Chapter 257: Stirring

Chen Wen was tallying the prisoners, really just sorting them into categories.

Ordinary pirates eligible to be enrolled as military households were all conscripted, along with their families.

The Japanese, or people from other nations, were bound or locked up, each tagged accordingly.

Those like Song Bei were to be executed as a warning; those like Songpu could be ransomed; and a handful of Gray Robe Agents mostly fell into the execution category.

So they had to be held separately.

As Pan Yun walked toward Chen Wen, she suddenly heard hoofbeats behind her and turned to see a dozen horses galloping toward them across the beach.

Pan Yun's heart tightened, and she halted mid-step.

Leading them was a middle-aged man, flanked by armored soldiers; Chen Wen saw them and immediately led his men past Pan Yun to greet them. "Your humble subordinate greets you, Deputy Commandant."

Wu Xiaoli dismounted and gave Chen Wen a slight nod. "Did you capture Song Bei?"

Chen Wen bowed his head. "Yes. The Jianghu Alliance and the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Temple apprehended him."

"Confirmed he's the bandit chief active around Chiwei Island?"

"Yes. But he had backers—likely the Matsura clan of Hirado in Japan. We also captured one of their young masters who came to rendezvous."

Wu Xiaoli snorted coldly. "Do they think Great Ming is a tavern? Come when they please, leave when they please? Where are they now?"

"They're imprisoned aboard ship, to be transported back to camp for disposition."

Wu Xiaoli nodded slightly, then scanned the area. "Why anchor here instead of returning directly to camp?"

"My lord, there are Jianghu heroes and Daoist Priests aboard. They're unaccustomed to dealing with imperial troops. To avoid conflict, we deliberately dropped them off here to rest before returning to camp."

Wu Xiaoli frowned. "This has been a burden on you. It was your suggestion to ally with these Jianghu folk that made capturing this pirate band so smooth."

"They earned merit in suppressing bandits, and you're familiar with them. I'm granting you two days' leave. Go to town, book two banquets, and throw them a victory feast."

He extended his hand.

The soldier behind him immediately placed a heavy money pouch into Wu Xiaoli's palm.

Wu Xiaoli tossed it to Chen Wen with a smile. "Go on. Leave the fleet to Chu Liang for now."

Chen Wen's face twisted. "My lord, this—"

Wu Xiaoli patted his shoulder. "Don't rush. This merit won't be snatched from you. Your report still lists you as the primary contributor."

Chen Wen immediately bowed. "It was your brilliant command that secured this great victory. All credit belongs to you, my lord."

Wu Xiaoli smiled and glanced toward the rear. "Chu Liang, what are you waiting for? All these men are in chaos—get them organized and aboard!"

A young man in a rank-five military robe stepped forward, bowed to Chen Wen, then passed him and boarded the ship.

Wu Xiaoli said, "Take a few more men to help you attend to these Jianghu heroes…"

His gaze flicked to Pan Yun standing nearby. He chuckled. "Oh, and Daoist Priests. Hahaha…"

Pan Yun: …

That condescending laugh made her fingers itch.

She clenched her fists, lowered her eyes to Pan Xiaohei's jet-black cat eyes, and suppressed the urge to strike.

But it made her re-stow the sea map tucked in her sleeve back into her Spirit Realm.

This man was so detestable—she'd rather blow up every treasure on the island than give him a single coin.

Chen Wen watched Wu Xiaoli depart, composed himself, then turned to Pan Yun with a smile. "Daoist Sanzhu, did you need something?"

Pan Yun turned and walked away. "Nothing."

After two steps, she stopped and looked back. "Chen Battalion Commander, don't forget to invite me to dinner."

Chen Wen: "Of course not. Your merit this time was substantial—we won't overlook you."

The beach buzzed with activity as Wu Xiaoli's men took over the fleet. Fortunately, they acknowledged Chen Wen's conscription of pirates—though they treated the new recruits and their families far less warmly than Chen Wen had.

They were split across three ships, to be transported separately to the camp.

These commoners from Great Ming who turned pirate were tightly bonded. When brothers died, they adopted their families as kin. Thus, aside from foreign pirates, everyone else was either conscripted or became military dependents.

But before official registration, the navy viewed them with suspicion—hands bound, shoved onto ships.

Before boarding, A Xin glanced back toward Pan Yun's direction. No one expected separation so swift—apparently, they wouldn't get the protective talismans she'd drawn.

Pan Yun stood beside the cart, holding Pan Xiaohei, watching them board. Then she noticed a low-ranking officer approaching with twenty soldiers. Her eyes flashed—she suddenly realized.

Oh~~ the boxes behind her were also spoils of war.

Pan Yun immediately shoved Pan Xiaohei into Master Xuanmiao's arms. "Sister, buy me some time—I'm going to take something."

Master Xuanmiao: …

She held Pan Xiaohei, paused silently, then walked forward with a grim face to block the soldiers. "What do you want?"

Pan Yun swiftly moved to the two special carts.

She knew the boxes contained muskets and gunpowder. She couldn't tell which box held which—but…

Who cared? Just open one quietly and see.

Earlier, the Japanese pirates had pried open many boxes, so she didn't need to pick locks—just lift the lids and identify them at a glance.

Seeing the chaotic pile of muskets inside, Pan Yun reached in—then, still furious, she simply took the entire box.

She lifted another box, full of gunpowder, and took that one too.

Pan Yun had taken two boxes. Seeing Master Xuanmiao struggling to hold off the soldiers, she slapped the cart—CRASH, CRASH—boxes shifted and sealed the gaps perfectly.

Pan Yun skipped forward, shouting loudly. "What are you doing? Harassing my sister?"

The officer's face darkened. "These are plundered goods. They belong to the imperial court and must be seized. Daoist, if you persist, don't blame us for being uncivil."

Master Xuanmiao stared coldly. "When we formed our alliance, we agreed with Battalion Commander Chen: spoils won on the battlefield belong to the one who seized them. This route was secured by the Jianghu Alliance and Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Temple. Per our agreement, these carts' spoils belong to us."

"Your private pact with Chen Battalion Commander? Take it up with him. We follow imperial law—"

"Fine, fine, fine—I'll give you these spoils," Pan Yun shouted. "Sister, these aren't treasure or pirate plunder. They're smuggled broadswords, muskets, and gunpowder from the mainland. I checked—there's even powder for cannons inside."

Master Xuanmiao's face grew even grimmer. The officer opposite her paled. "What are you lying about?!"

The knights-errant and Daoist priests resting on the beach rose one after another.

"I'm not talking nonsense," Pan Yun said loudly. "I was the one who captured the people, I was the one who intercepted the carts. That group of Japanese pirates even opened the crates and took out matchlocks and gunpowder to attack me—how could I not know?"

"Sir, I know—you're definitely going to investigate where they bought these things, right?"

"Smuggling military supplies—that's a crime punishable by the extermination of the entire clan. Take the goods and the people back, and you must investigate thoroughly, investigate deeply, investigate to the death! Drag out every one of those traitors and hack them to pieces, execute them by lingchi!" Master Xuanmiao glanced at her, then walked several steps away, putting distance between them.

Fear flickered across the military officer's face. He ordered Pan Yun to shut up—but would Pan Yun listen to him?

The officer was so angry he drew his blade, but the moment the blade emerged a single inch, an invisible force pressed down on his hand.

His eyes went wide in an instant, and then, under his own stunned gaze, his hand pushed the blade back into the sheath inch by inch.

The officer:...

The blade slid back into its sheath with a snikt. He stared at Pan Yun in shock.

Pan Yun's face was all smiles. She even gave him a wink, then leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Brother, I may be young, but I've already told you—I took down Song Bei, I intercepted the convoy. Whoever you ask, I'm the top contributor on this road. How could you look down on me?"

The officer fell silent.

Only then did Pan Yun step back two paces and stand properly, waving casually behind her. "Go on. These military supplies are important to you, but to me they're just scrap metal."

The officer dared not act arrogant any longer. He cupped his fists toward Pan Yun, then immediately led his men up to pull the carts.

Seeing them actually reach for her empty cart, Pan Yun strode forward and pressed down on it. "This cart is mine!"

!. Read

Under her glare, the soldiers silently let go and went to pull other carts.

The other knights-errant and Daoist priests had already crowded around, watching them pull the carts to leave.

At once, one knight-errant pressed down on a cart, leapt up, and pried open a crate. After a glance he shouted, "They're really matchlocks!"

"Damn it, even the Jianghu Alliance doesn't have these things, yet the Japanese pirates could buy them. If there aren't traitors inside the imperial court, I won't believe it!"

With the first knight-errant, there was immediately a second.

Soon someone rushed onto another cart, pried open a crate, and pulled out a horizontal saber. Furious, he said, "It's a horizontal saber! Isn't this the official-issue horizontal saber only used by government office runners, city gate guards, and the capital's Imperial Guard? Even the navy doesn't get sabers this good. Damn it, where did these Japanese pirates get them?"

"There must be rats, there must be rats. These are all military supplies—the rats are probably hiding right inside the army."

The officer roared, "How dare you! Get down from the cart at once!"

"Hands off—are you trying to rebel?"

"Trying to hide things—are you in league with those who smuggled the matchlocks? Otherwise why so afraid of us looking..."

The beach instantly erupted in uproar.

Wu Xiaoli aboard the ship heard the commotion and frowned. "What's all that noise about?"

A soldier hurried over. "My lord, there's trouble. The Jianghu people on the beach pried open a cart of spoils—it's full of horizontal sabers, matchlocks, and gunpowder. They're making a fuss demanding we trace the source."

Wu Xiaoli's face changed drastically at the news. He asked, "How could there be such things among the spoils? Aren't these our fleet's military supplies?"

The soldier lowered his head and said quietly, "They can't be our fleet's military supplies, because the goods were intercepted from Song Bei by people from the Jianghu Alliance and the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion. The Japanese pirates even used them right in front of them."

Wu Xiaoli gritted his teeth. "Good for nothing, worse than useless. I sent you to inventory the spoils—why are you brawling with a bunch of Jianghu people?"

Wu Xiaoli was about to disembark to handle it, but then thought of the Jianghu people's wild and untamed nature. He stopped his steps and said in a low voice, "Where's Chen Wen? Send him to handle it. He must pacify these Jianghu people, don't let things blow up. The most important thing is to get that batch of goods over here."

The soldier acknowledged and ran off to find Chen Wen.

But Chen Wen had already headed into the woods the moment the trouble started. Right now he was squatting in the woods with his trusted men, watching the show from high ground.

Song Dali: "Commander, are we really not going?"

Chen Wen plucked a blade of grass and stuffed it in his mouth, watching with great interest. "A thankless task—why go up there?"

His sharp eyes caught that Pan Yun, the one who started the trouble, had pulled Master Xuanmiao away from that area too. Just like him, she'd walked to the edge of the woods and was leaning against a tree watching the show.

As if sensing his gaze, Pan Yun turned her head to look over.

Chen Wen flashed her a grin; Pan Yun returned a brilliant smile.

Chen Wen turned to look at the chaotic beach. Whether it was Lin Mengzhu of the Jianghu Alliance or Cao Daoji of the Dao Discipline Bureau, both had vanished at the same time, nowhere to be seen.

Chen Wen snorted through his nose. "Looks like nobody here is a fool."

Song Dali: "I know, you think the Assistant Regional Commander is a fool. But no matter how stupid or dumb he is, he's still our superior officer—one word from him decides our lives and our futures. Commander, this time you sent troops on your own authority..."

"Shut up. I was clearly on a sea patrol when I happened to run into the Jianghu Alliance and the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion fighting pirates. Out of my duty to protect the common people of Great Ming, I joined the fight on the spot."

Song Dali choked for a moment, then said, "But just now, when the Assistant Regional Commander said it was your suggestion, you didn't deny it..."

Chen Wen glanced at him and said, "At the time, the Assistant Regional Commander also didn't say I sent troops on my own authority."

It took Song Dali a good while to catch on—so there were two versions.

If Wu Xiaoli claimed credit for this cooperative alliance, then Chen Wen had gone to negotiate on his behalf;

If Wu Xiaoli considered it unauthorized deployment, then Chen Wen had simply happened upon them at sea.

As long as the Jianghu Alliance and the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion coordinated their story with him, there wouldn't be a single problem.

Therefore, Chen Wen absolutely would not offend the Jianghu Alliance and the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion.

Besides, he too very much wanted to know—who exactly had Song Bei bought these things from?

So let them make a fuss, make a fuss, make such a fuss that nobody can cover it up, forcing the navy to investigate itself, Quanzhou Prefecture to investigate itself, Fujian, the imperial court—everyone has to investigate themselves!

The soldiers couldn't find Chen Wen hiding in the woods for the moment, so Wu Xiaoli could only squeeze a smile onto his livid face and go to stop it himself.

Standing among the crowd, he solemnly pledged, "This general will certainly investigate to the end and absolutely will not let such traitors who collude with the enemy and betray the country escape!"

The vanished Lin Mengzhu and Cao Daoji appeared in the crowd at once, representing the Jianghu knights-errant and Daoist priests in expressing their trust in Assistant Regional Commander Wu and the Quanzhou Guard.

Wu Xiaoli: "Please rest assured, everyone, please rest assured. With such a thing happening in Quanzhou, this general feels more pained about it than you do."

The Jianghu knights-errant and Daoist priests were pacified.

Master Xuanmiao turned to ask Pan Yun, "The effect you wanted to achieve?"

Pan Yun said nothing.

Master Xuanmiao: "The truth may not necessarily come out, but once this blows up, people will die."

Pan Yun's expression was cold: "Let him die—if he's being thrown out to take the blame, he's no innocent soul."

Master Xuanmiao: "Did he offend you?"

Pan Yun nodded: "Yes. My greatest unhappiness today comes from him."

Master Xuanmiao rose: "Alright, then I'll lend you a hand."

Four thousand characters, two thousand short; I'll make up tomorrow. Good night.

(End of Chapter)