Chapter 33: Gathering of Heroes (3)

  For Zhu Ciwen, the top priority is to find out where Lao Duan and his gang are hiding.

  But in an instant, there was no trace to be found.

  After all, this is the capital city, not some small place. Just the inner city alone covers dozens of miles in circumference, and there are at least several hundred families with assets over 100,000 taels that people remember.

  Otherwise, how could Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin's 5,000 strongmen get tens of millions of silver in a short period of time?

  This is also enviable, Zhu Cixian was very distressed and scratched his head... Although he can be considered ruthless and decisive now, and has even pulled up the class, usually dealing with the top political struggles and big figures of this empire, but when it comes to the key point, there are indeed not many people who can help.

  A group of military officers, for whom beheading people with a sword is a trivial matter, and jumping over walls to kill people and steal their goods is also nothing out of the ordinary, but if you want them to come up with some more reliable ideas, that's really difficult.

  Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang.

  It's not necessary to take charge of everything and make all decisions on your own. That's not what a superior should be like.

  A truly qualified superior is one who allows others to speak freely, but ultimately makes the decision themselves, and must choose the most reasonable suggestion, and believe in it without a doubt, never changing their mind suddenly.

  In the end, Li Gong and Wang Xiao's idea was more reliable... Zhu Ci thought for a moment, then ordered the crowd: "Assign people to each of the intermediate rest stops, we will..."

  Before he could finish his sentence, Li Gong gently tugged on his sleeve.

  Zhu Ciwen understood and immediately stopped talking.

  In front of him, a thin and frail old man with a clean face and a long gown flashed by. Behind the old man was a handsome young servant, and on his right side was a man holding a white lantern to lead the way. On this cold day, the old man still held a fan made of Xiangfei bamboo, looking like a stubborn and outdated bookworm... However, unfortunately for Zhu Ciyan and others, they all recognized him, and this person was the old artist who had been stared at by Zhu Ciyan earlier, but now he had transformed into a Confucian scholar.

  "Little master?"

  Zhu Ciwen was silent, but Li Gong was a bit impatient. The man in front of him, according to his analysis, should be a genuine scout from the Liu camp. These days, everyone has been using the name of the Liu camp, but they haven't given up on investigating the real scouts from the Liu camp. Unfortunately, since that night, it seems like they sensed something was off, and these scouts disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.

  It seems now that everyone is still searching in the city, but the approach is wrong.

  These thieves first entered the capital as performers, familiarizing themselves with their surroundings. After a long time, they had already changed their identities. The old man in front of them was clearly a relatively well-off scholar.

  It's only right that way, officials collude with each other, gather intelligence, and a group of performers who tell you too much about the real upper class? Only when their status changes can they dig out more and deeper things.

  "What should I do?"

  Li Gong's forehead was also slightly sweating, and he was very nervous.

  On the other side, a group of ignorant colleagues are also thinking about robbing which noble family... Two university scholars have been robbed, and Xiao Ye has already received the news. The remaining official forces of the Ming dynasty are about to intervene. A dead camel is bigger than a horse, if the Imperial Guards really intervene, they might make things worse.

  Take advantage of the fact that it has not been exposed yet, hurry up and hide, everyone usually hides in the palace, even if the Imperial Guard is powerful, they can't investigate on Mount Wansui, right?

  The top priority is to catch those few birds and deal with them accordingly, nipping the danger in the bud!

  But then, there's the discovery of a group of bandits' tracks. Although everyone knows that I've been training my inner troops, buying horses and equipment, this isn't for defending the capital, but rather preparing for our future escape to the south. Even the dependents of each household have been accounted for by me - they're all people from the Imperial Guard, leaving their families behind to fight to the death protecting our escape route. I'm not stupid enough to do something like that.

  However, no matter what, the bandits in this capital city can't do anything good, even if they want to leave, they have to get rid of these internal traitors first. Otherwise, how can everyone feel at ease?

  What to do... The crowd shrank into the shadows of the street shops, watching the old burglar swaggering forward, but was at a loss, unable to advance or retreat.

  Just as they were at a loss for words, three young men came over again, all dressed in energetic attire, looking neat and tidy. The one in the middle, who was around twenty years old, had a tall and sturdy build without being clumsy, with every gesture exuding strength. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and sported a beautiful mustache that reached down to his chin. At first glance, he looked very honest, but when his eyes opened wide, they were as sharp as lightning, making it clear at a glance that he was a formidable character.

  On both sides were also young men in their early twenties, all with slender figures and looking at their appearance and demeanor, they seemed quite extraordinary.

  "Huh?"

  Wang Yuan was about to speak up when Zhu Ciyan let out a soft hiss, signaling him to keep quiet.

  These three people were all dressed in a stylish and beautiful manner, very neat and tidy, and it was clear at a glance that they were not ordinary people. The distance between the three of them and those robbers was also the best interval for followers. If Zhu Ciyan and others had not hidden first, they would have been discovered by these three people long ago.

  Such a good hand must be meticulous and careful in every detail.

  "Hualian Baihu, we've been following them for a whole day, and it's almost over?" The young man on the left seemed to be more easy-going, slowly moving his feet while rubbing his hands and laughing: "These few bastards have been dragging us around all day, first to the temple fair, then to the Taoist temple to bother the old priests, and even listening to storytelling, drinking tea, eating snacks... we're just... well, we've had a whole day of cold wind!"

  "What's wrong?" The one surnamed Huyan seemed to still be a baihu, and he coldly glanced at the person who spoke, saying: "Tired? What kind of disciple are you, we've only walked this far... Did you learn your skills from your master's wife?"

  The young man on the right smiled and said, "Xiao Li is deliberately making trouble. His master was sent to Liaodong by Lao Zhang's command in those years, and later followed the army into the capital at night without rest. He disguised himself as a beggar and traveled through Hancheng, passing through several hundred counties in Korea, and dozens of large Japanese pirate arrays. He slept on snowy ground, gnawed on grass roots and tree bark, and went back and forth secretly, but nothing happened to him, not even a scratch on his skin. Xiao Li learned the Eight-Nine Success Method from him, so what's the big deal about this little bit of hardship?"

  This person spoke eloquently, and the young man named Little Li was very impressed. The sedan chair bearer smiled and said: "Gao Sheng, you're not bad either! As a hereditary banner holder, you can understand, speak, and lecture on the dialects of over ten provinces. You remember the mountains, rivers, and geography of the northern provinces clearly..."

  "What's the use?" Although being praised, Gao Sheng's face was indifferent, shaking his head and saying: "None of them are useful."

  "It's not right to say that." The hundred officials in the middle smiled faintly and said, "As long as we can face the emperor and our ancestors with a clear conscience, and live up to our official positions and salaries, that's enough. Whether it's useful or not, just follow your heart!"

  This man has a rough appearance, but his words are very concise and refreshing. As soon as he finishes speaking, the people hidden in the dark, including Zhu Ciyan, all nod their heads secretly.

  "The speed can be a bit faster. Unfortunately, there are only a few of us who can keep an eye on them now. Otherwise, we would have set up a dragnet and not let them escape."

  "It's fine if we can just keep an eye on them without revealing our presence. Tomorrow, when we hand over the shift, I heard that we're going to investigate those robbers who targeted the wealthy family. It's strange, they're clearly a gang of outsiders, but they say there's no solid evidence and we're not allowed to arrest anyone for questioning. Now, it seems like we're not even allowed to investigate anymore..." Little Li chuckled and said: "Damn, that's good too! My eyes have been red for a long time already. Investigating those robbers who specialize in plundering will definitely yield some benefits."

  "It serves him right for being robbed. Damn it, with so much silver, how many porridge shops are there in the capital? Watching people starve to death, damn it, it's even better that he got robbed."

  "Speaking of which, Li Kuang likes to give alms..."

  "Shut up, you're looking for death!"

  The old rascal who had just walked ahead was strolling along at a leisurely pace, so the three men in grey gowns and fur hats also pretended to be idlers out for a drink together, walking and stopping, keeping a distance but not daring to follow too closely.

  It was like this, a few people saw that the surroundings were quiet and silent, the sky was cold and windy, as if it was going to snow. Along the street, except for a few shops with bright lights, everywhere else was pitch black. If there were pedestrians passing by, they would have been seen coming from afar, so the few people didn't intentionally speak too softly... but were overheard by Zhu Ciwen and others.

  When the three men had walked a bit further, Wang Yuan couldn't help but burst out laughing. He stomped his frozen feet and said: "Those three guys are from the Brocade Guard."

  "That's right."

  "The one in the middle, who seems to be called Hu Yan Ao Bo, is a well-known family in the Jin Yiwei, skilled in archery and horsemanship, with excellent martial arts skills."

  "Alas, such a noble family has also declined, and good hands like Jin Yiwei are rare, one in a thousand."

  "When Wei Zhongxian was in power, the Embroidered Uniform Guard still had some influence and managed to keep a few people around."

  "Haven't you heard? That Master Li was still in Korea, working for free at night! Speaking of which, the Brocade Guards' work in Korea was truly impressive. They were able to gather intelligence on the Japanese army's movements with crystal clarity, and when our army launched its campaign, they played a crucial role."

  Jinyiwei in Korea should be the last afterglow, the information gathered is both numerous and accurate, even making it hard for later generations to imagine. Under the traffic conditions of that time, how did these scouts manage to traverse the three thousand miles of Korean mountains and rivers? And how did they solve the language problem to gather so much intelligence?

  Zhu Ci's eyes were also filled with a smile... Anyway, tonight was lively, the burglars in front, the Brocade Guards hanging behind, and then there was this side of his own, all the good men from various parties came on stage, wanting to put on a wonderful play on this snowy night at the end of Chongzhen's reign!

  Since it's like this... of course I'll follow along, is there anything more interesting than this?

  As for Old Duan and those self-destructive goods, sending Li Gong to watch them is also a safe bet.

  "No matter what Lao Duan and his men are like, bring them to the Chaoyang Gate and wait for me there. We'll meet at the west wing of the city tower."

  Hurriedly instructing Li Gong, Zhu Ciyan also brought Wang Yuan and others, hiding in the dark, slowly following those brocade-clad guards, quietly leaving.