# 217. Dream World
Seeing this woman, Zhu Guangxiao trembled with rage. In the dead of winter, he broke out in cold sweat, his hands and feet icy. How could this world be so treacherous, filled with oppression against men?
*She toyed with my feelings, hurt my dignity, and now she brazenly appears before me again...* Tears welled up uncontrollably.
Zhu Guangxiao suppressed the urge to punch, held in his urine, and turned to knock on Song Tingfeng's door.
Song Tingfeng, wrapped in a robe and seemingly just awake, opened the door, grumbling, "What is it? Why are you visiting so late at night?"
"Come over here, shh, keep your voice down..."
With a grim expression, Zhu Guangxiao pulled Song Tingfeng out quietly to the corridor, pointing downstairs to the hall. "Look!"
Seeing what was downstairs, Song Tingfeng also started trembling with rage, his hands and feet icy, and tears welled up uncontrollably...
The two martial artists' eyes turned red, their minds shattered. Song Tingfeng gritted his teeth, "She actually has the nerve to come to the post station, thinking we Nightwatchers are pushovers?"
Zhu Guangxiao said in a deep voice, "What do we do?"
This matter absolutely must not be leaked, or they would be nailed to the pillar of shame forever, unable to regain their honour. How would they live in the yamen after this?
"Let's just do it. Let's send her to the cold palace — let's go all the way," Song Tingfeng made a downward cutting gesture.
"No."
Zhu Guangxiao, though usually silent and reserved, was not stupid. He analysed, "Since she came here, it means that the roaming cavalry General is here too. We can't act rashly. If we do, we'll expose ourselves and be held accountable by the Inspector General."
"So what do we do?"
"I suggest we discuss it with Ningyan."
The two exchanged a glance, feeling that they could only turn to that scoundrel.
At that moment, Su Su downstairs sensed something, suddenly looked up and saw them, and a sweet smile blossomed on her face:
"Oh, it's you two."
Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao's faces froze.
…
"Guessing blindly is useless now. My suggestion is, tomorrow we go to the Military Command to check the accounts and confirm the ledger's authenticity. Then, issue a province-wide arrest warrant for Liang Youping."
Inspector Zhang gave his opinion.
Xu Qi'an glanced at the beautiful military woman with a melon-seed face, feeling heavy-hearted. Because even with Li Miaozhen's connections and influence, she couldn't catch Liang Youping, which meant the other side had a powerful backing.
A province-wide arrest might not be reliable.
The key to this case lies with Liang Youping.
"Great idea!" Jiang Lyuzhong, however, didn't care much and strongly supported Inspector Zhang's suggestion. Stroking his chin, he said:
"If we can't catch Liang Youping, we'll just use Military Command Yang Chuannan to settle the score."
Now it was Li Miaozhen's turn to tremble with rage.
So, if this was Yang Chuannan's ruse, it was basically suicidal. Whether it was Inspector Zhang or Jiang Lyuzhong, they were both old hands in officialdom.
People who mix in the court have ambitions, but to say they couldn't tolerate any injustice and were champions of justice was too naive.
Can someone full of righteousness thrive in the bureaucracy?
Absolutely not.
Inspector Zhang would try to find the real culprit and seek justice, but he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Yang Chuannan to gain merit.
Yang Chuannan was most certainly not innocent; firstly, he could not escape the charge of negligence. Secondly, he was a member of the Qi Clique, and now that the Qi Clique has fallen, the rules of the officialdom dictate: purge!
"Gold Gong Jiang, this is too reckless." Xu Qi'an tried with all his might to open big eyes wide, resisting sleepiness, speaking righteously:
"Why was Zhou Min silenced, who is behind framing Yang Chuannan, is it a distortion of human nature or a loss of morality? As bearers of the imperial mandate, we should do our utmost to bring justice to the innocent and restore the integrity of Yunzhou's officialdom."
Jiang Lyuzhong and Inspector Zhang looked at him strangely. This guy was not someone who liked to spout grandiose rhetoric.
"Well said!" Li Miaozhen applauded, her beautiful melon-seed face lifted, her eyes gleaming, and she looked at Xu Qi'an with approval and affirmation.
Hearing Li Miaozhen's praise, the two seemed thoughtful, as if they had guessed something.
"Then, Ningyan, I will trouble you to continue investigating this case." Inspector Zhang said earnestly, "You must find out the truth."
*Inspector Zhang's heart is definitely black... I was so foolish to play smart in front of him...* Xu Qi'an felt like he had shot himself in the foot. He glanced sideways and saw Li Miaozhen's beautiful eyes sparkling, looking at him with hope.
"I can only... do my best."
Xu Qi'an was no longer a young man full of hot blood, and he wouldn't make grand promises. Back when he was eighteen, his slogan was: I control my own fate, not the heavens.
By the time he was thirty-five, his slogan was: Please, heavens, stop messing with me.
At this moment, they heard a commotion outside the room, accompanied by a strong fluctuation of energy.
Jiang Lyuzhong was the first to push open the door. His eagle-like eyes scanned sharply, and then he saw Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao covering one eye with one hand, clenching their fists with the other, their energy surging, waving wildly.
They were shouting, "Stay away, we won't make the same mistake twice."
Opposite them, the peerlessly beautiful Su Su was frowning, looking innocent.
"Misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding..." Xu Qi'an rushed out, spread his arms, and wrapped them around his two colleagues' shoulders, half-pushing, half-carrying them into the room.
"What’s wrong with you two?" he frowned.
"What's with that female ghost?"
The two were very agitated, saying in a deep voice, "You knew our situation... and still let her come to the station? If this gets out, how are we supposed to face people?"
"She’s here with her master to discuss the Yang Chuannan case." Xu Qi'an said irritably, "If you don't expose it yourselves, who would spread it around? She’s like a well-traveled carriage, what kind of men hasn’t she seduced? You two are just being immature."
Song Tingfeng felt a bit better, but still grumbled, "I don't care. Seeing her makes me uncomfortable all over, so ashamed that I want to howl at the sky. I don’t want to see her."
Zhu Guangxiao nodded in agreement.
Xu Qi'an's eyes were suddenly filled with pity; there was a condition called "Susu PTSD."
After calming them down, Song Tingfeng asked, "Did Yang Chuannan confess? Is that Cavalry General here to cause trouble?"
"This case is tricky..." Xu Qi'an lamented his lack of a cigarette, sighing, "Do you know the true identity of the boss we met at the dogmeat shop? He was a clerk in the Military Command."
He briefly explained the situation.
The room fell silent. Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao looked at each other in horror, a cold sweat breaking out on their backs.
They thought they were on the fifth level, but it turned out the others were on the fifth level.
"If only we had brought him back to the post station then." Zhu Guangxiao said sullenly.
"Why didn’t you remind me?" Xu Qi'an massaged his temples. Lately he often felt dizzy, even having slight hallucinations.
"Who could have thought he was fake?" Zhu Guangxiao said in a dark voice, "At that time, the Inspector and Gold Gong Jiang were out inspecting. I thought we’d wait for them to return, report the progress, and if necessary, follow orders to arrest him. Besides, once we had the evidence, he was worthless."
"Yes, if he wasn’t fake, we could have gone back to find him." Song Tingfeng said.
"Always thinking in hindsight." Xu Qi'an said irritably.
"By the way, the name you mentioned earlier sounds familiar..." Zhu Guangxiao frowned, pondering, "I had a strange dream, dreaming that someone locked me in a small dark room."
Xu Qi'an laughed, "Was that small dark room called 404?"
"What 404?" Zhu Guangxiao didn’t understand, continuing, "Someone locked me in a small dark room, constantly asking: where is Liang something... I can't remember the name."
Song Tingfeng’s eyes widened, "Liang Youping?"
Zhu Guangxiao was surprised, "Yes, that's the name. How did you know?"
Song Tingfeng said, "...I had the same dream."
Xu Qi'an's face changed dramatically, as if he had heard something terrifying.