Chapter 439: Night Wanderer (3)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Seeing that Teng Tianyou had taken charge of this matter, Fang Shijie deliberated for a moment and said, “I have always had a doubt. If we succeed, the Prince of Yan will obtain the imperial throne, and the heir will become the crown prince. It’s reasonable for us to take a gamble for the sake of imperial power. But Brother Teng, you and the people behind you, all you’ve done for the past ten years seems to be only to pull the empress off the throne. As for what you get after accomplishing this, I have no idea.”

Teng Tianyou said, “The organization has a strict structure. I only know the elder who brought me in, but I have never seen his true face. 1 joined because the higher-ups are resourceful and rescued me from Northern Liang’s Death Prison. They even helped me obtain a clean identity and gave me countless properties to settle my family.

“As for what the higher-ups want, I’m not too sure either… According to what 1 know, the Green Bandits didn’t only appear ten years ago. Their goal seems to be just to prevent anyone from unifying the world. It’s said that there’s a shadow of the higher-ups behind the Northwest Royal Court’s collapse more than sixty years ago. And now, dealing with the empress is for the same reason.”

When Fang Shijie heard this, he frowned slightly. “Your higher-ups think that the empress will be able to unify the world, so they appeared ten years ago?”

Dongfang Shuoyue continued, “The empress is very ambitious. The three steps of enriching the people, cutting down vassal power and centralizing power, and pacifying the world are almost obvious. However, these three steps are usually completed by three generations of emperors. The possibility of the empress wanting to achieve them all in her lifetime is too low.”

Teng Tianyou said, “I’m merely a martial artist of Jianghu. I just do what the higher-ups arrange for me to do. I don’t know much about other things…”

Puff! Puff! Puff!

While they were talking, the sound of flapping wings suddenly came from the back of the noisy Golden Screen Building. The reflection of a jackdaw appeared on the window paper.

The four people in the room fell silent. Zhongsun Yan turned around and frowned slightly. Then he looked at Fang Shijie and gestured with his hand.

Fang Shijie knew that there was an uninvited guest. He immediately stood up, tidied up his robe, picked up his cane from the side of his chair, and quietly left the room…

Behind Parasol Street was a dark alley.

Although it was only a line away from the most prosperous street in the capital, the difference between the two sides was like two completely different worlds.

The main street was full of colorful clothes and horses, but the back alley was the residences of brothel workers and odd jobs workers. There was garbage everywhere in the winding alley. There were even a few secret prostitute houses open for foreigners who couldn’t afford to spend on Parasol Street but wanted to go back to their hometowns to brag.

It was probably around three in the morning, and the moon had already reached the horizon. Half of the alley was moonlit, and the other half was dark. There was no sign of anyone.

Ye Jingtang was wearing a bamboo hat and night clothes, and his saber had been wrapped in a black cloth. As he walked in the darkness of the alley, from time to time, he heard noisy voices from the depths of the buildings.

“Mm mm- Ah-”

“Does it feel good?”

“Come, keep drinking…”

The bird, who had been forced to work overtime again, was clearly not energetic at this moment. It was standing on Ye Jingtang’s bamboo hat and looking around to observe the surroundings for clues.

The purpose of Ye Jingtang’s trip was to investigate and find the main target. He had just learned from Xiuhe that the Prince of Yan’s heir was on Parasol Street. Because the heir never went out secretly, he came over to ask around casually and got the exact location.

Seeing that there was still 250 meters from the Golden Screen Building, Ye Jingtang became silent in case there were any informers watching. He floated through the alley like a ghost.

But when he walked past the back of the Dragon Cry Pavilion, he heard a few loud voices coming from the depths of the building.

“To be honest, when Brother Ye just arrived in the capital, I even sparred with him. 1 drew my saber three inches out, and his saber was already at my neck. Although I lost, you should know the weight of this battle in your hearts…”

“Brother Wang, stop bragging. You were clearly sent by the Prince of Jing to win him over, and you almost got cut down on the street when you reached for his saber from behind…”

“Hey! If it were you, would you be able to touch the Saber Chief’s saber from behind? That’s the current Saber Chief. Last time, he treated me to a drink on Parasol Street and even ordered more than ten girls to accompany him. Are you so lucky?”

“No… Speaking of which, is Marquis Ye allowed to play here? Can he let go?”

“That kind of thing can only be understood but not expressed in words…”

“Oh, I understand…”

??

Ye Jingtang stopped in his tracks. What do you understand?!

When he treated Wang Chihu to drinks, he didn’t even touch the girls and only accompanied him to drink. If Dumdum heard this, she would tear the paintings apart.

But this was the first time Ye Jingtang knew that the first time he had passed by the Black Office and had been stopped by Wang Chihu, it had been Dumdum who secretly instructed him…

Ye Jingtang was recalling the scene when he first entered the capital. The bird, who was standing on his bamboo hat, suddenly raised its head and looked into the depths of the alley.

Ye Jingtang immediately came back to his senses and looked up at the buildings in the depths of the alley. He saw that where the bird was looking, a small bird spread its wings, flew up, and disappeared into a building. “Is there a situation?”

“Coo.” The bird was a bird of prey. Perhaps the little bird was afraid that it would hunt it down, so it fled. The bird shook its head and canceled the alert.

Ye Jingtang frowned. Because he had been using the bird to scheme against people all year round, he was much more wary of birds in the sky than ordinary Jianghu people. If the other party were also good at this, they would probably be the same.

The investigation had just begun. Ye Jingtang was afraid that his identity would be exposed if he encountered the other party and alert the enemy. After some thought, he told the bird not to show its head for now and jumped onto a wall.. After looking around the buildings, he took a sword from the waist of a drunk young master and continued to walk toward the Golden Screen Building…