Fairy, I really am a villain!

"Well, I can't clean up this mess with my ability anyway..." He smiled and said self-deprecatingly.

He had power but didn't know how to use it, wanted to do something but didn't know where to start, and had failed both God and the people - during the time he had been in Jiangzhou, his deepest feeling was his own incompetence.

It's like a child taking a sword to the street, not knowing how to use it or who to kill.

Inexplicably, he suddenly thought of the man who had caused a big disturbance in the capital not long ago and was now called a "traitor": If Fang Xiwen were to be the inspector, with his means, he would definitely be able to handle everything well...

But why is such a person unwilling to serve the court?

"I am willing to be a minister of the Jin Dynasty, but I am unwilling to be a minister of the Gao family... What is the difference between the two?"

As he was thinking, the ringing of the doorbell interrupted his thoughts.

After a gentle knock on the door, the voice of Zhoushan City Lord Chang Jian came in: "Master Xue, it's time to attend the meeting."

"Okay, I'll be there right away."

Chapter 436: The th Heaven-shattering Resentment

Walking out of the restaurant, Xue Ruyu looked up at the sky. There were large patches of inky black clouds connected together in the sky. The rich color seemed particularly ominous.

In recent days, the sky over Zhoushan has been abnormally dark, as if God had taken an ink bowl and turned it upside down, covering the entire town.

Originally people thought it was just black smoke rising into the sky from a big fire, which would dissipate over time, but now that it has reached this point, people have more or less realized that something is wrong.

He casually held up an oil-paper umbrella, looked at Chang Jian who was following him, and asked, "Master Chang, has Zhou Shan ever seen weather like this before?"

"I don't know," Chang Jian's face looked unhappy, "At least during my tenure, this is the first time."

Unlike Xue Ruyu who was only responsible for making decisions on major issues, as the lord of a city, he had to be in charge of affairs, so he had many eyes and ears in the city and knew much more.

For example, regarding this ominous sky phenomenon overhead, there were rumors among the people that it was the accumulated resentment of the canal workers for thousands of years, which was heavy and had sunk to the ground, and was finally set on fire by a fire at the dock.

When the resentment fills the sky, the entire Zhoushan City will be swallowed up by the ground, and no one will be able to escape.

Of course, if these rumors were nothing more than hearsay, Chang Jian would naturally not bother to care about them; but he himself had also used the Qi-gazing technique to look at it privately, and wherever he looked, there was a "dead air", which was so ominous that it was almost overflowing.

"When the sky is filled with murderous intent, the stars will move and change their positions; when the earth is filled with murderous intent, dragons and snakes will rise from the land..." "Master Chang, what do you think of this?"

Seeing Xue Ruyu's curious look, he hesitated for a moment and then briefly told her the rumor. After listening, the former's expression changed slightly and he suddenly fell silent.

So the two of them walked side by side on the street and came to the famous Yanzhi Lane in the city.

This place was originally very prosperous, with brothels and prostitutes all over the place, and young ladies holding handkerchiefs could be seen everywhere. When business was good, the strong smell of powder could be smelled from several streets away;

Ever since Feng Liujian became famous in one battle, Yanzhi Lane, the place where his nickname originated, has become even more popular. There are even young men and women who come from thousands of miles away to "admire" his former glory.

——Although both "Third Young Master" and "Romance Wandering Sword" were recognized as brothel wanderers in the martial arts world, and even had scandals with many courtesans, which were quite famous; but what was rather unfair was that Fang Xiwen himself had never been to a brothel even once.

"Why is it so deserted..."

Looking at the sparse crowds on both sides, Xue Ruyu frowned in some surprise.

Perhaps business was bad, the girls who usually leaned against the railings to solicit customers did not come out. The few pedestrians who were met on the road had sunken eyes and walked with hunched bodies, as if something had drained away the energy in their bodies.

"Hey, where are you from?" It was really strange, he couldn't help but stop someone.

The frail-looking man raised his eyelids, and even looked at him with a weak look, and said with his head drooped: "Wanhua Tower, the door is not open, I can't see Miss Yingchun..."

"What did you say?"

Without paying any more attention to him, the man just staggered away. Seeing this, Chang Jian frowned.

"what happened?"

"Wanhua Tower is closed. From what he said, probably all the brothels in Yanzhi Lane are closed too," Chang Jian pointed at his face, "Then how did he become like that?"

"Hiss——" Xue Ruyu realized it belatedly and felt a chill down his spine, with white sweat breaking out on his back.

After walking out of Yanzhi Lane, he didn't meet anyone like him along the way, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"'The Master does not speak of strange things, force, disorder, or spirits...'" After reciting a few words from the sage, Xue Ruyu's expression became much better, and he asked Chang Jian again, "I wonder how this saying of 'hundreds of thousands of canal workers, thousands of years of resentment' came about?"

"According to folklore, these numbers are imaginary."

After pointing out a question, Chang Jian began to explain: "Things related to Jiangzhou can be traced back to the previous dynasty..."

In today's Dajin, there is a saying that 'the Dajiang Gang controls all the water transport in the world'; although the situation is not so exaggerated, the gang leader Jiang Shuohui is indeed a very capable person.

He was born in the countryside, started from the bottom, and worked his way up. He first united the large and small Cao gangs in Jiangzhou, and then

The most critical node took advantage of the "east wind" of Xinggong.

After sucking a large amount of blood from the latter, he and his gang became one of the most powerful giants in the world.

So, how did the water transport in Dajin work before the emergence of the Dajiang Gang?

"The grain transport in Jiangzhou was originally managed by many officials of our Great Jin, who were responsible for transporting grain to a large number of prefectures north of the Divine Capital."

"There are countless opportunities to make money."

"It can be said that from the transport envoys to the bannermen, almost everyone was greedy: after all, the higher-ups only needed a number, and there was no way to figure out how much more was collected, so the transport officials came up with all kinds of tricks, such as the five-dou-hu tax."

"Even after the grain ships were transported to the capital, the grain transport officials had to send various tributes to many officials in the capital who had nothing to do with them."

"Back then, the lives of the grain workers were even worse than they are now. Many of them did not have land at home, so if they wanted to pay the grain, they had to sell their labor. And you, Lord Xue, know the market conditions."

"The boat trackers only earn ten coins for pulling a kilometer, and they have to pay for food, support their families, and fill their own stomachs..."

As the Dajiang Gang grew stronger and took over the grain transport from the imperial court, the situation of the grain transport workers did not improve much: not only did they have to pay grain every year, but they also had to pay gang fees under various pretexts.

In other words, it's just that a new group of people have exploited them - but the Cao Gang always thinks they are the saviors, and they have to kneel down to give them money, so the resentment naturally accumulates day by day.

"So according to what Lord Chang said, this celestial phenomenon is really a kind of revenge?"

After understanding the reason, Xue Ruyu looked at the sky again, and this time he felt a little different - he felt inexplicably happy - he actually wanted to let this "grudge" swallow these people and let them taste the bitter fruit.

"I can't explain it," Chang Jian said, waving his hand after taking a breath. "It's like what people often say, don't act on impulse. After all, what can you achieve with just 'impulse' or 'resentment'?"

“…That’s right.”

After the conversation, the two arrived at the agreed location.

Looking up at the luxurious sign of the restaurant, Xue Ruyu folded the oil-paper umbrella with a snap. Suddenly, he felt something wrong with the weight, so he reached out and touched the umbrella. He immediately felt something sticky.

It was like pulp that had not completely solidified, but it had no color;

I brought it to my nose and smelled it, and it seemed to have an unusual odor.

"Strange, is there something falling from the sky..." "Master Xue."

Seeing Chang Jian urging him, he dropped his oil-paper umbrella and walked into the gate with him.

Chapter 437 What a Misunderstanding

The agreed place was Biyuanxuan, the best restaurant in Zhoushan City.

Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to get a seat here, and even money cannot buy one, so those who can host banquets here are basically rich or noble.

There are rumors that Biyuanxuan has the support of a sect behind it, which is why it has been able to operate peacefully for so many years without any problems despite being surrounded by the Cao Gang.

When you enter the building, the first thing you see are many beauties standing by the railing on the second floor.

All I saw at first glance were colorful things. Some of the girls were wearing veils, some were holding handkerchiefs, and they all looked as fragile as willows in the wind.

Some were chattering and laughing, while others noticed the guests coming in from downstairs, and first cast a wink, followed by a white handkerchief falling down.

'Is this a restaurant or a brothel...'

Smelling the strong scent of powder in the air, Xue Ruyu felt unhappy instinctively. He threw the white handkerchief away without even looking at it, and his impression of the other person dropped by three points.

The one who invited him here was a wealthy businessman. He claimed to be a fellow villager of Mr. Wen Sanye. Like Mr. Wen Sanye, he made his fortune in Longchuan and came to Jiangzhou with the intention of opening up trade routes.

Xue Ruyu didn't want to go to the appointment at first, but the other party invited him repeatedly for several days, so he went for the sake of Mr. Wen Sanye. Now he regrets it a little. The two have very different styles.

"Master Chang, I want to leave."

"Huh? Why?" "Just kidding... Anyway, I'm here."

Going up to the private room on the second floor and pushing the door, Xue Ruyu saw the real person: he was a man who looked to be around 40 years old, thin, with a handsome appearance, gray hair on his temples, and a scholarly air.

The hair on the right side of his temples appeared slightly longer and fell down, covering one ear.

After a brief greeting, Xue Ruyu and his party sat down. Without getting straight to the point, he asked about Longchuan, such as the mountains, rivers, waters, local customs and people.

If the other party was pretending, then naturally some flaws would be revealed from his answers - but surprisingly, the man who called himself "Miao Erye" answered very fluently, and many times he didn't even have to think.

Maybe his hometown is there, or he has lived there before... Xue Ruyu knew what was going on, so he asked, "Since you and the Third Master are from the same hometown, do you know why he wants to hide his real name?"

"nature."

In short, Master Wen San is a very capable person, but because he was too aggressive in his early years, he made many enemies, so he has to keep a low profile.

The reason why he was nicknamed "Wen Sanye" was because he was the third child in the family, which showed that although he was kicked out of the family, he

Still nostalgic.

Of course, these words were made up by Jiang Hanzhou.

This is like making up questions based on the answers, shooting arrows and then drawing targets. Although it seems full of loopholes in my eyes, it can be used to scare people who don't know Mr. Wen Sanye, such as the inspector in front of him.

To this day, he has not given up his plan to kill and frame someone - even though Mr. Wen San did not show up for the appointment - although it was a bit unexpected, he still has a way.

"So that's how it is..." After listening, Xue Ruyu frowned slightly.

Although it was generally understandable and there was no apparent problem, he instinctively felt that something was not right with this person, as if he was hiding something in the conversation.

Although Mr. Wen San also has this habit, he very frankly shows an attitude of "not telling you", and the person in front of him seems to be trying to please him deliberately.

"Because the Third Master had an emergency and couldn't leave, he asked me to take over his job." Pushing a written contract over, Jiang Hanzhou smiled gently and said, "What do you think, Master Xue?"

"So anxious that you left without saying goodbye?"

"Yes, it concerns the lives of his family."

"I wonder if Mr. Wen San left any written records?"

"There is a letter. It was originally confidential, but I made an exception and showed it to Lord Xue. Here is his signature..."

It must be said that Jiang Hanzhou's preparations were extremely thorough, and he even made an imitation letter, with the goal of pinning this bloody incident on Mr. Wen Sanye.

After all, this man was famous (many local people had seen him), had motive (cooperating with the court, possibly involved in internal strife), and was capable (surrounded by outdoor guards), making him an almost perfect target.

Even if Jiang Hanzhou cannot find him now, as long as Xue Ruyu dies, it will be the court's business to track him down. Not only that,