The courtyard he rented was small, Fu Chunsheng's voice was not quiet; upon hearing it, he rushed over immediately.
Upon seeing Zhu Ci, Xi Shan struggled to get up and said, "Young Master, please, Young Master, save my father!"
Zhu Ci pressed down on his shoulders, forcing him to lie back down, asked, "What happened?"
Xi Shan said with tears in his eyes, "Because the offerings for the Dragon King Temple were submitted a bit late this year, my father was kidnapped by the Water Dragon Society!"
Dragon King incense? Water Dragon Society? What are those?
With Xi Shan's explanation, Zhu Ci finally learned that the Water Dragon Society was merely a Canal Gang in Jiading. The so-called Dragon King incense was, in a literal sense, incense money for the Dragon King Temple, but in reality, it was nothing more than the collection of extortionate taxes and miscellaneous levies.
How much is the Dragon King incense money? How long were you late?
We were just two days late. My father and I went out to buy timber, because of the heavy snow, we returned late, which caused this..
Zhu Ci narrowed his eyes. "They have other motives, don't they?"
Even if they were two days late, they shouldn't have resorted to kidnapping; if the person died, where would the incense money come from?
Xi Shan said through gritted teeth, "They.. they want my family to use my sister to trade for my father."
Zhu Ci understood upon hearing this, patted Xi Shan's shoulder and said, "Rest and recover from your injuries first; don't worry about anything else for the time being."
After saying that, he turned to look at Fu Qiulu and said gently, "You've been a bit tired these past two days; take care of him."
Fu Qiulu immediately bowed and said, "Rest assured, Young Master."
Xi Shan looked at Zhu Ci with a face full of hope and asked, "Young Master, my father.. my father will be alright, won't he?"
Zhu Ci gave him a comforting smile. "Don't think too much about it for now."
He glanced at Fu Chunsheng, Fu Chunsheng immediately followed him to the study.
As soon as they entered the study, Fu Chunsheng lowered his voice and said, "Young Master, I know that Water Dragon Society; it is the largest Canal Gang in the area and was once a frequent guest of the Prefect."
Zhu Ci was not surprised either; how could it be that criminal organizations didn't have a protective umbrella when they wanted to claim kingship and hegemony?
Fu Chunsheng had originally wanted to ask him if he wanted the imperial court to send troops to suppress them, but thinking about how his sister was almost strangled earlier, he lost his courage to speak.
Zhu Ci tapped the armrest of the chair lightly and said, "Tell me everything you know about this Water Dragon Society."
Fu Chunsheng didn't know much either; he only knew that the Canal Gang primarily transported smuggled salt, private iron, private coal, had occupied Jiading for nearly twenty years, growing stronger and stronger.
However, lately, they have been engaged in a back-and-forth struggle with another emerging local gang.
Of course, "exchanging blows" is a polite way of putting it; in reality, they lost more than they won. They suffered significant casualties, lost many supplies, have been frantically accumulating wealth lately to recruit more men to fill the gaps.
Zhu Ci let out a cold laugh after hearing this: "Truly a nation on the brink of ruin, with monsters appearing one after another."
Fu Chunsheng gasped in horror upon hearing this, "Young.. Young Master.. This.. this.."
Zhu Ci waved his hand. "Go back and ask your foster father if he can arrange a casual meal with someone from the Water Dragon Society who has influence."
“Ah?” Fu Chunsheng was stunned for a moment. “The Young Master wants to see them?”
Zhu Ci looked up, closed his eyes, sighed, "Do as I say."
Magistrate Zhang, upon learning that the Water Dragon Society had captured the Empress's maternal relatives, could not help but pace back and forth, saying, "These people are truly lawless."
The Counselor couldn't help but say, "All these years, I haven't seen anything happen to the Empress's relatives. This.. they don't know either."
“That person is the Young Earl; if he gets angry, what will we do if he starts making a scene?” Magistrate Zhang complained incessantly. “To make matters worse, the Water Dragon Society has kinship ties with the Prefect. My little Jiading simply cannot accommodate two such formidable figures.”
Just as he was fretting, he suddenly heard the doorman report that the Young Master had returned, he couldn't help but slap his forehead. "Sigh, speak of trouble, trouble arrives."
Magistrate Zhang had no choice but to go out to meet Fu Chunsheng. Fu Chunsheng bowed and said, "Foster Father, the Young Master sent me to ask if you could help pull some strings to invite someone influential from the Water Dragon Society to a casual meal."
Magistrate Zhang asked knowingly, "Why does the Young Master want to treat them to a meal?"
After Fu Chunsheng explained the whole story, Magistrate Zhang immediately said, "Go back and tell your young master that I will handle this matter."
After Fu Chunsheng left, Magistrate Zhang frowned and said, "Why is this Young Master having a meal with members of the Water Dragon Society?"
The Counselor walked over and said, "Congratulations, My Lord, congratulations. There is no need to worry about them causing a scene and affecting you."
Magistrate Zhang asked, "What do you mean?"
The Counselor stroked his grizzled beard and said, "Since the Young Master hasn't mobilized troops to attack our gates and instead wishes to dine with us, it signifies an intention to negotiate. When the time comes, the Magistrate only needs to have a word with the Water Dragon Society and tell them to release the prisoners."
Magistrate Zhang breathed a sigh of relief immediately. "That's good, that's good. Sigh, this Young Master is truly rare; I'll have to send him some good gifts later."
The Counselor sighed and said, "As expected of a young master from a great family; his way of doing things is truly extraordinary."
Magistrate Zhang did not delay; after agreeing, he immediately arranged for someone to notify the people of the Water Dragon Society.
However, the President of the Water Dragon Society was the Suzhou Prefect's cousin, he rarely gave the Magistrate any face, making him difficult to invite in the past.
The Magistrate estimated that being able to invite the Deputy Chief would be good enough.
However, what surprised him was that the other party agreed to the meeting immediately after learning the Young Master's identity.
The meeting place was a Painted Boat; in the Magistrate's words, it was to experience the poetic charm of fishing alone amidst the snow on a cold river.
When Zhu Ci arrived at the painted boat, he felt that the interior was as warm as spring, someone was already waiting inside.
Magistrate Zhang had been chatting and laughing merrily with the Water Dragon Society's Chief, but after Zhu Ci entered, the two immediately stood up.
Among them, that nameless stranger was likely a member of the Water Dragon Society; he stared blankly at Zhu Ci for a long time without saying a word.
Zhu Ci smiled and said, "The weather is cold and the roads are slippery, so I have arrived late. I shall punish myself with three cups of wine to apologize to you both."
Magistrate Zhang, acting as the host, immediately said, "What are you saying, Young Master? It must be that the sedan chair bearers I sent weren't fast enough."
Zhu Ci gave Magistrate Zhang a few perfunctory words and focused all his attention on another person.
The man was dressed in clean, brisk martial attire. He was not tall but was very sturdy, with a fair and refined appearance that seemed to clash with his physique and profession.
Zhu Ci gave a slight bow and said, "May I ask what position you hold within the Water Dragon Society?"
The other party also bowed politely, "I am the Deputy Chief of the Water Dragon Society."
Zhu Ci was somewhat surprised and turned to glance at the magistrate.
When Fu Chunsheng went back, he said he had invited the Deputy Chief, so how did it turn into the Chief?
But it didn't matter.
“May I ask, what is the Chief's honorable name?”
Zhu Ci had not inquired about the other man's name in advance. Given his status, this was more appropriate; if he had inquired too thoroughly and acted overly sycophantic, it might have instead aroused the other man's suspicion.
The man smiled slightly. "My surname is Zhu, my given name is Ying."
Zhu Ying.. Zhu Ci paused for a moment before laughing, "It's even a royal surname. It seems the Chief's ancestors might have been imperial relatives."
Zhu Ying was also proud of her surname. Upon hearing this, she appeared somewhat smug, but she said modestly, "You jest, Young Master."
“Please, take your seats, you two.” Seeing that they were getting along well, Magistrate Zhang felt much more at ease, the smile on his face became even more sincere.
Zhu Ci took off the rabbit-fur cloak from his body and sat down. His mood at this moment was very complicated—yes, extremely complicated.
He knew Zhu Ying.
In the original book, this person was actually a righteous man, but he was also one of the souls lost under the blade of the protagonist, Alna, was hardly worth mentioning.
He remembered that in the original book, it was written that after Alna had massacred the city of Jiading for the first time, he left Jiading with his troops again due to strategic adjustments.
After he left, Zhu Ying stood up to rally hundreds of civilians, gathering the remnants of the troops to reorganize the resistance; she truly reclaimed the empty Jiading City and, upon entering the city, executed the traitors and officials who had surrendered to the Qing Army.
However, after Alna learned of the rebellion in Jiading, he immediately led his troops to strike back.
Unfortunately, the remnants of Zhu Ying's forces could not withstand the Tartars' onslaught, they were defeated by Alna almost immediately upon contact.
After Alna entered Jiading again, he carried out a second round of massacres to stabilize the situation. Naturally, Zhu Ying was also captured and killed, was even dismembered and hung at the city gates to intimidate the resistance forces.
He only found out about this plot segment through reading comments, the descriptions in those comments made him so angry he felt like he was ascending to heaven, but he was also relieved that he hadn't continued reading further.
Before, when he discovered he had transmigrated into a book, he had felt a bit of regret for not reading it more carefully.
Now that he was looking at the real Zhu Ying, how could his feelings not be complicated?
That righteous man, who would gather the remnants of defeated armies and lead the common people to resist without hesitation, was once a gang leader full of evil deeds who bullied men and oppressed women.
Human nature is always so complex.
Zhu Ci raised her wine cup, smiled faintly at Zhu Ying, said, "Thank you for your presence, Chief."
Zhu Ying immediately raised her wine cup as well and said, "Not at all, it is my great honor to have had the chance to meet the Young Master."
After draining his cup in one gulp, Zhu Ci said, "The Chief is a straightforward person, so I shall also get straight to the point. I invited the Chief to dinner this time only because I want the Chief to show some leniency toward Xialiang."
Zhu Ying was speechless for a moment after hearing this. He had originally thought that Zhu Ci only wanted him to release the Baochang Xi Ping, but he hadn't expected the other man to ask for protection for the entirety of Xialiang the moment he opened his mouth.
This was a bit excessive. The Water Dragon Society was already struggling to maintain itself, if it were to lose the incense offerings from the Dragon King Temple in Xialiang, it would likely become even more difficult.
Zhu Ying said, "To be honest with you, Young Master, if it were just Xi Ping's family, I could extend the deadline, but as for the entirety of Xialiang.. I'm afraid I cannot comply."
Magistrate Zhang's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly looked at Zhu Ci, terrified that this Young Master might cause a scene if his words weren't met with agreement. What if.. what if he could actually mobilize troops from Nanjing?
Zhu Ci was not surprised. While pouring wine for Zhu Ying, he said, "Rest easy, Chief. I am not entirely ignorant. With so many people in the Water Dragon Society relying on you for their livelihood, if an exception is made today, another will surely follow tomorrow. I fear the Water Dragon Society might even disband by then."
Zhu Ying had originally been prepared to turn hostile, even beginning to consider making this Young Master "disappear" later on. As for the daughter of the Xi Family.. she was far inferior when compared to this Young Master.
At this moment, he was somewhat surprised by Zhu Ci's words; this Young Master was still just a child, yet his speech and actions were quite experienced.
Oh? So what the Young Master means is..
Zhu Ci smiled and said, "I have a business venture I'd like to undertake with the Chief. If it succeeds, the profits will be immense; consider it a deal between me and the Chief."
Zhu Ying's mind stirred. "Oh? What kind of business?"
Zhu Ci smiled as she took two sheets of paper from her sleeve and handed them over, saying, "The Chief will know at a glance."
Zhu Ying took them and fell silent for a long while before saying, "I am illiterate."
Zhu Ci..
I was careless; I forgot that the illiteracy rate in ancient times was very high.
However, he reacted quickly, saying in surprise, "I observe that the Chief has a full forehead and well-defined earlobes, which are the features of a great talent. If he were a scholar, he would surely pass the examinations with high honors, high office and generous stipends would be guaranteed. This.. I fear he has been delayed."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: There are always wicked people trying to harm me! An evil kitty holding a dagger. jpg
Three chapters have been combined into one, so there is no update today. Since I need to post a sponsored advertisement tomorrow, tomorrow's update will be delayed until 11:00 PM, chu~