Chapter 46: Contacting Hei Bing

  The next morning, Li Su finally got all the necessary procedures ready. Long Fei immediately ordered someone to break down the door, and the entire Yuan Fu was in chaos. The family generals didn't dare to take action, a few who were courting death were quickly taken care of by Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, and the rest became obedient. All the family members were separated into two courtyards, one for men and one for women, and imprisoned. With Long Fei's order, the search and seizure of Yuan Fu began.

  What are antiques, calligraphy and painting, pearls and agate? What are divine weapons and armor? These things have dazzled everyone's eyes. Li Su specially found a dozen or so literati to compile these items into a book one by one. They were busy for an entire morning, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Looking at the piles of treasures in the courtyard, the soldiers were numb. The rare treasures that were worth a city in other people's eyes were thrown around casually, and even trampled underfoot.

  "Alas!" Li Su sighed, shaking his waist: "Lord Long, we've got a tough job on our hands. When will we ever finish dealing with all this stuff?"

  Long Fei was not interested in those antiques and calligraphy, he had been looking through the pile of armor one by one. If he liked something, he would directly put it into his own arms, even if Li Su was present, he didn't feel a bit embarrassed. Long Fei happened to pick up a wooden box from the ground, which was very old and covered with a thick layer of dust. He blew out a big mouthful of air, but instead got himself choked and coughed repeatedly: "What's the hurry? Take it easy! Mr. Li, have you found anything you like? I heard that Mr. Li is an expert in antiques. I saw a small tripod from the Shang Dynasty just now, it's over there! I didn't let them put it on the list!"

  Li Su nodded and smiled: "Then thank you! Wasn't that wooden box sent by Lord Long yesterday?"

  "What wooden box?" Long Fei gently opened the lid of the box: "Is there a wooden box here?"

  "Nothing?" Li Su asked with a smile. The two exchanged a knowing glance.

  The box opened by Long Fei contained a black dagger, all black from top to bottom, without any light. Even in the sunlight, it had no color. Long Fei slowly took it out and looked at it. Li Su happened to see it and came to Long Fei's side, carefully examining the dagger. The reverse side of the dagger faintly engraved a seal character.

  "Is it really true?" Li Su suddenly furrowed his brow and said this sentence.

  "What's wrong?"

  Li Su took the dagger from Long Fei's hand, looked at it repeatedly for a long time, and nodded: "Does Lord Long know the story of Jing Ke stabbing Qin?"

  "Of course, I know? What does this dagger have to do with it?" Long Fei suddenly widened his eyes: "The diagram is exhausted and the dagger appears? Mr. Li's meaning is that this dagger was used by Jing Ke? Is it the dagger that Jing Ke used to assassinate Qin Shi Huang?"

  Li Su turned the blade over, pointing to a character on it: "This character is pronounced 'Jing', just like Jing Ke's 'Jing'! Legend has it that when Jing Ke first attempted to assassinate Qin Shi Huang, Prince Dan of Yan searched far and wide for famous scholars to forge weapons for Jing Ke. Someone passed by a desolate mountain and found an old man in a cave, who gave him this dagger and asked him to deliver it to Prince Dan. According to records, the dagger was five inches long with one tenth of an inch, entirely black, and as sharp as mud. Nobody knew what material it was made of! Later, Jing Ke dripped his own blood onto it, and only then did the character 'Jing' appear on its reverse side!"

  "Ah?" Long Fei sounded a bit like a myth, slowly taking the dagger from Li Su's hand, turning it over and over. Unaware, his index finger was lightly scratched by the tip of the dagger, leaving a long gash. The flowing blood was instantly absorbed by the dagger. Long Fei hastily withdrew his hand, only to see the dagger gradually turn red from the tip, a deep crimson color. In no time, the entire dagger had turned blood-red, a frightening sight.

  "Don't move! Don't move!" Li Su ordered Long Fei to expose the blade's back. The thorn character had vanished. Li Su was shocked: "Heaven's will! Heaven's will! From now on, this dagger is yours!"

  The investigation of the Yuan Fu took a full three days, and all the accounts were properly arranged and presented to Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo only looked at one book, and with a wave of his hand, he threw the bamboo slips away: "Li Su, read it out loud, this is what they call loyalty to the great Han, loyalty to His Majesty, four generations of three dukes of the Sima family? Huh? Let everyone hear, what do they have in their household? Read it out loud!"

  Li Su picked up the bamboo slips from the ground, rearranged them, and slowly opened them: "Inventory of the confiscated property of Yuan Wei's family, including 103,223 taels of gold, 80,000 pieces of brocade, 37,782,000 coins, 102 horses, 13,500,000 dan of grain, 825 sets of weapons, 1,246 suits of armor..."

  "Listen, all of you! What is Yuan Shu trying to do?" Dong Zhuo slammed his hand heavily on the dragon-shaped table: "Weapons, armor, horses? He's waiting for Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu to arrive so he can collude with them from within! The Han dynasty's treasury is empty, while the Minister of Works' mansion is filled with gold and silver? Is this a loyal subject of the Han dynasty? I know you all say I'm a thief, but what about Yuan Shu?"

  Wen Wenshu and Wu Zhi did not make a sound, Liu Xie quietly hid in one corner of the dragon chair, his whole body trembling. Dong Zhuo looked at the ministers present: "The Yuan family is probably not the only one, I won't make things difficult for the rest of you either. Everyone will take care of it! Within three days, those who want to contribute to the country should go to the Taicang commander's place! However, I hope you all see clearly that although I, Dong Zhuo, am a rough person, my eyes are not blind!"

  Li Su was kept in the palace by Dong Zhuo, who invited Li Su to a banquet as a reward for his good work. During the feast, beautiful women repeatedly urged him to drink, and Dong Zhuo was overjoyed, constantly praising Li Su's good work, which greatly improved his image among the courtiers. Li Su also kept flattering and fawning on Dong Zhuo.

  Dong Zhuo suddenly waved his hand and let everyone go down, calling Li Su to his side: "Xianxu, tell me how much you and Long Fei took?"

  Li Su was stunned and didn't know how to respond. Dong Zhuo laughed and said, "It's nothing, you and Long Fei secretly divided up a dozen or so carts of gold and silver, I'm aware of all this, it's great! As long as he loves money, then he has a weakness, we can trust him in the future!"

  "Father-in-law is absolutely right!" Li Su exclaimed, relieved: "Long Fei is indeed a talented person. If he hadn't led the troops to surround the Yuan mansion ahead of time, the people from the Yuan family might have escaped!"

  Dong Zhuo nodded: "Then do you think the matter of Hei Bing can be handed over to him?"

  Li Su took a deep breath, thought for a moment: "Long Fei sometimes seems to be just and upright, but sometimes he is a bit evil! However, this person attaches great importance to righteousness. When Father-in-law rebuilt the Western Garden Eight Schools, apart from our own people, Long Fei, Zhao Yun, Gao Shun, and Zhang Liao seemed to have formed a clique. They all looked up to Long Fei as their leader, and I heard that Long Fei recently brought back over 10,000 soldiers from White Wave Valley, gradually gaining his own strength! If Father-in-law entrusts this matter to him, it means that Father-in-law trusts him very much, and he will naturally be grateful and cherish Father-in-law's appreciation and promotion. He must be loyal to Father-in-law!"

  "What about the people around him?"

  Li Su hastily said: "As long as we control Long Fei, the people around him are not worth worrying about. In this regard, Father-in-law can rest assured, Li Su dares to make this guarantee!"

  "That's great!" Dong Zhuo thought it was a good idea: "Tomorrow you personally go to the West Garden, bring Long Fei and others, I want to entertain them myself!"

  The banquet for Long Fei couldn't be held in the imperial palace. Dong Zhuo didn't invite anyone else, only letting Li Su accompany him. During the meal, he lavished praise on Long Fei and others. He even personally selected several beautiful women to bestow upon them as gifts. Long Fei was also not polite, whatever Dong Zhuo gave him, he would take, as for how to arrange it, just leave it to Wang Qian. The conversation gradually shifted from court politics to the matter of Hei Bing.

  Li Su suddenly suggested that Dong Zhuo hand over the matter of contacting Hei Bing to Long Fei. Dong Zhuo was naturally delighted and asked Long Fei, "Commander Long, are you willing?"

  Long Fei hastily stood up: "Taishi, this black ice official also just heard about it, since it is Taishi's order, the official will definitely do a good job of this matter, only..."

  "What's wrong? General Long, don't be polite, whatever difficulties you have, I will definitely help with all my might!"

  "Thank you, Your Excellency!" Long Fei bowed and paid his respects: "The Black Ice is a secretive organization, it will take some effort to find them, and we'll need to gain their trust in order to make contact. I hope that Your Excellency will grant me the authority to act freely within Luoyang City, so that if any special situation arises, I can respond promptly!"

  Dong Zhuo nodded: "What Long Jiaoyu said is absolutely right, come on!"

  Someone held a tray, covered with red cloth. The person walked in front of Dragon Flying, gently lifted the red cloth, revealing a copper plate with an unusual shape. It was neither square nor round, with two golden dragons coiled on both sides, tied with yellow rope. On the front side, it was engraved with four characters: "Great Han Emperor". Dong Zhuo said: "This is a token I specially requested from His Majesty, and Dragon School Lieutenant can enter and exit all places in Luoyang with it, even the imperial palace! Dragon School Lieutenant, whether you can defend Luoyang or not depends on you!"

  Long Fei hastily knelt down, both hands receiving the token: "The Grand Tutor's recognition of this humble official will be remembered for a lifetime. This humble official swears to be loyal and devoted to the Grand Tutor, if there is any betrayal, may heaven strike with lightning!"

  "Hahaha..." Dong Zhuo burst out laughing: "Good! From now on, Zhao Yun, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, you few people will all take orders from General Long. Come, drink this cup to the full! Wishing General Long victory in battle!"

  After returning to the Western Garden, Long Fei told everyone in detail about Dong Zhuo's banquet. Everyone was overjoyed, and with Dong Zhuo's permission, they could now openly investigate Hei Bing's affairs in Luoyang. However, they had no idea where to start. Since Cao Cao escaped, Mi Zhu and the others seemed to have vanished into thin air, never to be seen again. Even the wine shops and tea houses in Luoyang that were originally used by Hei Bing for communication suddenly closed their doors overnight.

  Wang Wei said: "Since Luoyang is gone, let's go somewhere else and take a look. Maybe they all hid in the surrounding counties!"

  "Right!" Wang Qian also said: "This is a way, Hei Bing has eyes and ears all over the world, Luoyang doesn't have to go elsewhere!"

  Long Fei shook his head: "They must still be in Luoyang! Maybe we overlooked something! From tomorrow on, send all the brothers out to disguise themselves as civilians and search for me in Luoyang. I don't believe that in this small Luoyang, I won't be able to find them!"

  "This won't do!" Zhang Liao said: "Although this matter was ordered by the Grand Tutor, if it's going to stir up a big storm in the city, I think it's not suitable!"

  "Yes, big brother, Zhang Da Ge is right!" Zhao Yun also said: "From the search of Yuan Fu's house, Dong Zhuo still wants to save face. If it becomes a big deal in the whole city, he will definitely not be happy!"

  Just as everyone was at a loss for what to do, the gate guard suddenly rushed in: "Everyone, there's someone outside the camp who claims to be Mi Zhu and is asking to see you!"