But he had barely managed to grab hold of a rock, grope his way to the shore in the darkness, seize willow branches, and climb up onto the bank when he was surrounded by people already holding bright torches. Originally, having been soaked in the water for so long, he should have felt warm upon seeing fire. But at this moment, Lin Sheng only felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his entire body’s blood vessels frozen solid.

Having swum for so long, even if he wanted to fight and carve out a bloody path, he had no chance—in their line of work, one’s sense of smell had to be most acute. The people before his eyes clearly weren’t to be trifled with. What showed through in their eyes was pure killing intent. At a glance, one could tell they had plenty of blood on their hands. He didn’t dare take the risk and allowed a pockmarked man to tie him up securely. Dripping wet, he was thrown onto the ship’s deck.

Qin Ying and Pei Rong strutted about inspecting these prisoners, their faces flushed red in the lamplight, smiles they couldn’t hide hanging on them. They never would have imagined that coming out on this trip, they would incidentally capture so many river bandits!

Sister-in-law Li San and Li San huddled trembling to one side with bowed heads like a pile of quails, not daring to make a sound. Looking at Song Chuyi standing on the second-floor deck, they only felt terrified.

This Sixth Miss truly did what she said she would do. She said she would capture all these river bandits, and she really had captured them all. Not only did she set up an ambush on the ship, she even marked all the rapids and dangerous shoals on both banks one by one, specifically having Naval Commander Huang dispatch people to set up ambushes at every checkpoint. Even more terrifying—the last person Li San had brought onto the ship was actually one of Song Chuyi’s people!

He couldn’t help shuddering when he thought of that scene—that fierce-looking man with a face full of pockmarks, no matter how you looked at him, was a river bandit. Yet he was a nail Song Chuyi had planted among the river bandits! This person had put his arm around Blind Eye’s shoulders, acting like brothers one moment, but when the time came to act, he showed no mercy at all. With a raise of his hand and fall of his blade, he slit throats and let blood just like killing ducks. The knockout drugs they had originally planned to use on the people on the ship all ended up in the mouths of the other eight people…

Song Chuyi wore a large fur-lined cloak. Her jade-white face, set off by the lamplight beside her, appeared even more delicate as congealed fat. She stood high up on the second-floor deck, looking down at the river bandits below who were trapped in nets like fish, unable to move. A cold smile played at the corners of her lips. Cui Huayi and Cui Huaying only knew that they had been temporarily brought by their mother into Song Chuyi’s cabin on the second floor to hide for this period. When they came back to their senses, everywhere their eyes could see was a ship full of wounded, unfamiliar faces. They couldn’t help shrinking closer to Madam Yu.

Only at this moment did Madam Yu feel her heart truly settle back into her stomach. She rubbed her somewhat sore arms and asked Song Chuyi: “How should these people be dealt with? Will they all be handed over to Commander Huang?”

These river bandits that the court had never been able to completely eliminate—now most of them were trapped in Swallow Valley. Reporting this would be another great merit. However, this matter truly wasn’t suitable for the Earl of Changning’s household, which had already drawn much attention, to handle. The Cui family had best not get involved either.

Song Chuyi nodded. When her gaze touched upon these heaven-offending, evil-doing river bandits, it was as cold as if looking at a stone or a weed, easily deciding their fate: “Leave all these people for Commander Huang to dispose of.”

Huang Yiping truly felt somewhat unsure in his heart. When he received the letter from His Highness the Grand Prince asking him to help, he had thought there would be fierce fighting, that at the very least they would lose quite a few men—in the past when this group of river bandits acted, they always liked to occupy high ground and push down rocks. Their hideout on Swallow Mountain was heavily guarded with layers of defenses. Sentry posts were set up almost every ten steps. Plus the local common people were naturally willing to cover for them. They had always been the local tyrants here. As the saying goes, even a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. Even Commander Zhou could do nothing about them. Because of the river bandits causing trouble, he had received quite a bit of censure from the court. Last time when the wife and eldest son of the Zhenjiang Prefect died at the hands of these people, Commander Zhou even lost his hereditary official position. He was only ordered to definitely eliminate this group of river bandits within half a year.

But unexpectedly, not even half a year had passed, and the difficult problem that had troubled them for so long was solved, and in such a manner—one net in the water, one net on the ship, plus an inside agent among the river bandits…

He looked with complex emotions at this Fourth Young Master of the Song family standing before him, his tone not without probing as he asked: “Did Fourth Young Master make this trip specifically to suppress bandits?”

Otherwise, how could the plan be arranged in such detail? Moreover, he had also heard that Commander Zhou there had also received information and, taking advantage of Swallow Mountain’s current weak defenses, had led men to attack up the mountain.

Luring the tiger away from the mountain, dividing to conquer—this wasn’t a method a child of this age could devise. Could it really be an idea from His Highness the Grand Prince?

Song Yan smiled and poured a cup of wine for Huang Yiping, his gaze meeting his directly without dodging or evading: “I won’t hide it from Uncle Huang—this group received someone’s silver before they set their sights on us. What we did was also for self-preservation. Everything that happened today is known only to us—outsiders need not know about it.”

For self-preservation, this group received silver—was he saying someone in the court was in collusion with this batch of river bandits? Huang Yiping’s heart couldn’t help trembling. Actually, he also knew that one reason this group of river bandits couldn’t be completely eliminated was because they had connections in the capital…

“Uncle need not have concerns. Since His Highness has already spoken up asking you to help us with this favor, naturally he won’t harm you.” Song Yan observed his reactions and hit upon Huang Yiping’s concerns at just the right moment: “Reporting this matter will also be a great merit. Uncle, don’t be afraid to claim this credit. Because very soon, the people above protecting them will be gone.”

Huang Yiping was a smart man and immediately understood the implications in Song Yan’s words. He said very soon the people in court who could protect this group would be gone, and one could report this matter without hesitation to claim credit. Did this mean…

He didn’t dare think further. In any case, this matter had His Highness the Grand Prince’s tacit approval. He only needed to do as Song Yan said. The one who designed the capture of so many river bandits this time was him, the result of him and Commander Zhou working together with one heart. The Song and Cui family fleets just happened to pass by.

He raised the wine cup before him and drained it in one gulp, his face bearing a smile: “Worthy nephew speaks correctly. This matter was originally something Old Zhou and I discussed and did together. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”

Since Huang Yiping had said this, it meant he understood the Song family’s intention not to come forward. Song Yan’s eyes held a smile, and he personally poured another cup of wine for Huang Yiping: “Then congratulations to Uncle and Commander Zhou for achieving the great merit of eliminating the river bandits.”