The prison island is only five or six hundred steps away from the riverbank. The Dongyang No. was anchored on the northeast side of the prison island, close to the island. The moonlight was still good, and standing on the shore, one could see the vague shadow of the Dongyang No.

  Du Rong and the young strategist called "Zi Tan" beside Xie Fei Hu stood on the riverbank east of Jin Chuan River, gazing out at the Dong Yang Hao anchored northeast of Yu Dao Island. They withdrew quietly at dawn and made their way stealthily to Qu Yang Town in the north, where horses were brought for them to ride swiftly to Qing Feng's estate south of Long Cang Pu.

  Xue Fei Hu and Song Jia did not sleep, waiting for Du Rong and Zi Tan to return.

  "Lin Gu is not a good man, nor is he a trustworthy woman," said Du Rong, frowning. "The Dongyang ship sailed too fast, and our scouts lost track of it before it even reached the border of Hailing Prefecture. What we can confirm now is that the Dongyang ship only anchored outside Chongzhou for one day, during which time its whereabouts were unknown for three days. Now, the Dongyang ship has returned to Jiangning, but instead of docking directly at the wharf, it stopped outside Yu Island to unload cargo... who knows what kind of scheme they're up to..."

  Xue Fei Hu's face was gloomy and silent, from the moment Lin Xie openly accepted the assassin who was unfavorable to him, he knew that Lin Xie was not a kind-hearted person. In this world, who among those with some power is a kind-hearted person? After the Qing prison, Lin Xie managed the island prison to be as solid as gold, and outsiders could not see through the reality of the island prison.

  "Zi Tan, what do you think?" Song Jia's face was radiant under the candlelight, and on this sweltering summer night, she wore light and thin clothing, revealing skin as white as snow. She furrowed her delicate eyebrows and asked the young strategist.

  "It's not that I don't trust you, but this person's methods are not to be underestimated," Zi Tan sat down and said slowly, his eyes glancing at Song Jia before moving to the candle flame. "There are several suspicious points about the Battle of Luo Yang Lake. Firstly, when Qin Chengbo was about to enter the ambush, the warning beacons suddenly lit up, forcing Liu An'er's troops to launch a premature attack, which disrupted their deployment. After the battle, it was discovered that there were signs of a fire having been lit on the south slope of Qingyanggang, indicating that someone had intentionally set off the beacons. Secondly, the officials of Dongyang Prefecture voluntarily escorted Qin Chengbo into Luo Yang Lake, and it has now been confirmed that this was proposed by Lin Xie. Although Qin Chengbo died in the battle, Lin Xie's meritorious service in rescuing him cannot be ignored. The imperial edict from Yanjing, which will soon arrive in Jiangning, specially praises his achievements, a great honor comparable to that of Dong Yuanguo. Thirdly, although Liu Miaojing, the Red Scarf Maiden, successfully led her troops in killing the garrison at Shanglinli, the reaction on the north shore was swift, preventing Liu Miaojing's troops from quickly capturing Lin's mansion. Lin Xie was able to return and reinforce his position just in time. The withdrawal of the Lin family from Shanglinli was also unusually swift and effective...

  "The person who can manipulate the three forces of Qin's family, Hongze Pu's water stronghold and Dongyang officials at will has already gone beyond being described as 'not to be underestimated'. Yet, all these doubts surrounding Lin Shu cannot be explained away," Song Jia sighed softly, "It seems that the kidnapping of Qu Wu Yang's only son is also Lin Shu's doing behind the scenes..."

  "It should be that the composer's ransom silver and the place where the ransom silver went missing are just outside the Jin River estuary. Although I don't know what they did, only they have the conditions to secretly do something." Zi Tan said.

  "Is he secretly leaking the message to Qu's family?" Xue Feihu asked, "Qu's family will certainly not swallow this insult."

  "Borrowing a knife to kill someone is fine, but there's no need to specially inform the Qu family," Song Jia said. "Previously, the Qu family would overlook the most obvious suspicious points, only they didn't realize Lin Xuan's hidden strength. The fact that Lin Xuan made the Dongyang ship rescue the Qin family and officials from Luoyang Lake is already well-known in Jiangning. If Qu Wuyang still doesn't understand that he misjudged, then he has truly lived in vain for so many years."

  Xue Fei Hu felt a bit embarrassed, after all, plotting and scheming were not his strong suits.

  "Now that Lin's family has retreated to the river mouth, their power is already established there. This son also has Gu Wu as a backer," Du Rong said with a pained expression. "Whether openly or secretly, it will be difficult for Qu's family not to leave any future troubles and eliminate him." Not to mention Qu's family, their strength in Jiangning was limited and insufficient to pose a suppressive threat to Lin Jie. Moreover, they were being watched by Li Zhuo and several other big sharks in Jiangning, making it even more impossible for them to make any rash moves.

  "Dongyang can retreat from Luoyang Lake with his whole body, which is indeed beyond expectation. Zitan, do you think we need to adjust a few ships from Changguo to have a grasp." Xue Feihu asked, at this time he realized that Lin Xie's inability to surrender may become a threat to the Xue family in the future, and he wanted to violently resolve this trouble.

  "Since the ships are coming from Changguo, it's hard for us to find a suitable opportunity to attack unless we directly strike at the river mouth," said Zitan without directly ruling out the possibility of a violent solution. "The Lin family has nearly 300 militiamen and about 200 guardsmen stationed near the river mouth, which is the number of people they can mobilize on the surface. In addition to the Dongyang ship, Jiyun Society will also take two large ships from Longjiang Shipyard in the near future. Judging from the battle at Luoyang Lake, Lin should have people familiar with naval battles under his command. Considering the efficiency of the Jiangning Water Camp's mobilization, the time left for us to make a move is very limited. To maximize our impact on Lin's forces at the river mouth within this limited timeframe, we need to send five large ships and 1,000 elite troops from Changguo to launch a surprise attack...

  "...Huang Fei Hu took a deep breath, and from Lin Xie's performance in the battle at Luo Yang Lake, what Zi Tan said was not an exaggeration. Who would have thought that someone who was inconspicuous just half a year ago in Jiang Ning would become so formidable?"

  From Changguo, five large ships and over a thousand elite troops rushed to Jiangning without any difficulty. The five ships carrying over a thousand combatants quickly entered the Yangzi River, sailed swiftly to Jiangning, and then turned back. To prevent being entangled with the warships of the Jiangning Water Camp and Ninghai Town Water Camp, the most crucial point was that the ships could not have the slightest delay or stay on the way. As a result, it was very difficult to control the timing of the ship's arrival in Jiangning. Due to the great difference between sea ships and large paddle-wheel boats commonly seen on the Yangzi River, it was hard to disguise effectively. If the ships arrived at Jiangning during the day, with Lin Xiangru's deployment at the river mouth, there was a possibility of being discovered once entering the 20-li water area around Yu Island, which would fail to achieve the effect of a surprise attack and might even be entangled by Lin Xiangru's private armed ships before the Jiangning Water Camp came to surround and annihilate them.

  "The pirate ships are attacking Jiangning, if Qin Chengbo were here, it would take at least two hours for the warships to be dispatched to provide support. Now that Li Zhuo is in charge of Jiangning's military preparations, it's hard to predict when the water camp will go into battle," Song Jia retorted, "If we're going to make it so complicated, why not just send a team of assassins to sneak into the river mouth at night and take them out directly!"

  It's even more impossible for the assassins to succeed, as the possibility of success is too low with just three or five people. With a larger number of people, it would be difficult to keep the operation confidential, and secondly, Zuo Fei Hu doesn't have that many assassins at his disposal.

  "There are other possibilities," said Zi Tan, "The conflict between Lin Xie and Qu Wu Yang may not be just about personal vendetta for killing his son and stealing his silver. Lin Xie's establishment of a town at the river mouth poses a threat to Qu Yang Town, so it is possible that Qu Wu Yang mobilized the entire Qu family's strength to deal with the river mouth. Besides the personal vendetta, there may be deeper conflicts between the Qu family and Lin Xie..."

  "What contradiction?" asked Xue Feihu.

  Rumors from the capital have it that the Emperor intends to appoint Chen Xiyin as Chancellor, but Chen Xiyin wants to become Chancellor only after clearing away the obstacles set by his party. Zhang Xie and Tang Haixin are not easy to deal with, so there will be a confrontation between the two factions soon," said Zi Tan calmly. "Chen Xiyin is in seclusion at Xixi Mountain, while Gu Wudun is the representative of the Chu Party in Jiangning. On the surface, they have no contact, but that's not true. If Qu Wu Yang weren't Chen Xiyin's brother-in-law, how would Chen Xiyin choose to live in seclusion at Xixi Mountain after his retirement? I suspect that the Hekou refugee massacre was a poisonous plot by Chen Xiyin using the Qu family against Gu Wudun of the Chu Party. At that time, Chen Xiyin already had ambitions for the Chancellor position, but initially, everyone underestimated Lin Shu. After the Hekou refugee massacre was resolved perfectly, especially after Qu Wu Yang's only son went missing, both Chen Xiyin and the Qu family were forced to choose to endure in silence."

  "Although suppressed, will it necessarily erupt?" Song Jia asked lightly.

  "Right," said Zi Tan, "it's a matter of position, Lin Mou is just a poor pawn that can be sacrificed at any time. Gu Wu Chen is the soft underbelly of the Chu Party and is close to Chen Xi Yan's eyes. Lin Mou is also the soft underbelly of Gu Wu Chen. Don't look at Lin Mou's power in He Kou, but there are too many doubts, it's just that others can't catch his weakness. At this time, Gu Wu Chen is directing the war in Dong Yang, if he can suddenly uncover the lid of He Kou, Gu Wu Chen will not be able to cover it up even if he wants to. I think as long as there is an opportunity, Chen Xi Yan will definitely use Qu Jia again to take action against He Kou, forcibly uncovering the lid of He Kou and exposing the many secrets hidden in He Kou to the world, forcing Gu Wu Chen to withdraw from Jiang Ning and striking at the Chu Party."

  "Jiangning hopes that the people who want to bring down Gu Wudu will not be in the minority," Du Rong nodded, "Chen Xiyin indeed has a possibility of making a move..."

  "What shall we do, just sit back and watch the fight?" asked Xi Feihu, "If the Qu family doesn't succeed, won't it allow Lin Xie to further solidify his foundation in Jiangning?"

  "This time we can't just sit back and watch the fight from a safe distance, we should secretly wait for an opportunity to strike a fatal blow." Du Rong said with a sinister tone.

  It should be so, if secretly waiting for an opportunity, there is no need to send a large ship and many people from Changguo. A few ships with a hundred or so elite troops disguised as cargo ships can be anchored nearby, waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of the fire. Whether they succeed or not, these people will all withdraw downstream along the Yangtze River after the event," Zi Tan said again: "In addition, in April, the Holy One personally wrote and selected Chen Xiyin's disciple Chen Mingyu as the top scorer on the golden list. The governor of Jiangning regarded Chen Mingyu and Song Ji Su Mei as a model of 'talented scholar and beautiful woman'. Lin Xuan has an unusual intimacy with Su Mei! There is also room for maneuvering here."

  "Hmph, so that's how it is. Gu Wu Chen still has an unbreakable bond with us." Song Jia let out a soft hum and gazed at Xue Fei Hu with her beautiful eyes.

  Xue Fei Hu awkwardly touched his nose, they even suspected that Lin Xuan and Su Mei already knew that he was the real culprit behind the Baisha County robbery case, but he wouldn't worry about this, as he no longer had any intention of winning over Lin Xuan.

  Zi Tan did not dare to underestimate the relationship between the young master and his wife, he continued to analyze: "Apart from these two, I think Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen's relationship is also not impossible to separate? Lin Xie's power has just been established, once he loses Gu Wu Chen's trust at this time, he will not become a major player."

  "How could it be? I see that Gu Wu Dun can't wait to marry his daughter off to Lin Xie!" asked Xiao Fei Hu.

  Gu Wu Chen can stand firm in Jiangning, Lin Xie has made great contributions. Gu Wu Chen is not a fool, even if Lin Xie cultivates his own power, he will never pose any threat to Gu Wu Chen, how can he cut off his own arm?

  "Isn't it that she hasn't been married off yet?" Zi Tan said with a light smile, "Young Master Hou has always said that Gu Wu Chen should be eager to marry his daughter off to Lin Xuan, but according to what I know, Gu Wu Chen's daughter is already 17 years old, and her appearance and character are both good, yet she hasn't been promised to anyone, nor has she been promised to Lin Xuan. Doesn't Young Master Hou find it a bit strange?"

  "What's strange?" asked Xue Feihu.

  ********************

  PS: The second update is online, brothers, give me some red tickets.

  Brothers always hope for a continuous climax, but after the Battle of Luoyang Lake, there haven't been several chapters to pave the way yet. There must be a breath between climaxes.