At the hour of Mao, a little past one o'clock, the main gate of the city prison opened and the mounted patrolmen who had been stationed there overnight to assist with defense poured out in a steady stream, heading towards the East Gate of the Provincial Inspector's Office. The family members of Chen, Zhou, Zhao and others who had kept watch outside the city prison all night gathered around together. In front of Zhao Jinmin's house, a young servant was still keeping guard, unaware that Zhao Jinmin's son had been taken away by Yang Pu in a horse-drawn carriage the previous night.

  At this time, one after another, the prison guards carried out three people with blood and flesh blurred by the door panel, threw them outside to let their families identify them. The prison guards also posted a notice on the side of the gate, and only then did everyone know that Zhao Jin, the son of Zhao Qinnin, had been released from prison last night and taken home by his family members. The other three people were all flogged thirty times to vent their anger, but looking at these three people with blood and flesh blurred, they were tortured in the middle of the night and dragged until now without being given medical treatment, already gasping for breath, barely able to breathe, and on the verge of death.

  The government office has never been a place to reason, the crying and wailing sounds filled the air, let the doctor who was invited to stay overnight hurry up and treat him, then he was carried home.

  Zhao Qinmin's servant, who was also a servant of the Wang Xueshan family, had learned to read and write later. He saw that something was not right, but he didn't dare to return to the mansion to report it to Wang Xueshan directly. He waited in an alley outside the East Market for a familiar servant from the mansion to come out and make purchases. Only then did he learn that Zhao Qinmin's family had fled to Gu Wudian overnight, the old servant who was sent to serve Zhao Qinmin's family was beaten to death, and the maid was sold to a brothel. The young servant naturally didn't dare to return, so he borrowed a few pieces of broken silver from a familiar Wang family servant and rushed towards the nearest city gate.

  Chen Zhi's family is fine; Zhou Tai and Zhao Qigui's old wives and family members, as well as the maidservants, rushed back to the mansion, only to find that their home was already surrounded by hundreds of cavalrymen, archers, constables, and government officials. They were caught off guard and arrested on the spot, including the invited physicians who were taken away without being asked any questions.

  It wasn't until the sky was bright that people from neighboring houses dared to come out and take a look through the gate. They thought it was the Inspector's office personnel conducting a house search at Zhou Tai and Zhao Qigui's residences, but after seeing the notice posted on the side of the gate, they realized that this time the ones conducting the house search were actually people from Jiangning Prefecture.

  Many people were stunned, weren't Zhou and Zhao families both bootlickers of Wang Xueshan, the prefect of Jiangning?

  The warrant for the arrest of Zhao Qinnin's family was posted, and the news that Zhao Qinnin's son had been released from prison in the city last night spread. Those with keen senses immediately understood what was going on and knew that the waters in Jiangning City were becoming increasingly murky.

  Apart from the Jiangning Prefecture and the Procuratorate, there were also the Jiangdong Pacification Commissioner's Office, the Jiangdong Tidu Fu and the Jiangning Garrison General's Office in the Jiangning Prefecture that held real power. The officials of these yamen were also stirred up, including those low-ranking officials from the Six Ministries who were responsible for guarding the tombs, all waiting to see how things would develop. If Gu Wu could bring down the third-rank official and Jiangning Prefect, it would be a truly sensational event. Some people worried about being implicated, some feared that it wouldn't be exciting enough, some worried that the water was too murky, while others thought it would be better to fish in troubled waters.

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  The Jiangning government's action was two beats too slow. When the wanted and arrest warrants for Zhao Qimin's family were issued at Donghua Gate, Lin Tie and his men had already passed through Donghua Gate and arrived at the river port.

  Lin had a separate earthen house arranged for Zhao Qinnin's family in the enclosure at the river mouth, and had Lin Jingzhong send over tables, chairs, wardrobes, pots, pans, bedding, clothes, as well as oil, salt, rice, and other necessities to Zhao Qinnin's family. He also had them temporarily live in the enclosure, and had Cao Zikang find a reliable person to help with chores for Zhao Qinnin's family, while also keeping an eye on them.

  Lin Jie introduced Lin Jingzhong and Cao Zikang to Zhao Qinmin, then left in a hurry, leaving Zhao Qinmin's family with Lin Jingzhong and Cao Zikang.

  At this time, Zhao Qinmin was no different from a bereaved dog, his mind was in a state of panic, he knew that the news of his family arriving at the river mouth under the escort of Yang Pu's cavalry would not be hidden from Wang Xueshan, and Wang Xueshan would not let them off lightly, open and secret arrows would follow soon.

  After arriving at the river mouth, Zhao Qinmin took a glance and only recognized Lin Jingzhong as the manager of Jiyun Society and Cao Zikang as the leader of the migrant workers who were recommended to take charge of the village head in this area. Lin Jingzhong and Cao Zikang just arranged for his family to move into the enclosure house, assigned a helper, introduced two gatekeepers of the enclosure house to Zhao Qinmin's family, and then left to attend to other matters.

  At this time, most of the residents in the courtyard had gone to work. Some families closed their gates, while others left them wide open, empty and deserted. In the central square, there were a dozen or so children playing, and several elderly people with disabilities sat on the side basking in the sun. On the corner towers of the courtyard, there were sentries, who looked like disabled veterans from afar. The two gatekeepers of the courtyard, however, were robust men.

  The situation in the surrounded house was really hard to let Zhao Qinmin feel at ease, and Wang Xueshan sent three or five assassins, his family of five would hardly be able to keep their lives. He waited for his family to settle down slightly in the courtyard, and then Zhao Qinmin hurriedly went to Caotang to find Lin Fu, hoping to get a more proper arrangement, even if his whole family was now locked up in the Jiangdao prison, it was safer than living in the surrounded house at the river mouth.

  After Lin tied up at the river mouth, he learned that the inspector Xiao Xuanchuo had come to investigate the escape from prison yesterday. After learning about the incident in Jiangning City yesterday, he actually stayed on the island prison overnight without leaving. Xiao Xuanchuo was a fifth-grade inspector who oversaw all prisons and jails in the eastern provinces of Jiangdong. He refused to leave, and even the chief clerk Sun Geng couldn't drive him away. It wasn't until Lin tied up and Yang Pu arrived at the river mouth that Xiao Xuanchuo finally took a boat to leave the island prison and come to the grass hall by the river.

  Zhao Qinmin came to find Lin Fu, and Xiao Xuanchuo was also in the thatched cottage.

  Xiao Xuanchuo held the highest official position and was also Lin Zhan's direct superior in name. In the thatched cottage, he took the master seat without hesitation. Xiao Xuanchuo knew Zhao Qinmin and was aware that Zhao Qinmin's son was one of the four people arrested by the Inspectorate yesterday. He didn't know any other details yet. Seeing Zhao Qinmin rush into the thatched cottage wearing a green robe, he was momentarily stunned and stuttered, pointing at Zhao Qinmin: "Zhao... Zhao... how did you end up here?"

  "What's wrong with Mr. Zhao?" Lin Xian calmly asked from his seat at the lower head position.

  “….” Zhao Qinmin was really anxious, but he couldn't panic in front of Xiao Xuanchuo. Moreover, within the Provincial Governor's office, there were also various factions, and Xiao Xuanchuo was just a small hill among them, not necessarily on the same side as Gu Wudun. He said, "Don't worry, you have something to discuss first, I'll go out for a while..."

  "Mr. Zhao doesn't have to hurry, Lord Xiao and Yang Dianwei are just about to leave together, let's see them off together." Lin Fu shouted to Zhao Qinmin.

  Xiao Xuanchuo now also understood that Zhao Qinnian had turned to Gu Wudun, and Gu Wudun temporarily settled Zhao Qinnian on this side of the river mouth. He was afraid of getting involved in trouble and couldn't wait to leave quickly. At this time, the danger in Jiangning City should have completely shifted between Wang Xueshan and Gu Wudun. Returning to Jiangning City would be better than staying here.

  Xiao Xuanchuo thought for a moment, then stood up and said: "Right, right, I have official business to attend to in the city. Yang Dianwei, will you return to the city with me?"

  Crow Wu Qi and others also retreated from the city, Yang Pu had another source of information, knowing that Jiangning Prefecture issued a wanted notice for Zhao Qinmin's family. He hesitated to ask Lin Fu: "The people and horses of Dongcheng Wei are afraid of coming over..." He wanted to stay and replace Lin Fu to block one round.

  "The troops of the East City Garrison can come at any time..." Lin Fu said, Yang Pu couldn't stay long-term in the river mouth, and staying a little longer wouldn't be of much use. He looked at Xiao Xuan again, smiling and asked, "The prison guards have the right to joint defense with the river mouth, but the Jiangning Prefecture's naval patrol documents don't have the signature of the Surveillance Commissioner's office, can I not recognize them?"

  Xiao Xuanchuo thought that Zhao Qinnian had really defected to Gu Wudun, and Wang Xueshan would not let him live in the world. Lin Fu also asked clearly, the East City guard wanted to bring the documents of Jiangning Prefecture to catch people, and Lin Fu would also use the document without the signature of the inspector as an excuse to resist, this is a clear-cut confrontation.

  Xiao Xuanchuo felt that staying longer at the river mouth would add to the danger: if the Eastern City Patrol came, Lin Xie would push him out to deal with them. Should he hand over Commander Zhao Qinnan or not?

  "It should be signed by the Surveillance Commissioner's office, but it's hard to say whether Jiangning Prefecture will handle things hastily and overlook something. In short, everything must be harmonious, harmony is the most important...". Xiao Xuanchuo said as he walked out.

  Yang Pu thought that staying here was not the solution, so he went back to the city with Xiao Xuanchuo. Before leaving, Lin Xie asked Yang Pu to bring four guards into the city as well, which was what he had promised to hand over to Gu Wuhen yesterday, and at this time, Gu Wuhen's biggest weakness was that there were too few people available.

  Zhao Qinmin only then realized that Wang Xueshan had openly framed him with numerous crimes and issued a warrant for his arrest in the name of the Jiangning Prefecture government. The cruel and ungrateful Wang Xueshan also implicated Zhou Tai and Zhao Qigui, who had not betrayed him, and had them thrown into prison as well. At this point, Zhao Qinmin no longer felt any guilt about betraying Wang Xueshan, but his top priority was now to find a way to keep his entire family safe.

  Although Lin Xie made it clear that if the Jiangning Prefecture wanted to send people to arrest him and his family, they would openly confront them on the island prison side. However, Zhao Qinnian did not have too much confidence in Lin Xie's actual ability. How many people were there on the island prison side? What could they use to confront the people sent by Wang Xueshan? Not to mention that Wang Xueshan could directly mobilize the soldiers of the four city guards, and his privately raised thugs could turn the river mouth and the island prison upside down. However, Gu Wudun was new to the area and had not yet formed any power base in Jiangning. Except for the island prison and the Jin River mouth, Gu Wudun had no other place to settle Zhao Qinnian's family. Of course, Gu Wudun would not let Zhao Qinnian's family out of his sight either.

  Yang Pu led four people, and the guards beside Lin were left with only eight people. Adding Zhou Pu, there were only nine people on this side of the river who wore knives. On the construction site, some local militia organizations maintained order in small numbers. Zhao Qinmin asked Lin about it and learned that although the prison island had the right to defend against the river mouth, there were only 50 guards left on the prison island. Zhao Qinmin was worried and uneasy, but he had nowhere to go and couldn't get more comfort from Lin's side, so he could only return to the surrounding house first.

  Wu Yanqing, the Langzhong of Xuanjidang, came out of the city to replace his son Zhao Jin to examine his injured leg. He was worried that if the bone broke and became displaced during movement, he would have to reapply a plaster cast and reset the bone. Fortunately, he took good care of it and there were no accidents.

  Zhao Qinmin's wife was cooking in the new courtyard, but then Wu Yanqing arrived, and Lin Zuo had prepared a table of wine and food in the thatched cottage, inviting Zhao Qinmin and Wu Yanqing to go over and drink together. Also present were Jiangning Penal Department Chief Zhao Shuhan, Jiangning Works Department Clerk Shi Ge Si Yu, as well as Shi Ge Si Yu's father, old Jiangning Works Department official Ge Fu.

  Ge Fu was a famous craftsman in Jiangning City, while Wu Yanqing was a famous doctor. Although they had never met before, they had heard of each other's names. When Ge Fu learned that Wu Yanqing was going to work as a medical officer on Prison Island, he was overjoyed and said he would build another bamboo house on the island so that they could be neighbors. Since Wu Yanqing still needed two or three days to settle the affairs of the County Relief Hall, Ge Fu invited him to visit Prison Island first.

  Zhao Qinmin didn't have the mood to visit the prison island, but everyone was moving forward together, and it wasn't convenient to delay. Apart from the dock on the west side of the riverbank that could accommodate large ships with a capacity of over 1,000 stones, a small bamboo dock had already been built inside the river mouth. Just as Zhao Qinmin and the others were getting off the bamboo dock, they heard the sound of a bell coming from the direction of the surrounding houses. Since there hadn't been any bell sounds that day, Zhao Qinmin could naturally tell that it wasn't for reporting the time, but rather the alarm bell on the corner tower of the surrounding houses had sounded.

  Lin tied his brows and listened to the bell, waiting for the bell to stop before saying: "I'm afraid it's the East City Guard coming to arrest Mr. Zhao's men, what a headache..." He turned to Wu Yanqing and Ge Fu and said with a bow, "Why don't Master Wu and Officer Ge go to Prison Island first? I'll drive away the East City Guard's men with Mr. Zhao before we can escape."

  Zhao Qinmin felt anxious upon hearing Lin Fu's casual tone, thinking that Chen Zhi didn't dare to take people last night because he didn't dare to bear the responsibility of being beaten and killed by the Procuratorate on the street. Now that Chen Zhi has led the crowd over, he must have obtained Wang Xueshan's order, and the situation is different from yesterday. As a party involved, he cannot hide with Ge Fu and Wu Yanqing on the prison island, so he can only follow Lin Fu ashore with a hard heart.

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  P.S: Today's update has 8,000 words, seeking red tickets.