I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 323 Water Bandits
Chao Yi coldly replied, "No."

The magpie got angry, "How can you be like this! My young lady is your young master's future wife!"

Zhou Ajiao straightened her chest.

Chao Yi felt that both the master and servant were mentally unstable.

Wu Yi'er watched coldly from the side.

Zhao Hui drew his sword, shouting, "If you dare to spread rumors and tarnish the young master's reputation again, don't blame us for turning ruthless!"

Zhou Ajiao's face turned pale, and tears welled up in her eyes.

As soon as the cabin door opened, Dongmei came out and said, "Miss, please come in and have a chat with Miss Zhou."

Zhou Ajiao didn't want to go, but she was looking forward to seeing Gu Ci. After hesitating for a while, she finally went into the cabin.

"Miss Zhou, please have a seat."

Zhou Ajiao sat in the seat furthest from Tang Zhao.

"Miss Zhou is here to see Mr. Zhou?"

Late at night, it wasn't exactly a shameful thing for an unmarried young woman to come to someone else's cabin. Zhou Ajiao naturally refused to admit it, saying, "I've come to tell you that the river bandits are here."

"Oh my, that's terrible!"

Zhou Ajiao thought this woman was very pretentious.

"What does Miss Zhou think we should do?"

Zhou Ajiao recounted what she had heard from her father: "The river bandits are rampant, appearing and disappearing without a trace, but there are river guards along the canal. As long as you can inform the river guards in time, you can drive away the river bandits."

“That is indeed a good idea,” Tang Zhao clapped his hands. “But has Miss Zhou considered what to do if the river guards don’t arrive in time?”

Zhou Ajiao was taken aback.

"With only a few dozen guards from the Zhou family, it would be difficult to withstand hundreds of bandits coming out in full force."

Hundreds of river bandits? Zhou Ajiao clenched her handkerchief tightly. "How do you know how many river bandits there are?"

Tang Zhao smiled but remained silent.

Suddenly, the sound of weapons clashing rang out outside the cabin.

Zhou Ajiao gritted her teeth, "Who exactly are you?"

Tang Zhao said firmly, "Your rival in love!"

"Rival in love? You?" Zhou Ajiao suppressed her disgust and looked at Tang Zhao's ugly face, which was dark and covered with purplish-blue birthmarks from his left eye to his chin. There was a huge mole on his left cheek with a tuft of hair growing on it!

"With your looks, you're not even worthy to be my foot-washing maid!" Zhou Ajiao sneered. "If I were you, I would ask to leave and hand over my husband to you as soon as possible!"

"Look, look, you're judging people by their appearance!" Tang Zhao shook his head. "I may be ugly, but I'm capable!"

"You might not believe it, but Gu Yuanye begged and pleaded with me relentlessly."

Zhou Ajiao thought to herself, "So that young master's name is Gu Yuanye. What a fine name."

The magpie couldn't stand it anymore, "You're talking nonsense!"

"Don't believe me? Then I'll prove it to you!" Tang Zhao shouted in his hoarse voice, "Gu Yuanye!"

Footsteps approached, the cabin door was pushed open, and Gu Ci came in and asked, "What's wrong? Is the noise outside too loud and disturbing you?"

Zhou Ajiao stood up and bowed to Gu Cifu, "Greetings, Young Master Gu."

Gu Ci nodded to Zhou Ajiao.

Tang Zhao beckoned, and Gu Ci obediently stepped forward.

“I told Miss Zhou that you were the one who begged and pleaded with me, but Miss Zhou didn’t believe me, so I came to find you to prove it.”

Gu Ci smiled indulgently and gently touched the stray hairs on Tang Zhao's forehead, his silence speaking volumes.

Zhou Ajiao didn't believe it. "Young Master Gu, if you're being blackmailed, just blink. I'll save you from her clutches!"

"I volunteered."

"Why? What's so good about her?"

Tang Zhao replied, "I have the ability."

Zhou Ajiao retorted, unconvinced, "What skills do you have?"

"I am the Salt Commissioner of Jiangnan," Tang Zhao raised an eyebrow, "the number one female official in the land. Tell me, am I capable?" Zhou Ajiao's eyes widened, "You're the newly appointed Salt Commissioner of the court?"

Tang Zhao took out his official badge from his sleeve.

Zhou Ajiao slumped in the chair.

Mr. Zhou, who was waiting outside the cabin, couldn't help but rush in and kneel on the ground to beg for his daughter's forgiveness. "Sir, please forgive my daughter this time, considering her youth and ignorance!"

Whether or not I spare her is up to Master Zhou.

Zhou Cheng asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Instead of answering, Tang Zhao asked, "Have you dealt with all the river bandits outside?"

Gu Ci said, "They have all been captured."

"Very well, please accompany me, Master Zhou, to see if we recognize any of these bandits."

Zhou Cheng's knees buckled, and he hurriedly said, "My lord, I have always been an honest and law-abiding citizen, and have never had any contact with bandits!"

"Master Zhou, please calm down," Tang Zhao stood up. "Knowing someone doesn't mean you're colluding. I also know His Highness the War Prince. Does that mean I have an improper relationship with His Highness the War Prince?"

Zhou Cheng smiled awkwardly, feeling slightly relieved, and followed Tang Zhao and his group to the deck.

Dozens of torches illuminated the deck as if it were daytime. Wu Yi'er and his men tied up the bandits tightly and piled them up like a human mountain. They then brought several of the bandit leaders to Tang Zhao.

"Master Zhou, come and see if you recognize these two people?"

Zhou Cheng jogged forward, looked down, and was shocked. "This, isn't this Master Hu's steward?"

"It seems my guess was right after all," Tang Zhao waved his hand and ordered his men to escort the Zhou father and daughter away. "Next, we will find out who is behind this."

"Which of you two wants to go first?"

The two bandits turned their heads away and remained silent.

"Not going to talk? Guards!"

"exist!"

"Give him one hundred strokes of the cane!"

One hundred lashes?!

Is this torture or is the intention to beat someone to death?
Wu Yier and Wu Bingsan raised a wooden stick as thick as a thigh, with one side covered with barbed nails.

"Choose one, choose two, choose the red flower—it's either you or him!" Tang Zhao pointed to the bandit on the right. "Congratulations, you've won!"

Before the bandits could speak, their mouths were gagged, and wooden sticks came crashing down on them.

"You get one chance to speak after every twenty strokes of the cane," Tang Zhao reminded her. "You must cherish this opportunity."

Wu Yi used all his strength, and the iron nail pierced deep into his flesh. When he pulled it out, the barbs brought down a large piece of flesh and blood.

After twenty strokes of the cane, the bandit was barely breathing.

Tang Zhao, resting his chin on his hand, asked, "Which family are you backing?"

The bandits gritted their teeth and remained silent.

"Keep fighting!"

Seeing that he was about to be gagged again, the bandit hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "I'll talk, I'll talk, it's the Hu family!"

Gu Ci frowned. "Hu Sheng, the salt merchant from Suzhou?"

"Yes, I am a servant of the Hu family. My parents and brothers all work for the Hu family. Because I have been learning martial arts since I was a child, the Hu family arranged for me to become the third-in-command of Tengjiang Village."

What do you usually do?

"I'm usually responsible for relaying messages between the village, salt merchants, and ships," the bandit spit out. "I'm responsible for informing them in advance which ships Tengjiang Village can rob and which can't."

"Quite a lot of power," Tang Zhao continued, "Then why did you hijack this ship today? There's no salt on board!"

The bandits fell silent again.

"Beat them!"

After a few more blows, the bandit cried out, "My lord, spare my life! I'll talk!"

"My master received news that the new Salt Commissioner was heading south soon, so he ordered us to lead men to keep an eye out for passing ships and kill them if we spotted them!"