Chapter 1 A Plot Carefully Drawn
Xiao Mu soothed his wife and servants with a few words, then hurried off to report the situation to his master. His master, the current Crown Prince of Chunnan, Chang Su, was both shocked and enraged upon hearing the news. He was shocked that someone might discover what he had asked Feng Jiang to do, as the implications would be immense. He was angry that such a thing could happen in Yu Hang, despite the heightened security measures already in place after so many incidents. Chang Su immediately dispatched his most capable men to conduct a thorough search of the Xiao residence and to question anyone who might have seen anything. It took nearly two hours to confirm that the attack on the Xiao residence, the kidnapping of Feng Jiang, and the conflict in the streets were all part of a carefully drawn conspiracy.

Although they confirmed an attack, they couldn't agree on who was responsible. The only ones in Yu Hang capable of such a feat were Ye Tao and the Chunnan Royal Guards... but both seemed to be operating as usual. There was nothing unusual to see at Ye Tao's residence from the time the incident occurred until that evening. Ye Tao's guards, except those on duty, had free time, making them difficult to monitor. The Chunnan Royal Guards, on the other hand, showed no unusual activity. Chang Su believed he could control this faction.

The problem was that someone raised a different opinion. Someone didn't believe that a master like Feng Jiang could be taken away silently and unharmed. One of Chang Su's advisors hesitantly asked if it was possible that Feng Jiang had orchestrated this himself. If Feng Jiang had done it himself, he wouldn't need a strong force; he could work from the inside to create this scene. By abandoning a dozen or so subordinates, he could escape Chang Su's control and continue his carefree life in the martial world.

Although Chang Su considered this possibility, he still sent people to keep a close eye on Ye Tao. However, he didn't expect Zhou Rui and his group to have no intention of returning Feng Jiang to Ye Tao's residence. The participants in the operation gradually returned through different routes, pretending to be going out for meals or drinks, at different times. Although it aroused some suspicion, Ye Tao was known for his leniency towards his subordinates, so it didn't raise any serious concerns.

The importance of Feng Jiang to Chang Su seemed to be underestimated. Xing Siming planned to hide Feng Jiang for a while in a house quietly purchased by the Security Bureau, located in a secluded alley, before sending him out. If it weren't so inconvenient in Yu Hang, Xing Siming would have interrogated Feng Jiang there. However, shortly after Feng Jiang was placed in the house, after supplementing a dose of sleeping drug when he woke up from the first, before that night was over, the situation on the streets changed. Ports, carriage houses, inns, and large merchant houses with significant cargo traffic began to undergo detailed inspections. This time, bribing the soldiers didn't seem to work. Strangely, this inspection didn't seem interested in merchants evading taxes, but focused on finding a person... those who were seriously ill in merchant caravans, those with concealed facial injuries, even those whose faces looked strange, expressions unnatural, paralyzed, with the potential for disguise, or even those with excessive makeup, would be given special attention.

Xing Siming immediately knew that this was probably aimed at Feng Jiang. He quickly sent out several capable subordinates to investigate. Sure enough, those who were intercepting and inspecting everywhere had problems. Although each team was composed of the same constables and city guards as before, the team leaders were all imperial guards or palace guards, or people from the Crown Prince's mansion. However, these people were all hidden behind the scenes, not showing their faces, only coming out to solve problems when they encountered a situation.

Xing Siming thought that it would be quite difficult to follow the original plan of sending him out of the city and meeting up with Ye Tao after he left Yu Hang, and then sending him back to Danyang by land. But what about going by sea? Ye Tao would probably set off in a few days, directly returning to Danyang by land. Although traveling by land was more arduous than taking a direct boat to Yicheng, the entire sea area from Yicheng to Nanyang was undergoing a frantic purge of all pirate gangs by the Seven Seas Trading Company, so the land was relatively peaceful. But Feng Jiang didn't need to enjoy the assurance of safety.

Xing Siming had plenty of time to make his decision and start acting. Xing Siming first transferred Feng Jiang to another place, a warehouse belonging to a Chunnan merchant who had traded with some of the Intelligence Bureau's disguised identities. In the current tense atmosphere, a merchant's concern about sensitive items in his cargo being stolen would be very reasonable. Due to a long-standing good relationship, the Chunnan merchant didn't ask many questions and allowed a large batch of goods to be moved into his warehouse. Upon inquiry, the merchant was not only unafraid, but surprised by the influence of these usually honest Dongping merchants. It turned out that their bulk purchases of dried fruits and local products had been used to conceal their long-standing smuggling of military equipment.

Although the sale and management of military equipment in Dongping had always been relatively lax, it wasn't difficult to transport military equipment out of the country. The problem was, who would need military equipment? There would be no demand for military equipment in Dongping. Although large purchases of military equipment would still be investigated, half of the wealthy families used it to arm their retainers, train family members who intended to join the army, or simply collect it, unless they needed large military equipment such as crossbow cannons, trebuchets, or God's Arm Bows, or if the required variety happened to be crowded together with orders from the Ministry of War and other independently accounting armies, it was generally unrestricted. Outside of Dongping, who would need to transport military equipment from afar, where the freight costs were higher than the local sales price in Dongping? These Dongping merchants must have hooked up with some kind of force.

To make the play even more realistic, a few people from the Intelligence Bureau arranged a quarrel in the corner of the warehouse about how to deal with the owner of the Nanhuo store after the goods were shipped out. The low and intense conversation made the Nanhuo store owner's heart tremble, but the final decision to bring him into the group to get rich together and expand the business sounded very pleasant. Then came Xing Siming's performance. Xing Siming pretended to talk to the Nanhuo store owner for a long time, then vaguely asked him if he was interested in joining the circulation of their "those goods"...

The Nanhuo store owner hesitated for a long time, but agreed to join the group and even risked his old capital to show his connections and influence. The Nanhuo store owner's business was not so simple. In addition to Nanhuo, he also did a small amount of business in prepared medicines, medicinal materials, and so-called alchemy supplies, and the taxes on these things were completely different from those on Nanhuo. In this case, the Nanhuo store owner also had his own channel to send goods on or off the ship, which was through a local gang in Yu Hang. This small gang had a dozen or so boats that traveled through the waterways of Yu Hang, used to sell small items and fruits and vegetables, but they also provided another service: picking up and delivering goods for customers. As long as they paid, told them which ship to send the goods to, they would use small boats to shuttle back and forth in the port, navigating between the gaps between large ships, and send the goods to the ship. Naturally, this kind of transportation did not include sending people. But Feng Jiang was now firmly fixed in a large wooden box, with a thin board on top, and weapons coated with anti-rust oil and some straw to reduce impact were stacked on the board.

The owner of the Nanhuo store called the leader of this small gang, and it took less than a quarter of an hour. This efficiency also made people sincerely sigh at the excellent service attitude of the local small gangs in Yu Hang. Xing Siming was quite generous. Three hundred taels of silver plus twenty knives and two sets of armor made the small leader who came to negotiate the business smile. He not only guaranteed that the service would be in place, but even agreed to Xing Siming sending someone to escort the goods, a condition that would never be agreed to under normal circumstances.

Although this seemed risky, if the other party was determined to swallow the goods or carefully inspect the goods, there might be problems. But at least, this could avoid exposing the Intelligence Bureau's own emergency measures. And the fact proved that Xing Siming was right. The service attitude of this small gang was excellent. Not only did they deliver the goods to the side of a cargo ship of the Seven Seas Trading Company behind the pier within an hour and a half, but throughout the entire transportation process, the gang members didn't ask a single question, and even tried not to look at the four large boxes...

This small gang was so useful and professional that Xing Siming even thought about whether he could support them a little in the future and perhaps use them as an assistant.

However, for the time being, Xing Siming could not realize these future plans. After sending Feng Jiang to the ship of the Seven Seas Trading Company, he worked against the clock, arranging to eliminate all possible traces that might be left behind. Xing Siming didn't expect that no one would notice everything he did, but he could still cut off all the clues that might lead people to trace the Intelligence Bureau's other arrangements in Yu Hang. As for himself, it didn't seem so important. After calmly completing all of this, he strolled back to the Yu Hang branch of the Seven Seas Trading Company. There, several executives of the Seven Seas Trading Company were waiting for him, listening to him tell about all the arrangements he had made that night.