The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 348: Building the plank road openly, secretly destroying Chencang

Everything in my field of vision was rushing past, and the cold wind felt like knives cutting my face.

Qiu Wuying could no longer feel her body below the shoulders. Her spine had broken at some point, and she could only watch her body float away in her sight like a tattered rag.

Li Miao's voice came from above.

"Where?"

Qiu Wuying strained to open her eyes wide and scanned her surroundings.

"East...side".

Amidst billowing dust, Li Miao, clutching Qiu Wuying's head, rushed eastward.

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"Aunt Zheng... Sister!"

Zheng Yi entered the cabin and frowned when she heard Gao Anyu's greeting, but she didn't care about his slip of the tongue. She just glanced around.

"Where is the Lord?"

Gao Anyu then gave a brief account of what happened after Zheng Yi and Cao Hanyan left.

Zheng Yi nodded, walked to the bedside, raised her hand to take Gu Feixuan and the child's arms, and pinched their pulse points.

"The master has already healed his injuries, but he is still weak and needs to recuperate for a while before he can wake up. There is no need for him now, so just leave him here for the time being."

Zheng Yi turned her head and glanced at the sleeping child again.

"As for this child... he's too young and has been frightened, so he seems to be suffering from a kind of mental disorder. There's nothing we can do about it. We'll find someone to treat him when we get to Nanjing."

Gao Anyu nodded.

Li Miao handed the person over to him, but he had no idea how to take care of people, so he could only carry the person back and wait, afraid that something might go wrong. Only now can he feel a little more at ease.

Zheng Yi lowered their arms, turned around and led Gao Anyu out of the cabin, up to the second floor.

Where is Brother Cao?

Gao Anyu asked.

"Going to change clothes."

Zheng Yi said without turning her head.

The two did something similar to what Li Miao did. Zheng Yi already knew the location of the water stronghold, so she led Cao Hanyan directly there and happened to run into the water bandits in the stronghold dividing up the loot with the disguised government soldiers.

Zheng Yi didn't feel anything. Water bandits are still bandits, and what they do isn't much better than what bandits do. In fact, robbing and killing are their basic duties.

Although there are some unspoken rules in the underworld such as "robbing without killing" and "leaving room for maneuver," whether or not to abide by them depends on the character of each leader. As long as things don't escalate, no one will bring it up.

But Cao Hanyan couldn't stand it, especially when she saw the soldiers carrying blood-stained silk and discussing its value with the bandits. Her eyes immediately turned red, and she jumped in and drew her sword to kill.

The two men slaughtered the entire water fortress, then left a few survivors for interrogation, which took some time before they finally returned to the ship.

Zheng Yi wasn't even sweating, but Cao Hanyan was covered in blood. She went to the second floor to change first, and then found Zheng Yi and Gao Anyu in the cabin.

The three looked at each other, and finally Gao Anyu and Zheng Yi both turned their gazes to Cao Hanyan.

Both men were self-aware; one was a madman, the other a reckless fool. They were good at wielding knives and killing people, but it was better to leave the tasks requiring brains to the smarter ones.

Cao Hanyan knew what kind of people these two were, so she sighed and spoke.

"Brother Gao, let me first give you a brief overview of the information I obtained from the interrogation at the bandit stronghold. In essence, it boils down to two points."

"Firstly, the four eunuchs in charge of Nanjing have started fighting among themselves and are all accumulating wealth without restraint, to the point that they have instructed their subordinates to impersonate river bandits and rob and kill civilians."

"Of the twenty-eight water fortresses along the Jiangnan waterway, except for a few, they have all colluded with them to do this kind of thing. The canal transport officers who are in charge of guarding the waterways are even personally involved. The canal transport routes to Nanjing are practically useless."

"This is why we've encountered so many river bandits along the way."

"Secondly, the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) headquarters in Nanjing has been surrounded by troops dispatched by four garrison eunuchs."

Gao Anyu was taken aback.

"Brother Cao, are you sure you're right? The Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters has been surrounded by troops?"

Cao Hanyan sighed and nodded.

"When I first got the information from the interrogation, I was a little skeptical, but after questioning a few people, they all gave the same answer, so it must be true."

"Nanjing has become an isolated city."

"Most of the officers and soldiers inside the city have been taken into custody by the four garrison eunuchs, and the waterways outside the city have been completely blocked by the twenty-eight water fortresses. Both people and news have been completely cut off from Nanjing."

Gao Anyu was still somewhat incredulous.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was no ordinary government office; it was the emperor's eyes and ears, his henchmen. Surrounding the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters, robbing and killing civilians along the way, and blocking news from within the city… this was an undeniable and irrefutable act of treason!

“But…” Gao Anyu still frowned.

Cao Hanyan smiled wryly.

"I understand Brother Gao's question. If they have already plotted a rebellion, why are these four garrison eunuchs fighting each other? If they are enemies, how can they work together to block the news?"

"Furthermore, what is their motive for amassing wealth so frantically?"

"These questions can probably only be answered once we get to Nanjing."

Gao Anyu nodded.

"Then, Brother Cao, what should we do?"

Cao Hanyan turned to look at Zheng Yi.

"Senior Zheng, what do you think?"

Zheng Yi shook her head.

"I'm only good at killing people; you can devise the plan."

Cao Hanyan then nodded and said.

"In my opinion, we only have two paths: either we openly repair the plank road or we secretly cross the Chencang pass."

Gao Anyu scratched his head.

"Brother Cao, you'd better explain yourself more clearly..."

Cao Hanyan smiled.

"In other words, we should either openly declare our intentions and enter the city in a grand manner."

"The four garrison eunuchs are fighting amongst themselves and deliberately blocking news from inside the city, which means they have neither the will nor the ability to actually raise the banner of rebellion. If we reveal our identities and enter the city, they probably won't dare to attack us."

"The advantage is safety; once the adults' subordinates find out, they will contact us on their own initiative. But the disadvantage is that it's gone from being clandestine to being overt, making it much harder to gather information."

"Alternatively, we could try to get into the city ourselves and contact the lord's subordinates. But if we're discovered, there will likely be a fight, and we can't guarantee we'll be able to contact the lord's subordinates."

"That's it, there are two paths, one open and one hidden."

After Cao Hanyan finished speaking, Gao Anyu scratched his head.

"Brother Cao, perhaps we can wait here for Uncle Li to return and let him make the decision?"

Cao Hanyan shook her head.

"The lord will definitely capture a few people alive for interrogation on his way, and he will know about these things. If he feels he needs to go with us, he will naturally find us."

"If the adults feel there is no need to meet up with us, and we just wait here, we will only make him turn back and come back to find us, which will waste time."

"Besides, we can't really push all the work onto the adults, Brother Gao."

Cao Hanyan reached out and tapped on the table.

"As far as I am concerned, Nanjing is the secondary capital. If something goes wrong, it could plunge the country into chaos and affect countless people. Even now, if this situation continues for just one more day, countless people will die on this waterway. We cannot afford to delay."

"Personally, Senior Zheng's family affairs are involved, and Brother Gao's matter is also related to Penglai. I cannot simply ignore this matter—we cannot just wait for the adults to solve it for us."

"At the very least, we have to do something to share some of the burden with the adults, otherwise what's the point of us practicing martial arts?"

Zheng Yi and Gao Anyu both nodded.

After a moment of silence in the cabin, Zheng Yi spoke.

"Since that's the case, and we have enough manpower, why don't we try both paths?"

“The open route is less risky, Gao Anyu. You take Gu Feixuan and that child into the city through the open route. You just need to maintain your composure and attitude.”

"You don't need to do much. Just speak less and don't express your opinion. They won't dare to make a move against you until they figure out your situation. You just need to stall for time on the surface."

As she spoke, Zheng Yi stood up, sword in hand.

"Cao Hanyan and I will enter the city through a secret passage. We will support each other and adapt to the situation."

"According to the information we obtained from the interrogation, there are a few families among the 28th Water Village that did not get involved in these matters. One of them was acquainted with my mother before. Let's go to him and use his connections to get into the city."

"Let's not delay, let's set off now!"

Having said that, he picked up Cao Hanyan, who had a bitter smile on her face, and left the cabin, flying away.

(End of this chapter)