I was going to retort that even brothels knew about smuggling, but the river defense battalion in charge of anti-smuggling hadn't received a single tip-off. What else could he be but an incompetent fool?

However, considering that we will still need their help in the future, we should hold back on such inappropriate remarks for now and wait until everything settles down.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but this is a very important matter. Every time we come up empty-handed, we alert the real salt smugglers, and it will be troublesome to catch them again later,” Sang Qian said in a deep voice.

“My information is absolutely reliable. General, just go and arrest them,” Zu’an said. Not only did he trust Qiu Honglei, but he also went to stake out the place himself, so he was absolutely certain that his information was accurate.

"In that case, does Brother Zu dare to sign a pledge?" Sang Qian also stood up, his expression becoming serious.

Zu An narrowed his eyes and shook his head, saying, "I'm not a member of the military, why would I sign a pledge?"

Although he was very confident, he didn't want to take unnecessary risks.

You should know that there are never shortages of accidents in this world.

This guy is trying to trick me into signing a pledge; is there something fishy going on?

Zuan frowned and fell into deep thought, suddenly realizing that this trip might not be so smooth.

Sang Qian laughed and said, "Brother Zu, please don't mind. I'm just trying to play it safe. The main thing is that mobilizing troops is not a simple matter. I have to apply to my superiors for approval. If we make a big fuss and end up with nothing, both the superiors and the soldiers will complain."

"We still need to ask the higher-ups?" Zu An was taken aback. "Then why don't we hurry up and ask them? How long will it take for them to come and go?"

"Don't worry, I've already sent someone there." Sang Qian gestured for him to leave. "Brother Zu, don't panic. Have some tea and rest for a bit."

Zuan frowned, having no appetite for tea. He thought to himself that these guys were so inefficient, no wonder the smuggled salt industry was so rampant.

Sang Qian then tried to find topics to chat with him, but Zu An responded only half-heartedly.

After a short while, Zu'an finally couldn't take it anymore and stood up, saying, "If it's inconvenient for the general, then I'll take the Chu family guards to arrest them myself."

As the saying goes, things can change over time, and the delay had already given him a vague sense of foreboding.

“Brother, don’t worry, it will be done soon.” Sang Qian changed the subject. “Besides, cracking down on smuggled salt is the duty of our river defense camp. How can we let the Mingyue Mansion do it for us? If the prefect and the city lord find out, they will severely punish me for dereliction of duty.”

"I'll wait another ten minutes at most. If it really doesn't work, I'll go over there and scout ahead." Zu An also knew that Chu Zhongtian and his wife sent him to find Sang Qian mostly because of these procedural concerns, so as not to give political enemies an excuse to use it against them later.

But waiting indefinitely is not an option either. If those smuggled salts manage to escape, all our previous efforts will be wasted.

“Minutes?” Sang Qian didn’t quite understand this unit of time, but he could roughly guess what it meant. “We’ll have news soon, Brother Zu, please be patient.”

After waiting agonizingly for a few more minutes, Zuan finally couldn't take it anymore, got up, and walked out.

Whether by coincidence or not, a soldier suddenly ran in and said, "I've received the order from above."

Sang Qian laughed heartily: "Alright, gather the troops immediately and set off!"

Soon, the soldiers in the river defense battalion's drill ground began to assemble. Seeing the group of soldiers in front of him who were dragging their feet and whose armor was not even properly in place, Zu An frowned deeply. Were these soldiers or bastards?

With such a river defense battalion, it's no wonder that illegal salt trade has become increasingly rampant in recent years.

Sang Qian's face also looked a little unpleasant, and he hurriedly explained, "We trained too late yesterday, and everyone may not have recovered yet today."

As he spoke, he roared at his men, "Hurry up! What kind of behavior is this, dragging your feet like this!"

Unfortunately, no matter how much he roared, the soldiers only gave him a perfunctory response on the surface, and their actual speed did not increase.

It took almost half an hour just to assemble them.

Fortunately, we finally set off.

Sang Hong silently watched the departing troops, toying with a pipe in his hand, and silently exhaling a puff of smoke. His thin face was faintly visible in the smoke.

A question arose in his mind: "How could Zuan find out about the smuggled salt so accurately?"

Zu'an, along with the Chu family's guards and the soldiers of the river defense camp, headed towards the dock.

Fearing that the salt smugglers would escape, Zu'an was extremely anxious and spurred his horse to gallop towards the dock.

Halfway there, a sedan chair suddenly appeared out of an alley.

Zu'an hurriedly reined in his horse and brought it to a sudden stop. Although he managed to stop at the last moment, the sedan chair bearers were clearly frightened.

He accidentally fell to the ground, and the sedan chair on his shoulder also tipped over to the side.

"Oh dear~" came a girl's exclamation from inside.