I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 81 Lin Chong: From now on, please call me a professional fighter (11,000 words)

The female voice coming from the cabin made Li Jun and the other three people excited. After thinking about it for a while, they felt that they had opened up a new idea.

That voice should be from Murong Qiu, the young lady of the Murong family.

Lin Chong, Lu Da, and Li Jun all knew that the Murong family and the young marquis were close friends, and that the young master had been with him through thick and thin, roaming the martial arts world. It was also said that the young master had a sister, whom none of them had ever met before.

But in recent days, the people of Murong family were forced to flee with Lin Chong and others, and everyone gradually got used to their presence.

Especially Lin Chong and other few confidants, who had heard some rumors that the young lady of the Murong family might marry the young marquis in the future. These heroes of the Jianghu were even more afraid to look directly at the future mistress.

I didn't expect that Miss Murong could actually come up with advice. Although it wasn't a sophisticated strategy, just a way to respond to situations as they arise, it was quite good for a woman to be able to do that.

Li Jun thought for a moment and was the first to agree, saying, "Marquis Lin Yu, why don't we try what Miss Murong suggested? If we stay near Gusu, we won't be able to hide for a few days. Sooner or later, we will be found by Zhu Zhen's warships."

If we move closer to Huzhou, the further we flee, the further we can avoid Zhu Jie's eyes and ears. If Fang La advances quickly and Zhu Jie is afraid of Fang La and dares not pursue him further, we can find a no-man's land to hide and wait and see.

As long as we can hold off until Zhu Jie is punished by the court, everything will be over. This is what the young marquis said firmly before he was imprisoned. I trust the young marquis's judgment!"

Lin Chong thought about it and agreed with it, and finally adopted this decision.

Everyone's discussion was based on a consensus, that is, their absolute trust in Zhao Zicheng's ironclad judgment before he was imprisoned. This was the basis of everything.

The young marquis is such a wise and brave man, so chivalrous and righteous, and he cares about the people and the world. He is a great hero, and his key judgment cannot be wrong!

He said that if the government saw someone rebelling, they would severely punish Zhu Jie, and that would definitely happen!

Even if they are wrong, Lin Chong and others are willing to risk their lives and follow Zhao Zicheng's guess to the end!
So Lin Chong quickly ordered the warship to turn around and head towards Huzhou.

Dong Chao led the navy loyal to Zhu Zhen and searched the waters around Gusu County for half a day, but found nothing. After returning, he was scolded by Zhu Zhen. He felt even more wronged than Benboerba, who was tasked with killing Tang Monk and his disciples.

Finally, Zhu Zhen discussed the matter with the prefect Zhao Lin and asked Dong Chao to continue expanding the search range. He gave him three days to try to capture those men hidden by Zhao Zicheng and the people of Murong family.

If he still couldn't find it after three days, Zhu Zhen would have to find another way to make a desperate struggle. Calculating the days, the emperor's edict punishing him could be delivered to Jiangnan at any time.

Dong Chao had no choice but to expand his search area, but he was alarmed several times a day. His sailors were all saying, "Fang La may have reached the shores of Taihu Lake, and there may be Fang La's bandits on Taihu Lake. The remnants of Wuxing Lu Xing'er and Gusu Shisheng, who were killed last year, are still entrenched nearby. These pirates have all defected to Fang La!"

Some of this news was true, some was false. However, given the weakness of the Suzhou garrison, they were willing to believe even the falsehoods. Consequently, Dong Chao's soldiers were unwilling to advance alone and risk approaching the Wuxing coast, which might be under Fang La's control.

Zhu Jie was extremely anxious and finally had to take charge in person and urge Dong Chao to advance. This forced the soldiers of the Xiang army, who were afraid of the enemy like a tiger, to boost their morale and move forward.

Zhu Zhen felt that those who were hidden by Zhao Zicheng might have noticed this loophole, so they hid in the dangerous area at the junction of the government army and the Fang La-controlled area! The closer the opportunity is, the more he cannot give up!

In addition to his duties at the Yingfeng Bureau, Zhu Zhen actually held another title, which was the "Defense Envoy" of Liangzhe Road.

The post of "Defense Envoy" was a real position during the Tang Dynasty. It was created to split the power of the Jiedushi and prevent separatist regimes. It only had the military functions of the Jiedushi. However, by the Song Dynasty, the title of "Defense Envoy" had basically become an empty one.

But whether an official has real power depends on who is in charge. Zhu Jie had been a powerful figure in Jiangdong for over ten years. After he was appointed as the Defense Commissioner, as long as he was willing to personally supervise the army, the Defense Commissioner's position would give him real power.

Although he had never led troops before, this time, for the sake of his own future and in order to find something to hold against Zhao Zicheng before the imperial edict arrived, he had no choice but to try to lead the army himself.

In Zhu Zhen's view, he had a large ship and was protected by many soldiers. He was only carrying out a mission to search the lake and did not need to lead the troops himself, so there was definitely no danger.

……

On the other side, Lin Chong, Lu Da, Li Jun and others, with dozens of brothers and a large boat, fled towards Huzhou.

The shores of Taihu Lake were thick with reeds and had numerous inlets and tributaries, making it easy to hide. After reaching Wuxing, Lin Chong even took the risk of sending a group of elite soldiers, led by Li Jun himself, ashore to scout out the latest situation nearby.

Li Jun was indeed the most capable and discerning hero under Zhao Zicheng. He figured out the situation in just half a day and came back to report:
"Marquis Lin Yu, the situation is more serious than we expected. It seems that a nearby town has already surrendered to Fang La. The government troops are hiding in Wuxing County and dare not come out."

Lin Chong was also quite shocked after hearing this: "How could Fang La arrive so quickly? Most of his rebels are mountain dwellers with no war horses. To come from Tonglu, they must first capture Fuchun. After passing Fuchun, they must go around Hangzhou. How can they travel in just a few days?"

Li Jun: "According to my inquiries, several nearby towns that have surrendered to the bandits were organized by local tyrants such as former private merchants and salt dealers. Some of them are former subordinates of Lu Xing'er of the 'Giant Whale Gang'.

In the battle of Zhenjiang last year, Shi Sheng died at the hands of the young marquis, and Lu Xing'er died at the hands of Commander Yang, but their remnants were not completely wiped out, especially the pirates who remained in Wuxing, who elected a new leader after Lu Xing'er's death.

I heard that in the past two days, Fang La sent a small group of scouts to Wuxing to investigate, and as a result, the local pirate leaders volunteered to join him. I heard that Fang La even gave them official positions and made generals of those small pirate leaders!"

"A small-time pirate leader was promoted to general? He is really a dog pretending to be a man." Lin Chong couldn't help but sigh. The official positions of Fang La were demoted too much.

Lin Chong had read a little and knew a little about history, so he couldn't help but make such an evaluation.

Li Jun echoed his view, further explaining that Fang La did not seem to have established a civil service system at this point. He had only proclaimed himself the Holy Duke and appointed several relatives as prime ministers and privy councilors, effectively establishing a civil service system at the core level.

There were no civil servants at the local level. All the conquered counties and prefectures were controlled by "generals" at all levels. I don't know whether the generals were divided into six or eight levels. In short, there were many generals. Any small leader who came to surrender would be a general.

"Fang La's main force hasn't reached Wuxing yet. He's only sent a small group of scouts acting as envoys to recruit the local pirates... So, the timing is right. It wouldn't take more than two days for a small group of cavalry to come around Fuchun."

After Lin Chong and the others' final analysis, they confirmed that what Li Jun said was reasonable. The reason Fang La spread so quickly was not because the rebel infantry marched quickly, but because local militias in every place spontaneously responded to Fang La's call and raised their flags on the spot.

After confirming that Fang La's followers were nearby, Lin Chong decided to be cautious and try to avoid the local pirates who had just surrendered to Fang La to avoid conflict.

However, his decision aroused Li Jun's objection.

Li Jun suddenly had an idea and said, "Marquis Lin Yu, actually... I have an idea. Maybe I can take advantage of this opportunity to make a contribution. It can also be considered a great gift to the young marquis."

Lin Chong: "Tell me about it."

Li Jun: "To be honest, a year and a half ago, in April or May of last year, I was also a pirate. I was originally just a private merchant on the Yangtze River, dodging inspections and doing small business to evade commercial taxes. However, Shi Sheng and Lu Xing'er bewitched our leader and we conspired to rob the flower and stone transport being transported by the young marquis and Commander Yang.

Later, the young marquis schemed to defeat us and even killed Shi Sheng and Lu Xing'er. It was only by chance that I was able to turn from the dark side to the light side. So... I actually knew several of Lu Xing'er's leaders.

We just went ashore to investigate, and we were able to gather information so quickly because we captured someone we knew and even found out the location of their water stronghold. If Brother Lin is willing, we can even find out who the Fang La envoy is who is trying to pacify them, and then pretend to be the pirates we defeated last year and have just found them and come to them for help.

If we then seize the opportunity to assassinate Fang La's envoy and force his bandits to surrender, who knows, we might even achieve a feat like Ban Chao's killing of the Xiongnu envoy and forcing the King of Shanshan to surrender. Furthermore, if this strategy succeeds, we won't have to hide anymore. We can settle down in Wuxing until the young marquis is released, and Zhu Zhen will have no chance of catching us again."

Li Jun had little education and didn't understand these historical allusions a year and a half ago. However, after following Zhao Zicheng, he provided them with a good learning environment. Even if they couldn't read, they could arrange for scholars to directly explain historical allusions to them and improve their knowledge.

Of course, the historical allusions that Zhao Zicheng asked people to teach must be valuable, positive, or beneficial to his rule and improving the loyalty of his subordinates.

At this moment, Li Jun quoted the allusion of Ban Chao killing the Hun envoy without going into the tiger's den, which was learned from Zhao Zicheng.

Lin Chong and Lu Da thought it made sense, but they were carrying other people, so Lin Chong didn't dare to take risks on his own. He went to the rear cabin and asked the young marquis's good friend, the young master of the Murong family.

"Master Murong, we've discussed a plan to escape by removing the fire from under the cauldron. We've just learned that Fang La has sent envoys to recruit the remaining local pirates in Wuxing. It just so happens that Brother Li Jun was acquainted with them last year, and it was only after that that he abandoned his evil ways and joined the young marquis. But the remaining local pirates don't know this. If we can have Brother Li Jun pretend to be one of them, he can easily infiltrate.

If we can kill their leader and Fang La's envoy, we might be able to seize control of a band of over a thousand pirates and bring them to the imperial court. However, this is a dangerous matter. We only have a few dozen of us, and you have women with you. I'm afraid to implicate you, so I'm hesitant to make a decision. If we give up, that's fine. At most, we can hide here and there on Taihu Lake for a few more days until the young marquis is released and the imperial decree punishing Zhu Zhen arrives. Then everything will be over."

Inside the cabin, several people from the Murong family discussed it. Although they were carrying female relatives, they were all courageous. Finally, Murong Yan deliberately raised her voice and imitated the man's voice to reply:
"Marquis Lin Yu, don't worry about us. I am quite skilled in martial arts and can protect mother and sister. Just go ahead and do your best.

Besides, your method is the best strategy to solve the problem from the root. Just relying on hiding here and there will inevitably lead to mistakes over time.

If you can truly accomplish something, you'll have a legitimate excuse when you return to Gusu: You encountered Wuxing pirates who defected to Fang La while patrolling the lake, so you came to intercept them. This would be a great achievement, no matter how you look at it."

Lin Chong was finally relieved and decided to join forces with Lu Da and Li Jun.

……

Because Li Jun had come into contact with local pirates when he went ashore for scouts before, and he also found out their identities and the location of their water strongholds. The other party treated him as one of their own and was not on guard at all.

Subsequent actions can be easily carried out.

Li Jun and his men first found the spot where they had encountered the Taihu Lake bandits. They ambushed and killed a dozen of them near the lake, leaving no witnesses alive. They then seized two small boats, cleaned them briefly, changed their cover, and headed straight for the Taihu Lake bandits' main stronghold.

The main camp of the Wuxing pirates was near Wucheng Town, which is roughly the area around the ancient town of Nanxun in Huzhou in later generations.

Until last year, this water fortress had been the manor of the local thief Lu Xing'er. A plaque reading "Guiyun Manor" hung at the entrance. This showed that the Lu family was a long-established and powerful clan in Huzhou, not just some rootless, temporary thief.

Now that Lu Xing'er has been dead for more than a year, this manor has been taken over by someone from another family and is now managed by the second-in-command of the local pirates.

The second in command's surname is Feng, but his full name is unknown. He is only known as Feng the Lame. When Li Jun and his men arrived at Guiyun Manor in a small boat, he directly and openly announced:

"Just say it's Li Jun from Lu'an who's visiting! I know your former Gang Leader Lu. It was during the battle in Zhenjiang last year when Gang Leader Lu was killed. I was also hunted down by those bastards and soldiers and have been recovering from my injuries ever since. I heard that Gang Leader Lu's former subordinates have found good places, so I came here specifically to join him!"

The pirate guarding the gate of Guiyun Villa immediately went in to report, and soon the new owner Feng Quezi really came out to greet him. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Li Jun, who had committed a crime with him last year.

Li Jun's fate was unknown to these people in the underworld. After he surrendered to Zhao Zicheng, he had always been very low-key and never used his original identity to show off.

"Isn't this Brother Li Jun? Last year, I thought you were just like Gang Leader Lu, murdered by corrupt officials. You're still alive? Where have you been for the past year?"

Li Jun lied calmly, "Last year, that corrupt official Zhao Zicheng, who later became famous, stabbed me with a sword and left me severely wounded. I drifted into the river and was thought to be dead, but I managed to drift back to shore and was rescued by fishermen. I survived and found a place to recuperate for a year or so. The day before yesterday, I heard that there was a future for Brother Feng here, so I came here to seek refuge. I didn't dare ask for a position, I just wanted to make a living."

Feng Quezi laughed heartily. "You're just in time! Brother Li Jun may not be a general, as he lacks men and horses, but with your martial arts and aquatic prowess, it shouldn't be difficult for you to earn the title of lieutenant. It's a coincidence that just two days ago, the Holy Lord took notice of me and sent someone to recruit us. I've now been granted the title of 'General Pinghu' by the Holy Lord! Hahahaha."

Li Jun felt amused when he heard this, thinking that he was illiterate and the title of general he chose was very inappropriate.

Just because he was a pirate by the Taihu Lake, he was called "Pinghu General" after he became a general?
But he still had to praise Feng Quezi for the sake of face, and asked indirectly who Fang La had sent to persuade him.

Feng Quezi was simple-minded and was about to show off, so he casually boasted, "The Holy Lord has sent the guardian Lü from the church to pacify us. Guardian Lü is the Holy Lord's confidant, so we must not neglect him when we meet him later."

The leading envoy sent by Fang La to pacify Huzhou and other areas was actually named Lü Jiang. He was considered one of the more accomplished of the bandits, both civil and military, and also had good eloquence. In this battle, Lü Jiang accompanied Fang La's brother Fang Fei. Fang Fei valued Lü Jiang's eloquence and sent him to Huzhou and other areas to investigate.

Originally in history, after Fang La started his rebellion, General Lu once advised him "not to be obsessed with Suzhou and Hangzhou, but to go north to block Zhenjiang, seize Nanjing, and divide the river with the dog emperor as soon as possible", but Fang La did not listen to him, so it did not cause much impact.

Because Fang La did not focus on seizing the Yangtze River defense line, when Tong Guan's extermination army arrived, it easily crossed the river from Yangzhou to Zhenjiang and deployed its forces in the south of the Yangtze River. As a result, Fang La's rule in the prosperous areas of the Suzhou and Hangzhou Plain was doomed to last only a few months.

However, Li Jun was not a time traveler, so he did not know the vision and ability of General Lu. In his opinion, this man named Lu was just a lobbyist who used his eloquence to win over local bandits for Fang La.

After a preliminary assessment of the opponent's situation, Li Jun secretly signaled to Lin Chong and Lu Da who were following behind him, and Lin Chong understood what he meant until Li Jun decided to instigate him to take action.

Feng Quezi hadn't paid much attention to these little movements, but he followed Li Jun's gaze and noticed the two burly men following behind him. They both looked quite skilled in martial arts, so he asked curiously, "Are these two brothers... Brother Li's subordinates? They should be quite skilled, right? What are their names?"

Li Jun quickly introduced them: "Oh, these two are heroes from Jiangbei. I was rescued last year after falling into the river. I met them. They can only be considered friends, not subordinates. This Brother Lin... Linghu is from Caozhou, Shandong. This Brother Wu is from Huaixi."

Feng Quezi nodded, not taking it personally. He simply said something polite, asking them to seize the opportunity and perform well in front of the Holy Archbishop's envoy. Then he arranged for the guests to rest and prepared wine and meat.

After Li Jun and his companions were temporarily relocated and out of the pirates' surveillance, Li Jun finally had the opportunity to speak privately with Lin Chong: "Lin Yuhou, are you confident about this? Should we take action or just let it go? Since my identity hasn't been exposed, if you want to stop, I can find an excuse to escape unscathed."

Lin Chong glanced at Lu Da. They only brought a few people this time. Li Jun's martial arts were okay, so the key depended on Lin Chong himself and Lu Da.

This group of pirates probably has more than a thousand people in total, but there are only a few hundred people in this water fort, and there are also many scouts patrolling on the lake outside. It is impossible for them to gather together.

Lin Chong: "Brother, I've seen this village, and I think there are at most three hundred people, plus a few small leaders. I just don't know how skilled those leaders are in martial arts. Brother, do you think we can win if we join forces?"

Lu Da touched his nose and said, "If it's a surprise attack, you and I can each kill one of the bandit leaders right away, creating chaos. The remaining followers won't be worth worrying about. I'm afraid the surprise attack won't succeed, and the bandits haven't lost their courage yet, so it's hard to say what will happen."

Lin Chong hesitated for a moment, then recalled his previous successful battle against Wang Lun. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Young Marquis, you have the people of the world in your heart, and you have been so kind to us. Now Zhu Jie is causing chaos within, and Fang La is causing chaos without. If we can't cut the Gordian knot quickly, how can we break free and achieve success?"

Let's just give it one more try. At worst, after we succeed, we can try to frighten the other bandits. We don't seek to subdue them all, but as long as the pirates who are not in the camp don't dare to counterattack the main camp, that's all. Those remaining bandits who want to go to Fuchun to join Fang La, let them go."

Lin Chong's plan was relatively cautious. He knew he had only brought a dozen or so men with him, and including those left behind on the larger ship, there were only a few dozen in total. He knew it was impossible to control over a thousand pirates and force them to surrender to the government.

The best outcome would be to control the 300 people in the village and let the rest disperse on their own. Even so, he had to ensure that each of his own men could control ten people, which was already very difficult.

This was different from when he killed Wang Lun in Liangshan. When he killed Wang Lun, Lin Chong had been friends with Du Qian, Song Wan, and Zhu Gui for many days, and those people also obeyed him, so as long as Wang Lun was killed, the others would not resist.

Today, the pirates in Guiyun Manor only knew one outsider, Li Jun, and were unaware that he had joined the government army. Without any public support, it was impossible to control the situation and subjugate everyone.

Even if we take a step back, it means that Lin Chong had already killed Wang Lun once and had experience in this area. Otherwise, if it were someone else, they would hardly dare to take this chance.

……

More than half an hour later, it was almost time for dinner. The owner of the manor, Feng Quezi, must have explained the situation to Fang La's special envoy, General Lu, who was willing to come out in person to have a few drinks with Li Jun and others, and at the same time appease them and announce Fang La's benevolent policies, so that these heroes would also join Fang La.

"The Holy Lord is a man of great talent and strategy, with unparalleled martial arts skills and a benevolent heart. He will surely achieve great things! Now that you have taken the initiative to abandon the dark and join the light, as long as you work hard to kill the corrupt officials, are you afraid that you can't become a general? Come, drink, drink, drink!"

Fang La's special envoy, General Lu, said this after drinking a cup with Lin Chong.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for your insight! Thank you, Your Excellency, for your promotion!" Lin Chong bowed his head, taking the opportunity to conceal his facial expression. General Lu, not suspecting anything, also pretended to be respectful and helpful.

When Lin Chong looked up again, he had already pulled an extremely sharp short knife from his sleeve and thrust it forward, piercing Lü Jiang's heart. Then he pulled it upwards, leaving a horrific wound half a foot long and deep into his heart and lungs. The upper edge of the wound had already approached his throat, almost severing his entire trachea.

A rain of blood gushed out instantly, and Fang La's special envoy, General Lu, died on the spot without even having time to make a sound. He was deader than dead.

They were not allowed to bring long weapons to the banquet, so Lin Chong could only use the short knife in his sleeve.

At the same moment when Lin Chong made his move, Lu Da, who was standing by, picked up the bench behind him that he was about to sit on, swung it and hit Feng Quezi, the leader of the pirate camp, on the forehead.

Feng Quezi was still in shock and was unable to react in time, so he was hit hard on the head by the bench.

Although the bench wasn't sturdy, being made of ordinary wood, Lu Da swung it with all his might, and the moment it hit Feng Quezi's forehead, it instantly shattered into pieces. But Feng Quezi's forehead couldn't withstand the immense force, and it was smashed directly into his chest like a bursting watermelon.

In a split second, Lin Chong and Lu Da cooperated skillfully and killed Fang La's envoy and the leader of the pirate camp in seconds. Although there were still a few small leaders and two or three hundred bandits in Guiyun Villa, they had lost their momentum and were like headless flies, not knowing what to do.

Li Jun also took the opportunity to target a bandit soldier holding a knife who was guarding nearby, knocked him down, snatched the knife and killed him. After a few more moves, he killed two more people. Lin Chong and Lu Da took the opportunity to pick up the weapons of the slain minions, and regardless of whether they were handy or not, they blocked and attacked randomly while shouting:
"Zhao Zicheng of Gusu has come to suppress the bandits! Those who surrender to the imperial court will not be killed! Laying down your weapons will be considered as surrender!"

The bandits lost their leader and were killed indiscriminately. Dozens of them were killed or injured. Finally, they were frightened and surrendered one after another.

"Are you sent by Prince Zhao from Suzhou, the man who asked the government to abolish the Flower and Stone Project?! I... we surrender!"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Zicheng's reputation was quite popular among the Taihu pirates. Especially in the past month, Zhao Zicheng's case of requesting the abolition of the Flower and Stone Gang had caused a great deal of turmoil, and the people of Jiangnan, both good and evil, had almost known about it.

Even the pirates knew the name of Zhao Zicheng and knew that although most officials in the Song Dynasty were useless, Prince Zhao was definitely a good official.

After all, even Fang La's rebellious slogans emphasized that "the emperor is incompetent and will never adopt Zhao Zicheng's suggestion to depose Zhu Jie," warning everyone not to harbor any illusions. Fang La had no choice but to use this propaganda to strengthen the people's resolve to rebel, but by saying this, he was also effectively promoting Zhao Zicheng's propaganda.

In addition, these pirates have not been with Fang La for long. They were only brought here by the village chief two days ago and are not yet accustomed to their new identities, so it doesn't matter if they surrender again.

These bandits have never been educated and cannot tell the difference between ordinary royal family members and princes.

They thought that since his surname was Zhao and he was a relative of the emperor, he must be a prince.

Lin Chong, Lu Da and Li Jun worked together and finally took control of the situation in the water stronghold and subdued more than 200 bandits.

Dozens of thieves took advantage of the chaos to escape from the village and scattered to inform the brothers who were patrolling outside Taihu Lake, telling them about the changes in the village.

After hearing the news, some of the pirates might be willing to surrender, but most of them would definitely be leaderless and fight on their own.

For a time, the entire eastern part of Taihu Lake was in chaos.

Just like at Liangshan Lake a year earlier, Lin Chong successfully attacked the Guiyun Manor Water Stronghold. After he had the situation under control, he ordered Li Jun to quickly retrieve Murong's family, whom the young marquis had instructed to protect, and bring them here to their safety, so as to avoid further days of tossing and turning on Taihu Lake.

At the same time, Lin Chong also made a rule with Li Jun: for the next few days, keep the troops in place for the time being and do not publicly announce that this place is under the control of the court again. If they continue to adopt ambiguous tactics and do not withdraw Fang La's banner, Zhu Zhen's people will not dare to come here to search and arrest people.

This bastard Zhu Zhen only dared to go against the loyal ministers of the court, and would not dare to go against the rebels.

This is like a game of chess, where mice defeat elephants, but any beast other than elephants can easily defeat mice, and Zhu Jie is that mouse.

……

"...Mother, sister, I've already inquired with Lin Yuhou, and this is exactly what happened. This is how they seized Guiyun Manor."

After the Murong family settled in the manor, Murong Yan quickly found out the situation and then came back to update her sister and mother.

"Marquis Lin Yu is indeed very brave and decisive. Thanks to Captain Li's ability to adapt to changing circumstances, Brother Zhao will be able to successfully quell the rebellion with his help." After hearing this, Murong Qiu sighed with genuine joy.

Duan Yuyan also nodded maturely, secretly happy that the Murong family finally had good vision and found a very promising backer.

"Sister, let's stay here for a few days and send someone to gather information. When Brother Zhao is released, we will go back and meet up again." Murong Yan was already impressed by her sister's insight and resourcefulness. She had gotten used to listening to her sister's plans and instructions these days.

Murong Qiu pondered for a long time, then said with a mixture of caution and hope, "The safest approach is naturally to hide here until Brother Zhao is released from prison and Zhu Jie falls. However, we also need to learn more about the situation and adapt accordingly. Who knows if Fang La will become enraged and quickly organize a counterattack? Is it possible that Zhu Jie will ignore Fang La and attack directly here?"

Murong Qiu and Duan Yuyan thought about it and agreed that this was a good idea. They would have to wait and see how the situation develops in the final few days before making a decision. The darkest moment before dawn, the more they couldn't relax.

So, the entire Murong family stayed in Guiyun Villa for a day and did not take any action for the time being.

The next day, the scouts sent out by Li Jun indeed found out the latest situation and came back to report:
"We've learned that of the pirates who were dispersed yesterday, only a few small boats and a few dozen soldiers have surrendered to the government troops, requesting their surrender. The rest have mostly dispersed, with no further activity. Zhu Jie's fleet continues to approach and search eastward. A few of the bandits who fled yesterday must have encountered Zhu Jie's garrison troops, but their fate is unknown."

These reports were not first-hand descriptions from the scouts, but intelligence that had been collated and summarized by Li Jun.

Li Jun did not dare to act on his own, so he asked someone to "copy" a copy to the back house of Zhuangzi, so that the people of Murong's family could also study it together.

The intelligence was not sufficient. After reading it, the Murong sisters could only conclude that "Zhu Jie did not give in and continued to move eastward."

Murong Yan didn't understand, so she asked her sister why.

Murong Qiu pondered for a long time, then exchanged glances with his mother before he said with some certainty, "The pirates who fled yesterday probably didn't know what had happened in Guiyun Manor.

We haven't raised our flag yet, and these pirates might think that there was a fight between the former pirate leader and Fang La's envoy.

Zhu Zhen's navy, after making contact with the fleeing pirates, advanced instead of retreating. This likely indicates he knew something was amiss within the group. He was trying to exploit the weaker forces, or perhaps take advantage of the situation to do something of his own accord. It seems likely that Zhu Zhen personally urged the Suzhou naval forces to attack, attempting to locate us, Lin Yuhou, and Lu Dutou.

Murong Yan couldn't help but look bitter after hearing this. "What should we do? So, our fight has only made Zhu Zhen even more rampant?"

Murong Qiu thought for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Zhu Jie is so arrogant, he will definitely dare to kill us directly at Guiyun Manor and destroy the land. If we dare not resist, we will definitely be defeated.

Fortunately, we haven't officially revealed our flag yet, so we'll continue to use Fang La's flag. If Zhu Jie dares to come, we'll just go all out and either break through or seize the opportunity to take Zhu Jie directly! Of course, it would be best if he doesn't come."

No one objected to this suggestion, and after discussing it with Lin Chong, Lin Chong also thought it was feasible, so it was decided to continue as it was for the next few days and not to raise the flag of the official army.

If we raise the flag of the government army and meet Zhu Zhen again, we will not be able to break out with justification.

……

Perhaps it is just like Murphy's Law: the more you worry about something that is unlikely to happen, the more likely it is to happen.

Sisters Murong Qiu and Murong Yan anticipated that Zhu Jie might be aggressive and take advantage of the weak, and in the end, Zhu Jie actually did so.

He learned that there was a fight between the pirates of Guiyun Villa in Wuxing and Fang La's men. He led the navy to search Taihu Lake for two days but could not find the escaped Lin Chong and the Murong family. His last hope in his heart made him more and more suspicious whether these people had also temporarily sought refuge with Fang La.

Otherwise, if they stayed in the government's actual control area, there was no reason why they couldn't be found. When they left Dongshan Water Stronghold that day, Yang Zhi's soldiers made it clear that Linghu Yuhou was taking the warships to search for the pirates.

If he took a step back, he would be completely controlled by Zhao Zicheng from then on, with no possibility of turning things around. Once the imperial edict arrived, he would be finished.

Going a step further, if he really got evidence of Zhao Zicheng's collusion with Fang La, even if it was just groundless evidence of a false accusation, he could turn the situation around in an instant.

This is the difference between one step to heaven and one step to hell. With such huge profits, Zhu Zhen himself could not care less about caution and could only personally supervise the army and put all his efforts into it. Because he knew that at this juncture, it was useless to rely on anyone else, and he had to supervise the army himself.

If he expected the commander to give his all without personally keeping an eye on it, then given the commander's despicable character, he would definitely wait and see and slack off for a few days, wandering around Taihu Lake. When he returned, he would see that the imperial edict from the court had arrived and Zhu Zhen had lost power.

Zhu Jie's power is now limited in time. If it expires at any time, the people below him will no longer be afraid of him, so he must personally supervise on the front line.

After advancing slowly for half a day, the Suzhou wing army navy was finally forced by Zhu Zhen to approach Guiyun Villa.

"I heard that Fang La's envoys are inside. Maybe there are local bandits and other villains colluding with them. Everything will be clear once we break in!" Zhu Jie finally made up his mind and planned to attack the village.

Dong Chao, the militia commander, had no choice but to prepare for a strong attack.

However, the bandits in the water fort did not seem to intend to engage in a head-on battle with Zhu Zhen.

Dong Chao had just made preparations and launched one or two tentative attacks. When it was getting dark, a fire was suddenly set in the village. Then, ships of all sizes fled and went into the various harbors, probably intending to break out.

"The bandits and Fang La are trying to break up the whole group! Stop them quickly! We will definitely catch Fang La's envoy or Zhao Zicheng's followers! If we catch any of them, we can kill Zhao Zicheng! If we catch Zhao Zicheng's men, we will say that he came to contact Fang La! If we only catch Fang La's men, we will torture them into confessing that he came to contact Zhao Zicheng!"

Until this moment, Zhu Zhen was still thinking about internal strife, and had no intention of suppressing bandits for the country.

Dong Chao's troops were originally deployed to storm the water fort, but now they suddenly had to adjust their deployment and turn it into a siege and interception. Chaos was inevitable for a while, and the troops became more dispersed.

Countless inferior warships of the Xiang army were deployed in a disorderly manner, casting nets to intercept, but it was already dark and the visibility on the lake was unclear, so many warships were deployed like headless flies.

Fortunately, Zhu Zhen felt that the enemy had set fire to the village and abandoned it, and must have collapsed, so he was not afraid that his side would become disorganized during the pursuit, because the enemy no longer had the ability to fight back.

In the dark night, Zhu Jie's navy scattered in all directions and did not notice that in the chaos, there was a ship that did not belong to them, but looked like a government warship, and was gradually approaching Zhu Jie's ship.

……

"My beloved concubine, are you lying to me? You've been saying you're going on tour these past few days, but why are you all so rushed? And there's still chaos in the middle of the night!"

On the Murong family's boat, a crazy handsome uncle who was obviously dressed beyond the standard was scolding Duan Yuyan impatiently.

This man turned out to be Murong Qiu and Murong Yan's father, Duan Yuyan's husband, a madman. For days, this fifty-year-old man had been constantly coaxed into relocating by his wife and daughter, never interacting with outsiders. But he was growing tired of the constant relocation. Especially after witnessing the battle on Lake Taihu tonight, it further stimulated his memories and exacerbated his madness.

Duan Yuyan had already taken care of the emotional value of a madman enough these days, so she could only continue to make up stories in private:
"At this point, I dare not lie. There is indeed a rebel who is rebelling and trying to seize our country. The rebel's name is Fang La. He raised an army in western Zhejiang and is about to attack Gusu. None of the generals can stop him, so they are fleeing north. Look, those warships in the distance are the rebel Fang La's pursuers."

When the old madman heard this, his temper, which had not been angry or violent for nearly thirty years, seemed to be suddenly activated. He ran to the side of the ship and stared at the warship in the distance.

"So the rebels who want to seize the country are right there! Come over, even a small sampan will do! The world has been peaceful for so many years, and yet there are rebels again!"

Duan Yuyan and the Murong sisters did not expect such an emergency. They had originally planned that even if they encountered an obstacle during the breakout, they would have to rely on Lin Chong and others to take action.

But it now seemed impossible to stop them, and various unexpected situations kept occurring during the breakout. Lin Chong and Lu Da weren't great swimmers to begin with. They'd easily carried out a surprise attack inland at Guiyun Manor the day before, killing the pirate leaders and Fang La's envoys. But now, on the turbulent Taihu Lake, Lin Chong and Lu Da couldn't even use half of their martial arts, leaving them relying solely on the skilled waterman Li Jun to lead the charge.

Along the way, they split up into small groups, some under the banner of Fang La, some sneaking through secretly, and fought several waves of government troops. Seeing the critical situation, Duan Yuyan stopped trying to stop them.

"Sister Bi, you row the boat and clear the way for your husband! If he insists on going, then let him go!"

Duan Yuyan gave the order, and one of her husband's concubines, a few years older than her, in her late fifties, immediately carried out the order. A small boat, rowed by a boatwoman, quickly approached Zhu Jie's boat. Although they didn't know it was Zhu Jie's boat at the moment, they saw that the enemy ship's lights were very conspicuous, and it was obviously the highest-end among the surrounding lake.

Zhu Zhen's personal guards on the boat were not alert. It was dark, and since it was a small boat approaching, they didn't notice it until it was very close, and then they shouted and asked.

The old madman on the small boat didn't waste any time. He jumped several feet onto the big ship, drew his sword, and rushed into the cabin with great force.

"Rebels will die!"

"How dare you...ah..." Before Zhu Jie could finish his curse, he covered his throat and was killed by a sword piercing his throat.

Dozens of personal guards around Zhu Jie rushed forward with weapons in an attempt to protect their master, but in the end they were all parried and repelled by the long sword of the intruder in mysterious and strange ways.

The weapons bounced back and struck the blade holders themselves. Dozens of guards were eventually killed by their own blades, leaving no one alive.

There were two warships controlled by Zhu Jie's confidants nearby. They seemed to have noticed the unusual situation here and tried to come over to rescue, but in the end they were all killed one by one by this old madman, and no one survived.

After completing all this, the old madman finally breathed a sigh of relief, "The traitor Fang La! Nothing more than that. The world can finally be at peace again. Let's go!"

His concubine did not dare to neglect it, but still followed the instructions of her mistress before she came. She picked up a piece of the dead man's clothes that had been torn off, secretly dipped it in blood and wrote a few large, ferocious characters on the cabin wall to cover up her mistake.

"The Holy Lord executed the thief Zhu here."

Finally, he also threw a token of trust that he had obtained when he fought against Fang La's special envoy Lu Jiang the day before on the ship, and also threw away several other physical evidence with the imprint of Fang La's followers.

After all this, they paddled back to reunite. The old madman, having killed three boatloads of people, felt refreshed and quickly fell asleep. Duan Yuyan and the Murong sisters, however, still had to deal with the aftermath. They temporarily changed their own ship to Fang La's flag—a flag they had also stolen from General Lu.

They had to fly Fang La's banner to ensure they broke out and that there was no one around before they could switch back to the government army's banner.

In this way, if a warship under Zhu Jie discovered this "Fang La's ship" in the dark night, it would also provide some circumstantial evidence for the judgment that "Zhu Jie was chasing Fang La, but was killed by Fang La's generals and pirates."

-

PS: I'm going crazy. I want to practice and break through myself and write some unexpected plots. My writing used to be too steady and there were no surprises.

But as I was writing, I found that it was messy and bizarre, and it was difficult to break it up, because once it was broken or left overnight, it might lead to the opposite understanding.

In the end, I wrote 11,000 words in a confused manner... Let it be, although it is a bit weird, but at least there will be no misunderstanding, alas.

This is an experimental work, nothing much to say, so leave it as it is.

(End of this chapter)