Fang Ke sighed, and said softly, "If we were really determined to trouble them, it’s not that we couldn’t do it, but the fuss would be too big, and too troublesome. It would take at least a couple of months to settle this matter properly, and although Shen is well-intentioned, who can guarantee that the officials who come after won’t be even more corrupt than these scoundrels? We should eat as much as our bowl will hold, do what we can!"
Gu Tong stood there like a wooden chicken, staring at Fang Ke. It took a while before he finally conceded with a sigh, "It’s lucky that it’s our lord handling matters, otherwise, with our brains, we’d probably be sold by those scoundrels and even be counting money for them gratefully!"
Fang Ke smiled and responded, "Do you think just anyone can sit in Shen’s seat? When I followed Shen to rise to the position of a thousand-household commander of the Right Division, Shen had said that our Imperial Guards are officials with one foot in the imperial court and the other on the execution ground, take one wrong step, you end up dismembered!"
Gu Tong shrank his neck, not daring to utter a sound.
Then he heard Fang Ke praising, "However, our lord’s skills are getting better and better, with just a few words, he managed to get everything sorted perfectly, as if lifting a heavy weight as if it were light, without leaving any loose ends!"
Gu Tong thought of Yang Ge’s excessively young face and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, how did our lord develop such a mind..."
He now felt it was unfair, very unfair.
Everyone has a head carried on two shoulders; why do others’ brains work so much better?
"So, I’m telling you, stop overthinking things and just do your job honestly!" Fang Ke patted him on the shoulder and said, "The opportunity is given to you now, everything has been laid out and explained to you clearly. If you still can’t handle it well, you can’t blame Shen for not being sentimental anymore!"
Gu Tong hurriedly clasped his hands towards the direction where Yang Ge departed, "Look at what you’re saying, my brain just doesn’t work very well, it’s not that I’m actually stupid. How could I not know the kindness our lord shows to us old brothers? If anyone dares to grumble behind the scenes that our lord is ungrateful, I, Gu, will be the first to twist off his head!"
Fang Ke smiled, "You’ve finally got smart... Go do your tasks, put in more effort, don’t disgrace our lord."
Gu Tong bowed with his hands clasped, "Yes!"
...
"My esteemed elders, my fellow villagers..."
Under the clear and bright sunlight of the corner.
A white-crowned bird-adorned civil officer of the fifth rank, wearing a green robe, stood on a temporary platform at the dock. With a benign and affable face, he clasped hands, greeting the frightened coolies gathered by the government officials, "The government needs to investigate the Bian River pirates of the Haihe Gang, who have been terrorizing the locals and extorting passing merchants, with an endless list of heinous acts, impossible to record in full!"
"By fortunate timing, the Imperial Guards of the embroidered uniform passed through our Suzhou. The government humbly requests the Imperial Guards to take action against the bandits, to settle the Bian River in one night..."
"...Pirates, they must always be eliminated, there is no other way..."
"...A day without pirates is a good day..."
"...Now that the Imperial Guards have come, Suzhou will have justice..."
"... After many discussions between the government and the Imperial Guards, it has been decided that the 6,000 taels of silver goods seized from last night’s raid on the Haihe Gang would be used as charity funds, to establish an almshouse here, providing 300 jin of rice porridge daily, until the charity funds are exhausted!"
"The government will adequately monitor the spending of the charity funds, ensuring no errors, please witness this, my esteemed elders and fellow villagers!"
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The heartfelt and variable speech moved the people to tears, and made them nearly pee themselves.
Unfortunately, the coolies and passing merchants below the platform all showed a glint of mockery in their eyes... With the fleet of boats flying the flags of the Imperial Guards still drifting on the river, how could they not know what was actually going on?
There stood Yang Ge on the bow of the boat, looking at the actor on the stage with a thin and refined face, and commenting, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, can you tell that he’s a corrupt official who takes bribes?"
Fang Ke joined in with a smile, "My lord, it’s easy to draw the skin of a tiger, but difficult to draw its bones; you can know a man’s face, but not his heart."
"Loyalty, filial piety, integrity, deference, etiquette, righteousness, frugality, and shame - they hang these words on their lips, but trample them underfoot."
Yang Ge turned around and cursed softly, "He still has the nerve to call himself a scholar? What kind of books has he read, what kind of person is he?"
Fang Ke’s eyelids twitched, and he quickly bowed his head, pretending to be deaf and mute, not daring to reply.
"Pass the order down, set the boat on course!"
Yang Ge also knew such words should not be spoken, but he had to forcefully suppress his desire to critique, waving his hand to Fang Ke, "Out of sight, out of mind!"
Fang Ke accepted the order and hurriedly retreated.
Soon after, the eight Ten Thousand Dan Boats of the Right Division proudly raised the flags of the Imperial Guards and sailed southward with the wind.
Meanwhile, the fifth rank officer who continued to incessantly act benevolently fell into a sour mood. As soon as he saw the fleet of the Imperial Guards leave the port, the benevolent face of just a moment ago instantly collapsed, his expression turned gloomy, and with a flick of his wide sleeve, he stepped down from the platform and walked away.
He had stooped to come to the dock to give that lengthy speech, not for those country bumpkins to watch.
The main audience had left, so of course, he wouldn’t stay any longer.
As for what these country bumpkins thought of him?
He didn’t care if they died!
...
"We should never have let that guy leave Lu Ting!"
Three days later, at the Northern Pacification Commission in the capital.
Shen Fa, looking at the secret letter that had just been delivered, slapped the desk in anger.
The strongman who delivered the letter stood below the platform, neither knowing who his boss was referring to nor having the courage to respond.
Shen Fa put down the secret letter, and with a headache, waved away the strongman, then stood up and paced back and forth on the platform anxiously.
Before Yang Ge set out to deal with the Changfeng Gang, he gave him a heads-up.
He agreed quite readily for the same reasons Liu the shopkeeper had.
They both thought it was a good thing for Yang Ge, a homebody, to get out more...
But who would have thought that this homebody wasn’t just troublesome at home but everywhere he went!
Before even catching a glimpse of the Changfeng Gang, he had already stirred up trouble at Lianhuan Fort!
Didn’t he consider...
That Changfeng Gang was able to establish itself on the Jiangnan waterways because of collusion with the government.
And how could Lianhuan Fort stand firm on the Jianghuai Waterway without government collusion?
Even when he himself oversaw the Jiangnan tax affairs and encountered Lianhuan Fort, he took a step back voluntarily.
But that guy, over such a trivial matter, went ahead and chopped off a finger of Lianhuan Fort.
Would Lianhuan Fort just let it be?
Shen Fa thought of many solutions, but all seemed unachievable.
He turned around and plopped heavily into his chair, rubbing his temples with a headache, muttering to himself, "It’s over, that guy is really going to reach the True Essence now!"
No one understood Yang Ge’s martial arts talent and training progress better than he did.
If it had been any other time, he would have been more than happy to see Yang Ge achieve the perfect refinement of essence into qi and return to the True Essence.
But at the moment...
He feared that his ability to clean up the mess wouldn’t keep up with that guy’s capacity for causing trouble!
Even at the Qi Sea Realm, he managed to cause disaster right up to the Golden Hall.
What would it be like if he reached the True Essence!
"That old water ghost, seeking to bridge heaven and earth, hasn’t shown his face in six years, and as long as that dead snake doesn’t disturb his Lianhuan Fort, he should keep on hiding."
"With the old water ghost out of sight, however spirited the young ones are, they can only mobilize the seven fort masters outside."
"Seven mediocre hands of the Qi Sea Realm should not be able to trouble that dead snake."
"No, the Right Protector ’Eight-Armed Arhat’ Dong Ping, having been in the True Essence for a long time, has shown intentions of leaving Lianhuan Fort to stand on his own; surely he wouldn’t take advantage of the old water ghost’s absence to break away from Lianhuan Fort, would he?"
"It’s hard to say. The young water ghost is impatient, but judging by his past actions, he doesn’t seem to be a fool and wouldn’t easily give Dong Ping the opportunity to leave Lianhuan Fort..."
Having sorted out his thoughts, Shen Fa hurriedly grabbed the paper and pen on the desk and began to write feverishly: "Summon someone..."
While Shen Fa was racking his brains and in disarray.
Over there, Yang Ge was watching, dumbfounded, as a little boat blocked his fleet’s path on the river.
The boat was a small, canopy-less sampan.
Seven men in black, wearing bamboo hats, rowed the sampan.
A young master with stars in his eyes and sword-like eyebrows, dressed in white that outshone the snow, stood tall at the bow, playing the flute contentedly.
And indeed, he played pretty well...
Yang Ge stared at the young master for a while, then suddenly scampered to the edge of the deck, cupped his hands around his mouth like a loudspeaker, and shouted, "Hey... you’re quite the charmer, aren’t you!"
The melodious sound of the flute stopped abruptly.