When it comes to phase disputes, many important things can be temporarily put aside.

  Besides, since the river mouth has made such a big scene, how can Gu Wu Chen not personally take charge and help Lin Xuan clean up the mess?

  When a large number of remnants, defeated soldiers and the trusted followers of Qu Jia's faction who went to contact other bandits were pursued and besieged, they could only escape to Qu Jia's private garden, Sanliu Garden, located at the west end of Quyang Town. Qu Wuyang could only gather the remnants, defeated soldiers and 200 private soldiers left behind by Qu Jia in Sanliu Garden for temporary reorganization, planning to defend Sanliu Garden firmly. At the same time, he sent someone to ask for reinforcements, thinking that as long as Sanliu Garden was not breached by Lin Zhuo's forces, the Qu family would still have a chance to counterattack.

  When Qu Wu Yang saw Gu Wu Chen and Ma Rui Tai reveal their faces under the heavy protection of the various martial arts schools, he finally knew that the situation was hopeless. Even if the Qu family could offer a huge price, even if Chen Xi Yan personally came to entrust someone, would any big shot in Jiangning City be willing to take the risk of killing his own family and destroying his clan to save the Qu family?

  *********

  The morning light is faint, and a fine rain starts to fall gently.

  Lin Xie didn't wear a rain cloak, but wore scale armor and sat quietly on his horse, staring at the gate of Sanliu Garden.

  Lin Xie, after landing on the shore of Jiuyong Bridge, joined forces with Zhou Pu and Ao Canghai. Zhao Hu then returned to reinforce the river mouth, in case someone would launch a surprise attack. Lin Xie took advantage of the morning rain to wash away the bloodstains on his armor, which had been dyed red by the fresh blood. The blood flowed down along the horse's mane, and behind him were Zhou Pu and Ao Canghai leading nearly two hundred armed guards from the Jiyun Society, whose bodies also had bloodstains that were washed away by the rain. On the left side of where the guards stood in formation, a low-lying area collected the bloody water, forming a crimson patch that shocked anyone who saw it.

  Yang Pu and Ma Chao led more than 200 cavalrymen to escort Gu Wu Chen, Ma Ruitai, Zhao Qinmin and others.

  ********

  Zhao Qinmin thought his heart was very good, but at this time he still couldn't help but look towards the Ji Yun She Wu Wei. Last night's fierce battle, Zhao Qinmin had witnessed with his own eyes. Although Gu Wudeng had handed over Yang Pu and Ma Chao's two hundred mounted scouts to Lin Fu for unified command, last night the ones who truly charged forward and fought fiercely were actually Lin Fu's personally led Ji Yun She Wu Wei.

  It was indeed a swift and decisive victory, with the bandits and Qu's private soldiers being slaughtered to the point of filling the fields with corpses. Although the final outcome has not been counted, last night's casualties will not be less than two hundred people, and the wounded and captured are countless. However, after thinking about it later, Zhao Kunmin had all sorts of lingering fears.

  After a fierce battle, the Ji Yun She Wu Wei charged forward and broke through the enemy lines. Less than twenty people were seriously injured to the point of needing immediate medical attention on the island prison. Many of the wounded were even injured during the pursuit when it was dark and they couldn't see the road clearly and fell and fractured their bones. From the river mouth, pursuing and attacking the fleeing thieves, only two Ji Yun She Wu Wei warriors died in battle, one of whom had broken his neck and hadn't been rescued in time. Only three seriously wounded were withdrawn to the river mouth for medical attention.

  Yang Pu and Ma Chao's over 200 cavalrymen who were good at mounted archery and melee combat did not serve as the main vanguard last night, their casualties even surpassed those of many of the Jiuyan Society's Wuwei.

  Although most of the Ji Yun She Wu Wei were newly recruited Lin Jia Xiang Yong, last night's combat performance was a bit too strong.

  *********

  Zhao Qinmin after all did not know the art of war, the army formation was like a knife, Lin Xie, Zhou Pu and Ao Canghai personally led more than 30 elite soldiers in front to cut down the withered trees, which was the key to the sharp blade.

  Of course, a shining knife is not enough with just a blade. The new recruits of the Ji Yun She Wu Wei militia may not be extremely brave and skilled in battle, but their combat effectiveness and will to fight are not weak, making them a solid backbone.

  The soldiers were invigorated by Lin's bravery, and the morale of the troops was greatly boosted. Moreover, they had killed their enemies with great satisfaction and pleasure, and later on, they became completely fearless of death. After a night of fierce fighting, they stood in formation behind Lin, without any sign of fatigue; everyone's eyes were fixed on the gate of Qu's private garden, Sanliu Garden, as if they all wished that Lin would give the order to charge in again and kill some more - at this moment, it seemed as though one could feel the intense killing aura emanating from them.

  Lin Tie also felt relieved, the more than 30 armored soldiers behind him could be said to be his only elite fighting force that he could mobilize from Xiaozhen and Changshan Island in Jiangning. The Linwei Township Militia, which had the largest number of people, had not experienced the cruel test of war after all, and yesterday's night kill was so fierce, actually providing a guarantee for the morale of the soldiers for even more cruel and stricter training in the future.

  Zhaohu's newly recruited soldiers were no exception. After two months of intense and high-intensity training, even a group of iron men would inevitably become slack and tired. A thrilling victory could greatly alleviate the psychological fears of difficulty, hardship, and war that plagued his soldiers.

  ******

  At first, Lin Tie only relied on a hundred or so people with bamboo spears to scare away Chen Zhi's nearly six hundred Dongchengwei cavalry and infantry, causing them to drop their helmets and armor and flee in disarray. Zhao Qinnian was hiding in the surrounding house at the time, and Yang Pu, Ma Chao, and others were not present on the scene, making it hard to imagine what happened back then. However, after experiencing yesterday's fierce battle, thinking about how Chen Zhi was scared almost to the point of wetting his pants is hardly unexpected.

  One hundred sheep cannot encourage each other in front of a real fierce beast.

  Lin Jie had forty guards from the Ji Yun Society before Lin's family retreated to the river mouth. After that, Lin Jie secretly added 156 local militiamen to the Ji Yun Society guards. Lin Jie didn't hide this from Gu Wu Chen either. Despite this, last night Lin Jie led the guards in a surprise attack on the thousands of bandits at the river mouth, killing them all, which still shocked Yang Pu and Ma Chao.

  Yang Pu followed Gu Wu for ten years, Ma Chao had been a low-ranking military officer in the northern border army for over ten years, and his eyes were naturally quite good. In his heart, he thought: If the two battalions of cavalry and infantry in the East City Guard could be as brave and skilled as the Ji Yun She Wu Wei, Gu Wu would have used them in the Hongze Pu battle, how much easier it would be!

  *******

  At this time, the two battalions of cavalry and infantry in Dongchengwei, with a total of 1,200 people, were led by Zhang Yubo and Liu Xilin to surround Sanliuyuan, making it impossible for anyone to escape. To put it bluntly, they were also taking credit for the achievements of Jiyun She Wuwei. After all, Jiyun She Wuwei was a private army, and capturing Qu Chong, a major fugitive, still required the Dongchengwei cavalry and infantry to take action in order to be legitimate.

  Magistrate Chen Yuanliang of Muling and the county lieutenant led more than 200 troops to take over the Quyang Town Patrol Office.

  Wang Xueshan sat in the sedan chair, sternly staring at the tightly closed gate of Sanliu Garden. After Gu Wu Chen ordered the East City Wei Ma step soldiers, the Pressing Chashi Si cavalry, the Maling County knife and bowmen, as well as nearly 2,000 Jiyun She Wuwei to surround Qu's private garden, Sanliu Garden, like water without a leak, he then sent someone to inform the Jiangning Prefecture, the Jiangning Defender General's Office, and the Pressing Chashi Si, Jia Pengyu.

  Gu Wu Chen was accused by Qu Jia of colluding with bandits to plot the murder of an imperial official, but when Wang Xue Shan received the report, he only then learned that Gu Wu Chen had secretly returned to Jiangning from Dongyang. However, Gu Wu Chen had a pretext for returning to Jiangning and secretly meeting with Left Censor-in-Chief Ma Ruitai to discuss summer taxes, so no one could say anything about his clandestine return to Jiangning and hiding at the river mouth.

  Last night, there was a fierce battle at the river mouth. Wang Xueshan also had an informant who told him about the details and knew that the situation was completely under Gu Wuduan's control. After hesitating for a long time, he finally sat in a sedan chair surrounded by dozens of yamen runners and rushed over. Along the way, he could see the bodies lying on both sides of the Donghua Gate official road, with many more corpses at the Jiuyong Bridge. It was clear that the remnants had intended to use the narrow terrain of the Jiuyong Bridge to counterattack and intercept the pursuing troops, but judging from the remaining traces of the battlefield, the counterattack and interception were not successful.

  Wang Xueshan rushed to the north gate of Sanliu Garden and looked at Qu Wuming's cold and stiff body lying under a simple awning, his back chilled, thinking: Qu Wuming probably didn't expect that after his death, his body would become an important piece of evidence for the crimes of the Qu family gang.

  Not to mention the large number of prisoners captured by Gu Wu Chen, there were also many remnants who had nowhere to escape and were forced into Sanliu Garden. The Qu family thought it was impossible to wash away the crime of being a traitor, and after Jia Pengyu arrived, he didn't say much, only asking to enter Sanliu Garden to persuade Qu Wu Yang to surrender.

  Jia Pengyu was after all a Surveillance Commissioner, and he had swallowed his pride to ask for help. Gu Wu Chen couldn't possibly not give him any face. Moreover, the Qu family's private soldiers and the remnants of the defeated troops that had fled into Sanliu Garden still numbered around 400-500 men. Li Zhuo was unwilling to dispatch troops, and they were unfamiliar with the internal layout of Sanliu Garden. If they really launched a strong attack, the combat effectiveness of the two battalions of cavalry and infantry from Dongcheng Wei and the knife and bowmen from Yunling County would be far from satisfactory. The Jiuyun Society's Wuwei and mounted patrol troops would inevitably suffer heavy casualties in a strong attack on Sanliu Garden.

  Although taking Three Willows Garden by storm would yield the greatest benefits, as a superior officer, one cannot but show concern for subordinates; if a meaningless and hard battle can be avoided, then it is best to avoid it.

  **********

  Gao Zong sat in his carriage, listening to the patter of raindrops, and the silk curtains were also soaked through by the rain.

  Li Zhuo did not show up, but instead had Gao Zongting represent him privately to inform Gu Wuchen, Jia Pengyu and Wang Xueshan, etc. that the matter of Qu Jiatong's banditry was a local public security affair, which could be handled jointly by the Jiangning Prefectural Government, the Moling County Government and the Procuratorate, and the Guardian General's Office would not directly send personnel to intervene, let alone dispatch troops.

  Gao Zongting looked at Lin Xie, who was sitting on his horse like a statue in the rain. Only when the warhorse occasionally neighed did Lin Xie move slightly, holding the reins, as if what was happening before him had nothing to do with him. Previously, others said that Lin Xie would be the second Dong Yuan, but Dong Yuan himself didn't care about this kind of talk. Gao Zongting thought to himself: Dong Yuan, Dong Yuan, I wonder what you think of this evaluation after knowing the details of last night's battle at the river mouth?

  At noon, Lin Tie ordered Wu Wei to burn hot water and wheat cakes, meat buns to fill their hunger. At this time, the tightly closed gate of Sanliu Garden was opened again, and Jia Pengyu, who looked like a drowned chicken and had a sad face, walked out alone, standing at the door and saying loudly: "It's actually the Qu family who colluded with Lin's family to take their wealth to the river mouth, and then conspired with the Taihu bandits to plot against them. The main culprit, Qu Wuyang, cannot escape his guilt, but the Qu family really didn't know that Lord Gu and Lord Ma were discussing the summer tax at the river mouth..."

  The crime of treason is punishable by death, the crime of rebellion is punishable by extermination of the clan. Qu Wu Yang can only preserve a few lives of the Qu family at this time, and this is the final condition opened through Jia Peng Yu's mouth.

  "It may be so, but we need to investigate further to know the details." Gu Wu Chen said vaguely, looking at Jia Peng Yu very calmly, without any intention of retreating immediately.

  Capturing Qu's bandits was a small achievement for Gu Wudu, but capturing Qu's intention to rebel was an achievement comparable to suppressing a great rebellion.

  Anyway, it's hard for a musician with a broken wing to fly, and Gu Wu Chen doesn't mind wasting some time.