Chapter 929: Chaos Erupts

Lei Cai managed to gather more intelligence around Linqing. The reason he could do so was that, sensing the urgency of the situation, he began taking risks by utilizing the Mu family's remaining influence in the Dongchang Prefecture and Linqing area. Originally, he had planned a thorough screening to find only the most trustworthy people, but now there was no time for such caution.

Most of the weapons flowing out of Shandong's various armories ended up near Dongping. There were several bands of mountain bandits hiding in the hills there—such outlaws of the greenwood always lacked blades and spears. Could it be that they took advantage of the chaos to buy them up? Yet the sheer quantity they purchased was far too large, raising many suspicions. Lei Cai had also learned the destination of the bulk of the tribute grain, discovering that a large portion was flowing to the same place.

But it seemed the intelligence stopped there. Lei Cai also wrote clearly in his letter that, according to observations by acquaintances on the canal, there were very few official runners or soldiers along the Dongping section of the waterway, but an unusual number of people from the martial world. They all seemed to be on guard and keeping watch, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to enter.

Moreover, there was another difficulty. Lei Cai's risky probing had indeed alerted the local followers of the Smelling Incense Sect. Because of Inspector Li's protection, the local sect, though aware of Lei Cai's existence and his inquiries, had mostly turned a blind eye. But now, that tacit understanding had been torn apart. First, the other side sent a local gentry to issue a warning, and then watchers began appearing outside the Linqing Cloud Mountain Trading House.

Under these circumstances, Lei Cai dared not go to Dongping to investigate personally. With public order collapsing everywhere, roads cut off, and mobs of rebels swarming, if Lei Cai went, it would be a dead end. He was not afraid of death, but he had no wish to throw his life away foolishly.

"As things stand now, you must above all preserve yourself. As for the rest, we shall quietly observe and await developments. If you act recklessly, I will send men to tie you up and bring you back." Zhao Jin's reply was brief, and very firm.

The unit led by Zhang Hubin arrived in Xuzhou one day later than Zhao Jin. Upon arrival, they immediately filled out their ranks to full strength. Drilling several thousand from the local militia in Xuzhou and selecting a few hundred for household troops was an easy matter. As for weapons, armor, and provisions, the local warehouses were fully stocked; a single order was all it took to replenish everything. And at Mount Jing, chosen as their garrison, vacating quarters for eight hundred men was just as simple—proper barracks were already under construction.

After three days stationed at He Village, Zhang Hubin's eight companies were fully manned, though the core officers had been rotated. The company and squad leaders who had been at Qingjiangpu were this time kept in the personal guard unit. A batch promoted from within the personal guard was inserted into this Fourth Battalion. They then crossed the river by boat and marched into the Xu family encampment at Mount Jing.

After two major earthquakes in Shandong, the ground was bound to be unstable, and northern Xuzhou, bordering Shandong, would naturally be unsettled. To guard against this, reinforcing the forces there was only to be expected. No one in Xuzhou found it strange. However, the local gentry and prominent households tactfully made a request to Zhao Jin, saying that so many sons of Xuzhou were waiting to serve the Master Jin, yet now the household troops were only selected from the militia, which risked chilling everyone's hearts.

It was also at this time that news arrived from the capital. With the situation in Shandong currently unstable, the Prince of Lu's request suited the wishes of the grandees in both the inner court and outer court perfectly. Some also brought up the incident from the first year of the Tianqi reign, when a mob of rebels had gathered and cut off the Grand Canal, arguing that to prevent such chaos from recurring, dispatching additional troops was only proper.

April in Shandong was already turning warm. The official road had been heavily damaged by the earthquakes, but since it had not been repaired for many years anyway, it made little difference.

The earthquakes had ceased entirely. With the natural disaster over, the local situation had somewhat stabilized. Yet the region had been ravaged beyond recognition, and this so-called stability and recovery were nowhere to be seen.

A lone rider on a fast horse galloped along the official road. From horseback, he could already see the collapsed city walls in the distance. The rider wore a half-worn padded jacket, his face drenched in sweat, looking utterly tense.

His mount was already lathered from the run, white foam constantly splattering from its mouth. It was clear the horse was on the verge of collapse; without rest, it would simply die on the road. Yet the man paid no heed, still urging it onward.

As he charged forward, someone suddenly pushed a wheelbarrow onto the official road from the roadside. The barrow was loaded with several large bundles of who-knew-what. Perhaps the man lost his balance, for it tipped over right in the middle of the road, blocking the path with perfect, deadly timing.

The road was desolate at that moment, with only the rider and the man with the barrow. But the official road was already narrow and dilapidated, flanked on both sides by pitted ditches. To pass, one would have to dismount; otherwise, a collision with the wheelbarrow was inevitable, sending both horse and rider tumbling.

Yet the rider had no intention of dismounting. Ignoring the flustered carter nearby, he simply shouted hoarsely: "The Immortal Fox delivers the incense, the Eternal Mother descends to the mortal world!"

The flustered carter froze for a moment, then called back: "The gate faces east—how many sticks of incense?"

"Four sticks of incense, no gate, no window!" the rider yelled back, then bellowed impatiently: "Get that thing out of the way, quick! The utmost urgency, the utmost urgency!"

The carter had caught on by now. He let out a whistle, and several men who had been hidden by the roadside darted out. Together, they hauled the wheelbarrow aside.

The rider understood perfectly: if he hadn't given the password and was deemed a suspicious outsider, he would never have entered the city. He would have been killed and buried right outside the walls. More than one official runner had met his end that way. This was the Smelling Incense Sect's hidden sentry defense.

"What's so urgent?" The men, once again concealed by the roadside, watched the horse thunder past and muttered among themselves. Their task was to block the road and conduct the first round of interrogation whenever they spotted a suspicious rider approaching.

Before they could even guess, they saw the rider who had just passed suddenly thrown to the ground. His mount collapsed on the road, unable to move—whether from exhaustion or because it had tripped, no one could tell. The man himself had taken a heavy fall.

Everyone was startled. Before they could decide whether to go help him up, they saw the rider struggle to his feet and stumble frantically toward the city.

"This really is a matter of the utmost urgency! Go lend him a hand!"

"... Meng Xianhan was making preparations at home, but word leaked out. His concubine's brother went to the authorities and informed on him. The county magistrate is newly appointed, and the connections haven't been smoothed over yet. The county's penal office and constables also had old grudges against Meng Xianhan, so no one tipped him off. They sent men straight to arrest him—caught him completely off guard and dragged him away..."

The messenger's face still bore wounds, and his voice was very weak, but he continued his report. Xu Hongru and Xie Mingxian listened intently, their expressions grim.

"... The manager led everyone out of the city and is hiding in the Meng family's country estate. He sent this lowly one to bring word to the Venerable Patriarch, saying that this man Meng Xianhan likely won't withstand the torture..."

"Did no one take silver to buy his way out?"

"There was no time. That bastard who informed kept a tight watch on the money and goods. Every office in the yamen has been bribed. We couldn't come up with enough silver, and the two men we sent in were both detained and couldn't get out."

"Did no one send men to silence him?" Xie Mingxian asked two questions in rapid succession.

"Men have already been dispatched. But before this lowly one set out, someone from the county also rode out of the city. I don't know if it was to report the disaster or to report the case."

By the time he spoke these words, his voice had grown very faint; he was clearly on the verge of collapse. Xu Hongru said in a muffled voice: "Arrange for him to go and rest. Send men to Ningyang—get the full story on the intelligence, and don't spare anyone who needs killing. Go make the arrangements, then return to see me!"

Xie Mingxian bowed in acknowledgment and left, returning shortly after. Xu Hongru's expression showed no sign of clearing. Xie Mingxian, looking somewhat agitated, stepped forward and said: "Venerable Patriarch, in great matters we must strive for absolute certainty. If even a whisper of this leaks, the trouble will be immeasurable. The disaster hasn't fully passed yet, and the authorities are watching this very closely. What we fear now is that the Ningyang situation will drag in other places. Meng Xianhan has always been ostentatious by nature, not very cautious in his actions. There are likely many loose ends."

Xu Hongru remained silent. After a moment, he slammed his hand heavily on the table and said: "If we don't act this time, I fear we will never have another chance to act. First, wait for word from Ningyang. Gather fast horses—keep watch on both the provincial capital and the prefectural city. And be ready at any moment to send word to all the branches below!"

"I regret the past, I regret the past..." The magistrate of Ningyang County repeated this phrase over and over in his heart. If only he had studied harder back in the day, written more elegantly in the metropolitan exam, had a bit better luck in the palace exam—he could have earned a high rank, stayed in the capital for his posting, and never been sent out to the provinces to serve as a county magistrate.

Shandong was simply too poor, and full of unruly commoners. The gentry and local strongmen never had any regard for the authorities. Sect followers and greenwood outlaws stirred up trouble constantly. This year, on top of everything, there was a great disaster like the earthquake—even the city walls had collapsed. He, a dignified county magistrate, was reduced to living in a makeshift shack.

As if all that weren't enough, a major local household had actually tried to exploit the chaos to plot rebellion. The news had only just been sent out, the man only just arrested. He had originally thought this was a meritorious deed, one that could earn him a top grade in his performance evaluation and an early departure from this accursed place. He never imagined that just a few days later, he would be seized in the middle of the night.

Was there no law left? Did they no longer hold the imperial court in any regard? How dare they treat a court-appointed official this way! But these cries, the Ningyang magistrate could only choke back in his heart. This gang of masked thugs was simply too brazen. One of his personal attendants had barely shouted a single sentence before his throat was slit, blood spraying everywhere and terrifying the womenfolk into unconsciousness.

"To whom has the case of Meng Xianhan's rebellion been reported?"

"It has already been reported to the prefectural city..." the Ningyang magistrate answered in a fluster. Even now, he was not too worried. Though the other side was fierce, they surely wouldn't dare lay a hand on a court-appointed official. He was, after all, a dignified seventh-rank county magistrate. Over the years, there had been many commoner uprisings, but very few magistrates had died a martyr's death for the dynasty.

Upon hearing this answer, one of the masked men stepped forward. Before he could act, a companion behind him grabbed his arm and said in a low voice: "Kill this official, and the matter will blow up."

"The matter has already blown up. Once a case like this is reported to the prefectural city, it will have to be reported further to the provincial capital. Once this breaks, who knows how many people will be set in motion. Kill this official—let those who don't know their place understand the consequences."

This reply made the man holding him back let go. The masked man strode forward. Only at that moment did the Ningyang magistrate finally realize what they intended to do. Stammering, he cried out hoarsely: "What are you doing? Are you going to kill an official and rebel?"

"Yes, kill an official and rebel!" the advancing masked man said coldly. His hand rose, the blade fell, and blood flew.

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