Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 313 Investigate for Me

At half past Chen Shi (7:30 AM), in the rear hall of the imperial camp.

It wasn't as noisy as the front yard, but waves of sound still drifted over.

Boluobuhua sat alone on the folding chair, leaning against the wall, one hand tightly gripping the scabbard, the other unconsciously fiddling with the rough edge of the felt blanket beneath him.

The window was closed, and he had shut it from the inside. There was only an oil lamp lit in the room, the flame flickering and illuminating half of his face. He could hear everything that was happening outside clearly.

The sound of banging on the door, shouting, and a loud "bang"—it was unclear whether the door had been hit or something had fallen over.

With each sound, he involuntarily gripped the scabbard tighter, his knuckles turning white. His ears were perked up, his neck stiff, like a gazelle surrounded by wolves on the grassland. Having been pampered since childhood, he had never felt so disheveled.

Do I regret it? Maybe a little. Perhaps I shouldn't have extorted so much money.

Angry? Of course he was, not just angry at the rioters, but also angry at his men for extorting money from him—he wasn't stupid, and he secretly guessed that his men had taken more money than he had extorted.

Fear? Of course he was. Now he only hoped that the less than two hundred guards inside the camp could hold back the surging crowd outside and prevent him from being put in danger.

In short, my thoughts were in turmoil. I thought of so many things in an instant that my brain felt like it was going to explode, and my face was getting paler and paler.

I don't know how much time passed, but the noise outside seemed to have subsided a bit.

He went to the window and pressed his ear against the crack to listen. The shouting was still going on, but it seemed a little quieter?

After a while, the shouting and cursing gradually subsided, and the banging on the door stopped. The intermittent shouts were like the receding tide, each wave farther away than the last. Then he heard chaotic footsteps, followed by shouts, and the high-pitched whistles that the yamen runners were used to blowing, one after another. Boluobuhua held his breath, pressed himself against the window crack, and dared not move.

The streets gradually quieted down.

Someone shouted something outside, but I couldn't hear it. Then there was the sound of machinery clashing, like a knife being sheathed.

Boluobuhua slowly stepped back from the window, leaned against the wall, stood for a while, and then sat back down on the tatami.

There were several servants inside, all of whom lowered their heads, as if they had not seen anything the Prince of Zhennan had done.

Borobudur's gaze lingered on them for a while.

Each time someone was touched, that person would lower their head deeply, almost touching the ground.

After a long while, Boluobuhua snorted coldly, straightened his clothes, and sat cross-legged in front of the table.

On the table sat a silver pot filled with mare's milk wine, beside which lay half a roasted, golden-brown leg of lamb, and a dish of salted wild chive blossoms. Clearly, he had just finished washing up and hadn't even had breakfast when he was startled, causing him to act so erratically.

Fortunately, no one saw it, if you ignore the few personal maids in the room.

After taking a deep breath, Boluobuhua picked up a small knife and slowly sliced ​​the lamb leg meat, putting it into his mouth one slice at a time.

He had just turned thirty this year. He had a round and broad face with high cheekbones and a thin mustache. He was a rare man among Mongolians with a fair complexion, but at this moment he looked a little too pale.

Not long after, a guard rushed over. Seeing the Prince of Zhennan calmly eating his breakfast, he looked at him with admiration and reported, "This morning, someone threw filth on the gate. When they tried to arrest the culprits, a commotion broke out. Commander Tang and a dozen guards have all disappeared."

Boluobuhua paused in his hand as he sliced ​​the meat, and then raised his eyelids.

"Gone?" His Mandarin was quite good, though the last syllable rose in pitch, carrying the flat tone of the grasslands. "Did they run away, or are they dead?" "Your Majesty, they were... kidnapped. A mob rushed out of the crowd and dragged Commander Tang and his men into the alley. When we went out to look for them, they were nowhere to be found."

Boluobuhua slowly put the sliced ​​meat into his mouth, chewed it, and then suddenly slammed the knife in his hand onto the table.

With a loud "bang," the silver pot jerked and the mare's milk wine spilled out in a small puddle.

"What about Harabuhua?" His face was very gloomy.

"Sima has led his men to mobilize troops."

"Deploy troops?" Borobuhua thought for a moment. Considering his own safety, he stopped getting angry and instead snorted coldly, saying, "I do need to deploy troops. There are only two hundred people in the Prince's mansion, which is far from enough. Previously, when I wanted to requisition nearby houses, the General Administration made excuses. Now I want to see what they have to say."

He picked up the silver pot, drank a few mouthfuls of mare's milk wine directly from the spout, wiped his mouth, and threw the pot on the ground. The bottom of the pot hit the brick and made a crisp sound.

The guard who went inside to report felt a jolt of fear and quickly lowered his head.

Footsteps sounded outside again, and the tent flap was lifted.

Boyan, who had just returned from Jiangyin, strode in, his expression equally grim.

"Your Majesty," he bowed and said, "Li Mao, the judge of Changzhou Road, requests an audience."

"Were the mob dispersed?" Boluobuhua asked.

"They've already dispersed them," Boyan replied. "The constables and archers from Changzhou Prefecture are patrolling the streets. Our men are a bit further away, but they'll be here soon."

After confirming the news again, Boluobuhua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression became even angrier.

He squinted and tossed the lamb leg bone in his hand into the plate with a crisp sound.

"Boyan I," he suddenly said.

"Yes," Boyan replied, leaning forward slightly.

"Tell me," Boluobuhua said, ignoring the grease on his hands, as he stood up, supporting himself on his knees, "was anyone instigating this time?"

Bayan had clearly considered the question, and after a moment of silence, replied, "There should be."

Boluobuhua nodded slightly.

"Investigate! I want to see who has the audacity to openly oppose me," Boluobuhua said, waving his hand. "Yes," Bayan replied.

"That Li Mao guy, I've disappeared. Do you think I'm giving him any face?!" Boluobuhua said irritably. "Have him requisition the houses on both sides and station troops there."

"Yes, sir." Boyan frowned slightly, but still accepted the order and left.

Boluobuhua circled the room a few more times.

In fact, after this period of time, he has already figured some things out.

He had been in Changzhou for quite some time, and he was well aware that there must be a lot of complaints from the locals.

Since there are grievances, then there will definitely be people who want to drive him away. Inciting popular uprising is actually a good method, especially when the Huashan bandits have just been quelled and Cai Luantou is still gathering forces at sea, it can often achieve twice the result with half the effort.

But he was still furious. "I just took a little money from you, why are you making such a fuss over me?"

Zhenjiang Road provided a lot of food and supplies in the campaign to suppress the Huashan bandits, and the local area was somewhat exhausted. He hardly got any money. He finally came to Changzhou to "show his skills", and this is what you give me?

Good, good, good! I want to see if these rioters can really bring me down.

After leaving the camp, Boyan found Judge Li Mao and told him about the Prince of Zhennan's request.

Unexpectedly, Li Mao's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "The chaos has just subsided, is this another attempt to create new chaos?"

Bayan was also somewhat helpless, saying, "Can't the General's Mansion contribute some money? Let's get them out of here first. As you said, there was just trouble, and the Prince's guards need to be stationed around. Otherwise, if something happens, can you afford the responsibility?"

Li Mao agreed and didn't say anything more. However, he was still somewhat dissatisfied. The Prince of Zhennan had been in Changzhou for almost a month; was he planning to stay? If things continued like this, a second peasant uprising was imminent.

Thinking of this, Li Mao, relying on the fact that they had gotten along quite well recently, asked in a low voice, "When will Your Majesty depart for Jiangyin?"

Boyan glanced at him and said, "What? Getting impatient? Others wouldn't even have the chance to curry favor with the Prince of Zhennan, but you, with a true bodhisattva right in front of you, don't know how to pay homage, instead you push people away, how strange."

Li Mao hesitated, thinking to himself that he had no mood for worshipping any Buddha right now; he only wanted to quell the trouble as soon as possible and live a peaceful life as an official. However, he naturally couldn't say this out loud, so he could only give an awkward smile and say, "What you say is very true."

Boyan glanced at him, smiled, and comforted him, "Don't worry, it was already planned to go to Jiangyin Prefecture at the beginning of next month. After this commotion, His Majesty probably doesn't feel like staying in Changzhou any longer. He's just still upset, but once he vents his anger, he'll naturally leave."

Just as Li Mao was about to say something more, a quarrel broke out in the distance, and the word "Bodhisattva" could be faintly heard.

He turned his head and saw that a minor official from the Prince's Palace was leading guards to drive away the local people. He couldn't help but curse these people in his heart for being so obsequious to their superiors and bullying their inferiors.

Li Mao didn't take the matter too seriously. After bowing to Boyan, he prepared to return to the governor's mansion to report.

Bayan returned the greeting, ignoring the argument in the distance, and turned his attention to the scene where the commotion had broken out earlier.

Five bodies were laid out against the wall, their heads covered in blood and their faces unrecognizable.

These were found by the guards of the Prince's Palace in the nearby streets and alleys after they expanded the search area, but there were only five bodies. Ten other people, including Tang Baihu, disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead.

At this moment, Bayan was also somewhat speechless.

When Prince Zhennan went south to Huashan to suppress the bandits, he dispatched three hundred-household scouts and three hundred-household scouts from his personal guard, totaling five hundred men. Prince Zhennan’s personal guard consisted of one ten-thousand-household crossbowman, one ten-thousand-household artilleryman, one thousand-household scout, and one thousand-household Han soldier, all stationed in Yangzhou.

These people are a complicated story.

They fought in the attack on Huashan and were all crying and screaming. Despite having better equipment and a better appearance than the troops of Yidu New Army, Zhenjiang Wanhu Prefecture, and Changzhou Wanhu Prefecture, their combat effectiveness was still inferior. They collapsed at the first contact and almost ruined the Prince of Zhennan.

He had initially thought they were simply outmatched by the fierce bandits of Huashan, but now it seemed they could even handle a mob. What more could he say? Bayan suddenly realized that even if he gathered all five hundred soldiers, what difference would it make? They might just make an even bigger fool of themselves.

"Alas!" he sighed and returned to his camp.

At the end of the alley to the west, several men who looked like monks were furious. Perhaps they had been bullied too much. Suddenly, two of them drew their short weapons and stabbed them into the chests of two guards from the royal palace.

Then he shouted, "Don't block the Buddha's way!" and ran off at full speed, disappearing into the distance at the end of the street.

The archers and guards who were maintaining order were dumbfounded and didn't react for a moment.

A moment later, a sharp whistle rang out, and everyone snapped out of their daze, drawing their weapons and giving chase.