CHAPTER 476: CHAPTER 476: MRS. ZOU SEEKS SEPARATION

Gao Tong was gearing up for a ’death before dishonor’ moment, but Qin Er Lang quickly dislocated his jaw, preventing him from biting off his tongue to commit suicide.

Vice General Miao was startled by Gao Tong, but upon seeing that Gao Tong didn’t die, he complimented Qin Er Lang: "The young man is astute and holds great potential."

During the siege on Gao Tong, this young man put in the most effort and was fearless. It was all observed by Miao, except it was a pity this young man was not among their Jiangnan troops.

Qin Er Lang said nothing more, just cupping his fist towards Vice General Miao in response.

Qin San Lang saw Gu Jin’an arriving with Zheng Ying and Shangguan Zhuo. Holding a child, he strode over and handed the child to Gu Jin’an: "Good Brother An, this is the child Gao Tong previously used to threaten us, called Fish. Look after him for now; Er Lang and I still need to go assist Vice General Lan."

The river bandits in the village hadn’t been thoroughly exterminated; they couldn’t afford to waste time here.

Gu Jin’an, wearing soft armor provided by the Zheng Family, holding a blade in his hand, took the child and said, "Go quickly, be cautious."

After speaking, he glanced at Qin Er Lang, worried that Qin Er Lang’s eagerness for merit could implicate their families.

Qin San Lang nodded, called out to Qin Er Lang, and both brothers made their way back to assist Vice General Lan, soon killing Old Jiu and over a hundred fierce bandits.

These fierce bandits were indeed fearless, with over eighty percent preferring death over surrender; only fewer than twenty were captured severely wounded.

Old Jiu tried to escape but was captured alive by the Qin Brothers.

Luo Wu and Jiang Qi also captured the fourth-in-command of the river bandits and killed dozens of bandits, achieving great merit. However, Luo Wu, Squad Leader Yang, and Jiang Qi were all injured, though fortunately not too severely.

General Guo and a hundred soldiers from the Prefecture garrison also killed many river bandits.

The troops and officials from Jiangnan Commandery and Jianghuai Commandery, the garrison of He’an Prefecture, the county soldiers and government officials of Tianfu County, along with the Protector of the Zheng and Shangguan families, continued fighting in the village till dawn before the river bandits in the village were thoroughly wiped out.

The river bandits who tried to escape by jumping into the water were also killed by arrows from the troops stationed on the water.

Then, it was time to count the number of people in the village. When Vice General Lan went to report to General Guo, it certainly gave them a fright.

The inconspicuous Water Bandit Village had as many as seven hundred thirty-seven adult river bandits, and there was also a group of children born to the bandits, numbering three hundred ninety.

"This group of young bandits, the youngest being seven and the oldest twelve. According to the rules set by Gao Tong, sons born in the village must start martial training at seven and, by ten, they are taken to the waters for practice. In this group of young bandits, those older than ten had already been taken to the boats, with several even having blood debts on their hands."

"Gao Tong, this beastly man, was training child soldiers! Capturing him alive was too kind; he should’ve been chopped up and fed to the dogs right there," fumed General Guo, never imagining the river bandit village under Gao Tong’s control would be so formidable.

But there was more to anger him.

"Apart from the river bandits, there are also four hundred sixty women in the village, all captured by bandits from boats passing through the Huai River or from its banks. Each one of them was violated by the bandits. Those young and beautiful who caught the bandits’ attention had slightly easier lives, and the older less attractive ones could only serve as servants."

Vice General Ren and Vice General Miao were so ashamed they wished they could bury themselves, given the numerous atrocities committed by the Huai River bandits, and yet they allowed this village to exist for so many years.

Vice General Lan continued, "In the village, there’s also a group derogatorily called Fish, who are the children born after multiple bandits violated their mothers. With unclear paternity, these children were turned mute from an early age and served as servants in the village... though calling them servants is an overstatement; they’re more like human targets. Last night, when the bandits tried to flee, they tied these children up and used their lives to threaten us."

"Beasts, a bunch of beasts!" General Guo was so enraged that he stood up, rushed out of the room, took out a horse whip, and ruthlessly whipped a kneeling bandit outside, finally calming his anger.

Besides kidnapping people, there were also many stolen goods in the bandit village; Magistrate Liang had arrived with Assistant Magistrate Ding and his staff to the village to tally the looted items.

They were busy until the evening before finally finishing the count of the stolen goods.

Magistrate Liang was overseeing the counting of the items while exclaiming, "Riches flow abundantly; truly, the riches flow abundantly."

Full of three warehouses, plus five basement rooms, inside are treasures ranging from gold and silver jewelry to antique calligraphy and paintings, even including rare ancient books.

Is this a water bandit?!

Those unaware might think it’s the storage of some noble family, truly a collection of various treasures, dazzling and breathtaking.

However, Magistrate Liang is having a hard time with these treasures and goes to consult Zheng Ying and Shangguan Zhuo.

Although the two are young and should address Magistrate Liang as uncle due to age, the Zheng Family and Shangguan family behind them are not something that Magistrate Liang could even beg for support from. Naturally, Magistrate Liang holds great respect for the legitimate heir of the two families.

"Logically, the task of inventorying the property of the water bandit village should be done by Magistrate Gong and Magistrate Tan, but now those two..." have been captured, no one would let them inventory any property.

Shangguan Zhuo said: "Magistrate Liang need not worry, just go ahead with the tasks. Grandfather has already petitioned for you to take full charge of the administrative affairs after exterminating the water bandits, and once this is reported to the Capital, the government will dispatch an official to manage these matters."

This was also one of the things his grandfather had planned.

In the former dynasty, the administrative hierarchy had Inspectors above the Magistrates, but every Inspector was a powerful figure, and by the end of the former dynasty, all had rebelled, owning several Prefectures under their command, a troublesome power to deal with.

The first Emperor of Great Chu himself emerged from such Inspectors, fearing that one day Great Chu could also face rebellion by Inspectors, thus immediately abolished the position of Inspector allowing each Prefecture head official to act independently after the establishment of Great Chu.

However, his grandfather and the others were quite dissatisfied with the abolition of the Inspectors, as without an upper authority over the Magistrates, they could turn the world upside down.

Just like this time, the Magistrates of Linhe Prefecture and Jinling Prefecture did exactly that.

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Liang finally dared to act freely.

Magistrate Tan was not stupid. By now, he had already learned that his involvement with the water bandit village had been exposed, quite literally fainting from fright. Upon waking, he tried to send someone to the Capital to plead for help, but before his messenger could leave the Prefecture, he was seized by officers from the Jiangnan Commander’s Office.

"How dare you bind an official, my family belongs to the Marquis Mansion in the Capital, are you tired of living? Quickly release me...mmpf mmpf mmpf!"

Before Magistrate Tan could finish speaking, his mouth was gagged by the soldiers.

The Deputy General who came to arrest him said: "Magistrate Tan, Magistrate Gong has already sent evidence of your collusion with the water bandits to the Capital. Further evidence of your involvement was found in the water bandit village, including confessions from the fourth leader and ninth leader of the bandits claiming you as their backer. You better stop mentioning the Marquis Mansion; the crimes you committed should lead to the execution of your entire family lineage, your Marquis Mansion is going to fall too."

Hearing this, Magistrate Tan’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted again.

Magistrate Gong was also captured by the soldiers of the Jianghuai Commander’s Office, and with the bursting out of the water bandit affair, both Linhe Prefecture and Jinling Prefecture were in constant turmoil.

The commoners cursed both the Magistrates and the water bandits, and scholars and madmen even penned vicious criticisms, nearly as severe as desecrating their ancestors’ graves.

Regardless of the uproar in both Prefectures, it had nothing to do with Qin San Lang and his men anymore.

After eradicating the water bandits, they stayed only one more day, departing back to Tianfu County in He’an Prefecture on the third day.

The news also spread to Tianfu County; everyone in the county knew County Magistrate Zou had colluded with the water bandits, and now his entire family was doomed.

At the Zou family.

Zou Yunkun’s daughter-in-law was kneeling with her son, pleading to Mrs. Zou, "Grandma, look at Chengji, your most beloved grandson, he’s still not of age, do you have the heart to watch him follow that old fool to death?"

"That old fool has already caused us so much harm, you need to make a decision quickly, or it’ll be too late!"

Zou Chengji was also crying and begging Mrs. Zou, "Grandmother, grandson begs you, divorce grandfather, only then can our lives be saved... I don’t want to die, grandson is scared, wu wu wu..."