After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 555 Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron

Three days later, the main force of the garrison and all the constables of the Jingzhao Prefecture had assembled.

The main force headed towards Jinmen Wharf, aiming to arrive at Jinmen Port on the fifth day.

Jiang Xiaoqi asked for a few days of sick leave from the Hanlin Academy, but when Xiao Ming and Liu Peng went to visit him, they didn't see him.

"What exactly is wrong with your young master? Why did he come in such a hurry and not even allow people to visit him?"

Butler Wen was helpless. His young master was clearly not sick, but the young master must have his reasons.

I still had to help stop them, lest they ruin the young master's plans.

"Ah, to be honest, gentlemen, our young master's illness came on quite suddenly. The doctor said it's contagious and he can't come into contact with anyone."

Our young master is following the doctor's orders, which is why he has instructed himself not to see anyone, but to lock himself in his room and take his medicine on time every day.

"Did the doctor say how long it would take to recover? We can't keep him locked up like this forever, can we? Which clinic did the doctor go to? Is he reliable?"

"Yes, if all else fails, let the physician from the Liu family take a look."

Xiao Ming and Liu Peng did not leave after the housekeeper's explanation; instead, they became even more worried, fearing that their good friend had encountered an incompetent doctor.

Steward Wen was sweating profusely with anxiety and hurriedly said, "My young master appreciates your kindness, gentlemen. You need not worry. The doctor said that my young master will be fully recovered in three to five days."

Once the young master recovers, he will definitely seek out the two of you as soon as possible.

Xiao Ming and Liu Peng were skeptical. Xiao Ming frowned and said, "But this illness is so strange, we are still a little worried."

Just then, Jiang Xiaoqi's voice came from inside the room: "You two don't need to worry. My illness is nothing serious. I'm just a little weak all over. Once I'm better, I'll drink and have fun with you."

After hearing this, Xiao Ming and Liu Peng were still somewhat worried, but they didn't press the matter further. They could only instruct Butler Wen to take good care of the child before leaving.

After the two had walked away, Butler Wen wiped his sweat and muttered under his breath, "Young Master, you were in there. What exactly are you up to?"

After Butler Wen finished speaking, there was no sound from inside the room, as if what he had just said was a hallucination.

The fluffy system stretched inside the room. "Oh dear~ the host is already on his way. I should set off too to lend the host a hand."

The fluffy ball system cast a spell, transforming into a glimmer of light and swiftly flying towards the Tianjin Wharf.

Jiang Xiaoqi did not blend into the garrison's ranks. The ranks were organized, and if he tried to infiltrate, he would be discovered.

This trip to Tianjin Port will surely be a fierce battle, so I'd better wait and relax, and travel comfortably by car or horseback.

I'm here to help out of a sense of duty, so why force myself to suffer?

The entourage led by Prefect Li traveled swiftly and finally arrived at Tianjin Port on time on the fifth day.

As planned, the main force did not approach the port too early, but instead found advantageous terrain and hid to avoid alerting the enemy.

The port of Tianjin was bustling with activity. Jiang Xiaoqi arrived ahead of the main force and had already begun to cautiously observe the surrounding situation.

There were indeed several large ships docked at the port, but there should have been regular cargo ships among them.

At this moment, the Maoqiu System arrived just in time. "Host, are these the only ships? Those able-bodied men have probably already been loaded onto the ships."

"That's right. They probably boarded the ship last night. The reason they didn't leave last night is probably because they were waiting for the last batch of young men from the Great Zhou who were kidnapped."

There were 176 people, and I had a feeling that the other party would round it up to a whole number before leaving.

There's no basis for this; it's just an intuition.

Just then, a quarrel broke out on one of the ships.

Jiang Xiaoqi and the Maoqiu system immediately became alert and quietly approached.

It turned out that a few short Japanese people were arguing about something, and the system had an automatic translator that could understand them.

One person, one unification, vaguely heard something like, "The last batch of people hasn't arrived yet, should we just give up waiting?"

Jiang Xiaoqi's intuition was right; the ship hadn't left because the people hadn't all been gathered yet.

He wrote a note and had Tongzi deliver it to Lord Li in the form of a tabby cat, while he continued to keep an eye on the port's movements.

Before long, a group of blindfolded and bound young men lined up and walked toward one of the ships.

Jiang Xiaoqi clenched his fists, something surging in his blood, he wanted nothing more than to go up and tear those Japanese pirates to pieces.

This isn't brutality; it's patriotism stirring within, with arms and legs it eager to spring into action.

Despite the fire in her heart, Jiang Xiaoqi did not lose her mind.

All the able-bodied men have been loaded onto the ship; it seems the Japanese will be setting sail soon.

Jiang Xiaoqi immediately searched the system store, and his eyes lit up when he saw something.

It would be best to help Prefect Li and his men keep the people on those ships without making a sound, since he himself couldn't show his face.

I'm still just a poor soul recuperating in Beijing right now.

Sigh~ Doing good deeds anonymously costs me hundreds of points.

Forget it, saving the people and fighting the Japanese pirates are more important than points.

Besides, I'm not that poor right now; I can't even spend all the interest I earn each month.

Jiang Xiaoqi quickly used several hundred points to redeem a silent electric drill, a solar-powered model, powerful enough to drill through the bottom of a ship.

I spent several hundred points to redeem an underwater robot, the kind with propellers.

With the two combined, he could drill several large holes in the Japanese pirates' ships without even having to go into the water himself.

Once the ship's hold is filled with seawater and its weight increases, let's see if these devils—cough cough, Japanese pirates—can escape alive.

Jiang Xiaoqi quietly lowered more than a dozen drilling robots into the water, silently praying that the group wouldn't set sail too soon.

Just as Jiang Xiaoqi had thought, after these people finished pretending to be people, they started pretending to be things.

It looks like some supplies, including food and fresh water, as well as some bottles and jars whose contents I don't know.

They really plundered a lot of good stuff from their Great Zhou, and they even managed to keep their whereabouts so secretive.

Prefect Li is no pushover; it's really not his fault that there haven't been any leads after so many days.

It's just that these people acted too methodically and cooperated too well.

Jiang Xiaoqi suspected that the other party had ninjas, but she didn't know their level.

The abandoned Taoist temple had no choice but to leave a message for its accomplices, probably because it was certain that no one in the Great Zhou Dynasty could read their illegible characters.

Several disappearances in the capital were all solved using deception, which was quite a challenge for Lord Li, who had no knowledge of Japanese ninjutsu.

Jiang Xiaoqi was also inspired by the Cat Team, and when he saw the strange talisman at the Hanlin Academy, he was 100% certain.

The only way to evade Xiao Hei and his gang's noses would be to use a mind-altering drug that lingers for days.

Xiao Hei and his companions gained nothing, having also fallen victim to the drug.

So-called ninjutsu is nothing more than a combination of magic tricks, illusions, drug control, and even hypnosis.

A living person cannot simply disappear into thin air!

Of course, it's impossible with a dead person. If you don't believe me, go and find out just how difficult it is to completely destroy a body and cover up the evidence.

Those who frequently commit murder know that the items are thrown far away and buried nearby.

But in the end, the truth will always come to light, and the long arm of the law will catch up with you.

Ahem, that’s too far off topic.

While we were chatting, the robot with the electric drill had already submerged underwater.

They started working hard, making a "ventilation hole" in the bottom of the boat.

When the first gust of seawater entered the ship's hold, the Japanese pirates had not yet finished loading their supplies...