The Suzhou prefectural government office was located on Fuqian Street in Wu County.

In addition to the prefect, the official residences of the associate prefect, the assistant magistrate, and the prosecutor were also in the government office.

The weather finally cleared up today and the water level of Taihu Lake finally dropped. My nerves, which had been tense all the time, can finally relax a little.

The prefect finished his official business early and asked the assistant clerks to do what they loved to amuse themselves.

Judge Zhang Jiong was just planning to have a couple of drinks when his long-servant reported that Vice President Liu and Mr. Weng had arrived.

Since they were close friends, he invited them both to come directly to the back hall.

"You've come just in time. Let's have a drink together?" Judge Zhang greeted Liu Zhengqi and Weng Fan with a smile.

Although the two were starving, they had no appetite for drinking and even cried for help.

"What's going on?" Zhang Jiong was surprised. The power of the Dongting Chamber of Commerce was not much smaller than that of the prefectural government. He didn't know what had happened, but it could scare the two high-ranking officials of the Chamber of Commerce who were so powerful in Suzhou City.

At this critical moment, and since everyone was on the same side, Weng Fan recounted everything that had happened in detail, even the fact that Mr. Liu had instructed Mr. Yu Liu.

After hearing this, Judge Zhang pointed at Liu Zhengqi and cursed, "You are truly lawless. It's ok for you to just do small things on weekdays, but you actually dared to order the pirates to rob openly!"

"Alas, how could I not know the seriousness of the matter?" Mr. Liu said dejectedly, "It is true that the Chamber of Commerce had just issued a ban, and Wu Ji openly transported grain into Kunshan. Master Xu was very unhappy and wanted to teach Wu Ji a lesson..."

"What did you do when Xu Kun asked you to do it?" Zhang Tongpan glared at Liu Yuanwai and said, "If you can't handle it anymore, go find him. Why are you coming to me?"

"Didn't Lord Xu go back to his hometown two days ago? Second Master Xu also went back to Songjiang and is not in Suzhou City right now." Mr. Liu said with a bitter face, "It was originally a small matter. Who would have thought that Miss Jiang would be on the boat and it turned out to be like this?"

"You asked for it!" Zhang Tongpan was so angry that he wanted to drink a glass of wine to calm down, but he put it down and said, "Such a big thing must be reported to the governor immediately!"

~~

In the Zen room at the back of the government office, Prefect Cai was discussing Zen with Zen Master Mingjue from the Yunyan Temple in Huqiu.

Although Cai Guoxi was a famous Neo-Confucian official, he loved to talk about Zen.

In a quiet room, burning a stick of incense, sitting cross-legged on a cushion, and chatting with eminent monks about all sorts of confusing matters is truly a great enjoyment in life.

Moreover, Master Mingjue has practiced silent meditation for many years, so he would not correct me if I said something wrong, and I felt no mental pressure at all.

"Zen Master, what happens when no thought arises?" Governor Cai asked softly.

Zen Master Mingjue raised his middle finger.

"What does the Zen master mean is 'in one thought'?" Prefect Cai guessed, twirling his beard.

Zen Master Mingjue smiled but said nothing. If you understand, you understand; if you don’t understand, you don’t understand.

Prefect Cai asked again: "What happens after the birth?"

The Zen master spread out his hands.

Magistrate Cai seemed to understand something and also showed his hands and said, "Shouldn't it be stained by dust?"

Zen Master Mingjue picked up the incense and flowers on the table, and Governor Cai smiled brightly.

He was about to ask further when he heard a gentle knock on the door.

"What's the matter?" Although Magistrate Cai was unhappy that his fun was disturbed, he did not dare to be careless during the flood period.

"Master, the three officials have brought people to see you." The doorman reported softly, "They said they have urgent bandit information to report."

"Oh?" Prefect Cai raised his eyebrows and apologized to the Zen master: "It seems that today is not a good day to talk about Zen."

The Zen master nodded slightly, and at the same time stretched out his thumb and little finger, retracting and retracting them twice.

Prefect Cai then interpreted it, "Yes, Zen is about depth, not length. A moment is eternity."

The Zen master smiled faintly, becoming even more mysterious.

~~

Cai Guoxi came out and changed into his wedding clothes, then went to the flower hall to meet Zhang Tongpan. Weng Fan and the other man hurried to pay their respects to their grandfather.

"No need to be polite." Prefect Cai sat down in the hall and said expressionlessly, "What kind of banditry could make Judge Zhang so anxious?"

"Let them speak." Judge Zhang pointed at Weng Fan and Liu Zhengqi.

"It's like this..." Weng Fan reported the agreed statement to Prefect Cai.

Prefect Cai is in a high position and he doesn't normally interact with him as closely as Magistrate Zhang, so Weng Fan naturally can't speak his mind.

Of course, he would not be involved in Liu Zhengqi's cause and effect.

For example, the day before yesterday, Wu Ji's fleet was hijacked by bandits, and they asked Vice President Liu to mediate. However, Mr. Liu and Steward Wang, who went to negotiate, never returned.

Today the two were really worried, so they went to check the thieves' lair themselves, only to find that the lair had been completely cleared out, leaving only blood on the ground and some broken limbs.

As they spoke, the two men showed the physical evidence in the box to the prefect.

Cai Guoxi saw the expressionless nod behind him and motioned for the two to continue.

"We hurried to the city to report to the authorities, but when we passed Lao Shu Mountain, we found a suspicious fleet suddenly appeared in the long-abandoned Dasheng Bay." Mr. Liu said with a pale face, "It is most likely the group that eliminated the pirates on Dalei Island."

"And he's definitely not a good person," Weng Fan said nervously, "Who would stop there if they were a good person?"

Although Taihu Lake is vast, it is only about 100 miles wide. Unless there is a sudden strong wind and waves, there is no need for the passing fleets to stop midway.

Unless there is some unspeakable secret.

Prefect Cai finally became serious and asked someone to bring a map of Taihu Lake to find the location of Dasheng Bay. He saw that it was only ten miles away from Dongshan and twenty miles away from the town on the shore. He could not help but pay attention to it.

"Can you see clearly what kind of people they are? How many ships do they have? How many people do they have? What equipment do they have?"

The two of them had no idea: "We didn't dare to get close, we just saw a lot of boats..."

"..." Magistrate Cai rolled his eyes at the two men, then patiently asked Mr. Liu, "How many people were there in that gang of pirates who robbed Wu Ji? You should know how many, right?"

Prefect Cai is a sensible man. If Liu Zhengqi had nothing to do with the pirates, people would not have asked him to act as a peacemaker.

This group of gentry has always been like this, on the surface loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but secretly thieves and prostitutes. As the prefect, he certainly couldn't stand it, but he was powerless and could only turn a blind eye.

"This..." Liu Zhengqi hesitated for a while, but fear finally took over and he stammered, "About 200 people."

"What?!" Magistrate Cai was shocked.

On the vast Taihu Lake, two hundred pirates were nothing, but a force that could swallow up two hundred pirates was definitely not to be underestimated.

Although Suzhou City had high walls and thick walls, there was nothing to worry about, but Suzhou was too prosperous and the town had long overflowed the city walls by more than ten miles.

If the gentry and common people outside the city were robbed and killed by pirates, he, as the prefect, would be held responsible.

"Zhang Tongpan, immediately order all the troops in the prefecture to assemble urgently and set up a boat camp at the mouth of Xujiang River." Prefect Cai gave the order in a deep voice: "Also send a message to Wuxian and Changzhou counties, ordering their gunners to assemble immediately and patrol along the Xujiang River! Also, the inspection offices in Hushuguan, Dongshan and other places should immediately guard the sluice gates and report any banditry immediately!"

"Yes!" Judge Zhang quickly stood up and agreed.

At the prefect's order, people inside and outside Suzhou city began to mobilize nervously.

Torches flickered all night, people were in a panic, and I don't know how many people stayed awake all night.

Fortunately, all the hard work was worth it. With the whole city's strict defense, we finally arrived at dawn safely.

ps. Sorry for the late update. I went out to eat Japanese food with my brothers last night. It was the first time we went out to eat this year, and I got a stomachache. I was busy all night last night, and I feel dizzy and confused today... But I won't miss three chapters.