Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 255 Who is Huang Que?

There is a war going on now, so there is no problem in checking the identities of ships coming and going, but this is something the imperial court should do. Who among private organizations has this authority?
"Outsourcing because of lack of manpower?" Zhao Wumian looked a little puzzled and looked at the men in uniform.

As they got closer, Zhao Wumian could vaguely hear the men shouting with their hands clasped, "It's not very peaceful lately. We can't guarantee that there will be spies from the Rong people sneaking into our Dali hinterland. Please forgive us, everyone. Let's put national affairs first and cooperate."

There's nothing wrong with what he said, but sailors make their livings by doing so. If you delay for a while, you won't know how much money you'll lose. There are more than just a few people on a ship, and if you check them one by one, I'm afraid a lot of things will be delayed.

As a result, most of the people on the ships in the port looked dissatisfied.

So the man would make a gesture from time to time, and someone with rich experience in sailing would secretly hand over some silver, so they would let go without checking their identities... Rather than checking their identities, it seemed more like an excuse to make money.

When the Queen Mother saw this, her eyes immediately blazed with anger, and her eyebrows raised, "How dare these bastards profit from the national crisis? The war is intense at the front, and they are still using the name of war to plunder the people's wealth at home? Who gave them the guts to do this? "

Mu Lier had a lot of experience in the martial arts world. She recognized the identities of the men from their uniforms at a glance and said softly, "The Cao Gang in Chang'an... I remember it was called the Eight Waters Gang. The so-called Wei, Jing, Feng, Lao, Fu, Hao, Chan, and Ba, the Eight Waters surround Chang'an. The Cao Gang is also the largest martial arts gang in Chang'an. They were summoned by the court a long time ago to manage the port of Chang'an and collect taxes for the court."

"Collecting taxes?" The Queen Mother laughed coldly, "Where are the tax receipts? Since you have collected money from the people, you should give them written proof... This is not collecting taxes, it's just making money."

Zhao Wumian understood immediately, "If we use the imperial court to investigate the spies, if they accept money, then it would be the prefect extorting money from the people. But if we use the Eight Waters Gang to investigate the spies, then we can accept money openly. After all, it is the Eight Waters Gang leader who accepts the money, not the prefect."

"It's indeed a pretext to make money." Mu Lier nodded slightly, recalled for a moment, and then said:
"The leader of the Eight Waters Gang is named Zhu Yunliang. He is highly skilled in martial arts and was a famous martial artist 20 years ago. However, he is probably not at the level of a master. The person behind him is probably the prefect of Chang'an. He may not dare to collect the money himself, so he lets his subordinates take it. When he is finally questioned by the court, he can just blame Zhu Yunliang."

There are corrupt officials everywhere, but how to be corrupt is a trick... This money was embezzled by Zhu Yunliang, not by the prefect of Chang'an. If we really investigate, it is impossible to say that the prefect is incorruptible and penniless. Where is the money? The money is in Zhu Yunliang's hands, but when it comes to spending money, the prefect will not lack money to spend.

The Queen Mother understood this point very clearly after a little thought. Without the imperial court's endorsement, how could the Eight Water Gang have the courage to do this? She immediately flew into a rage, "Looking at how skilled they are, it's obvious that they haven't just started doing this... Maybe they started before the New Year?"

Princess Xiangzhu tilted her face, pulled Zhao Wumian's sleeve, and made a "confused" gesture. She was asking why no one had reported this to the court. If Luo Chaoyan knew about this, she would definitely investigate it thoroughly.

Zhao Wumian smiled at her. "Ordinary Jianghu knights can't afford to provoke the Eight Water Gang, and those with backgrounds in the court may not dare to provoke the bureaucratic group represented by the Chang'an prefect. You have to know that with the throughput of the port, it is not an exaggeration to say that it makes a fortune every day. The prefect will naturally make arrangements... The greedy person is not the prefect, but the interest groups behind the prefect."

The little mute nodded as if he understood, not quite. He finally realized that ordinary people in the martial arts world were not to be provoked, and those with a background in the imperial court were either not to be provoked or had also taken money and gone along with them.

This is normal. The princess has dealt with these things with the King of Yan before... How did the King of Yan deal with the corrupt officials in Yanyun?

Luo Xiangzhu then pulled Zhao Wumian's sleeve again, wiped her fair neck with her small hand, and then closed her eyes and made a painful expression, meaning that Zhao Wumian should just kill them all, there would be no mercy when dealing with these people.

How many good things are there in making money from national disasters?

Mu Lier glanced at the Queen Mother, frowned, and said, "Under normal circumstances, he should be killed, but he must reveal his identity after killing someone, otherwise it will be a big deal. But with the Queen Mother by our side, it would be inappropriate for us to just casually reveal our identities. Moreover, if we want to intervene in this matter, it would be best to uproot the Eight Water Gang, which means we need to investigate those behind him. This is not something that can be done overnight."

Now time is short and the task is heavy. It is obviously not worth wasting time and energy here.

The Queen Mother blinked and muttered softly, "I am going to endorse the Marquis in the competition for the title of Wu Kui. Sooner or later, I will reveal my identity..."

"We haven't reached Shu yet, so why not introduce yourself? Your Shen family has climbed to this position over the years, so don't you have to offend enough enemies?" Mu Lier rolled her eyes at the Queen Mother.
"Besides, whether it's the Queen Mother or the Marquis Weiming, once these two identities are exposed, the parasites behind the Eight Water Gang will definitely clear themselves of all responsibility and push the Eight Water Gang out to take the blame... By that time, it will be difficult to investigate again."

What Mu Lier said made sense. During the reigns of Hong Tianjin and Jing Zheng, the investigation of corrupt officials was done in secret. Who would investigate openly? Do you think corrupt officials are fools who won't hide?

Therefore, Zhao Wumian and others have no time to take care of this matter at the moment.

Shen Lian, a retainer of the Shen Mansion who had been listening quietly around the few people, also thought it made sense, so he took out his purse from his pocket and suggested:
"Then I will pay the money first and deal with this group of people. At the moment, the safety of the Queen Mother is the most important. When the Shu people come back, we can start the investigation from the beginning. We have to prioritize things. The matter of Chang'an Wharf should obviously be put on hold."

But Zhao Wumian thought more deeply. Ever since he came to Jin, he had been extremely cautious. He was always thinking about whether there were any assassinations or ambushes around him, and whether all the unusual things were directed at him. It had become a habit, and he was naturally thinking about it now.

Is this group called the Eight Waters Gang really just trying to make money? It is said that neither the Jianghu nor the imperial court dared to get involved in this matter, but as time goes on, someone will definitely report it to the capital. By then, Luo Chaoyan will send someone to investigate. The prefect may be safe, but the Eight Waters Gang will be completely finished.

Isn't this just draining the pond to catch fish? Would the leader of the Eight Waters Gang be so stupid? If he was really so stupid, how could he develop the Eight Waters Gang into the number one gang in Chang'an?

Zhao Wumian felt that this was not just a simple attempt to make money, and there might be something else going on.

Meanwhile, inside the port, Wei Hetong and a group of his men were squatting on the ground, holding a bowl of steaming mutton noodles, slurping the noodles and eating garlic.

They were definitely not the ones who checked their identities. After all, the Jinsha Gang was only the largest shipping gang in Shu and could not reach the Chang'an Wharf.

One of the younger brothers looked at the group of men collecting the money with envy, and his eyes turned red. He couldn't help but ask: "Boss, we have been in Chang'an for four or five days, and we haven't seen any problems with the Eight Water Gang. Look at the way they collect the money, they are so damn arrogant. The silver is more than the water of the women in Yihonglou!"

"Yes, yes, that's the one who collected the money. I know him. His name is Lao Liu. A few days ago, he treated me to a brothel because I was the boss. He went to Yihonglou every night. Recently, he has more money in his pocket, so he has changed to visiting prostitutes!"

Wei Hetong took a bite of mutton and a bite of garlic, finished his noodles, drank a mouthful of soup, burped, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said, "I can see why Shi Shoujin said that the Eight Water Gang was finished, and just took the money. Who can't see that they are using this as an excuse to extort money from the people? If Wei Minghou saw this, wouldn't he skin them alive?"

"Then, what about Wei Minghou?"

"I don't know, it should be here soon..."

While they were talking, a ship came into the shore and the deck was lowered. The women did not want to get close to this group of villains who were making a fortune from the country's misfortune and wanted to stay on the ship.

Shen Lian was about to get off the boat, but Zhao Wumian raised his hand to stop him, "I'll take care of it."

Zhao Wumian looked at Ji Jianming and said, "Bring the horses down. We will take the dry road to Shu, and we can't stay on the boat forever."

Ji Jianming bowed and accepted the order, and took his men to pull the luggage and carriages off the boat. They were traveling this time in disguise as an ordinary merchant caravan, and there were quite a few carriages.

The Empress Dowager and Luo Xiangzhu lifted their skirts and stepped onto the deck under the protection of the palace masters, then got into the carriage, pulled up the curtains, revealing the Empress Dowager's curious face.

Mu Lier wore a bamboo hat and a veil. She was very famous in the martial arts world and many people knew her. Mainly because she was too beautiful, she usually wore a veil to prevent people from being tempted by her beauty.

Although Mu Lier herself is not afraid of those stinky flower-stealers, she definitely thinks less trouble is worse than more.

She followed Zhao Wumian and looked at him blankly, thinking, it's just a matter of paying the fee to pass through, is it necessary for you to go there in person?

In order to conceal his identity, Zhao Wumian did not carry a sword across his body. He only carried a long sword taken from the imperial treasury, named Shangzhu. The sword had a slender blade and was light green all over. There were bamboo patterns engraved on the blade, which was also a rare treasure in the world. He wore a green shirt sewn for him by Su Qingqi, and with his elegant temperament, he looked like a young master from a noble family.

Lao Liu weighed his wallet and couldn't help but smile even more. When he saw several luxurious carriages getting off the ship, his smile became even more intense.

After working in this industry for a long time, I realized that the richer and more powerful people are, the more they value time. To them, anything that can be paid for is not a big deal.

The Eight Waters Gang is putting national affairs first, and no one can find fault with them. If they really want to argue, they have plenty of time. They are not the ones who can afford to waste time anyway. What's more, the Eight Waters Gang has the court's endorsement, so even if the matter is brought to the government, they will have an explanation... It looks like they can make another fortune.

Lao Liu, along with a group of brothers, took a few steps forward, clasped his hands, and showed Zhao Wumian full courtesy. "Sir, recently the Rong people have entered the pass and there is a war on the front line. We, the Eight Waters Gang, are following the order of the court to thoroughly investigate your background. I hope you will cooperate."

Wei Hetong, who was squatting not far away, looked over here, but did not realize that the handsome young man was Zhao Wumian. He just thought that the young man was good-looking. If he was sold to the Chang'an Xianggu Pavilion, he would definitely be a top star... However, Wei Hetong was not involved in the business of human trafficking, so this thought flashed through his mind.

Zhao Wumian looked at the man in front of him for a few seconds, and then asked: "By order of the court... by whose order specifically?"

Lao Liu had been asked this question many times before, so he was prepared. He cleared his throat, took out a document from his pocket, raised his chin slightly, and

"Written in black and white, with a red official seal, the prefect of Chang'an, this young man, look at your attire, you must be from a wealthy family, and you are accompanied by your female relatives. It is a rare trip to Chang'an, and we don't want to ruin your good mood. So, just give me some money as you see fit, otherwise it will be a waste of your time if we investigate it carefully..."

Seeing that Zhao Wumian was not very "sensible" and was young, Lao Liu spoke more bluntly.

Zhao Wumian took a few glances at the document, and the Queen Mother in the carriage behind him also leaned in to look. After a few seconds, she frowned and said, "Is this a replica? The official seal of Chang'an focuses on the word 'An'. The ink of this word should be completely different from the other seals, but now it seems..."

Before the Queen Mother could finish her words, Mu Lier glared at her and said, "We are all hiding your identity, why are you still showing up everywhere?"
The empress dowager's pretty face puffed up, but she immediately shut up and said nothing. She lowered the curtains, leaving only a small gap, and quietly looked at Zhao Wumian.

But what the Queen Mother said was definitely true.

The document was indeed a forgery, which was the back-up plan of the Chang'an prefect. If it really got reported to the capital, the responsibility would be on the Eight Water Gang, not him. He did not give the Eight Water Gang this power. The most he could do was to "fail to supervise".

But whether the document is real or not is not important at all. If the prefect really does not want the Eight Waters Gang to extort money from the people, then the Eight Waters Gang would not dare to do this even if they have more courage.

But the fact that the counterfeit documents were pointed out made Lao Liu's face darken immediately. He said in a cold voice: "Don't talk nonsense. Otherwise, you can report it to the government, but by then..."

Lao Liu looked at Mu Lier for a few times, then smiled and said, "I hope your wife is not pregnant, otherwise the whole family will stay in jail for a few months, and I'm afraid an innocent life will die tragically."

Mu Lier blinked and wanted to say that I am not his wife, but there was really no need to explain to this stranger, so she remained silent.

Hearing this, Zhao Wumian raised his eyebrows frivolously, "Officials and bandits colluding?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Liu and the surrounding men immediately drew their swords and looked at Zhao Wumian coldly, "Sir, please don't say anything you shouldn't say. You are putting too much blame on me. Our Eight Water Gang has long been summoned by the court. Everyone knows that we are working for the court. Now that there is a war on the front line, we are investigating spies in the rear. No one can find fault with us! Even if you appeal to the capital, the emperor will stand on our side!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the men around him quietly stepped forward, intending to beat up the troublemaker and take him to the government office, where they would lock him up for a few days along with his wife and family, as a warning to others.

Wei Hetong, who was not far away, shook his head and drank mutton soup from his bowl. "Because of this incident, I'm afraid that the Eight Water Gang will be targeting that young master. Everyone knows that this is a collusion between officials and bandits. But you pointed it out. How can you not give face to the Eight Water Gang? I'm afraid this matter will not be resolved amicably."

A younger brother beside him put himself in his shoes and sighed softly, "We have been wandering the world for half a lifetime. No matter how cool and carefree we are, we are still no match for the imperial court's lackeys. If ordinary people were to encounter this kind of thing, they would be controlled by the Eight Waters Gang. Who doesn't have someone they care about in this world? They are all afraid of having their families implicated..."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Hetong and his younger brother froze in disbelief.

At the dock, there was a sudden flash of cold light and the sound of a sword being drawn, which made everyone's scalp numb and they looked in surprise.

The Queen Mother quietly looked at Zhao Wumian through the gap in the carriage curtain. From her perspective, she saw the injured bamboo sword on Zhao Wumian's waist suddenly emit a cold light, swept past Lao Liu's neck, and then quickly put it back into the scabbard cleanly and elegantly, just enough.

Blood splattered everywhere, with some drops of blood splashing on the face of the man next to Lao Liu, which allowed them to come to their senses and sort out the situation.

Plop————

Lao Liu knelt on his knees, covering his neck with his hands, his face filled with shock and horror, and then fell forward again, blood flowing out from between his fingers.

During the sensitive period of "checking Rong people's spies", if someone died, he would definitely be labeled as a spy by the Eight Water Gang and the court and be hunted down.

Everyone could understand this, so they were all shocked by the scene. More than a thousand people in the port were greeted with silence at this moment.

Only the Queen Mother leaned out from behind the curtain, her pretty face full of excitement and satisfaction, waving her two little fists, "Okay!"

Just as she uttered a word, the empress dowager was pulled back by Luo Xiangzhu in the carriage.

"If you want to take my money, let your gang leader come and take it himself with a knife." Zhao Wumian sheathed his sword and glanced at the men beside Lao Liu.

Those people were already scared out of their wits. Since Zhao Wumian dared to kill Lao Liu, he would definitely dare to kill them. Someone dared to threaten him, "You, you dare to kill him! Now everyone is investigating the Rong people's spies. Isn't your action a guilty conscience? You are a spy who collaborates with the enemy and sells out the country, right..."

The hat hadn't been put on yet, when Zhao Wumian suddenly raised his hand, and the emerald green scabbard was swung around the man's neck in the blink of an eye.

bang——

Before the man could finish his words, his face instantly turned red and he was pressed diagonally downward by the scabbard. He fell to the ground, leaving a shallow semicircular pit on the bluestone floor.

If the Empress Dowager and Princess Xiangzhu had not been there, he would have been torn into pieces for fear of scaring them.

"You can't stand the collusion between officials and bandits, so you put a hood over me?" Zhao Wumian smiled coldly at the remaining men, "Let your gang leader catch me if I know for sure."

But those people were already frightened, and seeing Zhao Wumian's smile, they felt extremely horrified. They took a few steps back and crawled away from the port, ready to call for help.

Mu Lier was also a little confused when she saw this. Didn't they say that they didn't have the energy to investigate this matter at this time? Why was Zhao Wumian still so high-profile? Although it was a relief...

Zhao Wumian took Mu Lier's arm and got on the carriage together. He whispered, "This is definitely not a matter of collusion between officials and bandits. It's not as simple as making a little money. Is Zhu Yunliang so short-sighted? Doesn't he know that once this matter is reported to the capital, he will be abandoned by the prefect?"

Mu Lier frowned, "You want to arrest him and interrogate him?"

Zhao Wumian nodded.

"But this matter has become so serious, what if..."

"Nothing will happen." Zhao Wumian smiled at Mu Lier, "Master's disciple is no longer the small shrimp who fled for his life in Jindi."

Mu Lier was slightly stunned and looked at Zhao Wumian. Before she could say anything, she was pushed into the carriage.

Zhao Wumian raised his hand slightly towards the port and said loudly: "Everyone, just do what you need to do. No one will make things difficult for you anymore."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Wumian drove away. Shen Lian, Ji Jianming and others who were accompanying him followed on horseback. When they passed by Lao Liu's corpse, they all spat and then laughed heartily.

"it is good!"

Some people at the port cheered, and as soon as Zhao Wumian left, they swarmed over the two corpses and started beating and kicking them.

"How dare you blackmail me for money!?"

"Bah! Collusion between officials and bandits! Die hard!"

"I have a weak spot, I can't touch you, but when a common man gets angry, blood will splatter five steps, there are plenty of heroes in the world!"

Even Wei Hetong's younger brother cheered at the top of his lungs, but was slapped on the forehead by Wei Hetong and staggered, "What are you yelling for? Hurry up and follow me!"

"Ah?" The younger brother looked confused, "Aren't we supposed to wait for Wei Ming Hou?"

"Stupid! Who else would dare to do this except Wei Ming Hou?" Wei Hetong threw down the bowl and kicked his younger brother. "I knew Wei Ming Hou took this waterway, so I could guess his identity, but no one else could guess it... Zhu Yunliang is doomed."

"What if, what if that guy named Shi Shoujin deceived us? Wei Minghou didn't take this waterway at all..."

"So that's why Master Fan asked us to gather intelligence? He also suspected that Shi Shoujin was lying to him."

Wei Hetong didn't think that the young man was the Marquis Weiming. If the Marquis Weiming came here, why didn't he just reveal his identity? Why did he have to act like a hero who would help others when he saw injustice? But the young man was bound to cause trouble in Chang'an. Who was he? We would know after we followed him.

As for Wei Ming Hou… After discovering such a thing at the port, the Eight Water Gang would definitely not send people here to collect money before they caught that young master, otherwise who would obey him? Therefore, if Wei Ming Hou got off the ship after that young master, and was safe and sound and did nothing, Wei Hetong would not be able to know who the real Wei Ming Hou was.

This is the difference in perspective. Wei Hetong didn't know that the Queen Mother was on the boat, nor did he know that Zhao Wumian and others wanted to wipe out the corrupt officials behind the Eight Water Gang. Therefore, he didn't think as deeply as Zhao Wumian did, and naturally couldn't guess what Zhao Wumian wanted to do.

The matter of the port soon reached the ears of the prefect and the leader of the Eight Water Gang, Zhu Yunliang.

An aide said to the prefect: "This matter has become so serious... I'm afraid it will be disadvantageous to us..."

"Well? Why is it disadvantageous to us?" The prefect looked at his staff in confusion, "Did I ask the Eight Water Gang to collect the money? Didn't they forge the documents themselves? I only asked them to investigate the spies, but didn't ask them to collect the money... Zhu Yunliang took the money on his own initiative."

The staff was speechless, then nodded, "It really has nothing to do with us."

The prefect sat down in front of the armchair and asked the maid to bring the four treasures of the study. "However, it is true that I did not supervise this matter well. I gave too much power to the Eight Water Gang, allowing them to do such things, which ultimately undermined the authority of the court... I will write a letter of self-reflection and apologize to the emperor."

"Will you send it to His Majesty after you finish writing it?"

"Let's see if Zhu Yunliang can bring the person back." The prefect took a sip of tea. "If he can bring the person back, it means he has caught a Rong spy, which is a great achievement. The Eight Waters Gang can continue to collect money and check people at the port. If he can't catch the person back, it means that I have failed to supervise well, so I can send it to the emperor."

The staff thought about it for a while and suddenly felt that he was still too young. The hearts of those people in the officialdom were more evil than each other.

After writing a few earnest words of apology, the prefect stood up and played with the bird he had just raised.

This matter was really nothing to him, so he didn't care much... He had been in this position for ten years, and had found countless ways to make money, but weren't they all suppressed by him in the end?
What's more, the new emperor is a young girl less than 20 years old, as pure as a white lotus. How can one figure out the ins and outs of this by just reading a piece of paper without coming to Chang'an to see it in person?

When Zhu Yunliang learned about this, his face immediately darkened and he asked his men, "Isn't that man Wei Ming Hou?"

"The gang leader is such a joke. If he really is Marquis Weiming, the prefect would have to kneel down to greet him. Why would he want to get his hands stained with blood?"

Zhu Yunliang's face was extremely cold. He was ordered by Shi Shoujin to intercept Zhao Wumian here and delay time. The reason why he openly used the name of investigating a spy to make money was because he was impressed by Zhao Wumian's chivalrous character and his intolerant nature.

If Zhao Wumian really saw this, wouldn't he and the prefect behind him be uprooted?
For this purpose, Zhu Yunliang specially left many clues for Zhao Wumian in Chang'an City, guiding him step by step to find the prefect. However, it would be impossible to find out without a few days' effort.

Therefore, the prefect thought that he was the big boss behind the scenes. In fact, in the eyes of Shi Shoujin and Zhu Yunliang, he was just a pawn to hold back Zhao Wumian.

Unfortunately, Shi Shoujin knew that Zhao Wumian took this waterway, but he didn't know that Zhao Wumian was also with the Queen Mother, and he didn't know that Mu Li'er was poisoned. Zhao Wumian hurried to the Tang family to find an antidote...

If time wasn't tight and the task wasn't heavy, Zhao Wumian would really investigate these corrupt officials for Luo Chaoyan.

Unfortunately, there is no if. Zhao Wumian saw that something was wrong with Zhu Yunliang at a glance and wanted to catch him right away.

Zhu Yunliang pondered for a while, and one of his men urged him, "Boss, if we don't catch that man, we may not be able to continue to make money at the port, and we may even become the abandoned son of the prefect!"

Zhu Yunliang naturally understood this logic. He was now wondering whether the person who was looking for trouble was Zhao Wumian. There was too little evidence to say for sure. Most importantly, he couldn't understand why Zhao Wumian didn't reveal his identity.

But if that person is not caught, it will be difficult to explain to the prefect. How can he delay Zhao Wumian?

Therefore, Zhu Yunliang thought about it for a while, and then took the three masters of the Bashui Gang and more than 30 elite disciples, and rode out of the city on horseback to chase and kill.

Cut it off when it is necessary.

However, Zhao Wumian had already left Chang'an City in his carriage, so all the arrangements made by Zhu Yunliang in Chang'an City were in vain.

Wei Hetong also brought a group of his followers to drink tea at a tea stall in front of Chang'an City. When he saw Zhu Yunliang, he immediately threw a silver ingot on the table and followed him on horseback with his followers.

(End of this chapter)