Chapter 278: Incompetent and Angry

Zu An wasn’t roused up by his fierce berating at all. He instead turned to Zheng Dan beside him.

“Isn’t your young miss here? She’s obviously the one who will now take over this type of huge matter. If she wants me to take responsibility then I will, if she doesn’t then I won’t. What does miss Zheng think?” Zu An with a chuckle while looking at her.

Zheng Dan’s face blushed. Was this person deliberately trying to take advantage of her here? However, she still replied, “Everything the young master is doing is for the sake of public affairs, so how could I make you take responsibility?”

Zu An said with a hearty laugh, “I’m really happy that miss Zheng doesn’t need me to take responsibility. Seems like our relationship isn’t bad.”

From the side, Sang Qian’s brows furrowed. He subconsciously adjusted his helmet, feeling like his hat really was a bit uncomfortable today.

“Since the young miss has already given the word, then all of you should follow me.” Hou Yun walked in front and indicated for the men under him to open up the cabin.

Sang Qian waved his hand. His soldiers entered in a single file and carried out a search.

Zu An gestured to his men as well, having the Chu clan’s people follow the others inside. He already didn’t have any trust in Sang Hong’s people.

He still didn’t feel at ease, so he followed them as well.

Sang Qian and Zheng Dan exchanged a look. The two of them also followed the rest in. 

Sacks were piled up like a mountain inside. The inspections of these soldiers were extremely rough. They directly stabbed their blades into the sacks and then pulled them back out.

When he watched cotton continuously flow out, Hou Yun couldn’t bear to continue watching. He immediately said, “Everyone, please be more careful! Just tell me which bag you all wish to inspect, I’ll open it up for you!”

But no one paid him any attention, so he could only run over to Zu An. “Chu clan’s young master, you’ve already inspected what you want to inspect. Your respected self should feel at ease now, right?”

Zu An declined to comment. He directly pushed him aside and entered the deepest level. He saw densely packed backs piled up on each other.

He wanted to examine the bags at the very bottom, but unless someone completely unloaded the goods on this ship, it wouldn’t be realistic at all.

But he quickly reacted. He subconsciously used his own world’s experiences as a reference. This is a world of cultivation, the strength of cultivators was many times greater than ordinary people.

As such, he helped himself to these bags, moving out bags after bags that were covering those bottommost sacks.

Chu clan’s guards also rushed over to help. Soon afterwards, they made a three square foot hole.

“Chu clan’s young master, what are you doing?!” Hou Yun panicked. He immediately rushed over to stop them, but he was stopped by Feng Daniu and the others.

Zu An’s face was extremely dark. He fished out the deepest sacks here.

“Why is butler Hou so nervous?” Zu An tossed those sacks right in front of his feet.

“Nervous? I’m not nervous at all, hahaha~” Hou Yun laughed a few times. However, everyone could see the fine sweat on his face.

Zu An gave Zheng Dan and Sang Qian a look, snickering inwardly when he saw their grave expressions.

He fished out a blade and stabbed into those sacks.

Everyone reached out their necks. What came out wasn’t cotton.

But what made Zu An disappointed was that there wasn’t any white salt, but rather yellow sand.

“Why did you store yellow sand among the goods?” Zu An was startled. His previous bad premonition finally became a reality. That was why he wasn’t all that surprised right now either.

Hou Yun chuckled. “The young master has never had to fend for yourself, so of course you don’t understand our difficulties! These are bags used for us to hold the ship down, to take shelter from great winds and great waves.”

Everyone knew that Zu An was merely an impoverished kid before he became the Chu clan’s young master, while Hou Yun seemed to have done quite well for himself these years. That was why everyone who heard his words immediately felt like they were filled with mockery.

Zu An’s eyes narrowed. This guy wants to play games with me! Sure, come at me!

He didn’t feel like speaking any superfluous words either. He examined the other bags too, seeing that most of them were yellow sand. He sneered. “Is there a need for so much of this to hold down the ship?”

Hou Yun began to wipe at the fine sweat covering his forehead. It doesn’t break the law if we bring some more yellow sand onto the ship, right?”

Zu An pointed at the goods in this ship. “If I am not mistaken, most of the goods on this ship should be yellow sand? Is this how the Zheng clan does business?”

When he said these words, he was already looking at Zheng Dan.

Zheng Dan frowned slightly. This type of action was indeed a bit suspicious.

“This… this…” That Hou Yun continuously wiped at his sweat. He clearly couldn’t find any excuses to get himself out of this situation.

“Bring him away and interrogate him!” Zu An directly ordered.

Sang Qian stood out. “I fear that this might be unsuitable. The Chu clan doesn’t have enforcing authority. This task ought to be handed over to our police camp.”

Zu An said coldly, “Today was supposed to be a smooth operation, yet after making a trip to the police camp, the illicit salt smugglers received news ahead of time, swapping out the goods. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to still leave this to the police camp?”

Sang Qian became furious. “Are you saying that I leaked out information?”

You have successfully trolled Sang Qian for +213 Rage!

Zu An replied indifferently, “I didn’t accuse Commander Sang for leaking out anything. It is just that those in the underground businesses have eyes everywhere. There might be spies on the inside. I have no choice but to act carefully.”

“Nonsense! You are slandering me, slanding my River Patrol Army’s hard working soldiers!” Sang Qian shot him a hateful look.

The other River Patrol Army soldiers all had unkind expressions. They all moved their hands to their swords’ handles.

You have successfully trolled River Patrol Army soldier A for +66 Rage!

You have successfully trolled River Patrol Army soldier B for +66 Rage!

You have successfully trolled River Patrol Army soldier C for +66 Rage!

…

Chu clan’s guards rushed over, their expressions nervous as they looked at the soldiers around them.

Zu An wasn’t worried at all. Sang Hong went so far to scheme against the Chu clan, so he was definitely not someone who would use force.

So many people already know that I came to the pier, and there are even so many Chu clan guards here. If something really does happen, then it’ll really blow up.

Zheng Dan took a step forward when she saw that the tension was escalating. She blocked between both sides and said, “Ah Zu, your words are suspecting our Zheng clan for participating in illegal trade.”

“That’s not my intention at all. But if those under you are hiding their illegal activities from those higher up, then all of you will become victims as well. All of you probably want to get to the bottom of this affair too, right?” Zu An replied.

“Of course we want to get to the bottom of this, but if we let others find out that our Zheng clan’s butler was caught, what would they think? They will definitely start doubting the Zheng clan first. This will deal irreversible damage to our clan,” said Zheng Dan.

“Those who are clean will remain clean, those who are dirty will have their filth exposed. Why does miss Zheng need to worry about these things?” Zu An smiled. He clearly had no intention of backing down here.

Sang Qian definitely couldn’t let him bring this person away. He found himself in an impasse.

Right at this time, a group of orderly footsteps sounded. Then a loud laughter sounded. “In that case, why don’t you just hand him to us?”

Zu An turned around, discovering that it was another familiar face. Vice Magistrate Pang Chun brought over a group of bailiffs.

Sang Qian said coldly, “I believe this is our police camp’s area of jurisdiction? Isn’t the vice magistrate overstepping your bounds?”

Pang Chun was also enraged. He said with a slight smile, “Commander Sang is a bit too excited.Since neither side wishes for the suspect to be brought away by the other party, then wouldn’t it be better for a neutral third party like us to interrogate him?”

Neutral my ass! thought Sang Qian

But Pang Chun immediately added, “Commander Sang and the Zheng clan share an engagement. Since someone from the Zheng clan is even involved, shouldn’t we do things in a way that avoids the most suspicion?”

Sang Qian was shocked. He understood that there was already no way he could bring this person away. In that case, giving this person to Pang Chun was still better than giving him to the Chu cla.

Zu An didn’t have any objections either. Pang Chun was someone on City Lord Xie’s side. Strictly speaking, City Lord Xie and the Chu Clan weren’t on the same side, but they weren’t on the same side as Sang Hong either. The Xie clan and the Chu clan’s relationship was still considered close.

Pang Chun quickly brought people away. At the same time, he brought many people here as witnesses.

Zu An also hurriedly returned to contact the Chu clan about what happened.

When both sides left, Sang Qian called Zheng Dan over to a hidden corner. He looked at her with dissatisfaction, “Why was Hou Yun left behind? Why were all those sands in the boat field with yellow sand? Anyone could tell that something is wrong here!”

Zheng Dan replied, “It was too late by the time we received news. Even if we tried to stall longer, it still wouldn’t have been enough. Where would we be able to find that much cotton in such a short time? The fact that we have enough yellow sand as a substitute is already the best result.”

“As for Hou Yun, we have to at least have someone make sure that these things are completed quickly, right? He was the best candidate.”

Sang Qian knew that she was telling the truth. But when he thought about how Hou Yun was brought away, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. “But Hou Yun was still brought away by Pan Chun’s men in the end! Things will get really tricky if he ends up saying something he shouldn’t say!”

Zheng Dan smiled, “Don’t worry, uncle Hou has already worked for our clan for so long, he is trustworthy. He has already gone through several decades of storms too, so some small things won’t scare him. Furthermore, there wasn’t any concrete proof today.”

Sang Qian said with a sneer, “Many times, proof isn’t needed at all for them to handle a case. You might not know how vicious those Yamen’s methods are. The number of individuals who could endure their torture are a trifling few. That Hou Yun seems like he’s had it quite good recently. If he was in my hands, I guarantee that he would spill everything within three days.”

Zheng Dan sighed. “That is why we must save him as soon as possible to prevent worries from growing.”

“He’s already in Pang Chun’s hands. Chu clan’s men are paying close attention to this situation too. How are we going to save him?” Sang Qian said in dissatisfaction.

Zheng Dan’s expression was still calm. “Don’t worry. I’ve already thought of a way as soon as I was notified. I’ve already informed Uncle Hou as well. He should have already mentally prepared himself for a potential capture.”

“What method?” Sang Hong hurriedly asked.

“You’ll find out tomorrow morning. Of course, I will need your father’s cooperation at that time,” replied Zheng Dan.

Sang Qian didn’t feel like asking more when he saw how she feigned mysteriousness, or else he’ll make himself look dumb. Instead, he asked another question that he was concerned about. “By the way, where did all the illegal salt go?”

“We were in a rush, so of course we dumped it into the river. Otherwise, our Zheng clan would be finished.” Zheng Dan sighed with pity.

“That dogshit Zu An made us lose so much silver again!” When he heard this, Sang Qian immediately cursed out in fury.

You have successfully trolled Sang Qian for +999 Rage!

Zheng Dan still had the smile of a wise and virtuous lady, but inside, she released a sigh. This fiance of hers normally still looked a bit suave, but just look at how flustered he was getting after encountering trouble! He could only get angry from his incompetence. He was just too inferior to his father in this aspect.

On the contrary, that fella Zu An normally looked like an idiot, but he was terrifyingly calm and difficult to deal with at crucial times.

When she recalled what happened between the two of them earlier, she suddenly felt her heartbeat quicken. Her fair cheeks also unknowingly flushed with a faint layer of redness.