GBP Chapter 235 Secret Agent
Chapter 235 Secret Agent
Chapter 235 The Spy
Compared to ordinary officials, the residence of Prefect Jinlin appeared exceptionally shabby.
Although the roof tiles are neat, they give off a sense of being old and dilapidated from years of neglect.
The courtyard walls were mottled, the vermilion paint on the gate had peeled off, and there was not even a stone beast to guard the house, nor a single servant to guard the gate.
Inside the mansion, however, it was even more desolate and shabby.
Inside, there were no fine silks or antiques, only some ordinary furnishings with obvious signs of wear and tear, and a handful of servants.
It does indeed look exactly like the residence of an official who "uses all his wealth to help the people".
Without a single guard or hidden soldier, Xie Yan didn't even bother to conceal his figure, yet he easily completed what could be described as the most effortless infiltration he had ever undertaken in his entire career.
As if entering an empty house, Xie Yan swiftly swept over the courtyard wall and found the main house of the residence without any effort.
He went outside the bedroom.
The servant on night watch at the door was fast asleep, completely unaware that Xie Yan was standing right in front of him, and was even snoring.
In contrast, the bedroom behind him was unusually quiet, dark and devoid of lights or human voices.
Actually, normally, at this hour, when everyone is sound asleep and the night is deep and quiet, such quietness is quite common.
But the silence was so profound that Xie Yan couldn't even hear a single breath, which was rather unusual.
He waited quietly for a moment, and only after confirming that there was indeed no sound inside did he gently push open the door.
With a soft creak, moonlight streamed in from outside, scattering across the floor, while a faint firelight simultaneously illuminated the room.
Xie Yan held up the tinderbox and swept it around; as he expected, the room was empty.
The bedding on the bed was neatly folded, without the slightest sign of being moved.
Xie Yan frowned.
He sighed softly, and the tinderbox went out with a snap. A gentle breeze drifted out of the room, and it was plunged back into darkness.
At 2:45 AM, West Street—
"So, have you found anything?"
Since receiving the Emperor's letter and learning about Xie Chu's experiences over the past few days, everyone has been preoccupied and unable to sleep.
Before dawn, they all gathered in the hall without prior arrangement.
"Nothing."
But under their eager gazes, Xie Yan shook her head. "I searched the place several times, and everything in Fukangnian's residence was normal. I didn't find any evidence that he had any dealings with the Holy Sun Church."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.
Based on the investigation over the past few days, the local prefect is not only highly suspicious and acts strangely, but all the anomalies that have appeared in Jinling City are also closely related to him.
Not to mention that he had recently seen the Five Eccentrics of Youzhou coming and going at his residence, which must mean that he has some connection with the Holy Sun Cult.
How could we possibly gain nothing?
But after a brief silence, everyone quickly realized something was amiss in Xie Yan's words.
Xuanfeng's heart skipped a beat, and he slowly frowned, hesitatingly saying, "That's not right, you said you searched several times? With such a commotion, how come no one in the manor noticed?"
Then Xie Yan sat down next to Chu Ling, drank the hot tea that was handed to her to moisten her throat, and then got to the point, "Because there is no one else in that mansion except for the servants."
"I went around in there several times, but I couldn't find a single hair of Fu Kangnian, let alone the Five Eccentrics of Youzhou. It was as if they had vanished into thin air."
"What? How could this be?"
Yu Bai, who had been monitoring and providing backup outside all day, looked astonished: "Before and after you went in, Young Master Xie, I was clearly watching the Fu residence the whole time, and I didn't see anyone go in or out."
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback and looked at each other in bewilderment.
Chu Ling tapped his fingers lightly on the table a few times and said in a deep voice, "Since there is no sign of anyone entering or leaving, and it can disappear into thin air in the mansion, there is only one possibility."
He exchanged a glance with Xie Yan and said knowingly, "There are secret rooms and passages hidden inside the Fu Mansion."
Xie Yan nodded in agreement, "That's what I thought too, but to avoid alerting them, I didn't conduct a thorough search."
In reality, Xie Yan's secret visit to the Fu residence last night was not to collect evidence of its collusion with the Holy Sun Church, but simply to get a rough understanding of the situation in the residence and see if there was anything he could do.
But unexpectedly, this led to such a surprising gain.
However, uncovering the secrets hidden within the Fu Mansion is no easy task and requires careful planning.
However, just as everyone was deep in thought and discussing, a commotion suddenly arose from outside the courtyard wall.
Everyone's expression tightened, and before anyone could go to check, a sudden, urgent, and loud knocking came from outside the courtyard gate!
"Open the door! People inside, open the door quickly!"
The footsteps outside the gate were dense and chaotic, accompanied by heavy knocking, which sounded particularly jarring in the quiet morning.
Upon closer listening, in addition to these sounds, there was also the clattering of armor, all intertwined, indicating that the visitors were hostile.
Clearly, the group of people who came from outside were not ordinary people.
"Oh no!" Heshan's expression changed. "They look like government officials. Have we been discovered?!"
Everyone stopped in their tracks, their sharp gazes all focusing on the door.
Xuanfeng frowned, placed his hand on his sword sheath, and looked at Chuling along with the others.
"Your Highness, what should we do?"
As he spoke, the voices outside the door grew impatient and agitated, the banging on the door growing louder and louder, and filled with a commanding tone.
"Is the person inside deaf? Open the door right now!"
Chu Ling glanced at the gate with a deep look in his eyes, and under everyone's gaze, calmly uttered two words.
"Open the door."
No one ever objected to his orders. Xuanfeng immediately walked to the gate with a solemn expression, holding his sword in one hand and locking the door bolt with the other.
The heavy door was pushed open.
Once the door was fully opened, what came into view was indeed a group of fully armed officials.
The leading officer withdrew his hand before he could even clap, and upon seeing someone appear, immediately put on a stern face and looked over with an unfriendly expression, "You..."
Everyone secretly reached for their weapons.
The atmosphere suddenly froze. Just as things were about to explode, the official abruptly stepped aside and pulled a person out from behind the crowd—
"Is this girl one of yours?"
"She got lost and ran out of the city, and we happened to run into her and brought her back."
This unexpected development threw everyone off balance, and even caused He Shan, who was poised to attack, to lose control of his forward-leaning body and stumble, almost falling to the ground.
Official: ? What are these people up to?