Chapter 980

Hantai Prefecture.

Bai Family Mansion.

Bai Mingzhe narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, finding a undulating arc in the vast sky and lake light.

That was the ridge of the Ice Mirror Snow Mountain. The hard and sharp soil and rock were covered with a thick layer of white snow, as gentle as a young girl's back.

Compared to a few months ago, the snow line on the mountainside was constantly retreating.

Another summer.

No, it is September, almost October, already entering autumn.

He grew up here. At nine, he went to Southern Zhili to study with the great scholars of the time, reading classics, history, and collections. At fourteen, he went to the Imperial Capital to receive the most orthodox martial arts education. He had three Perfected Form teachers alone. At twenty-four, he returned, and at forty-two, he became an Elder of the Bai family. In the sixty years, "Ice Mirror Mountain, Blue Lake, the scenery of my hometown, I never tire of looking at it."

"Master, Master!"

Bai Mingzhe shook off the memories: "How is it? Have you found out the origin of those few people?"

"It is—it is from Southern Zhili! Third Master Bai recognized the accent as soon as he heard it." The young man had freckles on his face, spraying white mist, panting, "We checked over a dozen ports, asking one by one, and found the place where they got off and on the boat."

"Any clues?"

"No, they changed boats all the way here. By the time they got on the boat, they were almost at Hantai. The boatman who picked them up can no longer be found. We are still looking."

"West and East are so far apart, changing boats four or five times. It is not a matter of a few months to find them. Are there any other clues? Who is their superior, and what is their purpose?"

"No." The young man was very ashamed. "They handled their tracks very cleanly. Third Master flipped through the packages and found no useful clues, only a letter stained with fire wax. Looking at it against the firelight, it was just family matters, the content was plain,

we are still studying it now, whether there is another meaning, but it is more likely oral, no written clues."

Bai Mingzhe pinched his eyebrows tightly.

Since five years ago, the Imperial Court has been sending people wave after wave...

"Troubled times. Just like before, let the clan children restrain themselves more, go out less, and cause less trouble. Those who make mistakes, no matter who they are, will be grounded for three months—no, starting from half a year! Let Third Master go out and find an excuse to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

If there are those from the eighth branch and fifth generation, for serious ones, execute them on the spot."

"Yes!"

"Phew, this weather is truly dry."

Unlike Cha Qing took off his fur coat and opened his water bottle to take a sip.

Clearly Hantai Prefecture is adjacent to Blue Lake and Snow Mountain, not lacking water, but the air is inexplicably dry. Running here from Pingyang Prefecture, not to mention uncomfortable, nowhere feels right.

Acclimatization is a small matter.

What is more unfortunate is communication.

In such a large Hantai Prefecture, one can't even find people who speak official language, just a few kittens. Fortunately, in the four months the three of them were on the road, they tried hard to learn some. Helplessly, the locals are naturally wary of outsiders. Speaking with a half-baked accent, they hadn't opened up the situation after being here for a few days, only renting a small house.

"On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the Hengren caravan's Kangji vessel sank in the 'Three Whirlpools' waters of the lower section of the Grand Canal, resulting in the loss of three thousand shi of official salt. The cut on the shipwreck is smooth, suspected to be from a sharp weapon. The Three Judicial Offices have conducted a preliminary investigation and locked onto the Registrar of the Water Transport Office for colluding with the black market—requesting approval from the River Patrol Office for assistance."

"Eating inside and out, catch them!"

*Thump. *

Stamped.

"Blood Stone Chamber of Commerce, carrying mysterious iron—Blood Stone weapons, heading north to Heyuan Prefecture at the request of the Imperial Court—requesting a passage document (no contraband, inspected, the transfer order is true)."

"Release!"

*Thump. *

Stamped.

【Water-Ze Essence +24】

【Water-Ze Essence: 247,600】

Liang Qu pinched the official seal, pinched a lotus seed, read it again, and wrote his "opinion" under the seal.

"The Zhang family's caravan in Xiangyi County, heading north to Heyuan Prefecture, is doing quite well... Just in time to take Cao Shixiong's treasure horse along."

The aforementioned government affairs were all handled with the help of the two brothers, Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe, along with a group of subordinates; processing them was not complicated, and it could be settled in half an hour a day.

Going to the Snow Mountain immediately, everything must be arranged properly.

As a Fourth-Rank Huai Water General.

Liang Qu's main responsibility was to catch and release people within the entire Pingyang Prefecture and even the surrounding canals and waterways,

and if there were monsters causing trouble on the water, he was responsible for killing them. He leaned toward martial affairs and occasionally inspected the army.

Xu Yuelong and the others were more complex. As Chief and Deputy Commanders, they coordinated civil and military affairs, and their responsibilities were more comprehensive: maintaining canal waterways, hydrological observation, issuing licenses... Due to the special nature of Pingyang Prefecture, it can be said that the actual control range was not just within the prefecture itself, especially with Su Guishan sitting in command.

Pingyang Prefecture had many heavy rains in August and September. After coming back from observing Meng Meng Bai Huo, life was indeed busy.

The only regret was that he was in seclusion for two months, passing through all of July. Cao Shixiong Yang Xu had limited time and had already ridden the Red Mountain away, so he didn't see him one last time.

Using the convenience of his position, he saved a small amount of treasure horse shipping fees.

There was a hurried knock on the door.

"My Lord!"

"Pingjiang? What is the matter?"

Long Pingjiang stepped in and presented the booklet: "September heavy rain, flood submerged three towns and six townships in Haiyan County. The villagers flooded into the Dragon King Temple, looting offerings and old grain in the granary—."

"The levee broke again?" Liang Qu pinched the official seal, his heart shocked.

Long Pingjiang hurriedly said: "The levee did not break. It was just heavy rain causing the lake water to overflow, overflowing but not ominous, submerging farmland. Some people took advantage of the chaos to incite villagers to loot. There were casualties, but it was because of the crowd trampling."

Liang Qu relaxed. As long as the levee didn't break, the degree of impact was very different.

"What did the Commander say?"

"First, grant the tax-free Golden Scale Order Flag to attract grain merchants to stabilize the people's hearts, and also let you mobilize eighty Shark People and three hundred soldiers to send people to Haiyan County to drain the water."

"You lead the team, you arrange it. Discuss with County Magistrate Quan about the Shark People."

"Yes!"

Looking at the sky, Liang Qu opened the window, preparing to fly to Haiyan County to see the situation.

*Ding-a-ling. *

The copper bell on the table rang.

It was Su Guishan summoning him.

"Uncle, what is the matter calling me? Haiyan County is waterlogged, I am rushing to see it."

"Waterlogging is not a broken levee. The Haiyan County Magistrate can suppress it. Three things." Su Guishan tapped the table. "First, these on the table, take the first three back, and reward them according to the situation."

"These are—"

Liang Qu looked down.

From left to right, there were cyan official uniforms, emerald silk ribbons, and silver fish-scale-like waist plates. All were exquisite and beautiful things. At a glance, the cost was not cheap...

"The second item, the Pingyang River Patrol Office has been promoted."

"Promoted?" Liang Qu didn't understand; how could a River Patrol Office be promoted?

"Effective immediately, the Pingyang River Patrol Office is renamed the Huaidong River Patrol Office. The entire section of the Jinglan Grand Canal from Weishan Lake onwards, the Nanzhili section of the Huai River, and the shallow water areas of the four regions of the Jianghuai Great Marsh all fall under the jurisdiction of the Huaidong River Patrol Office. The River Patrol Offices of each prefecture and department in the corresponding waters must cooperate with us.

Therefore, the imperial court has issued new accessories to be given to the outstanding officials of the Huaidong River Patrol Office: the ninth rank receives a green cord robe, the eighth rank receives a blue wave sash, and the seventh rank receives a silver scale waist plaque. There is a certain quantity of these three grades; seeing them is equivalent to seeing a superior official, and they also carry special permissions.

In addition, there are three spiritual artifacts: the Gray Turtle Seal, the Profound Armor Mask, and the Purple Lightning Boat. Our entire Huaidong River Patrol Office only has three. I thought about it and felt that this Profound Armor Mask might be useful to you."

"What is the use?"

"Impartial and incorruptible. Below the fifth rank, execute first and report later." ===== CHAPTER 981 =====