Chapter 449

Half past the Mao hour, on the river surface east of Zhenjiang, the morning sun rose, and the lake light leaped like gold.

The merchant ship with earth-yellow sails was near the edge of the large river bay, sailing in a strange, curved route.

Two patrol military ships of the Zhenjiang Guard passed by nearby, but because of the difference in time and water area, as well as the cover of the reed marsh along the shore, they just happened to miss it.

The helmsman was well-versed in the patrol times and sections of the military ships and could always avoid them in time, like a ghost wandering on the waterway along the way.

Just as the merchant ship was sailing along the zigzag waterway to the next node, a secluded river fork along the river.

Suddenly, from behind an isolated island in the river ahead, a medium-sized passenger ship sailed out, heading towards the merchant ship rapidly, carrying an awe-inspiring and dangerous momentum.

Behind the passenger ship, three larger merchant ships were closely following.

These three merchant ships spread out in a claw shape, with their sails fully spread. Two of the merchant ships quickly overtook the passenger ship, sealing off the left and right waterways of the earth-yellow sail merchant ship.

The captain on this merchant ship looked at the three very familiar merchant ships, his eyes full of surprise, and he muttered: "Those are the merchant ships of the Zhen family fleet. Why are they all full of government soldiers!"

The two merchant ship fleets on the other side walked in a half-arc on the river, sandwiching the earth-yellow sail merchant ship in the middle, and the third merchant ship also overtook the passenger ship, blocking the waterway ahead.

The sailors on the scene had already seen that these three merchant ships had been waiting on the road ahead for a long time; this was to intercept and block their ship on the river.

The middle-aged man rushed out of the cabin with twenty or so guards carrying swords. Seeing the scene before him, he, who had always been calm, couldn't help but feel panicked in his heart.

He only heard someone on the merchant ship on the left shout: "Huang Yougui, you have great courage! The Zhen family has treated you well, yet you actually betrayed your master, privately opened the merchant ship, and transported wanted criminals. Are you not afraid of being beheaded and having your family confiscated!"

A burly man on this ship had a pale face. Looking at the man questioning him on the opposite bow, he said in a panic: "Why is it Steward Liu? I didn't want to, I was also forced."

Liu Xian shouted: "Drop anchor and stop the ship immediately. You can explain the foolish things you've done to the government when you go back."

The middle-aged man shouted: "Do not stop the ship! Speed up and rush through!"

Huang Yougui begged with a bitter face: "Master, the opposite side is a five-hundred-load large ship like ours, and there are three of them. No matter what, we can't rush through."

The middle-aged man's face turned ashen. He saw two people standing on the opposite bow, one was a middle-aged man with an unremarkable appearance.

The other was a handsome young man, wearing a moon-white Shu brocade robe, with a curved sword hanging at his waist, his demeanor eye-catching.

The middle-aged man looked at the young man, his face full of disbelief: "Jia Cong, how could it be you? How could you be here to intercept me? How is this possible?"

Jia Cong smiled: "Du Hengxin! Do you think that at this time, I should be in Jin Ling city, pursuing Zhang Kangnian who killed an official and fled?"

The person on the opposite ship was exactly the Jin Ling Regional Military Commissioner, Du Hengxin. He had always restrained his tracks, thinking he was flawless. Even if the imperial decree said he was negligent and incompetent, it could not prove he was guilty.

Now seeing Jia Cong appear here, he understood somewhat that everything he had done was not as flawless as he thought...

Jia Cong continued: "At that time, I also thought that Zhang Kangnian had heard the imperial decree and thought he was doomed, so he took a risk and killed someone to flee."

"But, I heard from the Wucheng Military Commission that not only was Zhang Kangnian's residence in Fengle Square, but you, Du Hengxin, also live in Fengle Square, which made me suddenly realize the strangeness of this matter."

Those masked assassins killed more than twenty people in a moment, highly skilled in martial arts, with sharp methods, extraordinary.

Since they did this, they should have killed everyone to avoid leaking the news. Why did they let go of a useless soldier and let him come back to report to me? This is too unreasonable.

Moreover, Zhang Kangnian was only suspended for investigation and had not been convicted. His crime was lighter than yours, and he had quite a background in Shen Jing; he might not have had no possibility of acquittal.

Since he could sit in the high position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, he was not a stupid person. He couldn't even understand this point of severity. He didn't need to do such an intense thing and cut off all his own escape routes.

Moreover, the Wucheng Military Commission increased manpower outside your residence, but your Du residence's gate was closed, and everything was as usual.

You both live in Fengle Square, less than an arrow's distance apart. Such a big thing happened, yet you, Du Hengxin, turned a deaf ear to it. It's a bit too strange.

That's right, whether it was me or Yang Hongbin, regarding the unfinished situation of the Water Surveillance Division case back then, the one we suspected the most was Zhang Kangnian, because his words and actions at the Zou residence back then were truly too eye-catching.

However, before I went to Gu Su, I received a secret report from the Zhongche Office, which was about investigating the private affairs of high-ranking military officers of the garrison.

It said that when Zhang Kangnian was the Su Zhou Guard Commander, Luo Xiong was his most trusted deputy, and the two had a deep friendship.

But a deep friendship does not mean that Zhang Kangnian recognized Luo Xiong's talent.

Later, Zhang Kangnian was promoted to Commander of the Jin Ling Regional Military Commission. Someone recommended Luo Xiong to succeed him as Su Zhou Guard Commander.

But Zhang Kangnian strongly opposed it, believing that although Luo Xiong had some talent, his temperament was reckless, his scheming was insufficient, and he was difficult to take on the heavy responsibility. He wanted to recommend his own candidate.

In the end, it was you, Du Hengxin, who strongly recommended Luo Xiong, which allowed him to sit in the position of Su Zhou Commander. From then on, Luo Xiong obeyed you in everything and held a grudge against Zhang Kangnian.

This kind of officialdom secret, except for the three of you involved, very few outsiders know.

However, with the ability of the Zhongche Office, finding out these secrets is not a difficult thing.

So on the surface, everyone feels that Luo Xiong is Zhang Kangnian's confidant, but in fact, the truth is exactly the opposite.

Plus, I accidentally learned that Zhou Zhengyang had been hiding all along because he was hidden by Luo Xiong.

Luo Xiong and Zhou Zhengyang were both Guard Commanders, in a state of checks and balances and competition in officialdom. How could he take the risk to hide the other party?

Unless Luo Xiong was also involved in the Water Surveillance Division case, or he received an order from above!

So from that time on, I began to realize that you were more suspicious than Zhang Kangnian. Your official position was higher than his, and your actions were more favorable than his! So when I learned that you also lived in Fengle Square, I roughly guessed that such a bloody case happened in front of the Zhang residence, and someone was going to rescue Zhang Kangnian in a grand manner.

It is very likely that it was a smokescreen from beginning to end.

Only you, Du Hengxin, have the reason to do this. I was just preparing to take men to your residence to investigate.

At this time, someone sent news that you fled by water...

Although Du Hengxin was trapped and almost impossible to escape, hearing Jia Cong's words, he realized that he had long ago let people grasp a bunch of flaws, and he felt remorse and anger in his heart.

Suddenly hearing Jia Cong say that his going to sea was reported by someone, he was terrified and was immediately attracted by all his mind, and couldn't help but ask: "Who reported it to you!"

Just at this moment, he heard someone shouting at the stern: "What do you want to do!"

Immediately followed by the sound of two giant objects falling into the water. Du Hengxin heard that the shouting was indeed his subordinate. Suddenly, he felt the ship trembling, and the people on the deck were a bit unstable.

A person ran to the stern and shouted: "My lord, just now someone on the opposite ship dived quietly onto our ship and secretly dropped the anchor!"

Du Hengxin was almost scared to death upon hearing this. He immediately realized that Jia Cong had just used the ship to seal off the left and right paths, but had no other actions.

It was as if he was showing off to himself, telling the process of how he saw through himself, and saying that he got a report from others to chase here.

He was actually bewitched by his words for a moment and listened with fascination.

It turned out that he deliberately diverted his attention, took this opportunity to secretly send someone to dive and drop the anchor. This is a despicable and treacherous little ghost!

Jia Cong shouted: "Their ship has dropped anchor, board the ship immediately and take the people!"

The musketeers on the merchant ship immediately set up a captive bridge between the two ships.

It's just that Du Hengxin still had twenty or so subordinates beside him, all of whom were confidants and dead soldiers he had cultivated in the garrison for many years, all highly skilled in martial arts, so naturally they would not be captured without a fight.

The floating bridge between the two ships had just been set up when it was slashed by their chaotic swords and then pushed over into the river. Two musketeers boarded the floating bridge, one of whom was slashed and fell into the river.

Jia Cong shouted angrily: "Everyone retreat, raise your guns and fire in rows!"

On the merchant ships attacking from both sides, at least dozens of muskets sounded at the same time. If it weren't for the limited shooting space on the ship, the number of muskets firing would be even greater.

Dense bullets were like heavy rain, shooting rapidly towards Du Hengxin's seat ship.

Du Hengxin's twenty or so subordinates, although all highly skilled in martial arts, were just meat targets that couldn't be beaten in the indiscriminate high-density shooting of muskets.

They hadn't even had time to dodge before six or seven people fell, and screams followed one after another.

The deck was empty, and there was nowhere to hide. Some people wanted to run to the stern to hide, but their legs were not as fast as the bullets, and the running people attracted more musketeers to shoot.

After two rounds of shooting, most of the twenty or so guards were killed, and the survivors were all wounded by gunfire, even Du Hengxin was shot in the leg.

It was the sailors on the ship who, when Jia Cong ordered to set up the floating bridge, hid at the stern because of fear, and finally escaped a disaster.

Among these sailors, a tall, dark-skinned man, like the other sailors, curled up at the stern, but a pair of eyes turned calmly, observing the situation at the bow.

Du Hengxin endured the severe pain of the gunshot wound in his leg, watching Jia Cong order people to set up the floating bridge, and the dense musketeers passed quickly, boarding the blood-stained deck.

Du Hengxin didn't expect Jia Cong to be so vicious. Just because there was a slight obstruction in boarding the ship, he fired and killed people. The twenty or so most elite people under him all died under his gun in an instant.

Jia Cong didn't seem to care much about the life of himself, a wanted criminal. If it weren't for the fact that he lay on the deck and didn't dare to move after the gunshot, he would have been shot dead on the spot.

After Jia Cong boarded the ship, he ordered people to clean up the corpses and the wounded. After resting for a while, he immediately ordered the sailors to turn the ship's bow and return to Jin Ling at full speed.

He looked at Du Hengxin, who was listless on the deck, and a feeling of heartfelt relief arose in his heart. Up to this point, his mission to Jin Ling under the imperial decree could be considered a successful conclusion.

The Water Surveillance Division case back then shocked the court and the public. The main culprit, Zou Huaiyi, committed suicide in fear of crime. Although the case came to an end, it left many doubts.

Later, he accidentally caught the fugitive Zhou Suqing of the Water Surveillance Division case in Liaodong, which resulted in exposing the Jin Ling Guard Commander Zhou Zhengyang. In the end, after much effort and many twists and turns, he locked onto the real mastermind of the big case back then, the former number one person in the Jiang Nan garrison, the Grade 2 Regional Military Commissioner, Du Hengxin.

Now that the witnesses and physical evidence were complete, Du Hengxin had exhausted his schemes, but in the end, he exposed his own crimes, and it was undeniable.

But in Jia Cong's heart, there were still many doubts...

Jia Cong let the military doctors clean and bandage Du Hengxin's gunshot wound.

I don't know if it was the severe pain of the gunshot wound or the despair after being captured, Du Hengxin's face was pale, his expression was indifferent, and he didn't say a word, as if he had lost his soul.

Jia Cong suddenly said: "I have read the secret files of the Zhongche Office and know that your official career has been bumpy, and it was not easy to reach the high position of Grade 2."

"Originally, I thought that a person like you would value your official career extremely highly, have many scruples in your actions, and would never take the risk of losing your official position. I didn't expect you to do such a big thing. Don't you feel it's not worth the loss?"

Jia Cong's strange words made Du Hengxin feel surprised in his heart, and the cold and stiff expression on his face loosened slightly.

In fact, by this time, if Jia Cong questioned him about the case in the posture of a winner and forced him to confess, it would all be within the scope of cleaning up.

But he happened to ask an irrelevant topic, but this topic seemed to touch Du Hengxin.

He said indifferently: "The secret files of the Zhongche Office must say that I betrayed my relatives to exchange for a future in my official career, so you think I value my official career extremely highly?"

Jia Cong's expression changed slightly, and he asked: "Aren't you?"

Du Hengxin looked at Jia Cong and said: "You were born in a noble family, blessed by heaven, and your youth was smooth. Naturally, you won't understand the difficulties of scholars from humble backgrounds."

"Although the Jin Ling Du family is also a famous family, my branch is a distant branch of the Du family."

"Although I have experienced many bumps and turns in the past ten years and climbed to the high position of Grade 2, from beginning to end, I have been a humble person with no foundation."

"In the eyes of others, I am just a tool to be discarded after use, a puppet cultivated by others to achieve their goals."

"I, Du Hengxin, have strategies in my chest and talent in my body. I shouldn't be such a character! Before, when I was just a platoon leader, I dreamed of climbing to a high position, but as my official position grew higher, I understood such a truth."

"The official position and career I worked so hard to win are just playthings for noble people to take and give. No matter how hard you try to grasp it, it will be easily taken away by others. Why should I treat it like a treasure?"

"In this world, if you don't want to submit to others, the only way is to make others submit to you."

"Things that make people submit are nothing more than wealth, secrets, ambition..."

Du Hengxin became more and more excited as he spoke, and the expression on his face was a bit distorted, as if a belly full of hostility was hard to dissipate.

He looked at Jia Cong and saw the disapproving expression in his eyes, and smiled coldly: "You were born in a noble family, you won't understand what I said, why bother talking nonsense with you!"

Jia Cong suddenly said seriously: "You are wrong. I understand what you said very well, but I cannot agree. Evil deeds are evil deeds, and no matter how many reasons are used to embellish them, it's useless."

"I don't have these troubles of yours, not because I was born in a noble family, but because I only do things I think are right and comfortable, and I won't force or distort myself."

Seeing the disdain in Du Hengxin's eyes, he smiled: "You won't understand what I said either, because we are not on the same path."

On the way back, Jia Cong was worried about accidents, so he let his seven musketeer personal guards strictly guard Du Hengxin, and no one was allowed to approach except himself.

Since Du Hengxin was captured, his communication with Du Hengxin was limited to that irrelevant conversation, and he did not ask the other party any questions.

Because interrogating wanted criminals is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, Jia Cong is only responsible for investigating the case and capturing the wanted criminals.

The reason he was so cautious and clearly defined the boundaries was also out of another consideration and scruple.

That day at the Taiping Gate in Jin Ling, he discovered that the Imperial Envoy delivering the decree was actually Guo Lin, and he knew that the whole thing was not as simple as he imagined.

Guo Lin held the rank of Grade 4 Supervisor of the Qianyang Palace, and his power in the inner court was overwhelming. He was the most trusted inner servant of Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, yet he was sent by the emperor to be an Imperial Envoy delivering the decree, and was also granted great power to act according to circumstances.

To others, the emperor sending a trusted inner servant to Jin Ling was just the emperor's unusual attention to the Jin Ling big case, but Jia Cong did not think so.

The information he learned from Zou Min'er, as well as the records in Zou Huaiyi's blue-covered secret account book, showed that the destruction of the Jin Ling Du family and Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's strange ascension to the throne were full of obscure connections.

Therefore, Jia Cong had sufficient reason to speculate that Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao sent Guo Lin to Jin Ling in person, not because of his attention to the Jin Ling big case, but because of Du Hengxin, who was quite related to his ascension back then.

This was also the reason why he kept a proper distance from Du Hengxin. After all, he had been in contact with Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao many times and knew the emperor's deep and solemn character very well.

The return journey was smooth. By noon the next day, the ship entered Longtan Port in Jin Ling.

Although Du Hengxin did not have any accidents on this journey, when the ship docked, another strange thing happened on the ship.

At that time, Jia Cong boarded the ship to capture Du Hengxin, and the captain Huang Yougui and more than a dozen sailors were also detained by Jia Cong.

And after questioning, the reason why the captain Huang Yougui sailed out of the port without the Zhen family's permission was that someone had kidnapped his family to threaten him, so he had to do so.

However, regardless of the reason, these people committed the crime of transporting wanted criminals and would eventually be unable to escape the investigation of the criminal law.

When the ship docked, the group of captains and sailors who transported Du Hengxin were found to be missing one person when they were escorted ashore.

Jia Cong's musketeers searched the whole ship but couldn't find any trace of that person. No one knew where that person went.

After Jia Cong learned about this, a lot of worries arose in his heart.

Since he arrived in Jin Ling, he had exhausted his efforts and finally cleared up the legacy of the Water Surveillance Division case back then, capturing all the wanted criminals.

But behind all this, there seemed to be a hazy shadow hidden...

Because Jia Cong sent information to Jin Ling in advance, men from the Ying Tian Prefecture, the Ministry of Justice, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were already waiting at the wharf to accept the criminals escorted by the ship.

Yang Hongbin of the Ministry of Justice arrived in person and brought several officials who were familiar with Du Hengxin to verify Du Hengxin's identity and sign and seal the relevant documents to prove that the criminal had been brought to justice.

But the next scene surprised Jia Cong somewhat. After the Ministry of Justice finished processing the relevant documents, Du Hengxin was escorted to the Thousand-Household Office prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard instead of being escorted to the Ministry of Justice office for interrogation.

He asked Yang Hongbin and learned that Guo Lin had passed a message to the Ministry of Justice, saying that he was following the emperor's secret decree. Du Hengxin was dismissed and investigated according to the decree. If there were other crimes, he would not enter the Ministry of Justice's Jin Ling temporary office and needed to be escorted to Shen Jing for special case interrogation.

After Jia Cong learned the reason, a chill couldn't help but arise in his heart. It seemed that his previous speculation was indeed correct.

He watched Du Hengxin being escorted onto the Embroidered Uniform Guard carriage and watched the Embroidered Uniform Guard escort team leave Longtan Port, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He handed Du Hengxin over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the whole thing could be considered a complete success. Looking at the posture at the wharf today, getting rid of this hot potato, Du Hengxin, made him feel even more relaxed.

Jin Ling, Chengxian Street.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard team escorting Du Hengxin had just entered the intersection of Chengxian Street when they found the crowd on the street very crowded.

In front of them, a team of carriages and horses almost filled half the road.

At the head of this team of carriages and horses were two men on horseback.

One was in his early forties, and although his face had the traces of wind and frost, his appearance was elegant and quite stylish.

The other was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, thin and lean, with regular features and a scholarly demeanor.

Following behind the two was a small blue silk sedan chair.

After that were five large carts full of goods, which also carried the logo of a merchant firm.

The leading Embroidered Uniform Guard Platoon Leader looked at the crowded road and frowned, asking: "Whose team is this? Such a big show, blocking the whole street?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard Captain beside him said: "Looking at the logo on the carriage, it is the Jin Ling Xue family's team. The two riding horses at the head must be the second master of the Xue family and his son."

"This subordinate has a cousin working at the Xue family's Ziyun Pavilion. I heard him say that for the past half year, the second master of the Xue family has been doing business in Southern Yue, and he is returning to Jin Ling this month to check the accounts."

"I think it's a coincidence that they are entering the city today. Their Ziyun Pavilion is on Chengxian Street."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard Platoon Leader stopped talking after hearing that it was the Jin Ling Xue family's carriages and horses.

Who in Jin Ling city didn't know the four great families of Jia, Wang, Shi, and Xue? The power and foundation of these four families were deep and heavy, and they were not objects that could be easily provoked.

This Embroidered Uniform Guard Platoon Leader naturally wouldn't have the thought of letting the Xue family's team give way; he would just wait for a moment.

At this moment, a shop on the left side of the road suddenly made a loud noise, followed by rolling thick smoke, and then a continuous sound of firecrackers, deafening.

The pedestrians on the road were suddenly in chaos, and someone shouted: "It's bad! Which fireworks shop is on fire!"

Firecracker debris flew everywhere, and the people on the street fled in panic. The surging crowd not only disrupted the Xue family's team in front but also scattered the Embroidered Uniform Guard's escort team.

The leading Embroidered Uniform Guard Platoon Leader shouted and scolded, wanting to disperse the crowd, but the continuous sound of firecrackers covered his voice, and no one heard clearly.

A tall man seemed to be pushed and shoved by the crowd, hitting the carriage wall carrying the prisoner heavily, looking quite embarrassed.

It took a moment for him to stand straight, and he left the street with the fleeing crowd. His long robe fluttered inadvertently, and in a fleeting moment, a silver cold light was revealed. (End of chapter)