Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Ten small boats charged out, each carrying assassins who used grappling hooks to board the enemy ships and begin fighting.

The thugs Dou Jun hired were no match for him, but the dozen or so servants of the Dou family were quite capable.

By the time the sun had set, all the people on Dou Jun's ship had been taken care of.

The discovery of a considerable amount of fine silk and valuables in the ship's hold suggests that Dou Jun did indeed intend to make a trade.

But Li You didn't want to.

That evening, while Li You was eating fish from a fresh fish soup, Dou Jun was brought in by Qi Bin with his hands tied.

Li You glanced at Dou Jun's arm.

The arrowhead should have been removed, but whether it caused any nerve damage is hard to say.

People in ancient times were actually quite fragile; many died from minor injuries or illnesses.

Li You put down his chopsticks and prepared to interrogate Dou Jun.

Don't eat fish while you're talking, as fish bones can easily get stuck in your throat.

"Dou Jun, I've already given you two thousand catties of copper, and you're still not satisfied?"

"You...you're a prince?"

"From now on, we're family. I might as well tell you. I am Prince Qi, Li You."

"Prince Li You of Qi... Prince Li You of Qi... I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before... That's right, the rebel Prince Li You of Qi who caused the rebellion in Shandong!"

Li You was somewhat surprised: "You actually know me?"

"No... Prince Qi, Li You, is dead! You are not Prince Qi! Who are you?!"

Li You stared at Dou Jun with great interest for a while, which made the man feel a little uneasy.

"...Brother, whether you are the King of Qi or not...I will assume you are...Our Dou family was indeed too hasty this time and angered the King. I am willing to offer up all my wealth, hoping that you will be lenient."

"How much is your total net worth?"

"Thirty thousand strings of cash!"

"Hmm, thirty thousand strings of cash is quite a lot. Is it your own money, or your family's money?"

"...It's my own money. The Dou family's wealth is far more than a million strings of cash. Your Majesty, if only you would release me..."

Li You interrupted the man's pleas for mercy, saying, "Your Dou family is so wealthy, you must be a powerful family in Yangzhou, right?"

"...They can't really be considered powerful clans; at most, they can speak to the government..."

"If I release you, and your elders are furious, they might send officials to deal with me. What then? Do you expect me to wipe out the entire Dou family?"

Upon hearing these menacing words, Dou Jun felt a chill run down his spine.

Could it be that the young man before us is really the legendary, terrifying rebel, Prince Qi, Li You?

Li You said, "Qi Bin, untie him. He can't run away anyway."

Qi Bin nodded and untied the ropes binding Dou Jun.

"Boss Hu, your original name was Qi Bin?"

"Yes, Qi Bin is my real name. Dou Jun, now that you've joined Huang Chao's army, we can address each other as brothers."

Huang Chao's army?

Upon hearing this name, which sounded like "the Green Forest Army," and recalling that the young man at the head of the group claimed to be "King Li You of Qi," Dou Jun realized that he had fallen into a den of thieves.

Of course, disasters don't happen out of nowhere.

If Dou Jun hadn't resorted to such tricks as coercion and forced sales, the King of Qi would never have clashed with him.

"Qi Bin, how many people are on their ship in total?"

"My lord, a total of 237 people survived."

"Hmm, I'll take these two hundred-plus people up the mountain. You can take all the valuables they're carrying and invest them in the mines of Xuanzhou to hire more people for our mines."

"promise!"

After finishing their business in Jiangli, Li You and Qi Bin parted ways, with the latter going to manage the copper mine in Xuanzhou.

"Dou Jun, now that you know my name and Boss Hu's real name, you can never go back to Xuanzhou and Yangzhou. My Huang Chao army is no monster; you'll understand once we get there."

Upon hearing this, Dou Jun wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed his words.

Li You then asked, "Dou Jun, are you married? If you have a wife and children, my Huang Chao army can go down the mountain to fetch them for you, so that you won't feel lonely and empty on the mountain, and I won't have to go to the trouble of finding you a wife."

"Huh? No, no... I... I didn't!"

Li You looked at him suspiciously: "Wait a minute, you look quite old, and your family is so wealthy, why aren't you married? Oh, I see, you must think my Huang Chao army's conditions are too poor, and your wife and children will suffer, right?"

Dou Jun swallowed hard. "Your Majesty... I, Dou, am utterly powerless and illiterate. Even if I were to climb this mountain, I would be utterly useless. I am willing to offer 50,000 strings of cash, no, 60,000 strings. I beg Your Majesty to be merciful and let me go."

Li You smiled and said, "There are no useless people in this world. Dou Jun, your family is wealthy, you must have attended a private school when you were young, surely you can read and write?"

"There is such a thing as reading and writing, but..."

"It's good enough if they can read. Less than 10% of the soldiers in my mountain stronghold can read."

"If you've made it to the mountain stronghold, you'll at least have to be a gentleman."

"But I..."

"In the end, you still don't want to go up the mountain, do you?"

"I...I'm the only son in my family, and I really can't bear to leave my parents, wife, and children..."

Li You's expression changed: "Dou Jun, you are extremely dishonest. According to reports from my assassins, the head of the Dou family in Yangzhou is named Dou Rong, who is also your father. He has one wife and sixteen concubines, and they have twenty children. You are the eighth child, is that right?"

Dou Jun's expression also changed. These thieves are truly cunning; how do they even know this?

"Qi Bin, since this man is unwilling to go up the mountain, then throw him into the river to feed the fish."

"promise!"

Qi Bin escorted the man out.

Li You can finally eat fish in peace.

After carefully eating the fish and drinking the fish soup, he let out a satisfied burp, blew out the lamp, and fell asleep fully clothed in the cabin.

……

The next day, still shaken, Dou Jun approached Li You and asked to go up the mountain.

Last night, Qi Bin threw this person into the river, where he remained submerged for two whole hours.

In the icy river water, Dou Jun experienced the fear of death for the first time.

He used to be the one bullying others, but now it's the other way around.

Dou Jun understood that if he showed any resistance in front of "King Qi" again, the next step would not be just soaking in the water, but the actual feeding of the fish.

Whether they will be fed whole or disassembled into parts is hard to say.

Moreover, Dou Jun now tends to believe that the leader of this group is probably Li You, the Prince of Qi, who caused unrest in Shandong two years ago.

Strange, isn't Prince Li You of Qi already dead?

"Your Majesty, I...I am willing to go up the mountain."

"real?"

"Absolutely true!"

"Alright, from now on you should call me Lord, that's what Qi Bin and the others call me."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Dou Jun, why are you in such a hurry to buy copper? Which official are you trying to bribe?"

"It is Lord Song, the newly appointed prefect of Mianzhou. My family's main business is silk, and we have many mulberry fields and weavers in Mianzhou."