The Golden Age - Chapter 67: Department of Investigation
Another sudden voice from the carriage made everyone present taken back for a second.
Before, when Du Hongsheng came out of the carriage, everyone thought that obviously, he should be the only person who was in the carriage. After all, he was the Defense General, the highest position that could be given. He shouldn’t be sharing a carriage with others.
No wonder a sudden voice coming out of the carriage at this time made everyone surprised.
Shi Ling looked surprised, but soon he calmed himself down. Before he was able to speak, the voice came again from the carriage, “Mr. Du, who is the person who was about to lead the charge into the Manor of the Governor?”
“Old master, it is the Zhen County Wolf Rider Army Commander, Shi Ling.” Du Hongsheng faced the carriage and bowed. “The Marquess is given this army to control bandits and chaos. But this should only be used during emergencies.”
The voice from the carriage came out again, “I know. There are three armies like this in Xiling. The Imperial Court calls them the Anti-Rebellion Army.”
“Yes, sir.” Du Hongsheng said with a smile, “The Wolf Rider Army is one of the three Anti-Rebellion Armies. Shi Ling is the Commander who was selected by the Marquess himself.”
There was a laugh from the carriage. “Alright, alright. Then, all of this must be a big misunderstanding.” He stopped for a second, then continued, “Shi Ling, you don’t have to search this place anymore. Go elsewhere to find the assassin. Capture him at all costs.”
His voice was very calm, but everyone could feel that he had a tone of anger and power in his voice.
Shi Ling was just as shocked as everyone else.
First of all, the fact that there was someone else in the carriage was already surprising enough. Then, Du Hongsheng even called him “old master”, which was even weirder.
People that Du Hongsheng respects and bows down to will be no ordinary person.
The person in the carriage already stated that Shi Ling should not continue to stay at the Manor of the Governor.
He still wasn’t sure who the person in the carriage was, but after all, this was Gui City. Gui City’s owner was the Marquess. And Shi Ling only has one master. It is not the Imperial Court, but the Zhen family.
“Old master, please allow me to ask, how do you know the assassin is not in the Manor of the Governor?”
Shi Ling obviously would not leave just because the person told him to do so. What he does know was it would be best for him to respect the person for now. Since Du Hongsheng called him the old master, it should be fine for him to do so too.
“Because I said so.” The voice came out.
Shi Ling was a bit confused. He didn’t expect him to give such an explanation.
After seeing that Shi Ling was still hesitating, Du Hongsheng frowned, “Shi Ling, have you not heard what the old master said? Get your people out of here and go find the assassin!”
Shi Ling looked at the carriage suspiciously. His lips moved, unsure what to do.
“It seems that the Marquess did not train his army well enough.” The person in the carriage sighed. “Mr. Du, now I understand why you asked me to come with you. I didn’t believe that this army wouldn’t listen to you at the beginning, but now I’m witnessing it myself.”
The Vice Commander, Yan Qing, was once a bandit who would put his life on the line for anything. Although he was taken in by the Zhen family, deep inside, he was still like what he was before.
After hearing such words from the person in the carriage, he felt very uncomfortable. At this time, he couldn’t help but yell, “Who are you? Come out of there!”
For many years, the people of Zhen County only knew that the only person in power was the Marquess, so it wouldn’t be strange for a bandit like Yan Qing to fear the Marquess. But he never knew what the Imperial Court was like, so when facing members from the Imperial Court, he didn’t care nor even respected them at all.
The second he spoke, Shi Ling’s face changed as he yelled, “Be quiet!”
But it was too late. At this time, the coachman who was sitting at the front of the carriage jumped out of his position and flew towards Yan Qing. His long whip in his hand was like a poisonous snake. In the blink of an eye, the whip has already wrapped around Yan Qing’s neck. He pulled the whip hard and flew Yan Qing’s whole body away. Under everyone’s eyes, the Vice Commander of the Wolf Rider Army flew away a few meters before landing heavily on the floor.
“How dare you!” One of the Wolf Riders cried out. Quite a few of them were good friends with Yan Qing, so some charged towards the coachman.
“Stop! Everyone stop!” Shi Ling shouted.
Du Hongsheng also frowned and said slowly, “Commander Shi, how dare this person disrespect and yell in front of the old master!”
After beating Yan Qing up, the coachman returned to his place in front of the carriage.
“In such a place like this, no wonder he doesn’t know the rules.” The old master sighed again. “If you were in the Capital, words like what he just said would result in corpses on the floor. He doesn’t even get to live anymore. Since he’s the Marquess’ man, I’ll be generous and allow him to live. Go back and report to your Marquess.”
The cops at the Manor of the Governor all thought that there would be a bloody fight today. No one expected the Defense General to appear.
Even after the defense General appeared, many didn’t think he could easily change the situation and that the Wolf Riders would leave just like this.
They never expected that the mysterious person who came along with the Defense General was very important. Even his coachman was a good fighter and didn’t spend any effort to take out the Vice Commander of the Wolf Riders.
There was no way the Defense General could have such powerful people under his hands. Even if he did, there was no way he’ll start a fight against a Wolf Rider.
Shi Ling looked at the carriage and suddenly, a drop of sweat fell from his forehead. With a trace of panic, he trembled and asked, “Could it be… Could it be the old master of the Department of Investigation?”
Most of the people present were not sure what the Department of Investigation was, but some have heard of it. The second “The Department of Investigation” went through their ears, they all showed an expression of fear.
“Master Xiao is being generous today and has spared his life. Shi Ling, are you still going to disobey his orders?” Du Hongsheng replied then sneered coldly.Â
Shi Ling hesitated for a second. And at this time, a horse rushed to where he was standing. It was one of his Wolf Riders.
After getting close enough, the Wolf Rider dismounted, quickly ran to Shi Ling, and whispered something in his ear.
Shi Ling frowned. He walked up and bowed, “We’re sorry we disrespected you. Please punish us.”
“Your actions were for capturing the assassin thus, a punishment won’t be necessary.” Master Xiao sighed softly. “You’re listening to the Marquess’ orders and trying to maintain peace in Zhen County. But do not forget, you and the Marquess belong to the Imperial Court. Don’t make the Zhen family the only thing in your heart.”
“I understand,” said Shi Ling respectfully.
Master Xiao stopped talking and just coughed once.
Then, Du Hongsheng turned to Han Yunong, who was quietly standing there. “Governor Han, since the Marquess ordered the Wolf Riders to search for the assassin, we’ll just keep your manor out of this. Order everyone in your manor not to act without permission. Wait for Commander Shi to capture the assassin first.” Then, he also returned to the carriage. The coachman whipped the air in front of him which produced a crisp and loud sound, a sign for the horse to start moving. From beginning to the end, Master Xiao never even showed his face once.
Han Yunong glanced at Shi Ling and then turned around to go back. The cops also immediately closed the gates of the Manor of the Governor.
Shi Ling took a deep breath and looked around. Yan Qing had already got onto his feet with the help of a few others. Then he ordered, “Leave a hundred riders here to seal all exits of the Manor of the Governor. Do not allow anyone to pass without my orders. I need twenty archers to be on the archer tower and observe the situation!” He looked again at Yan Qing and asked, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay.” The coachman wasn’t trying to kill him, so it wasn’t too big of a deal.
“You can stay here and keep an eye on the Manor of the Governor. Do not start a fight with them, but do not allow anyone to leave either.”
Yan Qing bowed. “Yes sir!”
“Chen He, Liu Ying, you two bring a hundred riders with you and search the whole city.” Shi Ling continued, “Medicine stores, hospitals, and hotels especially. Capture anyone who has a wound on his right leg and if they resist, kill them on the spot.”
After all the arrangements were made, Yan Qing asked softly, “Sir, what happened?”
Just then, a rider came to report to Shi Ling and Shi Ling’s face changed completely after hearing it. Yan Qing knew something was wrong and couldn’t help but ask.
“Wood Street.” Shi Ling whispered to him, “The Qin Jailer lives at Wood Street. The Marquess has already sent people over there but something happened.” Without further explanation, he got onto his horse and ordered again, “Song Chuang, bring twenty riders and follow me!” With a flick of the horse’s reins, the horse galloped away. One of his men and twenty other riders immediately followed and quickly disappeared in the distance.
When Han Yunong returned to the main room, the cops already calmed down. Many even showed signs of joy and some bravely spoke, “Look at those useless idiots. They didn’t even dare to move after hearing the old master. Just like rats when they see a cat.”
“Bro, do you even know who that old master was? He’s from the Department of Investigation. Let me tell you how powerful they are. If the old master actually killed that Yan Qing, then the Marquess wouldn’t even dare to do a single thing about it.”
“What is the Department of Investigation?” Someone else asked, “It sounds like number one in the sixteen departments of the Imperial Palace.”
Another cop glanced at him and smiled, “Sixteen departments of the Imperial Court? No no, the Department of Investigation isn’t even part of them. Let me tell you, all sixteen of the departments in the Imperial Palace combined isn’t as powerful as the Department of Investigation alone.”
“That’s enough.” Han Yunong already spoke before he was able to finish, “Send people to guard all the gates of the manor. Everyone else should stay here and be quiet. Talking too much will only cause trouble. Do you understand?”
Everyone closed their mouths and said no more. Han Yunong sighed and walked out by himself.
Edited by: EyljeeÂ