Yang Ge rose and walked to the front of the hall, beckoning Fang Ke and Gu Tong over, and whispered, "You haven’t forgotten the skills I taught you before, have you?"
Gu Tong quickly shook his head, "How dare we forget the skills personally taught by you, sir."
Yang Ge: "Good, as long as you haven’t forgotten... Right now, on the coast of Jiangzhe, a large group of Dongying ronin has appeared, and they show signs of causing trouble. I need you to set out immediately on a secret mission to Jiangzhe, infiltrating various coastal cities individually. In short, wherever there are Dongying ronin, that is where you go."
"After firmly establishing your position, you will set up an intelligence station centered around you, to scout and gather information on the Dongying ronin along the coast. There are two main tasks."
"First, find out who is colluding with these Dongying ronin, and preserve evidence for the court to settle accounts come autumn."
"Second, track the movements of the Dongying ronin to prepare for the court’s forces that will surround and suppress them..."
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"Is the mission clear?"
Gu Tong nodded gravely.
Yang Ge nodded, "Good, let’s now talk about the precautions."
"First, the intelligence you gather must be sent home every seven days. Should there be special intelligence, it can be sent back immediately. At home, Fang will be solely in charge of receiving the intelligence you send back, and it will be handed over to me."
"Second, your mission is reconnaissance, so avoid combat as much as possible. Your safety is paramount. If things are unavoidable, I permit you to withdraw. I will arrange for people to meet you, and once you get to the Bian River, you will be safe."
Hearing this, the solemnity in Gu Tong’s brows relaxed, and he said with a solemn bow, "Please rest assured, sir, we will do our utmost to accomplish the mission!"
Yang Ge patted his shoulder, speaking softly, "This time, your burden is heavy, brothers are tasked with carrying out my orders, while your task is to bring back all the brothers that you take with you alive!"
With that, he looped one arm around Fang Ke’s shoulder and the other around Gu Tong’s, encouraging them, "Do well, if we perform beautifully this time, those two deputy marshal positions in our Upper Right Bureau will be yours, sooner or later, mark my words!"
At this grand promise, not just Gu Tong felt his heart stir, but Fang Ke was also heartily moved.
A fierce man who could take down even the town marshal on a whim, was he joking about securing them a deputy marshal’s position?
Not in the slightest!
The two exchanged glances and chorused with a bow, "We are willing to die for you, sir!"
Yang Ge patted their shoulders, "Enough, it’s the New Year, don’t speak such ill-omened words. Let’s all live well; there’s a future in living, prospects in living... Gu, go down and tell the brothers to pack, we’re leaving today. Someone will lead you southward."
Gu Tong bowed and exited the public hall.
Having made these arrangements, Yang Ge finally relaxed slightly.
He turned and glanced at the Taishi Chair on the platform, asking, "Where is Zuo Jing?"
Fang Ke: "Reporting to you, sir, Deputy Marshal Zuo has been on leave for over a month now... As you know, he and Deputy Marshal Qin have always been at odds. After Deputy Marshal Qin took charge, he has been suppressing Zuo nonstop. So Zuo simply stopped coming to the office, out of sight, out of mind."
Yang Ge: "Notify him to come back to work. How can this huge office run without someone in charge?"
Fang Ke, puzzled, said, "But aren’t you..."
Yang Ge rolled his eyes in exasperation and confidently retorted, "I am just a cook, how could I be fit to run the Upper Right Bureau’s home?"
Fang Ke: "That’s... haha!"
You intend to kill Deputy Marshal Zuo too, don’t you?
You must be thinking that, right?
Yang Ge couldn’t care less what he thought, and with a dismissive "I’m off," he strode out.
As he passed, countless embroidered uniform guards bowed and saluted, "Farewell, sir!"
...
"Have you finally decided to enter the palace?"
Emperor Xiping put down the document in his hand, looking down the steps at Shen Fa, who was skulking about with panda eyes, grinning from ear to ear.
It had been seven to eight days since Yang Ge had beaten him publicly, and the bruises on his face had yet to fade.
Seeing he couldn’t dodge it, Shen Fa simply lifted his head and pleaded in a pitiful voice, "Your Majesty, please restore that man to his official position. When he had an official title, he at least showed some restraint. Now that he’s without an official burden, his actions have become more willful and reckless. Not to mention, his martial arts are highly skilled, and my subordinates simply can’t stop him... To be honest with you, Majesty, these past few days, I have to sleep with one eye open, for fear that he would come out of nowhere and give me a beating!"
He wouldn’t have opened his mouth if it were not for the matter of the Dongying ronin landing on their shores.
Now that such an incident had occurred, he had no more concerns...
Previously, he too had thought that Yang Ge’s outrageous behavior in Jiangzhe had provoked discord between the monarch and his courtiers.
Now, the actions of the deposed officials of the Zhe faction, colluding with the Dongying ronin to pressure the court, had made him see clearly... Yang Ge’s outrageous behavior was not provoking monarch-courier discord, but rather tearing off the veil of harmony between them!
Or rather, they should be thankful to Yang Ge.
Had it not been for Yang Ge tearing off that veil, they would not have known just how wild the hearts of these high officials, who spoke so loftily of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness, had become!
"Hahaha..."
Emperor Xiping laughed uproariously with schadenfreude, "No need to rush, no need to rush. Doesn’t that man like acting under the pretense of being a cook? Let him continue to play the cook; it doesn’t hinder his duties, and if something goes wrong, the officials can’t blame it on me. Kills several birds with one stone, several birds with one stone indeed!"
Shen Fa: ...
You might be happy about it,
But doesn’t this put me right over the flames?
The officials might not be able to deal with that tough nut, but can’t they handle me?