gnovel Chapter 10 Shadow Guard
Chapter 10 Shadow Guard
The moon is very round and bright tonight.
It's a good day.
The candles burned all night in the bedroom.
As dawn broke, Lin Mo finally embraced Su Wanning, who had fallen into a deep sleep from exhaustion, and closed his eyes contentedly.
More than ten years.
Lin Mo unleashed all the anger he had been holding back for over a decade tonight.
Now he finally embraces his wife like a real man and sleeps in the same bed with her.
With a blush on her face, Su Wanning curled up in Lin Mo's arms, a faint smile on her lips.
Su Wanning was fast asleep, her breathing steady and gentle. A trace of tear remained on her long eyelashes, a mark left from her excitement the night before.
Lin Mo looked down at her peaceful sleeping face, suppressing his inner impulse, and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.
Then he closed his eyes.
This was the most restful sleep Lin Mo had had since he transmigrated to Daliang.
His life was finally complete.
When Lin Mo woke up the next morning, he found that his wife, Su Wanning, was still fast asleep.
Su Wanning curled up in his arms like a kitten, one hand tightly clutching his clothes, as if afraid he would run away.
The morning light shone through the cracks in the window and fell on her fair shoulders, where faint red marks from the previous night still lingered.
Lin Mo's lips curled up.
Last night, I really wore out Su Wanning, that young woman.
After all, this was the first time Lin Mo had ever touched a woman since he came into this world.
Su Wanning naturally had to bear the desires that Lin Mo had suppressed for many years.
Lin Mo looked at Su Wanning, who looked exhausted, and didn't wake her. Instead, he carefully pulled out the arm she was using as a pillow and quietly got out of bed.
When Lin Mo finished dressing and quietly pushed open the door, the sky was just beginning to lighten with a hint of dawn.
The courtyard was quiet, with only the lanterns under the eaves still lit, swaying gently in the morning breeze.
He took a deep breath of the crisp air and felt an indescribable sense of comfort throughout his body.
For the first time in over a decade, I felt the morning breeze was warm on my face.
He strode toward the study, his steps much lighter than usual.
Along the way, he encountered several maids who were up early and sweeping. They stared at him with wide eyes, forgetting even to bow.
Lin Mo didn't mind, a smile playing on his lips, as he walked through the corridor and pushed open the door to the study.
Five people were already waiting in the study.
Five figures, their entire bodies shrouded in dark cloaks, knelt silently.
The morning light had not yet entered the room; only a flickering candle on the desk cast a long, yellowish shadow.
Lin Mo closed the door behind him, his gaze sweeping over the five people indifferently.
"stand up."
The five of them stood up at the same time, their movements as synchronized as if they were one person.
"Greetings, Supervisor."
These people spoke in extremely low voices, like robots, without any emotional fluctuation.
Lin Mo put his hands behind his back, lingered his gaze on the five people for a moment, and then sat down in the armchair behind the desk.
"Get up! You've all had a hard time these past few days."
"Thank you, Governor!" The leader bowed and replied humbly, "It is our honor to serve the Governor."
Shadow Guard Division.
This is the most secretive card in Lin Mo's hand.
When he climbed up from a lowly servant in the cold palace to become the head of the Eastern Depot, he understood a principle.
The Eastern Depot is the emperor's weapon, not Lin Mo's.
He needed an informant who belonged only to him, a shadow hidden in the dark, untouchable by anyone.
So he spent five years selecting five people from the streets and the underworld to form the Shadow Guard, which was hidden in the shadows.
Shadow One: He controls the pimps and servants of 136 brothels in the capital; there's no one he can't infiltrate.
The details of which adult had spoken privately in which girl's room could be delivered to Lin Mo's desk the next day.
Shadow 2: He is the foreman of the dockworkers. He manages more than 300 laborers carrying heavy loads, and he oversees the cargo ships that come and go every day, the merchants traveling from the south and north, and the smuggling gangs.
Shadow Three: Elder of the Beggars' Gang in the South of the City. Every beggar in the city is his informant. Who entered someone's back door in the middle of the night, which house was being cried out in, which alley had a few unfamiliar faces—these trivial matters that even the Five Cities Garrison Command couldn't be bothered with, became a dense intelligence network in Shadow Three's hands.
Shadow 4, the resident doctor at the pharmacy.
They specialize in treating the maids and nannies of large and prestigious families.
The secrets and shady dealings within the inner quarters are often pieced together from snippets of conversation during medical consultations.
Shadow Five: A镖局 (bodyguard agency) escort. He travels all over the country year-round, and he knows everything about what's happening on the official roads and what new tricks the collusion between officials and bandits is going on.
Five people, five lines.
They were complete strangers and had never met.
He is only responsible to Lin Mo.
This is his true trump card.
"Tell me, what major events have occurred in the capital this past month?"
Shadow One spoke first.
"Since the Empress ascended the throne, four of the six ministers of the court have secretly sent people to Taiyuan. Wang Chongnian, the Minister of Revenue, was the most diligent, sending three secret letters out of the capital within seven days."
Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
"I intercepted one of the letters." Yingyi took out a slender bamboo tube from his bosom and presented it with both hands: "The letter is in Wang Chongnian's own handwriting, and the recipient is Wang Chong'an, the current head of the Wang family in Taiyuan."
Lin Mo took the bamboo tube, pulled out the thin silk paper inside, unfolded it, glanced at it, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved up.
"Old man, you've hidden your handwriting well."
The silk paper contained only a few words, but the wording was extremely sophisticated.
"The new emperor is young and his power base is not yet secure. The corrupt official Lin of the Eastern Depot has been deposed and is no longer a threat. Brother, you should make preparations early to prepare for any eventuality."
There was no signature or endnote.
But Lin Mo recognized the beginning and ending strokes of those characters at a glance.
Wang Chongnian, that old fox, served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue for ten years and Minister for three years. The official documents he handled could fill this study.
Lin Mo could recognize his handwriting even with his eyes closed.
"The new emperor is young and his power base is not yet secure." Lin Mo repeated the sentence, then sneered, "Wang Chongnian dares to say that just because I have temporarily stepped down from my post, I think I have lost power."
Shadow One remained silent.
Lin Mo brought the silk paper close to the candlelight, watching the flame lick the thin silk surface and instantly engulf it into a clump of ashes.
Did Wang Chong'an receive this letter?
"No. My subordinate intercepted it and sent a fake one."
"What content were you imitating?"
"All is well, just waiting for the right opportunity."
Lin Mo chuckled.
"well done."
Yingyi bowed slightly and took half a step back.
Shadow Two then spoke.
"There's news from the north. The barbarian royal court is gathering troops from various tribes, and it's quite a large force. According to reports from the border, there are at least 50,000 cavalry."
Lin Mo paused slightly as he held the teacup.
Fifty thousand cavalry.
The last time the barbarians mobilized an army of this size was fifteen years ago.
That year, the Great Liang lost 30,000 border troops and two cities. The late emperor was furious and executed three generals. In the end, it was the old patriarch of the Taiyuan Wang clan who personally led the Wang family's private army northward and kept the barbarians at Yanmen Pass.
It was from that time that the Wang family of Taiyuan settled down in the northern border region.
Half of the food and supplies for the 100,000 border troops were in the hands of the Wang family.
"What's going on with the Wang family?"
"Not for now." Shadow Two paused; "But I've heard that the Wang family's caravans have been frequently traveling between Taiyuan and Yanmen recently, and the goods they're transporting are all sealed in boxes, so we can't find out what they are."
Lin Mo remained silent for a moment.