Chapter 80

As dawn broke, the red sun revealed half its face. Wu Fan, already pale, turned even more ashen due to the loss of blood. His brows were tightly furrowed, like an unbreakable “川” character. He squatted on the ground, not getting up for a long time.

“Tap tap… tap tap…”

The rhythmic, light footsteps approached from a distance. Wu Fan lifted his head, the gloom in his eyes deepening.

The young eunuch Man Ning extended his hand, showing Wu Fan a not-so-obvious tear in his sleeve: “She wasn’t alone; someone saved her. An arrow almost cost me my life!”

Wu Fan remained silent, continuing to squat and sway, his eyes fixed on the ants on the ground as if trying to discern something profound.

The young eunuch Man Ning wiped the sweat from his forehead, a mix of the intense heat from chasing the fleeing Lan family woman and the shock from the near-fatal arrow. He no longer had his usual carefree, lazy demeanor; his face was equally grim. The reappearance of the Maitreya Sect and the disappearance of the Ji Province grain tax ships were each shocking enough on their own, but now they had appeared simultaneously and were directly linked…

“Hmm…”

Struggling to stand, the excessive blood loss made Wu Fan dizzy. He let out a long, drawn-out “Hmm.”

He slowly and laboriously made his way toward the location of the hundred-household office, saying as he walked, “Lord Man, give me the bottom line. How many men did you bring this time, and how many can you mobilize?”

The young eunuch Man Ning followed Wu Fan’s pace, hesitating before saying, “I have a hundred Yellow Gate Guards, all scattered outside, investigating the local aristocratic families and merchant guilds. How many can be mobilized… I have Grandfather’s iron badge. In a critical moment, I can use the name of the emperor’s inner attendant to command all the garrison troops and military farmers in Yingyang! The number should be around seven to eight thousand! What’s the matter?”

Wu Fan pursed his lips and glanced back at Man Ning, saying, “The situation is serious.”

After speaking, Wu Fan fell silent.

The young eunuch Man Ning didn’t ask, just remained quiet.

After a long while, Wu Fan looked at the eastern sky and slowly said, “That Lan family woman is the daughter of the Maitreya Sect’s leader, Lan Zhuke. This is the only explanation. She was mourning, but not for Zhou Ling. She was mourning for Lan Zhuke, which makes sense. … Zhou Ling was part of the Maitreya Sect. I’m not sure when he joined, but it must have been at least three months ago, as the Lan family woman married him in name three months ago. … Duan Xiuxiu from the Fragrant Fragrance Pavilion is also part of the Maitreya Sect, and she joined very early. Zhou Ling was likely recruited by her.”

Pausing, Wu Fan continued, “Half a month ago, the Maitreya Sect was highly active in Luoyang, not to cause chaos during the empire’s relocation. They were just drawing attention, making the Eagle-Soaring Guard and the Yellow Gate Guard focus on Luoyang, while the Maitreya Sect raided the Ji Province grain tax ships in Yingyang! If my guess is correct, the Lan family woman didn’t expect things to be resolved so quickly in Luoyang and only managed to raid one ship. Her original goal was— all of them!!!”

“All of them? That’s fifteen large warships! Millions of bushels of grain!” The young eunuch Man Ning couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath, shaking his head. “That’s unlikely… What would she do with so much money and grain? Raise an army and rebel?”

Wu Fan stopped, looking into the young eunuch Man Ning’s eyes, and said with utmost seriousness, “Exactly! To raise an army and rebel!”

The young eunuch Man Ning shook his head, still disbelieving. “Even if they want to raise an army and rebel, where would they get the troops?”

Wu Fan pursed his lips and said, “The Seven Provinces Green Forest Assembly is about to convene.”

The young eunuch Man Ning was stunned.

Indeed!

If what Wu Fan said was true, Luoyang would still be in chaos, and they wouldn’t notice Yingyang… Then, the Maitreya Sect would have seized the grain and money from the fifteen warships and used the Seven Provinces Green Forest Assembly to raise an army… to rebel!!!

Terrifying!

Too terrifying!

Really too terrifying!

The young eunuch Man Ning drew a cold breath, pursing his lips. “So, the current situation is still relatively good? And it’s all thanks to you, who early on wiped out the Maitreya Sect in Luoyang?”

Wu Fan nodded, saying, “Exactly! That’s what I mean!” He pointed to his wound and continued, “Because the Maitreya Sect in Luoyang was annihilated, the Lan family woman’s information was not up-to-date. She didn’t know that the Maitreya Sect was destroyed because of me. She only received the news later, possibly today! That’s why when I tested her, I exposed her true nature because she hated me so much that she couldn’t hide her emotions. Otherwise, with her calm and intelligence, she would have perfectly concealed everything, making us investigate without a clue until she had successfully planned everything!”

Tilting his head, the young eunuch Man Ning lazily asked, “What should we do now?”

Wu Fan said helplessly, “You’re the one in charge, right?”

The young eunuch Man Ning glanced at Wu Fan and said capriciously, “No way! I hate thinking.”

Wu Fan: “…” Do you even have a brain! How obvious is this!

Slapping his forehead, Wu Fan thought for a moment and said dejectedly, “First, arrange some people to thoroughly search Zhou Ling’s house. This task requires someone meticulous, Lord Man, you need to assign a few Yellow Gate Guards. Second, lead a group to the Fragrant Fragrance Pavilion. There must still be Maitreya Sect members there; they can’t all have retreated. I’ll take this task and go personally. Third, the Fragrant Fragrance Pavilion is connected to the Zhang family in Yingyang. I mentioned before that the grain tax ships being raided must involve a large number of insiders. The Zhang family has enough manpower and must be thoroughly investigated. This… you’ll handle it, right?”

The young eunuch Man Ning blinked and grumbled, “Why do I have to do the unpleasant tasks, while you get to see the flower girls?”

Wu Fan: “…” For your fragile heart!

Though he inwardly criticized, Wu Fan continued, “In addition, start gathering troops! Today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow is the Seven Provinces Green Forest Assembly. If my guess is correct, the exposed Lan family woman will make a desperate move. She will certainly try to win over the Green Forest bandits. We need to be on guard,” he paused, gritting his teeth and eyes flashing with determination, “even if it means erring on the side of caution and not letting any threats slip through!”

The young eunuch Man Ning nodded, still looking extremely lazy.

After finishing the serious talk, Wu Fan asked a casual question, “Why did you come to find me? If you hadn’t, I would have been in trouble today! Come to think of it, I owe you again!”

The young eunuch Man Ning, with his almond-shaped eyes, gave Wu Fan a strange look and said, “I woke up, and you weren’t back. I thought there was nothing good to do on the widow’s wall, and since you didn’t return for two or three hours, I decided… to come and join you for a while.”

Wu Fan was speechless and turned to leave.

“Hey! Where are you going!”

The young eunuch Man Ning shouted, seemingly puzzled.

Wu Fan said irritably, “I’m going to bandage my wound first, then to the Fragrant Fragrance Pavilion! My Lord Man! What time is it? Can we be serious? Hurry to the Zhang family! If we don’t go soon, we won’t catch anything!”

The young eunuch Man Ning stood in place, pouting, not moving…

Wu Fan was quite quick, finding a pharmacy to have his wound treated, gathering thirty men from the Yingyang Eagle-Soaring Guard, and hiring three small boats to head straight for the Fragrant Fragrance Pavilion.

…

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PS2: Thank you to the golden orange friend for the 300-point coin small red envelope, to the reclusive bachelor friend for the 200-point coin small red envelope, to the loyal friend for the 100-point coin small red envelope, to the heaven-defying madman friend for the 588-point coin small red envelope, and to the Yan Yi friend for the three 1888-point coin small red envelopes, one 588-point coin small red envelope, one evaluation vote, and six update votes. Thank you.

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