Last autumn, the Donghai bandits raided Chongzhou County and kidnapped 31 school children, extorting ransom from local people, which shocked Jiangdong Prefecture as the "Chongzhou Child Abduction Case". This case also marked the beginning of the Donghai bandits' activities in the waters around Changguo County, where they had previously been active mainly in the southern seas. The banditry gradually spread to Mingzhou, Jiaxing, Pingjiang and Hailing prefectures.

  Hu Zhicheng was a victim of the Chongzhou child abduction case. His only son, Hu Qiaoguan, was one of the abducted children, and his younger brother Hu Zhiyong's youngest son, Hu Qiaozhong, was also among them. After the two sons were taken away, there was no news for more than nine months, and the trauma suffered by the Hu family had not been alleviated until now.

  Hu Zhicheng narrowly escaped death on the river today, and suddenly heard a familiar voice on the rescue boat. How could he remain calm? He rushed to the cabin door with his exhausted body, looking at the familiar face, it was indeed Qiao Zhong, who had become thinner, darker, and more robust than before. The young man beside him was also Chen Enze, the son of Chen Lei from Dong She.

  "Zhong, is that really you? Where have you been for the past half year? Since you managed to escape, why didn't you even send a message back home?" Hu Zhicheng grabbed his nephew's shoulder tightly, feeling both surprised and angry, thinking that Hu Zhong had intentionally not returned home. "How can you be so irresponsible? Do you know your mother almost cried her eyes out for you? And your grandmother, because of you and Jiao Guan's matter, was so anxious she fell and has been bedridden ever since, saying she won't die until you and Jiao Guan return. Where is Jiao Guan? Did he escape with you?"

  Hu Qiaozhong and Chen Enze have experienced so much, they are more mature than their peers. At this time, they were also crying uncontrollably. Hu Qiaozhong choked with sobs: "Qiao Guan is fine, he's in Jiangning now. It's not that I don't want to go home, but if I and Qiao Guan return home, we will bring great disaster to our family... it's really impossible for us to go home..."

  "Why is it like this?" Hu Zhicheng naturally thought that the problem lay with Lin Xie, and turned his head to look at him, full of suspicion.

  "This is a long story," said Lin Xie, "let's just sit down and talk about it. There are indeed some difficulties inside that can't be told to outsiders or even family members..."

  Hu Zhicheng was not a reckless person, and at the time of Hu Qiaozhong and Chen Enze's kidnapping, he was already a clever fifteen-year-old boy who would not be easily deceived. Since they both spoke of their difficulties, and his only son Qiao Guanzheng was still alive, he temporarily calmed down and listened to Lin Xian's explanation.

  "After the kidnapping of Chongzhou County students, did Mr. Hu or other parents of kidnapped children feel anything unusual about the many things that happened around this case?" Lin asked.

  "After the county school was hijacked, the pirates did not immediately set sail. Some people in the county saw the pirate ship sailing upstream under the cover of night. We were waiting for the pirates to send someone to negotiate a ransom while also asking more than ten fishing families along the Yangtze River to search for the pirate ship. I and Mr. Qiao's father took two boats to search the Yangtze River as well. On the fifth day after the hijacking, we found the pirate ship again in the Yangtze River and immediately sent someone to report to the authorities. The Ninghai Town water camp dispatched warships to intercept the pirate ship at the southwestern beach of Xisha Island. Unfortunately, the official troops were too weak and failed to stop the pirate ship. Afterwards, the pirates sent someone to demand a ransom, and each family handed over the ransom money, but there was no news from then on... Mr. Hu said, "Later, I heard that the East Sea Pirates were connected to the Jin'an Xie family. Mr. Qiao's father went to eastern Fujian twice last winter and this spring, but there was no news at all. I never expected to see Mr. Qiao here."

  “…the bitter truth that cannot be told to outsiders is that during the Ninghai Town Water Camp's interception of pirate ships on the southwest coast of Xisha Island, Lin Mou let out a soft sigh and said, "I suppose you also know that at the time, the commander sent by Ninghai Town to intercept the East Sea pirates was Vice Commander of Ninghai Town and Commander of Ninghai Town Water Camp, Xiao Tao Yuan. The troops under his command were all his trusted subordinates, with over 100 elite soldiers on two fast wing ships, three times the number of East Sea pirates. With two fast wing ships, they had the pirate ship cornered in a dead-end river mouth on the southwest coast of Xisha Island, so how could the pirate ship have escaped? You might wonder how I know this so clearly, but actually, I was also on that pirate ship at the time. After the East Sea pirates raided Chongzhou City, they indeed did not go out to sea, but instead went directly to Baisha County and committed another shocking case in Jiangdong, which is the Baisha County robbery case. I suppose Mr. Hu is not unfamiliar with this either. I am Lin Mou, a scholar who was robbed by the East Sea pirates in Baisha County and managed to escape. At that time, it wasn't just me on the ship; Jiang Ning Su Mei and her three maidservants were also on board, and they all witnessed the process of Xiao Tao Yuan intercepting the pirate ship...”

  "You're a pig..." Hu Zhicheng was shocked and almost blurted out the word "pig servant", he never thought that the Chongzhou child case and the Baisha robbery case were actually committed by the same pirate.

  "No problem, I am Lin Shu, the humble pig servant despised by Jiang Dongqing. I have been tasked with a new mission as the Grain Procurement Officer of the Provincial Inspector's Office. I am currently in East Yang, training local militia and collecting grain supplies for Vice-Inspector Gu.

  I don't mind being called 'pig servant', after all, people with different paths shouldn't interfere with each other. My nature is not suited to be a refined gentleman either. Anyway, let me continue. When Xiao Taoyuan defeated the pirates on Xisha Island, he secretly manipulated some of his trusted men to pretend to be pirates and escape into the sea, so they could continue to extort ransom from the families of the kidnapped children.

  What Xiao didn't expect was that the White Sand County kidnapping case was also committed by this same group of pirates. He didn't know that I and Su Meigong were on the ship... I'm sure Mr. Hu can guess what happened next. Xiao Taoyuan planned to kill us after getting the ransom, but we managed to escape with great difficulty before he could carry out his plan.

  We were afraid that Xiao would send people to kill us, or that he would flee and become a pirate again, causing more harm to the local area. We also feared that if this case was exposed, not only would we not be able to clear our names, but it would also prompt Xiao to take revenge on the families of the kidnapped children.

  After we escaped, we spread false information to make Xiao think that the children had been taken by other pirates. We temporarily hid the children in a different location. If it weren't for this chance encounter, you and Mr. Hu wouldn't have met...

  To prevent the truth from coming out, Xiao Taoyuan not only stationed an additional battalion of water troops in Chongzhou under the pretext of anti-piracy efforts, but also sent several trusted men to infiltrate the families of the kidnapped children. One of your sugar factory workers is actually one of Xiao's agents, and there may be more, but I don't have enough manpower to investigate thoroughly."

  Lin Xie didn't mention Changshan Island, but told Hu Zhicheng almost everything else.

  Hu Zhicheng could never have imagined that this case would be so twisted. He had given up his studies to go into business for over a decade and had long since washed away the bookish air, having a clear understanding of reality. His back was chilled with sweat.

  Lin Zuo's reputation in Jiangning was already very high, and Hu Zhicheng, who had been traveling for business on behalf of the Hu family for many years, had also heard a lot about it. Lin Zuo's power had already taken shape, and behind him, he could rely on the great mountain of Chu Dang's new nobleman Gu Wudun. The truth about the Chongzhou Tongzi robbery case was exposed, but it would not have much impact on Lin Zuo. However, at present, there was Liu An'er's rebellion in the north of Jiangdong Prefecture, and the East China Sea pirates were causing disasters in the east. The status of Ninghai Town Water Camp was becoming increasingly important. If this case only involved Xiao Tuan alone, it would be easy to say, but since Xiao Tuan and his loyal followers were all involved, how could the imperial court possibly take the risk of abolishing or even handing over Ninghai Town Water Camp to the East China Sea pirates in order to clear their names?

  Hu Zhicheng wanted to reveal the truth, of course, he knew that it was still far from revealing the truth at this time, and even more so, he couldn't let Xiao Taoyuan and his confidants know about it. This is why Qiao Zhong, Qiao Guan, and Chen Leijia's family members couldn't return home. He helped his nephew Qiao Zhong to the front, seriously and solemnly asked: "Is Qiao Guan okay..."

  "It's just that they got darker than me in the sun, otherwise they're fine." Hu Qiao Zhong said, also telling San Shu the names of the two children who died on the island at the time.

  Hu Zhicheng sighed and said in a desolate tone, "My Hu family is indeed plagued by misfortunes. Today, we've encountered this disaster and fallen into the water. Apart from one hired hand, there's also your brother Qiao Yi... If we can't rescue him, how can I face your father?"

  “……”

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  "Ji Yun One", "Ji Yun Two" went out to search and rescue easily, but returning against such a strong wind was difficult. It wasn't until the wind subsided at dusk that they returned to the riverbank.

  After the rain comes fair weather, a clear sky with clouds flowing like wisps of silk, but it's unknown how many ships were damaged in this storm on the Yangtze River.

  Da Yu and his men rescued Hu Qiao Yi and another of the Hu family's workers who had fallen into the water, tightly grabbing onto the broken mast in the middle of the river. Fortunately, they were rescued in time, as the wind and waves were so strong that even if they had grabbed onto a floating object, they would not have been able to reach the shore in time, and an ordinary person's physical strength is also very limited.

  Hu Qiao Yi was a sturdy young man, who had already started his own family and career, eight years older than his younger brother Hu Qiao Zhong. He had read a few years of books, but wasn't book-smart, so he followed in the footsteps of his elders and worked in the workshop. He was also honest and steady. After resting on the "Ji Yun Yi" ship, he recovered when he returned to the riverbank at Tunzi Kou. Lin Xuan and Hu Zhi Cheng discussed it and invited him to come aboard the Dong Yang Hao, where he met with Hu Qiao Zhong and Chen En Ze, and was informed of the true circumstances surrounding the Chongzhou Tongzi robbery case.

  Hu Zhicheng and Hu Qiaoyi, uncle and nephew, were transporting a boat of sugarcane produced by the Hu family workshop to Danyang Prefecture for sale. Unexpectedly, they encountered a typhoon on the Yangzi River during their second departure from Chongzhou.

  The typhoon broke the mast like a hand, opened the sail cover, and the sugar bags got rained on. A boatful of sugarcane worth over 400 taels of silver was completely destroyed.

  The Hu family in Chongzhou could only be considered a wealthy household, far from being comparable to the powerful Lin and Qu families of Dongyang and Jiangning. The Chongzhou child abduction case had already left the Hu family severely weakened after they paid 2,000 taels of silver as ransom. Although the loss of one shipload of sugar was a heavy blow to the Hu family, it couldn't overshadow the joy and surprise of learning that Qiao Zhong and Qiao Guan were safe and sound.

  This time, Lin Xie decided to take the opportunity to go to Chongzhou first and send Hu Zhicheng, Hu Qiaoyi and others back to Chongzhou. This time, after encountering danger in Yangzi River and being rescued, Lin Xie also had a rightful reason to formally establish contact with the Hu family, not afraid that Xiao Tuan would suspect anything.

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  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.