novelraw Chapter 596 - 527
Chapter 596 - 527
As it turns out, Su Jingchen’s worries were indeed justified.
"Sister-in-law, there are a few women sneaking at the entrance of our alley, walking back and forth several times, they seem like accomplices of the water bandits, should Tiger and I tie them up and question them?" The more Su Jingyue observed those people, the more suspicious they appeared.
Yu Xiaolian, standing on a ladder and peering over the wall for a while, also thought those women seemed suspicious. It was important to know that in this alley, there were only two households. After the Kou Family bought the property across from them, no one really lived there. Later, when the old madam of the Kou Family passed away, Su Jingchen inherited their title and confiscated most of their assets to enrich the national treasury, including this residence, which was later gifted to Su Jingchen by the emperor.
So, the entire alley was theirs, and anyone not from their family wouldn’t normally come into the alley.
These women, carrying baskets, seemed to casually pass by the alley entrance, but the frequent passing caught the highly vigilant Su Jingyue’s attention.
Yu Xiaolian concluded that these women were likely the relatives of the water bandits, here to ’scout’ for the bandits.
Yu Xiaolian wasn’t the type to allow threats to linger, anything potentially harmful had to be eliminated for her peace of mind.
What if these people took advantage of their sleeping and poisoned the well or burned the house down late at night?
Since there were security risks, there could be no negligence. Fishing for bigger fish was not her business.
"Jingyue, Tiger, tie up those three women wandering aimlessly with baskets for me."
Upon her command, Su Jingyue and Sun Hu immediately sprang into action and within a short period, brought back three vegetable-selling women tied up.
The women were bound with ropes and gagged, thrown to the ground violently, with eyes full of undisguised terror.
Yu Xiaolian looked at Sun Hu and Su Jingyue, "Interrogation is not my specialty. You’ve both been in the army for many years, so this should be no problem for you. I’m leaving it to you."
Sun Hu and Su Jingyue understood Yu Xiaolian was testing them, so they wasted no time and took the terrified women to the back courtyard.
The military’s interrogation methods proved to be too much for these women to withstand; without much use of force, they confessed everything.
They were indeed relatives of the water bandits, but only distant relatives who hadn’t participated in murder or robbery, merely tasked with gathering intelligence in the city to earn some petty cash.
The court had dispatched large numbers of soldiers to hunt down the bandits, and the bandits, fearing the end was near, hoped to drag down Su Jingchen’s family in their demise.
These women thought they were skilled enough in this craft to leave no trace, hence at first refused to confess since no decent person wants to be associated with water bandits!
But these two young lads proved to be indeed ruthless, showing no mercy during interrogation. The women, unable to bear the ordeal, now only wish for a quick death without suffering further.
The women spilled the water bandits’ plan, revealing everything completely.
Upon learning the bandits intended to kidnap Su Jingchen’s wife and daughter as hostages when they were absent, Yu Xiaolian frowned, still suspecting the bandits had further schemes.
These women might not be telling the whole truth.
Yu Xiaolian instructed Su Jingyue and Sun Hu to remain vigilant and never let their guard down.
These women were likely sent by the bandits to confuse them.
Once they thought they caught the culprits, the bandits would strike unexpectedly.
Yu Xiaolian increased her level of vigilance, and Su Jingchen did the same.
Su Jingchen not only had to deal with the water bandits but also guard against the Minister of Water Transport Zhao Mingzhi, and at the same time, persuade Hai State’s County Magistrate Yang Ming to cooperate actively in the bandit eradication without resorting to tricks.
The rampant chaos caused by the bandits in Hai State was something Yang Ming could not shirk responsibility for; he knew once the bandits were eliminated, his own misfortune was inevitable. But as the Salt Transport Envoy pointed out, ruining himself was better than implicating his family.
Based on sacrificing himself for his family’s happiness, Yang Ming actively displayed dedication in order to atone for his crimes. Even if he couldn’t continue being the County Magistrate later, with Su in power, he might find an archivist position in Yangzhou, or at worst, a supervisory role at the saltworks.
The bandits weren’t foolish either, knowing the court had sent troops to eradicate them, they weren’t bold enough to go outside but hid in their dens, confident that their hideout in the dense forest of Water Island was easy to defend and hard to attack, thus planning to fight the court’s troops to the end.
They had stored enough food in advance, and the court’s army couldn’t starve them out.
Their ships couldn’t all be hidden, but they had managed to conceal a few, now merely needing to guard against naval assaults.
Yet, the bandits never expected General Jiang Lin, renowned for his tactics, to be so ruthless, without the rules of battle.
Though they were water bandits, they didn’t harm ordinary fishing vessels but mostly targeted out-of-town merchant ships and salt traders. Of course, if merchants were sensible enough to voluntarily pay toll fees, they wouldn’t be attacked.
As most merchants were cautious with their lives, they willingly paid the toll fees, just wishing to safely traverse the Lianghuai territory.
In the early years, some resisted the toll fees, but over the years, it had become an accepted unwritten rule in the Lianghuai region.
Everything seemed smooth until the unyielding Su Jingchen appeared.
What bad luck!
Rumor had it that Jiang Lin released large amounts of toxic smoke around Water Island, giving Bandit Leader Liang a headache.
He was prepared for a prolonged tug with the court’s military, yet the young General Jiang Lin didn’t play by the rules!
Relentless toxic smoke wafted from around Water Island into the bandits’ hideout in the deep forest, elusive and pervasive.
The bandits covered their mouths and noses with wet towels but still inhaled plenty of toxic smoke, unable to continue holding them, needing the breath eventually.
The poisoned bandits became weak, lying scattered and limp, despite their rugged and strong dispositions, failing to engage in direct combat with the court’s troops before defeat, feeling extremely frustrated.
Jiang Lin managed to eliminate over a thousand water bandits without losing a single soldier.
Thanks to the bandits themselves for cornering themselves in a dead end; had they not gathered together, he wouldn’t have caught them so easily.
Yang Ming showered Jiang Lin with overwhelming praise.
Jiang Lin raised his brow, remarking only that the bandits’ tactics were hardly much compared with trapping Cao Chengtong.