23 Identical Faces 1

Slipping past the residence' soldiers and turning to a corner. A shadow as fast as one can see, ran swiftly around the streets undetected by anyone.

The capital of Jing was resplendent and the Zhou empire itself was a force to be reckoned with. The current emperor won against his brothers for the throne, some were killed, schemed, accused of treachery and treason, and left immobile, to do nothing but to watch the throne be seated by a tyrant emperor. It doesn't matter how many sibling the son of heaven has and how close or distant they were, for as long as the son of heaven treats them a threat to his reign, no one can get through his throne and rule.

Many were shocked and feared what happened to the relatives of the monarch however, no one dared to speak out, scared to speak out and terminate the little life of theirs. They couldn't believe that the person sitting on the dragon seat was this unfeeling yet, they could somewhat understand and feel what the monarch did was right. The previous emperor was not tyrant at all and forgiving though, the Zhou empire was considered a strong country and the cities within the state was still safe but because of how the previous emperor's nature, the Zhou was also considered weak and penetrable state.

Once the current emperor sat on the dragon seat, he did not dally and went to the rebels in Xun'nu with the already rising scholar, Yu Jie Xing, who later became the Prime Minister of the Right after fighting off the rebellion and became the most trusted subject of the monarch. The monarch also implemented many developments for the state and law to abide with, and only after three years of his reign, the emperor was able to capture the hearts of many scholar and common people.

Even if some people did not like the emperor and was opposed with him, they could only silently complain and not voice it out. The current emperor was terrifying and many would not dare to go against him even the Qinwang, Prime Minister of the Left, and the Dowager Empress who would not directly oppose him, need to be careful of what they say. The only exception there was the Prime Minister of the Right, Yu Jie Xing, who have been in a head to head battle with the emperor since the emperor lets him be and because he was also the closest friend of the Heaven's son (emperor).

The shadow headed towards a noisy tavern, just near the city gates of the Jing capital.

Tonight, Jiao Yu got an order from the organization to meet up with a member of the organization to pursue a target. After getting the things she needed was arranged, only the member of the organization will she looking for in this tavern.

Scanning around the room, there were several men in all ages, drinking, chatting merrily and some went inside their rented rooms. Jiao Yu was only given a hint towards this member of organization was 'the member was also a woman like her' and perfectly, the tavern was packed with males and since Jiao Yu was wearing a male clothing there was only one person considered as a woman. In the furthest corner of the tavern was a table surrounded by males and was too loud for one's ear and the center of the noise come just right at the person chugging down huge wooden cups of ale and talking gibberish with the males inside, wearing a off-shoulder dress.

Such courage and liberation, Jiao Yu thought to herself. If the young ladies from wealthy family sees this, she's sure they'd be screeching in shame and anger and some might even faint from the shock.

Jiao Yu's eyes stared indifferently to the woman and only averted her eyes when their eyes met with each other.

Two full hours passed and the people down the tavern lobby went elsewhere and emptied the whole place, leaving only two figure sitting on their own tables. The woman smiled at Jiao Yu and started to walk towards her, only stopping when she's sure Jiao Yu can hear her words, "You must be tiger?"

Though Jiao Yu was asked by the person in front of her however, she did not look up to see and only asked in reply, "Where's the target?"

The woman laughed lightly and said, "So not nice at all... You know, one must answer when someone's asking nicely."

"I could say the same to you." Jiao Yu said indifferently.

Pursing her lips to smile, the woman did not get angry and said, "I'm Hua (flower)."

"And the target... the target's upstairs. He was one of the guests in the tavern, the one with the official hat on."

Without waiting and dallying any further, Jiao Yu stood up, wanting to head over upstairs however, was stopped when she saw that Hua did not move and only crossed her arms, smiling.

Jiao Yu raised her brows and said, "What are you waiting for?"

Hua only shook her head helplessly, before saying, "We can't move tonight, there's eyes and ears, waiting for us to move. It's better we do it after the target has move to another location."

"Where's the location?"

"Shang Xia Ju."

........

Lights from the different colors of lanterns flickered as winds from the North picked up and made a rippling movement to the fire, like waves after waves from the ocean.

Under the lights that came from the lanterns, the people under it looked sinister and with the expressions they were making, it's as if the Jing Capital have changed into an unknown place.

Two figures wearing light pink and red thin dresses walk gently in the corridor. Lips red because of the rouge lipstick that was worn, face covered with make-up and perfume that was almost intoxicating once inhaled. The two figure was lead by one older female with dark orange dress and hair tied into a cloud bun, they took a turn in the corridor and stopped in front of a room.

When they entered, pink silk screen was covering the insides yet Jiao Yu could still make the figures inside the room. Two males drinking the cup of alcohol on the served table, another one fanning himself.

The older female smiled sweetly towards the three male inside and said, "Young gentlemen, just earlier, the Shang Xia Ju have received two batches of young and fresh ladies, and since the three young gentlemen are patrons in Shang Xia Ju, we would like to let the three gentlemen to get the first taste to these two young ladies."

Without further ado, the older female, pulled open the thin screen and let the spectators see what was inside and outside of the room. With the intoxicating smell of alcohol inside and perfume that was worn by the three female inside, it made the air stilled momentarily as three males stopped their breathing and their eyes widen towards the two women in front. The wind was cold however, it gradually got hotter inside the room.

In front of the three male was two dazzling young female with a shattering heart beauty, it made their body grew hotter and want to take off the outer robes they were wearing. Nobody spoke out of turn and the older female silently wen to the side, letting the three gentlemen to ogle their eyes to the young ladies in front.

Cold sweat ran down on Jiao Yu's back as her eyes scanned the room for a second and that was the only thing she needed to know who were their targets this time.

The three males in front had a risque look on their faces, and with their three identical faces, it looked more disturbing than it really was.

"What are you two still standing there? Come and serve us gentlemen." The one with the dark green robe spoke amidst the silence that casually transpired earlier. And without waiting for the two young female to move, the other two male wearing light blue and white robes stood up and pulled the hands of the two young female, leaving them with no choice but to comply.