Chapter 766
Obtaining Information
One of the bandits happened to look up and see it, mainly because the piece of fish floated past his hand.
He initially tried to pick it up with chopsticks, but failed and watched helplessly as it disappeared.
One of the bandits dropped his chopsticks, his face filled with terror: "This, this..."
The other three bandits were still laughing and crying, paying no attention to him.
One of the bandits swallowed hard, thinking he was overthinking things, but the next moment, a piece of chicken floated up, followed him, and finally disappeared near his arm...
Screams and screams of terror rose one after another—
Yang Shan immediately led the Imperial Guards in and saw four people huddled together, pointing at the table and screaming in terror.
Yang Shan looked over, and a piece of fish disappeared in front of him.
Yang Shan: ...
He turned to look at Pan Yun.
Pan Yun rubbed her forehead and nodded to Yang Shan.
Yang Shan then waved his hand, ordering his men to drag them away and keep them separately in the lower hold.
Only Pan Yun, Yang Shan, and a member of the Imperial Guard remained in the room.
The Imperial Guards stepped forward and closed the door, cutting off the view of those outside.
Pan Yun then spoke, "Come out."
A red figure appeared at the table. She was sitting on a stool, chewing and smiling shyly at them.
Pan Jun handed her a handkerchief, sat down next to her, glanced at the leftover food on the table (she had no appetite), and asked, "What did they say?"
Xiao Hong sat down next to them and repeated in their tone, "If I die here, I'm afraid no one will notice even if I get an erection, right?"
After saying that, she flashed and sat down opposite him: "What's the use of eating this stuff when you're about to die?"
Xiao Hong's figure kept flashing back and forth across the four seats: "The Sun family is too stingy. A human life is only worth fifty taels."
……
"The Wang family is truly generous."
"That's true, the Chen family can even abandon their stepson..."
"It's better to follow the prince; at least our families will be safe..."
Xiao Hong exhaled, sat still, and spread her hands, saying, "Then they started screaming in agony for some reason, and then you barged in."
Yang Shan: "...Don't you know why they screamed?"
Xiao Hong feigned ignorance: "Should I know?"
Pan Jun coughed lightly and said, "Lord Yang, they have provided quite a bit of information. Although I don't know which family the Sun family, the Wang family, and the prince are, I think we can find out by carefully investigating along the coast. It depends on how you want to investigate and whether you can continue to investigate."
Yang Shan: "Master Pan, do you know which family the Chen family is?"
Pan Yun laughed and said, "If you had asked me before, I might not have known, but now that you're asking, I really do know. This year, the Chen family provided two ships, a large quantity of weapons, food and medicine, and nearly 100,000 taels of silver to suppress the bandits. They are a model of loyalty to the emperor and love for the people, and are righteous merchants with a great reputation in the martial arts world. However, their stepson is suspected of colluding with Japanese pirates during the bandit suppression and leaking our news of the battle, which almost led to the annihilation of the two allied armies."
Yang Shan's gaze narrowed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "What was the purpose of making such a huge sacrifice? At that time, Master Pan had not yet discovered the Silver Mountain, had he?"
Pan Yun smiled and nodded: "We didn't have time to find out what they were after... I think they were genuinely trying to eliminate the bandits, but these bandits were not the same as the other bandits. However, they didn't want the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Martial Alliance to interfere too much in maritime affairs."
"Using someone else to do the dirty work," Yang Shan thought for a moment and understood. He lowered his eyes and said, "To go to such lengths just to use someone else to do the dirty work, it can't be something only he did, right?"
Pan Yun shrugged: "Who knows? The Chen family is unlikely to tell me. Besides, it was the Chen family's stepson who did the bad thing. The Chen family has made a serious statement that they are unaware of it." Yang Shan stamped his foot and thought: "The alliance between the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Martial Alliance to suppress bandits was tacitly approved by the imperial court. They can't stop it. In order not to damage their own power, they can only send people to participate. If they can lead you to eliminate the opponent, that would be even better."
Pan Yun smiled but remained silent.
Yang Shan murmured, "Ideally, it would be a lose-lose situation, killing our opponent while severely weakening the Martial Alliance and the Celestial Master's Mansion, deterring them from further involvement in maritime affairs. Then they could continue to act with impunity. I just didn't expect..."
Yang Shan looked at Pan Jun, his eyes sparkling: "I didn't expect that the Celestial Master's Mansion and the Martial Alliance would not only wipe out several groups of pirates, but also go to Japan to take revenge. They not only avenged the massacre of the village last year, but also discovered the Silver Mountain. The situation is out of control."
Pan Yun's lips curled slightly.
A smile also flashed in Yang Shan's eyes, and he smiled back at her.
Pan Yun knew that keeping that cannon was the right thing to do; Yang Shan was indeed as upright and fearless as his aura suggested.
She peered through the crack in the door and said solemnly, “Lord Yang, although I don’t know who the prince, the Sun family, and the Wang family they are talking about are, it is clear that the Chen family is insignificant among them. However, the Chen family is a wealthy merchant family in Fujian and a powerful local clan. Their influence is not weak. They are investigating the three families above the Chen family. One of them is even a member of the imperial family. You should be careful.”
Yang Shan nodded: "I will be careful."
Someone outside was calling for Pan Yun: "Master Pan, where is Master Pan? Lord Cao requests your presence—"
Yang Shan: "Although I know it is offensive, I would still like to ask Master Pan, how much silver did the ship bring back?"
Pan Yun's lips curled slightly: "Two hundred thousand taels."
Yang Shan slightly opened his eyes, exhaled, and murmured, "It really is a silver mountain..."
He clasped his hands in a respectful bow and solemnly said, "Please take care, Master Pan."
Pan Yun clasped his hands in return, saying, "Take care, Lord Yang."
The Imperial Guards watched silently from the side, then opened the door.
Pan Yun left with Xiao Hong, and as soon as they stepped outside, she called out with a smile to the people who were searching for her: "This humble Taoist is here—"
The officers from the Maritime Trade Office came looking for her. As soon as they saw her, they ran over and said urgently, "Master Pan, please go and see! Master Wang won't let us unload the goods. He said we have to wait for you to arrive. But we can't find you anywhere on the ship. We had to ask many people before we found out that you had come to the main ship."
Pan Yun asked, "The angel is on the main ship, why doesn't Lord Cao come to the main ship to request an audience with Lord Yang?"
The official smiled and said, "Master Pan is joking. Lord Cao's official rank is above Lord Yang's. When an envoy returns from overseas, he should be reporting to the Maritime Trade Office to report for duty."
Pan Yun understood that there are rules in officialdom, and the rule is that Yang Shande should take the initiative to see Cao Jixiang.
The official laughed and said, "However, the prefect has already brought people to welcome the delegation's fleet after learning that it has docked in Quanzhou. Master Pan, let's go to your ship first to check the cargo."
Pan Yun nodded.
They said they were counting goods, but they were actually counting silver.
Cao Jixiang has been eagerly waiting for these past few months.
He also knew that Japan's silver mines were starting from scratch and were being mined secretly, so it wouldn't be quick. However, the maritime trade strategy was still pending, and he was eager to make a contribution and lift the maritime ban, so he kept hoping for Pan Yun's return.
Finally, he got what he had been waiting for.
Upon meeting, he hurriedly went to greet him with a big smile: "Master Pan, your return is timely! This batch of silver has arrived in the capital just in time for the New Year, so it can be presented as tribute before the New Year. It's a good omen!"
Pan Yun: "It's a stroke of good fortune."
Cao Jixiang moved closer to her and asked in a low voice, "But how much is there? Is it enough to present as a gift?"
Pan Yun also lowered his voice and said, "Two hundred thousand taels."
Cao Jixiang's eyes shone brightly, his face crinkling with excitement as he exclaimed, "As expected of Master Pan!" (End of Chapter)