Tibet.

Chapter 1358: Choosing to Surrender
Wu Shaodan hurried to see Li Chenghua with Zhang Fengjiao, who was dressed in black.

Li Chenghua didn't expect to find the trace of the Holy Maiden Society so quickly. She was overjoyed. Her only regret was that she was not able to wipe out the Holy Maiden Society during the sacrifice.

Li Chenghua looked at Zhang Fengjiao again. She was about twenty years old, petite, and had a pair of eyes that showed a vicissitude that did not match her age.

"Why did you want to become a bounty hunter?"

Zhang Fengjiao lowered her head and said, "I have to earn money to support my family!"

"Is there anyone else at home?" Li Chenghua asked again.

“And my daughter and elderly parents-in-law!”

"Where's your husband?"

"My husband died in the army."

Li Chenghua suddenly saw his younger self in her.

She nodded, "Take us to catch the man first, and then I will reward you handsomely!"

Zhang Fengjiao bowed and said, "If you can do something good, I don't want any reward, I just want to be able to join the inner guards!"

Li Chenghua nodded, "Let's catch him first!"

The internal guards were immediately dispatched on a large scale, including 500 female guards and 2,000 elite internal guards.

Li Chenghua personally led 2,500 people to Xianyang. The team quickly arrived in Xianyang, the city gates were closed, and the inner guards took over the defense of the city.

Five hundred female guards surrounded the compound. They climbed up the surrounding houses and looked down from above. Dozens of members of the Holy Maiden Society in the mansion were in chaos and fled to the inner courtyard.

Anjia waved his hand and said to everyone: "Don't panic, we are not breaking any laws. I will go negotiate with them!"

Anjia climbed onto the roof and shouted, "I am Anjia, the Silver Saint of the Saints' Association. I met your emperor once in Suiye. Please come and see him, leader!"

Li Chenghua also went up to the roof, and the two talked across a courtyard. Li Chenghua smiled and said, "I am Li Chenghua, the commander of the inner guards. I was the lieutenant of Suiye County back then. Perhaps we have met before."

"So Li Dutong is the former Li Xianwei. I know. I was in the Guangming Temple in Suiye at that time. Li Dutong, we are preaching in a legitimate way and abide by the laws of the Tang Dynasty. Our doctrines do not violate ethics and morality and encourage people to be kind. If the Tang Dynasty does not allow the Saint Girl Society to preach, we will just leave. Why are you sending troops to arrest us?"

Li Chenghua said coldly: "Kong Shibai is one of yours, right? Your Saint Girl Society sells Tang Dynasty girls, and you still have the nerve to say that you didn't break the law?"

Anjia shook her head. "We belong to the inner hall of the Saint Maiden Society. There are no men in the inner hall. Kang Shibo is a member of the outer hall. The outer hall is a mixed bag. They did commit many crimes. Those were their personal actions and had nothing to do with the Saint Maiden Society. As for the trafficking of Tang girls, the Saint Maiden Society was indeed one of the buyers, but we did not participate in the trafficking."

Li Chenghua sneered and said, "Don't try to use sweet words. All the trafficked girls will be sent to the Saint Maiden Society. You can pick the ones with good qualifications and keep them. You will be sold to the West. Do you still dare to say that you are innocent? I advise you to surrender and cooperate with the internal security honestly. Maybe you can save your life!"

Anjia's face turned pale, and after a while he said, "If we surrender, do you promise not to kill us?"

Li Chenghua said coldly: "I wish I could kill you all, but the emperor has ordered that you be exchanged for the Tang girls from the Holy Maiden Society. You should surrender! If you resist, I have the right to kill you without mercy!"

Anjia sighed, "Alright! Let's put down our weapons and surrender. As we are all women, please don't abuse my sisters."

Li Chenghua said calmly: "You will be guarded by the Internal Guard Women's Battalion. As long as you don't cause trouble, we won't abuse you. If you cooperate well, we will even put you under house arrest. Once both parties reach an agreement, you will be exchanged in Suiye!"

Anga returned to the room and said to his men holding swords: "Don't resist. No one will survive if we resist to the end. If we surrender, they will let us go back to Samarkand!"

Lin Qu'er worriedly said, "What if they go back on their word?"

"We have no choice. As long as we survive, there will always be hope. Besides, they want to exchange us for the girls from the Great Guangming Temple."

Anjia glanced at the other men and said, "Put down your swords and follow me!"

Everyone put down their swords. Lin Qu'er also put down her sword and followed Anjia out. There were more than a dozen special cage carriages prepared outside. These carriages looked exactly the same as normal carriages from the outside, but once you got in, you would find that the walls were all iron cages. The women got on the carriages, and Wu Shaodan stepped forward and said to Anjia, "We all want to talk to you. Please follow me!" Wu Shaodan took Anjia to another large carriage. Li Chenghua sat in the carriage. She waved her hand and said, "Please sit down!"

Anjia sat down, and a maid served them tea. Li Chenghua smiled faintly and said, "Just now Saint An said that she met our emperor once in Suiye. When did it happen?"

Anjia sighed and said, "I remember it was the spring of the eleventh year of Tianbao. The emperor was still the military commander of Suiye and he lived in the Suiye Post Station. He had two treasures in his hands, one was the Persian Zoroastrian Dagger of Light, and the other was the Caliph's Gem. Both were holy objects. I went to negotiate with him with the then Silver Saint An Yili, hoping that he would return them to us. Later, we exchanged his two holy objects for 10,000 taels of gold at the Xidayun Temple."

After a pause, Anjia smiled bitterly and said, "Later, Jin Shanling told me that the box of Caliph's jewels was fake, and the real Caliph's jewels are still in the hands of your emperor."

Li Chenghua smiled slightly and said, "Now that you put it that way, I know. There is a dazzling emerald on our queen's neck. It should be the Caliph's gem you mentioned."

"It must be, but it doesn't matter."

Li Chenghua nodded and said, "I came to you to tell you that you'd better gather all the members and send them away together. This is their only chance of survival. If they are caught in the future, they will surely die. Think about it yourself. After you have thought it over, send someone to find them to surrender to the Internal Security Bureau, and I will treat them well."

Anjia pondered for a moment and said, "Okay! I'll send someone to gather them all here. They are all in Xianyang County!"

Anga returned to the carriage and sent five men to various parts of the county to gather people to the compound.

At this time, Li Chenghua said to Zhang Fengjiao: "From now on, I approve your joining the inner guard, but I still have to give you the reward money. This is the rule. I will give you one thousand taels of silver!"

Zhang Fengjiao knelt down and saluted, "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief!"

Soon, eighty missionaries were brought to justice one after another. All 120 missionaries in Chang'an were brought to justice. In addition, all eighty female missionaries in Luoyang, Chengdu, Jincheng and other places were also brought to justice.

Wu Shaodan continued to lead his men to search the house, and the rest of the inner guards followed Li Chenghua and escorted more than a dozen carts back to Chang'an.

Li Chenghua then hurried to the imperial study and asked to see the emperor.

Soon, she was brought into the imperial study and bowed, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "It looks like there is good news for me!"

"Your Majesty, Anjia and her men have been captured!"

Li Chenghua reported the incident to Li Ye in detail. Li Ye nodded and smiled, "I do remember what happened in Suiye. I did give them a box of fake caliph gems. Since Anjia is an old friend, don't make things difficult for her. Put them under house arrest and ask them to gather other missionaries to Chang'an and repatriate them. Then ask them to send someone to Samarkand to deliver the letter. It will probably take a year to go back and forth."

Li Chenghua bowed and said, "I obey your orders!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Her subordinates should all be the girls who were sold back then!"

Li Chenghua nodded. "They should all be young, around 20 years old."

Li Ye added: "Talk to them and see if they are willing to leave the Saint Maiden Society and stay in their homeland."

"I will talk to them!"

"Go!"

Li Chenghua bowed and left in a hurry.

Li Ye was silent and thoughtful for a long time. The past events mentioned by Li Chenghua touched his heart. The scenes of the past came to his mind like a tide. That was his first woman.

Li Ye took out a slightly old wooden box from the box and opened it. Inside was a lapis lazuli bracelet. This was the token of trust that Jin Shanling gave him back then. Many years had passed since then.

After a long time, Li Ye sighed, closed the box, and put it back into the deep of the box.

Let it be hidden together with the memories in the farthest place of your heart!

(End of this chapter)