It was late at night and everyone in the river mouth area had fallen asleep except for those on duty.

  The glazed lamp on the corner tower emitted a bright light, illuminating an area of about three or four hundred steps around it as if it were a moonlit night. The corner tower was about 12 meters above the ground, and its outer wall was steep and slippery like a cliff, making it difficult for people to climb up without tools.

  "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." Three strange sounds, three iron arrows shot from the dark towards the corner tower's lantern, shattering it with a loud clang. The first arrow had already shattered the lantern, and its fragments fell from the corner tower. The corner tower was high and exposed to the wind, its walls allowing the wind to pass through, and the lantern flame danced in the wind for several moments before being extinguished without waiting for another shot from the enemy in the dark.

  Sun Wenjuan sat in the courtyard tonight, her mind restless and unable to calm down. She had been sitting there for a while, enjoying the cool breeze, without feeling any fatigue. When she saw the lanterns on the corner tower suddenly being extinguished, she knew that the moment had arrived. Since she was completely unclear about the Qu family's deployment, she didn't dare to make any rash moves. She picked up her silver hairpin knife and went to find her father.

  Sun Jingxuan put on his armor and walked in, loudly ordering people to extinguish all the lights in the courtyard, withdrawing nearly 40 followers from the river mouth to the courtyard, issuing simple weapons such as single knives and bamboo spears, making them block the front and rear gates of the courtyard, while he took a ladder to climb onto the roof to observe the situation.

  "The Qu family's plan was very detailed, with so many people disembarking from the dock on the riverbank. First, they cut off the Lin family's path to retreat into the surrounding house," Sun Wenyue also climbed onto the roof, although the corner tower lights were extinguished, but there were still scattered lights on the dock and the north-south long street, vaguely visible were dozens of boats swarming to the riverbank dock, with dozens of people rushing ashore holding knives and swords like fierce tigers pouncing towards the south-north long street. As long as they blockaded the over 300-step-long south-north long street, they could prevent the Lin family members living on the east side of the new house on the south-north long street from retreating to the west side's surrounding house... "The riverbank dock had no ships at all, they were trying to force the Lin family to retreat from the riverbank dock to Prison Island..."

  Sun Jingxuan turned his head to look at the riverbank dock behind him, where there were no pirate ships landing. Outside the river mouth was a vast expanse of darkness, with only a faint glimmer of water light, like the open mouth of a giant beast. No one knew how many ambushes Qu's family had set up at the river mouth. He worried that Fu Qinghe and others would be flustered and fall into the trap, hastily retreating to Prison Island, but they couldn't retreat into the surrounded house. The defensive strength of Lin's new mansion and the grass hall were both limited, and it was certain that they could not hold out until dawn.

  Elm trees and other hardwoods were planted along the back street, with a wind lamp hung every few dozen feet. The alarm bell at the river mouth rang out for a long time, but the bandits had not yet entered the back street, which was still brightly lit.

  Sun Jingxuan saw Fu Qinghe, who was wearing a suit of green armor, and two Wuwei guards climbing up to the top of the thatched cottage to observe the enemy situation. Liu Yu'er, Xiao Man, and other female relatives were withdrawing into the new Lin family mansion under the escort of over a dozen Wuwei guards.

  Compared to the Grass Hall, the Lin family's new mansion is more suitable for defense. Sun Jingxuan knew that Fu Qinghe and his men would not hastily retreat to Prison Island, but how long could they hold out by defending the Lin family's new mansion?

  "They want to lure the prison guards away from the island to rescue He Kou," Sun Wenyue saw that the direction of He Kou was unusually quiet, "Whether it is He Kou being attacked or the prison island being attacked, Lin Xie will not be able to escape the consequences of dereliction of duty and imprisonment..."

  There is an abandoned hut area on the south side of Nanbei Chang Street.

  After the reduction of Lin's household troops, the remaining troops were specially arranged by Lin in two large houses on both sides of the new house as barracks. The reduced troops were all incorporated into the Wuwei by Lin Xuan. The temporary settlement for the troops in the camp west of the Weilong House was not dismantled, and a portion of the refugees would be relocated there in the next few days, making the thatched hut area on the south side of Chang Street abandoned, with only a small number of people remaining inside.

  The bandits who rushed ashore first set fire to the thatched huts, and soon the big fire was several times brighter than the lanterns on the corner tower. There were still many people stranded in this area of sheds, and after the continuous sheds were ignited, they naturally panicked and fled.

  "Donghua Gate is on fire!"

  Sun Wenyue only stared at this side of the river mouth, listening to her father's exclamation, and when she looked up, a big fire had started in the direction of Donghuamen.

  The Qu family must prevent Zhang Yuber and Liu Xilin from leading the Dongchengwei cavalry to rescue the river mouth. It is inevitable that they will set fire in the east city to create chaos, drag down Zhang Yuber, Liu Xilin and others. Even if the Qu family ambushes the reinforcements of the East City Wei halfway, it is possible.

  The powerful and wealthy families, in order to satisfy their private desires, are so brazenly and unscrupulously killing people and setting fires; Sun Wenyue's back broke out in a cold sweat, really didn't know if the Western River would be able to survive in such a world.

  *******************

  At the eastern end of Jiuyong Bridge on the official road outside Donghua Gate, where the Quyang River flows into the Jinjiang River, three fast sculling boats were moored, like ferocious beasts lurking in the dark night, sniffing the bloody smell in the air.

  There were no lanterns on the boat, and in front of the fast sculling boat, Qu Yang Town Patrol Officer Qu Wu Ming was dressed neatly with his sword tightly grasped in his hand, staring intently towards the river mouth. Over there, several fires had already been lit, but no one came to report that the Lin family's new mansion had been taken down.

  From the Jiuyong Bridge to the river mouth is only about 12 miles, and by boat it will take half an hour to arrive. Qu Wu Yang first needs to confirm that the Dongchengwei's soldiers are being held back and cannot leave the city.

  Dong Chengwei's cavalry, although poor in combat power, Zhang Yubo and Liu Xilin are both trusted followers of Gu Wu Chen. They won't just sit back and watch the river mouth being attacked. They will lead Dong Chengwei's cavalry to come and reinforce, which is still a considerable trouble; it would be best to delay them so they can't leave the city.

  Behind Qu Wu's back, more than 100 knife and bow-wielding patrol officers were holding single knives, and there were also more than 100 private soldiers from the Qu family wearing patrol officer uniforms, holding sharp weapons such as broadswords and ring-shaped knives. They couldn't move yet, it was too early for Qu's people to appear, at least they had to wait until the mobs summoned by the Qu family from all over broke into the Lin family's new mansion or lured the island's prison guards out of the island and killed them before they could swagger past "to rescue".

  Although it is possible to attack the river mouth or prison island, making Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen wipe their buttocks clean, it would be even better if we could collect solid evidence of Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen's crimes.

  No matter what, they must be made to suffer the consequences of offending the Qu family in Jiangning. Even if afterwards someone might point their finger at the Qu family, with Chen Xiyin around, Qu Wuming doesn't think there's anything to worry about in this war of words.

  Anyway, there won't be any evidence left in other people's hands. The person sent by the Qu family to gather all the bandits and ambush the river mouth as well as the Ji Yun She ship fleet is an absolutely trustworthy confidant.

  **********

  Xue Fei's back was drenched in cold sweat, the three sharp arrows stuck on the wall behind him seemed to still be humming, Lin Xuan had just easily tried to kill him.

  Du Rong, Song Jia and the young strategist Qin Zitan were all stunned for a moment. Qin Zitan could have guessed that Lin Xie might have secretly returned to Jiangning, but he never thought that Lin Xie could still mobilize so many elite troops to plot against Qu's family.

  Looking at the six oar boats in front of him, they were all heavily armed soldiers, with at least 400 or 500 people. Du Rong, Song Jia and Qin Zitan were all sweating profusely, thinking that these people were all Gu Wu Chen's guards.

  Gu Wudu went to Dongyang to supervise the war, and there were as many as 400 guards following him.

  Ji Yun She's fleet was stranded at the mouth of Yu Xi River with 200 troops, and Lin Xuan had another 400-500 people by his side at this time. That could only be Gu Wu Chen's guard team being called back for him.

  No matter which family's power is at the time, their detective abilities are limited. Who would have thought that Gu Wu Chen would transfer his own guards to set up a trap for Qu Jia?

  Du Rong attaches great importance to the safety of Hu Fei's trip, but there are only more than 60 elite guards on their ship. There are also more than 100 elite hidden in Chao Tian Tang, but if Lin Xuan really wants to take action against them, those 100 elite will not be able to rescue them in time.

  "Mr. Lin is really unexpected," Song Jia said with a smile, "I was worried that the Qu family would be unfavorable to Mr. Lin, but it turns out that Mr. Lin had been planning against the Qu family all along, and I was worried for nothing."

  At this time, a swift boat raised a wind lantern, and the dimly flickering firelight illuminated Lin's figure.

  Lin Xian wore a scale armor, pressed the waist knife with his hand, and said in an icy tone: "Thank you, young madam, for your concern. Tonight's affair is treacherous and unpredictable, and the scene is chaotic. There's no need for Young Master and Young Madam to take risks. Please return."

  Xue Fei Hu saw the bearded man, who had tried to assassinate him twice, standing openly behind Lin Xie, wearing a red helmet and green armor, holding a pair of halberds. His teeth gritted with a hissing sound, thinking that Lin Xie, whom he could have crushed like an ant half a year ago, was now threatening him, how could he tolerate it?

  Song Jia quietly grasped her husband's hand, she knew that Lin Xuan was not unwilling to leave them behind, but Lin Xuan's primary goal tonight was the Qu family and would not engage in a fierce battle here to delay time and alert the Qu family. However, they also didn't need to provoke Lin Xuan at this moment, and instructed Du Rong: "Since there's nothing good to see, let's go back, we're all dead tired, and there are many mosquitoes on the river."

  The luxurious tiger boat that Lin Xie was on began to withdraw, and Lin Xie didn't delay either. He instructed the rowers to quickly paddle the fast boat towards the direction of the river mouth.

  ***********

  The glazed lanterns on the corner towers of the Jiangwan docks were shattered and extinguished, although the shantytowns on the south side of the Long Street and several houses were set on fire by the bandits who landed ashore, but the water surface between the prison island and the river mouth was hidden in darkness, only a faint shadow could be seen on the river surface.

  Four armored speedboats with pointed bows and slender bodies emerged from the aquatic bushes at the eastern end of Prison Island, while four Taihu wing ships hiding in the reeds near the shore seemed to have spotted their prey and were excitedly eager to shout.

  The middle-aged man standing at the bow of Taihu Wing Ship was also dressed as a Taihu thief, but his true identity was the steward of the Qu family.

  Qūyáng Town is the most important rice market outside the east city of Jiangning. In order to monopolize the rice trade from Taihu Prefecture to Jiangning, the Qu family has secretly colluded with the Taihu thieves for decades. Normally, the Qu family would not directly invite the Taihu thieves to do business in Jiangning, but this time it was a special and important matter. The Qu family could not send out private soldiers to leave evidence, so they had to use heavy gold to gather the Taihu thieves and other families' forces to come to Jiangning to do this deal. Apart from the Qu family giving 100,000 taels of silver to the various families, whatever they plundered at the river mouth would go into their own pockets, and the Qu family would not take a share.

  The defensive forces at the river mouth are limited, and what is most dreaded is the prison guards on the island. Lin Xie led the Dongyang number to safely escape from the battle of Luoyang Lake, and the combat effectiveness of the prison guards on the island should not be underestimated, at least it should be much stronger than the water bandits in Taihu Lake.

  Seeing the prison guards and soldiers luring them to a deserted island on four boats, a middle-aged man waved his hand, and the four Taihu winged boats also quietly followed them out of the reeds. They did not directly intercept the boats; the speed of the boats was very fast, and although the Taihu winged boats were also fast, it was difficult to catch up with the boats in a short distance. They guessed that the boats would go ashore at the riverbank dock to aid the river mouth, so they went straight to the river mouth.

  At this time, Zhao Hu also saw four Taihu wing ships following from behind the armed car ship, and thought to himself: The Qu family indeed still has a secret connection with the Taihu thieves.

  Taihu winged boat is not the ordinary winged boat, its shape is different from that of an ordinary wooden boat, with both sides of the hull extending like wings, making it very convenient for boarding battles. It is a unique warship in the Taihu Lake water stronghold, and the Qu family spent a lot of blood to deal with the river mouth.

  Zhao Hu did not go to intercept the four Taihu wing ships heading for the river mouth, but instead ordered the four car ships carrying one hundred and eighty newly recruited soldiers to rush straight to the Jiangshan dock.

  The bandits, invited by the Qu family, attacked the river mouth and ignored the more convenient riverbank wharf for smaller ships, instead disembarking from the riverside wharf. There were almost 70 or 80 pirate ships crowded there.

  The dock on the riverbank has limited berths, and can only accommodate four or five ships at the same time. More pirate ships are anchored directly on the sandy beach, with numerous pirates jumping off the ships with knives in their mouths, wading through the shallow water that barely reaches their chests to get to the beach. However, this section of the riverbank is steep, and one still has to climb up from the stone steps of the dock to get ashore.

  The Lin family had 400,000 taels of silver stored at the river mouth, which was enough to stir up people's enthusiasm. Someone suggested that all families unite and go to Jiangning to do this deed. Almost no one opposed it, thinking in their hearts: even if things fail, they can still take a boat with people to Hongze Pu to rely on Liu An'er, and still be able to beg for a general position.

  It was this intention that made the normally peaceful Taohu thieves and Poyang Lake bandits even more unscrupulous, and in recent days, the number of bandits gathering secretly at Chau Tin Tong had exceeded over a thousand.

  At this time, there were about 400 to 500 thieves who had landed from the dock, and more than half of the ships were gathered in front of the dock waiting to land. At this moment, they also saw Zhao Hu leading four car-ships to attack. Although the thieves were temporarily united, there were also people in charge of coordinating, and immediately eight ships were divided to intercept, so as not to be attacked from behind by the car-ships.

  At this time, drums and gongs sounded loudly on the ships. The pirate ships thought that the warships were carrying soldiers to launch a charge, so they sent out four more ships to intercept them.

  Unexpectedly, four snow-bright light pillars suddenly shot out from the island and the shore, illuminating the water surface outside the dock on the riverbank as bright as day. The thieves all thought that if they broke the lanterns on the corner tower closest to the dock, they could hide the ships in the darkness, but they didn't expect that there were four large glass lanterns set up at the river mouth, and there was an even larger glass lantern on the island side. What made the thieves most frightened was that six fast-rowing warships emerged from the dark water surface on the west side, and on the suddenly bright water surface, the six warships were densely packed with armored soldiers, who raised their hands to pull full bows, hundreds of arrows shining with cold light, just as the lights came on, they shot out in an instant.

  The robbers suddenly realized: they were the prey.

  ****************

  P.S: Looking for red tickets.