Chapter 82 I’m back
When Yangzhou Tongzhi Ye Yuan was handling official business, a lawyer walked in and said, "Sir, there is an invitation letter for you, sent by Hanlin Academy Editor Ou Zanghua."

"Editor of the Hanlin Academy?"

Ye Yuan paused and said, "Bring me the invitation."

The lawyer immediately handed over the invitation and then stepped back a few steps.

Ye Yuan picked up the invitation and took a look at it. Ou Zanghua only said that he was passing by and wanted to meet with his senior brother.

Because Ye Yuan was a fellow Jinshi in the 18th year of Hongzhi, and the examiner of the palace examination that year was Li Dongyang.
Therefore, if Ye Yuan is thick-skinned enough, he really deserves the title of "senior brother" from Ou Zanghua.

After putting down the invitation, Ye Yuan said, "Master Zhang, let's postpone the Wang family's banquet tonight!"

"Yes, my lord."

In the evening at the hour of You, the shadow of the golden brake sways on the water, and the sun shines like a fiery pearl.

Ye Yuan came to the dock in a sedan chair and saw the sand ship docked on the shore.

Ou Zanghua was standing on the boat. When he saw a refined middle-aged man dressed like a scholar, he knew who the visitor was.

He stepped off the boat and said, "Brother Ye, I have heard of you for a long time!"

"Editor Ou, I have long heard of your great name!" Ye Yuan bowed in return and responded with a smile.

The two of them got on the boat together. Various delicious dishes were already placed on the table, and Lu Fang sat on one side.

Ou Zanghua introduced the two of them, and they got to know each other.

In the imperial court, civil officials and eunuchs were naturally opposed to each other. But in the local areas, the two got along well.

After all, everyone is in a relationship of mutual benefit, so just handle official matters in an official manner and private matters in a private manner.

As Ye Yuan got on the boat, Ou Zanghua asked the helmsman to take the boat. Everyone ate and drank while cruising the river and enjoying the scenery on both sides of the river. Isn't it beautiful?
Ou Zanghua and Ye Yuan had a lot of topics to talk about, but in order not to neglect Lu Fang, they would also talk about topics that the other party was interested in, such as introducing the beautiful scenery of Yangzhou.

Just as the three were chatting happily, several large ships slowly surrounded them.

Zhang Peng and Zhao Hu reacted immediately and walked over to Lu Fang and whispered a reminder in her ear.

Lu Fang paused and glanced at Ou Zanghua quietly. No wonder this guy arranged for Qu Yang to get off the ship and buy a large amount of supplies as soon as he arrived in Yangzhou. He spent money like water. It turned out that he was waiting here!
However, Lu Fang had no intention of spoiling the show, but said, "Master Ye, although Yangzhou is good, it has flaws."

"What does Lu Nei Shi mean by this?" Ye Yuan asked with some confusion.

The next moment, a rough voice came from the water: "Brothers, we can't let the big fish get away this time, bring the boat over!"

Ou Zanghua took a sip of wine, his expression very calm.

Ye Yuan's expression turned cold, he put down the cup heavily, and shouted: "Who dares to cause trouble in the canal?!"

The man on the boat shouted arrogantly: "I am the subordinate of Huang Zhongliu, the Golden Bearded Dragon, and Li Miaozi, the Overturned Carp. Who are you, the scoundrel?"

Ye Yuan's face was gloomy. Looking at the silent Ou Zanghua and the smiling Lu Fang, he had some guesses in his mind.

But no matter what, this matter cannot be blamed on these two people.

Then, Ye Yuan stood up and said, "I am Ye Yuan, the co-governor of Yangzhou. You all should leave immediately!"

"I'm still here, Jiang Yao, the prefect of Yangzhou!" Li Miaozi laughed and said, "Brothers, go ahead!"

Following Li Miaozi's order, many bandits bit their knives and prepared to climb onto the boat along the rope.

Seeing this, Ou Zanghua said, "Brother Ye, let's retreat first and don't fight these desperate criminals."

After saying that, he asked Zhang Peng, Zhao Hu and Qu Yang to cut the rope together, and asked the helmsman to control the sand ship to the shore.

Ye Yuan's face turned pale and blue, and after a while he said, "This is because I didn't manage it strictly. You two can stay in Yangzhou for two more days. I will give you an explanation."

"Brother Ye, as the saying goes, to catch a thief, catch his leader. In my opinion, Li Miaozi is just a small fish, and Huang Zhongliu is the big boss." Ou Zanghua reminded with a smile.

"Thank you, editor, for your advice!" Ye Yuan bowed.

When the boat reached the shore, Ou Zanghua said "Excuse me", grabbed Ye Yuan's belt, and used Qinggong to take him off the boat. Ye Yuan's guards had been following the boat on the shore, and when they saw their master safely get off the boat, they immediately surrounded him.

Ye Yuan said indifferently: "Send the Canal Transport Guards here, and from today on, clear out the canal bandits!"

"Yes!"

The guards responded. Although this kind of thing happened every two years, in the past the officers and soldiers would just take a few small actions and let it go.

But this time.
The guards looked at the pirates who dared to get off the boat and slowly drew their swords. The pirates' good days were over.

That night, Huang Zhongliu was on his boat, hugging two skinny horses from Yangzhou, drinking wine and eating meat with his brothers, and he was having a great time.

The next second, a big hole was made in his boat, and his brothers fell down one by one.

Huang Zhongliu was startled, but he steadied himself and shouted, "Who is so blind? How dare you offend Grandpa Huang!"

"We're arresting you!" A row of soldiers from the Caoyun Guard rushed in with broadswords in hand. A captain shouted, "Catch the imperial criminal Huang Zhongliu. Hold your head and squat if you don't want to die!"

When the pirates heard this, they thought it was just a formality like before and they all laid down their weapons.

When the Caoyunwei soldiers tied him up, Huang Zhongliu realized something was wrong.

After cursing "you bastard!", he decisively turned around and picked up his machete, intending to fight to the end.

Unexpectedly, the captain was also quite powerful. He rushed forward and slashed at Huang Zhongliu with his sword one after another. Huang Zhongliu could only raise his sword to block.

In the end, the hundred households' sword shadows overlapped layer by layer, and they were like a single chop, bursting out with extraordinary power, chopping Huang Zhongliu to the ground with one chop, breaking all his meridians, and turning him into a disabled man.

"Hmph, you don't overestimate your capabilities."

The huge gang collapsed under the attack of the Cao Yunwei. Huang Zhongliu was dragged out by two guards like a dead dog and thrown into jail.

In a daze, Huang Zhongliu seemed to hear a familiar voice. He looked up and saw a man and a woman standing outside the fence.

"Huang Zhongliu, our second meeting was very dramatic, right?" Ou Zanghua looked at him and said calmly.

"It's you?"

Huang Zhongliu laughed and said, "I heard that there is a Jinshi named Ou Zanghua. I bet it's just a coincidence because I have always had good luck in gambling."

"Maybe your luck is ruined, so you lost a big one." Ou Zanghua said calmly after hearing this.

“But I don’t accept it.”

Huang Zhongliu stared at Ou Zanghua with tears of blood: "I can be defeated by you in an upright manner, instead of being caught by the transport guards you called in! You are bullying the weak with your strength!"

"Yes!" Ou Zanghua nodded and said slowly: "I just did what you did before."

"Without your group of brothers, can you accomplish anything by fighting alone?"

Huang Zhongliu opened his mouth, but was speechless for a moment.

"You are nothing but a hypocritical person who takes advantage of your power to bully others. Why are you pretending to be so heroic?" Ou Zanghua said, turned around and was about to leave.

Huang Zhongliu came to his senses, climbed to the fence and shouted, "I'm going to die, please let my brother go!"

Ou Zanghua's voice came from afar: "What kind of joke are you talking about? Letting them go is not worthy of the countless corpses under the canal?"

"what!!!"

Listening to the desperate howls coming from behind, Ou Zanghua showed no sign of softening his heart.

He returned to his boat, and the Yangzhou prefect Jiang Yao, the Yangzhou co-prefect Ye Yuan, and the Yangzhou magistrate Chen Yi all sent him gifts and invitations.

Ou Zanghua threw away the invitation and returned the gift intact. He only left a sentence "Take care of yourself" and asked the helmsman to set the boat sail.

Seeing this, Lu Fang returned to his room and added a few more sentences to his diary.
(End of this chapter)