Chapter Ninety-Six: The Night Punishment Division

Yingying laid everything bare before Jiang Chen without the slightest hesitation. That day at Drunken Life Tower, she had been dealing with Yu Yuanliang. If Jiang Chen had not burst in then, she would have used her own methods to make that dissipated young lord sleep through the entire night.

The reason she had disguised herself as a courtesan, just like Jiang Chen, was that she had set her sights on the private room on the third floor. From there, the entire gambling house lay open to view.

There was no better place for surveillance.

And the people in the gambling house would never imagine that a courtesan could pose any threat, so they naturally would not take precautions in that direction.

When Jiang Chen unexpectedly appeared and climbed over the wall to slip into the gambling house, Yingying had worried that his rashness would completely disrupt their earlier arrangements. If the enemy were alarmed and became wary, the consequences would be highly unfavorable.

Later, just as Jiang Chen was about to act, the fire that arrived at the perfect moment was, of course, Yingying's doing.

To be able to sit in Drunken Life Tower and make the gambling house catch fire so easily could only mean that someone inside was cooperating closely with her. Thus, Jiang Chen seemed to have been swept into an open and covert struggle between two forces.

"Tell me who you are first, and then I can decide whether I should trust you," Jiang Chen said.

Yingying did not hide anything. Or rather, she was confident she could keep Jiang Chen under control and reduce the risk of exposing her identity on her own.

"Let me put it this way. Since the founding of the Great Qian dynasty, there has always been a special force that acts only under cover of night. They answer directly to the emperor, are not constrained by any other office, and for more than six hundred years they have fought for one cause alone: to ensure that the Great Qian realm endures forever!"

"The name of the organization is the Night Punishment Bureau. As you guessed, I am one of its members. The one who set the fire that day and forced you to withdraw was my partner. For the past few months, he has been disguised as a gambler, secretly investigating clues inside the gambling house."

Jiang Chen said, "Great Qian has existed for six hundred and nineteen years. The Six Ministries were not established until the two hundred and thirty-third year. That means the Night Punishment Bureau has actually existed longer than the Six Ministries of today!"

With a hint of pride, Yingying said, "Naturally."

"The Six Ministries are indeed the foundation of Great Qian's rule over the realm, but in truth, we of the Night Punishment Bureau are the sharpest blade ever trusted by the emperors of old! Without the Night Punishment Bureau, the power in the emperor's hands would be reduced by at least half."

After revealing her identity, Yingying also admitted that ever since Jiang Chen had appeared at Drunken Life Tower, she had sent people to investigate him in secret. She therefore knew that Jiang Chen had been to Wang Qiaoling's private residence and had effortlessly broken through the two heavily guarded lines of defense.

Jiang Chen was astonished. He was certain that when he acted, no one else had tracked his movements at all. Had he overlooked something?

"My partner, Cat Without a Shadow, is unrivaled in the world at tailing people. It would be only natural for you not to have noticed him. The Night Punishment Bureau gathers the finest talents under heaven, each with his own specialty. In time, you will come to understand them."

By this point, Jiang Chen had heard the implication in Yingying's words: she was actually trying to recruit him.

"I can only guess that you are also here for the Mysterious Flame Manor. If that is indeed the case, then our goals are the same. Now it is your turn to state your identity and purpose. After that, I can decide whether I should invite you to join the Night Punishment Bureau."

Jiang Chen found it amusing. From Yingying's tone, he seemed like some candidate under evaluation, someone who had to meet their standards before earning the right to join the bureau.

But should she not at least ask whether he was interested in joining first?

Or did Yingying believe that joining the Night Punishment Bureau was such a supreme honor that she did not even consider the possibility of anyone refusing such an excellent opportunity?

Jiang Chen found it amusing, but he still told her his identity and purpose. Of course, he deliberately left out anything connected to Han Yuyang, who was currently one of the Great Qian court's most wanted fugitives.

Until he could be certain that this woman was absolutely trustworthy, he could not reveal Han Yuyang's whereabouts.

"I am merely an ordinary scholar from a remote mountain village. My father-in-law was killed by a man with a tattoo of a three-eyed snake head on his chest, so I traveled all the way to the royal capital to investigate and avenge him."

His background was simple, and his purpose was clear. Even if the Night Punishment Bureau were to investigate Shanguan Town, it would not uncover any clues related to Han Yuyang.

After hearing this, Yingying shook her head and said, "The fact that you could easily break through those two lines of defense proves your ability beyond doubt. The Night Punishment Bureau needs talented young men like you."

"However, you say you are just an ordinary scholar. Do you take me for a fool?"

Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "I taught myself. I just read a few martial manuals and practiced blindly on my own, and that gave me these few abilities. If you do not believe me, feel free to investigate and see whether you can find out who my master is, or whether I have any other special background."

After all, whoever investigated him would only learn that in Shanguan Town there was a down-at-heel scholar named Jiang Chen, someone who spent every day shut away at home with his head buried in books and had hardly any friends at all. Where could there possibly be some miraculous encounter or hidden expert guidance?

So Jiang Chen was full of confidence and not the least bit worried.

"Let us set that aside for now. If there were a chance for you to join our Night Punishment Bureau, what would your answer be?"

"No. I am here only for revenge."

Jiang Chen's refusal was utterly decisive.

His attitude surprised Yingying. For someone like Jiang Chen, with no background and no powerful patron, joining the Night Punishment Bureau would be the best possible path if he wanted to rise above the rest in this lifetime.

"This is a rare opportunity. Do you think I would casually invite just anyone to join?"

"Thank you for your kindness, but I truly have no such intention."

Seeing that Jiang Chen was impossible to sway, Yingying lost interest in continuing. In her heart, the Night Punishment Bureau held an irreplaceable and exalted place.

"Very well. Opportunities like this do not come around all the time. I hope you will not regret it later. Then let me ask one final question: what were you doing at Wang Qiaoling's private residence?"

"It seems you do not know the truth behind that place."

Jiang Chen knew there was no way around the subject, so he directly explained the relationship between Duanmu Qing and Duanmu Hongtu. As the granddaughter, wanting to uncover the truth behind her grandfather's death was only natural.

"We met on the road. Duanmu Qing said that General Duanmu's death might also be connected to that strange tattoo, and that Wang Qiaoling had been to the Qishan Iron Cavalry camp the day before the incident. So I agreed to go with her to Wang Qiaoling's private residence to take a look and see whether we could discover anything."

Yingying's expression became somewhat inscrutable. No one knew how much she believed of Jiang Chen's words, but she did reveal an inside detail he did not know.

"That was not actually Wang Qiaoling's private residence. It was a dungeon!"