I felt this was an excellent plan. However, when I shared it with the Secret Master, he smiled and said, “I’ve already thought of this method.”
I was discouraged. A superior was indeed a superior, with a quicker mind. He hadn’t implemented this plan, though, because Western Liang was different from Southern Rui and Qi Kingdom, with all agents centrally controlled by their monarch, and very few holding knowledge of the agents’ secrets.
The agents sent by the secret department to Western Liang had not yet discovered the tokens used by the country.
An Jin’s meticulous thinking, likely inherited from his ancestors, led him to carefully deliberate before making decisions. Forcing a Western Liang token would be recognized as fake by Su Quan, revealing Great Qi’s lack of evidence regarding treasonous communication. The Su family’s cunning and loyalty to Western Liang meant they would refuse to admit guilt and might provoke conflict between Southern Rui and Great Qi. Only when they believed their secrets were exposed would chaos ensue, allowing us to find the real tokens.
The primary condition for implementing this strategy was to determine exactly what Western Liang’s token was. However, the agents had not been able to approach the core figures of Western Liang, particularly the current Emperor, Yan Huo.
Yan Huo was as cunning as Su Quan and An Jin. Previously posing as a Western Liang merchant, he had not aroused suspicion. Now, he could evade An Jin’s hidden arrangements and find opportunities to meet me, subtly expressing doubts about An Jin and demonstrating his exceptional acting skills and scheming abilities.
Perhaps Su Xi and Su Hui’s initial approach to An Jin was directed by Yan Huo, aiming to probe An Jin’s true nature and see if he was as simple as he appeared. Unexpectedly, An Jin used this to locate the Southern Rui Fifth Princess’s whereabouts.
While An Jin deceived Su Xi and Su Hui, he had not necessarily dispelled Yan Huo’s suspicions. Although An Jin suspected that Yan Huo kept the token with him, approaching him to find Western Liang’s token was difficult.
