Signs of Rebellion

The next morning.

After Huang Shaojie checked in at the Imperial Guard office, Niu Ren brought him to the main hall of the Third Guard Post.

At this time, the Third Guard Post's three Banner Officers and dozens of Imperial Guard Captains had all arrived and were chatting animatedly.

"Alas, Battalion Commander Hu died yesterday. I wonder who'll become our Third Guard Post's Battalion Commander."

"They'll probably promote one of our three Banner Officers, right?"

"Not necessarily. They might transfer someone over from another post."

Though the three Banner Officers said nothing, each of them hoped to be promoted to Battalion Commander.

But when they saw Niu Ren enter with Huang Shaojie, the hearts of the three Banner Officers sank halfway.

Everyone stopped talking and clasped their hands in salute to Niu Ren.

"Greetings, Commander Niu!"

"No need for formalities."

Niu Ren gave a slight nod, then announced directly, "Starting today, Huang Shaojie will temporarily serve as Battalion Commander of the Third Guard Post. You will all obey his orders. Understood?"

The crowd was briefly stunned, but they immediately clasped their hands and replied, "Understood."

The three Banner Officers could not help feeling somewhat disappointed, but they were fairly convinced by Huang Shaojie becoming the Third Guard Post's Battalion Commander.

Though they had not previously served in the same Guard Post, they had long heard of Huang Shaojie's exploits—solving several cases in succession, his formidable martial arts, and so on.

Especially in this case of the stolen tax silver, everyone in the Imperial Guard knew that Huang Shaojie had basically uncovered the entire matter himself.

Having rendered such great merit, his promotion from Banner Officer to Battalion Commander seemed only natural.

"Greetings, Battalion Commander Huang."

After Niu Ren left, one of the Banner Officers was the first to clasp his hands and salute Huang Shaojie. He was a quick-witted man; Huang Shaojie was now their immediate superior, so naturally he had to make a good showing first.

The other two Banner Officers hurriedly clasped their hands as well. "Greetings, Battalion Commander Huang."

The remaining dozens of Imperial Guard Captains also saluted with clasped hands.

Huang Shaojie raised a hand and smiled. "No need for formalities! Tonight, Drunken Immortal Restaurant is on me. Order whatever you like, eat and drink to your hearts' content, and we won't leave until we're drunk!"

At those words, everyone immediately burst into applause and cheers.

Drunken Immortal Restaurant was a famous high-end establishment in Suzhou City. Imperial Guard Captains like them normally could not afford to dine there.

Now, their newly appointed Battalion Commander was treating them to a lavish meal at Drunken Immortal Restaurant on his very first day in office. Naturally, they were overjoyed.

Their previous Battalion Commander had never treated anyone, Banner Officers included.

It had always been Imperial Guard Captains like them who paid to curry favor with Banner Officers and Battalion Commanders.

Huang Shaojie did not care. First, his family had money. Second, he was a forthright man. Having been dropped into the Third Guard Post as Battalion Commander, he was in a good mood as well. Spending a few dozen taels of silver to let his subordinates enjoy themselves would surely make them more loyal to him in the future.

In the afternoon, during the ninth hour.

He Lu, the Inspection Battalion Commander, returned to the Imperial Guard office with one hundred Strongmen, escorting more than a dozen carts.

The carts were all loaded with gold, silver, and treasures confiscated from the Five Lakes Association.

The carts stopped at the training grounds to await inventory, while He Lu took a list and entered the Imperial Guard's main hall.

"Greetings, Commander Niu!"

He Lu clasped his hands and bowed to Niu Ren, who sat at the head of the hall.

Niu Ren set down the case file in his hand, looked at He Lu, and asked, "He Lu, have all the Five Lakes Association's assets been confiscated?"

He Lu said, "They have all been confiscated. This subordinate has come specifically to report to you, Commander, on the complete seizure of the Five Lakes Sect's assets."

With that, he stepped forward and presented the confiscation list to Niu Ren.

Niu Ren took the list and saw written on it:

Gold: 5,430 taels. Silver: taels. Copper coins: strings. Pearls, agates, jade, and other valuables: three chests. Property deeds for houses and shops: 32 locations.

After reading it, Niu Ren could not help but say in surprise, "The Five Lakes Association was actually this wealthy. Why, then, did they still risk extermination to rob the court's official silver?"

He had thought the Five Lakes Sect had run out of money, which was why they had set their sights on the official silver. Yet after raiding the Five Lakes Association's estate, they had uncovered so much wealth.

This truly took Niu Ren by surprise.

He Lu clasped his hands and said, "This subordinate discovered an underground hall beneath the Five Lakes Association's estate. There was a large furnace inside for melting down official silver, as well as many workbenches and iron hammers for forging weapons. Over a thousand weapons—long spears, sabers, bows, arrows, and more—were piled in the underground hall. This subordinate has not yet transported those items out."

Niu Ren was dumbfounded upon hearing this!

He slapped the table and rose to his feet. "The Five Lakes Association was secretly forging large quantities of weapons in an underground chamber. Are they trying to rebel? No wonder they dared rob the court's official silver. This must be an organization plotting rebellion in secret."

He Lu said, "This subordinate has the same doubts. The Five Lakes Association has only several hundred people, yet they forged over a thousand weapons in an underground hall. They clearly lacked no wealth, yet still robbed the court's tax silver and slaughtered five hundred government soldiers. All these actions truly point to an intent to rebel."

Niu Ren frowned in thought. "A mere Five Lakes Association actually harbored ambitions of rebellion. There is something suspicious about this. We must interrogate these Five Lakes Association rebels thoroughly. Perhaps there is an even greater hidden force behind the Five Lakes Association."

"As for the wealth confiscated from the Five Lakes Association, retain five percent according to the old rules, and report the rest to the court."

The Imperial Guard required vast funds to handle cases, so when confiscating assets, they retained five percent for the Imperial Guard treasury.

Part of it was used for routine investigation expenses, while the other part was used to distribute rewards.

Naturally, the court was well aware of this.

But the Imperial Guard were hardly the only ones skimming oil from the pot.

What department, when handling money, did not pluck a feather from every passing goose and grab a handful for itself?

Though the Imperial Guard retained only five percent of confiscated stolen silver and assets, the cases they handled were all major ones, so the seized assets were immense.

Five percent alone amounted to an enormous sum.

The assets seized from the Five Lakes Association were worth at least five hundred thousand taels of silver. Retaining five percent meant twenty to thirty thousand taels.

He Lu accepted the order and departed.

Niu Ren then sent someone to summon Huang Shaojie.

"This subordinate greets Commander Niu." Huang Shaojie clasped his hands and bowed to Niu Ren. "May I ask why you summoned this subordinate, my lord?"

Niu Ren said, "He Lu just reported that the Five Lakes Association had an underground hall where they forged weapons, showing signs of rebellion. I summoned you to accompany me to the dungeon and interrogate the captured Five Lakes Association disciples."

The main reason he had summoned Huang Shaojie, the newly appointed Battalion Commander, was that Huang Shaojie had solved the case of the stolen official silver.

Forging weapons, intending rebellion?

Huang Shaojie could not help being shocked! He had thought the Five Lakes Association had already been bold enough to rob official silver, but he had not expected them to harbor ambitions of rebellion as well.

Niu Ren brought Huang Shaojie to the dungeon. Just as he was about to summon Elder Xiao for interrogation, Battalion Commander Li, who oversaw the dungeon, clasped his hands and reported, "Reporting to Commander Niu, Elder Xiao of the Five Lakes Association, along with the two stewards imprisoned in the dungeon, have all severed their own meridians and died."

"What?" Niu Ren's expression changed.

He had intended to interrogate Elder Xiao and the two stewards thoroughly, but at this critical moment, these three key members of the Five Lakes Association had severed their own meridians and died.

Huang Shaojie was secretly astonished as well. Commander Niu had just said they were going to interrogate these people, and they had immediately severed their meridians and died. Was that not too much of a coincidence?