Chapter 18: Guarding against theft and building the Western Factory

  Remember in one second

  The black-clad men who came to assassinate Princess Qiao were all skilled fighters. As soon as they heard her pained cry, they quickly retreated. Liang Xin rushed into the cell and saw that Princess Qiao was lying in a pool of blood with a dagger stuck in her abdomen.

  Liang Xin was shocked and angry, immediately took out the silver needle used by Chen Yu Ding from her arms, sealed several large holes around Qiao Gui Fei's abdomen, and finally inserted the last silver needle into Qiao Gui Fei's Que Pen hole.

  Qiao Guifei's spirits lifted a bit, she grasped the hem of Liang Xin's garment and said: "Take... take me... Take me to see the Emperor."

  Liang Xin looked at Qiao Gui Fei, and the hatred in his heart suddenly decreased a lot. This is also a pitiful woman. Liang Xin thought to himself. He saw Qiao Gui Fei's expectant gaze, and immediately steeled himself, no longer caring about the knife wound on his back, and directly picked up Qiao Gui Fei and ran towards Yanfu Palace.

  On the road, Liang Xin vaguely saw the palace guards running towards him from a distance. When he saw the guards, his spirit suddenly relaxed and he fainted.

  Inside the imperial hospital room. Liang Xin slowly woke up and saw Yang Jia just looking at himself with a worried face, Liang Xin's heart was touched. He knew that Yang Jia was called one of the six thieves of the Northern Song Dynasty in history, and died very miserably in his later years. However, at this moment, Liang Xin could truly feel that Yang Jia really cared about him.

  No matter if you are one of the six traitors of Northern Song or whatever, with me here, I will definitely ensure your safety. In her heart, Liang Xin thought to herself and a faint smile appeared on her face as she called out: "Father."

  Liang Xiao was about to sit up, but Yang Jiaolong hastily said: "Hey, don't move, I just took a look, there's such a long slit on your back!" Yang Jiaolong stretched out his hands and exaggeratedly gestured.

  "How do you feel now?" Yang Jia asked.

  Liang Xin felt a bit, he clearly felt the back itching, as if growing flesh. Recovering so quickly? Liang Xin was somewhat puzzled. Seeing Yang Jia looking at himself with concern, Liang Xin smiled and said: "Feeling much better, just a little dizzy in the head."

  "Can your head not spin?" Yang Jia asked with a lingering fear: "I went to take a look and found that the road from the prison to the Yongfu Palace was all bloody, it's imaginable how much blood you shed."

  。”

  Yang Jian smiled again, with a self-satisfied expression: "However, you are indeed worthy of being my son. You have brought honor to your old man, single-handedly killing three masters and even using silver needles to revive Empress Qiao until now."

  "The Emperor has arrived!" A sharp and high-pitched voice came. Immediately afterwards, Liang Xin saw Zhao Jie walking into the room with a gloomy face. Upon seeing Zhao Jie, Yang Jia immediately knelt down to pay his respects, and Liang Xin also struggled to get up to pay his respects to Zhao Jie.

  When he saw Liang Xin's movement, Zhao Ji hurriedly walked forward to support Liang Xin and said: "It's okay, no need for courtesy. I came over just to see if your injury is better or not. If you salute me now, it's likely that your wound will crack open again."

  "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. My injuries have healed a lot," Liang Xin replied, thinking to himself that history books saying Zhao Ji was kind and righteous weren't entirely false.

  "Your Majesty, how is Consort Qiao?" Yang Jian asked cautiously. This was a question that no one else in the room dared to ask except him.

  Zhao Ji shook his head and sighed, "Yu Niang has passed away. Before her death, she apologized to me many times. As the saying goes, 'the dead are gone', I don't want to blame her anymore. Yang Jia, pass down the order to give Yu Niang a grand funeral."

  "Yes! I obey your orders." Yang Jiaolong slightly bowed and said.

  "Your Majesty, I have failed in my duties and caused the death of Consort Qiao at the hands of poison. I request that Your Majesty punish me." Liang Xin said weakly.

  Zhao Ji shook his head and said, "How can this be blamed on you? The thirteen prison guards of the inner court were all killed, but only you managed to kill three of their top experts. Before her death, Empress Qiao entrusted me to thank you, and she also told me that your master Chen Yudian was killed by her cunning. So, Yang Jia, remember to help me posthumously confer the title of 'Apricot Forest Saint Hand' on Chen Yu."

  "Yes!" Yang Jian replied.

  Liang Xinxin felt slightly comforted, Chen Yuding having such a title was also considered to make up for a lot, after all he had previously died with the reputation of poisoning the noble consort.

  Liang Xiao bowed with his fists and said: "I, your humble servant, am replacing my master to express gratitude for the imperial grace. Please forgive me, Your Majesty, as I have injuries on my body and cannot perform the full rituals."

  "It's nothing." Zhao Ji waved his hand and said coldly, "Someone dared to rush into my imperial palace to kill and silence others. Don't let me find out who he is, or I will surely exterminate his entire family."

  "Your Majesty, I have a way to find out who that person is."

  Liang Xin slightly narrowed his eyes and said. He was very clear that the person who killed Consort Qiao must be the same person who killed his master Chen Yuding, an enemy who had killed his teacher would not coexist under the same sky!

  "Do you have a way?" Zhao Ji's eyes lit up and he hastily asked: "Speak, what way is it?"

  Liang Xindao said: "I can draw a portrait of the murderer."

  "Portrait?" Zhao Ji slightly disappointed: "This portrait is generally only similar in spirit but not in form, it's not easy to find someone based on a portrait."

  "Not really." Liang Xiao said: "I used to create a 'sketch' painting method when I was bored, the people painted with this method are 80% to 90% similar to real people, and it's very easy to identify them."

  "What's sketching method?" Zhao Ji hesitated for a moment before saying: "Alright, you try it."

  Liáng Xīn called over a small eunuch and had him prepare a charcoal stick and a sheet of white paper. Before long, the small eunuch brought over what Liáng Xīn had asked for, and Liáng Xīn picked up the charcoal stick, thought for a moment, and began to paint.

  At first, Zhao Ji didn't see anything special, but when the portrait reached its lower half, Zhao Ji suddenly exclaimed: "Is this Zheng Youyao, the commander of the Imperial Guard?"

  Yang Jian walked over to take a look and nodded immediately: "Not bad, Your Majesty. This is indeed the leader of the Imperial Guard known as 'Roving Arrow' - Zheng Youxiao."

  "Alright! I ordered the Imperial Guard to protect the safety of the imperial palace, but he actually set his sights on my beloved concubine. What a huge audacity! Yang Jia!"

  "Slave is here." Yang Jiaolong's heart was also burning with anger, hadn't his precious adopted son been injured by that Zheng Xiaoyao?

  "Go and bring that Zheng Xiang to me, I want him to suffer all the cruel punishments in the world, and then I will exterminate his entire family!" Zhao Ji roared with anger, his eyes seemed to be spitting fire.

  "Yes sir." Yang Jia replied and immediately retreated to handle the matter.

  Zhao Ji held the sketch in his hand and said to Liang Xin: "Don't worry about this matter for now, just rest well. Once you've recovered from your injuries, I will heavily reward you."

  "It is a blessing for a humble servant like myself to be able to serve Your Majesty, and I dare not ask for rewards. However, there are a few words that I must say, and I beg Your Majesty's permission to speak." said Liang Xin.

  "Oh? What did you say?"

  Zhao Ji nodded and said.

  "Your Majesty, this matter of Concubine Qiao is indeed infuriating. But has Your Majesty ever considered whether there might be more people like her within the inner palace?"

  Zhao Ji furrowed his brow and said in a deep voice: "You dare, slave, what do you mean by this?"

  Liang Xian had long expected Zhao Ji to react this way, and he said with a sincere and fearful tone: "Your humble servant has no other intention, your humble servant only wants to help the Emperor share his worries."

  Zhao Ji looked at Liang Xin and remained silent for a while before taking a deep breath and saying: "Finish what you have to say."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Liang Xin's heart was filled with joy, and he immediately said: "This is what I think. Originally, the matter of Qiao Gui Fei should not have happened, if her personal maid Jin Yu had reported it in time, this matter would have been exposed long ago. Unfortunately, she didn't. I am willing to help Your Majesty establish a supervisory institution, and all the people in the institution are small eunuchs from the palace."

  I guarantee that these eunuchs will only be loyal to Your Majesty, and if there is any wind or movement in the palace, they will report it to you at the first time. In this way, not to mention events like Qiao Guifei, even if Your Majesty loses a needle in the palace in the future, it can be found quickly."

  "Supervisory body?" Zhao Ji seemed to have moved intentionally, tilted his head and thought for a moment.

  Liang Xian's mouth corner revealed a faint smile, and he immediately added fuel to the fire: "Actually, it can't be said that it is any kind of supervisory institution. To put it accurately, it is the emperor's eyes and ears within the imperial palace."

  "Eyes and ears?" Zhao Ji thought for a moment, nodded slightly and said: "I really need such eyes and ears. Good! You think about what to call this organization first, I will let you start building it immediately."

  Liang Xian smiled slightly and said: "The name of this servant has long been decided, it's just called the Western Depot."

  "What's with 'West Factory'?" Zhao Ji lost his smile and said, "How can a name be so plebeian?"

  "Mainly for those little eunuchs to remember easily."

  Zhao Ji nodded and said, "It doesn't matter whether it's the Western or Eastern Depot. I approve of it. From now on, I appoint you as the seventh-rank official in charge of the Western Depot, with full authority to oversee the construction of the Western Depot."