My younger sister insisted on marrying me and made me the Marquis' wife.

Chapter 559 Bandits
When the Jingzhao Yin Mansion was mentioned, Lord Gu sneered and said, "If we hadn't gotten the news and waited outside the prison early, Monk Zhiguang would have disappeared long ago. How would we have known that there were people from the Black Wind Village behind him?"

"Black Wind Village?"

Everyone was shocked again when they heard this.

Black Wind Stronghold occupied the precipitous Black Wind Ridge, situated at the junction of several prefectures. Surrounding it were hundreds of miles of intertwined waterways, dotted with a spiderweb of harbors. The mudflats were covered with reeds and shrubs over a meter tall, capable of harboring tens of thousands of ships and men, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Consequently, successive prefectural officials failed to suppress the bandits, and instead suffered the loss of many officers and soldiers.

Later, the emperor was alarmed and he issued several imperial decrees to send troops to attack the Black Wind Village, but they were unable to defeat the local tyrant and returned empty-handed.

Fortunately, the bandits from Black Wind Village only robbed near Black Wind Ridge and rarely caused trouble in the provincial capital. Over time, they kept to themselves and the government accepted their existence, but posted notices along the road to warn travelers to be cautious.

Could it be that the Black Wind Stronghold had already been under the command of Queen Lin and the Crown Prince?
Qin Yuan couldn't help but frown.

In her previous life, she followed Lin Ziqi to take up his post. Since the prefecture under her jurisdiction was adjacent to Black Wind Ridge, she knew some inside information.

The Black Wind Stronghold did not simply want to occupy the mountain and become the king. It had also considered seeking amnesty, but was unable to reach an agreement with the court.

Officials from the prefectures and cities bordering the area had negotiated with the leader of Black Wind Village, and the emperor had even sent envoys with royal wine, brocade clothes and other rewards to read the imperial edict and offer peace in front of Black Wind Ridge, but all attempts failed for various reasons.

The final kick could never go in, so it was delayed again and again.

After Gu Jinghui pacified the northern frontier, the court was no longer so keen on recruiting bandits. When Lin Ziqi took office, the court ministers all felt that the world was at peace now, and Daxing did not need to recruit and reward these bandits anymore. Otherwise, the people would follow suit, and when they gained an advantage, they would become kings of the mountains and plunder at will, and when they failed, they would surrender. How could this be possible?

However, because of the many losses it had suffered before, the imperial court was unwilling to mobilize troops to suppress the bandits again.

After the death of the Crown Prince and the King of Qi, she also followed Lin Ziqi to the capital after being promoted. In the following ten years, Daxing, which had been blessed with good weather, began to suffer from disasters. First there were droughts and floods, and then there were plagues. The refugees had no homes, and kings who occupied the mountains and became kings in various prefectures emerged one after another.

The Black Wind Village, located at the junction of several states, was quietly lost in the world, and she never heard any news about it since then.

Little did they know that this group of people had already been involved with Queen Lin, the Crown Prince and others, and even had connections with the Yelu people.

Just as he was pondering, he heard Lord Gu say, "It was quite a stroke of luck. The men from Black Wind Stronghold were scouting the Jingzhao Yinfu prison when they were recognized by a few porters. Do you know why? It's a coincidence that those men were robbed while selling tobacco and silk. Although they managed to escape with their lives, they were too embarrassed to return home without their capital and fled to the capital to earn a living, so they remembered the bandits well and had spread the news early. The bandits bribed the jailer with money to send food to that bald donkey and pass on the news, hoping to cooperate with the outside forces. And by chance, the little beggar squatting at the prison gate overheard them."

"Third brother left the house that night, so that's why," Gu Baozhu understood. "I was wondering why the guards couldn't find out."

Qin Yuan frowned: "There is a night curfew, how did they evade the patrol camp..."

Lord Gu explained, "Naturally, no one was allowed to leave during the night curfew. The Yelu people claimed that a thief had broken into the hostage's residence and was suspected of being the arsonist. They used this to distract the North City Patrol. The Black Wind Fortress people set fire to the gate of the Jingzhao Yin Mansion. The death squads from the Cheng'en Marquis' residence blended in with the crowd of people coming out to put out the fire and escorted them out of the city."

Qin Yuan nodded slowly. Given how meticulously the other party had acted, it seemed the soldiers at the city gate had already been bribed.

Gu Liuye suddenly said, "Third sister-in-law is right. These people are indeed very useful."

Lord Gu was stunned for a moment, then praised, "Indeed, if it weren't for Madam's suggestion, we wouldn't have gotten the news so quickly. I'm afraid Monk Zhiguang would have been at large long ago."

Nowadays, the Marquis' Mansion is much more well-informed than before. Storytellers, beggars, scavengers, porters, and even hangers-on in the capital all bring all kinds of news to the mansion continuously.

After Gu Jingcheng found out, he simply took advantage of his duty at the Wucheng Bingmasi and secretly recruited many low-level officials to help him gather information.

The Wucheng Bingmasi had a low rank and many subordinates, and was responsible for a very complex range of affairs, such as catching thieves, rectifying the city appearance, checking household registration, patrolling the streets, maintaining cleanliness, etc. However, they were well-informed.

The money is little and the work is heavy, so everyone is happy about it.

Gu Baozhu tilted her head and looked at Qin Yuan, as if she wanted to ask something, but Qin Yuan interrupted her, "I once heard that when the eighteen leaders of Black Wind Village swore brotherhood, they claimed that they were not against the emperor and would not betray Daxing. They were just dissatisfied with the evil people in power and did not want to be driven around by mediocre people. That's why they took over the mountain and became kings. They will remain loyal to Daxing for the rest of their lives. Everything they do is to rob the rich and help the poor, to enforce justice on behalf of heaven. If they participated in the affairs of the late crown prince, wouldn't they be breaking their oath and becoming the lackeys of certain people?"

Speaking of this, Gu Jinghui sighed, "The eighteen leaders of Black Wind Village have long since passed away. Who knows what has become of the Black Wind Village. Even if they were still alive, they would be in their seventies or eighties. How could they control their subordinates? A new emperor appoints new ministers. Who knows, if their attempts to recruit them fail, they might turn to Queen Lin's faction."

Qin Yuan pondered in silence.

Gu Jinghui continued, "The Gu family has been operating in the northern frontier for many years and knows very little about the affairs of Black Wind Stronghold. Although we have a better understanding of the situation now, it only covers the capital. We are unable to reach outside the capital. Prince Qi is investigating the details of Black Wind Stronghold. I have ordered Lieutenant General Jin to lead his troops to guard the area near the imperial farm, waiting for them to emerge after they can no longer hold on."

Everyone nodded.

There seems to be no better way.

Gu Baozhu said, "I hope the King of Qi can find out something soon, and that Lieutenant General Jin can catch the man soon."

This is naturally what everyone wants.

When everyone fell silent, Madam Gu placed the rosary beads heavily on the table and asked in a deep voice, "Is that all?"

Gu Jinghui hesitated for a moment, lowered his eyelids, and stammered, "I've been busy with Monk Zhiguang's affairs these days, so I need to take a break from that... that for now."

After all, she felt sorry for her son who had been running around outside these days, so Mrs. Gu didn't say anything else.

Marquis Gu quietly breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Sixth Master Gu, who abruptly changed the subject: "Mother, Third Brother and Sister-in-law, I have something to discuss... Someone from the Xu family said that the Xu family claimed that buying pepper would make them rich, and they bought the pepper from the Persian merchants at a high price. Now they have lost most of their money and have no choice but to use the pepper to pay off their debts. The Xu family also complained that they were badly implicated and that all their family wealth had been invested in pepper. Now they are trapped and helpless, and they begged us to consider our relationship and not pursue this matter further. The prosecutor of the Jingzhao Yin Mansion also asked me to go to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion tomorrow to sign and close the case. What do you think about this matter..."