Chapter 608 Zhang Jinjiu

Hulong Villa.

Zhao Wusi was wearing a dragon robe and sitting on the throne in the hall.

He looked at the note in his hand, his calm eyes revealing a deep sense of surprise.

"Haitang and Yidao acted so quickly that they not only found the Queen Mother's location within a few hours, but also successfully rescued her! Karasuma and Toshihide, one was close to death, and the other had already died... What on earth is going on?"

Even someone as calm and composed as he was, couldn't help but find it incredible when he saw the intelligence provided by his intelligence agency.

Let’s not talk about how Shangguan Haitang and Gui Hai Yidao quickly found out the whereabouts of the Queen Mother.

Just talking about the strength of Karasuma and Kaori Hide, Zhao Wusi had a clear idea in his mind. With these two adopted sons, he had almost no chance of winning.

Not to mention, one person was killed and another was seriously injured, which is even more unbelievable.

"Let's investigate the matter of the Izumo delegation further!"

He took the brush and paper from the table beside him, wrote this sentence, opened the dragon head mechanism on the armrest of the chair, and threw it down.

Beneath the Huolong Villa lies the most rigorous and largest intelligence agency in the entire Song Dynasty.

This intelligence agency was founded by Zhao Wusi himself. It can investigate almost all the unknown private affairs of civil officials and military generals, and it also knows a lot about many things in the martial arts world.

Of course, there are always some things that only God, the earth, you and I know, and even the most powerful intelligence agencies cannot investigate them.

For example, Chai Xin suddenly appeared, interfered with the fight between Wuhuan and Duan Tianya, and disabled Wuhuan.

No matter how pervasive the intelligence agencies of Huolong Villa are, it is still extremely difficult to find out the truth.

"Karasuwa went to great lengths to disobey my orders and sneak into Hulong Villa late at night. He must have something important to report... What happened to make him so panicked?"

After throwing the paper down, Zhao Wusi did not stop thinking, and his palm kept stroking the dragon head on the armrest of the throne.

"With Tianya's strength, it shouldn't be possible for him to seriously injure Wuhuan to the point of death. Something beyond imagination must have happened!"

Thinking of this, he suddenly waved gently at the empty hall.

"See you, my lord!"

A figure in black suddenly appeared from somewhere, with his face covered by a black cloth, and he knelt down respectfully in the hall.

Zhao Wusi looked at him and said calmly, "Tell Zhang Jinjiu to come and see me immediately."

"Yes!"

The dark figure responded respectfully, then disappeared again.

"This matter is really strange, and perhaps involves a lot of things. Let Zhang Jinjiu take action. It's time to put the world's number one detective to use."

Zhao Wusi's meticulous thinking, coupled with the many clues passed on by his intelligence agencies, has vaguely guessed that there may be an unexpected person in the inn where the Izumo delegation is staying.

Moreover, this person must be very strong.

As Zhao Wusi was used to having everything under control, he had to find out everything about such a powerful uninvited guest, otherwise he would not be able to sleep.

Not long after, a figure staggered in from outside the hall, staggering as if he would fall at any time, but he never actually fell.

"Let's drink, don't stop, I'll sing you a song, please listen to me..."

The man was wearing a coarse green robe, holding a wine gourd in his hand, and walked into the hall muttering to himself.

"I am Zhang Jinjiu, your humble servant. I am honored to meet you, Your Majesty! I wonder what you want me to do by summoning me here so late at night?"

Zhang Jinjiu seemed to be half drunk and half awake, but his words were clear without any confusion or disorder.

Zhao Wusi was obviously aware of the habits of the world's number one detective. Seeing this, he remained calm and did not feel that the other party was disrespectful.

He said calmly, "Zhang Jinjiu, how much do you know about what happened at the Izumo State Inn?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhang Jinjiu's slightly cloudy eyes quickly became much clearer, and then quickly returned to being cloudy again.

"If I understand correctly, I think what Your Majesty is asking is not about the manor owner and Gui Hai Yi Dao's rescue, right? With Your Majesty's ability, plus your relationship with the manor owner and Yi Dao, I think you must know the inside story better than I do."

The owner of the manor that Zhang Jinjiu mentioned was naturally Shangguan Haitang, the owner of the number one manor in the world.

"Then, the prince should only be asking about Duan Tianya and Wuhuan. Duan Tianya chased Wuhuan to the posthouse, and should have been defeated, but he suddenly disappeared. Instead, Wuhuan, who was stronger, was seriously injured and dying..."

Having said this, he suddenly paused, raised his head and took a sip of the wine in the gourd before continuing.

"According to my guess, there must be a third person who appeared and directly influenced the outcome of the battle."

Zhao Wushi listened and said expressionlessly: "I know all of this, but you are talking about things I don't know."

Zhang Jinjiu chuckled when he heard this and said, "Your Highness may not know that the members of the Izumo delegation in the posthouse, as well as Wu Wan himself, all suddenly lost their power."

"Hmm? Lost all your power?"

Until this moment, Zhao Wusi's expression changed for the first time. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a hint of coldness appeared on his majestic face.

His intelligence agency did not report this.

As for Shangguan Haitang and Gui Hai Yidao, so far they have only sent people to convey a few words and have not come to report the details.

After all, the most important thing for the two of them right now is to escort the Queen Mother back to the palace.

Those who had lost all their powers in the inn were also placed under strict surveillance by Shangguan Haitang's orders.

Even the intelligence agency of Huolong Villa was unable to find out this in a short period of time.

After all, as the owner of the world's number one manor, Shangguan Haitang still has some trusted confidants.

Those confidants were her life-long friends, so even if it was Zhao Wusi, it would be difficult for him to infiltrate them openly.

If he really did that, it would create an unnecessary rift between him and Shangguan Haitang.

Of course, this actually also shows that Zhao Wushi is confident enough in his own education.

He fully believed that his adopted daughter, Shangguan Haitang, would never deliberately hide anything from him.

In fact, this is exactly the case. Shangguan Haitang ordered his confidants to guard those who had lost all their powers just to prevent outsiders from knowing the news, but not to hide it from Zhao Wusi.

Up to now, Shangguan Haitang's loyalty to her adoptive father Zhao Wusi remains unreserved.

When the two meet, she will naturally report the situation in detail.

When Zhao Wushi heard Zhang Jinjiu say that everyone in the delegation had "lost all their powers", the shock in his heart was actually even stronger than he showed.

Because he himself practiced the "Power Absorbing Technique", he would be extremely sensitive to this kind of method that could make a person lose all their power.

Back then, he had drained the internal energy of 108 masters from the eight major sects!
It was precisely because of the accumulation of that battle that year that he was able to achieve such great success. To this day, no one knows his true identity.

"Besides this, is there any other news?" After a moment of silence, Zhao Wusi quickly recovered and spoke calmly again. Zhang Jinjiu spread his hands and said, "I am not strong enough, not even as strong as Duan Tianya, and I can't get close to the post station at that time, so naturally I can only know this much."

The implication of these words was that he was near the posthouse when Wuhuan was fighting with Duan Tianya and Chai Xin.

At least, I got a glimpse of the situation from a distance.

"In that case, then you should quickly investigate and find out the identity of the uninvited guest. I will give you twelve hours. Can you do it?"

Zhao Wusi asked solemnly.

Zhang Jinjiu rubbed his forehead with his hand and said helplessly: "This matter is really dangerous. If I continue to investigate, I am afraid my life will be in danger!"

"After the mission is accomplished, I will give you a jar of imperial wine that has been stored in the cellar for a hundred years. In addition, if you are worried about your own safety, I can order the world's best guard to protect you."

Zhao Wusi did not pay attention to the implicit resistance in Zhang Jinjiu's words, but generously offered conditions to the other party.

A jar of century-old wine stored in the palace cellar is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver when it is put on the market. Moreover, for a wine lover like Zhang Jinjiu, even if there are really ten thousand taels of silver in front of him, it will not be more attractive than this jar of wine.

What's more, Zhao Wusi also promised to send the best guard in the world to serve as guard for Zhang Jinjiu, which was an even bigger deal.

"Haha, Your Majesty is indeed generous. If I do not obey your orders, I will be too ungrateful! I will come to get the jar of century-old wine within twelve hours."

After saying this, Zhang Jinjiu bowed slightly, then turned around and left gracefully, the verses he was muttering in his mouth sounded again.

"Bells, drums, delicacies and jade are not expensive, I just wish to be drunk forever and never wake up; all the saints and wise men in ancient times were lonely, only the drinkers left their names..."

Soon, his staggering body quickly disappeared into the night.

Zhao Wusi stared at his back, then whispered to the empty hall: "Dispatch the best guard in the world to ensure Zhang Jinjiu's safety for a day."

"Yes!"

There was a response in the air, and then there was a sound of breaking air, as if someone left quickly to deliver a message.

At this moment, a guard came outside the hall and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, someone in the palace has sent an order, asking Your Majesty to come into the palace immediately for a chat!"

"understood."

Zhao Wusi was not surprised by this news.

The Queen Mother being rescued and brought back to the palace was such a big event, and the people who rescued her were his two adopted sons. It was only normal to summon him first.

"Although this incident was somewhat unexpected, the basic goals were all achieved, so it's not too bad."

Zhao Wusi did not hesitate, he stood up from the throne and went out of the hall.

Without any crowds following him or even a carriage to escort him, he simply used his lightness skills and arrived outside the palace gate in a short while.

Although it was already late at night, the palace gates should have been closed long ago and no one was allowed to enter or leave.

But when the guards saw that the person coming was Zhao Wusi, they saluted respectfully without hesitation and then quickly opened the palace gate.

Everyone knows that Zhao Wusi is an important minister entrusted by the late emperor to take care of his son. Not only is he the emperor's uncle, but he also holds the imperial sword and red-lettered iron certificate bestowed by the late emperor, and has the privilege of entering the palace with a sword and shoes.

Entering the palace late at night was not a big deal for him.

What's more, this time there was the emperor's order, and the palace gate guards had already received it.

"Your servant Zhao Wusi pays respects to Your Majesty and the Queen Mother!"

Outside the Chuigong Hall, Zhao Wusi bowed and saluted, his tone respectful but not without dignity.

"Uncle, there is no need to be so polite. Please come into the palace!"

A peaceful young voice was heard from the hall. It was the current emperor, Zhao Sheng.

"The minister obeys the order."

Zhao Wusi agreed and walked into the hall.

There were two people sitting high in the hall, one was naturally Zhao Sheng, and the other was the queen mother who had just been rescued.

Not far from the emperor and the empress dowager was Cao Zhengchun, the governor of the East Depot.

In addition to these three people, there were two figures in the hall that Zhao Wusi was very familiar with—Shangguan Haitang and Gui Hai Yidao.

After Zhao Wusi saluted the emperor and the empress dowager again, Shangguan Haitang and Gui Hai Yidao also saluted him together.

"Meet the adoptive father!"

Zhao Wusi glanced at his two adopted sons, nodded slightly, and said nothing. He turned and bowed to the Queen Mother: "I am very happy to see that the Queen Mother is safe and sound. This is truly a blessing from heaven!"

The Queen Mother had already changed into luxurious clothes. Upon hearing this, she said with a smile, "I am saved this time, thanks to the Emperor's uncle. If it weren't for the Emperor's uncle raising two such excellent adopted sons, I would have been in great danger this time."

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. This is the duty of a subject. I think they are too slow, which is why Your Majesty has suffered so much. I wish you would die!"

Zhao Wushi apologized seriously.

Seeing their adoptive father like this, the two adopted sons certainly could not remain indifferent, and they also bowed and said: "Your subjects will die!"

It is impossible that Zhao Wusi did this because he really wanted to apologize.

In fact, the performance of Hulong Villa this time was nothing short of outstanding.

The Queen Mother was abducted from the palace, and in less than an hour they successfully solved the case and rescued the Queen Mother. It is no exaggeration to say that their work was impeccable.

The reason why he took the initiative to ask for forgiveness was actually to embarrass someone in the hall.

That person was naturally Cao Zhengchun.

"Uncle, you are too modest! Today's incident happened in the palace. It was the fault of the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. What does it have to do with you, uncle?"

Upon seeing this, Zhao She hurriedly reached out his hand to support him to show his respect and gratitude to Zhao Wushi.

"That's right. If it weren't for your uncle's good teaching, I'm afraid my life would be in danger. I will reward you generously. Your uncle must not blame himself, let alone the two of you."

The Queen Mother also hurried to comfort her.

The emperor and the empress dowager had said so much, how could Cao Zhengchun still pretend to be deaf and dumb?
As the supervisor of the East Factory, he was responsible for the safety of the palace, but today he allowed thieves to sneak into the palace and kidnap the Queen Mother...

If the emperor didn't rely on him for many things, this kind of crime would be enough to execute all nine generations of his clan!

"Today's incident is all my fault. Please, Your Majesty, punish me! Please, Your Majesty, punish me!"

Cao Zhengchun hurriedly knelt down in fear and trepidation, but he hated Zhao Wusi in his heart.

He had been abused by the emperor earlier, and finally waited for the empress dowager to be rescued and brought back to the palace. He thought that God was blessing him and he had finally escaped, but unexpectedly, Zhao Wusi gave him a fatal blow.

It seems that he is blaming himself, but in fact he is reminding the emperor and the empress dowager who is the real dereliction of duty in this incident.

(End of this chapter)