That grand revelry gradually subsided after Qin Si Yuan entered the Ministry of Justice's prison. The dark clouds dispersed, the sky cleared, and beside a courtyard near the prison, sunlight streamed down in streaks through the gaps in the trees. People jostled, and the stench of sweat and blood permeated the air. Ning Yi walked among them, pouring a bucket of water over himself. Blood stained his forehead, and his lips were tightly pressed together as he waved away the hand of a servant who knew medicine.

"I'm fine! Go look after them! Have them wash themselves, especially those with injuries; we can't let filth get into their wounds!" He stepped aside. "Where are the other doctors? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

During the massive chaos in the streets earlier, various objects had flown through the air. Although the people around Ning Yi had used wooden planks and even shields for protection, they had inevitably suffered some injuries. The severity of the injuries varied, but those who were seriously wounded were mostly members of the Qin family.

As things had progressed to this point, some were indignant, some were weeping, but Ning Yi couldn't stop. He quickly arranged various matters, and only after more doctors arrived did he sit down to have some medicine applied to his forehead. In fact, compared to the horrors of the battlefield, this minor scrape was nothing.

In the distance, passersby walked by the street corner, casting a few glances but not daring to come closer. Partly because it looked too awful, and partly because it stank.

Before long, a guard walked over, his clothes soaked with water, but his eyes still bloodshot. He approached Ning Yi, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke, "Boss, why are we doing all this?"

Most of the martial artists who joined the Bamboo Chronicle came from the common people and had experienced frustrating lives to varying degrees. However, what had happened today felt very different. Martial artists were generally straightforward and found it difficult to endure humiliation on ordinary days, let alone after doing so much and then being pelted with mud and dung. When he asked this question, his voice was quite loud. Most of the other Bamboo Chronicle guards probably had similar thoughts. Many of them had likely harbored thoughts of leaving recently. The fact that they had stayed was mainly out of respect for Ning Yi – after so many days in the Bamboo Chronicle, livelihood and money were no longer pressing needs.

Ning Yi stood up, his lips pursed. The voices of the others quieted down, and the inherently weak Qin family members also perked up, some still crying, but stopping their sobs.

"You all want to ask this question." Ning Yi's answer was simple. "For the two men inside."

He pointed toward the prison, saying calmly, "You know what they've done, and you also know what would have happened to them today if we hadn't been here. You have water, you have doctors. Although they won't be treated harshly in the prison, they won't have everything they need either. Think about them. It's an honor for you to become like this today to protect them."

After he finished speaking, he sat down again. The people around him didn't speak. They only turned away after a moment and began to do what was at hand. The guard standing next to him wiped his face with water and turned to go help bandage someone, his steps and hands much more resolute.

The words gave people a strange feeling here. The sunlight filtered down, and the light seemed to be sublimating. A wounded Qin family teenager asked beside him, "Then… what about Third Grandfather, what about Uncle Shaoqian?"

"I've already sent someone in to take care of things," Ning Yi said, sitting there and comforting him. "It'll be alright."

After a while, a group of people came over from the road, led by Tie Tianying. As they got closer, they covered their noses. "Seemingly loyal, actually treacherous accomplices." "The will of the people, have you seen it? How does it feel to be a traitor's dog?" "Why aren't you arrogant and beating people today? I'm even wearing my shackles." Some of his subordinates, who were veteran constables, provoked them in this way.

Having heard Ning Yi's earlier words, the crowd calmed down and looked at them with indifferent eyes. Only Zhu Biao walked up to Tie Tianying, wiped his face with water, glared at him for a moment, and said, one word at a time, "I can beat ten like you."

"Alright, let's go one-on-one, come if you have the guts!" Tie Tianying sneered.

Zhu Biao spat and turned back.

His personality had become much more restrained, and he also knew that they couldn't really fight. Martial artists in the capital often had private duels, but as the chief constable, Tie Tianying was basically forbidden from having them. There was no point in saying too much. After a little processing here, Ning Yi went with Wen Ren to find Tang Ke, Li Gang, and others, asking them to respond and deal with today's events.

Ning Yi may have been mentally prepared for Qin Si Yuan to be smeared and even paraded through the streets, but he always felt that it was still far away – of course, part of it was that he didn't want to think about it – at this time, the cost of inciting the public was not high, but it was too difficult to stop it. If Ning Yi and others wanted to take preventive action, they could only have the Ministry of Justice cooperate and try to secretly transport Qin Si Yuan back and forth, but the Ministry of Justice was currently in the hands of Wang Fu, who was notoriously ignorant, short-sighted, and vindictive. Regardless of who the mastermind was this time, Wang Fu must have been involved.

But everyone was an official, and the matter had become so big that Qin Si Yuan didn't even fight back. Everyone would inevitably feel a sense of impending doom, and Li Gang, Tang Ke, and others had a basis for discussing the matter in the court. Even if Zhou Zhe wanted to bring down Qin Si Yuan, he would at most laugh secretly this time, but on the surface, he still couldn't allow the situation to escalate further.

After finding the people he needed to find, Ning Yi returned to the Bamboo Chronicle that night, still with a lot of things to deal with, not only various problems in the capital, but also the handover of the Secret Intelligence Division, which was being carried out on a large scale, with the scope of the handover expanding far outwards. There was a very good moon in the capital that night.

On the same night, three hundred miles south of Bianliang, via the Grand Canal, on a tributary of the Huai River near Bozhou in Huainan Road, heavy rain was pouring down.

In the darkness, a two-story building boat was parked on the bank of the rapidly rising Huai River. It was already in the early hours of the morning, and the lights in several rooms on the boat were still on.

In the room, a young woman in a coat was working, filing a large amount of information. When she felt sleepy, she rubbed her forehead and glanced outside. Then she opened and closed the door, going down the corridor of the boat to the kitchen to get some food and take a walk.

In the small woods hundreds of meters away from the building boat, a group of people in straw raincoats were advancing secretly. After bringing the building boat into view, someone pointed to it and made a few gestures.

They quickly boarded the boat and rushed inside after sneaking to the edge of the building boat. At this time, the martial artists in the building boat also discovered them.

"Who is it! Stop!"

"The Six Doors is handling a case, taking over the Secret Intelligence Division. I am Zong Feixiao, the chief constable! You are not allowed to stop us—"

"Stop! You're coming over in the middle of the night, who knows if you're criminals—"

The blades collided a few times in the dark night, and people rushed out of the cabins one after another. The young woman in the kitchen threw away the cake in her hand and began to rush to the second floor quickly! She quickly returned to the room, put down the bolt, and looked at the information piled up in the room.

"Boss Lady, it's Zong Feixiao from the Ministry of Justice! What should we do?" Someone asked outside the door.

"Stop him, stop him for as long as you can!"

While saying this, she dragged over a charcoal basin, poured oil into it, and lit it.

After Qin Si Yuan was imprisoned, the controller of the transfer of the Secret Intelligence Division on the imperial court's side was a great eunuch named Wang Chongguang, who was the head of an intelligence agency run by the emperor - since Qin Si Yuan founded the Secret Intelligence Division and shelved it, Zhou Zhe was inspired and asked Wang Chongguang to start a similar agency, not for external use, but to monitor the court officials under his command.

Zhou Zhe's idea may have been a flash of inspiration, but people have different talents. Qin Si Yuan was able to run the Secret Intelligence Division because he had a group of like-minded friends and enough wealth. Wang Chongguang could only pull the emperor's tiger skin, and at this time, the status of eunuchs was not high. Although Zhou Zhe asked him to do things, this emperor did not trust eunuchs in essence. For example, if Wang Chongguang dared to rip off a minister, and then went to Zhou Zhe to complain after failing, Zhou Zhe might first see through his thoughts - in this way, this intelligence organization was ultimately just an underdeveloped small yamen, with no real power. At this time, Zhou Zhe took it out, let him take over the legacy of the Secret Intelligence Division, and at the same time, because there were not enough people, transferred people from the Ministry of Justice to cooperate.

Ning Yi had already prepared to transfer the Secret Intelligence Division, and most things were going smoothly. However, Su Tan'er also intervened in the Secret Intelligence Division's affairs - the two had been together for a long time, and their ways of thinking had also become compatible. When Ning Yi was working on the northern affairs, he asked Su Tan'er to take care of the southern affairs for him. Su Tan'er's boat did not belong to the Secret Intelligence Division, but she was doing the things that Ning Yi could not conveniently do as the focus of the Bamboo Chronicle shifted. Now the information being classified had little to do with the Secret Intelligence Division, but if it was brutally searched by the Ministry of Justice, the consequences could be big or small. Ning Yi secretly laid out various businesses, and there were many shady things, which would become a handle if they were taken.

Zong Feixiao, as one of the chief constables of the Ministry of Justice, intuitively felt that there was something fishy about the smooth handover of the Secret Intelligence Division. After investigating, he found that Su Tan'er was staying here, which must be messing things up. He did stumble upon Ning Yi's soft spot, and he charged all the way up as soon as he entered the building boat.

In the room, the young woman threw the information into the charcoal basin, but it was not burning fast. The chaos and shouts came from below, and she suddenly kicked over the charcoal basin, then overturned a shelf beside the door.

Zong Feixiao's tall figure had already rushed outside the door: "Open the door! Come out!"

"Help, there's a fire—"

A shout came from inside the door, and Zong Feixiao slashed with his sword. With a clang, the door panel and the door bolt inside were actually made of iron.

"Come out, open the door! Otherwise, you will be prosecuted!" Zong Feixiao shouted loudly, and at the same time, people had rushed over from both sides, trying to stop him.

In the room, the young woman retreated, pushing the shelf where the information was placed into the fire. Paper scraps flew around, reflecting red on her face, and flames began to lick around. She stretched her foot and pushed the pile of paper that fell beside her into the fire.

Sweat had begun to seep out of her cheeks. She stared at the scene in the room, and the door had already begun to burn. With that, she pushed open the window, and the heat wave in the room suddenly rushed over here. She was startled, and before she could think about it, she jumped out.

Outside, heavy rain was pouring, and the river was overflowing. She jumped into the water and was swallowed by the darkness.

People on the boat shouted and screamed, and soon,

people also jumped into the river one after another.

Half of the boat burned in the night, and after a long time, it was extinguished by the heavy rain...

**************

On April 24th, in the imperial city of Bianliang, in the Golden Luan Hall, a group of people wrote letters to remonstrate about the treatment Qin Si Yuan had received the day before, but because the matter was complicated, some people insisted that this was the will of the people, and no results were discussed on this day. However, the escort route for the interrogation of Qin Si Yuan was tacitly allowed to be changed to avoid torturing the old man to death before the trial.

With Li Gang, Tang Ke and others active in it, Ning Yi also struggled to operate, and found a carriage to send the old man to Dali Temple that day, but then the news was leaked, and on the way back, he was blocked by a group of scholars for a while, but fortunately the carriage was strong and was not smashed by the stones thrown out.

After the grand anti-treason activity on the 23rd, the enthusiasm of the scholars in the city for Qin Si Yuan's crusade had risen. First, this was patriotism, and second, everyone would praise it, so many people waited on the road to throw something and scold something. The sudden change of events made them quite unwilling. That night, two more Bamboo Chronicle restaurants were smashed, and the one where Ning Yi lived was also smashed. Fortunately, they received the news in advance, and everyone had to return to the previous Ning Mansion to live.

On April 25th, the sky was overcast and it was about to rain. Ning Yi found a carriage to pick up and drop off Qin Si Yuan, and also arranged several cars as a cover to distract people. When the carriage arrived at Dali Temple, the crowd wanted to vent their anger, but it was too late, so they had to curse. When leaving, several carriages returned to the Ministry of Justice in different directions. Although the real carriage was escorted by jailers, Ning Yi also sent people to play the role of jailers. During the battle of wits and courage between the two sides, the person behind the scenes who incited the crowd did not show weakness, and simply scolded them as lackeys on the way, and simply smashed all the carriages.

Several groups of scholars began to riot. This time, not many pedestrians participated on the road, but a group of Bamboo Chronicle guys were still made very embarrassed. When they returned to the small river outside Ning Mansion to gather, some people were still splashed with dung, which had been washed away with water. Ning Yi and others waited for them to return under the trees here, and also talked about things with the staff next to them.

"...If it goes well, the court may allow the Right Prime Minister to live in Dali Temple today, and then the situation can be eased. I think it's almost over..."

"I just don't know what the penalty will be."

"Exile for three thousand miles, it won't kill the Second Young Master, watch on the road, maybe you can save your life..."

"There is also a branch of the Secret Intelligence Division, which has been handed over to the Ministry of Justice..."

"Let me see... several chief constables of the Ministry of Justice have taken action, and they have eaten all the meat, but Wang Chongguang has not gained anything. We can start from here..."

While speaking, a staff member who participated in the previous events walked over soaked all over: "Boss, the outside is spreading rumors that the Right Prime Minister is seriously injured, why don't we let the storytellers explain."

"It's useless for the time being."

"It's always useful. We have many storytellers under our command. Let them tell the story. The effect is very good. Everyone wants to promote it, so let's do it!"

"What if they are all arrested." Ning Yi glanced at him, "They will all be arrested. People are still useful, I can't afford to go all out."

"Then... let them slander the Right Prime Minister like this..."

"The problem is that you have no way!"

Ning Yi said this decisively, and the man went down. At this time, Tie Tianying led the constables and strode towards this side. Ning Yi raised his eyebrows and glanced at it. This time, Tie Tianying's expression was quite different, and he stared at him solemnly.

This small open space is adjacent to the back door of Ning Mansion, and it is also by the small river, so Ning Yi let everyone gather here to clean and repair. Seeing Tie Tianying coming, he sat down on the fence under the tree: "Constable Tie, what's wrong? What are you going to say again?"

Tie Tianying walked to the side, holding his sword in both hands: "Just strolling around."

"Oh, are you enjoying the cool? The scenery here is good, please help yourself."

Tie Tianying occasionally looked at him.

He was wondering about the purpose of the other party's coming, but he didn't say it, so Ning Yi didn't bother to ask for trouble. He sat there, confronting Tie Tianying, and after a while, he stood up and walked around, and said some irrelevant words to the staff next to him. At a certain moment, someone came out of the back door of Ning Mansion, but it was Juan'er. She leaned to Ning Yi from behind and handed him a crumpled piece of paper: "Gongye." (A term used by servants to address the young master of the house)

Ning Yi was still talking to the staff, and took it smoothly: "Guangyang Prince's side, naturally there will be Tan Zhen..." He looked down at it, "There will be Lord Tan..."

He glanced at it again, and picked up the note.

This time he looked at it for a long time, and the expression on his face was no longer relaxed, as if he was frozen. When he turned to look at Juan'er, Juan'er's face was full of tears, she was crying, but did not make a sound. She only arrived at this time: "Miss she, Miss she..."

Ning Yi turned his head back and looked at the content on the paper again. It recorded what happened in Bozhou at dawn on the 24th. Su Tan'er jumped into the water, and her whereabouts are still unknown. There was heavy rain in the Huai River, and there were signs of floods. The search for the mistress is still ongoing...

Tie Tianying walked over, his face cold, and said in a deep voice: "It's just a misunderstanding, Ning Yi, don't mess around."

Juan'er was still crying, she reached out and pulled

Ning Yi, seeing his appearance at the moment, she was also frightened: "Gongye, Miss she... may not be okay, don't worry... don't worry..." In the end, she couldn't help crying again.

When Juan'er pulled him, he raised his hand subconsciously, then took two steps back and sat on the railing.

No one had seen Ning Yi's expression at this time, and even Tie Tianying and others had never thought that one day he would show this kind of panic and emptiness that belonged to a young man in his twenties. The Bamboo Chronicle members around him were also a little panicked, whispering to each other. Several people had come out of the back door. Zhu Biao carried his spear on his back, walked to this side, put the spear down from his back, and held it in his hand, with the spear tip pointing to the ground.

The spear shaft made a low "buzzing" sound.

Someone walked over to inquire about the people who came out. They exchanged a few words. Although they spoke lightly, the crowd who had internal strength heard a few words and understood the words clearly.

"They... forced the mistress into the river..."

"Heavy rain... flood..."

"Not found yet..."

Some people showed grief, some people saw Ning Yi's expression, silently drew out their knives, a hunchback walked to the vicinity of the constables, stood with his head down, his hands on the handles of the double knives, and in the distance, several people surrounded him, either holding the long knife in front of their chests, or propping up the long sword, and did not speak.

Ning Yi, who was sitting there, raised his head, took a short breath, blinked his eyes, as if he was still digesting the contents of the note. After a while, he stood up with difficulty. Tie Tianying was not far in front, seeing him closing his eyes, pursing his lips tightly, the panic on his face faded away, but his face had undisguised sadness.

The small square was quiet and deep, the tree trunks were gnarled upwards, the shade of the trees stretched, and the sound of birds came from afar. The sound of Bianliang City was hidden behind the trees and flowers. It was cloudy, and there were no cicadas chirping in summer. There would be no cicadas chirping again.

Pop. The sound of a child playing a slingshot came over, and the child ran laughing into the distance.

In recent days, the Right Prime Minister's Mansion, along with the Bamboo Chronicle, had gone through countless things. Suppression and grievance were inevitable. Even if they were splashed with dung, everyone could only endure it. During the period when the young man was running around, he had never put down the burden on his shoulders, no matter how difficult it was. He was just doing things calmly and indifferently, as if turning himself into a machine, and everyone had a feeling that even if all the things were twice as difficult, he would still do it so indifferently.

But at this time, someone finally slapped a critical part in the face.

Tie Tianying moved forward slowly, and every step he took seemed to be one step closer to the boundary of death - even if the Ning Yi in front of him did not show any killing intent, he felt a little scalp tingling.

"Ning Yi... if you dare to mess around, you will kill everyone..."

Ning Yi raised his hand at him, as if he wanted to do something to him, but the hand stopped in mid-air, slightly clenched a fist, and then put it down. He heard Ning Yi's voice: "I..." he said.

"You..." The voice was as thin as a mosquito, "...did a really good job."

After saying this, Ning Yi raised his head, his eyes seemed to be looking at him and seemed to be looking at other times, shook his head and nodded, turned around: "...did a really good job. That's great..." He repeated it like this. He walked slowly towards the back door, only holding the note in his hand into a ball. Juan'er followed, wiping her tears: "Gongye, Gongye." Everyone did not know what to do for a while. After Ning Yi stepped into the courtyard gate, he waved his hand, as if to let everyone follow him in. The crowd was still confused, and he waved his hand again, and everyone walked towards that side.

The spear stopped chanting and trembled, raised it, Zhu Biao turned around with a gloomy face, and the others went silently to the door. Tie Tianying held the long sword and moved forward slowly. Ning Yi stood there expressionlessly. When the last person went in, he reached out to close the door, but then paused.

"Constable Tie." The voice was hoarse and deep, coming from Ning Yi's throat.

"Hmm?"

"...If there is another head of Fang Qifo, I won't give it to you." He stated in a tired tone in a low voice.

Tie Tianying raised his chin, not yet thinking about how to answer.

The door closed.

***************

"Sir." A constable walked over.

"Are the people behind here yet?"

"Almost here, sir, why should we be afraid of him, if he really dares to do anything, we will..."

"If he does anything, you will die—" Tie Tianying's hideous face suddenly turned around and roared out.

The constables were taken aback, Tie Tianying waved his hand: "Why don't you keep a good eye on this place!"

……

In the imperial city, in the Wende Hall, Zhou Zhe received the news, and he looked at Wang Chongguang kneeling in front of him, wanting to lose his temper.

But then he thought about it, and smiled.

"Forget it, find someone to stare at him, if he wants to mess around, he will have to be dealt with." He said with a smile, "Hey, it's okay... a great man doesn't worry about having no wife..."

……

In Bianliang City, someone also received the news from the side door.

"What a pity..." Cai Jing sighed.

"A wife
is like clothes." In the Guangyang Prince's Mansion, Tong Guan hesitated for a moment, "Stare at him and see his choices. Also..."

He said, "Stare at the Wu Rui Camp."

In the prison, Qin Si Yuan was ill. The old man lay on the bed, looking at the light seeping in from the small window. It was not a sunny day, which made him uncomfortable.

At this time, someone handed in the day's meals and a few notes from the door, which was the information he could know every day.

The capital was like a huge machine. Every day, countless gears were moving. When a small problem occurred in one of the gears, no one could guess what it meant...

Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack...

In the distant place, the gears were moving.