However, the Ancestral Emperor was far-sighted and knew that the situation of the Three Kingdoms would not be maintained forever, so he collaborated with An Honglie and made early preparations. He instructed An Honglie to establish a secret department known only to the current emperor and crown prince, training the first batch of spies to be sent to West Liang and South Rui. The secret department stored both the Great Qi Kingdom’s own secrets and the intelligence collected by the spies, managed in layers. After hundreds of years of accumulation, it had formed a massive organization. The crucial point was that the spies in this organization were not influenced by imperial power and only answered to the master of the secret department. This was the authority granted by the Ancestral Emperor to An Honglie, also a form of protection. The Ancestral Emperor knew that although he and An Honglie shared a deep bond, it did not guarantee that future generations would coexist peacefully. Therefore, he granted the An family complete control over the spies without imperial interference, ensuring that any ruler contemplating harm to the An family would have to consider the massive potential consequences.
As for what exactly motivated the Ancestral Emperor to do so much for the An family, why he entrusted this power to An Honglie instead of his own children, and why he left such a vulnerability for his descendants – perhaps only the Ancestral Emperor himself knew. However, all those in the know agreed on one point: the Ancestral Emperor had indeed been exceptionally generous to An Honglie. He severed relations with all his relatives, sending them to the border cities of Qi Kingdom, bearing the reputation of being unfilial and unrighteous.
After his wife gave birth to their first son, An Honglie consumed a secret potion. This potion could prevent further reproduction – a sterility potion. An Honglie did this to limit his descendants’ numbers as much as possible. With more people, hearts would diverge, making it difficult to preserve such massive secrets. He established a family rule that each generation could have only one heir responsible for inheriting the secret department. This secret was not to be revealed to anyone, even closest kin. Unless the An family’s survival was at stake, they must never take any actions against the imperial power.
He did even more. To prevent potential betrayal, he even poisoned his own firstborn. This poison was hereditary. Without the antidote, one would certainly die before turning thirty.
Each generation would appear to hold insignificant minor official positions or small businesses while secretly controlling the Qi Kingdom’s greatest secrets and most unique force.
Until this very moment, the previous generation’s leader of the An family, my mother-in-law, officially handed over the secret department to An Jin when he was eighteen years old. My mother-in-law retired to the second line and began to focus on training and cultivating a new generation of covert agents.
Originally, An Jin should have followed tradition, becoming an insignificant official in Yanfeng or running a small business. However, he chose to take the imperial examinations and rose to the high position of Assistant Minister of Personnel.
This is why he always knew my whereabouts, could accurately pluck away those romantic entanglements, and could even deal with Yan Huo from far away in Xiliang. However, I still didn’t understand the purpose of the Emperor of Qi bestowing Xue Miaoyin in marriage to An Jin.
An Jin looked at me deeply. “In fact, the undercurrents between the imperial court and the An family have existed for a long time. What His Majesty is doing is just trying to further constrain me through Xue Miaoyin.”
“Why not use the Seventh Princess?” I had been puzzled by this for a long time.
“Why didn’t His Majesty bestow the Seventh Princess to you?”
“His Majesty is unwilling to let the princess marry because he doesn’t want to have any attachments when dealing with the An family,” he sneered. “And sacrificing a Xue Miaoyin is inconsequential.”
“Dealing with the An family?” My heart sank.
“Every generation of emperors has been intent on dealing with the An family,” he held my hand and led me away from the stone chamber. “Whether they can succeed is another matter.”
“I don’t understand. If that’s the case, then the cup of sterility wine…”
“That cup of sterility wine was originally prepared for you. In his view, since you cannot bear children, I would eventually remarry, and he would always have a way to constrain me.”
I suddenly realized. His Majesty the Emperor of Qi certainly didn’t expect that An Jin would drink this cup himself. An Jin was still childless, and after drinking this wine, wouldn’t the An family’s control over the secret department be cut off?
I was anxious. A earth-shattering change was approaching us, and An Jin stood before me.
The weight of this cup of sterility wine far exceeded my imagination.
No wonder my mother-in-law’s expression was so sad at the time – An Jin shouldn’t have become an official, shouldn’t have found every way to marry me, shouldn’t have been so deeply in love with me. Perhaps he shouldn’t have met me at all. Indeed, one wrong step leads to another.
All… he was referring to Old Li who takes care of the horses, the kitchen staff and cooks, the maids and servants responsible for cleaning and serving, and even the sedan chair bearers?! So they were all secret agents with martial arts skills? An Jin added, “Including Que’er as well.” I was stunned. What kind of household was this…
Chapter Forty: Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers
This was an era where everyone was secretly embedded, with ears and eyes everywhere. Since understanding this, I felt my comprehension of the world had deepened somewhat. Little Zhu, the kitchen hand, was skilled at listening and identifying locations, with ears more sensitive than a lantern. Old Li the stableman was adept at disguise. Aunt Li, who did needlework in the grandmother’s room, was a master of hidden weapons, her specialty being a row of embroidery needles.
And then there was Que’er. I couldn’t figure out her special skill. An Jin mysteriously told me to observe carefully, but despite watching her every move intently until she uncomfortably slipped out of my sight, I discovered no flaws.
Not just in the An household, but the secret agents were distributed in many corners of the Great Qi Kingdom. Initially, to demonstrate loyalty to the monarch, the An family had not planted agents around the current emperor. But as conflicts between the royal family and the An family gradually intensified, the An family descendants became more cautious, making many arrangements in the palace, with An Jin making numerous similar deployments. No wonder the Emperor was so wary of the An family. Perhaps a palace maid, or even his personal eunuch or favored concubine, could be a secret agent planted by the secret service. If he acted rashly, he might face a counterattack from the An family, impossible to guard against. Even more chilling was that the Qi Kingdom was not the only one with such an organization. According to An Jin’s intelligence, Western Liang also had a similar secret department, responsible for infiltrating agents into other countries. Some agents had even been hidden in the Qi Kingdom for ten years or longer, holding important positions, such as the Su family. The Qi Kingdom had suffered many losses in recent battles with Western Liang, which was why An Jin had noticed something was wrong and discovered Western Liang’s agents hidden in the Qi Kingdom’s court through these clues.
