gnovel Chapter 105: Countermeasures
Chapter 105: Countermeasures
No explanation is needed.
Qin Keqing stood up, took a bronze box from the bookshelf, and opened it.
Inside is a document issued by Zhao Shih-kwan last year outlining the scope of authority for the Imperial Clan Court's registration system. The appendix to the document contains an old precedent left over from the reign of Emperor Taizu.
The Imperial Household Agency has the right to investigate any leads related to the Imperial Family on its own, and the sources of such information will not be disclosed.
Qin Keqing pondered for a moment and pointed to this line, saying, "Qin Hui suffered from this last year when it came to the review and filing of documents. The privileges of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs were established by Emperor Taizu, and he dared not overturn them openly."
All he could do was stall, but Zhao Shi's emergency review authority didn't require approval from the Ministry of Personnel; it could go directly to the Court of Judicial Review.
Liu An put away the instructions and felt a little relieved. He informed Qin Keqing and prepared to leave. As he turned to go out, he met the lively Xiao Jinluo in the corridor.
The little girl was carrying a bowl of hot porridge to Qin Keqing's room when she saw Liu An come out. She blinked her big eyes at him and then simply shoved the porridge into his hand.
"Brother Liu An, you look terrible. Here, have this bowl of porridge. I'll go get another bowl for Sister Qin."
Liu An looked down at the bowl of porridge in his hand. Before he could even thank her, Xiao Jinluo had already turned and run back to the kitchen.
Her twin buns swayed with her running steps, and the plush rabbit ears in her arms trembled along with them.
......
Xiangyang.
The magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture has led a group to three fishing villages on the outskirts of the city, and under the pretext of "checking the household registration of displaced people," they searched through each household one by one.
These three fishing villages are where a small portion of Yue Yinping's 400 veterans lived scattered.
Originally, these judges did not make any special discoveries.
However, during the investigation, three veterans encountered an unexpected situation. Some minor details were discovered: their registered residence and actual time of residence did not match.
Yue Yinping received the news that very night.
Knowing the seriousness of the situation, Yue Yinping hurriedly instructed Lao Xu to use the fishing boat to transfer the three veterans to an abandoned brick kiln on the opposite bank of the Han River overnight.
These three veterans were all over fifty years old. They had served as infantrymen in the Tabai Army during the Battle of Yancheng. After the eleventh year of the Shaoxing era, they lived in seclusion in the suburbs of Xiangyang, making a living by fishing.
They were not involved in any intelligence activities and were unaware of the existence of the Baima Temple liaison point.
But their only "crime" was that the date on their household registration was wrong.
When they first arrived in Xiangyang in the eleventh year of Shaoxing, Xiangyang Prefecture was being purged by the Imperial City Guard, and no one dared to register the former members of Yue Fei's army.
They waited six months to register their household registration, and the "migration time" on the household registration was six months later than the actual time of residence.
It was this six-month time difference that led to his capture by the magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture.
After transferring the three veterans, Yue Yinping realized the seriousness of Qin Hui's counterattack and immediately suspended all non-essential intelligence activities in Xiangyang.
The Baima Temple liaison point has reduced the frequency of changing the code every day to once every three days.
Zhao Tieqiang's crossbow warnings have also temporarily ceased, and Master Mingxin's update of the marker on the corner of the back door of the kitchen has also been suspended for a week.
With this arrangement, the entire intelligence network in Xiangyang entered a semi-silent state.
After making these arrangements, Yue Yinping returned to the old camp's bamboo shed and, by the light of an oil lamp, erased all the still-active contact points along the Han River on her Xiangyang city defense map.
Her complexion was not good.
These contact points were sewn together by her stitch by stitch over a period of nearly a year.
From the initial few veterans passing messages to each other, to later Li Bao's sailors surveying the waterways along the river, Sun Yan's tea boat traveling between Ezhou and Xiangyang every month, and the regular replacement of cattail roots in the brick seams of the back hall of Baima Temple.
Every single step of these journeys was taken with the sword of the Imperial City Guard in hand.
Qin Hui has now arrested more than four people in Lin'an, and his influence has even begun to extend to Xiangyang.
Although none of these people being targeted were on the intelligence front, they were merely former members of Yue Fei's army.
Yue Yinping knew that Qin Hui was targeting the lowest level this time, the most innocent and difficult-to-protect group of people on the outermost edge.
He was using the fewest troops and the lowest cost to weave a net that would deter anyone from taking in the old troops of Yue Fei's army.
Yue Yinping put down her pen, closed her eyes for a moment, and then picked up her pen again to write a short message to Li Bao.
"The Imperial City Guard is conducting a search of fishing villages outside Xiangyang, and three veterans have already been exposed and evacuated."
Security measures have been strengthened along the Han River, and tea shipments have been suspended for the time being. Sun Yan's tea is currently stored in the Ezhou warehouse and will be shipped out once communication with Baima Temple is restored. Any unusual activity in Lin'an should be reported immediately.
Yue Yinping folded the letter, sealed it in a wax ball, and had Lao Xu deliver it overnight.
After doing all this, Yue Yinping thought for a moment and then opened the notebook she carried with her to examine one by one the various connecting lines that were still in operation in the Xiangyang direction.
From Baima Temple to Longwang Temple, from Zhao Tieqiang's bow repair stall to the corner of the back door of Master Mingxin's kitchen, I mentally reviewed the safety of each place again.
The following day, after the bell tower of Baima Temple had rung twelve times, it rang one more time.
Between the tenth and eleventh strikes was a brief trill, a rhythmic variation created by Mingxin's gentle shaking of the bell rope, not part of the fixed rhythm transcribed by the Imperial City Guard.
The signal has only one simple meaning: clean.
There were no suspicious worshippers inside the temple, and the handover point was safe.
When Xiao Bieli received this signal at the old camp in Xiangyang, he was helping Zhao Tieqiang repair an old crossbow with a broken bow tip.
He pulled the crossbow string taut to test the tension, then released it and looked up outside the old camp. Smoke was rising from the corner of the Dragon King Temple at the Caoshi Ferry on the opposite bank of the Han River, and everything looked peaceful and normal.
But this calm is only superficial.
Xiao Bieli knew that eight plainclothes inspectors from the Imperial City Guard were currently lying in ambush somewhere in Xiangyang City. Two of them carried security patrol badges from the Xiangyang Prefectural Government and could reveal their identities at any time to check any "pilgrim" walking around the White Horse Temple.
He also knew that Qin Keqing was in Lin'an using the emergency registration authority of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to fight for a chance of survival for the four arrested veterans.
Xiao Bieli understood even more clearly that Qin Hui's purge of the veterans at the grassroots level was just the beginning, and that he would probably target even bigger targets next.
After returning the repaired crossbow to Zhao Tieqiang, Xiao Bieli asked him, "Is the crossbow from Yancheng still there?"
Zhao Tieqiang took the foot-operated crossbow from the beam of the leather shop, reassembled it, weighed it in one hand, and asked.
"Same as always, it can bite through the Ironclad Pagoda's mask within three hundred paces. Do you want to use it?"
"Not for now." Xiao Bieli checked the crossbow to make sure the trigger spring wasn't rusted. "But if you see the White Horse Temple bell tower ring three short times from the corner tower, immediately load the crossbow and shoot at the bell so that the sound can be heard throughout the city."
"Understood. Three short sounds, three short arrows, the old rule, two sounds between each arrow. Anyone who has lived in Yancheng can understand this."
Zhao Tieqiang rewrapped the crossbow and placed it back on the roof beam. Turning to look at Xiao Bieli, he suddenly changed the subject, "Did you finish the osmanthus cake your sister brought you last time?"
"We didn't finish it; there's still a piece left in the bundle, and it's already dried out and cracked."
"If your sister knew you were keeping the cakes she made and couldn't bear to eat them—" Zhao Tieqiang shook his head, not finishing his sentence.
Xiao Bieli didn't reply. He took the broken bamboo-scabbard knife from his waist, placed it on the table, drew the blade, and slowly wiped the edge against the flickering flames in the stove.