Zhao Haicheng assessed the situation and knelt down directly to obey orders. Song Jing panicked, and was about to get angry, but was stopped by a look from Zhao Haicheng. He could only swallow his anger and let Song Xingmu take over the naval forces present and issue orders.

Song Xingmu stepped forward to pat Song Jing’s shoulder with insincere courtesy. Then his eyes turned cold, fully revealing his rare seriousness and prestige. At this time, the people around him saw the bearing of the Sea King, and couldn’t help but become solemn. After he gave the orders, the navy also instinctively took action.

Not only were the three suspects arrested, but Song Jing was also taken into custody for disobeying military orders and provoking his superior. The navy officials who had taken the lead in obeying orders indiscriminately were all tied up and brought to the barracks to be dealt with according to the law.

The situation was still being stabilized by Song Xingmu. “Lieutenant General Zhao, please take the troops back. Yi Chuan, follow along and keep a close eye on those three people. Don’t let anything happen halfway. I will be back soon.”

Yi Chuan nodded coolly, and Zhao Haicheng did not say anything. His performance had made it impossible for him to find any flaws. Before getting off the boat, his eyes glanced almost undetectably at Liu Zhenqing, who was standing next to Song Xingmu.

The glance was so veiled that only Huo Fenglie, who was hiding in the shadows, frowned slightly.

Once everyone left, Song Xingmu returned to his casual style and said to all the guests: “We have disturbed you all. Later, each table will be compensated with a bottle of wine. Take it as my apology for the navy’s misdeeds.”

Although Song Xingmu was a captain and the Sea King, because he loved to play and was willing to accept everyone’s teasing, he was very approachable.

Everyone cupped their hands. Some left with lingering fears, and some went back to continue drinking.

Huo Fenglie also walked out of the crowd and came to Liu Zhenqing’s side.

Song Xingmu looked up at the upper level of the boat and saw Xi Ran, the boss behind the scenes, standing there with an unhappy expression.

Song Xingmu cupped his hands and said: “I have offended you. If anything is damaged, I will pay double the compensation. Madam Xi Ran, please don’t be angry with me. I will leave and not be a bother to you.”

“Captain, I have no reason to take offense.” Xi Ran’s expression improved a little, and she sent Song Xingmu a covert look.

Song Xingmu understood at once and glanced at Liu Zhenqing next to him. Putting his arm around his shoulders, he said: “Brother, why don’t you stay the night?”

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“There is a beauty who wants to stay with you for a night, and asked me to bring you a message.”

Song Xingmu smiled with evil intentions, regardless of Huo Fenglie standing nearby.

Sure enough, after he finished speaking, he felt the air cool next to him and finally believed the shocking news that Liu Zhenqing had exposed before.

But Song Xingmu didn’t stop because of this. After all, it was great fun, ah. If Liu Zhenqing was frivolous when he was young, then Song Xingmu was definitely twice as frivolous.

“This is fate, ah. No matter what you become, people will always take a liking to you. If you fail to live up to her kindness, it will be truly unreasonable and hurt her dignity,” Song Xingmu said with a smile.

Liu Zhenqing stared at Song Xingmu speechlessly. “I helped you just now, and you’re selling me out?”

Song Xingmu pretended to be aggrieved. “Look at what you’re saying. You have no conscience. And…..aren’t there some things that haven’t been determined yet?”

Liu Zhenqing knew that Song Xingmu was hinting that he might not be able to accept a man yet, and was so embarrassed that he didn’t even dare to look in Xi Ran’s direction.

“This kindness is appreciated. Let’s go, there is important business.”

With a look of pity on his face, Song Xingmu gave Xi Ran an apologetic look.

Xi Ran raised her eyebrows. Although she was a little displeased and regretful, she didn’t react much.

But suddenly, a sharp glance slanted over. Xi Ran took a look and saw that it was her love rival. She was a little confused as to why he was glaring at her, and could only guess that the misunderstanding had not been completely resolved.

After disembarking, Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie became strangely quiet. Song Xingmu was puzzled, and asked if they had been injured just now. Liu Zhenqing inexplicably smiled and said: “Fenglie was standing next to me, how could I be injured? Right, Fenglie?”

Liu Zhenqing rarely addressed him this way, and Huo Fenglie felt as if a tiny electric current flashed through his bones. Thinking of the previous experience on the deck and the touch that still lingered on his lips, Huo Fenglie really didn’t dare to answer.

He could only change the subject and say: “Does Zhao Haicheng know you? He looked at you specifically when he left just now.”

The sudden serious topic made Liu Zhenqing laugh. Who cared about Zhao Haicheng, ah? He wanted to continue embarrassing Er-gou, but Song Xingmu paid attention to this topic and said: “Really?”

Huo Fenglie nodded. “Yes.”

Song Xingmu thought for a moment and said: “He was born on an island, and we might have met him before when we killed pirates to protect it. And he dared to go to the capital to complain about you. It isn’t impossible that he has seen you before.”

Liu Zhenqing touched his chin and said, “This sounds a bit familiar, but he definitely didn’t recognize my face, ah.”

Song Xingmu pondered this and said: “Perhaps he knows Liu Xiaozhu from before?”

“Impossible. The Liu family isn’t here, and they left for the capital very early on. Hasn’t he always been a sailor here?”

“In any case, be a little careful. These days…..the situation has become much more complicated.” Song Xingmu said, “By the way, where are you staying? Do you want to go back with me?”

Liu Zhenqing considered for a moment and then said: “We had better stay at the inn, there are too many people watching you. But we still need to go with you for the interrogation.”

“You can, but Huo Fenglie is too conspicuous. I’m afraid that some of the old sailors will recognize him,” Song Xingmu said.

Therefore, the two of them discussed it and decided to let Huo Fenglie hide in the dark while Liu Zhenqing went with Song Xingmu. However, Huo Fenglie was a little worried.

When Song Xingmu saw Huo Fenglie’s cautious look, he felt inexplicably unhappy, like a father-in-law viewing a son-in-law. He rolled his eyes and said with a smile: “You put a cloak over Liu Zhenqing’s head so that as few people as possible will see him.”

“That’s too dramatic.” Just as Liu Zhenqing refused, Huo Fenglie took off his outer layer and gave it to Liu Zhenqing.

Liu Zhenqing had no choice but to take it. He pulled it over his head with both hands so that it covered most of his face.

The black fabric had hidden silver threads, just like the sky at night. It had a majestic and noble air on Huo Fenglie, but when draped on Liu Zhenqing’s head, it was set off by his snow-white skin and bright eyes, and became extremely mysterious and charming.

Especially when he lowered his head and looked down. Looking across at him, Huo Fenglie’s heart palpitated.

When Liu Zhenqing looked up, he saw Er-gou looking foolish, and the corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably. 

However, neither of them noticed Song Xingmu, who also wore an evil smile.

The navy was stationed in a water fortress on the coast, which was fully equipped with barracks, meeting rooms, ship docking points, and a water prison.

Huo Fenglie sneaked away with extremely high qinggong. Liu Zhenqing could not see his figure at all, but Song Xingmu could still sense his position, guarding Liu Zhenqing at the closest distance and at all kinds of tricky angles.

Not long after they left, several lieutenants came to greet them and pleaded with Song Xingmu about the matter of Song Jing. Because they had been in the navy for a long time and were one generation higher than Song Xingmu, they had the faint intention of suppressing him, but Zhao Haicheng was nowhere to be seen.

Song Xingmu listened without speaking.

At this time, one of Song Xingmu’s people came forward to report: “Captain, someone is preventing Commander Song from being imprisoned. They are arguing with Yi Chuan in front of the water prison.”

The smile on Song Xingmu’s face remained unchanged, but his eyes flashed coldly as he looked at the lieutenants. However, none of them took it seriously, and were swollen with arrogance.

Song Xingmu maintained his smiling face, not wanting to play hard: “I was planning to discuss it with these few lieutenants. After all, there was a violation of military regulations. I learned the Great Zhou Dynasty’s military regulations from my father, and I don’t know if they have changed now. If they have, I will naturally follow your regulations.”

When these words came out, the faces of the several lieutenants practically turned the color of pig liver.

Before anyone could react, Song Xingmu said coldly: “Let’s go and have a look.”

Just as he was about to take his people away, someone couldn’t help but say: “Captain Song doesn’t take the military camp seriously. Does he take just anyone in?”

Liu Zhenqing stopped and glanced at those people. They looked at him and scoffed coldly. It could be seen that they had identified Liu Zhenqing as Song Xingmu’s male favorite. Liu Zhenqing suddenly realized that he was a man wearing another man’s cloak, which was strange no matter how one looked at it. He instantly looked at Song Xingmu, who had proposed this, with dissatisfaction, feeling that he had been tricked.

Song Xingmu took Liu Zhenqing’s waist and said: “But the sweetheart I have awaited for many years is no ordinary person. Didn’t my uncle urge me to get married a long time ago? It is rare for me to have someone, and you want to drive him away?”

The lieutenants were stunned, and stared at Liu Zhenqing in astonishment. After all, Song Xingmu was well-known for his love affairs, but he never mentioned getting married.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t refute in public, so he could only take advantage of Song Xingmu’s embrace to pinch the other’s waist.

Song Xingmu gave him an affectionate look.

“Cough, cough, cough!” A lieutenant couldn’t bear it and said: “Even if he is a guest, he is not allowed to go to the water prison.”

Song Xingmu smiled and said: “Alright, you all go to the water prison first. I will send him to my place and then rush back.”

The lieutenants were circumvented by Song Xingmu, and went to the water prison with complaints in their mouths.

But they had just walked a few steps to pass the water bridge, and it was unknown who stepped on whom. Screaming, they were knocked down into a heap one by one, and fell into the river one after another.

Liu Zhenqing was dumbfounded, and Song Xingmu couldn’t help but scoff, calling: “Someone come quickly to fish out the lieutenants and bring them back to change clothes.” Afterwards, he leaned toward Liu Zhenqing’s ear and said: “It seems someone is rather jealous.”

Liu Zhenqing instantly understood that this was Huo Fenglie’s doing, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

Song Xingmu continued to embrace Liu Zhenqing without fear of death while moving forward, but his tone gradually became colder. “What do you think of the situation? How should we move?”

Liu Zhenqing laughed and said what was half an understatement: “If it were me, the 30,000 people should be completely obedient to my orders as soon as I came back. No matter how many others there are, no matter their seniority, I would punish the crimes that deserved punishment, drive away those who should be driven away, assassinate the true dissenters, and re-establish the navy troops.”

Song Xingmu raised his eyebrows and said: “As expected of the ruthless Prime Minister Liu, ah.”

He naturally felt that this was the most correct way, but it was too difficult to do.

“It is like rotting flesh. No matter how painful it is, it must be dug out at once.” Liu Zhenqing said calmly, “If you don’t, it will eventually backfire.”

“Then I don’t know how many people in Ming’an County will hate me.” Song Xingmu gradually lost his smile. “Just like you back then.”

Liu Zhenqing silently pulled up the cloak, half-concealing his face, and said: “Then it depends on what situation you want.”

Song Xingmu sent him to his small bamboo house courtyard and went to the water prison. Liu Zhenqing had just stood still when a gust of wind blew behind him.

Liu Zhenqing looked around and said: “Go to Song Xingmu’s side and check out the situation. You don’t need to accompany me. It’s very safe here.”

“Okay.”

But not long after, Huo Fenglie returned.

Liu Zhenqing was sitting in the small courtyard, drinking tea. When he saw him coming back, he said in surprise: “So soon?”

“There was an accident. Song Jing hit the wall and inflicted an injury upon himself to gain the enemy’s confidence, and relatives of the Song family came to make trouble. It is likely that it will take a long time to interrogate the three prisoners, but those three are already under the custody of Song Xingmu’s people, so there will be no trouble for the time being.” Huo Fenglie sat down with a bad expression on his face. As the general who protects the country, although he had never led navy troops, he was still a soldier. Looking at the commotion the lieutenants made, if they were under Huo Fenglie’s command, they would have been punished by military law. But currently, Song Xingmu could not offend the public, and could only endure it.

“It is indeed…..a heap of rotting flesh.” Liu Zhenqing said helplessly: “You must make plans early. If they are really involved with the rebels, these troops will be useless.”

“I know.” Huo Fenglie nodded.

Speaking of this, Huo Fenglie suddenly asked: “In the end, who is Yi Chuan…..”

Liu Zhenqing understood. “When Yi Chuan came forward, wasn’t he attacked by those people as a pirate?”

Huo Fenglie had watched from the shadows many times, and almost every time, this point was used to attack Song Xingmu.

“You were still young at the time and weren’t involved much. You didn’t meet him, did you?”

“I only know that you teamed up to catch the most powerful pirate group at that time,” Huo Fenglie said.

Liu Zhenqing nodded and said: “We heard that pirates were rampant when we came here, and the most powerful ones were the Black Shells. We were young and energetic, and wanted to capture the Black Shells, so we pretended to be a marriage boat and waited to be hijacked. As a result, during the hijacking process, we discovered that these Black Shells were not as vicious as we had thought. Later, when the pirates were arrested, they would naturally be punished. I don’t know if Song Xingmu really took a fancy to Yi Chuan’s talent or…..anyway, we really wanted to make a deal with those people, but they were completely uncooperative. It seemed that they were very resentful toward Great Zhou.”

“Hadn’t we just gotten rid of a bad official at that time? The newly transferred official was actually a good one. The people of the Black Shells were all originally from the Great Zhou Dynasty, and according to the investigation, although they robbed, they never killed anyone and did not rob the boats of ordinary fishermen, so we carefully investigated the reason they became pirates.”

“Their families were law-abiding fishermen, but someone coveted Yi Chuan’s brother and took him away by force. They pleaded with the government to save his life, but found that the captors were colluding with the government and wouldn’t give them a chance to save him at all. Soon, the corpse of Yi Chuan’s brother floated ashore. He had been tortured to death, and when they found his body, he had no clothes on and no dignity. It was said that he was a very talented scholar. The family fully expected him to go study at school and bring honor to his family, so even though the conditions were difficult, they all fully supported his studies. He himself strived toward a bright future. He was already close to taking the Imperial Examination, but it ended in such a way. On the spot, their mother couldn’t live on and threw herself into the sea.”

“So then they were forced to become pirates?” Huo Fenglie frowned.

Liu Zhenqing shook his head, saying: “People would not go to extremes if they were not forced into a desperate situation. In order to redress their grievances, they went all the way to report to higher authorities, but those officials were protected, and they themselves were beaten from time to time. That was how the family’s old man died. They were completely desperate, and made the sea their home. You should have an impression of when the former crown prince beheaded several officials within a month, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the former emperor. This incident was the cause.”

“It became clear after our investigation, but they were not considered innocent, and were sentenced to exile. In fact, this was to send them somewhere else to work a few years and live anonymously again. Song Xingmu took the opportunity to keep Yi Chuan. It was likely that his family also wanted Yi Chuan to stay and repay his kindness, so Yi Chuan stayed with Song Xingmu and was initially sent to the mountains to learn martial arts. If Song Xingmu had been in power, he would have trained him into a navy officer.”

Speaking of this, Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but think, right, ah, why did Yuan Jue deprive Song Xingmu of power? He would have to ask Song Xingmu later.

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Chapter Eighty-One << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty-Three