Di'an, headquarters of the Secret Investigation Bureau, the Criminal Arrest Division.
Even late into the night, the place remained brightly lit. The glow of inscribed lamps banished the darkness, while more than a dozen desks strewn with various case dossiers gave the entire room a cluttered appearance. At this moment, three men and women clad in official Secret Investigation robes stood before a desk at the innermost part of the office, the atmosphere somewhat tense.
Behind the desk sat a man with a square jaw, sword-like eyebrows, and tiger-sharp eyes, exuding righteousness and authority at a single glance.
Huang Shiwei spoke in an unhurried, calm, and placid tone:
"Before calling you all here, you should have already heard about what took place during the day, haven't you? Qin Weishu, the Second Young Master of the Jiangnan Qin family, used unknown means to escape from the Imperial Prison."
Saying this, his gaze swept over the direct subordinates before him, his tone growing heavier:
"Qin Weishu's case was personally overseen by Commandant Xu, but the personnel were temporarily drawn from our Criminal Arrest Division to assist with the investigation. I know many of you dislike Mengxi, but I have emphasized many times that you should not bring personal feelings into official duties. And yet, what did you do?"
"..."
Hearing this, the two men and one woman before the desk averted their gazes in unison.
Toward that "Princess Mengxi" of their Secret Investigation Bureau, most of these mid-to-high-ranking commandants had originally held a neutral or even appreciative attitude.
Living in murky waters did not prevent them from yearning for pristine clarity.
However, once temporarily assigned under that woman, everything changed.
Appreciation presupposed that one's own interests were not threatened.
Previously, they had been of equal rank with Xu Mengxi. Even if the Chief Director was her master, she had no authority over them. But this time was different—they had become her subordinates.
When risking their lives to apprehend heinous criminals for the imperial court, was it excessive to squeeze out some extra compensation to subsidize their cultivation?
What they took was all illicit wealth hidden away by vicious criminals, not extorted from innocent people!
Yet Xu Mengxi refused to abide by this. She stripped away that portion entirely, issuing them rewards strictly according to court regulations.
A mere thirty or forty percent of what they used to get.
With so little money, it was hard to remain loyal to the imperial court.
Feigning compliance while secretly acting against orders, nitpicking at every turn, the investigation ground to a crawl. Yet that "Princess Mengxi" had no intention of compromising in the slightest, persisting in doing things her own way.
And now the final result had arrived.
Due to discord between superior and subordinates and botched coordination, the major criminal Qin Weishu had escaped outright.
Huang Shiwei looked at the three silent subordinates before him, a trace of fury creeping into his voice:
"Wonderful. Mi Chang, who was on duty during the day, has already been thrown into prison, and his deputy Feng Kaisheng was stripped of his post and put under investigation. If the Chief Director truly looks into this, the three of you will most likely be implicated as well!"
The only woman among the three remained silent for a moment after hearing this, before tentatively asking:
"This matter... shouldn't affect you, Boss, right?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, the other two men looked toward him as well.
Though this matter was serious, as long as their boss remained standing, it would only be a matter of time before these direct subordinates of his were reinstated.
How could Huang Shiwei not know what these slick veterans were thinking? Leaning back against his chair, he rubbed his brow, a hint of helplessness in his tone:
"It won't..."
Hearing this, the expressions of the three before the desk loosened, but Huang Shiwei's next words tightened their hearts:
"Go and make your preparations. We must leave the capital tonight at the Hour of the Rat."
"Leave the capital?" One of the men, heavily bearded, asked in confusion. "Why leave the capital?"
"Why do you think?!"
Huang Shiwei glared at the three of them and slammed his palm onto the desk with a bang:
"To leave the capital, hunt down Qin Weishu, and wipe your foolish asses, of course! The Chief Director has already issued orders handing this matter entirely over to me.
"Let me state this beforehand: if you dare feign compliance and work against orders this time, don't blame me for disregarding our past camaraderie!"
"Understood!"
The three before the desk instantly straightened up and responded respectfully, turning to leave.
They did not possess Sumeru rings, so they had to return to their residences to fetch their soft armor, weapons, and various equipment.
"Wait."
Huang Shiwei took a deep breath and called them back. Under their puzzled gazes, he lifted a square iron chest about a foot wide from under the desk:
"Here are some formation-inscribed crossbow concealed weapons newly produced by the Chancellor's Manor. Take them, familiarize yourselves with them. When pushed to the brink, they might just save your lives."
The three stared at the black chest, hesitating for an instant. The only woman among them tentatively asked:
"Boss, where did you get this?"
"If the Chancellor's Manor hadn't offered it willingly, could I have robbed them for it?"
"Boss's methods are truly boundless, hehe."
The bearded man chuckled as he reached out to take the iron chest from the desk, then excused himself alongside the other two.
Just as the three opened the door, a woman with a ponytail dressed in the purplish-red official robes of the Secret Investigation Bureau met their eyes.
Xu Mengxi stood expressionless, her eyes frosty as she stared at the iron chest in the bearded man's hands—an item produced by the Chancellor's Manor's Gewu Academy. She seemed to have arrived quite a while ago.
The atmosphere turned somewhat awkward.
The woman had most likely overheard the conversation inside the room.
As mid-to-high-ranking officials of the Secret Investigation Bureau, they all knew how this "Princess Mengxi" felt about the Chancellor's Manor.
"The three of you, step down. Mengxi, come in."
A deep, steady voice rang out from within the office. Relieved as if granted amnesty, the three nodded toward Xu Mengxi and swiftly fled this trouble spot.
To the outdoor buzzing of summer cicadas, Xu Mengxi stepped inside, pressing her thin lips together as she stared at the man behind the desk.
She remained silent.
Seeing her like this, Huang Shiwei spoke up:
"If there's anything you want to ask, just ask."
"..."
After a moment of silence, Xu Mengxi's voice was chilly:
"Why?"
"What do you mean? That chest of formation-inscribed secret mechanisms?"
"What else?"
"Heh."
Looking at the familiar expression on the woman's face, Huang Shiwei shook his head gently. Supporting himself on the chair, he stood up and strode slowly toward her:
"The Chancellor's Manor wanted to intervene in this matter, and I agreed. That was their initial token of sincerity in our cooperation—a formation-inscribed lethal weapon newly developed by the Fourth Miss of the Chancellor's Manor."
Seeing the man's matter-of-fact demeanor, Xu Mengxi clenched her fists slightly:
"Brother Huang, why did you let the Chancellor's Manor interfere? With great difficulty, I managed to cut off the hand the Chancellor's Manor reached out..."
"And it was precisely because you blocked their reaching hand that Qin Weishu had the opportunity to escape, wasn't it?"
"..." Xu Mengxi fell silent all of a sudden.
Huang Shiwei stared into her eyes, his tone stern:
"Chancellor Xu may indeed harbor intentions to plunge the realm into turmoil, but you cannot deny that the Chancellor's Manor is far more capable than our Secret Investigation Bureau—whether in intelligence, personnel, or equipment.
"Objective reality will not change for the sake of your ideals.
"Taking advantage of the conflict between the Chancellor's Manor and the Immortal Chancellery to keep Qin Weishu in the Imperial Prison was not an issue in itself. The problem is that our Secret Investigation Bureau does not have that many mobilizable resources to counter the schemes of the Qin family.
"Not to mention, Mengxi, you failed to maximize the resources allocated to you."
"..."
Hearing this last remark, Xu Mengxi turned her gaze aside, biting her lip hard, her lowered eyes full of grievance.
She could tell Brother Huang was counseling her, but she did not believe she was in the wrong.
They always made excuses saying, "It has always been done this way"—but just because it had always been so, did that make it right?
Yet the reality was that her methods of managing subordinates indeed had problems, causing the experts assigned to her to feign compliance while secretly undermining her, thereby allowing the Qin family to execute their scheme with greater ease.
Having said this, Huang Shiwei paused slightly, his tone softening a little:
"Now, the Chief Director has entrusted this matter entirely to me. You have met those subordinates of mine, Mengxi.
"Under normal circumstances, three Grandmasters are already sufficient to handle shocking cases, but for the Qin family to pull off a substitution right under the nose of the Imperial Prison requires methods far beyond what they can handle. I must prioritize the safety of my own men.
"At present, in the entire city of Di'an, Chancellor Xu is the only one who has both the willingness and ability to participate in this matter. Besides providing resources and intelligence, they will also dispatch a Transcendent Realm expert to accompany us.
"Therefore, I accepted the cooperation of the Chancellor's Manor. If you believe I am wrong, Mengxi, then report it to the Chief Director and see how he chooses to handle it."
Xu Mengxi raised her eyes to look at the stalwart man before her, a fleeting confusion in her beautiful gaze quickly replaced by resolve:
"Brother Huang, I'm going as well."
"No."
Huang Shiwei refused without hesitation. "This journey's perils are unpredictable; it is far too dangerous."
"The Northern Border was that dangerous and yet I—"
Xu Mengxi retorted, but no sooner had she spoken than Huang Shiwei cut her off: "In the Northern Border, no one was targeting you specifically. This journey covers great distance; once we draw near, we will inevitably face targeted ambushes by the Qin family's experts."
Impervious to reason, Xu Mengxi stiffened her neck:
"Brother Huang, your three subordinates do not fear death, so why shouldn't I take the risk? Just because I'm Master's disciple?"
"You wretched girl..."
Looking at the stubborn gaze in the girl's eyes, Huang Shiwei felt a surge of helplessness. After a brief silence, he sighed:
"If you want to go, fine. As long as the Chief Director agrees, I naturally have no objections."
"It's a deal. I'll go see Master right away."
With that, Xu Mengxi swished her ponytail and rushed toward the door in a whirlwind. Seeing this, Huang Shiwei quickly called after her:
"Wait. Let me warn you: don't play any tricks of fabricating Master's orders with me. I must see the Chief Director's written warrant before I take you along."
"..."
Xu Mengxi's swinging ponytail suddenly stiffened, as though her weak spot had been struck.
Seeing this, Huang Shiwei gave a soft huff:
"Hurry up, then. I will wait for you outside the Xinzi Gate at the Hour of the Rat tonight. If you're late, I won't wait."
"I... I will definitely get it, don't you worry!"
"..."
Watching Xu Mengxi leave with her ponytail drooping, a look of complexity subconsciously surfaced in Huang Shiwei's eyes.
Stepping into the courtyard, he looked up at the sea of stars, let out a soft sigh, and then vanished from the spot in an instant.
***
Outside the Xinzi Gate of Di'an, an endless, dense forest rolled along the mountain range.
As a figure descended from the sky, a slightly effeminate voice immediately rang out from within the lush woods:
"Are you the inside contact Lady Lou Ji spoke of?"
Passing through layers of dense branches, Huang Shiwei had just steadied his footing when he noticed a tall, slender male figure appearing before him. He did not reply immediately, instead regarding the other man in silence.
Seeing this, the slender man smiled faintly, drew a token from his bosom, and tossed it to him, speaking softly:
"In your line of work, caution is indeed warranted. This is Lady Lou Ji's token; examine it."
Huang Shiwei caught it, examined it closely, tossed it back, and transmitted via voice:
"Huang Shiwei."
"I know your name."
After uttering this superfluous remark, the slender man stated his own name as well:
"Si Zijing, Capital Division Commander of the Black Scale Guards."
Hearing this, Huang Shiwei nodded slightly and quickly transmitted:
"There might be a change in plans. Although I schemed to wrest control of Qin Weishu's case from Xu Mengxi's hands, the girl seems intent on coming along with us."
"Oh?"
The slender man raised an eyebrow, appearing somewhat displeased.
"Having your direct subordinates along is fine; I've heard a bit about their loyalty to you. But if that woman Xu Mengxi comes along... our hands will be tied."
Huang Shiwei's expression remained unchanged as he said in a low voice:
"Her temperament has always been like this. She happened to run into it, and there was no way to refuse."
Si Zijing pondered for a moment and said casually:
"Then dispose of her on the road. We can conveniently pin the blame on the Qin family. With this grudge, that fellow heading the Secret Investigation Bureau might lean toward the Chancellor's Manor..."
"No."
Huang Shiwei's voice sank, and the chirping of cicadas and birds in the dense forest fell abruptly silent.
Huang Shiwei stared at the effeminate man before him, enunciating each word:
"She cannot die here."
Seeing this, Si Zijing narrowed his long, slender eyes into two slits, his lips curving slightly into a faint, dangerous smirk:
"In the past, we let Xu Mengxi run amok firstly because of that old fellow Zhou Quanping, the Chief Director of the Secret Investigation Bureau, and secondly because she posed no threat whatsoever to the Chancellor. Killing her offered no benefit. But now, with such a prime opportunity to frame someone else, Mr. Huang refuses so adamantly. Could you tell me the reason?"
Huang Shiwei was quiet for a moment, looking at him for a few seconds before lowering his voice:
"This is the Third Young Master's will."
Si Zijing's eyelids twitched, and he scoffed in disbelief:
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Third Young Master once told me he likes her very much."
"The Third Young Master is already dead."
"You are in charge of everything in the capital region, and you are a smart man."
"Yet as far as I remember, among the Third Young Master's confidantes and beauties, there is no such person."
"Nevertheless, those were indeed the Third Young Master's words."
"Huang Shiwei, you fucking dare use the Third Young Master to pressure me?!"
Si Zijing cursed outright.
Huang Shiwei kept his eyelids lowered and said nothing.
Si Zijing took a deep breath, but a faint uneasiness stirred in his heart.
As Lady Lou Ji's absolute confidant, his allegiance naturally leaned toward the Third Young Master.
Though he knew Huang Shiwei was most likely bluffing out of personal attachment, what if?
If he truly did away with his future mistress, how would he, Si Zijing—or even the entire Si family—ever survive?
After a moment of silence, Si Zijing snorted coldly and snapped:
"I hope what you say is true, but I also hope you keep a tight leash on her on the way. The Chancellor attaches great importance to this operation. The direction the Qin family is taking southward is toward the Western Desert, and the Third Young Master also happened to send back some intelligence from there.
"Going to the Western Desert this time won't be just me alone. If she disrupts the plan and that Lord decides to kill her, you won't be able to stop them."
Chapter 585