If you traveled back to ancient times, while others ate Guanyin clay, you would actually have giant

"Don't misunderstand, I'm a grown man and I'm not afraid of being taken advantage of. Lin Niangzi is just a young lady, and she still has to get married in the future."

Zhou Wu pursed his lips.

"Sorry, sorry, haha, I'm used to it."

Hearing Zhou Wu's words, Su Jing realized that he might have gone too far and quickly apologized.

"It's nothing, I'm just doing errands for the adults."

Compared to the two men, Madam Lin was quite magnanimous and didn't care at all.

"Lady Lin sneaked into the Chen residence last night."

"Oh, you've found out some information, haven't you?"

Su Jing guessed that there must be some intelligence involved, otherwise they wouldn't have called him over so early in the morning.

"Yes, this Chen Dashan is indeed no good. He actually colluded with the White Skull Pirates and helped them dispose of stolen goods."

"What?! The White Skull Pirates!"

Upon hearing that the White Skull Pirates seemed to have realized something, Su Jing's face showed a look of horror.

"What, Old Su, you know about the White Skull Pirates too?"

In this era, mountain bandits were far more famous than sea pirates, because ordinary people rarely ventured into the sea. However, Su Jing's expression clearly indicated that he knew about the White Skull Pirates.

"Before entering the Crown Prince's residence, I was just a poor scholar. My failure in the imperial examinations made me feel lost about the future. But my hunger made me even more desperate. At that time, I didn't have a single penny on me. I almost begged my way to survival. Finally, I collapsed in a fishing village. Luckily, I was rescued by an old fisherman. He thought I was a beggar, but he didn't despise me or chase me away. He even taught me how to fish. At that time, I thought, why not become a fisherman? That would be nice."

As Su Jing spoke, his voice abruptly stopped, and a sorrowful expression slowly appeared on his face. Zhou Wu knew that the climax was about to begin.

“One day, the old man suddenly broke into the house and hid me in a water vat, telling me not to make a sound. Before I could react, someone broke in from outside and killed the old man. I was terrified hiding in the water vat, too scared to even breathe. I don’t know how long it was before I could hear anything and dared to come out of the vat. Everyone in the village was dead, not a single person survived. The old people, the children, the women, all of them were dead.”

As Su Jing recounted his experience, the painful memories of that time flooded his mind, and before he knew it, tears had welled up in his eyes.

"I heard them clearly, they said they were the White Skull Pirates..."

Everyone has a past that is unknown to others; some memories are beautiful, while others are painful and unbearable to recall.

"Don't worry, Old Su, White Skull is also my enemy. Sooner or later, I will destroy him."

At this moment, Zhou Wu didn't know how to comfort Su Jing, so he could only pat her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Let's discuss how to deal with Chen Xinrong."

Su Jing recovered quickly. For him, painful memories could motivate him, but the present moment was what he needed to face.

"I have a plan."

Zhou Wu had already come up with a plan in his mind, and both Madam Lin and Su Jing pricked up their ears to listen attentively.

"Why don't we turn the tables on them? Isn't Chen Xinrong waiting for an opportunity to trade with the pirates? Right now, his only concern is that we're here. Let's head back and put them at ease. Then, we can observe them from the shadows and launch a surprise attack when they're about to make their deal."

“Good idea, sir, let’s do it your way.”

Su Jing thought the plan was very reliable and immediately raised both hands in approval.

. . . . . . .

"Sir, are you really leaving?"

Ji Yongfeng was completely baffled. Why did the imperial envoy just leave like that?

“Old Ji, it’s not that I don’t want to stay, it’s just that I’ve already wasted too much time. You know, the imperial court has its own rules. If I stay too long, it will be difficult for the court to explain. The work here is all on track now, so it doesn’t matter whether I’m here or not. I’ll just have to trouble you to take care of things.”

Zhou Wu had already come up with an excuse last night, pushing it all onto the imperial court, so Ji Yongfeng couldn't say anything.

"Isn't there a need to rush? How about we wait a couple more days?"

"Old Ji is really not up to the task. The imperial court has urged him several times already. You know, if people use this to gossip, I won't be able to explain myself."

Once Zhou Wu said this, Ji Yongfeng could no longer persuade him to stay. Indeed, there were all kinds of people in the court, and if someone were to impeach Zhou Wu, it would be a case of good intentions gone wrong.

"Then please be careful on your journey, sir."

Zhou Wu left without hesitation, having packed his things well in advance.

Zhou Wu's departure caused quite a stir in Qingzhou City. Although Zhou Wu had not been in Qingzhou City for long, he had indeed done a lot for the people. Therefore, when the people of Qingzhou learned that their imperial envoy Zhou Wu was leaving, they lined the streets to see him off.

"My lord, have a safe journey."

"Zhou Qingtian..."

"Lord Zhou, what a good official..."

The voices of the people outside the carriage truly reflected the achievements of an official. Lin Niangzi, riding a tall horse, stood guard outside the carriage. Hearing the people's praise of Zhou Wu, she felt, for some reason, even happier than Zhou Wu himself.

Chen Mansion.

Are you sure Zhou Wu is gone?

Chen Xinrong found it hard to believe that Zhou Wu had suddenly left.

"My lord, I told you with my own eyes, the entire city went to see him off, how could that be false?"

The servant replied respectfully.

"So now you know why they suddenly left Qingzhou?"

"It is said that the capital felt that Zhou Wu had stayed in Qingzhou for too long, and Zhou Wu was afraid of being impeached, so he bid farewell to Magistrate Ji and left."

This is the excuse Zhou Wu probably came up with; now everyone knows that Zhou Wu was forced to leave.

Upon hearing this reason, Chen Xinrong nodded. Indeed, the excuse was perfect, and no one doubted it. That's how officials are; they're always afraid of being impeached by their colleagues. If something is going well, but someone impeaches you, the higher-ups will basically just try to smooth things over. Not only will you lose the credit, but you'll also end up with a lot of criticism.

"Good riddance, good riddance, haha."

Chen Xinrong was just worried about not having a chance to make a deal, and now that Zhou Wu has left, Qingzhou City is under his control. As for Ji Yongfeng, he is no longer a threat.

"Sir, should we contact them immediately?"

"No rush, let's wait a couple of days before we talk about it."

Although Zhou Wu had already left Qingzhou, Chen Xinrong, who was always cautious, decided to wait two more days. After all, the reason he was able to remain hidden for so many years was because he always knew that caution was the best policy.

"Yes, sir."

Zhou Wu's entourage marched in a grand procession toward the capital, as if afraid others wouldn't know. The spies from Qingzhou City followed them for two days before confirming that they had truly left and then returned to report.