Chapter 976 Cui Shao takes action!

To be honest, after An Zhirong lost power and the An family was placed under house arrest by Shangguan Hongyuan, Chen Wu had a chance to escape from An Zhirong's control·····························

Chen Wu can do this. Although An Zhirong is cruel and ruthless, he treats his subordinates very well. As long as you can do things for him, he will not hesitate to reward you!

Chen Wu followed An Zhirong for so many years and killed so many people for him. Although he did not make a lot of money, he did accumulate a huge fortune!

This sum of money is enough for Chen Wu to buy a house in a county town, an acre of paddy field in the countryside, and marry a few concubines, so that he can live a comfortable life for the rest of his life without any problem!
However, although Chen Wu is courageous, he is also greedy enough. He is not satisfied with living the rest of his life comfortably. He knows very well that Da Zhou is a world ruled by officials. No matter how much land or money you have, you are not as good as others with an official hat!

Therefore, Chen Wu has always had a dream in his heart, which is to become an official!

Looking at the world today, with many heroes emerging in the Great Zhou, who has the strongest influence and the strongest fist?
Without a doubt, it belongs to the Fengwu Army!
Without a doubt, it must be Marshal Ye!
So Chen Wu also intended to join the Fengwu Army to see if he could get a position there, and it so happened that his original master, An Zhirong, was the third uncle of An Miaoyi, the mistress of the Fengwu Army, so Chen Wu asked for a letter of recommendation from An Zhirong and came to Yijing······························

Although he really wanted to meet An Miaoyi, An Miaoyi was the high and mighty mistress of the Fengwu Army. She usually stayed at home in the Ye Mansion and rarely went out. How could a man of the world like Chen Wu meet her casually?

Although it was extremely difficult, Chen Wu still had some means. He spent a lot of money and used his connections to finally get the letter of recommendation from An Zhirong to An Miaoyi.

Only then did An Miaoyi know that some of her uncle's men had come to seek refuge with her. Although Huo Sansan from the Coordination Office was usually willing to rely on An Miaoyi and do what he could for her.

But An Miaoyi knew that Huo San was still loyal to her husband, and Huo San was only willing to get close to her because of her status as the mistress. Some truly shady matters could not be entrusted to Huo San.
So after thinking it over, An Miaoyi chose to accept Chen Wu and asked Qiqige to arrange for him to take care of some of her industries in Yijing City!
Because of their professional matching, when An Miaoyi assigned this matter to Qiqige, Qiqige thought of Chen Wu first!
So he also tested Chen Wu. Chen Wu came here to seek fame and fortune, and he also knew that he was capable of doing such shady things.

Although An Miaoyi did not treat him badly during the time he came to Yijing, she did not fulfill Chen Wu’s wish. Therefore, Chen Wu has been anxious to do a job for the eldest lady as soon as possible, so as to gain the eldest lady’s favor and find an official position for himself····································

So when faced with Qiqige's temptation, Chen Wu was very sensible and accepted it very straightforwardly!

He had done this kind of dirty work many times under An Zhirong and was very experienced, so he naturally knew how to do this kind of thing!
Although it was unknown whether Chen Wu had escaped on his own, or was abducted or killed, An Miaoyi could not help but ask:
"When was the last time Qiqi Ge Ni and Chen Wu met? How did you find out he was missing?"

Qiqige said without hesitation:
"The last time I met Chen Wu was five days ago. He told me that he wanted to recruit people, so I gave him five hundred taels of silver and agreed to meet him today. I told him who my target was, but when I went to look for him today, he had disappeared!"

"I went to his mistress's place and couldn't find him. His mistress said Chen Wu hadn't been there for almost ten days. I don't know where this guy went!"

Listening to Qiqige's words, An Miaoyi couldn't help but begin to suspect that Chen Wu disappeared in order to defraud the five hundred taels of silver.

After all, five hundred taels of silver is not a small sum of money, enough for Chen Wu to spend for the rest of his life!
But after thinking about it carefully, An Miaoyi felt that this was unlikely. After all, Chen Wu had been with his uncle An Zhirong for many years and had even received a letter of recommendation from him. He was probably not a money-hungry person.

Besides, Chen Wu has been with his uncle for so many years, so he must have accumulated a considerable fortune. He must have five hundred taels of silver...
In addition, this person did not come to her for money, but for the official title. Combining these factors, An Miaoyi felt that the possibility of Chen Wu running away with the money was very low!
Since Chen Wu didn't run away on his own initiative, there is only one possibility left!

An Miaoyi's heart sank when she thought of this, but she still asked Qiqige:
"How much does Chen Wu know?"

Qiqige preached without hesitation:
"Chen Wu only knew that I was going to arrange for someone to be killed, but he didn't know where or who to kill. In order to keep it secret, I originally planned to tell him today and arrange for him to set off tomorrow!"

After hearing what Qiqige said, An Miaoyi nodded slightly and felt much more at ease. This was a blessing in disguise. If it was really the worst case scenario and Chen Wu was caught by the Coordination Office or the Internal Security, then everything could still be salvaged!

Seeing An Miaoyi's serious expression, Qi Qige bit her lip and knelt in front of An Miaoyi and said:

"Madam, Chen Wu's disappearance is my fault. If there is any trouble, please hand me over!"

Seeing Qiqige like this, An Miaoyi was also shocked and immediately helped Qiqige up. Then, looking at Qiqige with a guilty look on her face, An Miaoyi smiled and said:

"What nonsense are you talking about! How could I hand you over?"

"And the situation is far from what you think. Even if she is really caught, everything can still turn around now that my husband is not in Yijing!"

“Qiqige, don’t say such stupid things anymore, do you hear me…”

Feeling the protective tone in An Miaoyi's words, Qiqige felt more and more guilty. She knew how serious the matter was. Once it was made public, it would shake An Miaoyi's position as the mistress of the Fengwu Army, so she felt very guilty!

After comforting Qiqige, An Miaoyi started to rethink the countermeasures. The most important thing at the moment was to determine who had the power over Chen Wu!
If it fell into the hands of the Coordination Office, An Miaoyi felt that it would not be a big problem, and Chen Wu had not had time to know more information.

Therefore, even if he was caught by the Coordination Office, Huo San probably didn't realize the seriousness of the problem, so she could probably deal with Huo San and kill Chen Wu to silence him by using some tricks!
However, if I were caught by the inner guards, things would become very troublesome. The inner guards only listen to my husband. Even if I want to exert influence, I'm afraid it would be out of reach!

Just as An Miaoyi was thinking carefully, the maid outside the door suddenly came in and reported, "Madam, Nanny Wang wants to see you for something!"

An Miaoyi, who was feeling upset, subconsciously wanted to refuse, but she seemed to suddenly think of something and nodded and said:
"Let her in!"

"Yes!"

Under An Miaoyi's order, an old lady who looked to be in her fifties soon appeared in front of An Miaoyi··························
As the mistress of the Fengwu Army, it was not convenient for An Miaoyi to contact some important officials. In addition, Ye Mingsheng did not allow An Miaoyi to interfere in government affairs. So in order to be able to contact Cui Shao and others secretly, An Miaoyi asked Nanny Wang to act as a "bridge" to convey messages between the two sides.

Therefore, when An Miaoyi saw Nanny Wang, she asked directly:
"Uncle, what did he say to me?"

Facing An Miaoyi's question, Nanny Wang whispered:

"Lord Cui said that the internal guards had noticed the contact between Qiqige and that person. Lord Cui knew that it was not convenient for you, Madam, to come forward in this matter, so he took the initiative to deal with that person!"

"Master Cui told Madam to rest assured that the matter will be handled cleanly and will not cause you any trouble!"

After hearing this, An Miaoyi realized that it was Cui Shao who sent people to get rid of Chen Wu. Knowing that Cui Shao was always shrewd and had almost never been caught by anyone, An Miaoyi was very confident in him and felt relieved.

Although she felt relieved, An Miaoyi couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart when she thought about the inner guards targeting Qiqige!
Unlike the Coordination Office which is an open organization, the existence of the Internal Guards is an open secret among the Fengwu Army’s high-ranking officials. Everyone knows of their existence, and everyone also knows that they are Ye Mingsheng’s shadows, hiding in the darkness. They rarely show up, but once they do, it will be a new round of bloody storm······························

To be honest, although she is the mistress of the Fengwu Army and Ye Mingsheng's bedmate, An Miaoyi doesn't know much about them. She only knows that the current deputy director of the Coordination Office, Ji Xian, is from the Internal Guard, but as for the others, An Miaoyi is not clear!

Because of the mystery of the Inner Guards, An Miaoyi was quite wary of them and was extremely careful in her daily actions for fear of being targeted by them!

But he never expected that he would be spotted by the internal security guards in the end. Thinking that An Miaoyi had just relaxed a little, he immediately became nervous again.

After adjusting her mood, An Miaoyi ordered in a deep voice:

"I know everything. Is there anything else you want to convey to me, Master Cui?"

Nanny Wang continued:
"Master Cui also said that you, Madam, are already invincible. There is no need to act like this. You should put the overall situation first!"

As soon as these words were spoken, An Miaoyi's expression changed slightly, realizing that her uncle had guessed her thoughts.

Although Cui Shao's meaning was euphemistic, it was also very clear and explicit, that is, he did not support An Miaoyi's attack on Murong Zhengshan, and hoped that An Miaoyi would put the overall situation first!

Seeing this, An Miaoyi sighed inwardly. After what had happened, although she still wanted to get rid of Murong Zhengshan, she also realized that the opportunity was not good now. Even Cui Shao, who had always supported her, was not on her side this time.

In addition, there were internal guards watching from the side. Although An Miaoyi was very helpless about this, she could only choose to accept the reality and said to Nanny Wang:
“Tell Lord Cui that I know everything. As the mistress, I should consider the overall situation…”

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Lin'an, in a farmhouse somewhere on the outskirts of the city

The man, who was not tall but had a strong build, and had a snake-like scar on his face, was drinking tea very calmly in the house.

This person is Fang She, the commander of the Thousand Tiger Guards of the Zhennan Army!
After bribing the Jiangnan navy to secretly send Xu Zhaojie back to Shouchun last time, Fang She sneaked into Jiangnan again under Xu Zhaojie's orders!

Fang She's original purpose of returning to Jiangnan was to win over and bribe some powerful figures in Jiangnan so as to force the more than 10,000 Zhennan troops of Chishan Prefecture to withdraw to Jiangnan!
It would even be best if we could use the excuse that we are in the same boat and jointly fight against the Fengwu Army to get some money and food support from the Jiangnan side!
In response to Xu Zhaojie's orders, Fang She had been secretly pushing things forward. Thanks to Fang She's efforts, things were going quite smoothly. Lu Jianchao was gradually moved by the saying "the lips and teeth are cold when one is gone" and decided to release the Zhennan Army from Chishan Prefecture.

Even on the key issue of supporting the Zhennan Army with money and food, the stance was somewhat loosened. Originally everything was moving in a good direction, but with the arrival of Murong Zhengshan and his party, things changed drastically.

Under Murong Zhengshan's persuasion, Lu Jianchao completely refused to support the Zhennan Army with money and food. Although he was still willing to let the Zhennan Army of Chishan Prefecture go back, because he was afraid of Ye Mingsheng's accountability, Lu Jianchao only dared to release them secretly.

This undoubtedly made Fang She feel a little frustrated. He spent a lot of money and effort on this matter. It seemed that things were about to succeed, but he did not expect that because of the appearance of Murong Zhengshan, all his hopes were shattered in an instant!

Just when Fang She felt helpless, Xu Zhaojie's order came again from Shouchun!
Although he fled back to Huainan in a very embarrassed manner, Xu Zhaojie also understood that the strength of the Zhennan Army alone could not stop the Fengwu Army, so he was also very concerned about the developments in Jiangnan, and was ready to pull Lu Jianchao from Jiangnan to fight against Ye Mingsheng!
Therefore, before Murong Zhengshan arrived in Jiangnan, Xu Zhaojie had already paid close attention to him. If Murong Zhengshan had not been heavily guarded and there was no good opportunity to take action, Xu Zhaojie would have ordered the Thousand Tiger Guards to kill Murong Zhengshan long ago...

(End of this chapter)