After it turns dark, fireflies are flying in the grass along the canal, and the chirping of cicadas is mixed with the sound of frogs, swaying in the breeze. The water waves, embankments, rice fields, short trees, military camps set up by the docks and docked ships stretch out.

There was a bright fire, and a nearby hawker picked something to sell here. Before he could go back, someone lit a fire in a small shed by the field ridge not far away, set up tables and chairs, and invited some people in rich clothes to sit and eat and drink.

Occasionally, I can see bonfires spreading and dancing, which is like experiencing the farm life of later generations.

The weather is already hot in the summer, and most of the people entering and exiting the pier are taking photos with fans. Those who eat on board the ship often cannot stand the sweltering heat in the cabin, so they move the tables and chairs to the side of the ship. Only on the river

The wind blew in waves, and when the weather got a little cooler, a burst of cheers could be heard. Most of the people came out to enjoy the cool breeze. Even those detained on the side of the pier had minor or serious injuries.

The Liangshan gangsters couldn't help but relax in the cage and show a little bit of vitality.

The series of incidents from last night to this time have indeed brought a somewhat solemn atmosphere to the entire fleet, but the overall impact is still limited. The previous battle at Hongze Lake was easily resolved.

It can already make everyone rejoice and applaud, but in this case, although the previous night did bring an immersive sense of threat to many dignitaries on the ship, the encirclement and killing of everyone in Liangshan, and the subsequent

After arresting more than forty people, the slight tension was finally diluted again.

For many "second generation" people with different backgrounds on the ship, this journey can already be seen as a realistic and shocking escort experience. There are dangers, but no one was hurt. Looking back now

, the enemy is nothing more than a chicken or a dog. And after they have experienced these things personally, they will have more things to talk about with others in the future.

Some things are conceivable. Once these large ships arrive in Bianliang, people will talk about their fight against the bandits. The purpose of their coming to Beijing is to visit, lobby, and win over during this birthday.

This experience provided them with a good opportunity.

Therefore, although there are still worries about thieves coming, even those who leave the dock just walk around and eat something at the nearby fields and embankments. Most people still abide by the rules to a certain extent and only stay there.

Activities within the warning range will not cause more trouble to the accompanying troops - of course, this is only to the extent that they cause trouble to others on weekdays.

In the bright lights on the main ship, people were talking about the Liangshan bandits who were overestimating their capabilities, and they were also talking about the bandits who would have their legs broken and sunburned to death the next day. For most people, things were very complicated.

It was exciting, but there were indeed a small number of people who thought it was too cruel, or started to point out whether Chen Jingui was qualified to carry out such an execution without going through the yamen trial and filing it with the department. Among them, a small number of people,

In his words, he tended to think that the people in Liangshan were indeed good guys who robbed the rich and gave to the poor. It would be a pity to be executed like this. Zhou Pei walked through the crowd and wrote down all those who had such thoughts.

As a "rich" person, it is not unimaginable to sympathize with these heroes who robbed the rich. At this time, most of the people traveling north on the ship were the second and third generations of wealthy and well-to-do families, and they had all kinds of romantic ideas in their minds.

There are even those who yearn for the freedom of heroes in the jungle and hate the "unkindness" of their own families. There are also those who sympathize with these people after seeing the desolate scene of the injured in the cage, mostly women. Of course,

, there was no human rights at this time, so not many people would ask doctors to go over and treat the prisoners.

Among the forty-three people arrested, there were thirty-nine gangsters in total. It can be said that the situation at this time was extremely miserable. Those with minor injuries were ignored, while those with serious injuries were only treated briefly and thrown away.

They were left to fend for themselves there. After the high temperature of the day, the wounds began to deteriorate, and flies came and went, which looked extremely scary. For this reason, when Yuan Jin'er was cooling off on the side of the boat after eating, he decided to go down and take a look.

When the group was arrested, Ning Yi still spoke up to stop them.

"Don't go there. It doesn't look good. If you look at it, you'll sympathize with them, which will make you feel bad."

"I don't sympathize with those people." Jin'er, who was about to pull Yunzhu off the boat, raised her chin and then said, "Do you think you sympathize with them?"

Ning Yi smiled on the side of the ship: "It's all a fear that extends to others. Now think about it, it's nothing, but... their heads were broken, their hands were broken, their feet were broken, and their bones, blood, flesh, etc. were exposed.

Outside, flies are biting on them, and they are crying and shouting one by one, kowtowing on the ground, etc., but you still feel that they are miserable. I went to see them, and I didn't feel very comfortable."

"Oh?" Jin'er looked at him for a long time. Yunzhu blinked and seemed a little surprised. Xiao Chan on the side showed a look of realization, "So my uncle is like this too", but after thinking about it, he felt that it should be like this.

"But... you still feel happy, right?"

"It's all a little bit." Ning Yi blew the wind and leaned on the railing with a smile. "There are no completely heinous villains. People are like this. They suffer and beg for mercy, which makes you feel very pitiful. Some people say they have no choice but to do so.

It will make you feel the same. But after all, it depends on what they did. When they were strong and not caught, they entered other people's homes, burned, killed and looted. If they had enough time, they caught women... and did those things

After all, they are just these people. I know you won’t sympathize with them, but seeing those wounds will still make you sick to your stomach. It’s instinct, so why bother asking for trouble.”

His eyes lingered on Yunzhu and others for a moment, but after all, he did not say what would happen if the other party caught the woman. In fact, on the day the Su family was invaded, several such things happened and Ning Yi was forced to suppress them.

However, while preparing to go north, one of Su Tan'er's cousins ​​still hanged herself. Xiaochan knew about this, but Yunzhu and Jin'er did not.

Never heard of it.

However, after Ning Yi said these words, they gave up the idea of ​​going to watch the prisoners. However, Yunzhu asked after a moment: "I heard that these prisoners have been arrested. If they want to be sentenced to beheading, etc.

The case must be adjudicated through the yamen and handed over to the yamen for record. If you really want to kill them, General Chen and Li Heng, you will be blamed, right?"

Ning Yi shook his head: "That's what I said, but there are special circumstances. This time the birthday guide went north, and the situation happened to be turbulent. I don't know how many people are eyeing these things. If they are escorted to Beijing all the time,

It may cause the people of Liangshan to take risks and take action against the birthday plan, or even bring the problem to Bianliang. This time, the Empress Dowager's birthday, there is great pressure from all parties. It is better to do less than to do more. If someone is killed, they will go back to Liangshan even if they hold grudges.

Revenge. For these things, if you say you will not obey military orders abroad, you can still be forgiven."

After Ning Yi said this, he looked at Yunzhu and smiled. In fact, Yunzhu was not really interested in this matter. Instead, he was worried after hearing what others said, but Ning Yi said again: "

Of course, if someone wants to find fault, there will still be trouble. But no matter what, we can no longer give the hope and idea of ​​rescuing the people who escaped from Liangshan. For the birthday plan, for these young men on the ship, and for the people of Bianliang on their birthday

Safety, that’s all.”

Jin'er thought for a while and said: "Then you can't stop people from coming to save people..."

"I can do it because I'm faster than them."

"Then why don't you kill them tonight?"

"Haha..." Ning Yi laughed, "You'll know after tonight."

As he was talking, the wind blew over in waves, and everyone enjoyed the coolness on the boat in the cool night. Most of them were surrounded by accounting clerks, stewards, or families of all sizes. When the children were running around, they were throwing things on the boat.

The atmosphere was lively. Then the night got darker and the atmosphere on the ship became quieter as the sultry heat faded away. Ning Yi and others returned to the room. The maids or wives brought cold water, washed a little and then began to sleep. There were also people in different cabins.

Watching different scenery, they are whispering, laughing and chatting, or men and women are cuddling together quietly, letting the tranquility of getting along dissipate the irritability in their hearts.

During this period of time, there were only a few figures hidden in the water plants beside the riverbed in the distance, watching everything here gradually become quiet, and whispering among themselves.

"... No matter what, if we take the liberty to take action, with the strength of the few of us, it is impossible. That Ning Liheng must have made all kinds of preparations. We can only go all the way north to find... an opportunity that can be exploited...

"

"Why go all the way north? They will kill people tomorrow. If their legs are broken, what will happen if they are rescued? Brother Zhu, you can wait, I can't wait..."

"Brother Yan." Zhu Wu held Yan Qing's shoulders in front of him, "This won't work."

"But Brother Yan is right, we can't wait any longer." Zhang Shun said.

"If you believe me, we can only wait." Compared to before, Zhu Wu's expression this time was a bit firmer, "They released such news just to make us unable to wait and have no choice but to throw ourselves into the trap..."

We can only bet that he doesn't dare to do this."

"How to bet?"

"No matter who is sentenced to death, he must first be heard by the Yamen, sent to the Golden Palace for review by the emperor, filed for record, and then executed after autumn. Anyone who is sentenced without paying a report will be exiled for two thousand miles. They dare not do such a thing

It’s just a scary thing to say!”

His words made the other two people stunned: "If..."

"And even if Ning Liheng is a lunatic, this matter not only concerns him, but also Chen Jingui on the ship. Once the matter is suppressed, a lot of people will have to bear it. They cannot afford this kind of thing. As soon as Ning Liheng intervenes,

No matter how strong his identity and connections are, others will not stand with him on this matter. If he can't make a decision, he can't kill people. Brother Yan, if he really wants to kill people, why doesn't he start doing it today?

, we have to wait until tomorrow, he is just waiting for us to come and take a look, if you are impulsive, you will really play into his hands!"

"...but...what if he is really that kind of lunatic..."

"You can only gamble."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Zhang Shun said: "Brother Zhu is right, we can only gamble. What should we do next? Brother Zhu, you tell me."

Zhu Wu looked at the dock over there and swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "Keep an eye on them, there is no other way. If they go north, we will go north. Brother Yan, you are familiar with how many people are on the boat. See if there is any loophole that can be exploited.

These people all have status, and it is impossible for Ning Liheng to control them. These are opportunities. Look for Ning Liheng's weaknesses and look at his methods... We have no tricks now, we can only slowly find ways to break the situation.

.I have thought that there are still three to five days of travel to Bianliang. If we follow, there are two places where we can do some testing..."

He paused: "His identity is a big problem after all. No matter how many things he has done before, once his subordinates are asked to do hard work, there will always be people who are dissatisfied. They are doing it openly, and we are doing it secretly. This is what we do

The only advantage. During these days, he will put his men on strict alert and take precautions in all aspects. We can only let the brothers who have returned to Shandong expose their whereabouts as much as possible and tell them that we have left. Ning Liheng will not

I believe it, but there must be loopholes for the people under him to take advantage of... The people in the imperial court are used to doing things carelessly, I don't believe they can really tense up and waste time with us all day long..."

Now that he was ready to play against Ning Yi, in the past half day, he had already thought about the advantages and disadvantages between them, and also calculated possible ways to break the situation. Even though it was not a very clear plan at this time

, but the structure was still clear. The three of them had been squatting here for a long time, and Zhu Wu had already analyzed it almost. At this time, the night wind had picked up, and the surrounding fields were dark. Suddenly, a small detail on the ship attracted Yan Qing's attention.

Looking at it, he whispered: "Look."

Among the three, Zhu Wu was good at planning and organized, but Yan Qing was delicate and quick in reaction. What he saw was a subtle flash of fire on the hull. At this time, the three of them were far apart.

People couldn't tell what was going on, but they just gradually got closer. At a certain moment, they suddenly saw a black figure jumping down from the side of the ship.

The three of them were taken aback. No matter how they thought about it, they never expected such a scene to happen. When they saw several black shadows coming down one after another, they disappeared into the darkness. Yan Qing had already thought of escaping from prison, so he wanted to

Going over to respond, Zhu Wu held him down: "Wait, this is not impossible, but it is very strange. Let's take a look and talk about it... Besides, Brother Yan, you couldn't do anything in the past..."

What he said made sense. It was mainly because of the truth in the last sentence that Yan Qing controlled her mood. However, just a moment later, a gong suddenly sounded on the boat, and someone shouted: "The prisoner has escaped! The prisoner has escaped."

Escaped!" The entire small dock suddenly exploded.

At this time, many people had already escaped from the side of the pier. Apparently, the people who escaped from the big ship then went to rescue the Liangshan brothers who were locked in a cage next to them. However, they may have been discovered after only half of them were rescued. In the blink of an eye,

They started fighting. There were only ten or twenty people who could not escape. They did not dare to fight. They turned over and tried to escape, but then several people were killed by arrows.

Zhang Shun and Yan Qing immediately wanted to rescue them, but Zhu Wu just wanted to hold them back to see the situation. In fact, he also knew in his heart that even if Ning Yi was good at planning, it did not mean that he could bring a group of imperial soldiers to the rescue.

They were all trained to be elites. No matter how good the strategy is, it is common for the people under his command to have loopholes. Then he heard someone shouting in the night: "Catch them! Lu Junyi got away!" He suddenly felt relieved.
To be continued...