He finished speaking and, without caring about Yan Hefang's reaction, directly mounted his horse.
Gu Rouqian was already dazed by the spectacle behind him; this night had been far too exhilarating. Seeing Zhu Ci mount his horse, he also quickly mounted his own horse, chasing after him while shouting, "Prefect! Prefect.."
Zhu Ci pulled the reins to slow his pace and turned his head to look at Gu Rouqian. "That's enough. You've been following me through all this fear and trembling all night; go back and rest quickly. Everything is fine now."
Nothing happened? If you say nothing happened, Gu Rouqian will take his head off and kick it like a ball!
It was clearly a huge deal.
He hurriedly caught up, controlling his horse to stay half a step behind, asked in a low voice, "Prefect, had you already arranged for people?"
Zhu Ci gave him a meaningful smile.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: There might be another legend about water monkeys in the future. *Cat shakes the water off its body. jpg*
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 73
Gu Rouqian only realized it now—so from the very beginning, the Prefect had no intention of having a proper talk with Yan Hefang?
Yan Hefang also had no intention of bowing his head.
Therefore, this banquet today was essentially a contest to see who possessed superior skill.
Clearly, Yan Hefang had underestimated this Young Prefect of theirs, so he lost.
Gu Rouqian thought about this and turned to look at Jiang Quan, who was following behind. This child didn't look very old; perhaps it was because the Young Prefect had only brought two people onto the ship—one being a teenager and the other a woman—which caused Yan Hefang to let his guard down.
How could Yan Hefang possibly know? These two were among the most exceptional individuals under Zhu Ci's command. Among the women, no one could fight better than Jiang Xueyan, among the children Zhu Ci had adopted, Jiang Quan was the most formidable.
Talented in both literary and martial arts, they have begun to be put to great use without even having to grow up.
He couldn't help but lean close to Jiang Quan and whisper, "Young Master Jiang, where did the Prefect arrange for the people to stay?"
Jiang Quan glanced at him and snorted, "Taihu Lake is so vast; do you think Yan Hefang can cover the whole sky with one hand?"
The area of Taihu Lake is so vast that its shores span three prefectures: Suzhou, Changzhou, Huzhou.
Yan Hefang could call down wind and rain in Suzhou, might also have a certain level of influence in Changzhou and Huzhou, but it was absolutely impossible for him to possess enough power to strictly guard the entire coastline of Taihu Lake.
Zhu Ci's task was very simple: buy a boat, dress it up to look like a Flower-Maiden Boat, approach; even Yan Hefang might not be able to tell the difference.
Not all of these Flower-Maiden Boats on Taihu Lake were so magnificent; there were always those who had little money but still wanted to enjoy the festivities, so there were also some ordinary-looking Flower-Maiden Boats on the lake.
Once the signal flare was fired, the Flower-Maiden Boat drew near, the retainers jumped into the water and swam over.
The most difficult part of the entire process was likely this time period; Zhu Ci had to survive this period safely and must not fall into the hands of Yan Hefang.
After Gu Rouqian thought it through, he looked at the young man ahead, who was riding a horse with wide sleeves and an elegant, dashing aura, felt an even deeper sense of admiration in his heart.
If it had been him, knowing there might be a problem, he wouldn't have attended the banquet at all.
He looked back at Yan Hefang, who had been gagged and pushed into the prison cart, sighed, knowing full well in his heart that the Yan Family was also finished.
What kind of prosperous clan with deep roots and lush leaves? Under the destruction of absolute military force, they have no power to resist at all.
After returning to the prefectural office, Zhu Ci tossed his riding whip to Jiang Quan and said, "Go and rest, everyone. You've all been on edge all day. Xu Qian, have you prepared the hot water for this Young Master?
Xu Qian hurried out to meet him, saying with an excited face, "Young Master has finally returned. The hot water is already prepared."
Since Fu Qiulu and Fu Chunsheng left, Zhu Ci had selected a retainer named Xu Qian to stay by his side to handle various menial tasks.
He no longer needed a maid; Jiang Xueyan's role was more like that of a female guard, in some situations, it was more appropriate to take her than to take Jiang Quan.
Zhu Ci soaked in the hot water, let out a long sigh, stretched his body into a slumped pose.
Tonight was truly dangerous; although he had calculated every step, he still feared the possibility of any unforeseen variables.
What if Yan Hefang doesn't play by the rules? What if he has other helpers? What if they poisoned the food or the weapons?
By normal logic, Yan Hefang shouldn't do such a thing, but one cannot rule out the possibility that he is insane.
Fortunately, Yan Hefang was still a normal person.
From the very beginning, both sides actually harbored hopes for peace; they wanted to avoid conflict whenever possible. Yan Hefang did not want to challenge the armed forces under Zhu Ci's command, Zhu Ci did not want to kill people at every turn.
These powerful clans, including their family members, retainers, servants, tenant farmers who relied on them, could easily number several thousand people.
If he were to settle accounts with every single one of them, blood would truly flow in torrents.
He wasn't some peerless killer with a thirst for blood; if he could avoid killing, he would certainly prefer not to.
The three conditions he proposed were indeed quite unreasonable, but as the saying goes, one should ask for the moon and settle for a penny; since he had brought them up, he would naturally give Yan Hefang the chance to "bargain."
Who knew that Yan Hefang had no intention of bargaining at all, wanted to start fighting right from the get-go.
Zhu Ci sighed. The Liu Family's accounts hadn't even been cleared up yet, starting tomorrow, he would have to deal with the Tian family again.
One wave after another, it truly never ends. I hope the remaining two families behave themselves; otherwise, he wouldn't mind crushing the seeds of capitalism right then and there.
However, the fact that the Yan Family was causing trouble this time without the other two families following suit clearly suggested there was something fishy going on.
He had investigated before; the Dongting Merchant Group had always acted in unison to ensure their interests were protected.
Regarding the Liu Family last time, the Dongting Merchant Group might not have even reacted, so there was no such thing as moving in unison.
The Yan Family's banquet is currently only for them and no one else; it is possible that the Yan Family has no intention of partnering with those two families, or perhaps those two families refused.
Regardless, this is a good sign.
I hope these two families can be a bit smarter; otherwise, he wouldn't mind uprooting them all.
The news of the Yan Family's downfall didn't even wait until the next morning; by that night, it had already spread to those with well-connected informants.
Actually, it didn't even require being well-informed; after all, with the massive scale of the Yan Family's house seizure, it couldn't be kept a secret.
Moreover, Zhu Ci had no intention of keeping it a secret; in fact, he even intended to use this matter to exert pressure on the other two families.
The news spread in the early hours of the morning, the formal invitations from the Weng and Xi families arrived the following morning.
This time, both families behaved properly and expressed their intention to pay a formal visit, showing no intention of playing tricks.
Of course, Zhu Ci knew very well that even if they played tricks, they wouldn't do it openly, but rather in secret, but he didn't care.
There really was no time to bicker with these people. It was already late April, according to the original plot, the Qing Army should have already been closing in on Yangzhou by this time; for some reason, there had been no news yet.
On one hand, Zhu Ci was relieved that there was still time to reorganize his forces and manufacture more firearms; on the other hand, he was constantly on edge, as if he were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
In this situation, if the Weng and Xi families were willing to bow their heads, then he would naturally cease hostilities.
But if they only bowed their heads at this time, then they shouldn't blame him for asking for an exorbitant price.
The heads of the Weng and Xi families—one was already over fifty, while the other was still very young, appearing to be only in his early thirties.
While Weng Lifan was still frowning, Xi Yuncheng spoke up, "Very well, I accept the Prefect's conditions."
Weng Lifan was caught off guard and suddenly looked up at Xi Yuncheng.
Zhu Ci was somewhat surprised; he had also left room for bargaining, but he hadn't expected Xi Yuncheng to agree so readily.
He immediately raised his wine cup and said, "Young Master Xi is truly a man of his word."
Since Xi Yuncheng had already agreed, Weng Lifan struggled for a long time before finally having no choice but to agree as well.
After they left, Jiang Xueyan said in a low voice, "Young Master, Xi Yuncheng's eldest son, Xi Qingyang, stayed behind."
Zhu Ci raised an eyebrow; he knew that Xi Yuncheng's agreeing so readily meant he must have something he wanted. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Have Gu Rouqian go see him."
Ever since the Yan Family's downfall, Gu Rouqian could hardly bear to face him and wanted nothing more than to cover her face and run away.
Perhaps he felt ashamed that his attempt at matchmaking had nearly sent the Prefect to the underworld.
Zhu Ci didn't think much of it. Gu Rouqian was merely helping by delivering an invitation; even without him, this invitation would have reached him regardless, he would still have attended.
Gu Rouqian was not a bad person and possessed his own principles, so there was no need to be harsh with him.
Gu Rouqian and Xi Qingyang were also acquaintances; Xi Qingyang even had to call him Uncle.
He looked at Xi Qingyang and asked, "Why didn't you go with your father?"
Xi Qingyang bowed and said, "My father asked me to deliver these things to the Prefect."
As he spoke, he took out a rectangular wooden box. Gu Rouqian's heart tightened instantly, he asked warily, "What is inside this box?"
It wouldn't be something dangerous, would it?
The things Yan Hefang did caused Gu Rouqian to have an immediate stress response; last time, when he heard that the Weng and Xi families were coming to visit, he couldn't help but wonder if these two families might come to attack the prefectural office.
Xi Qingyang was quite straightforward and said with a smile, "If Fourth Uncle Gu is worried, then he can just open it and take a look."
Gu Rouqian knew that opening it himself was somewhat improper, but he was truly worried, so he steeled his resolve and said, "In that case, I shall take a look."
Upon being opened, the box contained no mechanisms, nor did it hold any poison.
It only contained a thick stack of promissory notes.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Understood, I'll leave more of your things behind. Meow clicks promissory notes. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 74
Gu Rouqian immediately closed the box and looked at Xi Qingyang, asking, "Is your father.."
Xi Qingyang cupped his hands and said, "My father heard that the Prefect is recruiting soldiers and horses, wishes to lend the Prefect a helping hand."
Gu Rouqian narrowed his eyes as he looked at him, suddenly realizing that the reason Xi Yuncheng could take control of the Xi Family at such a young age was not just due to his tactful way of handling people, but also because of his long-term vision.
He asked in a low voice, "Has your father suspected something?"
Xi Qingyang said thoughtfully, "My father said that the Tartars might launch a Southward Advance any day now, that now is the time to unite. The Imperial Court.. the Court might not be able to send troops anymore, otherwise the Prefect would not be recruiting on such a large scale."
Gu Rouqian's heart sank; anyone who had read books and possessed some worldly knowledge could have guessed that the Tartars would advance southward.
He nodded and said, "I will convey Brother Xi's intentions to the Prefect."