The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 339 Water Bandits
"So this is how it is, Commander of the Garrison."

You Ziang felt something moving beneath his feet. He leaned to the side and applied more force. The human body beneath him let out a mournful cry, and then fell silent.

The lights shone brightly, illuminating the bloodstains scattered on the ground.

The ship moved slowly forward on the water, its keel emitting a dull, subtle hum that transmitted the vibrations to the second-floor floor, creating ripples in the wine glasses on the table.

Cao Hanyan sat cross-legged on the ground to the left. Zheng Yi used her sword sheath to point out several acupoints on him, casually pointing out the key points in his internal energy circulation, while her eyes kept glancing at You Zi'ang out of the corner of her eye.

Li Miao sat in the head seat, looking at the letter brought by You Ziang, and took a sip of wine.

Today is the 24th year of Jiajing, the 8th day of the 10th month, the Beginning of Winter.

A month has passed since the matter of the Kongming Sect was resolved. Nearly half a month has also passed since You Zi'ang departed from the capital with the message.

After leaving Guangxin Prefecture, Li Miao and his party switched to waterways, entering Poyang Lake from the Xinjiang River, and then crossing Poyang Lake to reach Hukou County. They found a large boat and sailed eastward along the Yangtze River, now within the jurisdiction of Taiping Prefecture in Nanjing.

You Zi'ang caught up with Li Miao here, only to encounter a group of river bandits attempting to board the ship and rob it.

The one he was standing on was one of them.

As for the rest, Gao Anyu was cooking outside.

Some people might find it strange that Nanjing was a secondary capital and Taiping Prefecture was a key point for the canal and salt transport along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so how could there be river bandits?
As the saying goes, "I came to ask about the matter, but there was nothing more to say; even my son is in league with the Japanese."

When Zhu Zai and Li Miao sat down to discuss the Dao that day, they mentioned that the Great Shuo was currently beset by internal and external troubles. These "external troubles" were, firstly, the Tatars in the north, and secondly, the Japanese pirates along the southeast coast.

The Yangtze River in the Taiping Prefecture section is wide, with numerous sandbars, tributaries, and hidden harbors and reed beds. Some Japanese pirates infiltrated the interior along the Yangtze River and settled here.

The Da Shuo garrison system had fallen into disrepair, and the navy was even more incompetent, providing these river bandits with an excellent environment to start their own businesses. By now, they had formed a complete ecosystem south of the Yangtze River, independent of the orthodox martial arts world.

Zheng Yi's mother's public identity in Da Shuo was that of one of the twenty-eight leaders of the Jiangnan waterways, or to put it bluntly, a water bandit leader.

The boat Li Miao was on was clearly the property of a wealthy person. They didn't need to bring guards; besides the boatman, there were only maids on board. It's no wonder they were targeted by river bandits.

Now, let's get back to the present.

Li Miao looked at the stack of letters for a while, then casually said to You Zi'ang.

“I trust Xiao Anzi to handle things. I’ll leave the affairs of Shuntian Prefecture to him, along with Xiao Mei, Ruan Mei, and the people from Xiaoling Guard. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

"But I'm a little worried about Xiao Si and Wang Hai."

You Zi'ang asked curiously upon hearing this.

"Commander, Commander Wang was someone you've been grooming for over a decade, and Commander Li is even your goddaughter. They—"

Li Miao waved his hand.

"It's not that they're unreliable, nor that they lack skills. It's just that compared to Xiao Anzi in Shuntian Prefecture, they have far fewer options."

"In the end, my martial arts skills weren't good enough."

“I’ve also received some information that coincides with what they’re investigating, and it might be connected to something else… I’m afraid they won’t be able to handle it.”

At this point, Li Miao pulled out a piece of paper and flung it at Zheng Yi.

"Xiao Yizi".

Zheng Yi had been pretending to be casually observing his situation. When he called out to her, she quickly walked over, took the paper, and frowned as soon as she looked at it.

This piece of paper contains a record of a certain event.

It is said that Wang Hai and Xiao Si followed the testimony of the eunuch at the moon-viewing banquet and finally obtained a definite clue more than a month ago.

The funds that supported the activities of this group of eunuchs, in addition to those brought out of the palace at the time, also came from Nanjing.

The first people the two suspected were the four "Nanjing garrison eunuchs".

Liu Chun, Shou Xia, Shang Qiu, Cun Dong.

These four eunuchs were appointed by the emperor himself and held positions above the Nanjing garrison commander, the highest military officer in Nanjing, to monitor and remotely control the military affairs of Nanjing.

Holding a high position of power and enjoying the emperor's deep trust, and being a eunuch, the possibility of him colluding with Liu Jin's group was naturally very high. Wang Hai and Xiao Si tried to start by examining the four men's assets to see if there were any huge sums of money of dubious origin and whereabouts, which might have been funds given to Liu Jin for his activities. But as they investigated, the two of them were speechless for a while.

In the homes of these four chief eunuchs, there was not a single piece of silver whose origin and destination were unclear.

None of the four people were innocent, and it was impossible to tell which one was an accomplice who provided Liu Jin with money.

Left with no other option, the two had to start by investigating the large sums of stolen money, hoping to uncover some clues indirectly.

That concludes the written record. Below, some potentially important clues are listed for Li Miao to review.

What caused Zheng Yi's expression to change was one of the clues—the four guarding eunuchs seemed to be colluding with the Jiangnan Green Forest Gang, providing protection for their plundering on the Yangtze River waterway and collecting money from them.

The twenty-eight gang leaders of Jiangnan each took in seven men—one of whom caught Zheng Yi's eye with his name.

Shi Wushuang.

One of the deceased leaders of the Twenty-Eight Gangs of Jiangnan, a notorious female bandit leader in the underworld, and a water bandit chief who colluded with the garrison eunuch.

It was also her mother's pseudonym before she disappeared.

Zheng Yi slowly raised her head to look at Li Miao and said softly.

"My lord, what do you mean?"

Li Miao held his wine glass and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"I just found it interesting."

“We are currently investigating three groups of people—the Penglai Sect members, the eunuchs from the Eastern Depot, and your mother.”

"When we were looking through Zheng Huaijin's belongings at the Kongming Sect, we didn't find many clues. We only knew that he had a disciple with whom he was still communicating, who was hiding in Nanjing. That's why we came to Nanjing."

"But here's the problem."

Li Miao held up one finger.

“We have confirmed that your mother is the murderer who hunted down the Penglai Sect members, and that she was hiding in the Jiangnan Green Forest Road before.”

"Then why is this Penglai Sect member hiding in Nanjing still alive today, and still exchanging letters with Zheng Huaijin until several months ago?"

"Compared to Xue Bangzhu, he's right under your mother's nose, wouldn't it be easier to kill him?"

Li Miao paused, waiting for Zheng Yi to process what he had just said, before continuing.

“The disciples of Penglai are scattered in all directions, and your mother has rarely gone out since you can remember. It would be difficult for her to find the locations of so many fellow disciples on her own.”

"According to the information my subordinates have uncovered, your mother colluded with the eunuch in charge of the Nanjing garrison and must have amassed a considerable fortune, the whereabouts of which are unknown. I suspect your mother has several accomplices who helped her spend this fortune."

"This Penglai Sect member hiding in Nanjing is very likely one of them."

"The Penglai Sect members, the eunuchs of the Eastern Depot, and your mother's accomplices—the three groups we've been investigating have all come together in Nanjing."

"Do you think this is a coincidence, or is there more to it than meets the eye?"

A final scream echoed from the deck outside the door.

"Uncle Li, we're done killing them!"

Gao Anyu pushed open the door and walked in.

Li Miao pointed to the seat on his right, and he obediently went over and sat down.

"In any case, since everything has come together, it's a good thing, saving us from running around in circles."

Li Miao said to Zheng Yi with a smile.

"Let's go to Nanjing and take a look."

“I have a feeling that the truth about your mother’s pursuit of the Penglai disciples will come to light here in Nanjing.”

(End of this chapter)