Half a month after Yuan Zhao Di's encounter with the pirates, news came that many docks and small towns along the river had also been attacked by pirates and suffered heavy casualties.
With such news, Yuan Zhao Di and his father understood that the imperial court navy's act of impersonating pirates was not a simple matter.
That was because the imperial court had sent their prince to fix this problem.
The Qingyuan river was an important water transportation route.
The tax money, rice, grain, cloth, and other things in Jiangnan could only be transported to the capital through the Qingyuan river. With the pirates at Qingyuan river, the imperial court's income in Jiangnan would be affected.
"Father, what should we do with this?"
When Yuan Zhao Di received the news from outside, his heart was heavy.
There were no pirates, only the imperial court's navy.
Even if the prince were the imperial envoy, he would have to rely on the imperial court's navy to clear out the pirates. This situation was a typical case of a thief calling out another thief.
Once the imperial court navy wanted to close the case, they would have to find the real pirates.
But in reality, there were no pirates on the Qingyuan river.
If he wanted to close the case, he had to kill the good to claim the credit.
"You're asking me, but who should I ask?" Old Yuan rolled his eyes at his son.
He was just an ordinary old farmer. It was already very rare for him not to be frightened and panic in the face of such a situation. As for asking him to think of a solution, wasn't this forcing him?
"Father, why don't we hide in the mountains first?"
Yuan Zhao Di looked at his father and said, "Even if the imperial prince doesn't come to me, the imperial navy will not let the village's young men off the hook. If they want to find someone to take the blame, they might even come to our village."
"You're right!" Old Yuan did not doubt Yuan Zhao Di's deduction at all.
But in the current situation, they had no other choice.
It was no secret that Yuan Zhao Di had escaped the calamity at the dragon head dock. Everyone in the surrounding villages knew about it. Under such circumstances, if they hid in the mountains for no reason, wouldn't they be confessing?
Old Yuan knew that the situation was not in their favor, but he was also aware that they were the meat on the chopping block.
After all, no one knew why the imperial court's navy would pretend to be pirates.
Imperial envoy?
Who could guarantee that the arrival of this prince was not part of the other party's original plan?
"Father, should I go and inform the others now?" Yuan Zhao Di jumped up when he heard her father agree with his statement.
"Stop right there!" Old Yuan shouted before his son could leave the room.
"Father, what happened again?"
Yuan Zhao Di glared at his father. "Now's not the time to be indecisive. We have to make a prompt decision!"
If they didn't make a decision, they would be hurt.
"If we leave now, won't we be telling others that we have a guilty conscience? Even if we hide in the mountains at that time, I'm afraid we'll be hunted down endlessly!"
The imperial court's navy had pretended to be pirates and massacred many docks and small towns along the Qingyuan river. Old Yuan would never believe that there was nothing fishy about this.
"Father, what should we do?"
"We can't just sit around and wait for death at home, can we?"
Yuan Zhao Di thought for a while and understood his father's concern. However, even if they were suspected, it was better than staying at home and waiting for death!