Zhao Gao looked solemn and walked hurriedly towards Ying Zheng's carriage holding a scroll.
The scroll in his hand records the deciphered contents of the urgent message sent by Zhang Han.
Although Zhao Gao was surprised by the return of the mirage, he didn't care.
The return trip was nothing more than encountering some troubles, so just find a way to solve them. With the power of the empire, there was no trouble that couldn't be solved. What's more, the troubles in the mirage had nothing to do with him. It was the Yin Yang family and the emperor who had a headache.
But having a monster is another matter.
No matter how popular the legend of Cang Long Qisu is, no matter how impressive Loulan’s Demon God of War is, and no matter how magical the towering Fuso tree looks, for most people,
The world is still materialistic.
Of course, this 'materialism' needs to be enclosed in quotation marks, and is different from the true materialism of later generations.
It's not that they don't believe in weird things, it's just... they don't believe that much.
After all, seeing is believing.
But now, it seems that seeing is believing, and no wonder Zhao Gao was shocked by it.
Walking into the emperor's carriage, Zhao Gao raised the scroll in his hand and emphasized his voice, deliberately attracting the attention of Ying Zheng who was reviewing the memorial:
"Your Majesty, you have just received an urgent secret message from the Shadow Secret Guard General Zhang Han!"
Speaking of the last four words, Zhao Gao further emphasized his tone.
Generally speaking, even if Zhao Gao had something to report, he would not speak so eagerly or anxiously, so as not to disturb the emperor.
His abnormal behavior immediately made Ying Zheng realize that this urgent report was really urgent!
"Send it up." Ying Zheng decisively stopped the work at hand, raised his head and said.
Zhao Gao stepped forward with quick steps to present the scroll, then immediately stepped aside and stood with his hands behind his back and his head bowed.
When Ying Zheng unfolded the scroll and took a look, his usual expression suddenly changed.
Although it was only a short moment, it was enough to show how much Ying Zheng's emotions fluctuated at that moment.
Like Zhao Gao, Ying Zheng didn't particularly care about the return of the mirage, but there were monsters in the East China Sea, which made him...overjoyed.
For Ying Zheng, who pursues immortality, the existence of monsters in the East China Sea is not a trouble, but a great joy.
He wished he could have more.
The more such monsters and monsters there are, the greater the possibility that there will be fairy mountains overseas, and the greater the chance that he can seek immortality.
However, after the initial surprise, suspicion arose in Ying Zheng's heart as the emperor.
Is there really a demon appearing on the sea?
As a qualified emperor, Ying Zheng must and will doubt everything.
The appearance of so-called mirages in the sea is entirely a one-sided statement by the Yin Yang family, and one-sided statements mean that it is completely untrustworthy.
"How credible do you think the mirage thing is?" Ying Zheng asked suddenly as he put down the scroll.
Zhao Gao knew that Ying Zheng was asking him, and immediately replied, "The two guardians of the Yin Yang family have always been loyal to the emperor and the country. They would never lie to your majesty about this kind of thing, not to mention General Zhang Han, who is the most loyal
Your Majesty, we have the manpower of the Shadow Guard, so we won’t report false information without verification.”
What Zhao Gao said is pure nonsense.
The Yin Yang family does not have the concept of loyalty. After all, in their view, they are only cooperating with the empire - both the emperor and Zhao Gao knew this well.
As for Zhang Han's inability to report false news, he is even more blamed.
According to the information in the secret report, Mirage only returned to Songhai Port today, and the news was sent that night, indicating that these contents were only directly asked by Zhang Han from the Yinyang family - Zhang Han also explained this in the secret report,
Everything is just the content of the question and does not represent the facts.
This is an urgent report that has not been verified in time. The reporter is not responsible for ensuring its accuracy. The emperor cannot force his subordinates to guarantee it, otherwise he will wait for all news to be delayed by half a beat or even longer.
The emperor can be unreasonable, but emperor is just a title after all. God will not really revolve around the emperor. If you are unreasonable, everyone will have to pay the price.
Of course, Zhao Gao knew that he could not put the blame on Zhang Han in just two sentences. He was just using this to divert Ying Zheng's attention.
Of course Zhao Gao could tell what Ying Zheng was thinking.
He certainly couldn't say that the monster on the sea was unreliable, otherwise it might cause trouble for the emperor.
But he couldn't guarantee this, otherwise it would easily affect him if something went wrong.
Therefore, he must support the emperor's wishes and not let Ying Zheng down, but at the same time, he must not involve himself in it, but let others fill the hole.
If there is really something fishy about this matter, Ying Zheng should go to the Yin Yang family to find the Yin Yang family, and he should go to the Shadow Secret Guard to find the Shadow Secret Guard. In short, it has nothing to do with him, Zhao Gao.
Ying Zheng glanced at Zhao Gao, not sure if he noticed his little thoughts.
Then he said, "The mirage matter is of great importance. We need to send a capable person to deal with it. What do you think?"
There are a lot of important officials of the empire in the convoy, ranging from the Prime Minister Li Si to the subordinate officials of Jiuqing. It can be said that there are a lot of capable people.
But these people cannot be sent to deal with the mirage, because the mirage is not the imperial government at all, but the emperor's private work.
Now the person in the convoy who is most suitable to handle this matter happens to be Zhao Gao, the emperor's servant in charge of the trap.
Zhao Gao also knew that it was best for him to go, but he didn't want to go.
He was very curious about monsters and would like to see them if possible, but he didn't want to get involved directly.
He knew very well how important the mirage matter was to Ying Zheng. If this matter was not handled well, the emperor would easily be angered.
And the most important thing is that this thing is caused by monsters.
If it was a gimmick pulled by the Yin Yang family, that would be fine, but if it were real, who would know how to deal with monsters?
If there is a clear solution, Zhao Gao would not mind implementing it, which would help gain some trust in Ying Zheng's heart. However, the situation is still unclear and it is not wise to intervene rashly.
Of course, it doesn't matter whether Zhao Gao is willing or not.
"Your Majesty, General Zhang Han is here in Songhai. With his ability, he should be able to handle this matter."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhao Gao did not dare to refuse, but he did not directly accept the job, but pushed it to Zhang Han first.
When something happens, Zhang Han takes the blame.
Ying Zheng replied calmly, "Zhang Han's ability will naturally pass the test, but Songhai still needs him to be in charge personally, and it will be inconvenient to move around. I still need someone to cooperate with him."
The return of the mirage may not be a big deal, but it will definitely arouse the interest of many forces.
Zhang Han must lead the secret guards to guard against these people with ulterior motives - of course, he can also replace Zhang Han with someone else.
But the only person who can replace Zhang Han is Zhao Gao. It makes no difference to him and he can't take the blame anyway.
Zhao Gao hesitated for a moment and then replied, "In that case, it would be most appropriate for the slave to do this, but... the safety of the entire convoy still needs to be taken care of. Once the slave leaves, I'm afraid there will be some oversights on the convoy.
.”
"If this delays Your Majesty's eastward tour, or even causes treason and unethical behavior that disturbs the Holy Master, I will be guilty of a great crime."
Ying Zheng said nothing to Zhao Gao's shirk and asked flatly, "Then who do you think is suitable for this role?"
"Why don't you let me send the most capable people under my command to assist General Zhang Han, and then let me control the situation?"
If possible, Zhao Gao would definitely be willing to recommend someone who has nothing to do with him to do this. Unfortunately, he couldn't find such a person, and the emperor would definitely veto him if he forced him to recommend one.
He could only choose to send someone to control it remotely.
To be honest, it would be better if he took action personally, at least it would not cause more instability.
But he couldn't go, or rather he didn't dare to go.
The book-burning order and the destruction of Xiaoshengxian Village aroused the anger of the people. A lot of people now hated Ying Zheng so much that they wanted to find an opportunity to assassinate him.
Although the defense strength of the convoy has been continuously improved, the number of accompanying Imperial Guards has increased by nearly half, and local troops have been cooperating to escort the convoy for basically the entire journey, Zhao Gao still had to keep the main force of the net in the convoy to ensure nothing went wrong.
Especially the Six Sword Slaves must stay to protect the emperor.
But because Xiaoshengxianzhuang perished in a snare and at the hands of Zhao Gao, his current situation is worse than that of Ying Zheng.
There are probably more people who want to kill him than those who want to kill Ying Zheng!
After all, killing him is much easier than killing Ying Zheng.
Especially on the quicksand side, what Zhao Gao did basically offended people to death.
With Gu Xun's pressure, people didn't dare to kill the emperor, but they didn't necessarily dare to kill him, Zhao Gao.
If Zhao Gao did not bring enough escorts and left the east patrol convoy to go to Songhai, I am afraid that people would have to tell him where he was.
Without the Six Sword Slave, his safety cannot be guaranteed.
But he couldn't take the Six Sword Slaves away - even if he dared to take the Six Swords Slaves away to protect himself at the risk of putting the emperor in crisis, Ying Zheng would not be happy.
How can there be any reason to deploy the master's guards to protect the slaves?
If he dares to do it, it is hard to say whether Ying Zheng will be in danger, but before anything happens to Ying Zheng, Zhao Gao must be quartered by five horses.
After listening to Zhao Gao's suggestion, Yingzhen was silent for a moment.
Zhao Gao lowered his head tightly in silence, with a lot of sweat on his forehead.
It was a matter of mirage and longevity. Zhao Gao was not sure about Ying Zheng's attitude, let alone whether his evasion would offend Ying Zheng - if his life was not at stake, he would not dare to do this.
"Can!"
After hearing Ying Zheng say this word in a low voice, Zhao Gao breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Ying Zheng added, "Contact Xianyang and inform the Imperial Advisor to rush to Songhai as soon as possible and work together to deal with the mirage matter."
"I want a result within half a month!"
"Slave, you obey!"
Zhao Gao complained in his heart, but did not dare to show any dissatisfaction on his face, and respectfully accepted the order and left.
Having just destroyed Little Saint Xian Manor, Zhao Gao really doesn't dare to see Gu Xun now. Not only does he dare not see him, but he also doesn't dare to let his subordinates see Gu Xun... It should be said that he even dares not to let his subordinates see him.
The Tian Zi killer meets Gu Xun.
After all, Gu Xun himself may still be concerned about the emperor's attitude and dare not kill people, but the same is not true for his killers.
Even if Gu Xun chopped off his two killers, Ying Zheng probably wouldn't support him now.
Politics is the art of compromise. Gu Xun tolerated the empire's extermination of the Little Sage Village, and Ying Zheng certainly didn't mind giving him face and turning a blind eye to the lives of several killers.
Although it is said that the sword slaves in the net are just tools and can be found after they are dead, the Tianzi killer is really not a cabbage on the street, and one can be fished out casually.
Especially now that the situation is tense and treacherous, and manpower is needed at any time, Zhao Gao cannot accept the reduction of the number of Tianzi killers under his command.
But this time, he had to take the risk and send out the Tianzi Killer, who was his most powerful man, Hiding the Sun.
First of all, only the ability to hide the sun can be used, and the other Tianzi killers are not high enough.
Secondly, only by covering up the sun can one survive. Anyone else would definitely die in Zhao Gao's opinion.
Of course, hiding the sun is also risky, but Zhao Gao must choose the lesser of two evils.
Until now, he could only curse secretly in his heart, the monster was indeed an ominous evil creature, and when it appeared, it wanted to bring disaster to everyone.
………………
Guanzhong Xianyang, Guoshifu Garden.
Gu Xun raised his hand and burned an official document, then sighed softly and said, "Sure enough, I won't be free for a few days, so I have to work again."
"The emperor is looking for you?" Zi Nu asked while watering the flowers.
The garden of the Imperial Master's Mansion is very large, and of course it is taken care of by professional gardeners. Zi Nu is just looking for something to do at the moment.
Gu Xun sat in the flower pavilion, poured himself a cup of tea, and then replied calmly, "It's not like you don't know what happened to Songhai."
"I know that the mirage is returning, but I don't know the reason." Zi Nu put down the kettle, walked into the flower pavilion with an elegant gait, and sat down next to Gu Xun, "It seems that there is a very good reason for the emperor to come to you specially.
Interesting...you used to keep it secret, but now you can talk it out, right?"
Gu Xun had determined before that the mirage would return. Many people knew this, including Zi Nu.
However, Gu Xun has always refused to say the reason.
Gu Xun thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll tell you."
"The Mirage returned because they hit a strange beast - the Mirage!"
"What?" Zi Nu felt as if she had heard wrongly and had no idea what Gu Xun meant.
Seeing this, Gu Xun smiled and explained carefully, "I said that the mirage encountered a strange beast on the sea and had to return."
"Weird beasts are monsters, or monsters, weird...these are all correct."
"Hiss!" Zi Nu took a breath and asked with a complicated face, "You mean, there are monsters on the sea?"
"That's right." Gu Xun nodded.
"Uh..." Zi Nu opened her mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.
There is not much difference between being haunted by monsters and being haunted by ghosts, both of which subvert people's outlook on life.
Suddenly learning that there are monsters in this world, Zi Nu feels very complicated.
Because of Gu Xun, she had long known that there were gods and ghosts in this world, but the sudden appearance of a real monster was still a little hard for her to accept.
"Are you sure?" she couldn't help but ask.
"I personally went to sea before and saw that strange beast and fought with it. What do you think?" Gu Xun took a sip of tea and asked lightly.
Zinu frowned, quickly recalling the previous information in her mind, and then asked tentatively, "Sanghai had an abnormal weather change before. Is it because of this?"
Gu Xun nodded.
Seeing this, Zi Nu completely accepted the reality that there are monsters in the world, and then asked the same question that everyone who knew about this matter had asked:
