Of course, this included Chen Jie’s planning. If a ship was captured by Elder Liu before even setting out, that would simply be a business issue. Lord Yelu, upon investigating, would discover that Nan Batian was just trying to make money, plain and simple.
But what if several ships had already set out? At that moment, if you were to seize those ships, who could be certain what the eight ships that escaped were carrying?
Of course, Lord Yelu was very unlikely to believe that Nan Batian had truly gone mad and would so blatantly help the Zoroastrian Sect transport weapons. But since the ships had already set out, who knew what was on board? What if Nan Batian had anticipated Lord Yelu’s assumption and believed that Yelu wouldn’t trust that he was transporting weapons for the Zoroastrian Sect?
This was a trap of suspicion, one without end once begun.
What Chen Jie now had to do was to amplify that suspicion, to make Lord Yelu increasingly disillusioned with Nan Batian. When the critical point was reached, then a fatal blow could be dealt, eliminating the tyrant who had dominated Mianshui for over a decade.
That’s why Chen Jie didn’t speak up yesterday, choosing instead to reveal everything today.
By transforming Nan Batian’s covert shipping into a fait accompli, when Elder Liu made his move at this juncture, Nan Batian would surely be left without a leg to stand on!
Qin Ying stood on the dock, commanding his disciples to move the cargo. Three ships had set off in the morning, and now, in the afternoon, three more ships were being loaded. Once they were finished and had eaten, they could set out. Two thousand taels of silver per ship—that’s twelve thousand taels of silver in just one day. Making money felt fantastic.
It’s a pity there weren’t enough ships, but the Gang Leader had already arranged through connections to requisition more from the Huangzhou Prefecture. If they could bring in twelve thousand taels daily...
Qin Ying smacked his lips, thinking, wouldn’t life for the Fishing Guild get much better?
Making more in a day than they used to in a month—this was truly sudden wealth, the epitome of overnight riches!
Qin Ying thought gleefully, wondering how much of it would be shared with Eagle Hall.
"Hey, hey, hurry up and carefully place Manager Li’s goods..."
Qin Ying directed the younger brothers in their tasks. Just as he was instructing them to arrange the cargo, a disciple suddenly came rushing over: "Master Qin, trouble! Elder Liu, Elder Liu is here!"
Startled, Qin Ying’s eyes widened just in time to hear a scream, followed by two Fishing Guild disciples being thrown into the water by Elder Liu and his men.
Elder Liu approached Qin Ying, who asked, "Elder Liu, Guild Leader Liu, what is the meaning of this?"
"The meaning of this?"
Elder Liu’s eyes glared fiercely as he snapped, "I’d like to ask what the Fishing Guild is up to? Didn’t we agree to close the river? Why are your boats still being loaded to head downriver?"
"We... we’re just transferring some things to another dock, that’s not allowed?"
Qin Ying stubbornly retorted, but hearing this, Elder Liu impatiently responded, "Cut the bullshit. Seize them. Don’t let a single ship depart. I want to see what exactly these ships are carrying!"
"Who dares! You’re brazen enough to seize the Fishing Guild’s cargo?"
As Qin Ying spoke, he stood in the way of the Guild Cao disciples ready to take action. Seeing this, Elder Liu roared, "Get lost or die, make your choice, Fishing Guild scum!"
Hearing these words, Qin Ying returned Elder Liu’s glare, half-intimidated yet defiant, "Our Gang Leader will not let you get away with this!"
"Heh, as if I’d let him get away," Elder Liu sneered. "Seize them! Death to anyone who resists!"
At Elder Liu’s domineering command, the Guild Cao disciples surged forward. Qin Ying stood blocking the way when one disciple gave him a shove, "Move aside."
Just as Qin Ying was about to lose his temper, Elder Liu stared at him, "Raise a hand, and I’ll take it as a declaration of war!"
Qin Ying didn’t dare to make a move.
He could only glare bitterly at Elder Liu and ordered the disciples behind him, "Inform the Gang Leader."
Elder Liu didn’t intervene. He wasn’t afraid of Nan Batian confronting him. If he came, it would be the perfect opportunity to settle some scores.
Meanwhile, at the Fishing Guild, Nan Batian examined a stack of silver notes before him—one, two, three...
Each note was a thousand taels, twenty notes in all, sixty thousand taels of silver.
This was enough to fund the Fishing Guild’s expenses for a year. He then turned his gaze to Tang Ziyue, who looked worriedly at him, "Mr. Tang, we have money now. Why do you still look so gloomy and unhappy?"
At that moment, Tang Ziyue looked at Nan Batian and said, "Gang Leader, Lord Yelu has issued an order banning any ships from sailing down the river. What about that?"
Nan Batian replied with a chuckle, "So what if he did? Just because he doesn’t allow me to sail down the river, doesn’t mean I have to comply."
"How will you explain to Lord Yelu?"
With another chuckle, Nan Batian said, "How to explain? Quite simple. I’m doing this to catch the demon people of the Zoroastrian Sect, giving them a chance to surface, to find that batch of weapons!"
Tang Ziyue asked, "Will Lord Yelu believe that?"
"He will if we find the weapons, and naturally, he won’t if we don’t. The key to this situation lies with the batch of weapons belonging to the Zoroastrian Sect."
"Can we find them?" Tang Ziyue questioned.
"We will definitely find them," Nan Batian affirmed.
Tang Ziyue gazed at Nan Batian and pressed, "Gang Leader, is there something you’re hiding from me?"
Nan Batian glanced at Tang Ziyue, hesitated for a moment, but eventually replied, "No, Mr. Tang, there is nothing I’m hiding from you."
Back at the Chen Residence, Chen Jiusi and others had been dining and drinking for a while now, getting through a variety of dishes, and most were nearly sated, especially since they hadn’t imbibed much. Chen Jie had produced distilled spirits with high alcohol content.
The drink was potent, and the alcohol burn was strong, which Xiao Hu and others didn’t appreciate so much; they preferred the gentler taste of yellow wine.