High Martial Arts Three Kingdoms: The Incompetent Strategist

He Jin rushed out of the mansion and shouted from afar, "Ziyou, who are you going to make trouble with? It's always the imperial guards who bully people, who has ever dared to bully you?"

Tang Ke hurriedly stepped forward to pay his respects. Upon seeing that he was injured, He Jin immediately arranged for a doctor to clean and bandage his wounds. Only after the wounds were properly treated was he allowed to meet in the inner hall.

This commotion had lasted until late at night. He Jin had already gathered several relevant people to discuss the search and arrest of the Taiping Dao. In addition to Chen Lin and Kuai Yue, Cao Cao, who was still recuperating, was also summoned.

Upon learning of Tang Ke's injury, they waited at the mansion. Tang Ke briefly recounted Qu Mu's assassination attempt on him and his investigation of Ma Yuanyi, which implicated Feng Xu. He also informed them that he had suggested Emperor Ling of Han thoroughly investigate the Taiping Dao.

Cao Cao suddenly realized: "No wonder His Majesty suddenly issued an order today to have us search the whole country for members of the Taiping Dao. It turns out it was your bad idea."

Tang Ke disagreed with his assessment: "How can this be considered a bad idea? This is taking precautions. The Taiping Dao has already shown signs of rebellion, and it will be too late if we don't act now."

“The problem is that there are just too many followers of the Way of Peace. Even if we arrest only one or two tenths, we don’t have enough prisons to hold them all. On the contrary, it would easily incite a popular uprising.” Cao Cao said with a worried look, “It would be better to stabilize them first and gradually divide and weaken them.”

Kuai Yue nodded in agreement, saying, "General Cao is right. Besides, Feng Xu is a member of the Qingliu faction and can help us fight against Zhang Rang. It's not the right time to attack him now."

Four pairs of eyes turned to Tang Ke, clearly disapproving of his repeated decisions and actions.

"You guys are typical of only knowing one side of the story. The Taiping Dao rebellion is right in front of us, how can we have time to slowly divide them? Besides, they have committed capital crimes, why are you worrying about not having enough space to detain them?"

"As for Feng Xu, you can't blame me for that. They tried to harm me first, so you can't blame me."

Tang Ke refuted their questions one by one in rapid succession. Seeing that one or two of them did not believe him, he took out a silver ingot and said, "I bet the Way of Peace will rebel within half a month!"

Seeing that the four men were ignoring him, he said awkwardly, "General He, once you solve the Feng Xu case, you'll be promoted to a high-ranking official position in no time."

He Jin yawned widely, completely ignoring what he had said.

"Anyway, His Majesty Feng Xu hasn't made his plans clear yet. Zhang Rang is in charge of Luoyang. Given his vindictive nature, Feng Xu is definitely not going to have a good time. I'll follow the imperial decree and coordinate with all the prefectures to attack the Taiping Dao. Mengde, although your injuries haven't fully healed, Yuan Shao is still unconscious. I'll have to trouble you to make a trip to Luoyang to supervise the surrounding prefectures and counties."

"Kuai Yue and Chen Lin, you two should go together!"

Seeing that He Jin had no intention of assigning him any tasks, Tang Ke quickly pointed to himself and said, "General He, there's still someone I haven't been assigned a task for! Give me a job too, so I can earn some merit!"

“You won’t be getting promoted anytime soon, so there’s no need to waste your merits.” He Jin rarely spoke up with such insightful advice: “The priority is to find Qu Mu and drag out this guy who’s been causing trouble for us. We won’t be able to have peace of mind until he’s gone!”

"Very well, it's time for me to teach this ignorant little eunuch a lesson."

If Tang Ke remembers correctly, He Jin in history was killed by Qu Mu! This then ushered in the era of Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital and his chaotic rule.

Killing Qu Mu might be the key step in changing history.

Having figured this out, Tang Ke said nothing more, quickly returned home, and immediately summoned the Imperial Guards.

Since his transmigration, he has almost never harbored any real intention to kill anyone.

In fact, he himself was the last person who wanted to get involved in these power struggles in Luoyang. After all, he was now a person of some standing, and it was better to spend more time in the brothel enjoying high-quality entertainment than to be fighting all the time.

But he was really serious about planning the search and capture strategy for Qu Mu.

The imperial guards were not yet fully accustomed to their leader's style, who had appeared out of nowhere. They were bewildered by his sudden nighttime visits to the imperial prison and his orders to capture assassins, yet they were helpless to do anything about it. They had no choice but to accept all his commands.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of cold, black eyes, observing from the darkness, revealed an unfathomable chill.

Qu Mu was originally the Director of the Imperial Workshop, but he was just an ordinary eunuch in charge of swords, crossbows and other weapons. He had little contact with outsiders and mysteriously disappeared after less than a year in the palace. His identity made it very difficult to trace him, and there were no detailed records of him even in the palace.

To give everyone an impression of this person, Tang Ke specially ordered an artist to draw a portrait based on his own and Cao Cao's descriptions of his appearance.

When Qu Mu's arrest warrant was officially announced, the city of Luoyang was shaken.

His wanted poster was also strangely described: "He deliberately attempted to assassinate officials of the imperial court multiple times, and after each failure, he showed no remorse. His crimes are heinous. Anyone with relevant clues will be rewarded with 1000 taels of silver, and anyone who assists in his capture will be rewarded with 1000 taels of gold."

This Commander of the Imperial Guard was truly generous. Even those who knew nothing about Qu Mu rushed over upon hearing the news, eager to see the portrait in person and see if it could provide any clues.

For the first few days, the imperial guards who received the orders were quite patient. They traversed the streets and alleys of Luoyang, carrying long spears and with swords at their waists, their expressions cold and stern, like ghosts, meticulously searching every corner where assassins might be hiding.

To ensure the mission was completed, their eyes were as sharp as eagles, not daring to miss any unusual movement; even the slightest rustling of wind on a street corner could arouse their alertness.

As time went on, their search intensified. Seeing that they hadn't found any useful clues, they were no longer content with wandering the streets and alleys, but began to break into houses, breaking down doors in an attempt to find clues.

Each creak of the door hinges was accompanied by gasps and panic from the crowd. The entire city of Luoyang seemed to be shaken by an invisible force, and the people were filled with dread.

Despite such an intensive search, no trace of Qu Mu could be found.

Under Tang Ke's command, the imperial guards quickly turned their guns around and began searching the official residences. The secret edict from Emperor Ling of Han in his possession finally came in handy, and under the pretext of investigating a treason case, they began to openly conduct door-to-door investigations.

However, no useful clues were obtained, and the person seemed to have vanished into thin air.

In this search operation, Luoyang City seemed to have become a huge maze, and Tang Ke's elite cavalry were like hunters lost in it. They kept searching and exploring, just to find the prey hidden in the darkness.

From these imperial guards, Tang Ke clearly saw the shadow of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.