Chapter 714 Going Downstream

The events that occurred in Chang'an were deliberately concealed from the public, and it wasn't until half a month later, when Li Dalang and his companions were still on their way, that they received some news at the post station.

"Boss, what do we do? Should we keep following them?"

Li Dalang lit the message left by the Bad Guys with the candlelight, burning it completely. Only then did he say to Wang Dadan, Gao Haiping, and the dozen or so brothers remaining in the room: "The message only said that the Gao family was imprisoned for treason, but it didn't say which other family was involved in the Gao family's treason."

If the Shen family hadn't had leverage over the Gao family, the Gao family wouldn't have exposed them.

Or perhaps the Shen family has already prepared a way out for themselves, and they are not afraid.

Since there's been no word from above and the mission hasn't been canceled, we'll continue following along.

"We'll see what happens when we get to Jiangnan, and then we'll decide."

Li Dalang made a good decision, and everyone trusted him. After assigning tasks to everyone, Li Dalang still instructed the three men who went out to keep watch: "Be careful. Your own lives are more important. Write down anything you see."

Li Dalang had been following behind the Shen family's caravan these past few days, and he hadn't noticed that Shen Fangming showed the slightest bit of fear. Everything seemed normal, as if the Shen family hadn't received the news that the entire Gao family had been imprisoned.

“Strange, strange.”

Even if they found it strange, their team's mission was simply to follow and keep watch, and to communicate with the Bad Guys at any time.

Therefore, when Li Dalang did not receive any other tasks from his superiors, he continued to do his best to complete the tasks at hand.

As they got closer to Jiangnan, the humidity increased, and Li Dalang felt quite uncomfortable feeling the dampness in the air when he woke up in the morning.

Having lived in Chang'an for over ten years and grown accustomed to its climate, I later went to the border region and spent nearly a year in Shule. My body hadn't yet adapted to the dry climate, so I came to the watery Jiangnan region.

Looking at the mist on the distant mountain peaks, Li Dalang felt that indeed, each place has its own unique character.

"Boss, the boatman said we should go early, otherwise there will be a long wait at the dock."

Yes, having entered the Jiangnan East Road area, where waterways are interconnected, the Shen family caravan is preparing to switch to a different waterway and travel downstream.

Fortunately, there were still two other merchants who were following behind the Shen family caravan and also planned to travel by water. Otherwise, it would have been rather awkward for Li Dalang and his group to continue following them.

They arrived at the dock smoothly, unloaded the goods box by box onto the ship, paid the laborers, and then sat at the bow of the ship to chat with the boatman.

After chatting about everyday matters, Li Dalang casually asked about the Shen family on the large ship ahead: "...I see that it's not just our ship that's following behind the Shen family, is it?"

Surely the Shen family wouldn't forbid us from joining them?

Will they kick people out?

After tossing the rope to his eldest son, Li Dalang, the boatman plopped down next to him. Li Dalang handed him a water pouch from his waist, but the boatman waved it away. Li Dalang insisted on giving it to him, saying, "It's just some cheap wine. We'll still have to rely on the boatman for the journey."

This is the first time our group has traveled this waterway, so we hope the boatman will take good care of us.

Since Li Dalang had already said so much, the boatman naturally couldn't refuse any longer and accepted the water bag full of wine.

The boatman opened the stopper of the water bag, lowered his head, sniffed it, and then grinned from ear to ear: "It's Zhou's Pear Blossom White tea, hehe, I'm indebted to my employer."

The boatman was a man of principle; he only sniffed it twice before plugging it in. Seeing Li Dalang's confusion, the boatman explained with a smile, "It should be our passage in about half an hour, so we can't let drinking interfere with our plans."

"Now that I have some free time, I'll savor the fine wine the master gave me."

Having received good wine from Li Dalang, the boatman was flattered by Li Dalang in every way, which led the boatman to open up to Li Dalang.

"Don't worry, boss. The Shen family will definitely not kick out us small investors who are following behind."

When traveling on water, it's naturally best to have a large group of people, especially since these are legitimate business families.

If anything happens, they can look out for each other.

Furthermore, by following the fleet of such a large merchant, we can also gain some advantages, which is beneficial for both sides.

Li Dalang chatted with the boatman for a while, and then smoothly followed the order to his boat, sailing out of the dock and downstream.

After spending two days and three nights on the water, the boat finally arrived at a larger dock called Sixteen Bays in the afternoon of the third day.

"Master, the Sixteen Bends are just ahead. Master, should we follow the Shen family's merchant ship ahead and anchor here, or continue downstream?"

Li Dalang naturally said that he would stop with the Shen family.

These sixteen bends were a contact point that the higher-ups had mentioned to Li Dalang earlier, so naturally Li Dalang had to stop here.

Under the guise of going ashore to sell or buy goods, Li Dalang left half of the people on the boat and took the other half ashore.

"Master, rest assured, this old man and his men will definitely guard the boat together with your staff."

Furthermore, the Du family army is stationed at these sixteen bends, so they are definitely safe.

The boatman bowed to him, and Li Dalang went to the address they had agreed upon.

Of course, the men brought along on the way were also assigned tasks by Li Dalang. Those who were supposed to keep an eye on the Shen family caravan continued to do so, while Li Dalang only took Wang Dadan to the contact point.

They found a grain shop on Bishui Street, went inside, and after saying the code to the clerk, they were led into the backyard.

After handing over the intelligence he had recently obtained, the gray-haired old man sitting opposite Li Dalang gave him an envelope sealed with wax.

"Inside is your new mission from above. Take a look when you get back to the ship."

After saying that, the old man served tea and saw the guest out.

Li Dalang didn't hesitate. He glanced at the wax seal and saw that it was intact, then tucked it into his chest, bowed to the old man, and left the grain shop with Wang Dadan.

After leaving the grain shop, the two bought some local specialties before hiring a car to wait at the street corner for their brothers who were keeping watch, and then they returned to Shiliuwan.

The boatman and his two sons helped Li Dalang and his family load their newly purchased goods onto the boat. Li Dalang, being a good man, gestured to Wang Dadan to hand over an oil paper package: "I smelled this roast chicken from the street and it smelled delicious. We'll have to rely on the boatman for the rest of the time."

"Oh my, it's Yu's roast chicken. Thank you, sir."

"Don't worry, sir, I'll row this boat well."

After entering the small room in the ship's cabin, Gao Haiping and Wang Dadan looked around before stopping at the door. Li Dalang then took out the letter from his pocket, tore off the wax seal, and found only one page inside.

After reading the contents of the paper, Li Dalang's expression immediately turned solemn. He raised his hand and splashed water from his teacup onto the paper. After watching the ink spread and become completely illegible, he crumpled the tea-stained paper into a ball and threw it into the river.