Chapter 137: The Strategy to Break the Deadlock

Feng He chuckled and said, "Your Honor would certainly never guess, and neither did I, that they would be so audacious."

Long Chen asked, "What do you mean?"

Feng He replied, "Everyone Your Honor saw in the Prefect's Mansion tonight is a pirate."

Zhang Xi said in astonishment, "How can that be! Every single official in a commandery prefect's mansion is a pirate?"

Long Chen found it increasingly intriguing; they were actually all bandits.

Long Chen asked, "Since they are all pirates, why did Chen Zu submit a memorial requesting the imperial court to send troops to suppress the bandits? Were they deliberately luring us here?"

Feng He said, "That is the interesting part."

"Prefect Chen Zu took office three years ago. When he arrived, all the officials of Qianjiang Commandery, down to the cook, were already pirates."

Zhang Xi said in shock, "Then wasn't he walking right into the tiger's den?"

Feng He chuckled and said, "Precisely, walking right into the tiger's den. Everyone in the Prefect's Mansion deceived him, and Chen Zu had no idea there were pirates in this place."

"Just a short while ago, Zhenhai County was breached, and some refugees from Zhenhai drifted into Qianjiang Commandery. When Chen Zu saw them, he realized something was wrong, so he submitted a memorial asking the imperial court to dispatch troops."

"As soon as the memorial was sent out, Chen Zu was killed. The current Chen Zu is a double."

Put this way, the whole matter finally made sense.

They had conspired to deceive and conceal the truth for three years. Chen Zu had been under their surveillance, and every move he made could be imitated. Replacing him with a double was enough to pass off the fake as the real thing.

Furthermore, Wu Wenjing, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, probably hadn't lied. When he arrived in Qianjiang Commandery, Chen Zu had told him there were no pirates. Wu Wenjing believed it completely and reported to the Empress that all was peaceful.

After Wu Wenjing was arrested, he was tortured into a false confession in prison, implicating Minister Hu Chengfu.

Zhang Xi felt her hair stand on end. This meant that just now, they had been drinking with a group of pirates, surrounded entirely by enemies.

"Your Honor, we cannot go to Qianjiang Commandery anymore. We must absolutely not enter the city again."

Long Chen did not answer, instead quietly pondering how to break the deadlock.

To pacify the pirates, internal issues must be resolved first. If Qianjiang Commandery could not be subdued, everything else was out of the question.

"Your Honor, there is one more matter."

"The agents of the Imperial City Bureau have arrived. Today, I saw their chief officer, Hou Ping."

Feng He's voice suddenly turned stern and cold.

Both Long Chen and Feng He were men of Southern Liang, and they were well aware that the Imperial City Bureau was Li Chengdao's claw and fang.

Hou Ping was a formidable leader of the Imperial City Bureau, whose cultivation was at the peak of the King Realm. He excelled most at hidden weapons and poison, making him an extremely troublesome opponent. Even Feng He shuddered slightly at the mention of him.

"Hou Ping has arrived, which means the elite of the Imperial City Bureau are here as well. How fast."

Long Chen was secretly astonished, not expecting Li Chengdao to be so eager to kill him.

Zhang Xi had heard of the Imperial City Bureau. Much like the Great Zhou's Shadow Guards, it was a secret service organization founded by the emperor.

"Your Honor, both the pirates and the agents of the Imperial City Bureau have arrived. We are no match for them. Let us ask the imperial court for reinforcements."

Fearing that something might happen to Long Chen, Zhang Xi chose to seek help from the Empress. This was the safest course of action.

Long Chen shook his head and said, "No, the imperial court's military forces are currently stretched thin. I must resolve this myself."

The Empress must have anticipated all these circumstances. She was testing him with this assignment.

Zhang Xi said anxiously, "But the forces on both sides are too powerful. Our people are simply not enough."

Feng He chuckled and said, "General Zhang mentioned both sides? The dark guards of the Grand General's Estate have also arrived. I didn't see Wuming, but I reckon Wuming should be here."

Zhang Xi was stunned. She knew Wuming was the leader of Jing Tianlie's dark guards, and his cultivation was in the Martial Emperor realm.

"This... what should we do?"

Zhang Xi panicked this time.

Long Chen stood by the river, gazing at the murky water where faint phosphorescence flickered intermittently.

Three factions had converged on Qianjiang Commandery. The dark guards and the Imperial City Bureau aimed to kill Long Chen, while the pirates still seemed inclined to maintain the facade, unwilling to completely break ties with the imperial court.

To break this deadlock, they could only start from—

"Can you find the people from the dark guards and the Imperial City Bureau?"

Long Chen asked Feng He.

Feng He smiled and said, "Your Honor, my cultivation isn't the best, but finding people is my specialty. Give me two days, and I can track down at least eighty percent of them."

Long Chen said, "Eighty percent is more than enough."

Feng He turned and vanished into the dark night.

Zhang Xi asked, "I still advise seeking assistance from the imperial court. We cannot take such risks. If anything happens to you, how am I to answer to the Princess?"

Long Chen smiled and said, "This humble strategist has his own wonderful plans."

Knowing that Long Chen was full of cunning schemes, Zhang Xi saw how confident he was and pressed the matter no further.

Returning to the military tent, Long Chen called Dugu Jiali over and instructed, "Take a few dozen men out and raid the surrounding villages and towns."

Dugu Jiali was taken aback and asked, "Your Honor wants me to go... and raid places?"

She thought she had misheard.

Long Chen spoke with a firm, deliberate tone, emphasizing every single word: "That's right, I am telling you to raid them, but you are forbidden from killing anyone!"

Dugu Jiali asked, "Why?"

Long Chen smiled and said, "Just go. Remember which places you raid, and I will compensate them later."

Although Dugu Jiali could not understand the reason, Long Chen had given an order, and she had no choice but to carry it out.

She selected thirty men and ordered them to ride out under the cover of night to plunder the surrounding villages and towns.

...

Inside Qianjiang City.

Chen Zu and a group of officials escorted Long Chen out of the city gates. When they returned to the Prefect's Mansion, three men were seated in the main hall. In the center was Xu Zhi, flanked by two middle-aged men.

The man on the left had long, ape-like arms and a flowing beard; he was Yuan Tengfei. The man on the right looked stout and solid; he was Wang Zhong.

These three were the true masters of Qianjiang Commandery.

Upon seeing the three of them, Chen Zu rolled up his sleeves, cupped his fists, and shouted loudly, "Greetings to the three Ancestor Lords."

The trio of Xu Zhi was known as the Three Ancestor Lords of Qianjiang. Xu Zhi ranked first, Yuan Tengfei second, and Wang Zhong third.

The officials behind him also rolled up their sleeves and shouted, "Greetings to the three Ancestor Lords."

These men possessed none of the etiquette of court officials; they acted entirely with the swagger of outlaws in the pugilistic world.

"Why didn't you make Long Cheng'en stay?"

Xu Zhi asked coldly.

Chen Zu immediately replied respectfully, "Ancestor Lord, Long Cheng'en insisted on spending the night outside the city. This subordinate was afraid of arousing his suspicion, so I let him go."

Xu Zhi turned to look at the bald man beside him, who served as Xu Zhi's strategist: "Master Fayin, what do you think?"

This bald man had originally been a school tutor before shaving his head to become a monk. Failing to apply himself to the scriptures, he instead followed Xu Zhi to offer strategies and bestowed upon himself a religious name.

"I observed him just now. This Long Cheng'en is very calculating, and his true background is unclear."

"He asked how many pirates there were, and when we said one hundred thousand, he believed it. That shows he doesn't know the real situation."

"However, he also asked about the Wu family of Zhenhai, which suggests he might have uncovered some information."

"Therefore, I think we should wait and see what exactly he is up to."

Fayin rubbed his greasy neck, rolling up a layer of dirt.

Song Tongyang, the Vice Prefect, clamored, "Master Fayin, why not just butcher him with a knife, just like we did to Chen Zu?"

Xu Zhi scolded, "He is an imperial envoy. If we kill him, our cover is blown."

Yuan Tengfei said, "During tonight's banquet, nothing unusual was detected, and Long Cheng'en showed no suspicion toward us. I also think we should wait and see."

Wang Zhong pointed at Song Tongyang and the others, cursing, "All of you bastards, sharpen your wits and don't give yourselves away. Whoever ruins this for me, I'll slaughter him!"

Just then, a man burst in from outside and shouted, "Ancestor Lords, something has happened!"