After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

After settling Xiao Qi in, Chen Futu and his group went to another prison.

The prisoner here is the assassin who carried out the attack last night.

Li Yuanfang went in and brought over a prisoner. This person was the strongest, a ninth-rank official, considered one of the best among the third-class assassins.

He saw Chen Futu start cursing as soon as he opened his mouth. Chen Futu gave An Jingsi a look, and the latter grabbed a whip and started lashing out.

clap clap clap!

A few lashes from a master are no joke; they leave the man with torn and bleeding skin, a truly gruesome sight.

"I'd rather die than tell!"

He was yelling and screaming, but he was actually quite tough.

Chen Futu chuckled and teased Di Renjie, "Your Excellency, I've heard of a torture device called the Bronze Ox. It's a hollow animal made of copper and iron. Prisoners are locked inside, and then the Bronze Ox is roasted over a raging fire until they're thoroughly cooked."

"Your Highness, such a torture device does exist. It is generally used to deal with the most heinous criminals. Your Highness intends to use the bronze bull to deal with this person."

Di Renjie smiled and said in a very cooperative manner.

"I see this man is very stubborn, and I'm too lazy to interrogate him any further. I might as well stuff him into the bronze bull and roast him, and then share him with his companions, just like how Boyi Kao was made into meat buns and fed to the Marquis of Xibo back then."

"This method is good; we can give it a try."

Di Renjie deliberately spoke loudly, and sure enough, the assassin turned blank and began to tremble.

The assassin wasn't afraid of death, but such a gruesome way to die sounded terrifying.

Seeing that he still didn't speak, Chen Futu deliberately ordered Li Yuanfang, "Yuanfang, go and arrange for someone to bring the bronze ox."

"Here!"

Knowing there was no bronze ox, Li Yuanfang cooperated fully with the act.

Seeing that Li Yuanfang was about to walk out of the prison, the assassin was immediately terrified and shouted, "No, I'll confess! Ask me any questions you have, I can answer them all!"

Death itself is not scary; what is scary is knowing how to die.

Chen Futu sneered, "I thought you were tough as nails. I prepared many ways to deal with you, but you couldn't withstand it."

"Your Highness, please speak plainly. I only wish for a swift death!"

"As long as you behave yourself, I will do as you wish. Tell me, who sent you, how many people came? I don't want to hear any useless nonsense."

"We came to Dragon City on a mission: either disrupt the ceremony or kill you. There are four teams in total. I don't know the exact number of people, but there are probably fifty or sixty in total. My team is mainly responsible for cleaning up the mess and dealing with the aftermath, such as those who failed the 'Flower Shifting' mission."

The man answered quickly, and it didn't seem like he was lying.

"You even have dedicated cleanup personnel. Your organization is quite interesting. Yesterday, there were two teams that attacked me. One was led by a peak-stage Innate Realm expert, and the other was led by an early-stage Innate Realm expert. I wiped out the early-stage Innate Realm team. Where are the remaining team and the peak-stage Innate Realm team?" Chen Futu asked again.

"The leader of the peak innate team is Ba Dao, who is stationed in the alley in the east of the city. As for the other team, they are mainly responsible for intelligence gathering and espionage. The leader is called Guan Xing. That woman is known as the Thousand-Faced Fox. She is a peak Grandmaster but is very good at hiding. I have never seen her true face. Moreover, she is cautious. She has always sent people to contact me, but I have been unable to find her. Now she probably knows that I have been captured, so both teams have gone into hiding."

"Give me a suggestion to lure them out, and I'll give you a quick death."

Chen Futu slowly and methodically made his request.

The man said urgently, "I can only contact Ba Dao, not Guan Xing."

"Finding the Overlord Blade would also be acceptable."

"Your Highness can send one of my men to wait at the entrance of the alley in the east of the city; he will naturally appear."

"Forget about your people, how about we use a human-to-human swap?"

"She can do it too. At worst, she can get a little injured and say she'll find a chance to break out of prison, but it depends on whether Ba Dao believes her."

The man had finished speaking.

Chen Futu paced back and forth, pondered for a moment, and then asked Di Renjie, "What does the Grand Secretary think?"

Di Renjie nodded and said, "This method is feasible. We can announce to the public that the female prisoner has escaped from prison and instead caught a few petty thieves who came to rescue her. This will increase the credibility of Xiao Qi's approach to Ba Dao."

"That's how it'll be. Once this is resolved, we'll tell the people that the escaped female prisoner has been recaptured. As for these few, we'll just announce that they'll be executed in the city at noon. If Ba Dao comes, we'll take him down on the spot. If he doesn't come, we'll send Xiao Qi to lure him away."

After giving all the instructions, Chen Futu left Li Yuanfang to handle the aftermath, and then took Di Renjie back to the royal court.

Zhuge Liang and the others happened to be there.

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Futu ordered Di Renjie to establish the Surveillance Bureau, with Di Renjie serving as its chief official and overseeing all cases in the northern frontier. As for the detailed administrative structure, he could discuss and decide with Zhuge Liang and Yu Qian. If money was needed, they could contact the Commerce Bureau; if people were needed, they could go to the military camps or academies.

After dealing with these matters, Chen Futu met with Xiao Qi, whose injuries had been simply treated.

She changed into casual clothes, and the penetrating wound in her arm had been treated. She knelt on the ground with a calm expression and said, "This humble servant greets the Crown Prince."

Chen Futu nodded and told her about the Overlord Blade and the Star Gazing.

Xiao Qi said in a low voice, "Ba Dao is ruthless and vicious. He is often brave and fierce in the building. As for Guan Xing, she is the most mysterious. It is said that she is a person who has one foot in the top rank. The price for her to do something is extremely high. She came here this time probably because the young master is special. Otherwise, she would not have come."

"Stargazing? That's interesting..."

Chen Futu was very interested in this mysterious woman. She was engaged in intelligence and espionage, and the Northern Frontier needed such talent. If he could recruit her and work with Mao Xiang's Embroidered Uniform Guard, he would have all the news in the world at his fingertips.

“Your Highness, there’s a legendary celestial observer in the building. She never takes risks easily. Even if Your Highness wants to lure the snake out of its hole, she most likely won’t take action herself. She’ll just watch from the sidelines.” Xiao Qi’s words were quite pertinent.

Chen Futu couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Forget it, if we can't find him, we can't find him. Those guys will be executed at noon today. If Ba Dao comes, he can naturally take him down. If he doesn't come, then it's up to your acting skills. This is your first task. Don't disappoint this young master."

"Xiao Qi understands, and will certainly live up to the mission."

"Go and rest. We'll talk about it later when we get news from the execution ground."

Chen Futu waved his hand, and after Xiao Qi left, Chen Futu asked Ge Fei, "Where do you think that stargazer is hiding?"

Consort Ge lowered her head and pondered for a long time before replying, "A woman who is extremely skilled in disguise and specializes in investigation and espionage should be able to access a vast amount of information and even meet the Crown Prince in the places she appears."

"Contact the information, see me..."

Chen Futu walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, then suddenly his eyes lit up. "Could it be her!"