A sea of blood-red auras… Everyone on that official ship is evil… Xu Qi An was startled.
But he didn’t rashly jump to conclusions, as river pirates often caused trouble on the canal. These officials might have just repelled an attempted robbery.
“What kind of ship is that? Why is it different from ours?” Xu Qi An casually asked his colleague beside him, watching the approaching official ship.
There were quite a few experienced Bronze Gongs present. After examining it, one answered, “That’s a barge. Judging by the flag, it seems to be from Yuzhou.”
Barges were large flat-bottomed boats, often used for transporting cargo.
Xu Qi An made an “Oh” sound, his gaze flickering as he continued to ask, “Are there river pirates around Yuzhou?”
Song Tingfeng chuckled and put his hand on Xu Qi An’s shoulder: “We’re only half a day’s journey from Yuzhou’s customs post. Have you ever seen anyone robbing right at the government office’s door?”
“Then there’s no problem,” Xu Qi An nodded, as if confirming something.
“What’s not a problem?”
“It’s not a problem to earn some merit,” he glanced at Song Tingfeng, and as the two ships were about to pass each other, he quickly said, “Tingfeng, go back to the cabin immediately and find Jiang Jinluo. Tell him there’s an urgent matter.”
He then swept his gaze over the seven or eight Bronze Gongs on the deck and said in a deep voice, “That ship has a problem. Follow my lead.”
After speaking, he shouted towards the barge on the side, “Stop the ship!”
His voice rolled across the river surface.
Surprisingly, the officials on the barge completely ignored him, pretending not to hear. Some crew members even quietly adjusted the angle of the sails, steering the barge diagonally away from the Nightwatchmen’s official ship.
At this point, the other Bronze Gongs also sensed something was amiss. Before they could speak, they saw Xu Qi An push off the railing, cracking the deck beneath his feet. He shot out like a cannonball.
In an instant, he crossed dozens of meters and landed steadily on the deck of the barge.
“Crack… crack…”
The sound of the deck breaking continued as seven or eight Bronze Gongs leaped up in succession, using their exaggerated jumping power and surging qi to also land on the barge.
Seeing a group of Bronze Gongs “invade” the barge, the few officials on the deck changed their expressions slightly, quietly placing their hands on the hilts of their swords at their waists.
“Gentlemen…” A bearded man in official uniform, wearing a tall hat and black boots, hurried out of the cabin.
He looked around at the Bronze Gongs on the deck and cupped his hands, asking, “What brings you here?”
Xu Qi An didn’t speak, carefully observing their micro-expressions and subtle movements. Zhu Guangxiao said in a deep voice:
“Which government office are you from?”
“This humble official is a guard captain from the Canal Transport Office, escorting a shipment of iron ore to the capital,” the bearded man answered. The uniforms they wore, imprinted with wave patterns, were indeed those of the Canal Transport Office.
Yuzhou was rich in iron ore. Both salt and iron were national lifelines, in layman’s terms, strategic resources, and major sources of revenue.
The Bronze Gongs weren’t surprised by this and turned to look at Xu Qi An, not understanding why he had suddenly intercepted this ship.
Xu Qi An narrowed his eyes, noticing a detail – up until now, the barge was still sailing, not anchored.
“Guangxiao, make the ship stop,” Xu Qi An said in a low voice.
Zhu Guangxiao immediately went to the stern and kicked the huge, heavy anchor into the water. The barge slowly came to a stop.
When this taciturn colleague returned, Xu Qi An questioned, “Why didn’t you stop the ship earlier?”
“Well…” the bearded man looked troubled and said in a low voice, “Please wait a moment, gentlemen.”
He returned to the cabin and shortly after, came back with several folded silver notes, discreetly handing them over with an apologetic smile:
“This humble official knows that wherever we meet the gentlemen from the Nightwatchmen’s Office, we must show our respect… This official was ignorant earlier and tried to slip by. It’s a capital offense. Please forgive me, gentlemen.”
Xu Qi An glanced at the notes – they were all fifty-tael denominations, totaling about three hundred taels.
Does he think we intercepted the ship to receive bribes? The Nightwatchmen present realized this, feeling both annoyed and amused.
Although the Nightwatchmen weren’t entirely clean, they hadn’t stooped to the level of extortion. However, their reputation was indeed quite poor, thanks to the civil officials’ daily smear campaigns, portraying the Nightwatchmen as Wei Yuan’s talons, committing atrocities against loyal officials, and engaging in corruption.
Scholars were most adept at using their pens to attack people’s hearts.
“Ning Yan…” Zhu Guangxiao frowned, turning his gaze towards Xu Qi An.
Including him, none of the Bronze Gongs believed Xu Qi An had intercepted the barge for money. This guy, who would behead a Silver Gong for an unrelated woman, might not be likable, but his character was certainly praiseworthy.
Seeing that no one had taken the silver notes for a long time, the bearded man’s heart sank. He didn’t feel there was anything wrong with his approach, but it seemed the Nightwatchmen weren’t buying it.
“Take me to the cabin for a look,” Xu Qi An stepped forward, staring at the bearded man.
At this moment, Xu Qi An stood in front of all the Bronze Gongs. His right hand casually behind his back, he quickly made a hand signal.
The gesture was subtle and discreet, but the Bronze Gongs behind him quietly tensed up.
This gesture was the Nightwatchmen’s Office’s professional hand language, meaning: Prepare for action.
“Take me for an inspection,” Xu Qi An demanded.
“Alright, please,” the bearded man agreed immediately.
…He agreed too quickly, didn’t he? Normally, shouldn’t he protest: “Canal transport matters don’t fall under the Nightwatchmen’s jurisdiction.”
Well, it could be that he’s timid… Xu Qi An pondered as he led his colleagues, following the bearded man into the cabin and down the narrow stairs to the hold.
Lighting candles one by one, the bearded man led the Nightwatchmen to inspect the mineral ore packed in numerous crates.
A Bronze Gong grabbed a handful of fine iron ore and clicked his tongue, “It’s all high-quality iron ore, carefully selected.”
The bearded man chuckled a few times in response.
That Bronze Gong casually dropped the ore and nudged Xu Qi An’s waist with his scabbard, giving him a meaningful look.
Xu Qi An said, “Continue your inspection.”
He walked to the side with that Bronze Gong and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
The Bronze Gong lowered his voice: “The ore is ground too fine, the quality is too good.”
Xu Qi An didn’t understand: “This is being transported to the capital, what’s the problem?”
The Bronze Gong glanced at the others not far away, then looked back and said quietly, “A few years ago, I investigated a corruption case in the Ministry of Works related to iron ore. Ore is calculated by weight, not quality.
“To seize benefits and line their own pockets, officials would mix in crushed stones or low-quality iron ore to increase the weight. As long as they maintain a certain balance, there won’t be any problems.”
…So, you’re saying the quality of this iron ore is too good… Xu Qi An nodded.
After the inspection revealed no abnormalities, everyone returned to the cabin. Xu Qi An made another request: “Let me see your documents.”
The bearded man obediently fetched the documents issued by the Canal Transport Office. After confirming they were in order, Xu Qi An asked, “You haven’t encountered any issues on the way, have you?”
“How could we? We’ve only just left Yuzhou,” the bearded man said.
Heh, then explain why there’s a green light… no, a blood-red aura above your head?
Xu Qi An walked around observing the cabin, with the bearded man accompanying him the whole time, answering every question, his attitude unusually good.
When they reached the galley, four cooks sat on small stools, silently watching Xu Qi An and the others.
The kitchen’s baskets were filled with many seasonal vegetables that looked quite fresh.
Xu Qi An smiled and said, “Now, just seeing vegetable leaves makes my eyes light up green. We’ve been eating fish on the ship for so many days, it’s fishy and hard to drink.”
He swept his gaze over the four cooks and said, “Right?”
One of the cooks glanced at the bearded man, their eyes meeting in understanding. He showed a humble smile and said, “Yes, river fish inevitably has an earthy taste. You gentlemen are precious, it’s normal not to be used to it. For people like us who make a living on the water year-round, we’re long accustomed to it.”
“Oh, so you don’t know how to remove the fishy taste,” Xu Qi An nodded with a smile.
Hmm? The four cooks sensed something odd in Xu Qi An’s meaningful smile.
The bearded man felt it too and probed, “Sir…”
Before he could finish, his chin was struck upwards by the Bronze Gong’s palm, causing his teeth to clash and spitting out a mouthful of broken teeth.
Immediately after, the Bronze Gong punched him twice in the chest at an extremely fast speed. Boom boom… The force penetrated through his back, tearing his uniform.
The bearded man was punched flying, hit the wall, and slumped to the ground limply.
Xu Qi An, who had suddenly attacked, no longer paid attention to him. He turned around and swept the legs of one cook, breaking his ribs, then with the speed and strength of a martial artist, broke the chest bones of the remaining three cooks.
The entire process took no more than five seconds.
Even so, the fight in the galley still attracted the attention of both parties outside.
Xu Qi An shouted, “Capture everyone on the ship, keep them alive.”
The Bronze Gongs, who had already been alerted by the hand signal, reacted extremely quickly, unhesitatingly taking action and subduing the crew members and officials one by one.
For the Nightwatchmen, who were all at least at the Qi Refining Realm, subduing a group of officials with decent martial skills wasn’t much harder than Xu Qi An beating up Xu Lingyin.
At this moment, Xu Qi An sensed a strong qi descending on the deck. To prevent the bearded man from escaping by jumping into the water, he dragged him out of the cabin to the deck.
Jiang Lüzhong frowned, looking at him thoughtfully.
Xu Qi An turned his head to look in the direction of their official ship and found that Inspector Zhang had also been alerted. He stood on the deck looking over, his expression grave.
This barge was also an official ship, belonging to the Yuzhou government. Xu Qi An’s actions were no different from those of river pirates. Without a plausible reason, this matter would be difficult to handle.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Lüzhong cast an inquiring look, glancing at the bearded man in Xu Qi An’s hand.
He recognized the uniform of the Canal Transport Office at a glance.
“This ship has a problem, but it’s hard to say exactly what it is,” Xu Qi An explained.
“Is this a barge from the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office, transporting iron ore?” Jiang Lüzhong asked.
“Yes.”
Jiang Lüzhong nodded and said in a deep voice, “How did you discover there was a problem with it?”