You get Lu Bu as your starting character.

Chapter 156 You still want to escape in front of me, the Grand Eunuch?
The location of the Eastern Depot.

Five men in black deflected the crossbow bolts fired by the factory guards and charged toward Cao Shaoqin.

The five men in black believed that Cao Shaoqin was not Cao Zhengchun. If he were Cao Zhengchun, they would have turned and run without saying a word.

However, Cao Shaoqin was only at the peak of the Grandmaster level, not strong enough to make them turn around and run away.

With the combined strength of the two Grandmasters and three Junior Grandmasters, even if they were no match for Cao Shaoqin, they could still hold him off for the time being.

But who would have thought that the two grandmasters and three junior grandmasters not only failed to hold back Cao Shaoqin, but were also instantly killed by Cao Shaoqin's sword before they could even get close to him.

It is true that Cao Shaoqin possesses the strength of a Grandmaster at the peak, but this does not mean that Cao Shaoqin's combat power is limited to the Grandmaster level.

In fact, Cao Shaoqin's strength at the peak of Grandmaster level was no weaker than that of a half-step Celestial.

That's what makes outstanding individuals so terrifying.

After Cao Shaoqin sheathed his soft sword at his waist, he did not make another move.

Of these men in black, only these five seemed somewhat manageable; the other men in black were easily dealt with by the Imperial Guards.

Under the crossbow bolts of the imperial guards, these men in black fell to the ground one by one.

A small group of men in black deflected the crossbow bolts and charged forward.

The imperial guards also drew their crescent blades and rushed forward to meet them.

In the time it takes to drink a teacup, all these men in black died under the crescent blades of the imperial guards, becoming corpses.

Cao Shaoqin walked up to the five men in black who had been instantly killed by his sword, and stepped on one of them. "The reason I spared your lives is that you should know what I want to know."

"Tell me, who sent you to infiltrate the Eastern Depot to rescue people?"

How many people do you still have in Luoyang?

Where are they all hiding?

Cao Shaoqin looked down at the man in black whom he was trampling under his feet and asked in a cold voice.

"Pooh."

"You court lackeys, trying to make us betray our master for personal gain? You're delusional! Give up on that idea!"

The man in black said firmly.

"Click."

Without any hesitation, Cao Shaoqin stomped down and broke the neck of the man in black beneath him.

Cao Shaoqin then walked toward the next man in black.

Same tone, same question.

But the answer was the same as the first man in black: they were both tough and didn't say a word. Without a word, Cao Shaoqin simply stepped on their necks and broke them.

When Cao Shaoqin reached the last man in black, who was also the leader of the group, he asked in a chilling tone, "And you?"

"You're not willing to tell me either?"

Cao Shaoqin had already realized that these men in black were all assassins.

Cao Shaoqin kept these five men alive because he wanted to find out who sent them to infiltrate the Eastern Depot to rescue people, and how many people they still had in Luoyang.

But now it seems impossible.

None of these men in black will speak.

"Heh, not one of them said a word."

Do you think I'll speak up?

The leader of the men in black gave a cold laugh.

Without saying a word, Cao Shaoqin stomped on the neck of the black-clad leader, sending him to meet the King of Hell.

Since he was unwilling to speak, Cao Shaoqin stopped wasting his breath.

As for dragging him down for torture, Cao Shaoqin didn't have the time for that.

These men in black are all assassins; let's not even talk about whether we can get anything out of them.

Even if we could get these men in black to talk, it wouldn't be something that could be done in a short time.

Doing that would not make much sense.

"Immediately send someone to investigate for me. These people should all be from the Fan family."

“There must be other accomplices, and the Fan family behind them should also be in Luoyang.”

"Find these people for me."

After Cao Shaoqin stomped the leader of the men in black to death, he gave orders to the guards around him.

"Yes, Second Supervisor."

The imperial guards all bowed and accepted the order.

……

Inside Luoyang City.

Inside a mansion with three courtyards and three entrances.

A man in his fifties sat in the lobby, looking somewhat anxious.

This man in his fifties was a senior member of the Fan family.

His purpose in coming to Luoyang was to deal with Fan Yongdou's matter and also to see how far Shu King Zhou Zhi and his group had progressed.

But at this moment, the elder in charge of the Fan family looked somewhat anxious and uneasy.

He sent men to infiltrate the Eastern Depot to rescue Fan Yongdou, but a long time has passed and there has been no news.

This made the elder of the Fan family somewhat worried.

How long have they been gone?

"This is what the head of the Fan family asked."

"Elder Hui, they have been gone for almost an hour."

The person next to him replied.

Has it been almost an hour?
The elder of the Fan family glanced at him and shook his head. "We can't wait any longer. It seems something went wrong with their infiltration of the Eastern Depot to rescue people."

"Immediately notify our people, and those who can hide should hide."

"Those who cannot be hidden should all leave the city."

The elder of the Fan family had already realized that something was wrong.

If everything went smoothly, they should have returned by now, given how long it has been.

But the fact that they haven't returned yet already speaks volumes.

This elder of the Fan family had to prepare for the worst.

"Yes, clan elder."

No sooner had the person next to him finished speaking than the mansion gate was violently broken open.

what happened?

The elder of the Fan family's expression changed, and he immediately got up and walked out of the hall.

As soon as he stepped out of the hall, the elder of the Fan family saw a group of people dressed in Flying Eagle Mansion uniforms rushing in.

Eastern Depot and its guards?

The elder of the Fan family's expression changed drastically, and he immediately shouted, "Charge out!"

At this point, the elder of the Fan family no longer had time to consider how the people from the Eastern Depot had managed to find their location.

I had no mind to think about anything else.

Escape is the priority.

You must understand, this is Luoyang, the central hub of the imperial court.

Their Fan family was ordered to be exterminated by the emperor in the palace, and now their whereabouts have been discovered by the Eastern Depot. If they don't escape quickly, it will be too late.

With a command from the elder of the Fan family.

The hidden agents within the mansion launched an attack on the Eastern Depot's guards.

The sounds of war suddenly arose.

The elder of the Fan family leaped up onto the roof and fled outside.

"Humph."

"You still think you can escape from me, the Grand Eunuch?"

"Can you escape?"

A cold snort sounded.

Cao Shaoqin drew his soft sword from his waist, and streaks of sword energy attacked the back of the Fan family elder.

Sensing danger from behind, the elder of the Fan family turned and leaped to dodge Cao Shaoqin's sword energy, but before he could react, a flash of cold light appeared.

The chilling soft sword was already piercing in front of him.

"puff."

Under the shocked gaze of the Fan family elder, the soft sword sliced ​​across his throat in a strange arc.

Gushes of blood spurted out.

The elder of the Fan family tumbled off the roof and fell to the ground, where he died.

Perhaps until his death, this elder of the Fan family never imagined that he, a grandmaster, would be so easily killed by a single sword strike.

The rest of the Fan family's men also died one by one under the Imperial Guards' crescent blades.

Cao Shaoqin jumped off the roof, didn't even glance at the corpses, and walked straight outside.

"Let's go." "To the next hiding place of the Fan family traitors."

……

Prime Minister's House.

Prime Minister Yuan Bo looked at the steward before him and said in a deep voice, "What did you say?"

"You're saying that all the Fan family members who infiltrated the Eastern Depot were wiped out, including the elder and others sent by the Fan family?"

Prime Minister Yuan Bo thought he had misheard.

After Cao Zhengchun left Luoyang, the Eastern Depot lost its capable experts.

Although the imperial guards were quite capable, they were not qualified to deal with the people sent by the Fan family.

It should be noted that among the people sent by the Fan family, there were Grandmasters.

Cao Zhengchun wasn't at the Eastern Depot. How could those secret police possibly deal with a Grandmaster?
"Yes, sir."

"It is Cao Shaoqin, the second supervisor of the Eastern Depot, who has returned from the four northern prefectures."

"The Fan family members were all wiped out by Cao Shaoqin and the Imperial Guards."

The butler recounted the message he had received.

After listening to the steward's words, Prime Minister Yuan Bo's expression darkened slightly.

I originally thought that with Cao Zhengchun gone, the Fan family would have no major problems dealing with Fan Yongdou's affairs.

Unexpectedly, Cao Shaoqin, the second supervisor of the Eastern Depot, returned from the four northern prefectures.

Although Prime Minister Yuan Bo had never met Cao Shaoqin, he knew that Cao Shaoqin was also a Grandmaster at the peak of his level.

Although Cao Shaoqin's strength is not comparable to Cao Zhengchun's half-step Celestial Realm, judging from the news from the four northern states, Cao Shaoqin is not a simple person.

Cao Zhengchun, the Grand Supervisor of the Eastern Depot, had finally left Luoyang, but now Cao Shaoqin, the Second Grand Supervisor, has returned.

This is not good for their plans.

Chancellor Yuan Bo thought to himself.

Fortunately, Cao Shaoqin was only at the peak of the Grandmaster level, so his impact on them was not too great.

……

The Palace of the King of Shu.

King Zhou Zhi of Shu also received news that the Fan family's infiltration of the Eastern Depot to rescue people had resulted in the complete annihilation of their army.

This made Zhou Zhi frown slightly.

"Cao Shaoqin?"

Zhou Zhi muttered these three words to himself, his eyes somewhat profound.

Zhou Zhi also knew about Cao Shaoqin, the second-in-command of the Eastern Depot.

It can be said that Cao Shaoqin was the biggest accomplice in Fang Xuanling's purge of officials and confiscation of powerful families in the four northern prefectures.

This shows that Cao Shaoqin was no ordinary person.

Zhou Zhi did not expect that Cao Shaoqin would return to Luoyang at this time, which was not good news for their plans.

"San De, do you think that if I succeed, Cao Zhengchun and Cao Shaoqin will be able to serve me?"

Zhou Zhi suddenly asked.

San De shook his head; "Your Highness, this old servant does not know."

Nobody knows the background of Cao Zhengchun and his ilk.

Therefore, no one can answer this question.

"Hey."

"My royal brother found these people from who-knows-where."

“Each of them is a rare talent.”

Zhou Zhi sighed softly.

After returning to Luoyang, Zhou Zhi got to know these people more thoroughly.

It must be said that whether it was Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui, or Lü Bu and Cao Shaoqin, they were all remarkable figures.

They are all rare talents.

Zhou Zhi kept thinking that if he succeeded, these people could be used by him, and then he could rest easy.

……

Northern Xinjiang.

The Zhenbei Marquis's Residence.

Marquis Xue Shaowen of Zhenbei sat in the main seat.

Below sat more than a dozen Zhenbei Army generals dressed in armor.

Xue Shaowen glanced at the dozen or so generals below and said, "You should all know that the imperial court only gave our Zhenbei Army half of its pay this time."

"Furthermore, three generals were transferred to serve in our Zhenbei Army."

"What do you think about this matter?"

Xue Shaowen had already guessed that the imperial court would not keep withholding the Zhenbei Army's pay indefinitely, but he did not expect that the imperial court would only send half of the pay to the Zhenbei Army.

That's not a big deal.

What Xue Shaowen least expected was that the imperial court actually transferred three generals to serve in the Zhenbei Army.

Xue Shaowen could easily see through the court's obvious intentions!

Upon hearing Xue Shaowen's words, the dozen or so generals below pondered for a moment.

One of the generals spoke up, "My lord, everyone understands the purpose of the imperial court's transfer of three generals to our Zhenbei Army."

"The Marquis declined both previous imperial decrees."

"If the Marquis refuses again this time, it will thoroughly enrage the imperial court."

The general said with a solemn expression.

"My lord, now that the imperial court has sent us military pay..."

"If the Marquis continues to refuse this transfer of a general, then it will be a loss for him."

"Besides, this Zhenbei Army is our territory."

"Even if the imperial court sends three generals, they won't be able to cause any major trouble."

"As long as we keep a close eye on things, there won't be any problems."

Another general spoke up.

The other generals also nodded.

They all understood the court's intention in transferring generals to the Zhenbei Army, but they had already refused the court's decree twice before.

If we refuse again this time, we might really anger the imperial court.

If the imperial court decides to deal with them at all costs, then they'll be in trouble.

Moreover, if the three generals sent the military pay this time, it would be quite unreasonable for them to accept the pay and send the soldiers back.

After listening to the generals' words, Xue Shaowen nodded; "You are right, that's what I think too."

"Keep a close eye on these three generals transferred by the imperial court."

"We can't let them cause any trouble, and we can't let anything happen to them."

Xue Shaowen looked at the dozen or so generals below and said.

Xue Shaowen knew that these generals were right.

He had already refused the imperial decree twice before. If he were to refuse the appointment of three generals to the Zhenbei Army this time, he would completely break ties with the imperial court.

This is not good news for their Zhenbei Army.

It would be better to accept these three generals.

Anyway, this Zhenbei Army is their territory. As long as we keep a close eye on them, what kind of trouble can the three generals sent by the imperial court cause?

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Dozens of generals stood up and responded in unison.

"Go!"

"The three generals transferred by the imperial court have been assigned to work outside by me."

"Take them directly to the military camp and give them a good welcome."

Xue Shaowen waved his hand.

More than ten generals then left the Zhenbei Marquis's residence.

……

Xiliang.

The Marquis of Xiliang's residence.

The Marquis of Xiliang also received military pay from the imperial court and orders to transfer two generals to serve in the Xiliang army.

However, unlike the Marquis of Zhenbei, the Marquis of Xiliang did not summon his generals to discuss the matter. Instead, he directly had a general take the two generals who had been transferred by the court to the military camp.

In the eyes of the Marquis of Xiliang, the court's methods were simply child's play.

Did they think that by transferring two generals to the Xiliang Army, they could divide the military power of the Xiliang Army and infiltrate it?

If it were really that simple and easy, then the Xiliang army would no longer be the Xiliang army of the Marquis of Xiliang.

(End of this chapter)