Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 35 The Robin Hood

The courtyard was brightly lit, and a banquet was being held in the hall.

A fat, middle-aged man sat in the main seat, accompanied by several heavily made-up women.

Several businessmen were sitting below, clinking glasses and laughing in waves.

Jiang Xun recognized the fat man at a glance—he had heard people talk about him, and it was Qian Wanguan.

"Boss Qian, I heard there's been a major flood in the south?" a businessman asked.

Qian Wanguan put down his wine cup and chuckled twice: "That's right, there's a severe flood in the southeast, and there's a serious food shortage. I've already sent people to collect grain from the surrounding areas, and once it's transported there, the price will more than triple."

"Boss Qian really has some clever tricks up his sleeve!"

"Not at all, not at all. When doing business, you have to know how to seize opportunities." Qian Wanguan shook his head smugly. "I've already spoken to the prefect. This time, the grain transport will be escorted by soldiers all the way."

The group showered them with compliments.

Jiang Xun was so angry he wanted to bite his teeth.

The southeast is suffering from floods, and people are displaced. This unscrupulous merchant not only fails to provide disaster relief but also takes advantage of the situation to rob people. He is utterly immoral.

He lightly jumped down from the wall, already having made up his mind.

At midnight, Yunzhou City was as quiet as a coffin.

Jiang Xun changed into black night clothes, covered his face, and used the Azure Lotus Divine Movement technique to silently skim over the rooftops and head towards the Qian residence.

The Qian family mansion was completely dark, with only a dim oil lamp lit in the gatehouse.

Jiang Xun climbed over the wall from the backyard and landed without making a sound.

He crouched low, moved quickly along the wall, and soon found Qian Wanguan's study.

The study door was locked, but that didn't stop him.

Having been a thief since childhood, lock picking is a basic skill for him.

He pulled a thin wire from his pocket, poked it into the keyhole and fiddled with it for a few moments. With a "click," the lock opened.

The study was lavishly furnished—rosewood tables and chairs, calligraphy and paintings by famous artists hanging on the walls, and antique shelves crammed with antiques.

Jiang Xun had no interest in appreciating these things; he went straight to the back of the desk, opened the drawers, and rummaged through them.

The drawer was full of letters and account books, nothing of value.

He walked around the house again, but found nothing.

What about money?

Jiang Xun was getting a little anxious. He turned around again, this time more carefully, even lifting up and touching the calligraphy and paintings on the wall.

When I reached behind the bookshelf, my fingers suddenly touched something strange—the wall was hollow.

He tapped it gently, and sure enough, it was empty.

I crouched down and felt around for a while, then found a small bump and pressed it gently—

"Click".

A crack appeared in the wall.

Jiang Xun's heart skipped a beat, and he peered inside. It was pitch black; he couldn't see anything.

He took out a tinderbox, blew on it, and shone the light inside—

My eyes were almost blinded by the light.

silver.

The silver ingots were stacked neatly, piled up to half a person's height.

Jiang Xun swallowed hard, his hands trembling.

He took a deep breath, untied the satchel from his waist, and began stuffing it inside.

One ingot, two ingots, three ingots... When it was full, he took off his coat, tied up his sleeves, and stuffed them inside.

The bag was stuffed full, but after looking at the pile of silver again, he thought for a moment and only took a small portion.

There are too many to carry.

After leaving the study, Jiang Xun didn't rush to leave but instead went to Qian Wanguan's bedroom.

In the bedroom, Qian Wanguan was fast asleep, embracing a young woman, his snoring as loud as thunder.

Jiang Xun stood by the bed for a while, hesitating whether to tie up this unscrupulous merchant and give him a good beating.

But then I thought, making too much noise would easily expose us.

He pulled out a dagger from his pocket, brandished it at Qian Wanguan's neck, but ultimately didn't move.

"I'll collect some interest today, and settle the score with you another day."

He divided the valuables into two parts: he kept one part for himself, about two hundred taels; and stuffed the rest into a bundle.

After leaving the Qian residence, Jiang Xun carried a large bundle and, under the cover of night, wandered through the slums in the south of the city.

Most of the people living here are refugees and the poor. The houses are dilapidated and don't even have proper doors and windows.

Some people slept by the roadside, covered with tattered cotton blankets, shivering from the cold.

Jiang Xun felt a pang of sadness. He recalled his days in Jiangzhou, when he too was sometimes hungry and sometimes full, surviving by petty theft.

He slipped small packets of silver into the cracks of doors from house to house, and also placed a few silver ingots in some conspicuous places.

By the time he finished all this, it was already dawn.

Back at the inn, Jiang Xun booked a private room, fell asleep immediately, and slept soundly until the sun was high in the sky.

When he woke up, the streets were already bustling with activity.

He went out for breakfast and overheard people talking on the roadside.

"Have you heard? Qian Bancheng's house was burgled last night!"

"Really? Who's so bold?"

"It's absolutely true! My cousin works at the Qian family's residence. He said that over a thousand taels of silver were stolen from him. Qian Bancheng was so angry that he vomited blood and went to the prefectural government office to report the case first thing this morning."

"Serves him right! That unscrupulous merchant always acted like a bully; now God has finally seen the light!"

"That's right. My neighbor, Widow Wang, woke up this morning to find ten taels of silver slipped under her door. She was so happy she cried, saying it was a miracle from the Bodhisattva."

"My neighbor also received it; it was said to be five taels of silver."

"So, this thief only steals from the rich, and not the poor?"

"Absolutely! Robin Hood-like figures, robbing the rich to help the poor, that's chivalrous!"

Jiang Xun listened to these discussions and felt very happy. Even the noodles in his bowl seemed to taste better.

Is this what they call robbing the rich to help the poor?

It seems... pretty fun.

After finishing his noodles, he strolled around the streets to make sure no one was watching him before returning to the inn.

For several days in a row, Yunzhou City was not peaceful.

The day after Qian Bancheng's house was robbed, the Zhao family in the west of the city was also robbed, losing more than a thousand taels of silver and a batch of valuable furs.

On the third day, the pawnshop of the Sun family in the north of the city was completely looted, and even the land deed was taken away.

On the fourth day, the Zhou family, who were in the medicinal herb business, also suffered. Not only did they lose money, but their smuggling ledgers were also discovered.

For a time, the wealthy merchants of Yunzhou City were all on edge, and they all increased their guards, not daring to sleep at night.

The poor, however, were overjoyed, because after each case, someone would receive silver, ranging from a few taels to dozens of taels.

"This is a chivalrous thief!"

"Acting on behalf of Heaven!"

"Thank God!"

The people were abuzz with discussion, filled with respect for this mysterious "heroic thief."

Several wealthy merchants couldn't stand it anymore, so they got together to discuss countermeasures and finally decided to jointly offer a reward: whoever could catch the thief would be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver; anyone who provided clues would be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver.

Reward notices were posted all over the streets and alleys of Yunzhou City.

Jiang Xun was leisurely strolling through the streets, thinking about using the two hundred taels of silver to buy a small house in Yunzhou and settle down first.

As he passed by the notice board, he saw a group of people gathered there, so he went over to take a look.

"Reward... for the capture of the thief..." He read the words on the notice, paused for a moment, then was overjoyed. "A thousand taels? These unscrupulous merchants think highly of me."

An old man beside him pulled him back and whispered, "Young man, you mustn't go and join the fun. I heard that thief is highly skilled in martial arts, appearing and disappearing without a trace. Qian Bancheng hired several martial arts masters, but they still couldn't catch him. You'd better stay away to avoid getting into trouble."

Jiang Xun nodded seriously: "The old man is right, I'll be going now."