Chapter 1027: Catching Thieves

"Fuck their mothers, the Xuzhou thieves are here!" "There are more behind us!" "Fight them to the death!" Shouts of alarm and bellows erupted inside the house. A man burst out wielding a goose-quill saber, his whole body practically curled into a ball as he charged. You could tell at a glance he had real combat experience — shrinking himself to guard against ambushes, then unfurling his body to unleash momentum once he closed in. But he had only taken a few steps when *thwip-thwip* sounds rang out. The first arrow missed, but as the charging man instinctively dodged, the next arrow struck him square in the chest. He staggered two steps, then pitched forward stiffly and sprawled on the ground.

The men who had entered the courtyard did not rush inside. Instead, each found cover, turned back to look at the archers already on the walls, and called out, "Two on my side — what about yours?"

The question quickly carried outward, and before long a reply came: "Two on my side!" The big man leading them, the one brandishing a blade, frowned and said, "There are still five hiding inside. Send in the armored men to search and seize them!"

The order went out, and six Zhao Battalion household troops in full armor strode in. Not only were they armored, but two held shields before them, while those behind carried pole sabers and short spears. In this small formation they began pressing into the house. The moment they entered, roars and shrieks could be heard, along with the clang of blades hacking against armor — and then screams. Not long after, someone shrieked, "We're willing to surrender! Spare us, spare us!"

"Throw down your weapons — you can come in and tie them up!" Once the armored household troops' shout came out, the men waiting outside surged in. Before long, several corpses were carried out, along with two men trussed up tight, blood on their faces. Both bodies and captives were dumped in the courtyard. The sounds inside continued, and after a while, someone emerged carrying small bundles. The bundles were opened, revealing appointment papers, waist tokens, and the like.

A few men gathered around, glanced at them, and all nodded. A large cart had long been waiting outside. The corpses and captives were tossed onto it and escorted away. Meanwhile, the staff of the "Swallow's Song in Spring" went about reassuring the guests, telling the other patrons, still badly shaken, to go back and rest. Today, every courtyard would receive a complimentary banquet table.

"Someone will come clean this courtyard for you. If those men owed your establishment any expenses, you can come forward and you'll be paid in full. For this incident, you'll receive preferential treatment at year's end. You've rendered meritorious service this time," the big man leading the squad said in a gruff voice.

The manager who had knocked on the door bowed and scraped with an ingratiating smile, hastily saying, "To be able to do something for the Zhao Battalion is this humble establishment's honor. We can clean up ourselves — no need to trouble you gentlemen."

"Rules are rules. If you got nothing out of this, the next time there are scouts like these, or men you suspect are scouts, would you still have the inclination to report them? You did well. Merit deserves reward — Master Jin has made that very clear!" The big man spoke in a ringing voice. The manager, who hailed from Northern Zhili, just kept smiling, but his eyes held a trace of confusion. Wasn't the Zhao Battalion just following the official government way of doing things? Why was it so strange?

Still, the big man speaking was covered in blood yet had a very amiable manner. The manager couldn't help but chime in, "Fifth Master Cheng, those imperial agents simply thought our place was lively, with people coming and going and no one paying attention, so they came here to hide. Those men really knew how to stir up trouble — a dozen or more of them calling for girls to serve them every day. It's a good thing everyone in our establishment, top to bottom, remembered the teachings you gentlemen gave us and kept a close watch on these matters. That's how we didn't let the villains slip away. With today's capture, everyone can get back to happy business."

The man addressed as "Fifth Master Cheng" smiled and clapped the manager on the shoulder. But inwardly he knew the truth: the girls in this establishment had discovered official badges of the Brocade Guard and the Eastern Depot. The managers here had been unwilling to leak the information — the Zhao Battalion was fearsome, true, but the Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard were just as deadly. Yet in a place as mixed and murky as this, both the Internal Guard and Cloud Mountain Trading had their eyes and ears. Word had quickly reached them, and it was Fifth Master Cheng himself who had come to the door to talk things over. Only then had today's coordinated operation come together.

But some things still could not be said. The matter did not end with this capture — the Eastern Depot and Brocade Guard had other arrangements in place.

"Someone's fled into the neighboring residence! Block the doors, scale the walls, move!" In a certain area where the common folk of Yutou Town lived, chaos reigned — the sounds of slaughter, weeping, and cursing all mingled together.

An archer atop a wall was drawing his bow and taking aim when his motion suddenly halted. He toppled straight off the wall, and another wave of panicked cries erupted inside and out.

"Watch out for this man's hidden weapons — he's over the wall!" Amid the shouting, a man was seen moving like an ape, one hand gripping the top of the wall as he leveraged his strength and flipped over. Upon landing, he barely absorbed the impact before sprinting toward the street. The streets of Yutou Town were bustling with people. If he could slip into the crowd, these men would have a hard time catching him.

The agile imperial agent dashed into the street without pausing, stripping off his bloodstained robe and tossing it straight to the ground. He shoved two people aside and charged forward. Ahead lay a small lane; once he turned the corner there, it seemed the Xuzhou bandits' arrangements weren't all that thorough. If the authorities were making an arrest, every direction would have been sealed off and the streets cleared.

Seeing his murderous, fiendish look, the people on the street all scrambled to get out of his way, not daring to block his path. He had not run far when a beggar kneeling by the roadside begging for food suddenly lunged at him. Who could have expected such a move from a beggar? And the move was anything but ordinary — after tackling him, the beggar used the momentum on the ground to slam the man heavily down. The agent had just reached for his blade when he felt a sliver of cold against his lower abdomen. The sharp spike in the beggar's hand was already pressed there.

One thrust of that spike, and his lower abdomen would be pierced through. The man immediately dared not move. Rigid all over, he cursed furiously, "Who said this place was a bandit nest of the greenwood? This is clearly a dragon's pool and a tiger's den."

Several more men ran over, bound him tightly, and tossed him directly onto a large cart to be taken away. Trussed up and tied to the cart, his mouth gagged but his eyes not yet blindfolded, he watched as the cart returned to the place he had just fled. Several corpses were crudely wrapped and also thrown onto the cart. He even heard someone on the roadside muttering, "These bandits are all remnants of an evil cult. They came here to stir up trouble."

Hearing this, the man on the cart wished he could break free and shout, "I was sent by the imperial court! Have you common folk been so bewitched by rebels that you've lost your senses? How can you not tell right from wrong!" But he could only think it.

South of Xuzhou city, the filth and squalor that once defined the area had vanished, and many residents had moved out. Now, beyond the prefectural city of Xuzhou, there were far more jobs to support a family. A large distillery had been built here, with several thousand people toiling ceaselessly within. Nearly all the wells in the southern part of the city had been put to use — after all, when Han Well Famous Liquor first launched, it used water from these very southern wells. The water from inside the city produced a brew with a subtly different flavor from that made elsewhere, and it was precisely this difference that commanded a high price. Outsiders all believed this was the authentic version.

Moreover, Cloud Mountain Trading had its own arrangements. Besides the large distillery belonging to the Zhao Battalion, there were also small distilleries owned by the craftsmen and workers who had been bound under contract. Once their contracts expired and they came out, they naturally wanted to open their own distilleries. Cloud Mountain Trading did its best to let them set up within the city, and as much as possible bought up their output for unified sale — reasonably and legitimately keeping control of the liquor trade firmly in its own hands.

Because of this liquor business, the city was not entirely deserted. The merchants who came to buy liquor, the workshops firing wine jars and drinking vessels, the grain merchants and granaries, and the motley assortment of trades serving these people — all made the southern part of the city quite bustling. The inns, wine shops, gambling dens, and brothels here were not much worse than anywhere else.

But compared to outside, the rules within Xuzhou city were the strictest. Even if you had some freedom in He Family Village or Qingjiangpu, here, if you said or did the wrong thing, you'd be arrested without warning. That was because the Zhao family's Eleventh Son, who governed Xuzhou city, held the status of both household troop commander and constable. The city was also different from other places — the elders of various families lived here. Though the yamen had long since lost any real meaning, it still could not be allowed to fall into others' hands. And after the five great academies were established, many teachers and instructors had their homes in the city. To set their minds at ease, this place had to be kept strictly secure.

The street in front of the Imperial Academy in the southern part of the city had been cleared. Government runners guarded every intersection, and the passing common folk tactfully detoured around. At a tea stall on this front street, the Zhao family's Eleventh Son sat at a street-side table, wearing light armor under an outer robe, his pole saber resting at his side. Quite a few people were walking along the street, and some leaned against the walls chatting idly. All of them, intentionally or not, kept glancing at the gate of a certain residence.

"How much longer until they come out?" A man dressed like a shop assistant walked over and asked. This was Zhao Wan, a company commander stationed in the city.

"Don't be impatient. We've got this place watched tight, front and back, left and right. Wait another stick of incense. If they don't come out by then, you lead the men in and storm the place," Zhao Eleven said calmly. Zhao Wan nodded, glanced over once more, then withdrew. Inwardly, Zhao Wan still felt some resentment. He had clearly joined the Zhao Battalion earlier, yet no matter how you looked at it, this Zhao Eleven was more highly regarded. He hadn't seen the man fight particularly well, nor did he have any notable achievements to his name.

Just as the words left his mouth, the gate of the residence everyone was watching swung open. A portly, prosperous-looking middle-aged man poked his head out to look around. Seeing the "pedestrians" on the street, he paid them little mind. He turned his head and said a few words, and three more men strode briskly out. The portly middle-aged man appeared to be leading the way, carefully giving instructions and discussing something in a low voice. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead as if he had forgotten something, said a couple of words, turned around, and hurried back into the residence. The three men were highly vigilant, warily glancing all around.

But the moment the portly middle-aged man re-entered the courtyard, he violently shoved the gate shut. The motion was so forceful that it produced a heavy, resounding boom. The three men understood instantly. And in that very moment, every "pedestrian" on the street drew weapons and ropes. Archers scrambled up to high vantage points, shouting, "Surrender and you won't be killed!"

The three men were dressed merely as traveling merchants and carried no weapons. With several dozen men closing in on them like this, they could do nothing but retreat.

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