Chapter 638: Spy City!

In the Xinyang Tower in the west city of Luoan, there came the very noisy and vulgar sound of finger-guessing games, which made the other guests in the restaurant look unhappy. The Xinyang Tower was considered an upscale restaurant in Luoan, and all the guests who came and went were respectable people. When did such an ignorant wretch come in...
Seeing the guests leaving one table after another, Manager Wang of Xinyanglou was getting anxious, but he didn't have any good solution. He could only pray in his heart that these drunk uncles would finish their meal quickly and leave!
In a place like Luoan where the powerful and wealthy gather and every inch of land is worth a lot of money, the Xinyang Tower's brand can be established, so it is naturally not without roots. Many families of court officials have shares here, such as Ma Shilang of the Ministry of Rites, Sun Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, and so on.

With these backers, whenever he encountered diners who acted strangely or made trouble in Xinyang Building, Manager Wang always had a very tough attitude. In the worst case, he would just throw them out, or break their legs and escort them to the City Defense Department.

However, these few people today gave Manager Wang a headache. To be honest, the official ranks of these people were not particularly high. The highest one was only a captain of the fifth rank. This might be considered a task in local areas, but in Luoan, where high-ranking officials were everywhere and the ninth rank was worse than a dog, it was not considered particularly impressive.

Half a year ago, a fifth-rank military doctor came to Xinyang Tower to act arrogantly, but Shopkeeper Wang didn't even give him face and directly kicked him out!
However, facing these people this time, Shopkeeper Wang did not dare to act rashly. The reason was that the department they belonged to was extremely cruel. Even if it was mentioned, it was enough to make people shudder. That department was the Supervisory Department of the Great Zhou Dynasty...

Since the Luoan Incident, most of the censors in the Censorate followed the imperial court on its southern tour. Prime Minister Shangguan Hongyuan was furious about this, and he also confiscated the power of the Censorate to supervise all officials, and gave this power to the Supervisory Office, which he trusted more. As a result, the Supervisory Office, which already had great power, became the most powerful department in the Luoan court, able to spy on the enemy externally and supervise all officials internally.

The leader among these officials of the Supervisory Department is a fifth-rank official named Song Xiaode. It is rumored that he is the nephew of Chen Jingyu, the commander of the Supervisory Department. With this relationship, Xinyanglou really can't afford to offend them, so even if the business is affected by these people, they can only put on a smile and endure it.

"Waiter, give me another pot of Yuanhexiang! No, give me a jar!" Song Xiaode, who was already drunk, shouted proudly:
His mother, Chen, was Chen Jingyu's younger sister. In her early years, when Chen Jingyu had not yet become successful, she was married to a poor scholar named Song from the same hometown at the behest of her parents and a matchmaker. Soon, she had a child, Song Xiaode.

After Chen Jingyu became successful, he knew that his position as the commander of the Supervisory Department was too hated and there were many people who secretly wanted to take revenge on him, so he protected his own sister very well, and few people knew about the situation of his sister's family...
Although his father was a poor scholar, which was considered a highly educated person in that era of low literacy, Song Xiaode did not inherit any of his father's talent. Despite his father's painstaking teaching, he was barely illiterate. He just stole things in the village and was idle.

By chance, after learning from his mother that he had an uncle who was a high-ranking official in the court, Song Xiaode also clamored to go to Luoan to join Chen Jingyu. At first, he didn't know what the Supervisory Office did. He just wanted to become an official and get a stable job to show off his power in the village.

At first, his mother Chen rejected Song Xiaode's proposal, but under Song Xiaode's constant persuasion and the psychological effect of hoping that her son could have a bright future, Chen still brought Song Xiaode to Luoan and entrusted Song Xiaode to Chen Jingyu.

Chen Jingyu was quite caring towards her nephew. Originally, she didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the Supervisory Department. However, after Song Xiaode knew that her uncle was the commander of the Supervisory Department, he insisted on doing something big in the Supervisory Department. Chen Jingyu had no choice but to get him a job in the Supervisory Department and also arranged a good marriage for Song Xiaode.

After realizing how thick his uncle's legs were, Song Xiaode's confidence swelled and he wanted to do some big things to climb up the ladder, strive to become a high-ranking official and bring honor to his family, so that the Song family's ancestral tombs would emit green smoke...
But unfortunately, his ability to steal and cheat was not enough to be regarded as a good thing in the Supervisory Department, and he messed up several things in a row. In the end, Chen Jingyu had to arrange people to clean up his mess. After being reprimanded by Chen Jingyu, Song Xiaode became silent. Finally, after several years of experience, he was promoted by Chen Jingyu to be a centurion in the Supervisory Department, filling a lucrative logistics position. Although he did not earn much credit, he could still make a lot of money.

Just when Song Xiaode was making a lot of money and lamenting that his dream of becoming a high official who would bring honor to his family was about to come to an end, God seemed to favor him and sent him a wise, brave and clever subordinate named Li Wei. With the help of Li Wei, Song Xiaode's luck turned and he captured several secret agents of the southern court lurking in the Supervisory Office and uncovered a secret base of the General Coordination Office in Luoan.

Chen Jingyu's eyes lit up and he looked at him differently. He felt that his nephew had grown a lot after the experience in the Supervisory Department in the past few years. Chen Jingyu originally intended to promote his nephew, but Song Xiaode was really a hopeless case before. Now that he has made some contributions, no one can say anything about promoting Song Xiaode. So Chen Jingyu waved his pen and directly promoted Song Xiaode, who had been promoted to a centurion for less than a year, to a thousand-householder of the Supervisory Department, and transferred him from the logistics department to an important department.

The jubilant Song Xiaode also chose to set up a table in the Xinyang Tower and celebrate with a few of his trusted subordinates.

Looking at the handsome young man Li Wei who was drinking and smiling in front of him, Song Xiaode liked him more and more. At first, he didn't care much about this subordinate assigned to him, and still planned to make money. But soon, Li Wei, who was smart and considerate, won his trust, and then he handled several major cases in a muddle...
Although he still felt like a big pie had fallen from the sky, after spending a few years in the Supervisory Department, he also knew his own capabilities. So he knew that the few achievements he had made during this period were largely due to Levi. He won without doing anything and got a big bargain.

Although he had no great ability and had not read much of the sages' books, Song Xiaode still understood the simple truth that merit should be rewarded. Under the influence of alcohol, Song Xiaode directly took out three silver bills from his pocket and said to Li Wei beside him in a pretentious and heroic manner;
"Brother, I've been promoted to a thousand households this time, and you've made a lot of contributions. Take these three hundred taels of silver notes first. I'll recommend you to my uncle to be a hundred households in a while. Don't worry, follow me. I won't treat you unfairly!"

Regarding the banknotes and promises that Song Xiaode brought out, the others present all cast envious eyes towards Li Wei. Although Li Wei looked at the banknotes in front of him with a bit of greed in his eyes, he still declined and said:
"Brother, you have been very kind to me during my time at the Supervisory Office. I have only made some minor contributions to these matters. How can I take your money? You should take it back!"

Seeing that Li Wei did not take credit for himself, Song Xiaode nodded with satisfaction. Although he felt very sorry for the three hundred taels of silver, Song Xiaode knew that if he wanted to make merit in the future, he would have to rely on Li Wei's performance, so he pretended to be angry and said:

'Li Wei, your contribution is seen by everyone, so take this silver quickly...' After hearing what Song Xiaode said, Li Wei put the three hundred taels of silver note into his arms, and then expressed his loyalty to Song Xiaode again and again, which made Song Xiaode nod his head in delight. After three rounds of wine and five kinds of dishes, Song Xiaode drank a little too much. Many of his men were vying to send Song Xiaode home, but Song Xiaode refused to help anyone and specifically asked Li Wei to send him home. Li Wei was also respectful and obeyed the order.

Song Xiaode, who was already extremely drunk in the carriage, still did not forget to win over Li Wei, telling Li Wei that his uncle was Chen Jingyu, and that it would be absolutely no problem to make a fortune by following Song Xiaode, as he would have everything including money, position, and women, and his future would be bright.

After an incense stick of time, the carriage arrived at Song Xiaode's home in Dongcheng. The carriage stopped at the door, and Song Xiaode's wife, Wang, came out to greet him. Although Wang was not a very beautiful woman, she had a pretty face, round and smooth cheeks, and was full of charming charm.

After arriving home, Song Xiaode, who was drunk, could no longer hold on and fell asleep directly in the room. After settling Song Xiaode down, Li Wei was about to leave but unexpectedly someone pulled him in secret.

"Li Lang, you are so heartless! After sleeping with me, you never come to see me again!" Seeing that there was no one around and her maid was watching outside, Wang did not pretend and looked at Li Wei with great resentment.

Seeing Wang's hungry look, Li Wei couldn't help but persuade Wang:
"Be good Hui'er! He's still at home!"

Wang said with some disdain:
"He's already so drunk, what can he do even if he's at home?"

At this point, Wang continued with a hint of pride:
"I just added some knockout drugs to his water. I guarantee he'll sleep until tomorrow noon. Even if there are two of us by his side tonight, he won't be able to notice anything..."

At the end of the speech, Wang's expression seemed to show some excitement, as if she had already imagined that scene.

Seeing Wang seeking credit, Li Wei sighed inwardly, knowing that he couldn't leave tonight.

The Wang in front of him was actually named Wang Hui. She was the daughter of the imperial censor Wang Tingzhao, and a lady from a respectable scholarly family. A fellow like Song Xiaode could never get close to her. However, fate played a trick on her. Wang Tingzhao was convicted for writing a letter to the emperor and was imprisoned by the Supervisory Office.

Wang Tingzhao was an honest person, and his family could not afford to give him money to help him in the Supervisory Office. Just when the whole family was worried, Chen Jingyu thought Wang Hui was very good and wanted to arrange Wang Hui for her nephew Song Xiaode. Although Wang Hui was unwilling, she had to marry Song Xiaode in tears in order to save her father's life.

Although she was very reluctant, Wang Hui was still prepared to take care of her husband and children due to her traditional education. However, Song Xiaode was born into a gangster family and was addicted to eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. He did not know how to be gentle with women. When faced with Wang Hui's advice to gamble less and drink less, he simply did not listen. When he was annoyed by Wang Hui's words, he punched her in the face.

After being educated by Song Xiaode several times, Wang Hui completely gave up on him and lost confidence in her future life. Just when she was about to hang herself, Li Wei appeared and saved her. From then on, this young, handsome, well-educated and sensible man walked into Wang Hui’s heart...
As if he had noticed Wang Hui's feelings, Li Wei took the initiative and quickly captured the young woman's heart with some romantic words and sweet talk, making Wang Hui unable to stop loving him.

After a violent storm in the side room, Li Wei quietly walked out of the back door of Liu's mansion under Wang Hui's repeated instructions.

Walking on the deserted streets of Luoan at night, Li Wei suddenly sighed and let down his guard. He was a secret agent planted in the Supervisory Department by the Coordination Office. It was with the help of the Coordination Office that he helped Song Xiaode solve these major cases.

As for the woman Wang Hui, he originally wanted to use Wang Hui to whisper in Song Xiaode's ear and then take the initiative to make Wang Hui fall for him. However, after realizing Wang Hui's tragic past and her obedience to him, he didn't want to get entangled with Wang Hui anymore, because it is the most difficult to resist the favor of a beauty!

He has now established a firm foothold in the dangerous and dangerous Supervisory Department, and Song Xiaode was transferred to an important department of the Supervisory Department at his persuasion. Next, he will start to deal with the tasks assigned by his superiors, and there is a risk of being exposed at any time.

Li Wei knew very well what the consequences would be if his identity was exposed, and he was prepared for it. However, although he had made up his mind to follow Marshal Ye until death, he did not want to implicate Wang Hui. God had been bad enough to this woman, and he should not let her suffer any more...
(End of this chapter)