The envoys still harboured some doubts about the words of the Suzhou Prefect’s aide.
After all, the idea of over forty thousand Japanese pirates attacking a city and being reduced to just a few hundred survivors sounded far too exaggerated.
When subordinates report victories upward, don’t they always inflate the numbers? Since ancient times, hasn’t that been the usual pattern?
There was probably a fair bit of exaggeration here.
Another day passed, and when the envoys reached Dezhou in Shandong Province, they encountered a massive prisoner-escort caravan—over a thousand strong, hauling more than a dozen carts covered with tarps and escorting over four hundred bound Japanese pirate captives.
More than half of those captives were clearly pirates—balding foreheads in the crescent-moon style, fierce expressions, ruthless gazes, dressed in tattered clothes, some with tattoos.
In the middle was a prison cart holding a one-legged pirate, his face dark with malice and brimming with resentment, as if he’d been abandoned by all.
Being locked in a prison cart meant he wasn’t an ordinary pirate—likely a pirate chieftain of some rank.
Seeing this caravan, the two envoys couldn’t help but recall the Suzhou victory messengers they’d met the previous day.
Could this caravan be from Suzhou too?!
If it was, then the claim of Suzhou annihilating thirty to forty thousand pirates was probably pretty close to the truth!
Good heavens.
Suzhou really had wiped out thirty to forty thousand pirates, with Zhu Ping’an playing a pivotal role, turning the tide!
When Lord Zhu had killed two hundred and ninety pirates in the sea sacrifice battle, the reward deliberations had already troubled the capital’s bigwigs for over ten days, now, with thirty to forty thousand pirates gone, heaven knows how long they’d agonize over this massive achievement.
Heh, there’d be quite a show to watch, this was getting more and more interesting.
On their way here, Eunuch Feng had asked them to send his regards to Lord Zhu, showing that his relationship with Zhu wasn’t ordinary, Eunuch Feng was now a major figure in the inner palace, ever since the bedchamber lottery strategy was implemented, his influence there had grown steadily.
The higher Lord Zhu climbed in rank, the more indirect benefits Eunuch Feng would reap.
Sure, the Ming dynasty had ironclad rules forbidding inner court eunuchs from forming ties with outer court officials, but rules were rules, and reality was reality—in practice, which powerful inner court eunuch didn’t ally with outer court officials?
Besides, the ironclad rules didn’t ban normal interactions between inner and outer court figures, as long as it wasn’t too blatant, who could complain? They crossed paths on official business, exchanged normal pleasantries—nothing could be more natural, if they didn’t interact, how would work get done? No one could fault that.
Lord Zhu, so young yet already a top scholar, sent down to Jiangnan and still racking up unparalleled feats—no wonder Eunuch Feng wanted to build a good rapport with him.
At this rate, Lord Zhu becoming a marquis or even a prime minister was just a matter of time.
True, he’d crossed swords with Yan Song’s faction, but his future was limitless, and his mentor, Grand Secretary Xu, was growing closer to Yan Song—if Xu mediated, turning foes into friends wasn’t impossible!
Plus, with Zhu racking up such colossal merit again, even Yan Song’s faction would find it hard to suppress him now.
This was a chance for us to cosy up to Lord Zhu properly.
After some mental gymnastics, the two eunuchs ordered the factory guards to inquire about the caravan, to confirm if they were indeed from Suzhou heading to the capital with captives.
“Reporting to the lords, they are indeed a prisoner-escort team from Suzhou heading to the capital, they’re carrying over ten thousand pirate heads, more than four hundred pirate captives, and押解ing a pirate chieftain named Chen Dong,” the factory guard reported back.
“We see, thank you for your efforts,” the two eunuchs nodded, so it was Suzhou’s caravan after all.
Over ten thousand pirate heads alone—looks like the Suzhou victory wasn’t exaggerated, Lord Zhu had indeed achieved another monumental feat.
With these captives and heads, the capital’s bigwigs wouldn’t be able to deny the Suzhou triumph even if they wanted to.
Lord Zhu was in for another promotion.
Hmm, we’d better seize this chance to get on his good side, the two eunuchs exchanged a knowing glance, no words needed.
“They’ve got quite the presence, with so many in their group, the counties along the way might hesitate to host them, Eunuch Li, how about this—we write a note, stamp it with the factory guard seal, and ask the counties en route to assist them as much as possible?” one eunuch suggested.
“Good idea, the sooner they reach the capital, the sooner the Emperor will be pleased, and the Emperor’s happiness is our top priority as servants,” the other eunuch agreed instantly.
So, they quickly penned a note, affixed their seals, and had a factory guard deliver it to the leader of Suzhou’s caravan.
The leader was Liu Mu, who was flattered beyond measure when he received the note from the factory guard, these were envoys from the capital, they’d already revealed their identities during the earlier questioning, with their note, the journey ahead would be smooth sailing—no county would dare refuse them now, leaving them to camp in the wild with supply troubles.
“Thank you, sirs, may I have the honour of your esteemed names? This humble servant hopes to repay your kindness in the future,” Liu Mu clasped his fists and asked.
“Heh, my family name’s Zhang, this one’s Li, we’re here on the Emperor’s orders to announce the sea sacrifice victory rewards, Suzhou’s one of our stops, you’ve scored another big win in Suzhou, we might just meet again,” one eunuch chuckled.
“Alright, get moving, the sooner you deliver the captives, the better,” the other eunuch waved a hand, signalling Liu Mu to set off.
“Thank you, Eunuch Zhang, thank you, Eunuch Li,” Liu Mu clasped his fists again in gratitude, then led the caravan onward.
Sure enough, with the envoys’ note clearing the way, Liu Mu’s journey became ridiculously easy, no county dared shut them out anymore.
The next day, in the afternoon, Vice Minister Wang of the Ministry of Personnel dressed up in fresh robes, grabbed a hefty gift, and headed out—he was off to a private banquet hosted by Yan Shifan.
That day, after finalizing the sea sacrifice victory reward document, which the Emperor reviewed and approved, he’d barely gotten home when a messenger from the Yan residence delivered an invitation.
Opening it, Wang Shilang saw it was from Yan Shifan himself, inviting him to dine that afternoon.
Overjoyed, Wang Shilang understood—this had to be thanks to that sea sacrifice reward document, especially the part about Zhu Ping’an’s rewards.
Truth be told, Wang Shilang had long been part of Yan’s faction, but with so much talent in the group, he’d never had a real chance to shine, now he’d seized one, and look—Yan Shifan was inviting him to dinner.
Soon, Wang Shilang arrived at the restaurant Yan Shifan had chosen, a prime spot on the second floor by a crossroads—a golden location.
