Chapter Thirty-One: The Heavily Guarded Zhou Family Manor

  "Qin Yu'ying!"

  This little guy is very clever. Yang Meng recently discovered that no matter where he was, as long as he shouted loudly, Cen Yu'ying would immediately appear in front of him.

  "Third Master!"

  As expected, as soon as the words fell, this kid appeared.

  "I just mentioned Zhou Shiqing of Yiliang to Tang Niang, now it's your turn, what kind of person is Zhou Shiqing?"

  After hearing Zhou Shiqing's story, Yang Meng was furious. Everyone is a citizen of the same country, why do they have to be so vicious and make money? You have thousands of hectares of good land, and all that is planted in the mountains are opium poppies. Isn't there enough money? Playing with women? With this power, not many women can't be played with.

  What Yang Meng couldn't understand most was that, having land and money, not doing good deeds would be fine, but Zhou Shiqing took bad things and evil things to the extreme, what's the benefit of this for him?

  "Good riddance! Bad guy! Evil person! Despicable person!"

  For the first time, Cen Yu Ying showed his anger. Before this, the kid was always calm and collected, what's wrong with him today?

  "What's wrong with him? How is he bad? How is he evil? How did he deserve to die?"

  Look at this, does Xun Yu Ying have a private grudge against Zhou Shi Qing?

  "Occupying thousands of hectares, being wealthy but inhumane is evil! Cruelly killing slaves and servants, abducting and selling people is wicked! Accumulating these two is deserving of death!"

  When she said this, Qin Yu'ying's small waist was straight and upright, with a hint of righteousness in her tone.

  "Do you have a personal vendetta against him?"

  "No!"

  "Why bear hatred towards this noble gentleman?"

  "Integrity!"

  "If Third Master killed Old Man Zhang, what would you think?"

  "Benefit the people by eliminating harm!"

  "Having killed Zhou Shi Qing, how are we going to account for it in Yiliang County?"

  “……”

  The most replied, Shen Yu Ying finally had nothing to say, killing Zhou Shi Qing Yi Liang would inevitably shock the entire county, and if things went wrong, this matter would also shock Yunnan Prefecture, shocking the Yunnan-Guizhou Governor's Office.

  A single sentence to eliminate harm for the people, it seems like it can't kill Zhou Shiqing.

  "Think carefully, is there a way to get rid of Zhou Shi Qing and still make it impossible for the imperial court to say anything?"

  Looking at the speechless Cen Yu Ying, Yang Meng slowly said, now is the time to see this kid's true skills.

  "As long as we get the evidence of human trafficking, he will be put to death!"

  Cen Yu Ying searched her mind for a solution according to the Qing Code and finally came up with an idea.

  "Yiliang, who is in cahoots with Zhou Shiqing?"

  Yang Meng did not comment on Cen Yu'e's idea, but instead asked about something else.

  "Yiliang Dianshi and Zhou Shiqing are the closest, many book officials and runners are also Zhou Shiqing's lackeys."

  As for the situation in Yiliang, Cen Yueting was still very clear about it. His place of study was in Yiliang, and his training ground was also in Yiliang. If he hadn't run into Yang Meng, he might have returned to Guangxi by now to prepare for the imperial examination.

  "What is the Yiliang Dianshi mainly about?"

  "Matters of punishment and imprisonment are entirely the responsibility of the Recorder."

  "Then you have collected evidence, can you surpass Yiliang Dianshi?"

  "File a complaint directly with a higher authority; receive thirty strokes of the cane and be found guilty without trial. It is also acceptable to bypass Yiliang County."

  It seems that Xun Yuqing is still very young and naive, this matter may not be successful even if it is reported.

  "First, capture Zhou Shi Qing, force him to sign a contract, seize his property, then kill him, and frame the human traffickers, let them turn against each other, let the human traffickers reveal Zhou Shi Qing's crimes, hand the case over to Yiliang County, they'll solve the case and get promoted, while we reap the benefits on the side, what do you think?"

  After probing into Yang Yu'e's bottom line, Yang Meng also lost interest and revealed his own plan.

  After listening to Yang Meng's plan, Chen Yu Ying's expression on her face also changed constantly, this was somewhat beyond his understanding.

  "Come on, give me a straight answer!"

  "It's feasible! Zhou Shiqing's property falling into San Ye's hands has a greater impact than it would in his own, at least the Yang family's elderly master provides relief to famine victims every year."

  "Then you go to Zhou's house to scout out the terrain."

  "Reconnaissance terrain?"

  "Right! It's about scouting the terrain, thinking of a way to visit Zhou Shi Qing, and then recording the layout of the Zhou family mansion, the number of guards, one by one. We'll make our move against the Zhou family, and if we do well, Third Master will reward us! Who knows, you might even get to kill some of those losers!"

  Yang Meng is dragging down Cen Yu Ying, this kid is not bad, but hard to control, first cut off his path to officialdom, and then slowly deal with him later.

  "Good!"

  This Cen Yu Ying was also young and vigorous, directly agreed, this time if can come back alive from Zhou's house, consider him a talent.

  "You go and prepare! If you need money, withdraw it from Uncle Ding."

  After dismissing Cen Yu'ying, Yang Meng walked behind Tang You's back and whispered slowly into her ear:

  "San Ye's matter is settled, Mei Yi, what should you do now?"

  The chin resting on her shoulder, the masculine scent that tickled her nose, and the tingling sensation in her ears made Tang Mei unable to sit still.

  "Third Master... Whatever Third Master says, Mei Yi will do!"

  In the end, Tang Mei still couldn't resist, with a red cloth-like pretty face, she twisted and turned and ran away. Such a charming girl, running is really not shallow!

  "The world is already in my pocket!"

  Savoring the aroma of meat, Yang Meng thought of a phrase from an opera and let out a sigh of spring.

  Nothing happened overnight, and early next morning, Cen Yu Ying knocked on Yang Meng's courtyard door.

  "Third Master, it's all settled!"

  Judging from this momentum, Qian Yu Ying didn't sleep all night, and she settled everything in just half a day plus one evening. This little kid is not bad.

  "Go on!"

  In Yang Meng's view, this was a good thing. The more capable Cen Yu Ying was, the greater her use to him would be. Once they took down the Zhou family manor, he had to let this little brat get his hands bloody with a few lives, forcing him into a dead end, leaving him with fewer choices.

  Cen Yu Ying did things very efficiently, and the courtyards of the Zhou family's estate, the number of guards stationed in each one, how to patrol and how to change shifts were all detailed by him.

  "How did you do it?"

  Yang Meng was shocked, having never received any detective training, Xun Yu Ying was able to handle things so neatly, she could be considered a natural-born detective.

  "Zhou Shiqing personally told me, and also took me to see these places. I spent a few eagle dollars, and asked the clerk of Yiliang to spread the news that Governor He of Yunnan wanted to take a look at the layout of Zhou's estate, and build a house in his hometown to spend his old age, and I was Governor He's servant. Zhou Shiqing was extremely hospitable, and when we were about to leave, he even gave me ten taels of silver, saying that I should speak well of him in front of the governor."

  Without Yang Meng asking, Cen Yu Ying told him what had happened. This time he was also amazed, the reputation of the Zhou family's estate was not in vain!

  "Not bad! Later, go to Uncle Ding's place and withdraw 100 eagle dollars. There will be many things for you to do later, so prepare for any unexpected needs. Also, draw the layout of the Zhou family's mansion for me. We need to train our troops well."

  This week, the security measures at Zhou's mansion are not simple. Zhou Shiqing is indeed a former military officer, and the defense of this house is almost flawless. In Yang Meng's eyes, it's a bit magical. This is the Qing Dynasty, and the security measures are so tight?

  "The draft of Zhou Shi Qing has already been drawn by someone and is in my arms."

  One hundred eagles, Yang Chen did not decline, took out the layout of the Zhou family manor from his arms, and stood beside Yang Meng, constantly explaining the structure of the Zhou family manor to him.

  This week, Shi Qing tried to curry favor with the governor-general and brought out his true skills. On the drawing paper, apart from the black outline of the manor, he also used various colors to mark the positions of the guards patrolling the courtyard and how they changed shifts.

  All these things are annotated one by one next to the drawings, the words are written small, but Yang Meng also took a rough look, originally Yang Meng was literate, but many of the traditional Chinese characters here, he was somewhat unfamiliar with.

  The Zhou family's estate had a large number of guards, over a hundred people, which was somewhat excessive for a landlord's estate. The Yang family's martial arts school, still bearing the name of Kunming Tuanlian, had around 700-800 people, not counting the knife hands who followed Ma Bang out, nor those who guarded tea mountains in various places.

  What Yang Meng was most worried about were the bird guns, shoulder guns and tiger squatting cannons mentioned by Cen Yu'ying. The bird guns were still manageable, but the shoulder guns and tiger squatting cannons were a different story.

  Zhou Shiqing had told Xun Yu'ying in detail about these two weapons. Zhou, a military veteran, was not to be underestimated. Both of these weapons were loaded with small lead bullets.

  After Qian Yu Ying's explanation, Yang Meng was also startled. The guns and tiger crouching cannons were firing buckshot! Looking at their positions, they were all marked in the open areas of the manor. If someone didn't know any better and charged into Zhou Manor, even if they managed to take it down, there would definitely be heavy casualties.

  "Third Master, there's another thing. The guards at the Zhou family's manor are all trained according to the Green Battalion's methods. They're just like your subordinates, constantly practicing whenever they have free time. Even in the Green Battalion, they would be considered elite among elites. This is what Zhou Shiqing said himself."

  After Cen Yu Ying finished speaking, Yang Meng fell into silence. He had thought that Zhou Da Chui was just a local tyrant, but he didn't expect him to be a fierce tiger among the local tyrants. With over 100 elite regular troops from the Qing court, his own knife-wielding men would likely not gain any advantage if they were to attack Zhou's mansion. To tell the truth, if his knife-wielding men really went to attack Zhou's mansion, their chances of failure would be around 80 or 90%.

  Staring at the layout of the Zhou family's estate, Yang Meng fell into deep thought, and Cen Yu'e also had a keen sense of awareness, quietly standing by without making any noise.

  The Zhou family's estate was heavily guarded at night, with each courtyard wall and gate having extremely high defensive capabilities, just like the Yang family's martial arts school. A surprise attack would only scare away the snakes, achieving no effect whatsoever.

  During the day, when the Zhou family's guns and cannons fired, it was even more troublesome. If the news reached Yiliang County, even if they bribed people with money, they might not be able to cover up such a big thing. If the news leaked out, the Yang family would be put on the fire to roast.

  "Ying, did Shi Qing say anything about how to defend against rain this week?"

  Firearms and artillery may not be usable on rainy days! This matter still needs to be verified, heavy rain should be the weakness of this week's Zhuangyuan.

  "This is something I've never said before."

  "Alright! You can go now! Don't tell anyone about this. Just stay in the Wu Manor for the next few days and don't go out, lest you run into someone from the Zhou family."

  Yang Meng had a general idea in mind and wanted to go ask Uncle Ding if he knew the weaknesses of firearms and artillery.

  Find Ding Baojun, tell him about it, and Old Ding also fell into deep thought. Bird guns, fire guns, can't be used on rainy days, but what is a tiger squat cannon? Ding Baojun wasn't clear either.

  "Firearms can't be used on rainy days, as for the tiger squatting cannon I don't know, but our family's big iron cannon can't be used on rainy days."

  With this, Yang Meng had a rough idea in his mind. What was the tiger squat cannon and how to use it? He would ask those scholars if they could find an answer.

  They found that the scholars knew about the "tiger squatting cannon", which was invented by Qi Jiguang of the previous dynasty. The cannon body is short and small, with a light weight, and mostly uses small lead bullets, with a range of 50 to 80 steps.

  What's more worrying for Yang Meng is that after these scholars looked at the drawings, they pointed out that the tiger-squatting cannons of the Zhou family were installed under the eaves or sheds, and would not be affected whether it rained or not.

  Yang Meng found Xun Yu Ying and asked, indeed! These tiger squatting cannons all have shielding objects on them. Charging into the Zhou family's manor, the first things they would encounter are these large-caliber shotguns. Within a range of 50 to 80 steps, or over 100 meters, everything is within the firing range of the tiger squatting cannons. As long as the timing is well-controlled, the lethality will be absolutely terrifying.