Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 61 The Deal is Here

On the morning of the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yu Yuan skipped work again and, together with Liang Tai, boarded a timber-carrying ship and arrived in Taicang.

After disembarking near the seaport, Yu Yuan did not go straight home. Instead, he took Liang Tai to stroll around the city, especially the Wuling Bridge area, which was bustling with people and vehicles. Finally, they left through another door of a shop and hurried to Li Fu's house in Dongyidu.

Fortunately, after the constables and archers of Kunshan Prefecture left, Shao Shuyi and his men returned.

Su Niang was washing clothes in the courtyard, while Rong Niang and Dao Hua were picking vegetables. Upon seeing Yu Yuan, they immediately smiled, but when they saw Liang Tai, a burly man carrying weapons, they lowered their heads again.

"Brother Shao and the others are here. Please wait a moment, I'll go knock on the door," Su Niang said, wiping her hands and getting up.

"Okay." Yu Yuan replied, subconsciously touching the bronze pistol hidden inside his robe.

"Are there problems with these people?" Liang Tai glanced at him and asked in a low voice.

"He is not virtuous," Yu Yuan warned. "Be careful."

Liang Tai was silent for a moment, then said, "Coincidentally, I'm not exactly a kind person either."

Yu Yuan looked at Liang Tai in surprise and said, "Buddha's Tooth, you are a good person."

Liang Tai smiled at him, his face full of ferocity.

After knocking on the door, Su Niang called out again, "Yu She is here."

A commotion arose inside, and after a moment, the door slowly opened.

Yu Yuan and Liang Tai looked over and saw eleven people standing or sitting inside the room. Besides Shao Shuyi, Kong Tie, and Li Fu, there were eight other strangers, each carrying a weapon.

"Brother Shao." Yu Yuan quickly stepped forward and bowed.

Liang Tai also bowed.

Shao Shuyi pointed to the two prayer cushions by the door, then nodded to the crowd and said, "We're all on the same side."

The sound of a sword being sheathed rang out, and everyone sat back down.

"Brother Shao, I..." Yu Yuan stammered.

Shao Shuyi stood up, pulled Yu Yuan out the door, and said with a smile, "Don't rush, catch your breath first. Would you like some water?"

Yu Yuan quickly waved his hand and said, "I heard the news yesterday that you had gone into hiding, and I was quite worried. I rushed back today, and thankfully, you're all here. Don't rush, don't rush to drink water..."

Yu Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "Brother Shao, the dog has found Zhou Ziliang's residence; it's in Zhanggong Lane. You can go directly to the boat shop to look for him. Sometimes he's in the boat shop, and sometimes he's in Zhanggong Lane, but he's hiding."

"He's in hiding. Who's watching him?"

"Sihai has seen Zhou Ziliang's appearance and remembers it. Dog Slave has him play around in the neighborhood every day and reports back immediately if there is any news."

Shao Shuyi nodded slowly.

This is a clever idea. Adults are too conspicuous; even if you've never met them, they're likely to arouse suspicion. But children are less likely to be noticed.

"Is the boat repaired?" he asked again.

"When the dog owner went back to the shop yesterday to get food and water, he said that the repairs might not be finished until the seventh day of the new year because there are too many problems."

"Looks like we'll have to give Qian Baishi some more money; we can't let him really lose money," Shao Shuyi said with a smile. "What about the Zhou family's boat?"

"It should be completed today. They've sent someone to oversee it, and Zhou Ziliang has also offered more money," Yu Yuan replied.

"Okay." Shao Shuyi patted Yu Yuan on the shoulder and said, "You've made so many trips back and forth, you must be exhausted."

"Of course, I was just worried about my brother getting into trouble," Yu Yuan said.

Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "How big of a deal could it be? This world is all about fighting for your life."

After saying that, she turned around and went to the door of the main house. She turned her head to look at the kitchen and said, "Su Niang, go buy some groceries. Don't worry about saving money. Let's have a good lunch."

After saying this, he looked at the various expressions on the faces of the people in the room and said, "We're going to Liujiagang tonight. It's time to make our move."

******

Unlike Sun Chuan, Zhou Ziliang has been wandering around outside lately.

On the evening of the sixth day, he personally went to the shipyard and saw the last ship completed before heading home.

Before leaving, he bid farewell to Sun Chuan's nephew, Sun Chong, by the embankment outside the boatyard.

"Zhou She is really living a carefree life, going out for many days at a time. He must be neglecting his beautiful wife and concubines at home, right?" Sun Chong said with a smile.

"Don't even mention it, I'm already sick of it." Zhou She chuckled, then said, "Why rush to leave tonight? If you leave tomorrow, you can have that woman for a while."

Sun Chong gave a wry smile and said, "There are too many people and too much attention during the day, so it's better to set sail at night. Besides, they say they'll arrive on the fifteenth of the twelfth lunar month. If the 'Taizhou people' arrive late, it's fine; we can just wait a few days. But if they arrive early and we haven't arrived yet, then something bad will happen."

"That's exactly what those ruthless seamen are like," Zhou Ziliang nodded, "They're no worse than the constables in the yamen."

"The people at sea are fierce, but they are not unreasonable, because they also want to go ashore and make money." Sun Chong shook his head and said, "But the officials are a different story. They are greedy and unreasonable."

Zhou Ziliang laughed heartily and said, "They are indeed greedy, but they also do their jobs after taking the money. The day before yesterday, someone bribed the patrol inspectorate, and they sent ten archers to Zhangjing to arrest Shao Shuyi. It's just a pity that the fellow is so slippery, we don't know where he's hiding."

"He's a rat that can't be seen in the light of day now, he'll get caught sooner or later. Zhou She, don't worry, in the Taicang and Liujiagang area, as long as you have enough money, you'll eventually find someone," Sun Chong said.

"That's true." Zhou Ziliang yawned and said, "I'm tired today, I should go back to sleep early. Tomorrow I'll go to the patrol office and have them check Li Fu's house in Dongyidu. If they can't find it there, then they should go to the Yu family. I refuse to believe it."

Seeing that he was getting carried away, Sun Chong didn't want to get involved, so he smiled and said, "Zhou She, business is more important. I'll get on the boat now."

"Alright." Zhou Ziliang waved his hand and said, "The three ship managers who came today are all old men in my family. You should get along well with them, and nothing will happen."

"Alright." Sun Chong clasped his hands in a fist salute and said, "We'll have another drink together when we return."

It's a deal.

The two then parted ways.

Zhou Ziliang stood on the embankment for a while, then called Wang Wu over and said, "Go to the opera house."

"Yes," Wang Wu replied, leading the way.

The other two attendants, with their hands on the hilts of their swords, followed closely behind Zhou Ziliang.

Zhou She had grown tired of the previous woman and now had a new target: a young girl singing in the opera house.

This life is truly enviable.

However, there's no need to be too discouraged. If that woman could invite Sun Chong to play with her, then naturally they can also be given some opportunities to play with her.

In this respect, Zhou She is quite generous, provided that he is made happy.

******

Wang Huadu appeared in Zhanggong Lane, looking towards a certain place in the distance.

Five or six children were gathered together, having a great time.

The game only ended when a woman came over with a loud voice, picked up a child like a chick, and gave him a few solid whacks on the bottom.

The four seas ended without a trace, pointing into the distance, as if pointing in the direction a child had left, or perhaps pointing to a theater where the lights were just coming on.

Wang Huadu nodded slightly, then turned and left.

A moment later, Sihai also slipped away, following Wang Huadu at a leisurely pace.

Instead of returning to the antique shop, they went directly to the small courtyard by the river.

Only he, the Yu brothers, Liang Tai, Kong Tie, and others knew about this courtyard. Zheng Fan knew that such a place existed, but he didn't know exactly where it was.

To be honest, they are missing a few secret "nests" in Liujiagang. Once the government arrests them or their enemies hunt them down, they will have nowhere to hide.

Shao Shuyi certainly understood this principle, but unfortunately, he was currently too weak to afford such things. Besides, some things cannot be accomplished with money alone; one also needs connections, favors, and so on. In short, one needs to accumulate these things.

Fortunately, they were only stopping here briefly to rest and recover their strength and energy before leaving, so it wasn't a big problem.

"Brother Shao, that man went to the theater and hasn't come back yet," Wang Huadu said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, the assassins in the courtyard all perked up and looked over.

Needless to say, Yang Liu and Gao Daqiang's gangs were also listening intently, as were Liang Tai, Kong Tie, Li Fu, and Yu Yuan.

Shao Shuyi didn't answer, but waved his hand and said, "Sihai, come here."

Sihai walked over and looked up at him.

"Did you see Zhou Ziliang go to the theater?" Shao Shuyi asked in a gentle tone.

"I saw him. He was accompanied by three attendants. Later, another one came back, went into the courtyard, and never came out again."

"Oh?" Shao Shuyi's expression turned serious. There was still one person left behind. Of course, this was not surprising.

"Just one person..." Yang Liu scoffed, "With a dozen or so of us, if we all ganged up on him, we could chop him into mincemeat."

Shao Shuyi glanced at him, said nothing, then turned to Wang Huadu and asked, "Are there any houses nearby?"

"Yes, most of them are small business owners, and it's pitch black at night. Usually, apart from a few people who go to the half-closed doors to find prostitutes, there aren't many people on the streets," Wang Huadu replied.

"Over at the boatyard..." Shao Shuyi added.

"Bai Shi seems to have guessed something, but he doesn't want to get involved," Wang Huadu said. "This morning the boat was pushed into the middle of the river, and he had his apprentices row upstream for several dozen feet to anchor. There should still be some work left to do, but it will be done soon, and it will definitely be repaired by tomorrow."

Shao Shuyi nodded.

Now everything is clear.

He turned to look at the crowd, smiled slightly, and said, "The business is here."

In an instant, the sound of swords being drawn rang out.