Chapter 32

Seeing that the Hour of the Dog was approaching, Tang Zheng said to Heipi, "Start."

Heipi nodded and waved to the surroundings. A moment later, the sound of gongs, drums, and suonas began to ring out.

And Heipi himself said in a loud voice, "Driving two dragons and yoking the dragons, the wind suddenly rises and crosses the waves. Riding the water cart with lotus-leaf canopy, purple shell palace and pearl chambers. Riding the red leopard and patterned civet, the clouds are voluminous below. Dim and dark, the day is obscured, the wind is whistling and sighing."

Accompanied by a resonant "clang" of a bell, Li Sheng knelt down first, and his subordinates, who had been planted in the crowd beforehand, followed suit. Led by them, all the believers knelt down and began to piously worship the River God statue.

Only Su Shanhe stood proudly, his waist and back held straight.

Heipi continued to say in a loud voice, "Offering our wealth to feed the God, offering our flesh and blood to return to the Great Void, offering our body and mind for favorable weather, offering our souls for the peace of the country."

The surrounding commoners closed their eyes one after another, piously kowtowing and chanting along, while the insiders Li Sheng and his group had planted in the crowd took the lead in putting silver and money into specially made fortune bags, then threw them into the river in public.

With people taking the lead, the remaining believers followed suit, and the fortune bags stuffed with silver and money flew toward the Grand Canal like raindrops.

On the high platform, Li Sheng and Heipi looked at each other and smiled, knowing that they would make a fortune from this haul.

However, compared to their long-term schemes, these were just small gains.

Li Sheng stood up. He first used incense to light paper talismans and threw them into the air, then picked up a wooden sword and waved it around in a pretentious manner. The wind from the sword carried the burning talismans, which swirled and drifted down beside him.

Then he took a sudden gulp of wine and sprayed it onto the incense, instantly producing a large burst of fire.

Against the backdrop of the firelight, Li Sheng really did have the air of an otherworldly expert. He pointed his wooden sword at the wide river surface and shouted loudly, "Fortune and misfortune are intertwined, the River God descends!"

And as if they had heard his summons, colorful fish-like shadows began to appear and disappear, swimming beneath the river surface.

The attention of all the believers was drawn to it, and Heipi took the opportunity to make a gesture to the surroundings. Those few believers planted in the crowd immediately shouted loudly, "Offering our wealth to feed the God, offering our flesh and blood to return to the Great Void, offering our body and mind for favorable weather, offering our souls for the peace of the country."

Driven by these shills, the surrounding commoners knelt and kowtowed even more piously, and the frequency of them throwing fortune bags into the river water increased.

And just at this moment, a loud, out-of-place shout suddenly came from afar: "What River God! It's all a scam!"

This shout immediately attracted everyone's attention.

They saw a fishing boat sailing from the distance along the river. Tang Zheng stood at the bow of the boat holding a torch. As the wind blew, the flickering firelight shone on his profile, making it appear in light and shadow.

The surrounding commoners immediately began to discuss it.

"Isn't that the Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander?"

"What Embroidered Uniform Guard? He's a fake!"

"I heard he was locked in prison by the Prefect a few days ago. I don't know how he escaped."

"Is he tired of living? He actually dares to disrespect the River God?"

"He will meet with retribution sooner or later."

"People like him deserve to die; I'm just afraid he'll implicate us."

Faced with the curses and gossip all around, Tang Zheng was not afraid at all and said in a loud voice, "Everyone, look clearly, this is the River God you are worshipping!"

Before the words were out, the few grain transport workers behind him suddenly cast a large net from the boat and, upon discovering they had caught something, began to pull upward with force.

With their exertion, a person wearing fish-skin clothing and a hood was dragged up from under the water, struggling desperately in the fishing net.

"Everyone, look." Tang Zheng said loudly to the surroundings, "This is the River God you are worshipping!"

Seeing the fish-skin person, the discussions of the surrounding commoners suddenly quieted down. Some who had originally been kneeling gradually stood up, stretching their necks to look into the fishing net.

"What's going on? Isn't it the River God?"

"Why is it a person wearing fish skin?"

"Could the legend of the River God be fake?"

As the questions grew more frequent, fewer and fewer believers remained kneeling. Many people surged toward the riverbank, wanting to see clearly what was going on.

Tang Zheng knew this was the perfect time to make the revelation, so he continued to say in a loud voice, "These people fabricated the legend of the River God, making everyone throw money and goods into the water, then they secretly fished them out to make a fortune. Furthermore, they secretly bored holes in ships and used the method of reporting shipwrecks for insurance to line their own pockets."

Then he pointed at Li Sheng on the high platform and said, "These things were all masterminded by the Water Transport Supervisor Deputy Commander Li Sheng! Su Shanhe is innocent!"

Following his words, everyone looked toward the high platform.

Feeling countless gazes like arrows shooting toward him, Li Sheng began to sweat on his back, but on the surface, he still put on a look of disdain and just sneered, "You say I masterminded it, what evidence do you have?"

"You want evidence, right? Look at who this is!"

A few grain transport workers dragged another fish-skin person out from the boat cabin. Tang Zheng ripped off the hood on his head, and underneath was none other than Abao's face.

He held the sword in his hand across Abao's neck, and a fisherman nearby scooped a ladle of cold water from the river and splashed it on Abao's face.

The latter jolted and woke up from his unconsciousness again, and immediately felt the pain of the sharp blade cutting through his skin.

Abao was so scared he almost peed himself and shouted, "Don't kill me, I'll say everything! The shipwrecks and insurance claims were done by us, and the River God legend was also made up by us. It's all fake!"

"Say it toward over there." Tang Zheng kicked him in the butt.

Hearing Tang Zheng's words, Abao immediately spotted Li Sheng on the high platform. By now, he was completely terrified and shouted directly at Li Sheng, "Boss, save me!"

And the surroundings instantly exploded.

"I recognize this person; he's one of Li Sheng's subordinates."

"Isn't he? He even presided over the River God sacrifice ceremony before."

"So it really was them impersonating the River God."

"Damn it, we've all been deceived."

Seeing the situation gradually spiraling out of control, Li Sheng also became anxious and shouted loudly, "Everyone, don't be fooled by this swindler! He committed a capital offense by impersonating an Embroidered Uniform Guard earlier and was thrown into prison after being discovered by the Prefect. Now he has escaped from prison, which is a crime upon a crime. How can you believe the words of such a person?"

At the same time, he shouted to the soldiers maintaining order below the platform, "There's no need to interrogate such a death-row prisoner! Fire your arrows and shoot him to death on the spot!"

Hearing his words, the soldiers hesitated for a moment.

"I am the Water Transport Supervisor Deputy Commander of Zhenjiang Prefecture! Prefect Zhou is not here, so I am the highest authority here!" Li Sheng shouted hoarsely. "What? My words don't count? Do you still want your salaries or not?"

Threatened by him like this, the soldiers helplessly began to draw their bows and nock arrows.

Seeing this scene, a look of panic began to appear on Tang Zheng's face. But he was on a boat now, and the cabin was only so big; it couldn't hold everyone, so they were basically sitting ducks.

Should he abandon the boat and jump into the river? But if he really did that, everything they had done before might have been in vain.

However, just at the moment Tang Zheng was hesitating, a sword suddenly extended from behind Li Sheng and was held across his neck.

Lin Zuo's cold voice came from behind: "Nobody move."