This stretch of riverbank is lined with rugged stone cliffs, about 10-20 feet deep. As the horse's hooves echoed by, Jin An Hou Jiang Ning's emissary, Shi Fei Hu's wife, Song Jia, poked her head out from the shore, revealing a face full of charm and allure. Lin Xie took a fright at the sight, thinking to himself that these women were running around in the desolate wilderness on a chilly spring day - could it be that they were secretly meeting with some rustic men?

  Song Jia looked out and saw a black awning light boat moored below the riverbank, Lin Xie and two men dressed as scholars, one tall and one short, sitting at the bow drinking tea. She was also startled, looking at the stern of the boat were three robust men, one of whom she had seen at Ji Yun Ju, presumably Lin Xie's entourage.

  Xue Feihu, Du Rong and others got off their horses without noticing a boat under the riverbank. They called for the guards to bring over ropes and tie them to an old tree by the river, letting four guards take one end of the rope and tie it around their waists before going down to the riverbank. Only then did they notice the black awning boat below, which was quite unexpected.

  Lin Tie looked at Xue Fei Hu and Du Ning, who had successively poked their heads out. They also let four men tie ropes around their waists and lower them down from the steep rock face. In an instant, he understood the purpose of their appearance here.

  Lin Jingzhong also had an idea flashing in his mind, he looked up at the riverbank and said to Lin Xian: "Do they also want to build a dock here?"

  "It's probably so," Lin Xie said in a low voice. Xue Fei Hu came to Jiangning, of course, would not honestly stay in the city as his Jiangning envoy, contacting all parties, recruiting talents, and secretly accumulating power was the fundamental purpose of Xue Fei Hu's arrival in Jiangning. The Qingfeng Hang General Number is located in the city, even if it can hide three to five hundred elite troops, but in the heavily guarded Jiangning City, the restrictions are too great. Outside the city, there must be several manors, not only more convenient for hiding strength, but also more convenient for doing things. He self-deprecatingly said to Lin Jingzhong and Lin Mengde, "I don't know if this can be said to be a hero's insight? The Qingfeng Hang fleet has expanded rapidly in the past two years. They have a warehouse in Longcangpu, south of the city, but it's too small. Moreover, that place is under the eyes of the Jiangning Water Camp, and they can't do anything secretly..."

  "The wealthy secretly collude with the East Sea pirates, and are not afraid of the imperial court's suppression of bandits and rebels attacking their warehouses..." Lin Meng said.

  Lin Xie smiled and stood up, supporting himself on the small table. He bowed towards the riverbank and said: "Young Master and Young Madam, I see you have a refined interest in coming to the outskirts to appreciate the river view today. Lin Xie is honored to invite you to his humble boat, where there is only a pot of hot tea. If it's convenient for you, please come aboard and let us share in the beauty of the river together..."

  "Haha, it's indeed a small world. Mr. Lin, please wait for a moment, we'll come down right away..." Xue Feihu said loudly. Lin Xie could guess their intention of appearing here, but they would find it hard to guess the purpose of Lin Xie and others mooring their boat here. Seeing Lin Xie standing up to invite them, Xue Feihu intended to go aboard to meet him.

  "Fourth Master..." Du Rong hesitated and stopped Xie Fei Hu for a moment. He, Xie Fei Hu, and Fourth Mistress got on the boat, leaving little space on the Wupeng boat. At most, two or three more guards could get on. If Lin Fu had any ill intentions, they would be at his mercy on the boat.

  Xue Feihu blocked Du Rong for a moment, and instantly understood his concern, also hesitating for a moment. Song Jia chuckled beside them: "You two cowards; even if Lin Xuan were to have you both sliced alive, how much money could he sell you for?"

  Xue Feihu's face turned red with shame as he ridiculed his wife, tied a rope around his waist, and put his arm around her underarm, letting the guard take them down to the riverbank. Du Rong also had no choice but to take a dagger from the guard and tie it around his waist before following him down. Lin Xie also ordered Zhou Pu and others to stretch out the gangway onto the riverbank, where they picked up Xue Feihu, Du Rong, Song Jia, and two guards.

  "Please sit down, Young Master and Young Madam. The spring breeze is gentle on our faces, it's the perfect season to enjoy the river view. Riding horses along the shore can't compare to sailing on the water..."

  Lin Xuan invited Hu Fei and Song Jia to sit down, and also asked Lin Mengde to come over: "Mr. Lin, courtesy name Mengde, is Lin Xuan's uncle, and it's rare for him to have the leisure to take a trip to the riverbank..." Du Rong was completely ignored, left standing at the bow of the boat, without even a glance in his direction.

  Lin Jingzhong, who was standing at the bow of the boat with him, didn't forget to greet Du Rong: "Du Caizhong hasn't been seen for many days..."

  Du Rong's face stiffened, he knew that Lin Jingzhong was the manager of Ji Yun She, but compared to Qing Feng Hang, Ji Yun She was nothing. Not to mention Lin Jingzhong, even Lin Mengde, who was sitting there, usually only had the qualification to have his shoes polished by him. At this moment, Du Rong wished he could jump into the Yangtze River and also wanted to draw his waist knife to chop Lin into ten pieces. Unfortunately, all the grievances in his stomach couldn't be vented out.

  Xue Feihu and Song Jia also knew that Du Rong was feeling wronged in his heart, but Lin Xie had sworn not to coexist with Du Rong the night before arriving in Jiangning at Chao Tian Yi, so it was already very polite of him not to drive Du Rong off the boat. The grievances in Du Rong's heart, they could only pretend not to see.

  "This is the iron curtain tea from Lin Mou's hometown, a common high foam, Lin Mou's way of treating friends, ordinary heart waiting for it," Lin Mou took over the hot water that Zhou Pu had just boiled and poured tea into clean cups for Xiao Fei Hu and Song Jia Xuan, "Please, young master and mistress, taste it, don't despise its humble quality..."

  Xia Fei Hu picked up the teacup, carefully blowing away the tea foam on the edge of the cup, and took a sip. This tea was truly ordinary, just like the ordinary tea leaves in Lin Xie's cup. He thought that Lin Xie didn't even prepare good tea on the boat, let alone have anything good to show outsiders.

  Song Jia sipped tea, covering her vermilion lips with her sleeve, her elegant posture and lively eyes taking in the scenery on the river, which was truly very different from that on the shore.

  After they boarded the ship, Lin Mou ordered the anchor to be dropped and the ship stopped under the riverbank. Looking northeast, Jin Chuan Prison Island was lying across the river about a mile away.

  Gu Wudu's thunderous raid on Jin Chuan Prison Island, capturing nearly two hundred officers and soldiers in one fell swoop, is today's most sensational event in the entire city. This is also the first major thing that the new nobles of the Chu Party have done since arriving in Jiangning, and they had already heard about it before leaving the city.

  Before the Spring Festival, there was news that Lin Xie would take up the post of prison officer at Jiangdao Prison. In the eyes of many people, a small ninth-grade prison officer in Jiangning City, where officials were as numerous as dogs, was really nothing to write home about. It wasn't until Lin Xie officially took up his new role on the 18th day of the first lunar month that the implications became much deeper.

  Song Jiaxiu's beautiful eyes gazed at the Jin Chuan Prison Island that lay across her field of vision, and she was considering two questions: what did Gu Wudu want to do by going to Jiangning, and how great would Lin Xian's power be on this Jin Chuan Prison Island?

  "The boat stopped at this dock, and apart from the excellent scenery on this side, I and my uncle also think that building a warehouse wharf here is most suitable," Lin Jie picked up his tea cup, slowly blowing away the foam floating on the edge of the cup, narrowing his eyes to look at Xue Fei Hu speaking, "What does Young Master think?" He wasn't afraid of letting Xue Fei Hu know their purpose for stopping the boat here, and if they wanted to compete for this land in the future, it would be impossible to hide it from others.

  "Ah!" Song Jia, who was standing beside him, was startled and accidentally scalded her mouth with the hot tea. She lost control of the teacup, which rolled off the small table and splashed everyone nearby, including Lin Xuan, Xiao Fei Hu, and Lin Meng De. Xiao Fei Hu and Lin Meng De were frightened and jumped up to avoid the spill. Lin Xuan, however, remained calm. Although his hand was scalded by the hot water, he quickly caught the teacup that was about to roll off the table and placed it on the desk. He wiped away a few drops of tea from his face and said, "There are only four cups prepared on the boat. If you break one, then you'll have to share a cup with Young Master." He handed the teacup to Song Jia.

  Song Jia's face was flushed as she reached for the tea bowl, her fingers lightly touching Lin Xie's. For some reason, she felt a slight numbness and quickly looked away, avoiding Lin Xie's gaze. She thought to herself that even when they first met and he had searched her entire body, she hadn't felt anything unusual, but now, with just their fingers touching, she felt a tingling sensation - it was strange. She glanced at Xi Fei Hu, who was busy wiping the hot water from his face, and bowed her head in apology to Lin Xie, saying: "It's all because of Young Master Lin's shocking words. This riverside is full of strange rocks, it's hard to even stand firmly, how can we build a dock?"

  "Master Lin, you and your wife are from the seaside, the construction method of seaports and river ports is very different. How can you compare them?" Lin Mou smiled and asked, "As for how to build a dock, I still need to ask Master and Madam for advice." He pointed to the Golden River Prison Island behind him, "On the island, there is a dock that connects with the Jiuyong Bridge Dock, but it takes 17 or 18 miles of waterway to get ashore, which is very inconvenient. I was thinking of choosing a stone beach here, opening up a stone staircase to the riverbank, and building a simple dock to make it more convenient for people to travel between Golden River Island and the shore. What do you think, Master and Madam?"

  Xue Feihu and Du Rong, who was standing beside him, were both shocked. They had come here today because Du Rong had long since set his sights on building a dock and warehouse here, and he and his wife Song Jia had come to inspect the site in person. He hadn't expected Lin Xie's boat to stop at the riverbank below, nor had he expected Lin Xie to also have his sights set on this place.

  Xue Feihu, Song Jia, and Du Rong's words disrupted Lin Fu's thoughts. Xue Feihu took the opportunity to excuse himself, saying that his clothes had been splashed with tea water, and left, also using the rope to climb ashore. Lin Fu watched as Xue Feihu quickly climbed up with a personal rope on his back, thinking he must be a tiger general. Du Rong usually dressed like a scholar, but at this moment, his agility was revealed.

  Lin Meng stood beside Lin Xie and asked, "Will they give up their idea?"

  "This is not easy," Lin Xie said, "Huang Feihu came to Jiangning with great ambitions, where would this little setback stop him?"

  "What are we going to do?" Lin Jingzhong asked, still fearless at heart about competing with the prestigious Jin'an Marquis Manor, but feeling a little apprehensive.

  "This section of the riverbank, we've got a good spot, can't let it go," Lin said. "The weather is warming up, and the river hasn't risen yet. In two days, digging the waterway will be just right. If we delay any further, by the time the river rises, it'll have to wait until next year. Can't delay. Organize people to dig the waterway immediately; go buy land too. We should try to buy as much of this riverside land as possible. If Qingfeng Bank competes with us, we'll deal with them accordingly. You need to know, now it's not us who are worried about them, but rather they're worried about us."