Fan Xian was not clear about what was happening within the Ming family. To him, the Ming family was a stone he needed to press down on, but not yet crush. Anyway, he had the patience for it; there was no rush in fishing.

This day, he arrived at the Suzhou branch of the Baoyue Brothel. Business in the brothel was booming. The girls upstairs and downstairs were busy entertaining guests. Few people noticed that the male owner and female manager of the brothel were respectfully escorting someone, quietly going up to the top floor.

Pushing open the window and looking out, he saw many laborers digging mud and expanding the lake by the narrow lake behind. The money and manpower required to expand a lake were not small. He couldn't help but sigh, "Is it necessary?"

Shi Chanli smiled and said, "According to your instructions, the branch's plans and layout were urgently sent to the north. A reply came back the day before yesterday. The Second Young Master's idea is that the lake is too small, and the terrain is not open enough. Guests who come to play will feel a little cramped. It's better to put in a lot of effort and dig the lake a few hundred meters further forward..."

Fan Xian smiled wryly. Si Zhe, far away in Northern Qi, seemed to still be nostalgic for the Baoyue Brothel. With such a grand gesture, he only needed to say one sentence, but he himself had to mobilize many people to do it.

"With all the noise and smell, won't it affect business?"

"It's been surrounded by blue cloth. The guests in the brothel generally don't notice it. Although business is good now, the lake can only be dug at this time... Otherwise, in the lush spring and summer solstice, it will be the best time for business, and it will be inconvenient to dig then."

Fan Xian nodded, saying nothing. He trusted his younger brother's business acumen. He came to the Baoyue Brothel today mainly to inquire about some news. He looked at the dossier his subordinates had sent and frowned, "Where exactly did the Ming family's head butler escape to?"

The Ming family's head butler had the same surname as the butler Fan Xian had dealt with in Danzhou when he was a child, both surnamed Zhou. This person was not simple. For many years, he had been the confidant of the Ming Old Madam and was responsible for managing the accounts of the mysterious Junshan Society. After Xia Xifei was assassinated by the Junshan Society in Jiangnan, the Overwatch Council began secretly investigating the whereabouts of the butler, preparing to secretly arrest him and obtain some key information from his mouth.

But the Zhou butler seemed to have disappeared within a day, no longer appearing in any of the Ming family's properties. It was unknown whether the officials of Jiangnan Road were helping to hide him or what, but even with the means of the Overwatch Council, they had not found any trace of his whereabouts.

Deng Ziyue walked in from outside the room and reported to Fan Xian about the matter of the Ming Fourth Master being arrested into the Suzhou Prefecture. Hearing the lord inquire about the whereabouts of the Zhou butler, he couldn't help but frown. He was in charge of this matter, and he felt very ashamed for not making any progress for so many days.

He frowned and shook his head, thought for a long time, and said, "If he hasn't been silenced by the Ming family, then he should be..."

"There is a high probability that he is hiding in Ming Garden in a grand manner." Fan Xian knew that if he really wanted to hide the Junshan Society's accountant, hiding him within Ming Garden was the most risky and also the most secure way. He couldn't help but laugh, "Are we really going to enter Ming Garden to arrest someone?"

Deng Ziyue said with a wry smile, "Without solid evidence, how can we enter Ming Garden to arrest someone? The other party is also a person with a hereditary title. Moreover, if the matter is made too serious, the governor will definitely be forced to put pressure on you, my lord."

Fan Xian sighed, feeling that this matter had gradually lost its fun. He waved his hand and said, "If we break in and don't catch anyone, it will be difficult to explain to Xue Qing. If we confirm that there is someone inside, we can try to be barbaric once."

"That's the problem, we can't confirm it." Deng Ziyue said helplessly.

The two were chatting idly when suddenly an Overwatch Council scout carefully knocked on the door outside. Deng Ziyue glanced at Fan Xian, walked out of the door, and whispered a few words. His face immediately became serious. He whispered a few more instructions, quickly turned back, and leaned close to Fan Xian's ear, saying:

"There's news from the island."

Fan Xian's spirits lifted. That damned pirate haven had been quiet for so long that he almost thought he would never be able to use that small island to deal with the Ming family again. Hearing that there was news now, he said with great interest, "Speak."

Deng Ziyue looked at him again and carefully said, "The people on the island... are all dead, all of them are dead."

……

……

With a snap! Fan Xian slapped the tea table beside him expressionlessly. The tea table did not break, and the teacup did not shatter, but this palm clearly expressed his displeasure and unwillingness. The Ming family was really ruthless and thorough. He frowned and asked, "What about our people?"

The Overwatch Council had a secret agent on the island, and Fan Xian was worried about his life or death.

Deng Ziyue said, "Luckily, he survived. The people from Quanzhou touched the island and just happened to bring him back."

Fan Xian's expression darkened slightly: "What's his name?"

"Qingwa." (Green Frog)

"Where is he?"

"He just arrived in Suzhou and is recuperating in a secret residence."

"Let's go."

———————————————————————

Qingwa felt like he was dreaming, he had been dreaming these days. After the island was besieged by government troops, he was the only one who survived. Surrounded by the sky full of gulls and the ground full of corpses, he tried to find the way out that the leader had left behind, to go to that hidden cove, to find ships to go to sea.

But he didn't expect the Ming family to be so thorough in silencing them. All the ships on the island were destroyed, and even the several three-masted clippers hidden by the pirate leader were sunk to the bottom of the water.

Looking at the sails in the water that had changed color from being soaked, Qingwa felt a little desperate. The island was isolated overseas. If the Quanzhou side discovered something was wrong and risked sending people to the island again, it would take a long time. And these days, he was alone on the island without water or food, could he survive?

The secret agents of the Second and Fourth Bureaus of the Overwatch Council had to undergo very strict field survival training and intelligence gathering training from the beginning of their admission. Fortunately, he had this skill, and Qingwa, all alone, actually survived on the island like this.

There was no water on the island, but fortunately it rained.

There were no wild animals on the island, but there were corpses... there were gulls eating corpses, and there were fish and shellfish in the sea, so he still survived tenaciously and disgustingly.

Until finally, his colleagues from Quanzhou risked going to the island again, and Qingwa, who had weakened to the extreme, was finally carried onto the boat.

The boat drifted back to the mainland.

Qingwa was finally able to get a good night's sleep.

But even in his sleep, thinking about the water birds he ate, and the rotten human flesh that might be inside the stomachs of those water birds... Qingwa still couldn't help but have nightmares.

He slept for a long time, all the way from Quanzhou to Suzhou, and when he woke up, he found a young and handsome official in front of him, looking at him with admiration and pity.

The Overwatch Council official next to him reminded him: "It's Director Fan."

Director Fan? Qingwa was shocked and struggled to get up to salute.

Fan Xian quickly stopped him on the bed, his eyes narrowed slightly, looking at this Qing version of Robinson Crusoe, a sigh and admiration arose in his heart. Political struggle is not a dinner party, it's a life-and-death matter, but those who need to be sacrificed every time are actually the lower-level officials.

Fan Xian took out a pill and fed it to him, and used gold needles to invigorate his blood. After carefully diagnosing him for a long time, he confirmed that he would not have too many sequelae, and that the other party had enough energy to speak, so he began to ask questions.

In the conversation, Fan Xian obtained a lot of useful information, a lot of information that had not had time to be sent back to the shore, such as the connection between the pirate leader and Ming Lanshi, the concubine.

He said coldly, "No wonder that concubine suddenly returned to her hometown to visit relatives. I'm afraid she has already sunk into the river and fed the turtles... She married a turtle, and in the end, she could only feed the turtles. She's a pitiful person. Ziyue, immediately send someone to the old home of that concubine to investigate the case. I want to see how Ming Lanshi plans to explain it."

Qingwa also painstakingly preserved a letter, which was also solid evidence. Although the Ming family could still deny it, they could always make a fuss about it.

"Regarding the government troops who landed on the island, do you have any judgment?"

Fan Xian stared into Qingwa's eyes and asked. Although he knew that it was not easy for the other party to survive on the island, and that he had experienced a long journey after landing, and his whole person was already extremely weak, he had no choice but to ask clearly, because this fact was like a thorn stuck in his heart, making him very vigilant.

That team of naval forces was obviously the Ming family's help, and naturally it was also sent by the Princess Royal. Fan Xian wanted to know who in the military was standing on the Princess Royal's side. Presumably, His Majesty the Emperor was also very interested in this matter.

It couldn't be Yan Xiaoyi. Although Yan Xiaoyi served as the Grand General of the Northern Expedition of Qing with his superior status of the ninth rank, his military strength had always been under the close surveillance of the Overwatch Council. Fan Xian knew that Yan Xiaoyi had no power in the navy.

"In the past, the Quanzhou Navy was the strongest naval force in the imperial court." Deng Ziyue glanced at Fan Xian and said softly, "But after the Ye family's incident, in order to eliminate the Ye family's influence in the Quanzhou Navy, the imperial court reduced the Quanzhou Navy to three. Now, the nominal general command of the Jiangnan Navy is in Shazhou. You should have met the officials there. It's too far to enter the sea from Shazhou and land on the island to kill people... and the voyage is all on the big river, which is very easy to expose traces. In my opinion, it shouldn't be them."

Fan Xian nodded, without any emotional fluctuations because of the words "Ye family." He turned to look at Qingwa.

The edges of Qingwa's lips on the bed were bubbling with white foam. He was also trying hard to recall the government troops who landed on the island that night, knowing that this matter was very important and could allow the Overwatch Council to judge who the forces that dared to collude with the pirates were.

He said with extreme difficulty, "When the government ships landed on the island, it was just before dawn. There were many reefs around the island. Being able to forcibly land on the island in such dark light should be professional naval forces, not government troops borrowing ships from the shore... I once clearly saw the face of a soldier, judging from the contours of his face, he should be from the north."

Fan Xian's brows furrowed: "Is it possible that it was the navy of Dongyi City?"

Qingwa shook his head with difficulty and reported, "They occasionally spoke, but it wasn't the Dongyi accent."

Fan Xian looked at Deng Ziyue and saw the unease in each other's hearts. The Qing Kingdom's three major navies, the one in the north was the Jiaozhou Navy, stationed near Shandong Road, with strong strength. If the other party was a capable general of the Princess Royal's side, then the strength that the Princess Royal had in the military seemed to be much stronger than these people had previously imagined.

In Fan Xian's heart, since the Emperor had always been reluctant to let himself grasp a trace of military power, and had always shown himself to be so confident and mysterious, he firmly believed that the vast majority of the Qing Kingdom's army was under the control of the Emperor. Under such a premise, Fan Xian could do things with more confidence. Now, he suddenly discovered that the Princess Royal and the princes' strength assessment had made a leap forward, how could Fan Xian not be vigilant?

The Ye family would gradually lean towards the Second Prince, the Grand General of the Northern Expedition, Yan Xiaoyi... and now there was another navy!

"Who does the Jiaozhou Navy belong to?" Fan Xian frowned and asked.

Deng Ziyue lowered his voice and said, "The naval commander is a first-rank military general, so naturally he doesn't need to be ordered by Yan Xiaoyi. He has never shown any inclination. After all, this person was born into the Qin family, but he also has a good relationship with the Ye Zhong line."

Fan Xian gently clenched his fist, shook his head and said nothing more. Looking at the tired Qingwa on the bed, a faint smile appeared on his face, and he said, "Take good care of your injuries. After you recover, follow me and do things."

He admired this young Overwatch Council official who was able to lie dormant on a pirate island and finally survive. Such an excellent talent should become his confidant.

Qingwa was shocked and didn't expect that after surviving a near-death experience, he would encounter such good luck. For a moment, he was stunned on the bed and didn't know what to say. It wasn't until Fan Xian led the Qinian Group out of the room that the Overwatch Council's Fourth Bureau stationed in Quanzhou's patrol official smiled and congratulated him. He finally woke up and knew that he had finally made it... the nightmare had finally ended.

———————————————————————————

Fan Xian was a little annoyed. All the bad news he encountered today seemed like he had to quickly send the Overwatch Council report back to the capital so that the old cripple could be more energetic and not always stay in Chen Garden watching beautiful women... Your successor has encountered a problem, you have to solve it, don't you?

"My lord, there is good news."

Just as Fan Xian was complaining that his luck was too bad today, Deng Ziyue suppressed a trace of joy and respectfully reported.

"What news?"

"The Junshan Society's accountant... his whereabouts have been found."

"Where is he?"

"Your lord is wise. The news is accurate. That person is in... Ming Garden."

Fan Xian put his palms together and sighed, "Finally, there is something to do."

……

……

(In a bad mood, in a bad state, writing less.)