Fairy, I really am a villain!

After being persuaded by his words, before she had time to explain, her house was robbed again, and she hurried back to protect her property.

Are these people stupid?

Not really. Anyone who knows their livelihood is going to be cut off would at least struggle - but in the end, nothing is accomplished and they are even played around with unscrupulously.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Cao Gang did not give him a chance to explain or wake up, and directly launched a backup plan, setting fire to the boatmen's lifeline.

By tomorrow, they will most likely throw the dirty water directly on the court, saying that they intentionally concealed the truth and deliberately complicated things, dragging the boatmen here so that they can burn the boats.

"There's nothing we can do." Even Fang Xiwen couldn't help but sigh.

Even if he could stop similar things ten or a hundred times, he still couldn't defy the blindness of the crowd - although he could suppress it with personal force - but that would be meaningless.

"There is an old saying that goes 'People can be made to follow a principle, but they cannot be made to know it.' I wonder if you have heard of it, Third Master?"

At some point, Xue Ruyu had walked up to his side with a subtle expression on his face.

I knew it, no matter how well-planned you appear to be, there will always be times when you fail - seeing Master Wen San behave like this, he felt inexplicably refreshed.

"Yes," Fang Xiwen smiled, thinking of the old friend who had turned to ashes, "but there is another way to read this sentence. I wonder if Master Xue has heard of it?"

"Appreciate further details."

"It is 'If the people can be led, let them be; if they cannot be led, let them know.' If the people are good, let them be; if not, educate them. I prefer this kind of understanding."

Therefore, there is no point in suppressing it by force.

Hearing this, Xue Ruyu froze there, muttered a few words, and suddenly his eyes widened. He wanted to say something, but the other party had already walked away.

The crowd had almost dispersed at this time, but there were still quite a few people standing scattered on the pier.

Arriving in front of an acquaintance, Fang Xiwen looked him up and down for a while, and asked softly: "Dazhu, why are you here too?"

"Third Master!"

With a thud, Liu Dazhu knelt down in front of him, kowtowed three times, and cried, "Please save me! My daughter, Xiaoting, has been captured by them!!"

Chapter 430: The Wandering Sword and the Accidental Strike

Boom boom boom!

The kowtow was silent, but to Xue Ruyu it sounded like thunder: Chang Jian had just asked a question not long ago, saying, "Is the prestige of the court not as good as that of a lowly merchant?"

As a result, in front of him, the canal worker did not ask for help from the Six Gates, but knelt down to Master Wen San instead.

But it's normal to think about it. After all, since the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty, it has adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards local sects. Perhaps the clan members can convince themselves internally that they are accumulating strength, but they cannot give an explanation to the outside world. It is normal that their reputation has fallen to the bottom.

Just when all kinds of thoughts came to his mind, Mr. Wen Sanye, who was not far away, immediately helped him up.

"Don't worry, I will help you." Fang Xiwen turned his head slightly and whispered, "Master Xue, this matter is not suitable for you to intervene."

Xue Ruyu was about to lose his temper when he heard this, but the next sentence stopped him.

Without saying anything, he saluted and left.

Arriving at a relatively secluded place, Fang Xiwen nodded slightly, indicating that Liu Dazhui could speak; in fact, he was somewhat confused when he saw that the latter had also participated in the riot.

After all, he didn't do anything extreme when his daughter was away, but he brought Xiaoting back and got involved. It turned out he had his own reasons.

"It's the Black Bear Hall! I knew they were going to attack me, so when I sailed on the ship, I took my daughter with me..."

For some reason, Liu Dazhu's crying voice was particularly hoarse at this time, "She has been unable to tolerate water since she was a child. She would vomit after floating on the boat for a while. As a result, I took her around for three days!"

Seeing this, Fang Xiwen nodded slightly.

He could imagine what the sensible little Douya would be like. Even if he suffered a lot, he would not say anything for fear of worrying the adults.

"My daughter was eating and vomiting on the boat, and her face turned pale. She lay on the ground and said, 'Dad, I'm fine!'"

"After asking her a few questions, I learned that she hadn't slept for three days. She was feeling sick and wanted to vomit! Third Master, I am such a beast, a beast!"

Pa pa pa, Liu Dazhu slapped his face hard, making both sides swollen.

"So, you brought Xiaoting ashore?"

"Yes, she really couldn't stand it if she continued to drift... When we got home, I entrusted her to a neighbor and went to Chun Shui Tang to buy medicine. In the time it took us to get there, the neighbor's house was also smashed!"

Grabbing his hair, Liu Dazhu knelt down again and cried:

"They arrested Xiao Ting and forced me to lead people to cause trouble. They also asked me to burn the government's boats, saying that only in this way can we be saved - but now I am almost being forced to death by the Cao Gang! Third Master!!"

With sobs lingering in his throat, he knelt down again and hugged the thighs of the person in front of him tightly. It was the first time Fang Xiwen saw a grown man collapse like this.

In fact, he could understand Liu Dazhui's behavior: although it would be all right to entrust Xiaoting to him, he couldn't always take care of the girl.

Besides, Cao Gong's situation might not necessarily get better after this period of time, and if Xiao Ting were to develop some spoiled bad habits in his home, the life of the father and daughter would be in vain.

Therefore, Liu Dazhu wanted to survive on his own. This idea itself was fine, but the external conditions were too harsh, and the Cao Gang was not a good person, so it turned out like this.

"If no one stops you, and you really set fire to the grain ship, not to mention Xiaoting, even your distant relatives will have to accompany you..." Shaking his head helplessly, Fang Xiwen helped him up again, "There is still hope now, don't be so pessimistic."

"Yes Yes!"

As a result, before he had taken a few steps, Liu Dazhu fell to his knees again and cried:

"If you can really find Xiao Ting, Third Master, you can take her away! It's impossible for her to be your concubine. She can do some rough work like washing feet. If you are interested, you can bring her back to see me when you have time..."

"Don't do this."

Everything made sense.

No wonder she didn’t dare to send her daughter to him for foster care. It turned out that she was worried about him, a “forty-something” man who still had no wife... Fang Xiwen once again deepened his understanding of his own image and sighed helplessly.

Finally, after helping Liu Dazhu up and comforting him for a few more words, Luo Qingni, who was dressed in men's clothes, flashed out from the side and asked seriously, "What should we do?"

She also heard the conversation just now. Although she wanted to kill those beasts with a sword, it would be better to listen to Xiwen's arrangements now.

"Well, let's split up into two groups. Xiaoqing, you go to the Black Bear Hall, and Dazhu and I will go to his neighbor's house. Keep in touch if anything happens."

"it is good!"

~~

After all the commotion, it was already before dawn, when the night was darkest.

There was no conversation along the way. Liu Dazhui, holding a torch in his hand, ran in front, and Fang Xiwen followed behind with her clothes lifted up. The sounds of two messy and hurried footsteps echoed in the alley.

In the distance, one could hear shrill cries coming from the burning dock, mostly from men - it seemed like only a few boats were burned - but in fact, the livelihoods of many families were destroyed.

"But it feels a bit strange." Fang Xiwen thought for a while and frowned.

Whether it was burning the grain ships or burning the boats of the canal workers, the intention was to create hatred for the imperial court and intensify the conflict so that the two groups would fight each other.

The ultimate goal is to make the matter bigger and make it impossible to build the ferry;

And because the troublemakers were all canal workers and boatmen, the canal gang had their hands clean, and the court had no legitimate reason to send troops - they couldn't just send a large army to kill all the civilians.

This might be feasible in a mortal dynasty, but it is not applicable to the Gao family who cultivates the power of humanity, so if this matter can be accomplished, all will be well.

However, as the inspector of Jiangzhou, Xue Ruyu, who had almost absolute say, tended to use gentle methods. Just like the commander-in-chief tonight, the constables of the Six Gates did not hurt anyone and the two sides could not fight at all.

Basically, it can be said that if this person is not removed, there is no point in setting this fire tonight. After all, throwing dirty water has limited effect;

But the Cao Gang didn't dare to kill him openly. After all, he was the inspector who had received the emperor's order. Once he died, the Dharma Body's iron fist would have a reason to strike down on them.

"If there is a point that can break the impasse, it's me, Third Master Wen. However..." Thinking about it, Fang Xiwen suddenly understood and slowly slowed down his pace.

In his eyes, this breakthrough point is almost impossible:

Because of the existence of the Immortal Dharmakāya, as long as there are no multiple external scenes, or the top masters from the first level of the ladder, other means will not be able to take him down. This is also the reason why he dares to be so ostentatious - but this matter itself is an information gap.

To outsiders, Mr. Wen Sanye is just a weak and helpless man. Not only does he need a cane to walk, he also has an extremely powerful bodyguard with him, which shows how insecure he is.

——It turned out that the fire was burning him.

"Third Master?"

Liu Dazhu was running in front. He heard the footsteps from behind gradually slow down. He looked back and asked in a panic, "What happened?"

"Dazhu, I have treated you well since we met."

Pausing, Fang Xiwen looked straight at him, "You were very drunk in the restaurant that day, and it was Xiaoting and I who helped you home. The little girl even bowed to me. Do you remember this?"

“Yes, yes…”

Suddenly, Liu Dazhu's lips trembled, his beard and eyebrows moved together, and he forced out an ugly smile, "I remember everything."

"Then you still want to harm me?" Looking at the torch in his hand, Fang Xiwen pointed to the ground and said, "Dazhu, the fire is for you to see the road ahead clearly. There is no need to hold it so high."

"Unless you're signaling someone where you are."

Snapped!

There was a slight sound, and suddenly a dark shadow flashed at the alley in front of him. A small stone shot out and hit Liu Dazhu's hand.

The latter cried out in pain and let go of the torch. There happened to be a bucket under the eaves next to him, which seemed to be used to collect rain water. The torch fell into it and was immediately extinguished.

In an instant, the surroundings became pitch black and silent, and even the roars in the distance became clear.

Seeing this, before Fang Xiwen could make any move, a gust of wind blew behind him, and the next moment, the sharp blade was against his throat.

"Don't scream, I'll kill you if you move."

There was a cold touch on the back of my neck. It was a hand squeezing it with a little force, as if to warn me.

The speaker was a woman with a cold voice. She seemed young, but the terrifying murderous intent she conveyed was enough to give people goose bumps.

After a moment of silence, Fang Xiwen slowly raised his hands, then turned his head and looked back:

She was a woman covered in a cloak, without a hood, with short hair, two delicate eyebrows, lake blue eyes, and a mask underneath. The skin exposed outside was as white as if she had been dead for ten days.

The most special thing is that the mask is made to look like a bird's beak, slightly raised like an eagle's beak, with a ray of light flashing at the front, which looks very strange in the night.

This is the logo of Night Eagle Tower, a well-known assassin organization in the underworld.

Meeting the gaze of the woman behind him, looking into those very distinctive eyes, Fang Xiwen smiled and said, "This girl is too eager. Although I have a family, if you insist on forcing me, I have no choice but to obey in order to survive..."

There was no answer, the cold blade simply turned in a circle and pointed the tip of the sword at his lower body.

"As expected of you, Mr. Wen San, hahaha!"

There was a clear sound of applause, and from the same alley came out a tall young man;

This person had an outstanding appearance. He was clapping his hands and laughing, praising, "It would have been fine if he had noticed the trap in advance, but he was able to calm down so quickly in such a situation, and even pretended to be stupid and flirted with the assassin... I really didn't find the wrong person. He is really capable."

How can it be considered flirting? He is saying that he was forced. It is a declaration of innocence. He can still explain it when he is held accountable... After muttering inwardly, Fang Xiwen looked the young man up and down and frowned slightly.