53. Prisoner in a Cage (Continued, Please Click and Recommend)

  Fang Yizhi stood at the bow of the boat with his hands behind his back, looking at the Bianyuan which had changed greatly, a look of surprise on his face.

  He knew that Yu Guozhen had practical talents, but it was beyond his expectation that he could turn another courtyard into this scale and appearance in just half a year.

  Because the year-end is approaching, he has to go home, so he ended his half-year journey and returned. On the way, thinking of this newly acquainted friend, he came to visit him. But when he saw the completely different courtyard now, he almost thought he had come to the wrong place.

  Then he saw a team of young men carrying guns and coming out from the dock, and a small boat also rowed over.

  "Who is peeking on the boat?" someone shouted.

  "Guo Zhen's younger brother's estate is like a willow camp." Fang Yizhi smiled: "Please ask this little brother to inform him, saying that Tongcheng Fang Yizhi has come to visit."

  The man who asked the question looked at him with some suspicion in his eyes. After the attack that day, Yu Guozhen realized that the defense of the other courtyard was still flawed, so he arranged for someone to take turns checking the ships near the small dock every day to see if there were any suspicious boats. The young man who asked the question was from the second batch and had not seen Fang Yizhi before, nor did he know what kind of person this Fang Yizhi from Tongcheng was, so he said "Wait a minute" and brought the boat back to the small dock.

  Among the young men on the dock, there was one who had seen Fang Yizhi before. He nodded and said: "Let Mr. Fang go ashore, he is a friend of Young Master's."

  Seeing these young men, every word and deed seemed well-trained. Fang Yi Zhi couldn't help but smile: "The last time I came, there were only 17 or 18 of them. Now it seems that the number has increased. Guo Zhen, my younger brother, has indeed done a great job."

  "It's just a bunch of ignorant kids, and they're learning how to wield swords and guns." A person beside him sneered.

  "It's not just about learning martial arts and wielding swords, Gu Zhen led these young men to kill many river bandits, which can also be considered as protecting their hometown."

  "That person said proudly: 'Even if it is so, he is just a brave warrior after all. Mizi Xiongdi and Zhang Ximing both praise this brave warrior so much, I really don't understand.'"

  Fang Yizhi patted his shoulder: "Brother Ke Xiang has always claimed to be a flying general, how come he now looks down on martial artists... Isn't it because of the words of Mao Bi'an? Haha!"

  Fang Yizhi, on this trip, discussed and evaluated the characters of people in the world with many new and old friends. He highly praised Yu Guozhen, even saying that "in the past twenty years, he is the first in practical learning, and in the next twenty years, he will be the second to Xu Guangqi", believing that Yu Guozhen is the most outstanding figure in practical learning in the past twenty years, and that in another twenty years, he may become a master of practical learning like Xu Guangqi.

  When Zhang Yu and Chen Zilong heard this praise, they naturally had the intention of making friends with Yu Guozhen. However, when Mo Xiang, who was proud but repeatedly failed to pass the imperial examination, heard it, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. As for Sun Lin, he was Fang Yizhi's brother-in-law and was known for being straightforward and fond of discussing military tactics and archery, yet he had never had the opportunity to showcase his skills. He also felt envious and resentful towards Yu Guozhen, who could lead his servants to fight against bandits. Therefore, among Fang Yizhi's friends, these two were the most skeptical of Yu Guozhen.

  "How can he be compared with me? I am proficient in both literature and martial arts... I said, 'Brother Mi, you have not known him for a long time, how do you know that he has such abilities?'"

  As the two men spoke, the boat had already docked at the small wharf. Sun Lin hastily jumped onto the wharf and, seeing his eagerness, Fang Yizhi laughed and said: "You're not convinced in your words, but I'm afraid you're even more anxious to see Guo Zhen than I am!"

  "That's natural, I'm eager to expose his true face and make you acknowledge it with your heart and mouth!"

  They were bickering, and just about to head towards another courtyard, but the young men holding spears on the small dock stepped forward: "Respected guests, please wait a moment, let's wait for someone from the courtyard to come and receive you before leaving."

  Fang Yizhi was stunned, he remembered that the young man who spoke had met him before and should recognize him: "You... don't you know me?"

  "The little man has met Mr. Fang, and the young official is a close friend of Mr. Fang's." The youth smiled and accompanied him, but did not give way: "The military law of the patrol inspectorate is strict, if I let the honorable guest pass like this, I would definitely be flogged... Please, Mr. Fang, have mercy."

  "Hahaha!" Hearing this response, Sun Lin burst out laughing, while Fang Yizhi's face turned somewhat awkward.

  Knowing his relationship with Yu Guozhen, he still blocked him from approaching the other courtyard, which is somewhat disrespectful. If it was Yu Guozhen's order, then it only proves one thing: Fang Yizhi considers Yu Guozhen a friend, but Yu Guozhen doesn't consider him a friend!

  He heard that Yu Guozhen's uncle, who had the status of a holder of a government office, was appointed as the inspector of Xiang'an. However, in the eyes of Fang Yizhi, who came from a family with a long history of producing officials, this position of inspector was nothing but a trivial and insignificant post. If Yu Guozhen became arrogant and reckless because of this, then it would be better not to associate with him as a friend!

  Just as he was thinking deeply, Sun Lin said: "Now I think that Yu Guozhen has some skills, and what Mi Zhen said seems to be true."

  This was like rubbing salt into Fang Yizhi's wound, causing his face to flush. He coughed twice and, with a stern expression, said to the young man, "My relationship with your family's young master is not ordinary; he will certainly not blame you."

  "Report to Mr. Fang, the young official no longer manages discipline and rewards, these are now handled by others, the young official only needs to make good rules, as for how to deal with them, he doesn't ask at all." The young man smiled bitterly: "The one in charge of rewards and punishments is not easy to talk to, and recently some things have to be strict, please forgive me, Mr. Fang."

  "Has anything happened recently?" Fang Yizhi wasn't really trying to make things difficult for the young man, but rather wanted to find an excuse for himself so as not to lose too much face in front of Sun Lin.

  The young man then smiled wryly: "Mr. Fang, this matter cannot be said either. Please wait for a moment, and Mr. Fang can ask the young master. With the relationship between the young master and Mr. Fang, he will naturally tell everything. As for me... it's not suitable for me to say."

  Fang Yizhi's nose was almost crooked with anger, while Sun Lin laughed so hard he fell to the ground. The young man's gloomy and bitter expression made Fang Yizhi not dare ask again. Fortunately, at this moment, Yu Guozhen appeared in their line of sight.

  "Guo Zhen, you've really turned this place into a willow camp! I think even if I wanted to enter your courtyard, I wouldn't be able to!" Seeing Yu Guo Zhen hurrying out to greet him, Fang Yi Zhi's expression finally returned to normal, and he once again became the elegant and refined young nobleman.

  "Haha, it's little brother's fault. I didn't expect Big Brother Mi to come at this time. Something happened a while ago, so we've been on high alert."

  Yu Guozhen smiled and nodded to Fang Yizhi, then shifted his gaze to Sun Lin's face beside him: "This brother is extraordinary, can't Big Brother Mi introduce me to him?"

  "Ah, this is my nephew Sun Lin's son."

  This is another celebrity Yu Guozhen has heard of. Although he doesn't blindly worship ancient celebrities, Sun Lin's integrity revealed in the original history is still worthy of his respect.

  "It turns out to be Ke Xiang, I've long heard Brother Mi Zhi mention the great name of Ke Xiang. Ke Xiang is skilled in archery, but I'm completely ignorant about it. Now that you're here, I must ask for your guidance on shooting techniques!"

  Archery was indeed a skill that Sun Lin was proud of. When he heard Yu Guozhen say this, the little resentment he had towards Yu Guozhen suddenly disappeared. He smiled and said: "Although I have archery skills, I can only shoot some cunning rabbits and foxes. How can I compare to Brother Yu Guozhen, who has accomplished so many great things?"

  Seeing them chatting quite congenially, Sun Lin didn't show the same anger as when he hadn't seen Yu Guozhen before. Instead, with a pretended anger, he said: "Guozhen, you've got new people and forgotten old ones. No wonder you blocked me at the small dock and wouldn't let me get close to your other courtyard!"

  "To be frank with you, brother, a few days ago, someone set up an ambush outside another courtyard and attacked my younger brother. Although we killed three of them and captured one, our side also lost three men."

  Upon hearing this, Fang Yizhi's expression suddenly turned solemn: "How could such a thing happen... Who is so daring and presumptuous?"

  "If I'm not mistaken, it should be the remnants of the Xiangxiang Sect." Yu Guozhen said in a low voice: "This matter is of great importance, out of my mouth and into Second Brother's ears, absolutely do not spread it outside."

  The Xiangke sect once caused a great disturbance in Shandong, and now there are still some remnants active in Shandong, Henan, and Anhui, involving plotting rebellion, which is indeed a serious matter, so Fang Zhi and Sun Lin are both being held.

  "The evil party is so rampant!" After being shocked for a while, Fang Yizhi suddenly became furious: "Since that's the case, Guo Zhen, why not report to the authorities?"

  "Hehe... Please follow me." Yu Guozhen dodged and didn't talk about it.

  Leading the two into another courtyard, after turning to the west side of the three rows of residences, there was a separate small courtyard. In front of the small courtyard, two young house guards with guns saluted Yu Guozhen, and Yu Guozhen led the two inside again. The layers of defense were so strict that it made the two understand that this place must be extraordinary. When they entered the room, they found that there was only one entrance leading to the underground.

  "Dungeon." Yu Guozhen said in a low voice.

  It was also against the law of the Ming Dynasty to set up a private prison, but now that the Yu family had the title of Xiang An Patrol Officer, it was no problem. The three of them went down into the dungeon and soon heard a strange noise, like the sound of chains clanking.

  Right after that, they saw an iron cage. In this narrow iron cage, a man wearing handcuffs struggled to lift his head and look at the crowd. Next to him, Gao Er Zhuang was holding a stick and looking back.

  "Spare me, spare me... Let me sleep, let me have a good sleep!"

  The person locked in the iron cage spoke in a delirious voice, his eyes staring straight ahead, and under the light of the torches, his eyes were bloodshot.

  "Repeat your confession again, I want it to be consistent from start to finish. If there's any discrepancy, you won't be able to sleep," said Yu Guozhen.

  "Yes...yes..." the man said.

  "Name."

  "Fat... Fat Friend is expensive."

  "Where are you from?"

  Caozhou

  "How old is he/she this year?"

  "No...can't remember..."

  "Who sent you?"

  "I... I... will be the master... His name is Fan Zhen, he's dead..." The man's voice was getting softer and softer, his head nodding down as if he would fall asleep at any moment. Just then, Gao Erzhu's stick poked into the iron cage and jabbed him in the lower body, he shuddered all over, his eyes opening a bit wider, but the fatigue was still very evident.

  "Kill me, I beg of you, kill me!"

  "Answer the question, what is Fan Zhen's gathering host?" In Pang Yougui's ears, Yu Guozhen's voice was cold and calm, like a dark wind blowing from hell, causing his last remaining sanity to completely collapse.

  Thank you

  Thanks for the reward from Muzi and Zhuzi