Chapter 689: Shocking News of Rebellion

The spies:... So everyone knows their identities, huh?

Oh, there are still a few who hid well and weren't found.

They followed the crowd to look at their colleagues, faces expressionless, but inside thinking: We hid so well—will we get rewarded?

Everyone slowly withdrew their gazes and looked at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun pretended not to know, continuing: "If the imperial court takes over these one-and-a-half ports, hand them over to court management. Before they arrive, the ports will be open to all Han people: any Great Ming subject, whether official, scholar-gentry, merchant, commoner, or sea bandit, may land in Japan via Zhang Weigang and Onsen Jintinggang."

Pan Yun smiled faintly: "All port fees halved."

The crowd's gazes flickered slightly.

Someone slipped away quietly, swiftly spreading the news.

Li Wenying took a deep breath, her expression blank for two heartbeats, then decided to give up entirely.

Zhang Ziming:...

He didn't want to get involved either, but his surname is Zhang!

He yanked his hand back from Lin Mengzhu's grip, face dark with anger: "Stop pulling me!"

Then he said to Pan Yun: "Set sail before the Maritime Command arrives."

Pan Yun: "Setting sail isn't wise, is it?"

Zhang Ziming: "Will you set sail or not? If you don't, I'll expel you from the Academy right now."

"Fine, fine, fine," Pan Yun told Ah Xin and the others on board to prepare to sail: "But we still need to bring more people aboard, in case someone tries to seize the ship."

Lin Mengzhu immediately said: "I'll arrange the people!"

Zhang Ziming also sent ten Daoist Priests aboard: "Only return once you've received my message."

The remaining two ships stayed put. Pan Yun said: "There are local specialties from our return on these ships."

Chen Lan, hiding among the crowd, flickered his gaze, then stepped forward smiling: "Master Pan Sanzhu, do you need laborers to help unload?"

Seeing him, Pan Yun scanned the crowd and spotted Chen Han, as silent as ever; she smiled and nodded: "We brought back quite a bit of local goods—yes, we do need laborers. But the port is abandoned; are there any porters available?"

"I still have some influence in Quanzhou. If Master Pan trusts me, I'll find the workers."

Pan Yun smiled and nodded: "Thank you, Young Master Chen."

Li Wenying urged: "Hurry up—the Maritime Command will be here soon."

The Maritime Command's men would turn a blind eye, of course—provided they didn't know Pan Yun had returned with three ships, one of which carried fifty Japanese people.

The soldiers from the Maritime Command who arrived pretended not to see the goods being unloaded.

They all knew these men had gone to Japan to seek revenge: one ship left, two returned. Wait—wasn't the number of ships they took originally different?

Their minds had already imagined a great battle: their original ship destroyed, and they seized two more to return with.

They weren't interested in the cargo, only asked: "Did you find your enemies? Did you kill them?"

Pan Yun, as representative, nodded: "We found them. We killed them."

Gong Xia was about to smile and nod, then spotted Xue Shao stepping off the ship; his smile froze, and he turned his gaze away, pretending not to see him.

But Xue Shao walked over on his own initiative and greeted Gong Xia: "General Gong, you've been reinstated?"

Gong Xia:...

Pan Yun looked curiously at Xue Shao.

Xue Shao smiled and introduced her: "Three months ago, I submitted a memorial accusing General Gong of dereliction of duty. Before we sailed, General Gong was punished with suspension and self-reflection. I didn't expect to see him back so soon."

Someone behind Gong Xia whispered: "Our general is now Wu Lü General."

Xue Shao smiled and nodded: "So he's been demoted in rank. No wonder."

Gong Xia turned and glared at the speaker, then faced Xue Shao coldly: "Xue Censor, do you still have leisure to care about me?"

Xue Shao brushed dust from his sleeve, dismissively: "I've just returned from a foreign mission overseas—I'm due for rest. A little free time is still mine."

Gong Xia sneered: "You're the Jiangnan Inspector Censor, not a Honglu Temple official. What does overseas have to do with you? You abandoned your post without authorization, causing rebellions in Ninghua, Fujian and Yushan, Jiangxi, and failed to report them to the imperial court in time. With a charge of dereliction of duty, do you still expect a good outcome?"

Xue Shao's gaze sharpened: "Rebellion?"

Pan Yun and the others heard the familiar place names and turned together: "Jiangxi Yushan? You mean Yushan County?"

Gong Xia didn't know Pan Yun's background, but seeing their interest, he was happy to oblige: "Yes. In Yushan County, floods and silver mining stirred up troublemakers who incited ignorant villagers to rebel, seized the county government, and the court is now sending troops to suppress them."

Pan Yun's heart sank; she exchanged a swift glance with Seeing Miao Zhen, then both turned to Li Wenying.

Li Wenying sighed and said to her: "I was going to tell you anyway."

Pan Yun nodded slightly to Xue Shao: "I have matters to attend to. Farewell."

Xue Shao's expression had recovered; he gave a slight nod: "Take care."

Pan Yun's heart tightened with dread, but before all eyes, she could only nod: "Take care."

She handed off the unloading to others, and her four disciples followed Li Wenying away.

Li Wenying wasn't a court official like Gong Xia; once away from the crowd, he said: "At the end of June, when you were inside Japan, you didn't know—there was a massive storm. Heavy rains hit Jiangnan, especially Fujian and Zhejiang along the coast."

Jiangxi... several places saw mud dragons descending from the mountains; Yushan County was worst. Jin Sha Creek surged, breached its banks, and boulders tumbled from the hills... Rumors spread among the people that the court's cruelty angered the Mountain and Water Gods. A man named Bao Peng in Yushan County raised his arm in revolt and drew many followers. I heard villagers from under Mount Sanqing joined too. Prepare yourself."

Pan Yun clenched her lips tightly; her quick, shallow breaths betrayed her inner turmoil: "Did my eldest brother write us a letter?"

Li Wenying shook his head: "I asked the Academy. No letter from Master Wang has arrived."

Pan Yun turned and walked away.

Li Wenying blocked her: "Where are you going?"

"Where else can I go? If my eldest brother hasn't written, it means he's fine. There's still cargo on the ship—I'll go unload it."

Li Wenying lowered his arm: "Good. I was afraid you'd rush straight back to Yushan County."

Pan Yun: "You're imagining things. I'm not that foolish. This is the court's affair and the rebels' affair—what does it have to do with me?"

Li Wenying: "That's excellent to hear. Now let's talk about the ships and people you brought back, and the silver mine issue."

Pan Yun: "What's there to discuss?"

Zhang Ziming, having escaped, walked over: "You've made the silver mine and Haigang matters known to everyone—do you want to force the imperial court to lift the sea ban?"

Pan Yun looked at Li Wenying: "See? Everyone knows this. Why do you pretend ignorance? Why can't you be as straightforward as Zhang Yuanzhu?"

Then Pan Yun answered Zhang Ziming honestly: "Yes. I intend to lift the sea ban. I've even prepared the ships."

Zhang Ziming: …

Before he could speak, Pan Yun added: "If Long Hushan wants a share, act soon. Given our relationship, the benefits will naturally lean toward our Academy."

Zhang Ziming's words died in his throat, stifled completely.

Pan Yun passed the two men and took Seeing Miao Zhen and the other three away.

Seeing Miao Zhen quickened her pace and whispered: "Little Master Shu, aren't we going back?"

"We are," Pan Yun lowered her voice. "But not like this."

Her gaze was deep, her expression unreadable: "Big Brother hasn't written. Either the matter is too trivial to require our involvement, or—he doesn't want us to return, fearing we'll be drawn in."

But since this happened in Yushan County, and Li Wenying even named several villages near Mount Sanqing involved, the situation is most likely the latter.

Given the status of Mount Sanqing and the Mountain God Temple, nearby villagers would never face trouble without seeking the Mountain God's aid.

Big Brother has always been kind and benevolent. Though he often says one must follow nature and not forcibly interfere in others' karmic threads, he would never stand by and watch suffering—especially when it touches villagers he knows.

Pan Yun's face was grim: "We must return—but we must return with money."

Seeing Miao He frowned: "Money?"

Pan Yun nodded grimly: "Whether it's rebellion or suppression, it's always about money. With money, eight out of ten problems in this world can be solved."

Tao Yan Bai: "But where do we get so much money? All we earned in Waiguo was exchanged for refined iron, lacquerware—selling them takes time. Sell cheap? Will anyone even buy?"

Seeing Miao Zhen was thinking, a sudden thought struck her—she turned sharply to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun nodded to her and whispered: "Get ready. Tonight we leave—to retrieve the treasure at sea."

Seeing Miao Zhen nodded rapidly: "Little Master Shu, your injury…"

Pan Yun: "Healed."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Then your Yuanli…"

"Enough to fly there…" Pan Yun paused, realizing it might not be enough to fly back safely. She sighed. Healing took too much Yuanli. I should've left some injuries untreated—saved more Yuanli.

Pan Yun touched her belly. Her once-full Yuanli now remained at less than half, after her injuries were fully healed.

Seeing Miao Zhen suggested: "Find Ah Xin. Have them send a ship to meet us mid-sea."

Pan Yun's gaze flickered—she thought of Fujian, also severely affected, and the rebellion in Ninghua County.

She nodded: "I'll contact Chen Wen. I keep my word—I said I'd give him half, I'll give him half."

The four disciples reappeared by the sea.

Haigang was bustling.

The Chen family indeed held great prestige here—a single call brought nearly a hundred laborers.

They were unloading goods from the ship in orderly fashion; the heroes were claiming their own belongings.

Other heroes watched with envy: "You didn't die on this trip—and you made this much?"

"Of course. Master Sanzhu said he'd guarantee our safety and share fortune and wealth with us."

The crowd gazed at them with envy.

The heroes also inquired about their situation: "Aren't you the ones who went to Dongyang Island to suppress bandits? How did it go?"

"We wiped out plenty of sea bandits, captured over a dozen pirate captains, and handed them all to the magistrate's office. We also seized much treasure from their dens—but we could keep only two percent. Eighty percent went to the magistrate's office, which used it to compensate villages plundered in recent years. Even after splitting the two percent among us, it barely covered a few drinks—not worth mentioning."

"Mainly because so many joined. Two percent divided among so many? It's nothing."