“Boom—”

Just as the officers and soldiers were fighting with the Liangshan bandits, a loud noise suddenly came from the stern of the ship.

All the Liangshan bandits were stunned for a moment.

Yue Fei sneered, knowing that his arrangement had worked, so he fired his spear like a dragon, piercing the chest of the enemy in front of him, and then shouted:

"You have been ambushed, why don't you surrender immediately!"

As the news spread, the morale of the officers and soldiers around him was boosted, and they also shouted with Yue Fei, "You've been fooled."

It turned out that the boat that Yue Fei arranged for evacuation contained not women, children, or valuables, but Fang La's bandit soldiers who were extremely thin from hunger and forced to wear women's clothes, as well as boxes of gunpowder stuffed with gravel.

The real women and children were all hidden in the cabin, protected by a team of soldiers led by Lu Hongti.

Zhu Wu, the "divine military strategist" of Liangshanpo, originally saw that Xi Junyu's martial arts skills were poor and wanted to take care of him, so he gave him the task of chasing women, children and property, but he didn't expect that the other party would fall into the trap.

When Xi Junyu led more than ten boats to catch up with the small boat, all the officers and soldiers on the boats jumped into the river.

Lu Hong, who stayed at the stern, drew his bow and shot a rocket from the stern window, igniting the flammable objects on the boat.

In an instant, there was a violent chain explosion of gunpowder, and the gravel mixed in it shot out, turning Xi Junyu and the Liangshan bandits who had stepped onto the boat into charred sieves.

The Liangshan bandits were already being beaten back by the officers and soldiers, and their morale dropped even further when they heard their shouts.

After a bloody battle, the Liangshan bandits who boarded the ship were defeated by Ye Zixun, Yue Fei and his soldiers.

Of the 108 famous Liangshan heroes, eight died on the boat and three were shot dead by Ning Yi. The rest retreated unwillingly under the leadership of the military strategist Zhu Wu.

…

…

After cleaning, the deck was still filled with a strong smell of blood.

Ning Yi stood at the stern, holding a platinum-colored M1911, and looked at the seven or eight ships sailing away in the distance with the wind.

Ye Zixun and Lu Hongti came from the back and asked with a smile: "Why don't you let me keep them all?"

Ning Yi glanced at him and shook his head, saying, "Although Liangshan is quite powerful, they are bandits after all. They alone will never be able to obtain the itinerary of the official ship and the information about the secret escort of Fang La's bandits."

"Unless someone in the court is colluding with him..."

Ning Yi paused, then smiled and said, "The people on Liangshan are all lawless and desperate. After being defeated by Yue Fei this time, they probably won't dare to seek revenge on the soldiers."

"Although the Su family and I are a little dangerous, we should not be their first target..."

Ye Zixun said thoughtfully: "Do you want to let them go back and let them take revenge on the person who provided the information behind the scenes?"

Ning Yi smiled and said, "This is the most ideal situation... The real situation is that they are most likely afraid to take action against the person behind the scenes, but even if they don't dare, we still have to talk about what needs to be discussed."

"Whether they want benefits or complain about incorrect intelligence, they definitely want to meet the person behind the scenes."

"…That makes sense!" Ye Zixun nodded, then glanced at the silent Liangshan captives on the deck and said, "But we have captured so many Liangshan bandits, why don't we just interrogate them?"

Ning Yi said helplessly: "The 108 famous Liangshan generals were basically killed by you and me. The rest are just a bunch of pawns. What can they know?"

"Mr. Ning, you are wrong!"

Yue Fei's voice with a hint of laughter came from behind him.

The three of them turned around and immediately saw the young general walking towards them with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, looking like he was in a very good mood.

"Mr. Ning, Miss Lu, Master Ye!"

Yue Fei bowed to the three people, and then said with a smile: "Mr. Ning, there are indeed only small characters left on the Liangshan bandits who boarded the ship, but among the water ghosts that Master Ye caught before, there is a big fish!"

"oh?"

Ning Yi raised his eyebrows, exchanged a glance with Ye Zixun and Lu Hongti, and then followed Yue Fei into the cabin.

Soon, Yue Fei pushed open the door and walked into the room first.

Ning Yi, Ye Zixun and the other two followed closely behind, and soon saw the man trapped on the load-bearing pillar.

The man had a numb expression, his upper body naked, and there were still scars on his body from the previous wounds caused by the silver thread.

Seeing everyone walk into the room, the man looked up at them, sneered, and turned his head away, seeming uncooperative.

"Mr. Ning, please look, this is Zhang Shun, the 'White Shark in the Waves'. It is said that his underwater skills are extremely good. Even if ordinary martial arts masters are more powerful than him, they are no match for him underwater..."

Yue Fei smiled and said, "To be honest, I didn't know this man's identity at first. It was only when the Liangshan bandits who boarded the ship saw him and called out his name that I realized that Master Ye had caught a big fish."

"A big fish?" Ye Zixun looked at him and shook his head. "No more than that."

“…”

When Zhang Shun heard his sarcastic words, he turned around and glared at Ye Zixun.

Ye Zixun raised his eyebrows: "Why, you want to fight with me?"

As he said that, Ye Zixun turned his head and looked at Yue Fei: "Xiao Yuezi, let him go. I think he seems a little unconvinced."

Yue Fei smiled bitterly and said, "Master Ye is joking..."

Zhang Shun sneered, "Ye Zixun, the Three Heroes of Tiannan were supposed to be the leaders of the Tiannan martial arts world, heroes like Fang La, the Holy Lord. But I never thought that the Three Heroes of Tiannan, the masters of martial arts, would become lackeys of the imperial court, working for the corrupt officials of the imperial court - bah, I despise you!"

Zhang Shun spat and looked at Ye Zixun with contempt.

"Hey, little guy, you have quite a temper!"

Ye Zixun was delighted. He rolled up his sleeves and yelled at Yue Fei to let him go so that he could fight him for three hundred rounds.

Yue Fei stopped him with a wry smile, and after much persuasion, he finally persuaded Ye Zixun to leave the room, leaving only Ning Yi and Lu Hongti in the room.

After closing the door, Yue Fei and Ye Zixun quickly walked forward, stuck to the door, and listened curiously to the movements inside.

It's a pity that Mr. Ning, who was full of wisdom and strategy, did not use any amazing means to interrogate Zhang Shun. He just chatted with him casually for a few words, and then threatened Zhang Shun with the so-called friendship of the Liangshan heroes.

Basically, if Zhang Shun didn't tell the truth, he would kill all the Liangshan captives on the boat.

This method does seem a bit low-level when used to deal with people like Zhang Shun.

Seeing that Zhang Shun refused to speak, Ning Yi nodded, said nothing more, and walked out of the room with Lu Hongti.

"Mr. Ning."

Yue Fei saluted, and then asked quickly: "What should we do now? Should we just keep him here?"

Ning Yi smiled and said, "Find the darkest, dampest, most cramped room, lock him in, prepare seven days' worth of food, then clear all the surrounding rooms, and forbid anyone from having any conversation with him."

"Once we get to Jiangning Wharf, don't let him out. Keep him locked up for a few days and see what happens."

…Is that all that’s needed?

Yue Fei was confused, but still nodded in agreement.

After he left, Ye Zixun looked at Ning Yi with a strange expression.

"Brother, do you have to be so cruel? It's fine to lock him up in a small dark room, but you also put him in the bottom of the cabin with a bumpy ride. Aren't you afraid that this sensory deprivation experiment will cause him to have a mental breakdown and you won't be able to get anything out of him?"

"So know when to stop..."

Ning Yi turned his head and looked through the window at Zhang Shun who was still unaware of what was happening in the room. He smiled and said, "Good guys are all tough guys. It shouldn't be a problem for them to hold on for seven days..."

Ye Zixun turned his head and looked at Zhang Shun, then shook his head: "It's uncertain."

Lu Hongti stood by and looked at the two people in front of him silently.

To be honest, she, like Yue Fei, didn't know what the point of doing this was. But looking at the looks of Ning Yi and Ye Zixun, they seemed to agree that this was an extremely inhumane way of interrogation.

...Is it really that mysterious?

Lu Hongti was wondering in his heart whether he could give it a try after returning to Luliang Mountain.

…

…

That evening, the ship entered Jiangning and docked at the pier.

Jiangning is still as bustling as before, with people coming and going on the dock.

Ning Yi and Ye Zixun bid farewell to Lu Hongti, and then together with Su Tan'er and others, they found the nearby Su family warehouse, planning to take a carriage from here to take the pregnant Su Tan'er back.

When the shopkeeper at the dock saw Su Tan'er and Ning Yi, his face was immediately filled with excitement.

Before they could ask with a smile about the Su family's recent situation, an old man in gorgeous clothes came from behind.

"...Mr. Kang, why is it you?"

Ning Yi looked at the old man with some surprise, and Ye Zixun also looked at him curiously.

If he guessed correctly, this old man was Princess Chengguo's consort Kang Xian. It was he who played chess with Qin Siyuan on the banks of the Qinhuai River in Jiangning City and got to know Ning Yi, a man with amazing chess skills.

Among the many important figures in the Wu Dynasty, this prince consort and the right prime minister Qin Siyuan were the ones who appreciated Ning Yi the most and had the best relationship with him.

Seeing Ning Yi bowing to him, Kang Xian smiled and said, "I originally planned to wait for you to return home and then invite you to visit my house, but after hearing about what happened on the boat, I hurried over to see you..."

Ning Yi smiled and said, "Mr. Kang is well-informed. The ship has just docked and you have already heard about it?"

Kang Xian laughed and shook his head, saying, "You little brat, you actually suspect me... Never mind, I'm not afraid to tell you that this Secret Investigation Department was actually established by me and Lao Qin... a few of us old guys. The Chengguo Princess's Mansion is in charge of Jiangning's Secret Investigation Department. There are also people from my Secret Investigation Department on your ship. Do you want to guess who it is?"

Ye Zixun raised his hand and said, "It's not me anyway!"

Kang Xian glanced at him and said thoughtfully, "This should be Ye Zixun, one of the three heroes of Tiannan, Grandmaster Ye, right?"

Ye Zixun smiled and bowed, "Mr. Kang, you are too polite. I just know some farming skills. It's nothing, nothing..."

Kang Xian shook his head: "Master Ye is too modest... The legend of three people defeating thousands of troops in Hangzhou has spread. Although people in the world seem to be dismissive of it and think it is an exaggeration, in fact..."

Kang Xian paused, then smiled and said, "After your two brothers disappeared in Huzhou, people from all walks of life have been trying to find out about them. The protection forces around the dignitaries in the Southeast Road have been strengthened. It can be said that one stone fell, and the whole world was shocked."

"I am so envious!"