Chapter 4: Newcomers to the Universe Chapter 55: Determining the Goal
Bloody rain world, imperial capital.
A seemingly ordinary restaurant, but its business is extremely good. Xu Jingming came to the second floor of the restaurant and ordered a few signature dishes.
"Sister Qiu Tong is really a gourmet. The place she recommended is really good." Xu Jingming was eating a fish that was served to him. The fish meat was tender and smooth, and the natural aroma of the fish made Xu Jingming a little intoxicated.
"I've been in the capital for so long, and this restaurant ranks number one when it comes to fish cooking." Xu Jingming praised, enjoying the food to his heart's content.
There was a big plate of pastries, and Xu Jingming ate one at a time.
Xu Jingming also enjoyed the fragrant fruit wine.
"Have you heard? The Western Regions army of the empire was defeated! The main force of the army was 500,000 people, all of whom were top-notch experts. They were completely routed in one battle... They were chased for hundreds of miles by the Western Regions' King Wei's cavalry army. The Western Regions army is completely finished."
"The news came out from the palace today. I heard that His Majesty had several officials thrown into prison on the spot! The entire family of Meng Xu, the commander-in-chief of the Western Region Army, was arrested and thrown into the Sky Prison!"
"Yes, over in North City, the Meng family was crying loudly. All the Meng family members were taken to the prison. Even babies were not spared. The Meng family is completely finished."
Some people were discussing practical matters in the restaurant.
Xu Jingming's ears immediately pricked up, and he was shocked: "The Western Region army was defeated?"
As a member of the Blood Rain Guard, he only went to the Nanfu headquarters occasionally and heard the news while having dinner in a restaurant.
"The main force of the Western Region army is finished?" Xu Jingming immediately realized that something was wrong. "The Western Region of the Empire has been completely corrupted over the years. It is already a rare achievement to be able to gather an army of 500,000 top masters. If we lose this battle, the entire Western Region will be completely out of control."
"Once the Western Regions get out of control, the rebel army will be able to head straight for the imperial capital!" Xu Jingming said secretly.
It was said before that the northwest was eroded.
But there are still imperial armies in the Western Region and the Northern Region! The Western Region army can at least ensure that the rebels cannot threaten the imperial capital.
"The Western Region collapsed! The Northern Region is also in danger, and the Southern Region can barely maintain itself. Only the Eastern Region... The Eastern Region has the best order, and the Blood Rain Guards are strong enough." Xu Jingming thought to himself, "The Eastern Region's troops should be mobilized to enter the Western Region."
The restaurant was noisy and some people were in a state of panic.
"The Western Regions were utterly defeated. If the rebels invade the imperial capital..."
"There are no troops in the Western Regions to stop the rebels. We have to think about this early."
"The imperial capital has majestic walls and the Blood Rain Guards are there to support it. We should have no problem defending the city."
"You can't predict the outcome of a war."
Those who can eat on the second floor of the restaurant are not ordinary people. They are all extremely concerned about the future fate of the imperial capital, because it also concerns their own fate and the fate of their families.
After Xu Jingming finished his meal, he paid the bill and left the restaurant.
…
He wandered around some prosperous places in the city, and heard other places talking about the "defeat in the Western Regions". The imperial capital was such a small place, and once the explosive news got out, it would spread throughout the city in a day.
"The situation in the imperial capital is becoming increasingly dangerous. I have to determine the target as soon as possible." Xu Jingming went to one candidate target location after another to investigate.
"The Yang family is considered a big family in the imperial capital. At least my team can still chew this tough bone." Xu Jingming came to a street where the Yang family was located. For families like the Shengong family and the Fengyu family, he could only deal with ordinary children at most.
Those families were so terrifying that even the Emperor did not dare to fall out with them.
A second-rate family like the Yang family is the most suitable target. Just take a bite and it will slip away! Once you take a bite, you will be very satisfied.
"This street belongs to the Yang family." Xu Jingming looked at it. "The Yang family's mansion occupies half of the street. The many houses outside the mansion...are all the residences of some branches of the Yang family and some guards and servants."
Xu Jingming glanced at the mansion.
It’s really luxurious!
The huge mansion had a wall that was half a mile long and three feet high. This was the mansion of a real wealthy family in the imperial capital.
Xu Jingming walked past the mansion and came to some residential houses.
"Qiao San! People outside call you Master Qiao San, but you have to know that you are a dog of the Yang family! Your father, grandfather, and even great-grandfather all ate the Yang family's food. Your Qiao family has been the Yang family's dogs for generations. The master has given an order, and you, a dog, dare to disobey?" A group of people blocked a residential building, and a middle-aged man in the lead shouted angrily, "You are really a rebellion!"
In front of the residence, a man in plain clothes knelt there, holding his dead daughter, his eyes reddened: "Butler Bai, just because I rejected the second young master this morning, you killed my child?"
"A dog that doesn't listen to its master deserves to die." The middle-aged man in the lead said coldly, "Today I'm going to kill your daughter. If you don't obey me, your two brothers, three sisters, and your mother...your whole family will die!"
"Third brother."
" Third brother." There were other people around who pulled Qiao San and tried to persuade him.
Qiao San looked at his daughter in his arms with tears in his eyes.
He wanted to fight for revenge with all his might! But it was like hitting a rock with an egg, there was no hope at all. Moreover, his mother, his brothers and sisters, and their children... would all be implicated by him.
"I understand. I will go with the Second Young Master." Qiao San whispered.
"That's right. If you had agreed earlier, wouldn't there be so many problems? In the end, it's you who harmed your daughter." The middle-aged man in the lead glanced around and raised his voice a few notches. "Don't think that you are a citizen of the imperial capital just because you have lived in the capital for a hundred or two hundred years! Your ancestors have been members of the Yang family for generations! Do whatever the Yang family tells you to do. If a dog is disobedient, there is no need for the owner to keep it and it can be slaughtered and eaten!"
After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he left with his men. As he left, he glanced coldly at Xu Jingming, a stranger passing by. Even though he noticed the Blood Rain Guard official uniform under Xu Jingming's green robe, he didn't care.
How could the mighty Yang Family care about an ordinary Blood Rain Guard?
"Qiao San, you are stupid. The Second Young Master asked you who is willing to go with him? He asked you what you think, and you honestly said that you want to stay in the imperial capital?"
"Remember this from now on. Do whatever the Yang family masters tell you to do."
"This is killing the chicken to scare the monkey."
People around were whispering.
Xu Jingming watched from the side. Looking at the dead girl, there was a bloody whip mark on her chest. The whip was very heavy, and the girl was killed with one whip.
…
That night.
Butler Bai hurriedly walked out of the Yang Mansion and headed towards his own residence.
"I have to find a way to escape from the team and hide before leaving the city. By then, the Yang family won't have time to look for me in the vast imperial capital." Butler Bai thought, "If I follow the Yang family team out of the imperial capital, how many people will die on the road?"
Butler Bai usually works errands in the Yang Mansion and only returns to his residence occasionally. It is a rare day for him to come out.
"Um?"
Xu Jingming, who was investigating the terrain on the spot, noticed Butler Bai, who was the leader during the day.
call.
The spear came silently through the air.
"Not good." Butler Bai was capable of being a butler and was also a second-rate master. Sensing the fluctuations in air flow, he immediately drew a sharp sword from his waist.
But the spear was like a swimming dragon, and when it touched the sword, the strange rotational force meant that the spear was not blocked at all and naturally swept past the back of Butler Bai's head.
Sniff～～～
The gun barrel lightly brushed against the back of Butler Bai's head. Butler Bai felt a shock in his brain and then passed out.
Xu Jingming walked forward, picked up Butler Bai with one hand, and left quietly.
…
In an uninhabited woodshed of a residential building.
Butler Bai finally came to his senses and saw a masked man standing in front of him.
"Who are you?" Butler Bai was about to move when he found that his hands and legs were dislocated. He couldn't stand up from where he sat. "My dear, did you recognize the wrong person?"
"Butler Bai from the Yang residence has something to ask you." Xu Jingming said in a hoarse voice, "Speak honestly and I'll spare your life. If you dare to lie, you should know the consequences."
Butler Bai's heart trembled.
He captured him alive in an instant, which showed that his strength was far superior to his.
"Good man, just ask." Butler Bai was also timid and flattering, "I will tell you everything I know."
"The Yang family is leaving the imperial capital?" Xu Jingming said softly.
"Yes! The war situation in the Western Region is getting worse, and many of the big families in the imperial capital are arranging for some branches to leave the city." Butler Bai explained, "They are worried that the imperial capital will be breached, and then the big families will not be able to escape even if they want to."
Xu Jingming listened: "What's the situation with the Yang family?"
"The Yang family has a great influence around their hometown, 'Xuecheng' in the Eastern Region. The area within a thousand miles around is under the control of the Yang family. But most of the main branch of the Yang family is in the imperial capital. This time, some of the Yang family members from the main branch are preparing to leave the imperial capital with many masters and some gold and silver accumulated over the years." said Butler Bai.
"Take the gold and silver away?" Xu Jingming asked.
"yes."
Butler Bai said, "The situation in the world is getting worse. Once the imperial capital is conquered, the government banks will definitely not be able to withdraw money, and those silver notes will become waste paper! Even the banks of some big families... when the world is in complete chaos, the big families will not be able to protect themselves, and the silver notes will be even more useless. So they must exchange for a lot of gold and silver."
"How much did the Yang family change?" Xu Jingming asked.
"have no idea."
Butler Bai said, "The silver bills have been exchanged for gold and silver for a long time. At least the second young master asked me to exchange tens of thousands of taels of silver. The entire Yang family must have exchanged at least a million taels of silver! For the Yang family, a million taels of silver is nothing."
Xu Jingming whispered, "Aren't they afraid of being robbed?"
"The situation in the world is bad now, and the Yang family will also split into groups, disguised as caravans and escort teams." Butler Bai said, "With so many groups, even if some of the groups are robbed, the impact will not be significant."
Xu Jingming understood.
The world is in chaos and there are rebels in some places.
No matter how powerful the Yang family is, if a large group of people act together, it will only lead to a large-scale rebellion, and there is a high probability that they will be wiped out.
"It's tens of thousands of miles to Xuecheng in the Eastern Region, and I'm afraid many people will die." Xu Jingming said.
"Isn't it?" Butler Bai said, "In fact, many of us don't want to go with them. The journey is long, and it would be good if half of us can reach Xuecheng alive. It's better to stay in the imperial capital. Even if the rebels break in, what will happen? No matter who is the emperor, we are all obedient citizens. It is safer in the imperial capital than leaving the city."
"But the Yang family is different. When the rebels invade, they first plunder these big families." Butler Bai said, "They must have forced many of their clansmen to leave. Alas, we servants can only serve as their guards and fight for them."
"The Yang family is divided into groups. Which one are you following?" Xu Jingming asked.
"The Second Young Master's team." Butler Bai said.
"When do we set off?" Xu Jingming asked.
"I don't know." Butler Bai shook his head. "The Second Young Master said he would take me with him. As for how the team will be divided, when to set off, and what the disguise will be? These are all confidential."
"Oh." Xu Jingming understood, and then said, "Remember the whipping today?"
"The whip?"
Butler Bai was stunned, thinking of the time when he whipped Qiao San's daughter to death during the day.
Bang!
A gun shadow swept over, and Butler Bai's eyes widened, and the gun shadow hit his chest.
Butler Bai's body trembled, his chest was torn, and the impact of the gun shadow made him spit blood. He looked at Xu Jingming with fear and unwillingness in his eyes: "You said you would spare my life."
Xu Jingming looked at him coldly without saying a word.
Butler Bai died soon and lay in the woodshed. His injuries were almost exactly the same as the girl's.
"The Yang family exchanged silver bills for a lot of gold and silver? Where did they hide their gold and silver?" Xu Jingming pondered, and suddenly he was shocked, "Yes, once the imperial capital is breached, the money houses may close down, and the silver bills will become waste paper. I have to be careful with my silver bills, don't let them become waste paper."
…
In the next few days, Xu Jingming collected all the information about the Yang family from the Blood Rain Guards Criminal Division and also collected information about the Yang family from the virtual world network.
Before taking action, you must have sufficient intelligence!
…
Night, Fei Mansion.
Fei Qing was alone in the study. Under the candlelight, he looked at the pieces of intelligence with indifference.
"Your Majesty has ordered that the three armies of the Eastern Region be mobilized to join together and form a large army to conquer the bandits of the Western Region." Fei Qing looked up at the darkness outside the window. "I personally selected, trained, and honed the Eastern Region army through actual combat! I am the most suitable person to be the commander of the army. I know every general in the army and the strengths of every unit very well."
"But His Majesty denied me."
Fei Qing sneered.
"It's already like this, and you don't even trust me?"
"Perhaps it's because the Blood Rain Guards of the Eastern Region are the strongest army in your Majesty's hands now. You are so suspicious!" Fei Qing said silently, "He was so wise and powerful back then. How come everyone is suspicious of him and no one trusts him now that he has become the Emperor?"
"If the Eastern Region's expeditionary army is also destroyed this time! Then the future of the entire empire will be gone." Fei Qing knew this very well, but he was powerless and could only watch everything happen.
He even had to be obedient and extremely loyal and submissive.
He knew very well that...
If the Emperor thinks you are not loyal enough, you will be dead soon.
"I can only stay in the imperial capital. Given the current situation, His Majesty will eventually beg me." Fei Qing sat in the study, and he could only wait patiently for the opportunity. Perhaps, he would never get this opportunity.
