A day of being a fisherman finally ended. Xie Xiao managed to catch two fresh fish and exchanged them for some silver. YangYue went to heat up the food and brought it to Xie Xiao.
“You didn’t get caught, did you?” Jinxia looked at him while he was eating, at the same time, reaching out her hand to take the egg and eat it.
“Who do you think I am? Nobody would know.”
To be honest, Xie Xiao knows that being in the same boat as Dong San would be dangerous, because he might get caught, therefore, throughout the whole trip, he hardly said anything to Dong San, because he was very nervous. Luckily, Dong San was occupied with his own thoughts. He occasionally asked about Xie Xiao’s family and complimented his fishing skill.
“Is my sister alright?” Xie Xiao asked.
“She’s alright. She woke up and ate this morning. A’Rui is also not trying to die anymore, I think he’s being reasonable now…” Jinxia looked at YangYue, and curiously asked, “Da Yang, how did you persuade him?”
YangYue laughed, looking at the ignorant Xie Xiao. YangYue doesn’t want to talk about it, he just said, “Nothing, I just tried my best.”
Jinxia patted his shoulder: “If I ever get promoted to become LiuShamen’s Head, I would definitely promote and give you a raise! A good person like Da Yang, even if you light up a lantern and search, you won’t be able to find someone like this.” Listening to her words, he knows she’s not praising him because he was able to persuade A’Rui, but because he was patient enough to persuade A’Rui. No ordinary person can do that.
“Quickly get promoted, I will wait.” YangYue laughed.
The next few days, things were calm and quiet. Xie Xiao couldn’t fish any information out of Dong Sang or find anything suspicious about him. It’s good that they can go fishing together without any problems. Xie Xiao’s fishing skill is getting better and better. Nowadays, he can fish about 50kg of fresh fish and be able to make a lot of money from it. The owner of the market was very satisfied with him.
Cen Shou was still thinking about the secret room in Dong San’s house. He’s trying to think of various ways to find out exactly what’s hidden in that room, but because the room was sealed with cement, if they want to investigate it, it’s impossible to not leave a trace and Dong San would know it’s them.
“You can rent a house next to Dong San’s house, then hire a worker, let them make a lion statue in the yard, but secretly dig an underground tunnel to Dong San’s house if you calculate the length and width properly. The statue can hide the tunnel.” Jinxia said.
“That’s a great idea!” Cen Shou smacked the table and stood up, “Why didn’t you say it earlier, let’s do it right now.”
“Brother, be patient, there is only one problem with this idea.” Jinxia signalled for him to sit down, “I’ve asked around, if you want to rent a house in Xinhe City, it must be at least 3 months, and it costs about 3-4 silvers. Then, we have to call the worker to construct the tunnel, plus the cost of the lion statue, food and other expenses, it will cost at least fifteen silver to carry out this plan.”
*[3 silvers are about $30 (USD), and 15 silvers are about $110 (USD), TN]
“Stop talking.” Cen Shou raised his eyebrows.
“We definitely can’t afford to spend that much money.” Jinxia concluded, “Simply, this plan cannot be done.”
“…. It would be great if the Young Master could be here.”
“Yes….”
Jinxia took a deep breath.
Due to having to eat fish for the past couple of days. YangYue has already exhausted all of his fish recipes, even the beggar couldn’t help but sigh when he sees a dish of fish on the table.
“Can we eat meat? Slice, minced, anything would be fine.”
Jinxia also did not want to eat fish anymore, but also didn’t want to spend money to buy meat, she quickly think of a new idea: “Da Yang, we can make fish balls, or fried fish and add sauce on
“Wouldn’t that still taste like fish?”
Jinxia continued: “Just add more onions and ginger. Oh yes, remember to make fish balls.”
As they were exchanging recipes, Xie Xiao walked in with fresh fish from his trip. The hem of his pants was rolled up high, and as soon as he gave the fish to Yang Yue, he immediately turned to Jinxia: “Something happened today.”
“What happened?” Cen Shou immediately jumped to his feet.
Jinxia excitedly handed Xie Xiao a stool to sit on: “Brother quickly say it, what happened?”
“Today when we arrived at the riverbank before we even started throwing out our fishing net. On the other side of the river, there was a boat, and there were lit lanterns, one flickering while the other one was out. Then they exchanged long and short flickering. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw it, but I could only pretend that I didn’t see anything. On the other hand, Dong San covered his lantern twice, afterward, the other boat left.”
“Someone was definitely sending him signals!” Jinxia said right after he finished his story.
“After that, as soon as we finished selling our fish, Dong San immediately passed me the money and said that he has businesses to take care of people tomorrow, and told me to take a day off, and indicated that this money is to make up for tomorrow.”
“You received the money?” Cen Shou asked.
“Of course, he already said that, if I don’t accept it, won’t it make him suspicious.”
“He must be taking the boat to meet his alliance. We have to find a boat to follow him!” After countless days of waiting at Dong San’s residence, they’ve finally waited for the snake to come out of its hole. Cen Shou rubbed his hands excitedly, “It’s time to put down our baits.”
Days after days of waking up early and going fishing was finally coming to an end. Xie Xiao also said excitedly: “I will go find another boat, and we can wait at the entrance of the river, by the thick grass.”
“Da Yang, can you make a lot of eggs, so we can eat them while waiting?” Jinxia said to YangYue.
YangYue said: “I will go, you don’t have to go.”
“No, you’re not as good at swimming as I am.” Jinxia said, “After all, there are still Xie Brother and Second Cen Brother, I won’t even get a chance to fight.”
Mrs. Shen furrowed her brows, looked at Jinxia and said: “The two of them are already enough, you don’t need to go!”
“Aunt…. I am a constable, catching criminals is part of my job.” Jinxia tried to remind her politely.
“No, it’s too dangerous, you can’t go!” Mrs. Shen’s tone of voice indicated that this matter is not up for discussion. She turned to face the beggar uncle, “You watch her well, if she decides to secretly escape, then you will be blamed for it.”
The beggar uncle’s face was like a pile of fire that got drowned in water.
Jinxia didn’t expect Mrs. Shen to be so serious, she immediately remembered when on the dock, Mrs. Shen desperately gripped her hand, not letting her face any danger — “No way, I can’t let you risk your life again!” Her words still ring in her ears.
She looked at Mrs. Shen questioningly: “Aunt, exactly why are you like that?”
Mrs. Shen looked at her, her eyes looking confused. After a long time, she said: “You called me ‘aunt’, then we both are family, I can’t ignore the fact that you’re putting yourself in danger.”
“I know you’re good to me, but… it shouldn’t be like this. Aunt, my mother is also good to me, my father is also good to me, they always reminded and tell me to be careful, but none of them have ever forbid me from doing anything—”
“That’s because they’re not your biological father and mother!” Mrs. Shen immediately snatched her words.
As soon as these words came out, Jinxia was immediately stunned, the surroundings were also very quiet.
Mrs. Shen’s chest rises up and down without stopping, it is clear that her emotions are unstable. She looked at Jinxia. She had a lot to say to her, but couldn’t continue her words. She hurriedly turned around and walked back to her room.
“She, she…. Why is she like that? ” Jinxia regained consciousness, in her heart, she was feeling very angry, “This situation has nothing to do with whether my parents are my biological family members or not. They’ve raised me ever since I was little, in their hearts, how could I not know how much they love me?”
No one answered her. Xie Xiao, Cen Shou and others, including YangYue, the beggar uncle who was in the room, also didn’t know what to say.
Jinxia angrily turned to face the beggar uncle, she took out her LiuShanmen’s badge and put it on the table: “Uncle, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I am a constable in LiuShanmen, my position may be low, but I am still a person of the palace’s court. If you dare to detain me, you are rebelling against the palace!”
“Kid….”
The beggar uncle was helpless.
Jinxia raised her chin to glare at him: “Going against the palace’s court, the result will definitely not be good!”
“Kid….” The beggar uncle sighed, “Sit down, sit down first, look at how frustrated you are, your eyes are already red. This problem isn’t something we can’t discuss.”
Jinxia’s eyes were already bloodshot, she sat back down with difficulty, her lips pursed: “She…. how can she say that about my parents, she doesn’t know anything at all!”
“That’s right, what she said was wrong, but it’s because she loves you.” The beggar uncle tried to calm her down.
Chun Yumin slowly handed Jinxia a handkerchief, sympathetically looking at her.
Jinxia used the handkerchief to wipe her eyes, she glared at the beggar uncle: “This matter, in terms of relationship or status, government or family, you have to help me, right? Don’t let a female’s beauty confuse the mind.”
The beggar uncle shifted his body: “…. Well, I’ll try to talk to her again, who knows, maybe she’ll change her mind.”
“Then, hurry up!” Jinxia urged him.
“My breakfast is still not finished, this is…”
Jinxia pulled him up, and pushed some dumplings into his hands: “Uncle, it all depends on you!”
The beggar uncle was helpless, he could only step towards Mrs. Shen’s room.
Looking at the door, felt as if it was glaring at him, as soon as the shadow of the beggar uncle disappeared, Jinxia immediately jumped at Cen Shou and Xie Xiao: “Come on! Now let’s go!”
“Using a tiger to diverse the attention, high technique!” Xie Xiao gave Jinxia a thumb up.
“What tiger, my uncle looks more like a cat in front of my aunt… come on, let’s go quickly.”
Not giving YangYue time to make pancakes, Jinxia just took a few dumplings on the table and left with Xie Xiao and Cen Shou.
***
Mrs. Shen’s brows furrowed violently, in her room, she angrily picked up a shirt and start sewing, not long after her finger was pierced by a needle, it hurt and stung. At this point, she could only stop sewing.
Even though the door to her room was not locked, the beggar uncle continued to knock on it several times, laughing said: “I noticed you haven’t finished your breakfast, I brought you some more.”
“No need.” Mrs. Shen shook her head, and nervously asked him, “I said something wrong earlier, didn’t I?”
The beggar uncle walked inside, sighing and said: “You really shouldn’t have said that, the kid’s eyes were all red.”
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Shen was even more irritated.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time. Ever since we met this kid in Hangzhou, your attitude towards her has become unusual. You’re being considerate towards her, no matter how big or small the matter is. Today, instead of your considerate self, you’ve scolded her like a parent, what’s the reason?” The beggar uncle asked in a soft voice.
“I….” Mrs. Shen wanted to say something but stopped herself, “I can’t talk about it right now and it’s not because I don’t trust you. I still to confirm with someone to be sure. Anyway, to me, this child is very important, I can’t let her do anything dangerous.”
“Very important?”
“Yes, like my own child.” Mrs. Shen said, “Therefore, you must help me take care of her, don’t let her go out fighting with pirates.”
The beggar uncle cleared his throat: “This…. As I came looking for you, she slipped out already.”
Mrs. Shen said frantically: “This child…. what if something happened?”
“The child has grown up not listening to her parents, moreover you’re her real family.” The beggar uncle comforted her, “You’ve seen her, she’s full of ideas, she’s smart. After all, she has Xie Xiao and Cen Shou beside her, nothing will happen.”
Mrs. Shen looked at him.
“I can go after her right now, tied her up and bring her back for you. I will put her on this table, as soon as you open your eyes, you can see her right away. Even in the future, no matter where she goes, she will always be tied up….”
How could Mrs. Shen not understand the meaning of the beggar uncle’s words? In her heart, she knows she couldn’t forbid Jinxia at all, she could only sigh and say: “Nevermind, you don’t need to say those words to comfort me.”
The beggar uncle stopped talking, then asked seriously: “Really? I don’t have to go after her anymore?”
“No need.” Mrs. Shen put back the clothes she was sewing, then she suddenly remembered something, her eyebrows tightened, she turned and looked at the beggar uncle: “You let her go on purpose?”
“Be honest….”
The beggar uncle quickly made a guilty yet ‘not my fault’ kind of face.
“No need to explain anymore.” Mrs. Shen could only let the matter go.
***
At the left and the right entrance of the Qingpo river, there’s a group of tall grass on each side, the height was twice the height of a man, and big enough to hide a boat.
Xie Xiao’s head rested on the hard floor of the boat. He wasn’t feeling worried about the plan at all, therefore he fell fast asleep.
Cen Shou’s eyes were closed, but his ears were actively listening for any sudden movements, not missing a single sound.
Jinxia rested her head against the side of the boat. She lifted her head to peek through the gaps in the grass, her eyes remained still as if she was trying to find the other planets in the sky or the shooting star, but her mind was thinking about Lu Yi, wondering what’s he was doing right, when will he come to Xinhe City, she unconsciously let her out a long sigh.
From inside her pocket, she took out a marriage destiny stone, and gently stroked it in her palm, perhaps because it was kept inside her clothes, this shiny black stone felt slippery and warm when held, emitting a slight glow from the reflection of the stars, the stone was like a spirit that you couldn’t see…
“This, can you really protect me and Lu Daren’s relationship?” She looked at the stone, silently saying, “This must work, our relationship is a huge matter, don’t lie to me.”
Jinxia clutched the stone in her palms while reminding herself about their relationship in her heart. Cen Shou glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, but she didn’t notice at all.
About 3 in the morning, there was a faint sound of waves. Cen Shou immediately wakes Xie Xiao up.
Xie Xiao quickly splashed some of the river water on his face, instantly he came to his senses, then slowly pushed the grass aside and looked ahead — It was Dong San’s boat because the lantern on his boat shine brightly and his face could be seen.
After waiting for Dong San’s boat to sail a bit farther, Xie Xiao slowly paddled his boat out of the group of tall grasses, the river was smaller than what he was used to, but he still skillfully paddled his boat in silence, following Dong San’s boat from a distance
After almost arriving in the middle of the river, Dong San’s boat stopped, he raised his lantern, then covered the lantern with a cloth. He switched between covering and opening the light. A few moments later, in the distance, there’s a light, returning the same signal.
The two boats sailed closer, soon after, met and clung to each other, Dong San and the approaching boat started to discuss something.
“What should we do? Do we go catch them?” Xie Xiao was ready for action.
“No need to hurry, wait for a bit.”
Cen Shou calmly observed them.
Jinxia knew her eyesight wasn’t as great as the two of them, she could only see shadows. Not long after, the two boats rowed away from each other, Dong San sailing back in the direction he came from.
“Don’t worry about Dong San, we’ll chase the other boat first! Fast!” Jinxia in a low voice said to Xie Xiao.
Under the darkness of the night, Xie Xiao spun his boat around without a sound, moved away from Dong San’s boat and chased the other boat.
The boat sailed along the river’s path, it was paddling very fast. Xie Xiao chased after him frantically, not caring about the sound of splashing water. The person on the boat seemed to have sensed it, he turned his head a few times, then rowed the boat even faster.
“He already knows, hurry!”
Having been caught, Cen Shou immediately took the oars, then vigorously rowed forward, the sound of loud waves was heard, and this small boat immediately seemed to fly off the surface of the water.
Since there were no more oars, Jinxia could only lie on her stomach on the side of the boat, and use her hands as an oar and helped them pedal across the river.
Soon, the distance between the two boats was less than 10 meters. The other person turned his boat around, and suddenly he raised his hands up.
“Be careful!” Cen Shou’s eyes were so sharp, that he quickly screamed out.
Xie Xiao was very quick, as soon as he heard the sound of the flying weapon, he lift his oar up, using it as his shield, and the flying weapon struck the oar.
Cen Shou exerted his internal energy and threw the oar at the person, it painfully hit him in the chest. Xie Xiao took the chance to paddle a few more times, forcing the two boats to become closer, then Cen Shou jumped into the other boat, and before the man have a chance to get up, Cen Shou quickly suppressed him.
“Be careful, don’t let him turn around, he hid a weapon in his mouth.”
Jinxia also jumped in the boat, remembering what A’Rui had experienced, she hastily reminded Cen Shou.
Cen Shou pressed down the back of his neck, forcing it down very hard, making it difficult for him to swallow, therefore, there were sounds of vomit mixing with clicking noises. There are definitely weapons in his mouth because as he vomits, each one slowly comes out.
“Really bad-tempered!” Cen Shou said loudly.
Xie Xiao grabbed the rope of the boat and then jumped on it, seeing the pirate spit out thin needles, he remembered what happened last time and immediately became angry, he kicked him hard: “You dare to try to sneak attack me? Tired of living?!”
The pirate raised his hands, then started sprouting a bunch of Japanese words. Instantly, the three of them looked dumbfounded standing there, because none of them speak Japanese, therefore they didn’t know how to approach him with questions.
“Don’t pretend!” Xie Xiao kicked him again.
The pirate’s face was swollen with a bloody nose, then he started talking in Japanese again.
Jinxai irritatedly massaged her forehead, she turned to ask Cen Shou: “Your Young Master can understand Japanese, can you not?”
Cen Shou shyly shook his head.
“What now?” Xie Xiao asked.
Jinxia waved her hand, then said confidently: “Just knock him out, tie him, bring him home first and then ask questions!”
***
Nobody in the residence spoke Japanese, the tied-up pirate was lying on the floor, and they couldn’t ask him any questions, but also wasted their food for him, this matter irritated all of them. Jinxia and Cen Shou discussed the situation for half a day, and the final decision was to report this to the soldiers in General Qi’s camp. General Qi had been at war with pirates for several years, the General definitely knows the Japanese.
***
The two of them walked to the soldier headquarters, but someone stopped them at the entrance. When asked, they found that General Qi had brought all the troops to Taizhou, and the General might return three or five days later, nothing was definite.
“I want to ask, who’s in charge of the city?” Cen Shou asked.
“If it’s city-related matters, of course, you have to go to the police department.”
Jinxia asked: “How about the pirates-related matters? There are not many people in the police department, I was afraid to bother them with such a matter, and they won’t be able to handle it.”
After thinking about it for a while, the guard said: “You both can report it to Madam Qi, she will find a way to resolve it.”
“Madam Qi?” Jinxia was stunned, “You mean the wife of General Qi? She can take care of pirate matters?”
Reporting to a woman, Cen Shou immediately frowned, he also felt that this was unreasonable.
The guard quickly understood their reaction, laughing said: “Trust me, if anyone can handle government affairs as good as Genera Qi, it would be Madam Qi.”
Jinxia and Cen Shou half believed him, they continued to ask questions about the Qi family and then went to search for Qi Residence. It turned out that it was not too far from the headquarters, it only took them a few minutes of walking.
After knocking on the door, a servant girl opened it, she didn’t look scared, instead, she observed them from top to bottom, then pointed and held the badges on Jinxia and Cen Shou’s clothing.
“JinYiwei, LiuShanmen.” She returned their badges, “Please wait a bit, I will report to Madam.”
“Please,” Jinxia said respectfully.
The door closed again, Jinxia looked at Cen Shou and shook her head: “See, even a servant girl of low status is so courageous and bold, this Madam Qi is definitely not an average person.”
Cen Shou furrowed his brows: “Even if she’s not a regular person, she’s still a woman. Pirates’ matters aren’t something trivial, how can she deal with it? I think we should try to contact General Qi as soon as possible.”
“Don’t look down on women, you’ll lose big time.” Jinxia laughed.
Cen Shou didn’t reply, only let out a snort.
After a while, the girl opened the door again, and said to them: “Madam invites you both inside, please follow me.”
This place is Qi Residence, a simple structured house in Xinhe City, it’s no bigger than Master Chun Yu’s residence. As they follow the servant girl into the main room, slowly appearing in front of their eyes was a young madam wearing a dark purple horse style skirt, the outer cover was made with Huzhou silk cloth with open sleeves and peony prints, she elegantly sit at a big table, surrounding her were weapons, long spears, pocket knives, and so on…The light shines down on the shining blade, which brings out the coldness of the image.
*[马面裙 (Mǎ miàn qún) = Or called horse style skirt, but it has nothing to do with horses or anything, it just simply meant a skirt sew with two fabrics to make a belt, TN]
*[Huzhou silk = a type of fabric made in Huzhou, Zhejiang, TN]
“Madam Qi, they’re here.” The servant reported.
The young madam was wiping a knife in her hand, upon hearing that, she raised her head and said slowly: “Please have a seat, bring tea.” She gave orders to the servant. It doesn’t matter who it is, if LiuShanmen from the Capital has come here, it’s definitely not good news, especially when there’s a JinYiWei escorting.
Seeing the sharp weapon on the table, Cen Shou just felt that this Madam Qi in front of him was indeed not an ordinary person.
“I’ve heard that General Qi’s troops are very well trained, especially the weapons they used are long spears and bamboo knives.” Jinxia excitedly looked at all the weapons.
Madam Qi sheathed the knife in her hand, then looked at Jinxia and smiled slightly: “They also talked about our troops even the capital?”
“Of course, my boss highly praised General Qi’s troops, especially the Yuanyang formation, in fact, everyone always talks about the five famous formations that are being used in battle, as well as the use of weapons when attacking. We truly admired General Qi’s work.” Jinxia said with a laugh.
*[Yuanyang formation = Or another name is Mandarin Duck Formation, it’s asymmetrical formation. 10 men are split into even numbers, forming two squads, so they can form a protective force against the Japanese pirates, TN]
Cen Shou glanced at Jinxia while thinking to himself: This kid definitely knows how to create a conversation.
Madam Qi’s attitude towards them became softer, she asked: “I heard you are a constable in Liu Shanmen, this young man must be from JinYiWei, what business bring you both here?”
“So it’s….”
Jinxia explained all the events that took place in order, from meeting Dong San in Hangzhou to arriving and following him around Xinhe city, she told the story in great detail. As Madam Qi, her eyebrows couldn’t help but tightened.
“Is there anyone at your residence who can speak Japanese or at least find someone who can speak the language?” Cen Shou finally stepped in to ask.
Madam Qi smiled slightly: “I understand Japanese, let me talk to him.”
At this moment, not only Cen Shou, even Jinxia was stunned. “Madam, you can also speak Japanese?” She asked in surprise.
“I and the general have faced pirates for many years, very often in contact with the Japanese. Some say that knowing the enemy is like knowing yourself, you can fight them hundreds of times and win hundreds of times. That’s why I invited teachers to specifically teach me Japanese.” Madam Qi stood up, “You two sit here for a while, I’ll change first, then go with you.”
“Thank you, Madam!”
Jinxia and Cen Shou quickly rose to their feet and saluted.
Madam Qi walked out of the room, Jinxia looked at Cen Shou: “How was it? This Madam Qi really isn’t like the average person isn’t she?”
A woman that faced countless pirates situations deliberately learned Japanese to help her husband, there’s certainly nobody like her. Cen Shou couldn’t say anything but nodded his head.
“That’s right, how come your Young Master can speak Japanese?” Jinxia asked.
Cen Shou sighed and said: “The Old Master has very high demands, besides Japanese, he also knows Korean and Mongolian.”
Jinxia said with a chuckle: “Fortunately he is smart by nature, I would’ve died from all of this.”
Cen Shou scoffed at her: “My Young Master is not here, you don’t have to praise him.”
“Brother, if it’s not the matter of praising, or if the person is in front or behind me, you must always praise him,” Jinxia said.
Knowing he won’t be able to win her, Cen Shou raised his hands in surrender.
A day of being a fisherman finally ended. Xie Xiao managed to catch two fresh fish and exchanged them for some silver. YangYue went to heat up the food and brought it to Xie Xiao.
“You didn’t get caught, did you?” Jinxia looked at him while he was eating, at the same time, reaching out her hand to take the egg and eat it.
“Who do you think I am? Nobody would know.”
To be honest, Xie Xiao knows that being in the same boat as Dong San would be dangerous, because he might get caught, therefore, throughout the whole trip, he hardly said anything to Dong San, because he was very nervous. Luckily, Dong San was occupied with his own thoughts. He occasionally asked about Xie Xiao’s family and complimented his fishing skill.
“Is my sister alright?” Xie Xiao asked.
“She’s alright. She woke up and ate this morning. A’Rui is also not trying to die anymore, I think he’s being reasonable now…” Jinxia looked at YangYue, and curiously asked, “Da Yang, how did you persuade him?”
YangYue laughed, looking at the ignorant Xie Xiao. YangYue doesn’t want to talk about it, he just said, “Nothing, I just tried my best.”
Jinxia patted his shoulder: “If I ever get promoted to become LiuShamen’s Head, I would definitely promote and give you a raise! A good person like Da Yang, even if you light up a lantern and search, you won’t be able to find someone like this.” Listening to her words, he knows she’s not praising him because he was able to persuade A’Rui, but because he was patient enough to persuade A’Rui. No ordinary person can do that.
“Quickly get promoted, I will wait.” YangYue laughed.
The next few days, things were calm and quiet. Xie Xiao couldn’t fish any information out of Dong Sang or find anything suspicious about him. It’s good that they can go fishing together without any problems. Xie Xiao’s fishing skill is getting better and better. Nowadays, he can fish about 50kg of fresh fish and be able to make a lot of money from it. The owner of the market was very satisfied with him.
Cen Shou was still thinking about the secret room in Dong San’s house. He’s trying to think of various ways to find out exactly what’s hidden in that room, but because the room was sealed with cement, if they want to investigate it, it’s impossible to not leave a trace and Dong San would know it’s them.
“You can rent a house next to Dong San’s house, then hire a worker, let them make a lion statue in the yard, but secretly dig an underground tunnel to Dong San’s house if you calculate the length and width properly. The statue can hide the tunnel.” Jinxia said.
“That’s a great idea!” Cen Shou smacked the table and stood up, “Why didn’t you say it earlier, let’s do it right now.”
“Brother, be patient, there is only one problem with this idea.” Jinxia signalled for him to sit down, “I’ve asked around, if you want to rent a house in Xinhe City, it must be at least 3 months, and it costs about 3-4 silvers. Then, we have to call the worker to construct the tunnel, plus the cost of the lion statue, food and other expenses, it will cost at least fifteen silver to carry out this plan.”
*[3 silvers are about $30 (USD), and 15 silvers are about $110 (USD), TN]
“Stop talking.” Cen Shou raised his eyebrows.
“We definitely can’t afford to spend that much money.” Jinxia concluded, “Simply, this plan cannot be done.”
“…. It would be great if the Young Master could be here.”
“Yes….”
Jinxia took a deep breath.
Due to having to eat fish for the past couple of days. YangYue has already exhausted all of his fish recipes, even the beggar couldn’t help but sigh when he sees a dish of fish on the table.
“Can we eat meat? Slice, minced, anything would be fine.”
Jinxia also did not want to eat fish anymore, but also didn’t want to spend money to buy meat, she quickly think of a new idea: “Da Yang, we can make fish balls, or fried fish and add sauce on
“Wouldn’t that still taste like fish?”
Jinxia continued: “Just add more onions and ginger. Oh yes, remember to make fish balls.”
As they were exchanging recipes, Xie Xiao walked in with fresh fish from his trip. The hem of his pants was rolled up high, and as soon as he gave the fish to Yang Yue, he immediately turned to Jinxia: “Something happened today.”
“What happened?” Cen Shou immediately jumped to his feet.
Jinxia excitedly handed Xie Xiao a stool to sit on: “Brother quickly say it, what happened?”
“Today when we arrived at the riverbank before we even started throwing out our fishing net. On the other side of the river, there was a boat, and there were lit lanterns, one flickering while the other one was out. Then they exchanged long and short flickering. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw it, but I could only pretend that I didn’t see anything. On the other hand, Dong San covered his lantern twice, afterward, the other boat left.”
“Someone was definitely sending him signals!” Jinxia said right after he finished his story.
“After that, as soon as we finished selling our fish, Dong San immediately passed me the money and said that he has businesses to take care of people tomorrow, and told me to take a day off, and indicated that this money is to make up for tomorrow.”
“You received the money?” Cen Shou asked.
“Of course, he already said that, if I don’t accept it, won’t it make him suspicious.”
“He must be taking the boat to meet his alliance. We have to find a boat to follow him!” After countless days of waiting at Dong San’s residence, they’ve finally waited for the snake to come out of its hole. Cen Shou rubbed his hands excitedly, “It’s time to put down our baits.”
Days after days of waking up early and going fishing was finally coming to an end. Xie Xiao also said excitedly: “I will go find another boat, and we can wait at the entrance of the river, by the thick grass.”
“Da Yang, can you make a lot of eggs, so we can eat them while waiting?” Jinxia said to YangYue.
YangYue said: “I will go, you don’t have to go.”
“No, you’re not as good at swimming as I am.” Jinxia said, “After all, there are still Xie Brother and Second Cen Brother, I won’t even get a chance to fight.”
Mrs. Shen furrowed her brows, looked at Jinxia and said: “The two of them are already enough, you don’t need to go!”
“Aunt…. I am a constable, catching criminals is part of my job.” Jinxia tried to remind her politely.
“No, it’s too dangerous, you can’t go!” Mrs. Shen’s tone of voice indicated that this matter is not up for discussion. She turned to face the beggar uncle, “You watch her well, if she decides to secretly escape, then you will be blamed for it.”
The beggar uncle’s face was like a pile of fire that got drowned in water.
Jinxia didn’t expect Mrs. Shen to be so serious, she immediately remembered when on the dock, Mrs. Shen desperately gripped her hand, not letting her face any danger — “No way, I can’t let you risk your life again!” Her words still ring in her ears.
She looked at Mrs. Shen questioningly: “Aunt, exactly why are you like that?”
Mrs. Shen looked at her, her eyes looking confused. After a long time, she said: “You called me ‘aunt’, then we both are family, I can’t ignore the fact that you’re putting yourself in danger.”
“I know you’re good to me, but… it shouldn’t be like this. Aunt, my mother is also good to me, my father is also good to me, they always reminded and tell me to be careful, but none of them have ever forbid me from doing anything—”
“That’s because they’re not your biological father and mother!” Mrs. Shen immediately snatched her words.
As soon as these words came out, Jinxia was immediately stunned, the surroundings were also very quiet.
Mrs. Shen’s chest rises up and down without stopping, it is clear that her emotions are unstable. She looked at Jinxia. She had a lot to say to her, but couldn’t continue her words. She hurriedly turned around and walked back to her room.
“She, she…. Why is she like that? ” Jinxia regained consciousness, in her heart, she was feeling very angry, “This situation has nothing to do with whether my parents are my biological family members or not. They’ve raised me ever since I was little, in their hearts, how could I not know how much they love me?”
No one answered her. Xie Xiao, Cen Shou and others, including YangYue, the beggar uncle who was in the room, also didn’t know what to say.
Jinxia angrily turned to face the beggar uncle, she took out her LiuShanmen’s badge and put it on the table: “Uncle, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I am a constable in LiuShanmen, my position may be low, but I am still a person of the palace’s court. If you dare to detain me, you are rebelling against the palace!”
“Kid….”
The beggar uncle was helpless.
Jinxia raised her chin to glare at him: “Going against the palace’s court, the result will definitely not be good!”
“Kid….” The beggar uncle sighed, “Sit down, sit down first, look at how frustrated you are, your eyes are already red. This problem isn’t something we can’t discuss.”
Jinxia’s eyes were already bloodshot, she sat back down with difficulty, her lips pursed: “She…. how can she say that about my parents, she doesn’t know anything at all!”
“That’s right, what she said was wrong, but it’s because she loves you.” The beggar uncle tried to calm her down.
Chun Yumin slowly handed Jinxia a handkerchief, sympathetically looking at her.
Jinxia used the handkerchief to wipe her eyes, she glared at the beggar uncle: “This matter, in terms of relationship or status, government or family, you have to help me, right? Don’t let a female’s beauty confuse the mind.”
The beggar uncle shifted his body: “…. Well, I’ll try to talk to her again, who knows, maybe she’ll change her mind.”
“Then, hurry up!” Jinxia urged him.
“My breakfast is still not finished, this is…”
Jinxia pulled him up, and pushed some dumplings into his hands: “Uncle, it all depends on you!”
The beggar uncle was helpless, he could only step towards Mrs. Shen’s room.
Looking at the door, felt as if it was glaring at him, as soon as the shadow of the beggar uncle disappeared, Jinxia immediately jumped at Cen Shou and Xie Xiao: “Come on! Now let’s go!”
“Using a tiger to diverse the attention, high technique!” Xie Xiao gave Jinxia a thumb up.
“What tiger, my uncle looks more like a cat in front of my aunt… come on, let’s go quickly.”
Not giving YangYue time to make pancakes, Jinxia just took a few dumplings on the table and left with Xie Xiao and Cen Shou.
***
Mrs. Shen’s brows furrowed violently, in her room, she angrily picked up a shirt and start sewing, not long after her finger was pierced by a needle, it hurt and stung. At this point, she could only stop sewing.
Even though the door to her room was not locked, the beggar uncle continued to knock on it several times, laughing said: “I noticed you haven’t finished your breakfast, I brought you some more.”
“No need.” Mrs. Shen shook her head, and nervously asked him, “I said something wrong earlier, didn’t I?”
The beggar uncle walked inside, sighing and said: “You really shouldn’t have said that, the kid’s eyes were all red.”
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Shen was even more irritated.
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time. Ever since we met this kid in Hangzhou, your attitude towards her has become unusual. You’re being considerate towards her, no matter how big or small the matter is. Today, instead of your considerate self, you’ve scolded her like a parent, what’s the reason?” The beggar uncle asked in a soft voice.
“I….” Mrs. Shen wanted to say something but stopped herself, “I can’t talk about it right now and it’s not because I don’t trust you. I still to confirm with someone to be sure. Anyway, to me, this child is very important, I can’t let her do anything dangerous.”
“Very important?”
“Yes, like my own child.” Mrs. Shen said, “Therefore, you must help me take care of her, don’t let her go out fighting with pirates.”
The beggar uncle cleared his throat: “This…. As I came looking for you, she slipped out already.”
Mrs. Shen said frantically: “This child…. what if something happened?”
“The child has grown up not listening to her parents, moreover you’re her real family.” The beggar uncle comforted her, “You’ve seen her, she’s full of ideas, she’s smart. After all, she has Xie Xiao and Cen Shou beside her, nothing will happen.”
Mrs. Shen looked at him.
“I can go after her right now, tied her up and bring her back for you. I will put her on this table, as soon as you open your eyes, you can see her right away. Even in the future, no matter where she goes, she will always be tied up….”
How could Mrs. Shen not understand the meaning of the beggar uncle’s words? In her heart, she knows she couldn’t forbid Jinxia at all, she could only sigh and say: “Nevermind, you don’t need to say those words to comfort me.”
The beggar uncle stopped talking, then asked seriously: “Really? I don’t have to go after her anymore?”
“No need.” Mrs. Shen put back the clothes she was sewing, then she suddenly remembered something, her eyebrows tightened, she turned and looked at the beggar uncle: “You let her go on purpose?”
“Be honest….”
The beggar uncle quickly made a guilty yet ‘not my fault’ kind of face.
“No need to explain anymore.” Mrs. Shen could only let the matter go.
***
At the left and the right entrance of the Qingpo river, there’s a group of tall grass on each side, the height was twice the height of a man, and big enough to hide a boat.
Xie Xiao’s head rested on the hard floor of the boat. He wasn’t feeling worried about the plan at all, therefore he fell fast asleep.
Cen Shou’s eyes were closed, but his ears were actively listening for any sudden movements, not missing a single sound.
Jinxia rested her head against the side of the boat. She lifted her head to peek through the gaps in the grass, her eyes remained still as if she was trying to find the other planets in the sky or the shooting star, but her mind was thinking about Lu Yi, wondering what’s he was doing right, when will he come to Xinhe City, she unconsciously let her out a long sigh.
From inside her pocket, she took out a marriage destiny stone, and gently stroked it in her palm, perhaps because it was kept inside her clothes, this shiny black stone felt slippery and warm when held, emitting a slight glow from the reflection of the stars, the stone was like a spirit that you couldn’t see…
“This, can you really protect me and Lu Daren’s relationship?” She looked at the stone, silently saying, “This must work, our relationship is a huge matter, don’t lie to me.”
Jinxia clutched the stone in her palms while reminding herself about their relationship in her heart. Cen Shou glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, but she didn’t notice at all.
About 3 in the morning, there was a faint sound of waves. Cen Shou immediately wakes Xie Xiao up.
Xie Xiao quickly splashed some of the river water on his face, instantly he came to his senses, then slowly pushed the grass aside and looked ahead — It was Dong San’s boat because the lantern on his boat shine brightly and his face could be seen.
After waiting for Dong San’s boat to sail a bit farther, Xie Xiao slowly paddled his boat out of the group of tall grasses, the river was smaller than what he was used to, but he still skillfully paddled his boat in silence, following Dong San’s boat from a distance
After almost arriving in the middle of the river, Dong San’s boat stopped, he raised his lantern, then covered the lantern with a cloth. He switched between covering and opening the light. A few moments later, in the distance, there’s a light, returning the same signal.
The two boats sailed closer, soon after, met and clung to each other, Dong San and the approaching boat started to discuss something.
“What should we do? Do we go catch them?” Xie Xiao was ready for action.
“No need to hurry, wait for a bit.”
Cen Shou calmly observed them.
Jinxia knew her eyesight wasn’t as great as the two of them, she could only see shadows. Not long after, the two boats rowed away from each other, Dong San sailing back in the direction he came from.
“Don’t worry about Dong San, we’ll chase the other boat first! Fast!” Jinxia in a low voice said to Xie Xiao.
Under the darkness of the night, Xie Xiao spun his boat around without a sound, moved away from Dong San’s boat and chased the other boat.
The boat sailed along the river’s path, it was paddling very fast. Xie Xiao chased after him frantically, not caring about the sound of splashing water. The person on the boat seemed to have sensed it, he turned his head a few times, then rowed the boat even faster.
“He already knows, hurry!”
Having been caught, Cen Shou immediately took the oars, then vigorously rowed forward, the sound of loud waves was heard, and this small boat immediately seemed to fly off the surface of the water.
Since there were no more oars, Jinxia could only lie on her stomach on the side of the boat, and use her hands as an oar and helped them pedal across the river.
Soon, the distance between the two boats was less than 10 meters. The other person turned his boat around, and suddenly he raised his hands up.
“Be careful!” Cen Shou’s eyes were so sharp, that he quickly screamed out.
Xie Xiao was very quick, as soon as he heard the sound of the flying weapon, he lift his oar up, using it as his shield, and the flying weapon struck the oar.
Cen Shou exerted his internal energy and threw the oar at the person, it painfully hit him in the chest. Xie Xiao took the chance to paddle a few more times, forcing the two boats to become closer, then Cen Shou jumped into the other boat, and before the man have a chance to get up, Cen Shou quickly suppressed him.
“Be careful, don’t let him turn around, he hid a weapon in his mouth.”
Jinxia also jumped in the boat, remembering what A’Rui had experienced, she hastily reminded Cen Shou.
Cen Shou pressed down the back of his neck, forcing it down very hard, making it difficult for him to swallow, therefore, there were sounds of vomit mixing with clicking noises. There are definitely weapons in his mouth because as he vomits, each one slowly comes out.
“Really bad-tempered!” Cen Shou said loudly.
Xie Xiao grabbed the rope of the boat and then jumped on it, seeing the pirate spit out thin needles, he remembered what happened last time and immediately became angry, he kicked him hard: “You dare to try to sneak attack me? Tired of living?!”
The pirate raised his hands, then started sprouting a bunch of Japanese words. Instantly, the three of them looked dumbfounded standing there, because none of them speak Japanese, therefore they didn’t know how to approach him with questions.
“Don’t pretend!” Xie Xiao kicked him again.
The pirate’s face was swollen with a bloody nose, then he started talking in Japanese again.
Jinxai irritatedly massaged her forehead, she turned to ask Cen Shou: “Your Young Master can understand Japanese, can you not?”
Cen Shou shyly shook his head.
“What now?” Xie Xiao asked.
Jinxia waved her hand, then said confidently: “Just knock him out, tie him, bring him home first and then ask questions!”
***
Nobody in the residence spoke Japanese, the tied-up pirate was lying on the floor, and they couldn’t ask him any questions, but also wasted their food for him, this matter irritated all of them. Jinxia and Cen Shou discussed the situation for half a day, and the final decision was to report this to the soldiers in General Qi’s camp. General Qi had been at war with pirates for several years, the General definitely knows the Japanese.
***
The two of them walked to the soldier headquarters, but someone stopped them at the entrance. When asked, they found that General Qi had brought all the troops to Taizhou, and the General might return three or five days later, nothing was definite.
“I want to ask, who’s in charge of the city?” Cen Shou asked.
“If it’s city-related matters, of course, you have to go to the police department.”
Jinxia asked: “How about the pirates-related matters? There are not many people in the police department, I was afraid to bother them with such a matter, and they won’t be able to handle it.”
After thinking about it for a while, the guard said: “You both can report it to Madam Qi, she will find a way to resolve it.”
“Madam Qi?” Jinxia was stunned, “You mean the wife of General Qi? She can take care of pirate matters?”
Reporting to a woman, Cen Shou immediately frowned, he also felt that this was unreasonable.
The guard quickly understood their reaction, laughing said: “Trust me, if anyone can handle government affairs as good as Genera Qi, it would be Madam Qi.”
Jinxia and Cen Shou half believed him, they continued to ask questions about the Qi family and then went to search for Qi Residence. It turned out that it was not too far from the headquarters, it only took them a few minutes of walking.
After knocking on the door, a servant girl opened it, she didn’t look scared, instead, she observed them from top to bottom, then pointed and held the badges on Jinxia and Cen Shou’s clothing.
“JinYiwei, LiuShanmen.” She returned their badges, “Please wait a bit, I will report to Madam.”
“Please,” Jinxia said respectfully.
The door closed again, Jinxia looked at Cen Shou and shook her head: “See, even a servant girl of low status is so courageous and bold, this Madam Qi is definitely not an average person.”
Cen Shou furrowed his brows: “Even if she’s not a regular person, she’s still a woman. Pirates’ matters aren’t something trivial, how can she deal with it? I think we should try to contact General Qi as soon as possible.”
“Don’t look down on women, you’ll lose big time.” Jinxia laughed.
Cen Shou didn’t reply, only let out a snort.
After a while, the girl opened the door again, and said to them: “Madam invites you both inside, please follow me.”
This place is Qi Residence, a simple structured house in Xinhe City, it’s no bigger than Master Chun Yu’s residence. As they follow the servant girl into the main room, slowly appearing in front of their eyes was a young madam wearing a dark purple horse style skirt, the outer cover was made with Huzhou silk cloth with open sleeves and peony prints, she elegantly sit at a big table, surrounding her were weapons, long spears, pocket knives, and so on…The light shines down on the shining blade, which brings out the coldness of the image.
*[马面裙 (Mǎ miàn qún) = Or called horse style skirt, but it has nothing to do with horses or anything, it just simply meant a skirt sew with two fabrics to make a belt, TN]
*[Huzhou silk = a type of fabric made in Huzhou, Zhejiang, TN]
“Madam Qi, they’re here.” The servant reported.
The young madam was wiping a knife in her hand, upon hearing that, she raised her head and said slowly: “Please have a seat, bring tea.” She gave orders to the servant. It doesn’t matter who it is, if LiuShanmen from the Capital has come here, it’s definitely not good news, especially when there’s a JinYiWei escorting.
Seeing the sharp weapon on the table, Cen Shou just felt that this Madam Qi in front of him was indeed not an ordinary person.
“I’ve heard that General Qi’s troops are very well trained, especially the weapons they used are long spears and bamboo knives.” Jinxia excitedly looked at all the weapons.
Madam Qi sheathed the knife in her hand, then looked at Jinxia and smiled slightly: “They also talked about our troops even the capital?”
“Of course, my boss highly praised General Qi’s troops, especially the Yuanyang formation, in fact, everyone always talks about the five famous formations that are being used in battle, as well as the use of weapons when attacking. We truly admired General Qi’s work.” Jinxia said with a laugh.
*[Yuanyang formation = Or another name is Mandarin Duck Formation, it’s asymmetrical formation. 10 men are split into even numbers, forming two squads, so they can form a protective force against the Japanese pirates, TN]
Cen Shou glanced at Jinxia while thinking to himself: This kid definitely knows how to create a conversation.
Madam Qi’s attitude towards them became softer, she asked: “I heard you are a constable in Liu Shanmen, this young man must be from JinYiWei, what business bring you both here?”
“So it’s….”
Jinxia explained all the events that took place in order, from meeting Dong San in Hangzhou to arriving and following him around Xinhe city, she told the story in great detail. As Madam Qi, her eyebrows couldn’t help but tightened.
“Is there anyone at your residence who can speak Japanese or at least find someone who can speak the language?” Cen Shou finally stepped in to ask.
Madam Qi smiled slightly: “I understand Japanese, let me talk to him.”
At this moment, not only Cen Shou, even Jinxia was stunned. “Madam, you can also speak Japanese?” She asked in surprise.
“I and the general have faced pirates for many years, very often in contact with the Japanese. Some say that knowing the enemy is like knowing yourself, you can fight them hundreds of times and win hundreds of times. That’s why I invited teachers to specifically teach me Japanese.” Madam Qi stood up, “You two sit here for a while, I’ll change first, then go with you.”
“Thank you, Madam!”
Jinxia and Cen Shou quickly rose to their feet and saluted.
Madam Qi walked out of the room, Jinxia looked at Cen Shou: “How was it? This Madam Qi really isn’t like the average person isn’t she?”
A woman that faced countless pirates situations deliberately learned Japanese to help her husband, there’s certainly nobody like her. Cen Shou couldn’t say anything but nodded his head.
“That’s right, how come your Young Master can speak Japanese?” Jinxia asked.
Cen Shou sighed and said: “The Old Master has very high demands, besides Japanese, he also knows Korean and Mongolian.”
Jinxia said with a chuckle: “Fortunately he is smart by nature, I would’ve died from all of this.”
Cen Shou scoffed at her: “My Young Master is not here, you don’t have to praise him.”
“Brother, if it’s not the matter of praising, or if the person is in front or behind me, you must always praise him,” Jinxia said.
Knowing he won’t be able to win her, Cen Shou raised his hands in surrender.
