Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Bang--"

On the streets of Suzhou, a crisp metallic clanging sound suddenly rang out from the bowl of a blind beggar.

A two-ounce gold coin is spinning rapidly in the bowl.

The next moment, the blind beggar grabbed the gold coin and brought it to his nose to smell it.

"Mr. Chen, you're really being generous this time. Is there something you're struggling with that you need my help with?"

Chen Anning bent down and stared blankly at the blind beggar whose eyes were white.

After a long silence, he finally spoke: "Help me kill someone."

"Who?"

"Your Majesty, Shen Lang."

Upon hearing this, the blind beggar's pale pupils seemed to flash with a sharp light.

After a long silence, he put away the gold coin and slowly said, "When?"

"tonight."

The beggar said no more, got up and grabbed a green bamboo cane from the corner of the wall.

"I understand. After this matter is over, what I owe you should be settled, right?"

"Well, it's settled."

"what."

The beggar chuckled dryly and slowly walked into the alley.

Chen Ning'an looked at his hunched back and was still worried.

"Relying on Meng Shouchang alone is not enough; we need to find two more people."

So he went into a blacksmith's shop at the end of the street corner.

A scorching heat hit me in the face.

A burly, shirtless man was vigorously hammering the blade of a newly quenched knife.

Upon seeing Chen Ning'an arrive, he merely glanced up at him before continuing to forge iron.

Chen Ning'an wasn't in a hurry; he sat quietly to the side and waited for him to finish his work.

An hour later, the blacksmith put down all his work, went to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of water, and drank it.

“Mr. Chen, just tell me what you need. There’s no need for this formality.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Ning'an took out another two taels of gold from his pocket and placed them on the craftsman's table.

The blacksmith merely glanced at it before tossing the ladle back into the water vat.

"Kill who?"

"Your Majesty, Shen Lang."

Upon hearing this, the blacksmith immediately threw the gold back.

"Take the money back; this order is free."

"Thank you."

Chen Anning received a satisfactory answer and got up to leave.

The blacksmith wiped the sweat from his face and then noticed that the two taels of gold were placed back where he had been sitting.

Chen Anning then arrived at a third place, a perfume shop selling rouge and face powder.

"Sir, what would you like to give to your lover?"

Chen Anning looked at the girl in front of him, who looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, and smiled as he took out two taels of gold.

The girl's expression changed slightly: "What do you want me to do?"

"kill."

"it is good."

The girl accepted the gold without even asking who the recipient was.

Chen Anning sighed softly: "Tonight at midnight, in Hengren Lane."

He left with a single sentence, then immediately got up and left, not wanting to stay a moment longer.

……

As dusk fell, Shen Lang walked back to the inn.

As I passed through an alley, I sensed someone following me. Instinctively, I reached behind my waist to hide a dagger, while simultaneously making my footsteps as soft as possible.

The footsteps behind him are getting closer.

As Shen Lang's earlobe twitched slightly, a crisp wind chime rang out, and the cold light was unsheathed, leaving a perfect crescent moon mark in the air as it sliced ​​behind him.

"Brother! Spare his life! It's me!"

Just an inch from the target's throat, Shen Lang heard the sound and instinctively sheathed his dagger.

"Your Highness, it's you?"

"You scared me to death!"

The newcomer was Jiang Shangxian. He touched his neck with lingering fear and felt a sharp pain.

"I only wanted to scare you a little and quietly greet you, but I didn't expect you to react so strongly. You almost killed me."

"Enough with the nonsense, what message did His Majesty send you with?"

“My imperial nephew read the letter you gave him and immediately sent me to Suzhou to cooperate with you.”

"Is their cooperation just a pretense, their real intention really to split the profits?"

"Don't think of me as so shallow. What do you mean by money? Do you think I care about that?"

Jiang Shangxian took out a letter and handed it to Shen Lang.

"This is His Majesty's reply to you. She was worried that something might happen to you in Suzhou, so she specially dispatched the Second Battalion of the Imperial Guard, which is Meng Gong's unit, to assist you. They are already on their way."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang sighed softly: "Actually, it wasn't necessary, but it's good that we have Meng Gong's troops. Many things will be much easier to handle. Any other news?"

"My nephew also said that if the case encounters any obstacles, you should get out of there as soon as possible, as long as you are safe and sound."

"Anymore?"

"My nephew also said that whatever decision you make, she will support you to the end, and she will handle matters in the court, so you don't need to worry about them."

A warm feeling washed over Shen Lang; perhaps this was what it felt like to have a home.

Jiang Shangxian patted Shen Lang on the shoulder and said, "Brother, I knew it. Great Chu can't do without the two of us. Look, we're back together again, aren't we?"

Shen Lang: "Your Highness, the waters of Suzhou are very deep."

"Hehe, can it get any deeper than your pants? With our skills, we can take them down in no time. By the way, any progress on the case?"

"The case was basically settled before I came, just as Liu Wu reported. I was just finishing up the details."

"Now that we understand, when do we plan to make our move?"

"Not urgent."

Shen Lang sneered: "I plan to take this opportunity to reorganize the entire officialdom in Jiangnan."

Jiang Shangxian's eyes widened instantly: "Brother, are you planning to cause a huge upheaval?"

"Are you afraid?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Jiang Shangxian sniffed. "With you by my side, I wouldn't even blink if I had to go through fire and water."

"Alright, come back to the inn with me first."

"Wait a minute, we've come all this way to Suzhou, wouldn't it be a waste not to visit the local brothels?"

"You're still thinking about this? How are you going to explain this to the Princess?"

"Hehe, it's just listening to a song, nothing else. Let's go."

Jiang Shangxian grabbed Shen Lang and pulled him toward a brothel in the bustling city center.

……

At 9 PM, a beggar, a blacksmith, and a young girl sat together in a noodle shop that was about to close, slurping noodles from their bowls.

The blacksmith was now dressed in full military armor, looking quite imposing.

He drank the soup in one gulp, then waited silently for his two companions.

Soon, the girl also put down her empty bowl.

Only the blind beggar was still there, slowly chewing his food.

After finally finishing their meal, the three sat in silence, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.

Finally, the blacksmith was the first to stand up and grab a 60-pound spiked club from the side of the table.

"We've eaten our fill, time to get back to work."

The blind beggar grabbed his bamboo cane and laughed, "I've eaten noodles in Suzhou for so many years, and this is the best. I hope I can have another bowl after tonight."

After saying that, he slowly stood up.

The girl took a deep breath: "Let's go. After I finish my errand, I'll treat you to noodles here."

"Ah."

The girl left behind two taels of gold and, together with the beggar and the blacksmith, left the noodle shop and disappeared into the night.

……

At this moment, Zheng Bisheng and Zheng Xiaoru sat facing each other in the inner room, neither of them speaking first.

After a long silence, Zheng Xiaoru finally spoke: "Father, since things have already been exposed, let's go all the way and just get rid of Shen Lang..."

He made a motion of wiping his neck.

Zheng Bisheng shook his head: "It's too late. That ledger is in Shen Lang's hands, and nobody knows who he'll give it to."

If we fall into the hands of the imperial court, my son and I, and even the entire Zheng family, will be implicated. Even the two thousand officials of Suzhou will face annihilation.

"Killing Shen Lang is no longer necessary."

"So what should we do now?"

"We can only take it one step at a time. We'll release Liu Wu tomorrow, but we'll have to figure out who gets bloodshed later."

Zheng Xiaoru: "What about all the money we've amassed over the years? Even if we were to hand it over, we couldn't possibly come up with that much!"

Zheng Bisheng lightly patted his forehead: "I'm also worried about this. At this point, spending money to buy some peace and quiet is actually the best option."

Let all the officials in Suzhou who were involved in embezzling salt permits spit out some of their money, and we'll figure out a way to make up the difference and get by for now.

Zheng Xiaoru: "What if Shen Lang insists on taking half?"

Zheng Bisheng fell silent for a long time before finally speaking, "Then let's send Yunniang over there."

"As long as we have leverage over Shen Lang, we'll have bargaining chips to negotiate."