socalfunplaces Page 523
Page 523
He had never told anyone his real name, so how could this woman know it?
Then, Zhou Chixiong noticed that the beauty in his arms was gradually turning pale, her lips were becoming more and more vibrant, but her skin was drying up inch by inch, and she had turned into a lifeless paper doll!
"Giggle!"
The woman's shrill laughter echoed in the room, sending chills down one's spine. The windows were blown open by a gust of wind, and the candles were extinguished.
In the darkness, one after another, strong warriors drew their swords and rose up. The leader roared, "What kind of monster are you, playing tricks on me!"
The woman's shrill laughter stopped abruptly, and a sharp whistling sound rang out from outside the mountain stronghold, echoing far into the night sky!
"Charm!"
Zhou Chixiong recognized the origin of the paper doll: it was a seductive ghost that used its beauty to lure people and then bewitch their souls!
He had a vague feeling that the person behind the allure was after him.
Sure enough, the sound of drums echoed throughout the mountain stronghold, and the bandits began shouting to send a message.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Then, arrows pierced the air, and one bandit after another fell to the ground, their screams echoing through the air.
"Prepare rolling stones, tung oil..."
The leader was not flustered. The stronghold had the advantage of terrain, and as long as it was defended properly, even thousands of government troops would be defeated.
He rushed out of the hall first and began to set up defenses.
"Who is this blind fool who dares to attack the mountain stronghold!"
No sooner had he finished speaking his angry words than a red light suddenly streaked across the sky above the mountain stronghold. It was not the light of lightning, but a red dragon!
And the blood shadow of this crimson dragon is the spear in Li Miaozhen's hand, the very same dragon tail spear that she and Li Chang'an seized from the dragon's lair back then!
The phantom of the crimson dragon swept across the ground, and dozens of bandits instantly exploded, their screams echoing everywhere!
"Chirp!"
Another shrill cry rang out, and a golden eagle, its wingspan blotting out the sun, descended from the sky, heading straight for the leader.
The bandit leader turned ashen-faced and immediately rolled away to avoid the attack. The giant eagle swooped down in front of the hall, instantly tearing off the roof of the bandit hall and killing or injuring more than a dozen leaders.
Boom!
Another bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky, and a silver spear sped through the night, with a figure standing on it!
She wore scale armor, a bright red cloak behind her, and her hair was tied in a ponytail, resembling a female war goddess.
Li Miaozhen made a hand seal and summoned heavenly lightning again, causing several arrow towers in front of the mountain stronghold's main hall to collapse with a roar!
"Golden Eagle Heroine!"
"The Golden Eagle Heroine has arrived!"
Li Miaozhen rode a golden eagle and wielded a crimson dragon silver spear as she stormed into Yunzhou. Afterward, she recruited soldiers and horses, gathering refugees who had suffered greatly from bandits and soldiers who were unwilling to just drift along in the army.
In just two years, the Golden Eagle Heroine built a private army to fight bandits and began a tireless campaign to eliminate them.
Li Miaozhen's righteous act even received the support of the Yunzhou Provincial Governor.
Under the attack of Li Miaozhen's elite troops, the so-called impregnable mountain stronghold was completely breached in just half an hour.
All the leaders were tightly bound and knelt before Li Miaozhen.
Zhou Chixiong shaved his beard and left his face covered in blood, trying his best to make himself unrecognizable.
Li Miaozhen held a long spear, her sculpted features exuding a sharp and intimidating aura that made it difficult for anyone to look directly at her beauty.
Su Su entered the mountain stronghold first and made great contributions. She called out, "Master, did I do a good job?"
"The message was delivered promptly." Li Miaozhen nodded, looking gently at Su Su.
Su Su said with a grin, "I've been starving for days, please give me a man."
"After you finish your business, you can choose for yourself. First, find Zhou Chixiong."
At her master's command, Susu began searching among the leaders. "It looks like him, but he doesn't have a beard."
Zhou Chixiong was terrified. He couldn't remember where he had offended this female knight.
Li Miaozhen suddenly shook her head, "Forget it, if we can't find them, we won't look for them. Just kill all these bandit leaders!"
In chaotic times, harsh measures are necessary, and there is no room for mercy towards such bandit leaders.
No sooner had Li Miaozhen finished speaking than one of her men swiftly chopped off the leader's head.
The leader's head, mixed with blood and mud, rolled down in front of Zhou Chixiong. The terrifying head with its wide-open eyes scared Zhou Chixiong so much that he wet himself.
Zhou Chixiong was dumbfounded. These people had no martial ethics!
Isn't she a female knight-errant? Why did she kill people after being arrested?
As the second head fell to the ground, Zhou Chixiong shouted, "I am Zhou Chixiong, I am Zhou Chixiong! Heroine, spare my life!"
Zhou Chixiong's forehead kept hitting the stone ground, and blood flowed freely.
At that moment, a pair of military boots appeared in front of him, the mud and bloodstains on the two boots faintly symmetrical.
“Zhou Chixiong, you sinner, come back to the capital with me.”
Upon hearing this cold voice, Zhou Chixiong immediately raised his head, meeting Li Yuchun's stubborn and ruthless cold eyes through the rain.
"The night watchman?!"
Li Yuchun denied it with a sense of loss, saying, "It wasn't the night watchman, it was the people who arrested you."
Half an hour later.
Li Yunchun, escorting Zhou Chixiong, rode atop a giant golden eagle, about to embark on their journey back to the capital.
"Golden Eagle Heroine, Lord Li said he will come to see you soon."
Li Miaozhen saw Li Chang'an's letter, but she didn't quite believe it, because according to the internal messages in the chat group, Li Chang'an was usually quite busy.
"Your Lord Li seems to be very busy on weekdays."
Li Yuchun said with a solemn expression, "Lord Li is usually busy with cultivation. His martial arts have already reached the third rank, and I estimate that his Dao techniques will soon reach the extraordinary level."
Li Miaozhen was not a reserved person. "I heard that he was very close to the two princesses, kept a courtesan as his mistress, took a concubine, and seemed to have other female confidantes as well."
"I believe that Lord Li is not a man who lusts after beautiful women; his heart is not in the capital, but in the world."
Li Miaozhen frowned. This Li Yuchun always had a straight face and looked very serious, but she always felt that he was talking nonsense.
It must be admitted that Li Chang'an sending such a person was indeed very reliable.
Then, Li Yuchun suddenly said, "Heroine, now that this matter is over, I want to join the Golden Eagle Army."
After spending a few days in Yunzhou, Li Yuchun suddenly discovered a new goal in life: to follow Li Miaozhen to kill bandits, which was more in line with his nature than to live a life of conformity in the night watchman's office.
"That's great, Yunzhou needs someone like you."
Several days later, at the Night Watchman's Office, Haoqi Pavilion.
Wei Yuan eventually reported the matter of the Minister of Works, and Emperor Yuanjing dealt with it without hesitation.
However, Wei Yuan could sense that the other forces in the court harbored a deep-seated hatred.
"With Minister Liu gone, there are no doubts left in this case. Another important figure in the Qi faction has fallen."
There is no concrete evidence regarding the arms case, but Wei Yuan has already sent people to Yunzhou to investigate.
As soon as Wei Yuan finished speaking, Xu Qi'an said, "Judging from the current case, the Qi faction and the Witch God Cult are colluding. They used the Dream Witch to kill the magistrate of Taikang County in order to frame the Prince of Zhenbei in the north."
"The court forces that cooperated with the demon race used the severed hand of Sangbo to lead us to the Minister of Works of the Qi faction, weakening the Qi faction once again. However, the severed hand has disappeared, and our clues have been lost again."
Although the major case involving the Minister of Works has been uncovered, it remains unclear who the demon clan behind the Sangbo case is collaborating with.
"From this perspective, the Wang faction is the most likely suspect, especially the Minister of Rites who presided over the ancestral worship ceremony."
Wei Yuan was indeed aware of the situation. In fact, many major cases in the court were like this: people could usually guess who did it, but there was no evidence.
At this moment, Nangong Qianrou said, "Lord Wei, according to reliable sources, the Qi faction is gathering evidence of our crimes and collecting evidence of our colleagues' corruption and embezzlement."
Qi Dang just had a tooth pulled, and the Yunzhou arms case has been discovered by the night watchmen. If they haven't taken any action yet, they'll be too slow.
Wei Yuan said calmly, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. We have people suing us every year, but we have never succeeded... But this time it's hard to say."
The night watchmen were Emperor Yuanjing's right-hand men; whether or not to punish lawless night watchmen was entirely up to the emperor.
Qi's faction has been pushed to the brink, and their counterattack will be fierce.
Then, Wei Yuan turned his gaze to Xu Qi'an, "The half-month deadline is almost up. His Majesty will not pardon your crimes just because you have investigated other major cases."
“I will try my best to keep you in the yamen instead of transferring you to the prefectural yamen or the Ministry of Justice. We can discuss this further then.”
Xu Qi'an cannot confess to losing his hand, so all leads in the Sangbo case have now gone cold.
"Lord Wei... Zhou Chixiong has been captured."
Wei Yuan paused for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Brother Li made this?"
Xu Qi'an glanced at Yang Yan and Nangong Qianrou next to Wei Yuan, and Wei Yuan nodded and said, "These two are trustworthy."
Yang Yan and Nangong Qianrou exchanged a glance. They were Wei Yuan's adopted sons, and their relationship was much closer than that of Xu Qi'an. What, did they expect Wei Yuan to dismiss everyone else?
Fortunately, Xu Qi'an did not make this request.