Di Ming

Chapter 61 Ghost Festival
"You still know it's me, General."

The veteran spoke indifferently, removing his face armor to reveal a rugged and stern face, as if sculpted from stone.

Upon seeing the familiar face of his enemy, Shi Yongzhen was filled with hatred and fear. He lost all hope and collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.

"General Qi, I am old and humble. For the sake of our old friendship, I beg you to show leniency and grant me this favor."

"Waaah...hoho..."

Shi Yongzhen was in tears, trembling all over, crying like a three-year-old child who had lost the protection of his parents.

At this moment, he had no idea of ​​Buddha's blessing, even though the Buddha statue was right behind him, even though he called himself the Flower Buddha.

He became a monk at the age of ten, and it has been exactly fifty years since then, yet he is less of a believer in Buddha than anyone else.

Qi Jiguang looked down at this so-called old friend from his high vantage point, his killing intent as firm as iron.

This person is indeed an old acquaintance.

But old friends and enemies are only a stroke of the pen, only a knife!

When he first came to Zhejiang to train troops, he wrote a document to Haitian Temple, asking this famous wealthy man from Haiyan County to donate a sum of money for the army.

The results of it?
Shi Yongzhen actually relied on the protection of the Buddhist family to say that the temple had no money and would not give away a single penny.

He had no choice but to personally visit the man to ask for help. The man spoke fluently of Buddhist scriptures and teachings, only saying that monks do not concern themselves with worldly affairs and have no surplus wealth. He only wished to send thirty-six monks to perform rituals for the fallen soldiers.

If that's the case, that's it.

He cannot kill someone just because they refuse to donate.

But later, this evil monk actually colluded with the Japanese pirates and even harbored them in the temple.

That is seeking death.

"You are utterly wicked, yet you lived to be sixty. It is truly an injustice of Heaven." Every word Qi Jiguang spoke was chilling.

"Commander Qi!" Shi Yongzhen raised his old face, which was extremely lewd due to excessive drinking and womanizing. "This humble monk still has three thousand taels of silver, which I am willing to offer to Commander Qi. I hope Commander Qi will be merciful."

"Only three thousand taels?" Qi Jiguang was somewhat surprised.

Shi Yongzhen is known for his immense wealth; even when he fled to the sea, he took a lot of gold and silver with him.

How come there are only three thousand taels left? We couldn't spend it all in all these years.

Knowing that Qi Jiguang wouldn't believe him, Shi Yongzhen had no choice but to explain in order to save his life:

"In order to return to Haitian Temple and reclaim the temple property, this humble monk has spent over ten thousand taels of silver bribing various officials. I am truly out of money."

At this point, his resentment towards Qi Jiguang intensified.

His money wasn't wasted. At the end of last month, someone on land informed him that the matter was about to be completed, and someone would impeach Qi Jiguang for framing and slandering him, and for personal revenge.

As long as he becomes the victim of a false accusation, even if the imperial court stops pursuing Qi Jiguang, he can return to Haitian Temple and make a comeback.

This matter is practically a done deal. By October at the latest, he will be able to swagger back to Haitian Temple and resume his position as the Chief Monk.

But when that damned Qi Yuanjing arrived, everything was over!

……

Zhu Yin, on the boat, was not nervous at all, and leisurely used the fishing rod of a human trafficker to fish at the bow of the boat.

I plan to catch a few fish so that Jin Yunniang can braise them to celebrate my adoptive father's success.

"It's on the hook!" Zhu Yin swung the fishing rod hard, and a large, silvery ribbonfish slammed onto the deck with a "thud," struggling and shaking its head and tail.

But after struggling for a few moments, it stopped moving.

Zhu Yin couldn't help but swallow hard; the fresh East China Sea ribbonfish smelled amazing!

"Your Majesty is mighty!" Kangxi rushed over, removed the fishing hook, and re-baited it.

Kangxi and Qianlong, on the other hand, happily grabbed a large ribbonfish and squatted on the deck to scrape its scales and remove its gills.

Jin Yunniang, who often cooked on the boat, also lit a fire with a fire knife and mugwort, and began to heat oil in the iron pot.

Seasonings such as ginger, garlic, salt, soy sauce, Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, and star anise were naturally prepared long ago.

We're just waiting for the fish to go into the pot.

Ning Caiwei stood on tiptoe, stretching her swan-like neck, gazing longingly at the island.

"There are no more shouts of battle, and no more gunfire." Ning Caiwei frowned slightly. "But why haven't my godfather and the others returned yet?"

No one answered her words.

She turned her head and saw the little man sitting on a stool, fishing for the sea with great interest.

The people around were either tending the fire, washing the fish, or holding their children, and they all seemed completely unaffected.

Is she the only one who's worried?
Am I Qi Shaobao's biological daughter?

Ning Caiwei looked at Zhu Yin's composed and dignified demeanor and couldn't help but step forward to touch his hair bun. Just as she was about to speak, the little man made a shushing gesture.

Then, with a joyful expression, he cast the fishing rod again.

With a "thud," another large yellow croaker fell onto the deck, wriggling and struggling.

"Your Majesty is truly remarkable!" Kangxi said with admiration.

Zhu Yin chuckled in a clear, childlike voice, "Kangxi, I didn't know you liked to flatter."

Ning Caiwei was a little flustered, but she tried to speak gently: "Zhihu, our godfather and the others have been on the island for half a day and haven't returned yet. There's not a sound. Could it be... what if?"

"You're overthinking it." Zhu Yin shook his head dismissively, casting his line again as if nothing had happened. "I'm destined to be a worrier and a worrywart."

"Have you heard of Yu Long Qi Hu? It refers to individual martial arts prowess. My godfather and Yu Dayou were two equally renowned martial arts masters in the Ming Dynasty."

"The martial arts of Shaolin Temple were taught by Professor Yu Dayou. Old Yu is the patriarch of Shaolin Kung Fu."

"Yu Dayou's Sword Classic is a classic of martial arts, and his adoptive father's Fist Classic and Xinyou Knife Method are also martial arts classics, no less than Yu Dayou's."

"Although my godfather is already fifty-nine years old, he has recovered from pneumonia. Aren't these pirates just like chickens and dogs?"

"If I'm not mistaken, my godfather is interrogating the bandit leader and taking inventory of the stolen goods. He'll be returning in triumph soon."

Just then, a scream filled with resentment and bitterness suddenly came from the island.

Hearing the scream, Ning Caiwei felt relieved.

The voice sounded unfamiliar to her; it didn't belong to any of the four people.

Before long, Qi Jiguang, a tall man in full armor, appeared and strode towards the sea.

Lancha and the other two were carrying boxes, which were clearly filled with gold and silver.

Only then did Ning Caiwei feel completely relieved.

"Father!" Ning Caiwei waved her little hand. "How is Father?"

"I'm perfectly fine!" Qi Jiguang nimbly boarded the boat. "It smells delicious! Braised ribbonfish? Not bad! I've returned just in time."

As they were talking, Lancha and the others carried boxes onto the ship. When they opened them, they found they were full of gleaming silver.

"Father." Zhu Yin then put away his fishing rod, stepped forward to greet him, and smiled:
"Father is old but still strong, one against a hundred. The pirates are no match for him. Consider this a good chance to loosen up his muscles."

Emperors Kangxi and Kangxi quickly stepped forward to help the old general remove his armor.

Qi Jiguang said, "They are indeed a tough opponent. They are far inferior to the Japanese pirates. Their martial arts skills and courage are incomparable."

He sat down on the stool and pointed to the box. “That evil monk only had a little over three thousand taels of savings left, but he spent over ten thousand taels of silver to bribe various government officials in order to return to Haitian Temple.”

"It was really his bad luck; he ran into me before he even had a chance to return to the mainland."

Zhu Yin asked, "He's still screaming, he's not dead?"

Qi Jiguang nodded and sneered, "I'm too lazy to do anything to him. I'll just castrate him with one stroke and then cut him in half at the waist. It'll only take two strokes, he won't die anytime soon."

"These three thousand taels of silver aren't a huge find. But I did find a stack of letters, which might be useful."

Zhu Yin had already seen the stack of letters.

Judging from the envelope, it's quite old; it must have been correspondence between Shi Yongzhen and those high-ranking officials when he was still at Haitian Temple.

At that time, his crime of colluding with the Japanese had not yet been exposed, and he was still a wealthy man with "profound Buddhist teachings," so various forces were naturally willing to communicate with him.

The fact that Shi Yongzhen has kept these secret letters from his deceased friends to this day is certainly suspicious.

Zhu Yin casually opened a few letters and his expression immediately became quite interesting.

The letter also contained Shi Yongzhen's notes.

Two of the letters contained the following notes:
"Lin Shanjian, the former magistrate of Haiyan County, accepted bribes three times, totaling three thousand taels of silver. He also received two beautiful women, whom he kept in Xiyunfang, and they had an illegitimate son, Lin Mao. He has now been promoted to Zhejiang Provincial Councilor..."

"Formerly the Assistant Magistrate of Songjiang... has now been promoted to Minister of War in Nanjing and Garrison Advisor in Nanjing..."

Zhu Yin counted them; there were more than a dozen letters. The writers were not high-ranking officials back then, but now they are either high-ranking officials or prominent figures.

In addition to incumbent civil and military officials, there were also Ningbo merchants, Huizhou merchants, and leaders of Jianghu (江湖, a term referring to secret societies or gangs) suspected of colluding with Japanese pirates.

It even involves the current Prince of Huai, Zhu Zaijian!

Back then, Zhu Zaijian was not the heir apparent of the Prince of Huai, but just an unfortunate younger brother who was frustrated and suppressed by the heir apparent, so he had dealings with Shi Yongzhen.

But now, Zhu Zaijian has had a stroke of good luck, inheriting the throne of the Prince of Huai because his brother had no son.

As for his weakness, it was that he requested Indian tiger and wolf medicine in the letter and asked Shi Yongzhen to sell large quantities of contraband goods to Japanese pirates.

In the letter, he also lavishly praised the Yan faction and asked Shi Yongzhen to bribe Yan Song on his behalf in order to plan the replacement of the crown prince.

Whether it's the Minister of Transport or collusion with the Japanese, once it's exposed, his brothers won't let him off the hook.

These handwritten letters are impossible to fake unless they were written by someone else. Since Shi Yongzhen kept them with him, they must all be handwritten letters that can serve as evidence of his handwriting.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have stayed in the present and made such careful notes.

Qi Jiguang said, "These letters are sufficient evidence of crimes, but they are also a hot potato. They can be used to blackmail others, but they may also harm oneself."

"I originally intended to burn them all to the ground so you wouldn't see them. But the officialdom is treacherous, and if you want to pursue a career in government, these letters might be a surprise weapon."

Zhu Yin held the letter tightly, his little face serious as he said:

"Don't worry, Godfather. I'm not a three-year-old anymore. I know what's important. I will keep these letters safe and never let anyone else see them."

Qi Jiguang nodded, "We've also uncovered something else, which is extremely urgent."

"Most of the pirates on this island originally went to attack Ding Huogen on Daishan Island. The mastermind was Matsuura Tadanobu of the Matsuura family."

"Today is the Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell are open. The Japanese pirates are threatening to send Ding Huogen to the gates of hell tonight!"

As Qi Jiguang spoke, his tiger-like eyes gleamed with a fierce power, and his tone carried a metallic quality:
"Very well. Let's see who goes to the gates of hell tonight!"

(End of this chapter)