As the day dawned and the sun rose, the whole of Linchuan House slowly awoke from its silence.
But in one part of Linchuan, it was already hot before dawn. On the wharf, sturdy men were going back and forth, carrying the goods that had arrived in the early hours of the morning to be loaded.
Lian San put down the fifth heavy crate he had carried today and stacked it in a corner of the warehouse. He got up and moved his muscles and said to a man next to him who had also just put down a wooden crate: “Hai Zi, why do you think there is so much cargo lately? I’ve been working all day long, and I’m so tired that I can’t even go home.”
The man called Hai Zi by Lian San also moved his somewhat sore shoulders and teased, “What, your sister-in-law thinks you’re weak!”
“F**k you.” Lian San made a move to kick, but Hai Zi dodged it with a playful smile.
“I’m a strong man, not to mention that one woman at home, even if there are ten more, I can fight all night long, so they can’t get out of bed.” Lian San’s chest slapped loudly as he yelled.
“Is that so, then who was sneaking around the Songren Pharmacy yesterday to buy Dragon Essence Tiger Pills.” Haizi came up to his face with another playful grin.
“It’s not… it’s not ——” Lian San’s face turned red and he squeaked, unable to speak. “It’s not that I’ve been making a lot of money lately and have money to spare, so I want to try out some of the drugs that the lords like to use to help them get high. It’s not that I can’t get my body to work —— ”
Let me tell you, my young man is a real Cao gang member, not like us who work hard.”
“He told me that there is a big chamber of commerce in the East China Sea that is moving into Linchuan. We will have to work harder in the future ——”
“What’s wrong?” The first time I saw him, I took a few steps to catch up with him and saw him staring blankly at the outside of the warehouse, so I followed his line of sight.
Only to see a large number of people dressed in black, with steel swords at their waists, surrounded the entire dock, and the workers working on the dock were pushed and shoved by them to gather on the front where the goods were stacked.
“—— is long.” Haizi spat out those last three words, and was also herded over there with the other workers by the black-clad constables who trotted into the warehouse.
“Hold on.”
On the side of the pier, a man who looked like a scholar came out of the house where the stewards usually lived when they guarded the pier at night. Behind him, Steward Lin, who usually had his nose in the air and didn’t give the workers a good look, was at this moment bowing his head and humbling himself, a complete lapdog.
It is Feng helmsman. Hai Zi’s mouth opened and closed, silently making mouth patterns towards Lian San. He knew this big man who could be said to be his bread and butter, once his hairdresser had taken him far away to see this big man for a glance.
Only, what Hai Zi couldn’t figure out was why such a big shot would come to the pier, wasn’t it usually only the stewards who watched? Moreover, Hai Zi had come early in the morning to carry the goods and had never seen anyone enter or leave that room, so it could be said that this Feng helmsman had come before them, or perhaps even that he had spent the night in this very room last night.
“My brothers,” Feng Yixian walked up to the workers, arched his hand and said, “I wonder if there is any misunderstanding that made you all come to Feng’s territory early in the morning to make a big fuss, Feng’s cargo is in a hurry to be unloaded, there are three more cargo ships coming later, I really can’t wait. ”
“I have some friendship with Lin Teng Yuan, the head constable of Department Six of the Lin Chuan Province, Lord Lin, so why don’t you let Feng’s workers unload the goods first, and later on, Feng will personally go and explain the misunderstanding to Lord Lin.”
Feng Yixian’s words seemed extremely polite, even calling the constables his brothers, but his words were full of domineering meaning, and right at the beginning, he characterized the matter as a misunderstanding. After that, he even pointed out his friendship with Lin Tuoyuan and told the constables to go back to wherever they came from.
However, after hearing Feng Yixian’s words, the black-clad constables still did not say a word, holding their swords and looking coldly at Feng Yixian and the workers behind him, neither angry at Feng Yixian’s overbearing words nor moved by the point made in his words about his friendship with the local leader of Department Six.
When Feng Yixian saw that the constables were not taking it lying down, he frowned, his heart rising with annoyance, but he had always been a man of the city, and his anger did not show on his face, and he opened his smile, ready to continue.
“There is no misunderstanding.”
The clear words came from not far away, and Feng Yixian only saw two handsome young men, each dressed in two colours, one black and one white, strolling into the pier with a black-clad constable following them.
When they came close, the young man in white looked Feng Yixian up and down and said with a smile, “Master Feng, is it?”
In the face of the other party’s smiling face, Feng Yixian also kept his own smile and said with an arch of his hand, “Being Feng.”
However, his heart was gradually sinking, these two young men Feng Yixian had never seen before, they were definitely not local to Linchuan Prefecture, they were from elsewhere. It was impossible for Feng Yixian not to know someone who could command the Department Six constables in Linchuan Prefecture.
And at such a critical moment, any unknown person should be on alert, especially when the other side had surrounded the pier with men early in the morning, so it was obvious that the visitor was not good.
“Does Helmsman Feng know Han Wenxin?” Luo Yan asked with a smile.
Feng Yixian looked bewildered and denied, “I have never heard of this name, and naturally I do not know such a person.”
“Is that so? But I feel sure that Servant Feng knows him and has had a not-so-great encounter with him.”
Luo Yan removed a roll of paper from his sleeve, unfolded it and showed it to Feng Yixian, but it was a portrait.
“This man is Han Wenxin. He was attacked by a group of a*sa*sins yesterday on White Water Street in the west of the city, and was seriously injured in broad daylight. And the leader of this group of killers, according to the statements of the many pa*sers-by present, used two light axes as weapons.”
“In this jianghu, those who use axes as weapons are fewer than some of the strange weapons. And in Linchuan Province, as far as I know, there should only be the Feng Helmsman using such weapons. I don’t think I should have the wrong person.”
Luo Yan still maintained his subdued smile, his words were all speculative words like should, I think, but his tone, however, was so certain that he was close to pointing directly at Feng Yixian and saying that the a*sa*sin leader was you.
However, the words were there, and the target was right, but there was no evidence. Although Feng Yixian was arrogant enough to attack with what could be described as a unique weapon, the light axe, he still had his face covered.
This may have been a bit of a cover-up, after all, there may not be many people in the whole of Jianghu who use a light axe. However, in the absence of conclusive evidence, Feng Yixian’s position gave him room to defend himself, and he would not have to be captured like ordinary people.
However, when Feng Yixian was confronted with this situation, he simply admitted without any defence: “Yes, the leader of the attack that day was none other than I, Feng. I had some business conflicts with this man, but these conflicts belong to the realm of the jianghu. But these conflicts are in the realm of the jianghu, and even these businesses cannot be explicitly stated. Therefore, Feng used some unseen means.
However, Department Six should not care about these matters, right?”
Feng Yixian was very frank in his admission, stating explicitly that Han Wenxin was the one he attacked. But he also said that this was a dispute in the jianghu, and that those so-called businesses that were not good enough to be spoken of explicitly were spoken of by those present who knew the inside story and were talking about those that were tainted with blackness.
But so what, the world is so vast and there are many similar deals. There is also a studio in Linchuan that specialises in this kind of shady business.
This kind of thing is so common in this era that Department Six is too lazy to regulate it, even if they had to. Department Six is also happy to see these blackmail and dog-eat-dog matters, as long as they do not cause harm to the people and shake up the order of the Great Qian.
It is also because of these unmanageable matters that the “Great Qian in the Shadow”, the studio, came into being. Since we cannot eradicate it completely, we will bring it under our control.
“It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I’m too lazy to care.” Luo Yan corrected.
“But if it were simply your hooks, I would be just as lazy as everyone else. But by the way, there is more to it than just those unseemly hookups.”
“Do you know, Master Feng? Last night, this Han Wenxin died, on the official road less than two miles outside the city.”
“Is that so? I really didn’t know about this,” Feng Yixian said without changing his face, “I was disappointed that Han Wenxin escaped yesterday, but I didn’t expect him to die by nightfall. But this is normal. It is not unusual for us journeymen to die on the roadside that day, but Han Wenxin’s death was both surprising and justifiable to me.
My lord, Han Wenxin was not killed by Feng, there is no need for Feng to lie about this, even if he admits it, it will not do Feng any harm, will it?”
“No, there is a downside, Servant Feng.” Luo Yan withdrew his smile and suddenly set a solemn face, causing Feng Yixian to feel an unpredictable sense of uncertainty.
“Originally, I didn’t bother to care whether this Han Wenxin was dead or alive, I’ve already said this earlier. After all, he is not one of my people, but a member of the Northern Zhou, and he is also very close to a certain big figure in the Northern Zhou court. Even if we were to pursue his death, it would not be our turn to do so, even though he died on Great Qian’s soil.”
“But the person who killed him is not ordinary. As the head of the Cao Gang and a frequent visitor to the East China Sea, Master Feng should know something about the situation there.” Luo Yan raised his eyes to indicate the cargo ship on the edge of the pier, obviously knowing where it came from.
“According to the traces left at the scene, the person who killed Han Wenxin was undoubtedly a ninja that only exists in the East China Sea. There were many concealed weapons that the ninjas of the East used to use,” Luo Yan took out a meteor dart with four corners and four equal edges from his sleeve, “This concealed weapon, according to the East, is called ‘hand sword’. ”
“The fact that Han Wenxin died at night at the hands of the ninjas of Eastern Japan after being attacked by Servant Feng in the afternoon is really something that I can’t allow my lord not to suspect. Moreover, we do not care about general disputes in the jianghu as long as they do not affect the people, and we are more than happy to see black people eating black people. But this collusion with the Eastern Japanese, we at Department Six have to take care of it.”
“Now you tell me, Master Feng, is it bad for you to admit to killing Han Wenxin!”
Feng Yixian finally couldn’t maintain his calm face. Ever since Luo Yan had said the words “Eastern Japanese”, his smile had disappeared, replaced by a gloom that could not be concealed.
Fornicating with the East was a major crime of treason, and in this era, there would be no immigration. In this era, there is no such thing as emigration. The mark of the nation cannot be erased from the bodies of its citizens. Even if the two countries had good diplomatic relations, you could not become a member of the Eastern Empire if you were a member of the Great Qian, not to mention the fact that pirates from the Eastern Empire sometimes robbed the sea caravans and ships of the Great Qian.
Of course, between Great Qian and Northern Zhou, it is a different story. Both countries are, after all, from the Central Plains, and the Northern Zhou was formerly known as the Great Zhou Dynasty, which ruled the entire Central Plains. In the eyes of the people of the world, they were all people of the Central Plains.
“How do you address your Excellency?” Feng Yixian finally asked Luo Yan’s name.
Originally it was Luo Yan who surrounded the docks with Department Six constables, and Feng Yixian did not put him in his sights. This was the confidence of being the top number of people in Linchuan Prefecture, and even the fiercest transgressive dragon could not scare Feng Yixian, the ground snake. He had the backing of Lin Teng Yuan, the Silver Seal Constable of Department Six of the Lin Chuan Prefecture.
But now, he realized that he had underestimated this unknown young man.
“Luo Yan,” Luo Yan said indifferently, “Silver Seal Constable of Department Six, Luo Yan, and this is Bu Lengchuan, also a Silver Seal ranked constable. We are both of the same rank as Lin Fujiwara, and Lord Feng Helmsman, Lord Lin cannot order us around.”
Luo Yan only introduced his and Bu Lengchuan’s names and their ranks as constables in Department Six, and did not tell them both about their master’s training. It was not an honorable thing to rely on one’s master to rise to the top, and although both Luo Yan and Bu Lengchuan had real merit and strength, they could not help but be perceived as such by others. Therefore, Luo Yan basically did not mention his master’s heritage outside.
The actual fact is that there are only a few Silver Seal constables in their twenties in the entire Department Six, and they are much more famous than other Silver Seal constables who have been around for years.
“So it is the two of you who are under the tutelage of the Divine Constable of Wind Chasing and the Divine Constable of Blood Hand. I can swear to the heavens that although I have committed many acts of injustice in my life, I have never done anything treasonous to my country. If I break this oath, I will be struck by thunder and lightning, and I will not be allowed to die.” Feng Yixian tried to hide his gloomy look and put on a smile to flatter Luo Yang and the two of them, and with a righteous face, he put up his finger and swore. His face was as colorful as a reptile that could change its colour, which was admirable.
However, Luo Yan did not eat this at all, and said directly: “Whether you are innocent or not, it is not up to you, but up to us. Now, all you have to do is to fold your hands and be captured.”
