone's surprise, Cai'er shook her head and said, "It's been like this for a month now."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qi'an frowned immediately.

PS: Update first, then revise; remember to point out any errors.

This chapter is rather short and weak, less than four thousand words.