The next morning, at dawn.
The heads of Minister Geng and his son were hung outside the gates of Hangzhou.
On either side of the heads, two white banners were also on display.
One banner read: "The chief of corrupt officials in Jiangzhe, the head of Geng Jingzhong and his son."
Another banner read: "Those who collude with wokou and harm their compatriots shall not die a whole corpse—left by Ding Xiu."
The heads and the banners drew a large crowd of Hangzhou locals who came to gawk.
Amidst the rising curses and discussions, the myriad atrocities committed by Minister Geng and his son in Jiangzhe were pieced together by the people sharing information.
Those innocent townsfolk only then realized that Minister Geng, who had come from their Hangzhou, was such a vile creature, festering at the head and oozing at the feet.
The eight shocking black characters on the banner, "Colluding with wokou, harming compatriots," made the crowd wish they could climb the city walls and urinate on the two heads!
Other places only knew about the severe wokou issues on the southeastern coast.
But the locals knew that the calamities that plagued the coastal towns were not only caused by wokou but also by their people.
This time the case was solved—it was Geng Jingzhong, the old cur, who was colluding with the wokou!
Just killing this old cur was way too lenient for him!
The agitated townspeople, cursing loudly, grabbed clumps of mud and stones from the fields and hurled them like raindrops at the two heads on the city walls.
The intensity of their fire was such that the patrolling soldiers dared not approach that section of the wall, fearing they might get caught in the crossfire.
Among the crowd, two commoners in hemp clothes were throwing mud while whispering secretly.
"This Ding Xiu, this hero, where is he from? I’ve never heard of him before," one said.
"My youth’s father-in-law’s cousin works at the yamen. He told me... this hero is actually Second Master!"
"Which Second Master?"
"In Jiangzhe, besides Yang Ge, who else could be Second Master?"
"Yang Ge returned to Hangzhou?"
"Shh, keep it down. Didn’t you see he used an alias? Don’t cause trouble for Yang Ge!"
"I understand... I understand..."
"Hey, where are you going?"
"I’m going back to my stall to drop prices, maybe Yang Ge will stop by for some dumplings..."
Meanwhile, several wealthy individuals in brocade garments were exchanging secretive glances.
"Yang Ge changed his alias again?"
"Those in the know understand that for the big things Yang Ge does, he can’t manage without several aliases."
"We must keep our mouths tight. If anyone asks, we know nothing!"
"Who would dare ask? Even Lan Guang has fled overnight. He didn’t even dare to take a sedan chair—who else would dare to ask?"
"Really? You’re serious?"
"Truer than real gold. I have a cousin who works at the Provincial Administration Commission. This morning at the roll call, several yamen officials were absent."
"Just as I said, last time Yang Ge should have chopped down those dog officials who don’t act like humans!"
"Why didn’t you go chop them down? It’s easy to talk standing up, isn’t it?"
"That’s not what I meant..."
"Then what do you mean? Yang Ge has already lost his mandarin hat dealing with those scoundrels in Yangzhou, what more do you want?"
"Exactly, why should a good person have to sacrifice everything? It’s not you paying the price with your life, is it?"
"Hey, where are you going?"
"I’m going back to host a free grand feast!"
"Come to your senses, you run a brothel..."
"Who says Yang Ge doesn’t visit brothels?"
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"Makes sense!"
...
Old Yu Tea House, private room.
As soon as Yang Ge and Yang Tiansheng sat down, Yang Tiansheng pulled out a sheet of paper covered in tiny letters and pushed it in front of Yang Ge: "Including the 300 men from Sharp Gold Hall arriving tomorrow, I have a total of more than 5,000 men under my command. You call the shots on how we fight next!"
Yang Ge lit a sandalwood incense, placed it in the middle of the table, and then, pushing the paper back across to Yang Tiansheng, he shook his head, "As an outsider, it is inappropriate for me to take command of your Ming Sect’s troops."
Yang Tiansheng, annoyed, raised an eyebrow: "What, you look down on our Ming Sect?"
Sometimes Yang Ge couldn’t tell if this fellow was genuinely foolish or just feigning it: "Come to your senses. However reputable I might be, I am still half an official. If I were to command your Ming Sect troops, how would the other branches see you? How would they see Uncle Yang?"
Yang Tiansheng waved his concern away nonchalantly: "Let them think what they want. I might be frivolous, but I am self-aware. So many good men have entrusted their lives to me; I can’t just use them as firewood. You are clever; you lead them. Even if one fewer man dies, it’s worth it!"
Yang Ge, with a headache, said, "But I’ve never led so many men!"
Yang Tiansheng retorted, "I don’t care! You started this, you have to be responsible for it till the end. I can’t trust anyone else, only you!"
"Patience. Calm yourself."
Yang Ge patted his shoulder, turned to ask the boss for tea and tea utensils, and began brewing tea himself.
After a series of graceful tea-making motions, he pushed a cup of tea towards Yang Tiansheng and said softly, "Here’s how it’ll work. You take the lead, and I’ll assist from the side. That way, we can explain ourselves all around, internally and externally, and it settles things for both of us!"
After taking a sip from his own cup, he added, "Also, we’ll be working side by side, but only we need to know that. You absolutely must not mention my name to anyone else... Don’t rush, let me finish! The Emperor has some reservations about me. If he were to learn that I’m collaborating with your Ming Sect, he might illogically try to deal with me and the Ming Sect because from his seat, nothing is more important than his throne and his empire. And the Ming Sect has a historically rebellious nature..."