For half a day, Zhou Pei had been thinking about the birthday program that had left early. She had been peeking at Li Shishi's second floor to see what kind of people had come to the brothel. Later, she found nothing unsightly and left the courtyard. After wandering around, she saw Su Yanping who had come to deliver the message.
These days, she had seen Su Wenyu and Su Yanping. She knew that the Su family had sent them to train with Ning Yi. Regarding the birthday program, she had naturally let them learn from Wenren Bu Er. Now that she saw him hurriedly looking for Ning Yi, she knew that something had happened. She quickly stopped him and asked. This matter wasn't too big of a secret. Moreover, Su Yanping knew the young girl's identity. After explaining, Zhou Pei called out, "Follow me." She excitedly walked towards Ning Yi. She then realized that Su Yanping couldn't keep up.
Although the environment in the West Court wasn't complicated, there were more people these days. Naturally, no one dared to stop Zhou Pei as she excitedly ran around. However, Su Yanping accidentally bumped into a son of an official. At this time, most men in the West Court were accompanied by women. Now that he had lost face, the man stopped Su Yanping. Zhou Pei excitedly ran away and didn't notice. When Ning Yi and the others rushed out, Zhou Pei returned along the original path. She glared at the troublemaker and he ran away with his tail between his legs. After some questioning, Zhou Pei had a rough idea of what had happened.
The total number of water bandits fighting in Hongze Lake this time was close to a thousand people. On the side of the official ship, there were close to three hundred navy soldiers participating in the battle. They made up about three-fifths of the soldiers who were going north with the ship. Three hundred against one thousand, it was supposed to be a tough battle. However, the water bandits came for money and attacked the main ship at the first moment. Only after that did they realize that they had been tricked. The ship was basically filled with boxes of stones or gunpowder. Following that, the entire ship exploded.
The water bandits were a motley crew to begin with. This time, they had staked everything on a single throw and had already borne a great deal of pressure. If he could rob it, his reputation would soar, and he would have the capital to develop. However, seeing the ship being blown up and the marines shouting "You've been tricked!", the situation became completely one-sided.
This couldn't be considered a profound scheme. The main point was to exchange over a hundred manor guards, shop assistants and marines that could be mobilized by Princess Cheng's residence. This time, Chen Jingui was escorting the birthday message. The five hundred soldiers that he brought with him were still regular navy soldiers. As long as they were not fighting against the Jin or Liao people, they still had some fighting power. The water bandits had originally thought that they would only be able to deal with a hundred soldiers at most, but they had miscalculated their numbers. Adding on the fact that they had been tricked, they quickly lost their will to fight, and it became a one-sided slaughter.
Before Su Yanping rushed back to report, it was said that many of the water bandits' ships had already been destroyed. Some of the water bandits jumped into the lake in an attempt to escape, but were caught by the fishing nets of the army's boats. Those who resisted were killed with a single slash. In the heavy rain, Huze Lake was dyed red with blood.
Ning Yi wasn't surprised that the battle would be won. What was slightly strange was that there were actually people who had designs on the birthday message. On the other hand, Zhou Pei was listening with great interest. She remembered what she had been worried about since yesterday. She had told Ning Yi that the guards and assistants did not know how to fight in the water. Although there were more people on the ship, it was actually meaningless. She had been anxious for an entire morning, but she didn't expect that Ning Yi would solve the problem with a simple exchange.
If Chen Jingui wanted to find the young Marquis, he needed enough people on hand. However, the marines were not local to Xuyi. Instead, it was the guards and assistants who were best used to find the young Marquis.
While this side was excitedly discussing, more news had already come from the north. Many family servants and attendants rushed to the West Court to report the great victory against the water bandits on Hongze Lake. The atmosphere of the entire West Court immediately became lively. Although this matter had little to do with them, being here gave everyone the feeling that they had participated.
Three hundred to one thousand. In the eyes of the people of the Wu dynasty, the situation in the north was a complete mess, and the south was still in a stalemate. It was truly a great victory worthy of praise. Everyone talked about the plan that Deputy General Chen had arranged with great relish and excitement. They also said that if there was a general like Deputy General Chen in the north, the battle wouldn't have ended up like this. It was all incompetent people who caused trouble for the country's court, and so on. With such an evaluation, after this matter, Chen Jingui would probably be promoted.
Not long after the news arrived, Ning Yi and the others and Li Shishi separated. As the West Court was in an uproar, Li Shishi couldn't help but hear a lot of news. She usually interacted with many high-ranking officials and dignitaries. When a group of people gathered together, they loved to talk about politics. At this time, she knew that the impact of this matter would not be small. But she thought of how the Su family man and the young girl had excitedly told the matter to Ning Yi. What did this matter have to do with him? After thinking for a while, she still couldn't figure it out.
Ning Yi cast a few glances at the man called Wang Xian from afar.
In the crowd, this man was tall and handsome. He couldn't help but think of a certain very beautiful man that Yuan Jin 'er had once said had unfortunately gone to Yangzhou. This man's appearance was truly beautiful to a certain degree. His beauty was neutral, not too handsome and tough, but also not too feminine. His manners and speech were neither servile nor overbearing, and his responses were appropriate. The children of the officials around him clearly regarded him as a close friend.
Maybe it was Yan Qing.
If he said that his surname was Wang, then he had the same surname as Li Shishi. Since Yan Qing's nickname was Wastrel, he must be very good at brothels. His handsomeness was also passable. It just so happened that he was the type of appearance that was most admired in this era. And he was going to go north on a ship.
"Is that so …"
On the carriage back, Ning Yi looked at the heavy rain outside and muttered. Zhou Pei was still intoxicated with the previous plan. Seeing Ning Yi speak, she poked her head out and asked, "What? What? Teacher? "
"Nothing … maybe I'm thinking too much …" Ning Yi said to himself, then smiled and said, "After going back, I'm going to change ships … to the one behind."
"Ah?"
*****
News of the battle on the northern lake had been coming in from the afternoon to the evening. After the first great victory, the soldiers began to follow the escape route of the water bandits. They wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop — this was Chen Jingui's order. If the people who kidnapped the young Marquis were these water bandits, then this was the only way to rescue him.
As for the bandits that were captured after the first battle, another group of soldiers was sent to escort them back. By nightfall, they arrived at Xuyi. This time, Xuyi County did not dare to take credit for this matter, but Chen Jingui would naturally share some with the other party. As for the ship that was blown up, in the face of such a great victory, it was nothing.
The wreckage of the ship was still floating on the surface of the lake. Fishing lanterns floated up and down on the surface of the lake, fishing out corpses that could be used as evidence of the credit. The night also became darker and deeper because of the curtain of rain. In an inn not far from Hongze Lake, it was full of merchants coming and going. In one of the rooms, Zhu Wu and the others looked through the window at the faint fishing lights in the distance. The inn was filled with the sound of people talking. After a while, a man in a robe with his arm bandaged came in. He turned his head and said, "Brother Zhang, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, just a small injury. Qin Weihong saw that it was me and resisted a little more fiercely. In addition, the officials were well prepared this time. A row of fishing nets came over and it was not easy for me to dodge. There were also soldiers on the shore, so I swam towards the lake for a while and circled around before I dared to come back. "
"Have you killed most of the people that should be killed?"
After Zhu Wu asked this, someone laughed, "Brother Zhang Shun's nickname is the white stripe in the waves. Who can escape if you want to kill someone in the water? Besides, even if you didn't kill them all, what can you ask from the officials …"
Zhang Shun said, "There were a few who were shot dead by the soldiers on the ship. I'm not sure myself."
Zhu Wu frowned, "Although we have arranged clues for the officials to investigate the wrong places, but … it seems that there are people who are good at planning. I'm afraid they will see through us."
Someone beside him said, "There are only a few people on Qin Weihong's side who know about us, but I don't think it's possible to cover up all of them. However, even if they know that there are a few of Fang La's people, how much energy do they have to investigate? On the other hand, Elder Brother Zhu said that Qin Weihong is good at planning. I think it's quite simple. Qin Weihong's side is originally a bunch of fellows who bully the weak and fear the strong. Dispatching 300 marines to accompany them can be considered as the only trick they played. If it were me, I would also do the same... "
Zhu Wu frowned, then smiled and shook his head, "It's not simple. Because we are afraid of alerting the enemy, we didn't send anyone to investigate. Qin Weihong and the others were worried and arranged for spies in the troupe to perform at the docks. I heard that the Deputy General quarreled with the manager and caused a ruckus. Later on, they moved things well and Qin Weihong was deceived because of this. He arranged for the gunpowder to be placed on the big ship. He would rather blow up the ship at the first instance to make the other party feel that they have lost everything. What needs to be arranged and what needs to be calculated has been calculated. However, this is not the most important thing … "
He paused, "The most important thing is that Deputy General Chen was originally not willing to support this matter. This is true. If something happens to the young Marquis, he can't bear the consequences. Asking him to let go is equivalent to asking for his life. When the officials do things, they are most afraid that everyone has their own responsibilities. In the end, no one can do anything. The mastermind behind this was able to persuade him in such a short period of time and twist everyone to the same direction. This is the most impressive thing about this mastermind. War is actually not that difficult. Find a book on military strategy and all aspects are covered. All you need to do is to suppress them. I originally wanted to see them restrain each other. Even if they can win this battle, it will be a pyrrhic victory. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, they would be united against a foreign enemy. This person's methods are not simple. Those who are good at fighting do not have illustrious achievements … "
Hearing this, everyone was silent for a moment. Zhang Shun smiled and said, "If this person is really so powerful, we might as well think of a way to force him to go up the mountain and earn a seat from him …"
"We still don't know who it is."
"When Little Yi finds out, we will know. When the time comes, we will see …"
"Could it be that Chen Jingui secretly planned this? He should have no problem convincing himself."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
