Having received his orders, Shen Qianqiu leaped up from his couch and led his three subordinates to the courtyard, pacing back and forth as he waited.
Not long after, Shopkeeper Xia hurried into the courtyard. Without beating around the bush, he cupped his fists and said, "Mister You, I still need to verify the item I gave you earlier."
Shen Qianqiu immediately took out the storage ring he had received from Shopkeeper Xia and offered it to him.
With the item in hand, Shopkeeper Xia immediately invoked his arts to examine the storage ring. The waterball-like seal was still there, proving that Shopkeeper Xia had not pried into the ring without permission. Shopkeeper Xia promptly returned the storage ring with both hands.
After receiving the storage ring, Shen Qianqiu formally took out the waterball-like seal from within. The moment he took it out, the waterball-like object transformed into a puff of mist and rose into the air. A jade archive fell into Shen Qianqiu's hands. After reading through the contents of the jade archive, he took a deep breath. With a serious expression, he asked, "Shopkeeper Xia, I'll need your cooperation next."
Shopkeeper Xia nodded. "I've received orders from above. I'll do my best to cooperate with you, Mister You."
"Good!" Shen Qianqiu said, "I need to know the whereabouts of the City-Guard Palace's Grand Commander immediately."
He didn't know what he needed to do until he received a message from his superiors. His superiors informed him that the Xiahou Family's men in Sky Avenue would cooperate fully with him.
Shopkeeper Xia didn't know why he needed to cooperate with Shen Qianqiu, but his superiors had given him another task. Now, he understood that his superiors wanted him to make preparations in order to cooperate with Shen Qianqiu. He nodded and said, "I already know the whereabouts of the City-Guard Palace. The Grand Commander of Sky Avenue, Tie Fangjue, is currently in the City-Guard Palace."
Shen Qianqiu said, "Take me to the City-Guard Palace. I want to see him immediately."
The three subordinates behind him looked at each other, unsure of what was going on.
"Immediately?" Shopkeeper Xia asked hesitantly. "So soon?"
Shen Qianqiu said in a low voice, "Immediately, immediately. I want to see him at all costs."
"Alright! I'll do my best. "Shopkeeper Xia agreed and extended his hand." Please! "
The group quickly left. Along the way, Shen Qianqiu transmitted his voice and asked, "Are the men on your side ready?"
Accompanying him, Shopkeeper Xia replied, "They're ready. They're at your disposal at any time."
Shen Qianqiu nodded and began to instruct his three subordinates to make preparations.
On the way there, Shopkeeper Xia contacted the Great Commander of the Heavenly Avenue, Tie Fangjue. He said that he had something to discuss with him and emphasized that it was something good.
There was no need to doubt the Xiahou Clan's influence in the Heavenly Avenue, and even the Heavenly Avenue Great Commander had to give them some face. After all, they had to receive benefits from the Xiahou Clan every year. It was fortunate that they had this relationship, or else it would not have been so easy for Shen Qianqiu and the others to meet Tie Fang Jue. At the very least, it would not have been so direct. This was also one of the reasons why they needed the Xiahou Clan's cooperation.
When the group arrived outside the City Guard Palace, the guards had already received the news that they could enter. When they climbed up the stairs, a young general was already standing at the gate, cupping his hands in greeting and saying, "Manager Nan, the commander is waiting inside."
Shen Qianqiu glanced at Shopkeeper Xia. So this person's surname was Nan.
"Thank you, thank you!" Manager Xia cupped his fists in return and stuffed a storage ring into his hand.
The young general was all smiles, but when he saw Shen Qianqiu's group of four, he couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Who are these people?" His scrutiny was obvious.
"We're here to discuss business. Why? Could it be that General Niu doesn't trust the person that I personally brought with me? "Shopkeeper Xia looked at him with a faint smile, exerting some pressure.
The young general who was addressed as General Niu thought about it and agreed. With so many witnesses, if anything were to happen, the Xiahou Clan would bear the responsibility and the other party wouldn't dare to act recklessly. In addition, he had just received benefits from the other party, so he immediately laughed and said, "Shopkeeper Nan is too kind. Please come in!"
"Please!" Shopkeeper Xia also extended his hand in greeting before walking side by side with Shen Qianqiu and the others calmly following behind.
In the main hall of the City Guard Palace, the group waited for a while after they arrived. There was no helping it, the Great Commander's airs were unavoidable, and they couldn't let him wait for them here.
Not long after, General Niu arrived with a burly man in casual clothes. Shopkeeper Xia immediately cupped his hands in greeting and said with a smile, "Great Commander, sorry for the disturbance."
Hearing this form of address, Shen Qianqiu and the others knew that this was Tie Fang Jue.
"Shopkeeper Nan, you should be aware of the current situation. These are troubled times. Why are you in such a hurry to see me?" Tie Fang Jue asked with a faint smile, then turned around and sat down at the main seat. His gaze had already landed on Shen Qianqiu and the others.
Shopkeeper Xia stepped aside and pointed at Shen Qianqiu and the others, saying, "I'm just leading the way. They're the ones who want to see the Great Commander."
"Oh!" Tie Fang Jue raised his eyebrows. Shopkeeper Xia had contacted him earlier to say that it was something good, so the first thing that came to his mind was that it was something good. He sized up the group and asked, "May I know who you are?"
Shen Qianqiu immediately took out an official's jade archive and tossed it over.
Tie Fang Jue raised his hand and caught it. Seeing that it was an official item, he invoked his transcendence energy to examine it. Suddenly, he was stunned and raised his head in astonishment. "You're from the Netherworld Governor's Office?"
Shen Qianqiu calmly said, "Let me correct you. The four of us are under the command of the Celestial Avenue's Inspector, Governor Niu. We've been ordered to patrol this place."
Beside him, General Niu was stunned. Tie Fang Jue slowly stood up and stared at Shopkeeper Xia. In a deep voice, he asked, "Shopkeeper Nan, what is the meaning of this?"
Shen Qianqiu cut him off. "Could it be that the Great Commander feels that the Lord Inspector has no authority to patrol this place?"
"That's not what I meant." Tie Fang Jue waved his hand. "It's just that I haven't received any notification from my superiors, so I can't confirm your identities."
Shen Qianqiu said, "The Inspector's Office is divided into open investigations and secret investigations. This time, I have come under orders to conduct a secret investigation. I hope that the Great Commander will cooperate with me."
Shopkeeper Xia glanced at Shen Qianqiu and muttered to himself, 'So this person's surname is Shen.'
"Of course I will cooperate, but I'll have to ask my superiors first." Tie Fang Jue expressionlessly took out the Star Bell. He glanced sideways at Shopkeeper Xia. At this sensitive time, coupled with Shopkeeper Xia's background, he had already realized that something was amiss. He belonged to Heavenly King Hao's faction, so how could he cooperate so easily?
In a flash, Shen Qianqiu was already in front of Tie Fang Jue. He grabbed Tie Fang Jue's wrist, which was holding the Star Bell, and stared coldly at him. "Great Commander Tie, I've already said that this is a secret investigation. The matter I'm investigating is related to your superiors. To avoid alerting the enemy, I ask that you cooperate. Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless!"
General Niu, who was standing to the side, was shocked. Just as he was about to rush out, he was blocked by someone else.
Tie Fang Jue realized that the other party's cultivation was far above his own, and he had no way of resisting. He gritted his teeth and said, "You're holding me hostage! Even if you're the Inspector's men, you have no right to do this!"
Shen Qianqiu took out another jade archive and stuffed it into Tie Fang Jue's hand. "See for yourself!"
Tie Fang Jue's eyelids twitched as he examined the jade archive with his transcendence energy. He realized that it was the Empress' imperial decree. Although he didn't know if the transcendent seal on it was real or fake, the contents made him shudder with fear.
Shen Qianqiu snatched the jade archive back and placed a sword across Tie Fang Jue's neck. "The Empress' imperial decree states that anyone who disobeys the imperial decree can be killed first and reported later! Lord Tie, I'll ask you one last time. Are you going to cooperate or not? "
Tie Fang Jue guessed that the imperial decree was real. Otherwise, Shopkeeper Nan wouldn't have the guts to do such a thing. No matter how powerful the Xiahou family was, they wouldn't dare to do such a thing in public. In other words, the other party's imperial decree was to kill first and report later. They weren't afraid of taking responsibility for killing him. It was just that there was a flaw in the procedure. They had directly skipped over his superiors.
This didn't make sense. But the so-called common sense also depended on the situation. For example, when the Green Emperor respected the Marshals of the Four Armies, he would usually seek the opinions of several Marshals before issuing an imperial decree. Otherwise, if he forced the decree, it would be troublesome for his subordinates to find all sorts of suitable reasons to not cooperate. At that time, it would be the Green Emperor slapping his own face. The same logic could be applied to Heaven's Street, which was under the control of the Empress. But in the current situation, the Empress obviously didn't care if her subordinates cooperated or not. It was unknown how effective the execution would be, but the imperial decree was indeed effective.
In the end, Tie Fang Jue didn't have the guts to fight with his life. It wasn't worth it. He could only say, "I'm willing to obey the decree of the Empress!"
Soon, the entire Heaven's Street was in a state of chaos. The people of the four districts came out in full force. Under the supervision and cooperation of the Xiahou family, they rushed into more than ten shops of the Ying family in Heaven's Street. They arrested people, searched the shops, closed the shops, and looted everything.
The people of the Ying family's shops didn't know what was going on. Not many people dared to openly resist arrest. All the shops, big and small, were swept away in a flash.
All the merchants didn't know what was going on. Many people were afraid of getting involved and rushed out of the city.
Who knew that when they ran to the city gates, they would find that all four city gates were closed.
"What's going on?"
"Why are the gates sealed?"
"It seems to be the Ying family's shops."
In the midst of the discussion, someone suddenly pointed to the newly posted notice on the city wall and exclaimed, "Look!"
The people near and far on the street opened their transcendence vision and looked at the notice. It said, 'A certain shop has been raided for possessing contraband goods. Currently, they are searching for the fugitives in these shops. The city gates are temporarily sealed. Please cooperate.'
While Shen Qianqiu was making his move, his old acquaintance, Xiao Lingbo, who had joined the phantom market's headquarters together with him, had successfully entered the Citadel Palace of Heavenly Origin, accompanied by Shopkeeper Xia.
Fu Qing stood on the steps outside the reception hall with his hands behind his back, waiting for them.
Shopkeeper Xia introduced them and moved to the side. Xiao Lingbo tossed out his official position jade archive, but Fu Qing casually waved his hand and didn't even bother to catch it. He immediately tossed the jade archive back.
Xiao Lingbo caught his jade archive and narrowed his eyes. The three people behind him also revealed hostile looks. After the battle at the Black Dragon Swamp, these people had a different kind of confidence.
At this moment, four people leisurely walked out from the reception hall behind Fu Qing. They were none other than Miao Yi, Yang Zhaoqing, Bluemoon, and Xing.
Xiao Lingbo and the others were taken aback. They quickly cupped their fists and greeted, "Greetings, Governor."
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