Eastern Factory.
Zhao Jingzhong sat upright in the main hall, while Ding Xiu stood below, hands resting on the Great Imperial Forest Army saber.
"Chen Ran is dead?"
Ding Xiu nodded, taking out Chen Ran's waist token and the seal of Beishai from his bosom, and handed them to Zhao Jingzhong.
Zhao Jingzhong took the waist token and seal, but his brow furrowed:
"Why didn't you bring me their heads?"
Ding Xiu's expression remained unchanged as he replied:
"In the chaos, Chen Ran's face was mutilated by the Jinyiwei, even if I brought it back, it would be unrecognizable!"
"The bodies of the two have already been buried by me. I was injured, and it was inconvenient to carry both bodies back alone, so I only brought their tokens!"
After speaking, Ding Xiu rolled up his sleeve, revealing a clear scar on his arm.
Zhao Jingzhong set down the waist token and asked:
"What about the others?"
Ding Xiu sighed:
"Chen Ran's martial arts were extremely formidable; these people all perished in the chaos! I only managed to take advantage of the situation to ambush and kill Chen Ran!"
Zhao Jingzhong fell silent for a moment before nodding.
Although Zhao Jingzhong had never seen Chen Ran's martial arts, the fact that the four of them could slay Wei Zhongxian's forty death warriors indicated his high level of skill.
The dozen or so Jinyiwei sent by Zhao Jingzhong were also quite skilled, but in Zhao Jingzhong's view, they were merely on par with Wei Zhongxian's death warriors, which was why he sought out Ding Xiu.
Moreover, in Zhao Jingzhong's eyes, Ding Xiu was just a rogue swordsman without a backing or any principles.
His relationship with his junior brother Jin Yichuan was akin to that of enemies, and such a person would never let Chen Ran go!
Thus, Zhao Jingzhong had already come to believe Ding Xiu's words:
"You did well in this matter!"
Ding Xiu's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes were fixed on the bag of silver beside Zhao Jingzhong:
"Thank you for your praise, Lord!"
Zhao Jingzhong raised his hand and tossed the small bag filled with silver into Ding Xiu's arms:
"Here are two hundred taels, much more than I promised you! From now on, follow me, and I will ensure you live in wealth and comfort!"
Ding Xiu's face immediately broke into a smile as he bowed and clasped his hands:
"Thank you for your support, my lord. From now on, I am yours!"
Zhao Jingzhong nodded in satisfaction and took out a wax-sealed envelope from his bosom, handing it to Ding Xiu:
"Take this secret letter to the Tianzi room at the Yuelai Inn on Xichang Street!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Ding Xiu accepted the secret letter and turned to leave the hall.
After leaving the Eastern Factory, he mounted a swift horse and hurried toward Xichang Street.
Before long, he arrived at Xichang Street and reached the entrance of the Yuelai Inn.
Dismounting, Ding Xiu quickly ascended to the second floor and knocked twice at the door of the Tianzi room.
"Who is it?"
Ding Xiu replied in a deep voice:
"A messenger!"
The door opened, revealing a dark-skinned, burly man with two whiskers on his face.
Ding Xiu directly handed the secret letter to the man and turned to leave without a word!
One hour later, the dark-skinned man quietly appeared before Zhao Jingzhong, delivering the secret letter to him.
Zhao Jingzhong opened the envelope, lit the contents on a candle, and then tossed it into the nearby brazier.
The letter contained all sorts of fabrications by Zhao Jingzhong, stating that Han Kuang was colluding with the Jurchens beyond the pass.
If Ding Xiu had actually read this letter and reported it, he would have fallen into Zhao Jingzhong's trap, unable to bring down Han Kuang, and would have been directly executed by Zhao Jingzhong!
However, Ding Xiu had not even glanced at the secret letter on his way!
The dark-skinned man nodded and said:
"The letter was untouched; this kid is indeed trustworthy!"
Zhao Jingzhong nodded:
"I have already investigated; he is a disciple of the bandit Ding Baiying, originally a rebel, but this kid only cares about money and has no other schemes!"
"We are currently short on manpower and lack pawns for covert operations; this kid can be useful!"
Zhao Jingzhong, originally a foster son of Wei Zhongxian, had many trusted aides who were eunuchs. After Wei Zhongxian's downfall, many had already been punished.
This time, he had dispatched over a dozen trusted Jinyiwei, all of whom were slain by Chen Ran and Ding Xiu, leaving him with few loyal death warriors.
Moreover, Ding Xiu's identity as a rogue swordsman made Zhao Jingzhong consider recruiting him.
"The emperor has recently placed great trust in Han Kuang; the execution of Wei's traitor was originally handled by me, yet he had Han Kuang personally come to inspect the corpse, clearly not trusting me!"
Zhao Jingzhong snorted coldly, a hint of hatred flashing in his eyes:
"It seems I won't be staying in this capital for long!"
The dark-skinned man fell silent for a moment before saying:
"My lord, you have been in contact with Li Yongfang for a long time and have obtained the defense map of the capital; why not simply leave now to avoid being hunted down by that brat Chongzhen?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jingzhong remained silent for a long time before slowly nodding:
"Given the circumstances, it seems there is no other way; otherwise, staying in the capital even one more day feels like having a butcher's knife hanging over my head, ready to fall at any moment!"
"Zhao Mian, I will write a secret letter now; you take it to those two Jurchen spies and have them pass it to Li Yongfang!"
The Li Yongfang they referred to was the first Han traitor to surrender to the Jurchens in the Ming Dynasty.
This person was originally a Ming army guerrilla general who surrendered to the Jurchens in the forty-sixth year of Wanli, setting a precedent for Ming officials to surrender to the barbarians.
Later, the Jurchen khan married his granddaughter to him and appointed him as a third-rank general, making him the first Han traitor of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhao Jingzhong had been planning his escape route since Wei Zhongxian was about to fall, even secretly communicating with Li Yongfang.
He had obtained the military defense map from the capital to Shanhaiguan according to Li Yongfang's instructions, intending to use it as his token of allegiance when he defected to the Later Jin to seek wealth and power!
In recent days, Zhao Jingzhong noticed that Chongzhen did not trust him and realized that his future days in the Ming would surely be difficult, perhaps ending up like his adoptive father Wei Zhongxian, with no place to be buried.
Thus, he immediately wrote a secret letter in code and handed it to his dark-skinned confidant Zhao Mian.
Zhao Mian took the secret letter, carefully tucked it into his bosom, and then quickly left the Eastern Factory.
After exiting the Eastern Factory, Zhao Mian deliberately strolled around the street nonchalantly for a while, ensuring that no one was following him before turning and quickly heading north to enter an inn called Fengxian.
As he entered, a man in plain clothes, Fang Cheng, emerged from a distant street corner, glanced at the inn, and then made a subtle gesture towards a nearby alley.
At that moment, Chen Ran, dressed in plain clothes and wearing a bamboo hat, quietly walked out from the alley.
……
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This is the last request for data; if no one is reading, then so be it.