novelSusiti Chapter 257 The Trouble Has Only Just Begun
Chapter 257 The Trouble Has Only Just Begun
Chapter 257 The Trouble Has Only Just Begun
Liu Jinbao felt something was wrong when he woke up in the morning.
Not a single item was sold all morning.
His shop's business was indeed bad, but not this bad. On a normal day, he could sell two or three items in a morning, earning a few dozen or a few hundred coins. Of course, that profit was laughable, but he didn't rely on that to make a living.
After sending men out to investigate, by the afternoon they finally found out what had happened: the Zhu family's pleasure boat had been attacked the previous night, and several officials, led by Tongzhi Luo Li, had died—the exact number was unknown.
Upon learning of this, even though he was a seasoned veteran, Liu Jinbao still cursed.
I knew Shao Shuyi was going to do something big, but I didn't expect it to be this big.
Killing Zhu Chen is fine, but what's with killing those corrupt officials? Now things have blown up, and no one can cover it up anymore. If it all comes back to me—damn it!
Liu Jinbao shook his head, composed himself, and asked softly, "How are A-Da and the others?"
Ah Si had just returned from gathering information and replied, "I've gone home."
Liu Jinbao put down his snacks slightly.
Ah Da was the leader of the four boatmen on the night of the raid. He was an old nephew who had followed Shao Shuyi for many years, and he led two small, covered boats for Shao Shuyi to use. Since the message had been sent home, there was naturally no problem—their home was in the countryside of Jiangning County, and who would go there normally?
"These thirty ingots are a hot potato," Liu Jinbao said, sitting down with a sigh.
Of course, if given the chance to choose again, he would still take the money. Thirty ingots—do you know how much that can buy? He could just abandon the shop altogether.
"Jinling City is going to be in trouble." Liu Jinbao picked up his teacup, only to find the tea had gone cold, so he put it down and said sullenly, "A'da and the others are gone, there's not even anyone to boil water. Oh well, oh well, let's close the shop for a few days to avoid getting involved in the trouble."
Ah Si nodded and said, "The inns at the alley entrance are all closed. Everyone's scared. There are fewer people on the street, and even if they go out, if they see something's wrong, they run back home."
"In this world, just being alive is a blessing. Look at that Semu man (Lori), a high-ranking official, yet he lost his life in one day and lost everything. Who can he complain to?" Liu Jinbao smiled and said, "Warm a pot of wine and let's have some fun."
Ah Si responded, took the wooden plank, and went out to prepare to close the shop and shut down.
Suddenly, a large group of people emerged from the Zhu residence, which was only three streets away.
The clerk blocking the doorway was about to say something when a sword came slashing down at his head. He was so frightened that he almost jumped out of his skin and used his "Lazy Donkey Rolling" technique to narrowly escape death—of course, the other party didn't really intend to kill him.
The clerk escaped unscathed, but the others were not so lucky.
The two constables stood there like wooden stakes, not because they didn't want to run, but because their legs were too weak to move.
"Pfft!" The dagger pierced his chest, and blood gushed out.
"Get out of here!" A ferocious-looking desperado kicked aside the corpse blocking his way and fled.
More than ten people followed closely behind, carrying knives, spears, bows, and axes, and with bundles of various sizes on their backs, they were in a hurry.
"Hu Si!" A constable scrambled into a small alley and stared in astonishment at the fleeing group.
If I'm not mistaken, the leader is Hu Si, one of Zhu Chen's confidants.
Is this an escape? Are they abandoning their home?
Just as he was debating whether to go back and report the news, a series of chaotic footsteps came from the alley entrance. Soon after, another group of people rushed over, led by Zhu Sanshan—also a confidant of Zhu Chen.
This man was accompanied by about thirty desperados, each with a face full of grief and indignation.
The constable turned to flee, but was shot in the back by an arrow and fell to the ground.
Zhu Sanshan rushed over and, in a fit of rage, stabbed the constable's corpse twice. Then he turned to the crowd and said, "Let's go!"
If we encounter anyone blocking our way, we'll all shoulder to shoulder and charge forward together. You all know what the government troops are like; they can't stop us.
The crowd responded enthusiastically and followed closely behind, slowly disappearing into the alley.
They brought several days' worth of food and water, and a small amount of gold, silver, and valuables for their travel expenses. Their destination was Jurong County.
Yes, we can't stay in Jinling any longer. Nobody's a fool. After such a huge incident, it would be a miracle if the government let them off the hook. They themselves are doomed, and their families won't fare much better. Since that's the case, why sit and wait to die? It's better to take advantage of the fact that the main government troops haven't arrived yet, launch a preemptive strike, and break out of the city.
As for why they went to Jurong, the reasons are not complicated.
He used to sell salt there and had some old connections, so going there now would hopefully get him some financial assistance.
Not long after they left, a third group of people rushed out; it was none other than Zhu Mantun, who had escaped with his life the previous night.
He was accompanied by more than thirty people, including Zhu Chen's three sons. The group headed north at high speed, led by several desperate warriors. In one encounter, they defeated the archers of the patrol office who had set up a roadblock, killing one patrol inspector, one clerk, and five archers.
The remaining archers fled for their lives, scattering everywhere.
Zhu Mantun did not pursue them, but only reminded everyone not to get separated. He rushed to a certain place on the banks of the Qinhuai River, seized a cargo ship, and sailed down to Shuixi Gate. There, he encountered soldiers from the Dacheng Thousand Household Garrison, which outnumbered them by two, and was one of the ten thousand households under the jurisdiction of the Yidu New Army Ten Thousand Household Garrison. The result was not surprising at all. He broke through in one fell swoop, killing one deputy thousand-household commander and one hundred-household commander.
Dozens of officers and soldiers fled in panic. In their desperation, some ran for their lives, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and quite a few even jumped into the river in a fit of rage.
After gathering the weapons, armor, and even three armored ships left behind by the officers and soldiers, they sailed downstream and disappeared below the horizon.
Zhu Mantun's home was also on Zhenjiang Road, because another salt worker in the area, Zhu Tong, was his nephew.
After these people left, the others in the Zhu residence naturally dared not linger. They quickly packed up their valuables and money and fled for their lives.
Perhaps because of the ferocity of the previous three groups of people, both the yamen runners and the patrol archers had already scattered and dared not approach, allowing these people to escape without any hindrance.
The once grand Zhu mansion was deserted overnight, leaving only a mess behind.
That evening, upon receiving the news, the officials of Jiqing Road once again summoned the archers of the patrol office and finally stormed into Zhu Chen's former residence.
******
On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Sanshan's troops, who had been fleeing for their lives, arrived in the north of Jurong County. After secretly sending someone to contact old acquaintances, they received some relief.
That night, without even informing his old acquaintances—who probably didn't want to have any further contact with him—he climbed Huashan (also known as Huashan, Donghuashan, or Baohuashan) overnight.
When the monks of Baohua Temple saw Zhu Sanshan and his group scaling the wall and entering, they were stunned.
"Kill them!" Zhu Sanshan ordered without further ado.
The bandits, their faces filled with ruthlessness, immediately charged into the group of monks, hacking and slashing at anyone they saw.
The monks were able to do almost no harm to them. In a short time, more than ten people had died, and only a few monks were kneeling on the ground, trembling.
Zhu Sanshan wiped the blood-stained sword on his robe, looked at the monks, and sneered, "Behave yourselves from now on. Don't provoke me. I'm furious right now. If you really piss me off, even a quick and painless death is a luxury you can only dream of."
The monks kowtowed repeatedly, indicating that they would definitely behave themselves.
Zhu Sanshan ignored them and went straight into the main hall to sit down.
A moment later, upon hearing that there were still dozens of bushels of grain stored in the temple, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After more than two days of fleeing for my life, I can finally relax a little.
As for the future, he couldn't think that far ahead.
On the night of the 23rd, he witnessed the ferocity of the attacking bandits on the small painted boat. He had no intention of seeking revenge for the time being—to be honest, he didn't even know who the bandits were, so who was he to seek revenge against?
All he wants now is to survive.
To survive, he abandoned his family, his possessions, and everything else.
His thugs were much the same as him; they all knew what the government was like and could guess what they would do next. As Brother Zhu's trusted men, they basically had no way out unless they fled.
They have indeed escaped, fled to Jurong. Let's occupy this Buddhist temple on Huashan Mountain first; at least we'll have some shelter from the wind and rain.
If the authorities find out someday, it won't matter.
A bunch of useless trash. Just charge and fight them. At worst, we can escape to the next place and become kings of the mountains. What can they do to me?
Almost on the same day, Zhu Mantun led his men to Maoshan, located at the intersection of Jiqing and Zhenjiang Second Roads.
Thirty or forty people stormed into a palace, killed all the Taoist priests inside, and quietly took over the place.
Baohua Temple and Yidao Palace, once places of Buddhist and Taoist practice, have thus become ghost towns.
The trouble has only just begun.
The chain reaction triggered by Shao Shuyi's assassination attempt on Zhu Chen is slowly heading in a dramatic and absurd direction.
Meanwhile, Shao, the bandit, had already nimbly rolled back to Ma Tuo Sha.
In this battle, two were killed, two were seriously wounded, and three were slightly wounded.
All three with minor injuries are out of danger and will be able to return to the team after a period of rest.
Both seriously injured were shot by firearms. One of them died on the way back, while the other endured for a long time, but his wound became infected and suppurated, eventually leading to his death.
Shao Shuyi won't be going anywhere for a while; he'll stay in the safest place, Ma Tuo Sha Yi, where assassinating him will be extremely difficult—and incidentally, he'll be handling the funerals for the four who died in battle.
While the killing was certainly satisfying, the matter is quite serious, and we must lay low for a while and observe how the situation develops.
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