Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 231

Chapter 231 Justice Has Long Arms
A few days later, late at night, on the Yangtze River in Jingzhou.

It was the flood season, and the water of the Yangtze River was surging. A mist rose from the surface of the river, and the visibility was not high. The east wind suddenly rose, and the river water slammed against the bank with a crackling sound.

Ten enormous sea loach boats came from the upper reaches in swallow-shaped waves. Normally, this type of ship could only be seen in the Dengzhou harbor area of the East China Sea. Generally speaking, it was only used to travel by sea, passing through the East China Sea coast and between Xiluo, Baekchi, and other countries. It was also used as heavy equipment for the Great Tang Navy. It was of great value.

In the entire world, apart from the Imperial Court, only the Zheng Clan of Chang’an was capable of conscripting ten sea loach ships to appear on the Yangtze River at the same time!

Ten sea loach ships enveloped more than half of the vast Yangtze River in Jingzhou, like a towering city wall that rolled over, covering the sky and the sun. If it was broad daylight, such a scene could be said to be shocking, and it would definitely cause pedestrians on both sides of the strait to stop and exclaim in shock.

But it was late at night, during the flood season of the Yangtze River, no one would cross the river at this time. Experienced fishermen would also drag fishing boats ashore and accompany their wives and children to eat two bowls of hot rice at home. They would never drift onto the river at this time to risk their lives.

Above the Yangtze River, there was no sound other than the gurgling sound of water and the howling easterly wind.

On the deck of the first ship, there was a sturdy man about forty years old. His eyes were sharp and serious as he stared closely at the pitch-black surface of the river.

“Shopkeeper, the fleet has arrived at the agreed location.” A young sailor with a short coat and bare feet came forward to report.

“Lower the anchor and stop the ship. Lift the fire!”

“Yes!”

In an instant, groups of torches lit up on top of the ten ships, reflecting the river’s surface to a bright red color. The torch lit up and extinguished three times before finally extinguishing.

“Why didn’t you respond?” The shopkeeper knitted his brows and asked the person beside him, “Isn’t this the agreement Young Master wrote?”

“Exactly!”

“Wait!”

The ten ships stopped on the surface of the river and waited quietly.

After about an hour, almost everyone was getting impatient. At this moment, a few torches lit up on the far bank of the river, flashing and extinguishing three times.

“Coming.” The shopkeeper gently raised the corner of his mouth and said coldly, “The other party is really vigilant.”

“What should we do now, Shopkeeper?”

“Pass the order, line up all the side-turning ships of the Sea Loach. The abdomen of the ship is facing the torch, so that the other party can carry the cargo onto the ship. All porters, prepare to load and unload the cargo!”

“Yes!!”

Immediately, the order was issued. Instantly, ten gigantic ships that were as large as city walls were twisted by a divine hand. They slowly but steadily lined up on the surface of the Yangtze River, their sides facing the river bank, forming a Great Wall that stretched across the center of the Yangtze River.

“Woo-woo-woo!”

Three horn sounds came from the river bank. The shopkeeper waved his hand and the flagship lit up again six times.

The other party responded with three more horns. Only then could he be considered to have finished speaking the code.

The shopkeeper grinned slightly and sneered, “You are so slippery. There are so many ghosts!”

“Shopkeeper, there’s a boat coming from the shore!”

“I saw it.”

In the darkness of the night, a large ship set sail and broke through the waves. Such a strong easterly wind and turbulent current, it actually traveled on the surface of the river as fast as an arrow, causing the sailors on the sea loach ship to be shocked to widen their eyes.

“It’s a Wu Yue warship!” The knowledgeable shopkeeper said in surprise, “Only this type of warship modified from the Fortune Ship is equipped with 38 pairs of stepping paddles. Even though it runs against the waves and the wind, it can still pierce through the edges freely!”

The ship arrived at the front of the Great Wall and shouted, “Where is the shopkeeper?”

“Here!”

When the ship arrived, it turned around and moved over a little. On the deck of the ship, there was a black-robed and masked man standing. He loudly said, “May I ask the shopkeeper, is everything ready?”

Originally, this warship was not small, and it could be called a giant ship in the Jianghan Empire. However, standing side by side with the Zheng Clan’s Sea Loach Boat, it was truly a small adept who had seen a great adept. The black-clothed man raised his head and looked up. Only a few zhang high was the side of the other party’s ship, giving him a sense of pressure.

“I’ve already prepared it.” The shopkeeper replied, “Where are your goods?”

“There’s no hurry. Wait for me to board the ship and inspect it first!” The black-clothed man replied.

“Hateful, a waste of time! If it takes one more moment, Young Master will suffer for another!” The shopkeeper cursed and shouted, “Put down the boats and let him come up!”

“Rumble!” A mechanism door opened on the side of the ship, and a large deck was lifted from inside, directly hoisting itself onto the warship’s bow. The black-clothed man boarded the ship with a few attendants and exchanged a few words with the shopkeeper before looking around the ship. At the same time, there were several other similar warships approaching the other sea loach ships, and there were also people on board to inspect them.

“You guys are truly extraordinarily careful!” The shopkeeper sneered, “No wonder you can’t be careless with such a big business. However, when are you going to let my Young Master go?”

“Don’t worry, when this batch of grain leaves Jingzhou smoothly, your young master will be free.” The black-clothed man replied.

“What? Didn’t we agree to return the food to our Young Master at the same time as we traded it?” The shopkeeper said angrily.

‘”I apologize, shopkeeper. Things have changed and we have to do something about it. Don’t worry, we don’t dare to abuse the dignified young master of the Zheng Clan. He won’t suffer any grievances-well, the inspection is complete, everything is normal!” Black said.

At the same time, the other ships had also completed their inspections.

The shopkeeper gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger.

“Can we start trading now?”

“Of course!”

Several horns were blown, and dozens of ships of different sizes slowly approached from the river bank. The boats had a deep draught, and the deck was heaped with bags of grain, which made their movements slower.

The shopkeeper furrowed his brows and said, “If you are so slow, when will you be able to fill hundreds of thousands of stones of grain?”

“I didn’t say I would give you all the food this time. There are only 150,000 stones here.” The black-clothed man said, “Once you have transported this batch of grain away and disposed of it properly, we will do the same and conduct the rest of the transaction.”

“What?” The shopkeeper was obviously a little angry. “Ten ships of the Sea Loach Giant Ships are here to transport 150,000 stones of grain to you? I say, you guys are too good at joking! Do you know how much food, time, manpower, and material resources we need to mobilize the fleet?”

“There’s no other way. As the saying goes, being careful is what makes the 10,000 Year Ship. This is also for safety reasons.” The black-clothed man sneered proudly, “If we dump and hand over all the goods in one go, wouldn’t we be like chickens flying over eggs in case anything happens?”

The shopkeeper shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly, “You guys are too timid! Ten Sea Loach boats are enough to carry nearly 300,000 stones of goods! Now you only give half of them … Ah!”

“For the safety of the eldest young master of the Zheng Clan, please take care of him. We are also helpless, haha!” The black-clothed man laughed loudly.

At this time, dozens of large and small grain ships had already arrived at the Great Wall. All the loach ships opened their side doors, erected large, sturdy decks, and began to load their cargo. The sea loach ship was extremely loaded. Normally, there were hundreds of sailors and porters on board, and today, there were nearly a thousand people on board. Therefore, the grain packages were loaded and unloaded very quickly.

The Yangtze River instantly became noisy and lively. The torches lit up the river like daylight. If anyone saw this place from afar in the middle of the night, they wouldn’t know what this place was doing. They would definitely be frightened.

Time passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already dawn. Only then did the shopkeeper see that on the far bank of the river, chariots and horses were piling up like mountains of grain, and a large number of people with military appearances were on guard in the distance. On the shore of the river, boats traveled like ants through the edges, making it a spectacular sight.

“You guys are truly divine!” The shopkeeper couldn’t help but sigh, “In that case, I should have used more than ten thousand people.”

“That’s right! Even the porters recruited more than 8,000 people.” The black-clothed man said proudly, “This is an earth-shattering business! If 500,000 stones of grain were to be sold, it would be impossible for us not to be rich enough to defeat a country.”

“So far, you haven’t mentioned asking me for money.” The shopkeeper asked suspiciously, “Aren’t you worried that my Zheng Clan will renege?”

“Is that possible?” The black-clothed man laughed proudly, “Young Master Zheng is a priceless treasure. With him in hand, there is no need for you to worry about not giving money. We are not in a hurry to get the money. In the future, there will be a safe way to ask you for money. You just need to be ready at all times.”

“Alright!” The shopkeeper shook his head helplessly and thought to himself, “These people are too strange. Who knows what they are planning?”

Another hour passed, and half of the food was loaded on each ship, piling up like a mountain. The mountain of grain on the bank of the river had disappeared, and all the porters and sailors were so tired that they were going to lie down and catch their breath.

“Very smoothly, as expected.” The black-clothed man nodded in satisfaction.

“Your calculations are too accurate.” The shopkeeper shook his head and sighed, “It’s sunrise, and we can just set sail and leave!”

“Then let’s go. What are we waiting for? We’ll come back in five days to complete the rest of the transaction.”

“Pass the order, pull the anchor–” ordered the shopkeeper.

A horn sounded from the ship and flags were raised. The ten sea loach ships slowly and clumsily turned the bow of the ship, raised their sails, and lined up in a wild goose-shaped formation, ready to set sail.

The black-clothed man boarded the warship and heaved a sigh of relief, “Fortunately, everything went smoothly!”

Right at this moment, a strange scene appeared in the Sea Loach Squadron that had turned around. A few boats directly turned their heads in the opposite direction and rushed down the wind at an extremely fast speed towards the shore.

“What’s going on? What are you doing?!” The black-clothed man shouted in panic, “Are you crazy? Do you want to knock us down?!”

“Something’s wrong. Run–retreat!” The warship let out a cry of alarm, and the sailors panicked as they raised their sails and prepared to turn the bow of the ship to flee.

At this time, the ten sea loach warships transformed into an inverted “U” shape, like a giant beast’s bloody mouth, swallowing and biting towards the riverside.

“Not good!!! You’ve been tricked!!!” The black-clothed man cried out in panic, “Run! Sail!”

“Too late!” A thunderous shout came from the sea loach ship overhead. “Green Forest thief, do you recognize King Qi of the Great Tang?”

“King Qi?!” The black-clothed man looked at the’shopkeeper ‘in panic and said in panic, “You, you are King Qi?!”

‘”Haha! Man, you’ve been tricked!” Li You patted the ship’s side and laughed loudly. “Qin Mubai, as expected, you’ve set up such a graceful sky net-none of you will be able to escape today!”

“Qin Mubai!” The black-clothed man was stunned for a long time before suddenly laughing out loud, “You will regret it!”

With that, he jumped and ran underwater.

“Get into the water and get him!”

On the tall ship, more than ten people jumped down and quickly grabbed the black-clothed man out of the water.

“You, you are Baiji?!” Someone on the warship cried out in alarm. They were too familiar with this scene! Previously, they had witnessed this scene with their own eyes during the West River Cao Military Exercise!

“That’s right! It’s the personal guard sent by Qin Mubai to this king, haha!” Li You laughed loudly, “You are the so-called ‘White Wave Water Army’, right? Leave the good military academy alone and follow others as thieves! Come on, take them all down!”

Instantly, countless crossbows appeared on the ship’s side. The porters and sailors were all holding bows and arrows as they stared at the movements of everyone on the warship.

“Stop glaring. Half of the people on these ships are soldiers under this king, and the navy soldiers that King Wu borrowed from Dongting Lake, haha!” Li You laughed loudly, “Pass down the order and launch an attack. Anyone who dares to make a move on the surface of the water should be shot to death!”

The giant ship was like a city wall, rolling towards the shore. Many warships, cargo ships, fleeing in panic. However, these ships formed a huge encirclement. Although the small boat was flexible, once it neared the edge of the encirclement, countless arrows shot out from above. Occasionally, some fellows who were about to dive into the water and flee would be shot by the Deepwater Crossbow Spear and their hands would be wounded immediately.

On the surface of the river, the drums were beating and screaming repeatedly, alarming them for dozens of kilometers in radius!

The black-clothed man who dived into the water was captured on the deck.

Li You stepped forward and pulled off his tightly tied mask. He sneered, “Although this king doesn’t recognize you, you should be the head of the government in the Xiang Prefecture’s secretariat manor, Zhou Laojiu, right?”

The black-clothed man’s face was pale and his eyes widened in fear, “How do you know?”

“Of course I told him.” Hearing a familiar voice, Zhou Laojiu looked around in panic. At this moment, he saw that the cabin was pulled open and two people walked out.

Qin Mubai and Li Ke!

“You, why are you hiding here? I’ve clearly checked it!” Elder Zhou Nine said in panic.

“Can’t we just temporarily pretend to be sailors?” Qin Mubai and Li Ke laughed heartily. Li Ke stepped forward and picked up Old Nine Zhou’s skirt.

“You scum, you bastard, you tricked this king so hard! Fortunately, this king still treats you as a capable person and relies heavily on you!”

“Your Highness, this fellow is just a minor character running errands. There’s no point killing him like slaughtering a dog.” Qin Mubai pointed at the shore and smiled. “There’s a good show!”

At this time, the riverbank was already roaring, turning into a mess of porridge. Ant-like boats panicked and crashed into each other, causing countless people to scream miserably as they fell into the water. On the bank of the river, half of the porters and sailors were water ghosts. They were panicking as they dashed towards the wolves. Many of them took out their prepared swords and swords and fled into the distance.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous sound of drums and horns, and the sound of rolling horse hooves came from afar, causing smoke and dust to rise in all directions.

“The army! It’s the army!” The water ghosts cried out in alarm.

A large group of cavalry rolled over like divine weapons descending from the sky. Zhang Da’s banner, in addition to the leader of the Wu Wang Shuai flag, there are “Xue” and “Yuwen” two general flag.

“Son of a bitch monkeys, do you recognize this daddy’s killing bell!” Yuwen Hongtai waved the Phoenix Wings Gold-plated Clang in his hand as he galloped at the front like a giant beast with its teeth and claws open. He raised the clang and landed. The water ghost that could not escape was still trying to stand up with his saber. In an instant, the human saber shattered flesh and blood.

“Hahaha! Have fun-brothers, kill! Kill all these birds!”

“Kill–”

Under the leadership of Yuwen Hongtai, the soldiers of the Wu Palace rushed into the panicked water ghosts like tigers into sheep, and began a tragic massacre!

On the other side, Xue Rengui placed Fang Tianhua’s halberd on the saddle and led a large group of horse archers to guard the area. He shouted, “Brothers, your eyes are bright, but anyone who leaks out, shoot them all!”

“Yes-!!!” The sergeants agreed. Hearing the sound of the bowstring being pulled to the bone, the rider had already formed a huge sealing ring.

Everyone on the riverbank of the empty mine had nowhere to hide!

“Third Brother, I’m jealous of you!” Li You clicked his tongue and said, “Your subordinates actually have such a powerful general. I’m really envious of you!”

“Isn’t it all thanks to Mu Bai?” Li Ke chuckled and nodded gratefully at Qin Mubai.

Zhou Laojiu’s face was as pale as paper, and he suddenly let out a hysterical scream, “You, you better let me go quickly and stop killing me. No, otherwise!”

“Otherwise, you will kill Princess Wu and her daughter, right?” Qin Mubai sneered, “Save your breath! At this moment, Princess Wu must be sitting in King Wu’s Mansion and resting. I don’t need to trouble you.”

“No, that’s impossible!” “How could you find them?” Elder Zhou’s eyes widened in surprise.

“We can’t find it, but there’s definitely someone we can find!” Qin Mubai laughed.

“Who, who?” Elder Zhou Nine started to stutter.

“Of course it’s you, your leader, Lord Song Cao!” Qin Mubai said with a smile.

“Mubai, who is Master Song Cao? Even this king hasn’t figured it out yet?” Li Ke asked suspiciously.

“If you’re not in a hurry, then let me sell it!” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “When we’re done here, we’ll pull out the anchor and head to Xiangzhou. At that time, everything will come to light!”

…

In the evening, the riverside, which had been bustling for a day and night, finally returned to peace.

There were countless wreckages of ships floating on the surface of the river. Occasionally, blood bubbles could be seen in the water. It was unknown how many water ghosts had fallen into the water and died in the belly of the fish. On the bank of the river, thousands of people were detained in one place, under the strict supervision of a group of soldiers, tied to each other. Yuwen Hongtai and Xue Rengui stood together and laughed heartily. The flag messenger behind them waved the flag at Jiang Xin, causing the soldiers to cheer and shout.

“Alright, this place should be closed.” Qin Mubai smiled and said to his side, “Your Highness Prince Qi, I’ll leave this place to you for the time being. I’ll accompany King Wu to Xiang Zhou first. Presumably, he is very anxious now and wants to see Princess Wu and her daughter.”

“Alright, you guys go!” Li You smiled and said, “When I have sorted out the matters here, I will come to Xiang Prefecture to meet up with you. Then I will have a good drink!”

“Alright, I won’t go back until I’m drunk!”

Qin Mubai and Li Ke got off the Loach Ship and boarded the warship.

Li Ke shook his head and smiled, “Mubai, this is the Divine Fish Ship that the Xiang Province Military Manor is proud of, right?”

“That’s right.” Qin Mubai raised the corner of his mouth and sneered, “Now you know how arrogant the officials and bandits of Xiang Prefecture are? Previously, they used warships as cover to openly walk on the Jianghan River and trade stolen goods. Most of these so-called White Wave Navy are actually water ghosts. As for Du Chengyuan and the others, there’s no need to talk about it!”

“You’ve already arranged for them to deal with them?” Li Ke asked.

“Of course.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “I have already predicted that they will not send out any important people to help with this transaction.” Sure enough, he had only sent an insignificant Elder Zhou Jiu to deliver the dead ghost. However, don’t worry. At this moment, the culprits such as Du Chengyuan and Wei Taochen have been secretly detained by the Hundred Cavalry I arranged in advance. Beware of them escaping after hearing the news. ”

“What about Cao Master Song? Who is Cao Master Song?” Li Ke asked.

“You’ll know soon.” Qin Mubai smiled.

“You said you would die!” Li Ke shouted angrily, “Hurry up and say it, don’t make a fuss!”

“Hahaha!” Qin Mubai laughed loudly and walked towards the cabin.

…

At noon, Qin Mubai and the others arrived at the Prefecture Governor’s Mansion.

At the gate of the backyard, someone leaned against the door and walked around anxiously. As soon as Li Ke appeared, a person rushed out and shouted, “It’s His Highness and General Qin! I, Yin Yang, pay my respects to His Highness and General!”

“Yin Yang, you’re really back!!” Li Ke was overjoyed and quickly rushed forward to help Yin Yang up. “Tell me, how did you escape? Where are the princess and princess?”

Yin Yang stood up and said excitedly, “It was Maiden Chen who saved us!”

“Chen Yan?” Li Ke widened his eyes in surprise and looked around, “Where is she?”

“She said that she was not used to staying in such a place and left first.” Yin Yang said, “She left a message for me to bring it to General Qin. She only said that she would return home as soon as possible after the matter is over.”

“Go home?!” Li Ke smiled strangely, “Qin Mubai, did you say that you have nothing to do with her?”

“Is it time to talk about this?” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “You should go and visit the princess and her daughter!”

“Right, right!” Li Ke rubbed his hands excitedly and was about to lift his feet when he was suddenly stunned. He turned around and stared at Qin Mubai, “You asked Chen Yan to follow ‘Lord Song Cao’ and rescue him, right? Presumably, Lord Song Cao should have fallen into your hands by now?”

“Then there’s no need to say?” Qin Mubai smiled mysteriously. “Chen Nuxia’s work is absolutely reassuring. Don’t you think, Brother Yin Yang?”

“That’s!” Yin Yang laughed happily, “Your Highness, the head of the West River Cao Water Ghost, Lord Song Cao, has been captured! The one who captured him is Hero Chen Nuxia!”

“What about him?” Li Ke asked.

“The Hundred Cavalry Soldiers that General Qin had arranged to come to receive them have been taken away and taken into custody together with Zhang Tong, Wei Aochen, Du Chengyuan, Ouyang Jun, Duan Rongji, and the others!” Yin Yang replied.

After hearing this, Li Ke took a deep breath and was stunned for a long time. He pointed at Qin Mubai with his fingers, but he was surprised and surprised to the point that he could not say anything.

“I won’t tell you now-I’ll go see the princess and my precious daughter first!” After Li Ke finished speaking, he anxiously raised his leg and ran away.

Qin Mubai and Yin Yang laughed heartily as Xu Yuan and Xu Yuan spoke.