There seemed to be noise in his ears, but Liu Zhenqing had no time to pay attention to it. He just suddenly felt that this abrupt accident was very pleasant.

It seemed that the stuffy feeling from just now had vanished because of this.

Huo Fenglie’s pupils shrank, and he suddenly tried to raise his head.

Liu Zhenqing naturally noticed, and his eyes flashed. His feet immediately slipped as if he had lost his footing, and he was forced to put his arms around Huo Fenglie’s neck.

At that moment, Huo Fenglie was brought down again, and their lips that were so close naturally parted.

Of course Liu Zhenqing knew that this would not hinder him for long, so he deliberately played dirty and lightly swiped with the tip of his tongue.

He felt the strong body holding him shake, as if his soul was being pulled out.

When they separated, Huo Fenglie could no longer control his expression. His face turned red, and in a flash, he looked at him with a pure and innocent expression that was a little cute.

“Aiya, my first kiss,” Liu Zhenqing teased deliberately.

As expected, Huo Fenglie was even more at a loss for what to do, and even forgot to ask what Liu Zhenqing meant with that little move just now.

But Liu Zhenqing chose to ignore the situation and turned to look beneath the boat.

A group of sailors were rushing onto the boat. It was they who had purposely pulled the boat with hook ropes just now, causing it to shake so violently.

Clearly, Song Xingmu was on the boat. What were they doing?

The enchanting mood just now quickly retracted when faced with proper business. Many frightened guests had already poured out onto the deck.

Song Xingmu also walked out with Yi Chuan. Seeing that they were both fine, he gave them a look, and the two of them hid behind the crowd to watch what was happening.

But at present, it was clear that Liu Zhenqing was the only one in a good state.

Very soon, a mighty military officer nearly fifty years old came up with the team. Liu Zhenqing recognized him at a glance. “Song Jing?”

Upon seeing this visitor, Song Xingmu raised his eyebrows and said: “Uncle, what is the meaning of this?”

“I should be the one asking you this. Don’t think that just because the emperor let you take over military power, you can do whatever you want. I know you want to eradicate my people, but who taught you to arrest people at will without any evidence? If it goes as you wish this time, will there still be Imperial law in Ming’an County in the future?”

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding guests couldn’t help but discuss it.

Song Xingmu raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked under the boat to see that the small team escorting the prisoners had been caught by his uncle. Those prisoners were also brought up to Song Xingmu and untied.

Wang Qi was the first to wail accusingly. “Commander, we really are serious merchants.”

“Commander, a person cannot be accused unjustly just because he is a foreign merchant, and the navy cannot bully us merchants at will. I know that the captain wants to establish his prestige through meritorious deeds, but he cannot act so recklessly!” As the military officer spoke, he knelt down to Song Jing and revealed a firm and unyielding look. “This subordinate swears by the sea god. If I lie, I will be shipwrecked when I go out to sea.”

Saying this, he directly guided public opinion. Coupled with the pirate to the side who deliberately showed anger and grievance, the people around them began to favor this group and point fingers at Song Xingmu.

Song Xingmu’s reputation as the Sea King was very great, but after all, this was the city that Song Jing had guarded for eight years. Moreover, he was Song Xingmu’s elder, so everyone could only doubt Song Xingmu.

But Song Xingmu still looked nonchalant as he said with a smile: “Then I’ll have to remind others not to go to sea with you in the future, otherwise, won’t they be buried with you?”

The military officer choked and turned red in the face.

“Nonsense. Someone escort him away.” Song Jing actually issued an arrest warrant for Song Xingmu, who was one level more powerful than him.

The navy men following hesitated for a moment, but seeing their commander take the lead, they naturally followed suit.

This scene was simply preposterous.

Liu Zhenqing frowned slightly as he watched. It seemed that Song Xingmu’s situation was worse than the rumors said. This uncle was completely against him and had no intention of delegating power at all.

Song Xingmu’s expression suddenly turned cold, and Yi Chuan jumped out with his blades, glaring fiercely at the people surrounding them like a vicious dog protecting its master.

The long and short blades flashed, immediately intimidating.

Song Jing said furiously: “Yi Chuan, if you dare to take action, you will be violating military orders.”

“Laozi is not a navy man!” Yi Chuan sneered coldly.

The furious Song Jing shouted: “Troops, come!”

In an instant, ten people surrounded him.

“Interesting.” Liu Zhenqing scoffed. “Er-gou, what do you think?”

Huo Fenglie stared blankly for a moment, then returned to his senses and glanced at him. “He treats military power like child’s play, acting willfully and making a scene.”

“Yes, ah, he is indeed making a scene. These 30,000 navy troops are basically useless.” Liu Zhenqing shook his head pityingly. With them being trained only to follow but not to recognize power, this situation was extremely destabilizing for a country. Even though the Huo Family Army was named the “Huo Family Army,” they still listened to the orders of the person holding the tiger talisman. This was a manifestation of the Huo family’s loyalty to Imperial power. They completely handed over the power in their hands for the emperor to control.

But now that the emperor had given Song Xingmu power, nobody recognized it. It was likely that even though Huo Fenglie now held the token of supreme military power granted by the emperor and could bypass Song Xingmu to control the troops, these naval forces may not obey.

In eight years, Song Jing had practically made thousands of soldiers into his own private army.

Thus, for the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, these 30,000 units of combat power were basically useless.

It seemed that Song Xingmu being slow to act before was out of necessity. He had no other choice but to slowly regain the discipline and fighting spirit of the troops.

Seeing that blood was about to be spilled, the people around could only retreat. At this moment, a voice pretending to be guileless shouted out from the crowd.

“It’s strange, didn’t the storyteller say that the one with the most power is the Sea King? Why won’t the navy listen to the Sea King and still try to arrest him, ah!”

As soon as these words came out, the people around became strangely quiet, and then couldn’t help but whisper.

“Right, ah, could Song Jing give such an order to Song Xingmu?”

This direct slap out of thin air caused Song Jing to freeze, as if something had been poked through. It also made the navy men even more hesitant, and they couldn’t help but look back at Song Jing.

This was also the first time Song Jing had directly confronted Song Xingmu, and it seemed like he couldn’t grasp the situation.

Song Xingmu gave a slight smile and said directly: “The emperor’s decree is probably nothing in my uncle’s eyes.”

“What nonsense are you speaking!” Song Xingmu retorted at once. He was still somewhat lacking in confidence because of this accusation and skewed his eyes, immediately thinking of a new excuse.

“You are utterly stubborn and obstinate, come back with me and kneel in the ancestral hall!” Song Jing was not stupid. He did not give the order as a military commander, but as an elder. If his arrangements reached the emperor’s ears, it would be unspeakable. “Troops!”

The navy men had no choice but to step forward again.

As a result, another “female voice” sounded and said in a pretentious manner: “Ya, it turns out that the navy can help the commander with his family affairs. They are private soldiers, ah.”

Song Jing’s expression changed drastically again. The phrase “private soldiers” was serious.

Song Xingmu immediately played along and said: “That’s right, my uncle likes to use the navy soldiers who eat Imperial food and receive military pay to discipline his nephew. Do you know where the military pay comes from? It comes from the hard work of the common people in order to support the navy and protect everyone’s safety at sea. But now it is used to teach his nephew a lesson. It is my fault.”

These words were extremely sarcastic and aroused public indignation. Although no one dared to show it clearly, their looks toward Song Xingmu also changed.

Song Jing also didn’t expect that his clever statement would actually be a rock he dropped on his own foot. He could only rush forward in anger.

Doing it himself wouldn’t count.

But before he even got close, Yi Chuan kicked him away.

“You!” Song Jing fell to the ground and gasped for air, in a towering rage. At this moment, a young military official flew up to Song Jing. 

The man had good facial features and he seemed upright. Wearing armor and a sword, he looked extremely majestic. The ferocious aura belonging to a general forcefully suppressed Song Jing, who looked powerful just now, another level down.

As soon as he arrived, all the navy troops immediately stood up straight and waited for orders, appearing very well-trained.

Huo Fenglie said to Liu Zhenqing, who had a hand pressed to his throat: “The one those naval forces obey is not Song Jing, but him.”

“You guessed it, Lieutenant General Zhao Haicheng is really not simple.” Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows and looked at that person, somehow feeling that he looked familiar.

“Captain Song, he is your uncle after all. How can you let your…..male favorite treat him like this?” Zhao Haicheng’s face was gloomy, and his previously serious expression was now filled with a sinister chill.

Yi Chuan, who should have been furious at this moment, was not. When it came to Song Xingmu’s home ground, he knew not to bypass him. Instead, Song Xingmu retorted: “He is so fierce, how can he be my male favorite? Are you blind? And it was my uncle who made the first move. He was only fighting back.”

Song Xingmu pushed Yi Chuan and smiled with raised eyebrows: “Uncle actually released the prisoners I arrested without permission, and even brought a navy ship to disrupt order and threatened to arrest me. Uncle has violated more than one military discipline. Doesn’t Lieutenant General Zhao know the rules best? Right now, I am ordering that Song Jing be arrested. Do you hear me?”

Song Xingmu was usually unwilling to fight directly due to the uncertainty of winning. This was the method of an intelligent person, but now he openly made himself clear. This somewhat surprised Zhao Haicheng. Could it be that he thought he had a handle on Song Jing by arresting those three people, and that was why he was confident?

Zhao Haicheng chose to help Song Jing up directly. When Song Xingmu’s eyes turned cold, he gave a polite bow and said: “Captain Song, this subordinate will naturally obey your orders, but I will not follow blindly. This subordinate has gone to the capital and received an Imperial edict, so I naturally know that when a problem arises with the top military commander, we can act above our statuses and file a petition to the emperor.”

Zhao Haicheng’s words were really unexpected.

Huo Fenglie remembered why this fellow had gone to the capital, and immediately lost control of his expression.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but scoff coldly.

Song Xingmu laughed out loud. The more murderous intent he had in his heart, the more sincere his laughter became.

Zhao Haicheng continued to say respectfully: “Instead of fighting, let us solve the fundamental problem first. Isn’t the conflict here that Captain Song thinks these three people are criminals? Let these three prove their innocence. If Captain Song is wrong, he should accept punishment.”

“If you are wrong, you should accept punishment. Brat, do you dare?”

Song Jing seemed to grow a backbone because of Zhao Haicheng, and directly cooperated.

However, this game was extremely unfavorable to Song Xingmu.

The decision to arrest those people came from his own speculation, Xi Ran’s news, and Yi Chuan’s personal eavesdropping.

Perhaps there were still the two witnesses, Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie.

But they were difficult to use as evidence for various reasons.

He should have arrested them and gone straight back to torture them and extract confessions, then investigate the evidence hidden in their homes. But now that the situation had been publicly disrupted, Song Xingmu instantly became very passive.

But through this, Song Xingmu also understood one thing. He had originally thought that if they were just petty thieves, even if his uncle was the person behind them, he would abandon them to save himself. Unexpectedly, his uncle directly confronted him for the sake of those three, which showed their importance to his uncle. And the things hidden behind this were probably related to Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing’s investigation.

Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing also thought of this at the same time. They didn’t know whether or not to be happy, but they could at least legitimately suspect that Song Jing and Zhao Haicheng were connected to the rebels, and their investigation could start from there. It was much faster than their original investigation method. It seemed the enemy really didn’t know they were here for the time being, otherwise they wouldn’t have left such an opening.

There was only the current dilemma.

Several people were thinking about how to solve it.

Song Jing was beside himself with glee. Seeing that Song Xingmu had been silent for a long time, he shouted: “There is indeed a pirate here.”

Song Xingmu and Liu Zhenqing were astonished when these words came out. Yi Chuan’s hands tightened on his blades, and he looked at Song Jing.

Sure enough, Song Jing pointed at Yi Chuan and said: “Weren’t you, this male favorite, the young captain of the Black Shell Pirates more than ten years ago? He has the pirate symbol on his arm! If you don’t believe me, take a look! It is truly absurd. His own male favorite is a pirate, and he also captures pirates. Song Xingmu, I don’t think you are qualified to be the Sea King and take over military power here.”

Yi Chuan immediately lost control and started to rush over, but was caught by Song Xingmu. He wanted to resist, but when he saw that the hand holding him was the one with a black glove, he froze on the spot and glared angrily at Song Xingmu.

Song Xingmu’s eyes did not shy away, and there was no panic in them at all. Liu Zhenqing understood instantly that he had known this was a problem that would explode sooner or later. Why Yi Chuan didn’t join the navy, and why Song Xingmu didn’t fight against Song Jing, was actually due to his protection of Yi Chuan.

“The case was already tried back then, and the elders of Ming’an County all know that he was acquitted. My uncle is using the accusation of being a pirate to suppress him, and feels that the official trial at that time was in error.” Naturally, Song Xingmu would not be easily manipulated, and retorted directly.

Song Jing gave a light scoff. He really couldn’t attack Yi Chuan, but since this matter had come out, the people around would naturally have opinions about Song Xingmu and Yi Chuan. His side had still won.

Song Jing was swollen with arrogance, and almost laughed out loud.

But in the next second, another voice was heard as a certain person grasped his neck again to sound like a ghost or demon.

“It turns out that pirates all have symbols, ah. Then….why don’t you find out by checking that person?”

Such innocent words, even if they were said in a very poor change of voice, suddenly lifted the fog and exposed the blind spot in everyone’s eyes.

However, the named pirate did not panic, but instead showed his arms generously.

Song Jing was about to laugh out loud when he heard the voice following him like a shadow: “Look how foolish I am, will a pirate who dares go ashore still have such a clue? Is there no other way to distinguish between pirates and foreign merchants?”

The words were enlightening. Right, ah, there must be more than just a symbol. Everyone’s thoughts were stimulated.

“Who is it!” Song Jing was furious, and rushed toward the sound of the voice with his sword. In the next second, he saw a person rush out and hide directly behind Song Xingmu.

Song Xingmu was taken aback. He quickly understood that others would not recognize Liu Zhenqing’s appearance, but that did not mean that no one would recognize Huo Fenglie.

So Huo Fenglie had to hide, but Liu Zhenqing could be exposed.

Song Xingmu immediately stretched out his hand to block the path to Liu Zhenqing, saying: “Uncle, my friend speaks fairly. Why do you still want to beat him?”

Liu Zhenqing poked his head around and asked: “Could it be because he has a guilty conscience?”

“How dare you slander me!” Song Jing was furious.

“I’m just asking a reasonable question.” Liu Zhenqing called out directly: “Hey, does anyone know how to tell the difference, ah?”

At this time, someone among the people watching the excitement finally came forward.

“I have encountered pirates before. The way they hold their weapons is different from that of our Zhou Dynasty’s navy, so the calluses on their hands are also different. Since this person says he is a foreign merchant, he should not…..”

“Yes, yes, yes. I have seen the corpses of pirates, and this is the case. They have obvious callouses.”

“That’s right, this can be used as evidence. Just look at that person’s hands. If he is a merchant, he will definitely not have them.”

“What if he is a merchant who practices martial arts?”

“There is a law in their country that merchants do not practice martial arts.”

As soon as this was said, the pirate finally couldn’t bear it anymore and suddenly jumped into the water to escape, but Yi Chuan jumped up and kicked him away.

Song Jing’s face paled, and he could only look at Zhao Haicheng beseechingly.

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Chapter Eighty << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Two