Chapter 42 Preparation
Just at noon, the sound of a wooden crutch hitting the ground slowly came from the underground palace.

Cui Yu, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up respectfully and bowed slightly towards the cave entrance.

"Meng Po..."

"Why did Lord Cui come to see me when he is not at home celebrating the festival?"

Cui Yu followed Meng Po and replied with a low laugh, "It's still because of what happened last night."

The latter stopped walking, turned around, and frowned on his wrinkled face: "Your Majesty has already closed the case himself, what else is there to worry about?"

Cui Yu stopped a few feet away from her and lowered his body a little embarrassedly.

"This matter should have been handled by my subordinates, but I had to alert the Hades. I am really a little terrified..."

Meng Po's pair of old eyes were half-closed, but it seemed that the eyes had always been the same size. When people looked at her, they just felt that she had her eyes closed all the time.

"I already know what happened last night. You didn't do a good job. Even though you were against Ge Congzhou, you knew that he was in the wrong, but you still let them take our Xuanming Sect people back? If the Dark Emperor and the Ghost King were not in the palace, I would have to go to the palace in person to plead for mercy."

"Meng Po's teaching is correct," Cui Yu laughed dryly at first, and then said, "But I have actually thought of a countermeasure. The Jinwu Guards only have the power to arrest people, and they need to transfer them to my Imperial City Division after they have arrested them..."

“These comments are now meaningless.”

Meng Po was not polite and interrupted directly, "I can guess what Lord Cui is thinking. In the past two years, you have been highly valued by His Majesty and have been in charge of the Imperial City Department to supervise the execution of important criminals. As a result, you have become alienated from the affairs of the Church and are not close to the Emperor of Hell. Now, His Majesty has newly established Kaifeng Prefecture, and the powers of the Imperial City Department have been split, so Lord Cui has begun to be obsessed with the affairs of the Church again."

Cui Yu had already bent his back deeply.

"Meng Po is very perceptive. I dare not refute you. I only hope that Meng Po can give me some advice as we have worked together for many years."

"The Dark Emperor dislikes two-faced people the most. I am powerless to help you. Lord Cui, please go back."

"Meng Po is the person whom the Hades trusts the most. How can she not do this? As long as you are willing to say a few good words to the Hades for me, I will follow Meng Po's lead from now on..."

"How can I trust you?"

"I am not an ungrateful fool. Some things can never happen twice. Meng Po helped me once today, and I will repay you tenfold in the future."

Meng Po sneered and said, "I am not interested in paying you tenfold, but since Lord Cui said so, I will say a few good words for you as a colleague for many years."

"Thank you, Meng Po!"

"Don't be happy too soon. If you want to regain the respect of the Hades Emperor, it's not something that can be accomplished with just a few words from me."

Cui Yu immediately bowed and asked respectfully, "Please teach me, Meng Po."

"Tomorrow, His Majesty will visit the Western Capital Luoyang. The Dark Emperor, the Ghost King, and I will all accompany him. You will be responsible for clearing out the hidden spies of Huanyinfang and Tongwenguan."

Meng Po added indifferently: "I will plead for you in front of the Hades Emperor on this matter. Everything has been arranged properly. I will give you the credit for free."

Cui Yu was overjoyed, but before he could say thank you, he heard Meng Po's tone change.

"But the Hades Emperor has just come out of retreat, so he doesn't know the inside story. When the time comes, after you capture the person, give the credit to the Hades Emperor, and you should be able to win his favor again."

"Of course it is, of course it is." Cui Yu showed a grateful look on his face and thanked her, saying, "From now on, I will just follow Meng Po's orders!"

"One more thing."

Meng Po had a blank expression on her face and said, "The Saint King Yan Liu Cheng once captured the Saint Ji of Huanyinfang. This time he volunteered to participate in the operation. He can be your deputy."

Cui Yu was surprised. "Won't Meng Po send this person back to Mount Tai?"

"Now that the sect has lost many experts, we suffered a loss during the last campaign against several rebel factions. This Saint Yan Jun has some abilities. Let him help you, and you should be safe."

Seeing that Meng Po had already made a plan, Cui Yu stopped asking questions and said, "I will definitely go all out this time. I hope Meng Po will spend more time with the Dark Emperor..."

"I've given you this opportunity, it depends on whether you can seize it or not."

Meng Po left holding the wooden crutch, and Cui Yu stood in the distance with his back bent. No one noticed the gleam of light in his eyes.

…………

Prince Jiyin's Courtyard. Liu Cheng went in with the knife in his hand and saw the old eunuch preparing lunch for Xiao Yan.

"I went to the palace last night. Your Majesty heard that Prince Jiyin was frightened, so he ordered the palace messenger to send these dishes."

The food on the table was indeed luxurious, but Xiao Yan, who was sitting at the head of the table, was a little afraid and did not dare to pick up his chopsticks.

The old eunuch sneered in an unpredictable way, then picked up his chopsticks and tasted each dish himself, and then said: "Prince Jiyin can rest assured, there is no poison..."

Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief and started eating.

The old eunuch also saw Liu Cheng at this time, and came out to greet him: "Why is Lord Yan here?"

"I heard that His Majesty will bring the Prince of Jiyin with him when he visits Xinluoyang. I wonder if you know about this, eunuch?"

"Yan Jun is very well-informed." The old eunuch came closer, glanced around, and whispered, "Your Majesty wants to do divination in the suburbs of the Western Capital, and the object of divination is the Prince of Jiyin!"

Liu Cheng was stunned for a moment, and said: "After divination..."

The old eunuch laughed softly, then glanced at Xiao Yan who was eating, and gestured at his neck with his hand: "At that time, this person's life or death will depend on God's will."

"..."

Liu Cheng held the hilt of the knife, was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then the eunuch will also accompany you to the Western Capital, right?"

"Of course we won't go with them. There will be a palace messenger to pick us up when the time comes."

Liu Cheng put his hand on his shoulder.

"Honesty?"

Because he still had a faint smell of blood on him, the old eunuch was a little nervous and subconsciously tried to break free, while laughing dryly, "Why would I lie to you?"

"Well, sir, please take a look at this."

The old eunuch looked in the direction of the voice and saw Liu Cheng's somewhat large palm.

He felt a little uneasy and wanted to shrink back, saying: "Yan Jun has nothing in his hand..."

The next moment, the big hand suddenly grabbed his throat.

The old eunuch was so frightened that he immediately struggled and shouted.

But Liu Cheng's hand on his shoulder suddenly exerted force, clamping him tightly, and then slightly turned sideways to block everyone's view. He used his internal force to pinch his throat, and the old eunuch's Adam's apple was almost crushed into powder in an instant.

In the corridor, several bad guys standing there were indifferent, as if they didn't see the scene at all.

Liu Cheng carried the old eunuch's body around and handed it to one of them before returning.

Several palace maids looked at him in fear, some shrinking back.

"The old man has other errands, so I will take over all the affairs of the other courtyard. If you have nothing important to do, please leave first. I have something to discuss with the King of Jiyin."

Everyone retreated one after another as if they had been pardoned.

"Captain, something terrible has happened!" Liu Cheng hurried over and said, "That old dog just said that Zhu Wen wants to divine your life or death in Luoyang! Should we retreat?!"

"Don't worry."

Xiao Yan handed him a pair of chopsticks and asked, "Have you prepared everything I asked you to do?"

Liu Cheng lowered his voice and said, "Under such circumstances, the captain still wants to care about the life and death of Huanyinfang?"

"If you promise, you must do it."

Xiao Yan said calmly: "Take your time, you eat one bite at a time."

(End of this chapter)