Amidst the chirping of birds, Lu Qing Wan smiled with delight.
"The person has been found. Does the strategist wish to accompany me to take a look?"
Lian Yu had many things of his own to attend to, but seeing Lu Qing Wan's exceedingly joyful smile, he felt that if he missed this, he would surely regret it.
Thus, he unhesitatingly accepted Lu Qing Wan's invitation, "Then I shall gratefully accept."
Lu Qing Wan's eyebrows rose slightly, and she led the way with Lian Yu following the little sparrow.
They had not gone far when they ran into Ying Shi, who was approaching on horseback.
Upon seeing Lu Qing Wan and the little sparrow on her shoulder, he was first taken aback, then turned his horse to approach them.
"Your Highness, the people who have been harassing the citizens have been found. My subordinates have already surrounded them, but those people are a bit peculiar, and my men dared not act rashly."
Lu Qing Wan raised an eyebrow, "Peculiar?
In what way peculiar?"
Ying Shi's expression was troubled as he carefully chose his words, "How should I put it?
Their senses seem to be magnified several times over, yet they know no fatigue or fear. They would even dare to grab a blade bare-handed when attacked.
It feels like… extremely simple-minded individuals with developed limbs, to an abnormal extreme."
Lu Qing Wan was skeptical, "Are all of them like this?"
Those people were as slippery as loaches, and even the Xuan Jia Army had not managed to catch them red-handed.
If they were all the simple-minded, well-developed individuals Ying Shi described, how could they have possibly evaded the pursuit and interception of the Xuan Jia Army?
As expected, Ying Shi quickly elaborated, "Not entirely.
These people are grouped in fours to sevens, with a commander in each group.
Those commanders are the core of these individuals. There are eleven of them in total, and Xuan Yue has already taken men to stake them out. They can be dealt with on the spot at any time.
However, capturing them alive might prove difficult."
Ying Shi had previously stated that those individuals were the core of those strange people, and if they were in danger, they would naturally make the strange people protect them at all costs.
Lu Qing Wan's subordinates and secret guards, after all, were living, breathing humans. Facing a group of people with heightened senses, who knew no fatigue or pain, they were at a slight disadvantage.
Lu Qing Wan had also considered this point. After some thought, she said to Ying Shi, "Tell the brothers to act simultaneously and carry out a decapitation strike directly against the strange people you mentioned.
Leave one sample for me to study.
As for the leaders of those groups, the same applies. Leave one alive for interrogation, and for the rest, capture them if possible, otherwise execute them on the spot."
Ying Shi instinctively responded, then, with a slight delay, realized, "Your Highness is not intervening?"
Everything that could be arranged had been arranged, and it seemed Lu Qing Wan no longer needed to take action.
It wasn't that he was worried about his subordinates' capabilities, but rather that Lu Qing Wan not taking part in the fight felt somewhat out of character for her usual modus operandi.
Lu Qing Wan remained noncommittal, "Go and make the arrangements. I have my reasons.
What, can't you get things done without me?"
Hearing this, Ying Shi dared not respond and decisively shut his mouth.
He led Lu Qing Wan and Lian Yu and the others at a rapid pace, and dutifully reported, "This is the place."
Lu Qing Wan looked at the plaque not far away in surprise, "Wan Yan Manor. Is it the same Wan Yan family I know?"
Wan Yan Chuo, the empress dowager of the Northern Wei emperor, hailed from the Wan Yan family. Wan Yan Lie, who had fled with the Northern Wei emperor to the Turkic Khaganate, also hailed from the Wan Yan family. Now, the Wan Yan family had become a den for villains who plagued the citizens of the city.
If someone were to say that the events in the city had nothing to do with the Wan Yan family, Lu Qing Wan would truly not believe it.
Ying Shi nodded obediently, "It is Wan Yan Lie's manor. A large portion of those strange people are soldiers under Wan Yan Lie's command, but those commanders do not look like people from Northern Wei. Their specific origins still need to be investigated."
When Ying Shi mentioned that the commanders did not look like people from Northern Wei, Lu Qing Wan immediately thought of the imposter, the great man from Northern Wei.
Turning, she asked Li Su, "Have you obtained the confession from Ba Ri Ge?"
"I have."
Li Su followed silently behind Lu Qing Wan, acting as a mobile database.
"That person was a Qin person controlled by the Turkic royal court. According to him, there are many 'Qi Ge' like him in the Turkic Khaganate, which means 'mongrels'.
They are all mixed-bloods of Turks and people from Qin, Southern Qi, or even parts of the three southeastern nations.
These individuals have a very low status in the Turkic Khaganate. They are raised as slaves from childhood, and after training, they are sent to the places their mothers came from to gather intelligence for the Turkic Khaganate and to complete tasks assigned by the Turkic royal court from time to time.
This time, their mission is to cause trouble in the occupied territories and prevent the Prince from claiming emperorship in the three southeastern nations."
This was an unexpected gain.
After hearing Li Su's report, Lu Qing Wan pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Lian Yu, "The strategist is in the three southeastern nations and is familiar with various intelligence from the northern countries. Do you know about the Turkic Khaganate's movements in recent years?"
"The Turkic Khaganate has been very quiet these past few years."
Lian Yu replied without hesitation, "In the past few decades, like Northern Wei, the Turkic Khaganate would attack Southern Qi and Qin almost every winter.
However, for the past thirty years, the Turkic Khaganate has been unusually quiet.
Not only have they not initiated attacks, but they have even shown exceptional preferential treatment to caravans from Southern Qi and Qin in trade.
Especially in recent years, there have not even been the minor skirmishes at the border that were once unavoidable every year.
Because of this, the ministers of Qin were flattering Emperor Geng Shi, saying that his governance was effective, which deterred even the strong enemy, the Turkic Khaganate, from attacking!"
As Lian Yu spoke these words, there was a clear hint of sarcasm in his tone.
Lu Qing Wan said calmly, "From what the strategist says, you seem to have a different opinion on the Turkic Khaganate's peculiar silence in recent years?"
Lian Yu blinked, not responding.
Lu Qing Wan teased him playfully, "What, are you embarrassed to speak to me?"
"It's not embarrassment, it's just that what I want to say is purely based on feeling, without a shred of evidence.
Moreover, the reason I can think of these things is thanks to Your Highness. Speaking of them before you now feels like showing off my limited knowledge before an expert."
Lu Qing Wan was amused by his modesty, "Don't worry about that. If anyone has an epiphany due to my guidance, I will feel honored. Tell me, what are your thoughts?
Even if you say the Turkic people want to conquer the Central Plains and unify the world, I will not laugh at you."
Unexpectedly, with her saying this, Lian Yu became even more reticent.
Lu Qing Wan's playful smile froze on her face. She stared at Lian Yu for a while, her expression one of existential doubt, "You don't actually mean to tell me that the Turkic Khaganate truly harbors such ambitions, do you?"
Lian Yu said slowly, "May Your Highness recall the specific terms of the trade agreement that Nie Ming Yang previously formed with Da Gan?"
The events had happened not long ago, and Lu Qing Wan remembered them without needing to recall deliberately.
The deliberate increase in prices for daily necessities like salt, iron, rice, and grain, allowing these items from Da Gan to flow rapidly into the treasury of Northern Wei, thereby increasing Northern Wei's national strength while weakening Da Gan's.
This agreement had been rejected by herself at the time.