Chapter 768: Hijacking the Imperial Banner

Once the words are spoken, there are actually seven or eight men here who are accustomed to water deeds, and the others, including Shi Dalang, are also adept at water. What we need to do now is take all the soft goods of Shi Family Manor away; fortunately, earlier Shi Yi had already handed most of the household silver and soft goods to Shi Xiao and Shi Xiaomei, who took them to Jiangnan—this person has already prepared his sister's dowry......

Shi Family Manor obviously couldn't be burned down in one go; Shi Yi wanted to do that, but Bai Lang stopped him. "Are you stupid?" Bai Lang said just that line. Shi Dalang sulked, thought for a while, then chuckled and packed the things up with the others and left. As for Shi Family Manor, it will probably just be cheap for the imperial officials who came to arrest him.

The charge of Chief Executioner is not minor; Shi Dalang has a maritime capture document on him that can't be taken away; if caught, he'd definitely be taken to Caishikou, and a three‑thousand‑li exile is impossible. But if he runs to the mountains and becomes a bandit, basically it's fine—our Great Song is full of bandits, a mere Chief Executioner turned bandit is nothing. Hei Mao Hu's mountain stronghold is now occupied by a group of refugees; after Shi Dalang arrived with his men, those people kowtowed and begged to be taken in. Bai Lang gave no comment, "Let's see what Shi Dalang will do?"

Seeing that there are still mountain fields that can be cultivated, Shi Yi also took them in. The official boat still needs a few days to depart, and these people have already begun planning how to rob the official boat. Robbing obviously requires a plan; the great sage Master Ram later said: "The important thing is not the robbery, but how to make a getaway."

Similarly, the key this time is, after seizing the boat, how to transport the Gold Beads, treasures and curios on board to the stronghold in the shortest time, and then how to sell them at the fastest speed and best price? In the jianghu there are people who buy stolen goods on the spot; when Shi Taigong was alive, he introduced Shi Dalang to a few of them. "Don't worry, it's just about making a name. The bigger the name, the easier to get things done." Bai Lang laughed.

"Xiao Ming Wang"—after Shi Yi killed Tao Chief Executioner and fled to the mountains, the heroes of Shandong Road were amazed, all thinking that Shi Yi's temperament was indeed as violent as a Ming King, thus killing officials and turning bandit. The prefecture also issued a maritime capture document and mobilized troops to suppress this new mountain bandit—this was the perfect timing, Shi Yi had just arrived in the mountains and was not yet a force; he only had a few dozen men and horses.

If it grows into a situation with hundreds or thousands of bandits, then it will be difficult to handle.

"Can't get it to the stronghold, we have to find a place here; Shi Dalang, if you have anyone who can buy stolen goods on the spot, let them come here to trade." Bai Lang pointed east, where lies the eight‑hundred‑li Liangshan Marsh. That area has many water‑based heroes; Shi Dalang has seen them but Bai Lang has not—he rarely goes out, and the martial arena never brings the three Ruan brothers.

These three have average reputations in the jianghu; their water deeds are indeed impressive but foot‑and‑horse combat probably can't last three rounds against Shi Yi. As for Bai Lang, he can handle them single‑handed. He belongs to the group that bullies Mi Qingzi. Shi Dalang really knows these three; he also knows the ground‑based "sitting‑tiger" of Qingzhou Prefecture, a professional stolen‑goods dealer named Xiao Mengchang Qian Tongqian Er Ye.

This person has an excellent reputation in the jianghu; his stolen‑goods business is huge, and it seems that as long as he can make money, he would even dare to sell the emperor's stolen items. "I just don't know which high‑ranking official backs him." Bai Lang was a bit curious, thinking he's probably just one of the Six Thieves, and Bai Lang personally leans toward the Cai family.

As a long‑time minister, Cai Jing naturally knows what Zhao Ji is, and doesn't care about obtaining Zhao Ji's flower‑stone‑gang gold treasure—once this thing is used up, he can say he retrieved it for the court; Zhao Ji wouldn't care how it was 'retrieved', and may even forget that it was robbed... "As long as we levy it again, it's fine." That's the court's thinking.

In a sense, this court does have the 'softness' of the Zhao‑Song line, but overall Zhao‑Song is a feeble dynasty—its father and older brother are martial but only half‑skilled. As for the ministers of the Great Song today, Bai Lang thinks they're all dog‑Confucians, big useless snacks, yet they can still be called a good match of ruler and minister—an emperor like Song Huizong paired with the Six Thieves as ministers really fits.

That day the official boat arrived; Bai Lang and Shi Dalang wore the common short‑sleeved outfit of the time, exposing chest and arms, with a low‑waist breeches that showed both thighs and bare feet—the typical water‑man's attire. "Country chicken, tile dog." Bai Lang sat on the skiff, looking out; the Great Song's guards were indeed weak, and Shi Jin had already leapt into the water and slipped past from one side.

Bai Lang took the lead; he tossed a plank forward, and the man sprang into the air, his toe touching the plank on the water, then his next step landed on the official boat. "Alas, Bai Lang, Bai Lang, is it interesting to spend every day bullying people of Mi Qingzi's level?" Bai Lang asked himself, "It's extremely interesting! Otherwise what's the point of us training martial arts to transcend?"

Bai Lang descended from the sky, his fierce commander's face instantly scared the guard at the bow into a stunned heap; Bai Lang casually drew his sword, "Do you want wonton noodles or blade‑cut noodles?" he said, suppressing a grin. This was originally the river‑bandit banter of Xunyang River, which Bai Lang borrowed. Meanwhile, Shi Yi had already leapt onto the second boat, and this fellow swung his blade even more directly.

He didn't even cut anyone; the guards and boatmen jumped straight into the river, and the same happened on Bai Lang's boat—boatmen and guards all fled into the water. Survival first; as for the Imperial Banner being hijacked, let the high officials fret; we low‑rankers can hide in the jianghu for a while—pretending to be dead works perfectly.

Bai Lang and his companion easily seized the boat, and the others rowed skiffs onto it; the urgent matter now was to rush by water to Liangshan Marsh, and to save time Bai Lang thought they could abandon some heavy items. "In my opinion, Lord, we should discard all the curios, take the Gold Beads, silver and leave, and don't look for Qian Tong again—this person gives me a bad feeling."

Shi Yi readily complied, knowing his own instructor's skill far exceeded his own, and immediately nodded in agreement, taking the gold and silver on both boats along with the crafted Gold Beads and expensive curios, while leaving the tribute paintings and antiques untouched. They ignored the remaining items, and the boatmen and guards, seeing the strongmen leave, wandered back......

As for whether they will deliver the Imperial Banner or simply scatter it, Bai Lang is more confident that after urgently contacting the high officials above, they will send these treasures to the officials' homes and then place all the losses on Shi Yi's shoulders......