"Lin Juren has left, he had something to attend to and went out of the city first," said the county lieutenant, still unaware of what had happened before his arrival. He thought that the four assassins were all escorts who had helped take down the lords good friends. When asked by County Magistrate Liang about Lin Jurens whereabouts, he replied nonchalantly, "The county has a shortage of manpower, and among Lin Jurens followers is a former head of the Upper Lin Ferry Township Militia, so it shouldnt be necessary to worry about accomplices of the assassins when going out of the city."

  "How could you let Lin Juren leave?" Liang Zuoren hastily stomped his foot, "Just now the assassin disguised as a porter was seen through by Lin Juren first, how could you let him leave?" But in his heart he thought its better that he left, otherwise it would be somewhat difficult for himself to thank Lin Xuan.

  "Wasnt that young man from the Lin family a scholar?" asked the middle-aged scholar.

  "This scholar who has just passed the imperial examination," said Liang Zuoren, "is said by everyone in the county to be a pedantic and useless bookworm. Who would have thought that today we would receive his help..."

  "Ah, is he the scholar who survived the robbery in Baisha County that you mentioned?" The middle-aged literary man said with surprise, "Looking at his appearance, he doesnt seem like a pedantic bookworm. Instead, Id like to thank him in person for saving my life."

  The middle-aged scholar knew that the "arrogant" Lin Juren was not just a helping hand to them. The four assassins had planned very carefully, provoking and chasing after him, in order to lure away his three bodyguards, so that the other three could take out their weapons and make a surprise attack. If it werent for Lin Xies interference, who knows if those four assassins would have succeeded.

  Liang Zuos thoughts were seen through, and he felt a bit embarrassed. The young man, the son of a middle-aged literary family, said: "For now, its more important to search for the assassins accomplices... and we cant be considered strangers to the Lin family..." He had been punched and kicked several times, his handsome face was swollen beyond recognition, but fortunately, he didnt have any serious injuries. The young man saw that his sister seemed lost in thought, so he nudged her shoulder: "What are you thinking about?"

  "Ah," the boyish girl seemed easily startled, and with a slight push, she let out a frightened cry. Only then did she realize her overreaction, and with a red face, she whispered, "Its nothing, my heart is still racing." She covered her chest with her hand, where it still hurt from being grabbed by that person.

  ************************

  When they left the city, there were more soldiers at the city gate who were strictly checking merchants and travelers. Lin Xiao and his group didnt receive much scrutiny and were able to leave the city on their donkey cart.

  "I really didnt expect to encounter an assassin - if we had been polite to those two watchdogs before entering the store, maybe we would already be honored guests of the county magistrate." The so-called donkey cart was just a flatbed trailer attached to a donkeys body. Chen Enze and Zhao Hu sat in the front, learning how to drive the donkey while still thinking about the tea hotel incident.

  "Whats the good news? Can they still enter the store if were polite to them?" Zhao Hu asked, turning his head back to ask Lin Fu, "What relationship does the guest of County Magistrate Liang Zuoren have with Seventh Lady?" He remembered that the assassin was slandering Seventh Lady before that young man rushed out in a rage.

  A layer of dry grass was spread on the donkey cart, Lin Tie didnt say anything elegant either, lying on the dry grass, his hands propped behind his head, looking at the vast blue sky drifting away, he was also thinking in his heart who the middle-aged scholar was. When Zhao Hu asked, he casually replied: "Who knows, Ill ask Madame Qi another day." Thinking that since they had a deep relationship with the Gu family, they would still have opportunities to meet again in the future, he asked Zhao Hu, "Do you know that Zhou Ye is Lin Bao from Huai Shang, are you willing to go to Jiangning with me?"

  Zhou Pu sat at the back of the car, humming a folk tune in his mouth, and swinging his feet.

  Zhao Hu sat at the front, deep in thought for a moment: "Xiucai, you often say that this world is upside down, with officials being cruel and bandits having benefits. I also heard about Zhou Yes deeds when I was in the countryside, and my heart admired him - besides, Zhou Ye saved your life, Xiucai, how could I be so ungrateful?"

  Zhao Hu said, and Tie Xin followed him all the way to Hei, Lin Fu smiled and sat up with his knees crossed, saying to Zhao Hu: "I had an encounter with bandits in Baisha County, which truly and vividly performed the four characters 官凶如匪 (officials are like bandits). En Ze is not Zhou Yes nephew, nor is he surnamed Fu. He was originally a son of the Chen family, a merchant from Chongzhou. A month ago, he was kidnapped by pirates at the county school and taken as a hostage. The Jiangdong Xuanfu Si (a government agency) publicly claimed that the Chongzhou County School robbery case and the Baisha County robbery case were separate incidents committed by the Donghai pirates and the Dongting water pirates, respectively. However, this was just an attempt to downplay the responsibility of the coastal defense forces and shift the blame to Huguang...". Lin Fu briefly told Zhao Hu about the various events that had occurred over the past month, attributing most of the credit to Fu Qinghe in order to avoid making it seem too sudden. Zhou Pu listened from the side, thinking that Lin Fu was just being humble by nature.

  "......" Zhao Hu didnt expect Lin Xuans encounter this month to be so strange and tortuous, almost driving the donkey cart into the fields, pulling tight on the reins and stopping by the side of the road, his eyes wide with wonder as he stared at Lin Xuan.

  "Nowadays, except for Enze by my side, everyone else has gone to sea with Fu Ye and Zhou Ye brothers - perhaps I will report the matter to the authorities and return to Shanglindu to enjoy wealth and nobility in the second half of my life. However, the young masters families will fall into danger, and Donghai will add a great villain - how can I bear to stand by and do nothing?" Lin Fu asked.

  "Now that you know about this matter, you have even less reason to stop me from going to Jiangning with you." Zhao Hu said only this one sentence.

  Lin tied his hands on his shoulder, pressed hard, and didnt say anything else. Zhao Hus temperament seemed rough, but he was actually chivalrous and had enough courage. If the matter of secretly communicating with Liu Ma Kou was known to the government, it would be at least a military punishment or exile. If it were Lin Jingchang, although he wouldnt go to the government to report, he probably wouldnt dare follow him to Jiangning either.

  Under the sunset, the donkey cart walked slowly and returned to Shanglin Du. The dusk was deep, and the river mouth outside the dock was shrouded in a layer of faint mist. The merchants who stopped their boats and rested their feet, as well as the passing boats and landings, were endless. Some shops had already hung out lanterns, and as the dusk deepened, the lanterns also became brighter.

  Zhao saw Lin Tie and others returning on a donkey cart at the village head, told him that Madame Qi would return to her hometown in Huyang tomorrow, and said: "You are going to Jiangning, are you taking a boat or riding a horse? Today, several horse dealers came to Lin Du, and I heard that those horses are not bad..."

  "Lets go and take a look." Lin Fu said, letting young Chen Sizhe hurry the donkey cart back with Zhao Shi. He and Zhou Pu, Zhao Hu went to the mule market at the ferry terminal. On the way, he told Zhao Hu: "These horse traders may be brothers from Huai disguised, we agreed when we parted ways at Ting Lake - lets go take a look..."

  The mule market is at the south end of Shanglin Creek, adjacent to Shanglintou Township. Taking a boat across the creek mouth, the sky was dark and gloomy, and in the distance, I saw the high-hanging three-lantern wind chimes in front of the gate of Shanglintou Township, floating in the evening sky like dark red stars. The mule market to the west was even darker, with two lanterns that were hardly noticeable in the thick dusk.

  Horse traders are different from ordinary merchants, mainly because the owners often sleep with their servants in the livestock pen of the horse market at night to prevent others from stealing their horses. At this time, people can always be found in the horse market.

  The donkey and horse market was more lively than imagined. Before entering the wooden fence of the donkey and horse market, the noise inside could be heard. Lin Xie and others walked to the entrance and saw that in the dark corners on one side were peoples shadows, with constant quarreling sounds mixed with the braying of donkeys and neighing of horses, making it unclear what they were quarreling about inside.

  Seeing someone coming out from inside, Zhao Hu intercepted the person and asked: "Dogzi, whats going on inside?"

  "Big Brother Zhao Hu, is the young master also here?" The man stopped and explained by the light of the lamp, seeing that it was Lin Xuan and Zhao Hu, "Three outsiders brought more than a dozen good horses to sell - youre aware that our local army lacks good horses. Second Master knew about this and rushed over on horseback, wanting to buy all these horses. But the outsider only agreed to sell five inferior ones, saying the others were promised to customers from Jiangning and had to be delivered there, refusing to sell them... Those horses really made ones eyes widen with envy, several of them had good teeth, bones, and coat color, suitable for breeding..."

  "What do you know about horses? Listen to what others have to say," Zhao Hu interrupted the man, asking, "If its not for sale, why are you arguing again?"

  "Ha ha," the man rubbed his head and chuckled, saying, "They dont want to sell, but Second Master wont buy it unless they do. Besides, that horse is really good, I dont understand horses, but listening to its crisp neighing, I know its a good horse, Second Master can see it even more clearly. Second Master asked the three outsiders to name a price, and he was willing to add 30% to the price. What do you say? People travel thousands of miles just for wealth, Second Master added 30% to the price, but those three outsiders still didnt agree, arent they ungrateful? Those three outsiders are really cheap, they refused to budge even when Second Master added 60% to the price. Second Master was so angry that he left with his sleeves rolled up, and Zhao Neng led some men to block the three horse traders inside, today is the day they will be forced to sell whether they want to or not!"

  "Whats a cheap skull? Whats not knowing how to appreciate favors?" Zhao Hu slapped the back of that persons head with his palm, "Someone who doesnt break their promise for money is considered a cheap skull and ungrateful in your eyes!"

  Zhao Hu was still somewhat credible at Shanglin Ferry, and the man covered his sore occipital bone with his hand, smiling wryly: "Arent they outsiders? Who would bully them in this era?" He also asked Lin Xie in a flattering tone, "Master Xiaocai, dont you think thats right?"

  Lin tied up, expressionless, only said: "Go in and take a look." He also knew that he had heard the change in others titles for him. In the past, people all called him "Xiucai", this time back to his hometown, either calling him "Juren Old Master" or even familiar ones would call him "Xiucai Master".

  The second son, Lin Xuzong, was not in the mule market. It was Zhao Neng who led more than 20 people from the rural camp to block three outsiders inside. Lin Xuzong walked over and saw Zhao Neng grabbing an outsiders collar and shouting loudly: "Since you dont sell horses, why bring them into the mule market? Are you trying to make fun of the people of Lin Du?" He was trying to provoke the outsiders into taking action first, so he would have a better excuse.

  Lin Bing didnt care about the three seven twenty-one, squeezed into the crowd, grabbed Zhao Nengs collar, and slapped him with a loud slap: "You little devil is here, Ive been looking for you for half a day, do you think I forgot about the White Sand County thing?" This slap was loud and heavy, directly stunning Zhao Neng, his eyes were dizzy, and his ears were ringing.