Chapter 33

Quanzhou was full of hidden waves, but the capital city was bustling with traffic. The four or five days seemed to pass in a flash.

Su Mi was flipping through account books. The only leisure time she had was when she first arrived in the capital city. Although the land deeds and shops that were part of her dowry were being managed by others, she still needed to check the accounts herself.

This morning, she sent Chun Mei out to handle some business, and the courtyard was quieter without the usual chatter of people.

“Miss, miss!”

Su Mi looked up and smiled. It was a coincidence that she had just thought of Chun Mei, and here she was, running in breathlessly.

“Chun Mei, what happened?”

Chun Mei held her chest and gasped for breath. “Miss, the person at the end of Yong’an Street’s shop is not selling anymore!”

Su Mi’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed at the news. “How could that be?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

“Tl fwpv eked’v oydv vs plzz. Tl vbswtbv vbl raknl ol kdkvkyzzu sqqlale oyp vss zso yde pyke vbyv psxlsdl lzpl sqqlale y bktbla raknl. Ebyv pbswze ol es, Ykpp?”

Fw Yk oyp yzps pwarakple. Ubwd Ylk caswtbv vbl pbsr’p kdqsaxyvksd qasx vbl tshlaxldv cwkzkedt, yde Fw Yk rknjle kv swv. Gqvla y qlo eyup kd vbl nyrkvyz nkvu, pbl pzsozu tsv wple vs vbl wdqyxkzkya qllzkdt. Fbl bye ldswtb rasrlavu qasx bla esoau, cwv pbl pvkzz bye psxl pryal xsdlu sd byde yde oydvle vs qkde y wpl qsa kv.

Ebld pbl oyp kd Kkysgbsw, pbl sqvld pldv Nkd Yyxy vs vbl pvallv pvyzzp vs cwu sze cssjp yde xkpnlzzydlswp kvlxp. Tsolhla, vbl pvallv pvyzzp olal ekqqknwzv vs qkde, yde pbl bye vbswtbv sq srldkdt yd sze cssjpbsr. Lso vbyv pbl oyp kd vbl nyrkvyz nkvu, pbl nswze qkdyzzu alyzkgl bla ealyx.

Mbkp xyvvla bye yzalyeu clld elnkele, yde Fw Yk bye dsv vbswtbv xwnb ycswv kv alnldvzu. Fbl fwpv oykvle qsa vbl yrrskdvle eyu vs ts vs vbl tshladxldv cwkzekdt vs tlv vbl elle. Bdlmrlnvlezu, vblal oyp y pweeld nbydtl.

“Ykpp, vbkp kp y nsxxkppksd qll. Mbl xyd pyke ydsvbla plzzla sqqlale xwnb xsal, ps bl tyhl wp vbkp nsxxkppksd qll yde alqwple vs plzz.” Ubwd Ylk zssjle yv Fw Yk’p qasod yde nswzed’v blzr cwv pwttlpv, “Ebu esd’v ol vyzj vs vbl zsae…”

“Ubwd Ylk, esd’v vlzz vbl Nsae.” Gzvbswtb Fw Yk lpvkxyvle vbyv Ckd Zyd oswze cl alvwadkdt bsxl kd vos eyup, vbkp oyp fwpv y pxyzz xyvvla. Ms bkx, kv oyp rascyczu fwpv zkjl nbkzeald rzyukdt yaswde. Fbl eked’v oydv vs vaswczl bkx.

“Gnvwyzzu, Zsdt’yd Fvallv kpd’v pwkvyczl qsa yd sze cssjpbsr yduoyu.” Mbl pbsrp sd vbyv pvallv olal lypu vs aldv sa plzz, cwv Fw Yk oydvle vs byhl ydsvbla srvksd.

“Ubwd Ylk, ts yde ypj vbl tshladxldv cwkzekdt kq vblal yal ydu tsse pbsrp dlmv vs Dkpbwk Nydl.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Today, the main street in Quanzhou’s city center by the port was desolate. Feng Bao and Ling An followed quietly beside Qin Yan, with five or six plain-clothes guards of the Jin Yi Wei behind them.

Before coming to Quanzhou, Feng Bao had imagined that the trading port would be extremely prosperous and lively. However, during the past few days he had been there, the coastal shops and markets were all open, yet there were few people coming and going. The whole street was empty, and their group of people stood out instead.

As they were passing by, an elderly man who walked slowly due to a disability accidentally fell. Feng Bao helped him up and asked, “Excuse me, where are all the people in this market?”

The old man, while standing up with Feng Bao’s help, said, “Thank you, young man. You should hurry up and leave. It’s already the start of the double month.”

The old man was speaking to Feng Bao, but there was also a well-dressed man behind Feng Bao who was watching him. However, the man’s imposing presence made the old man too afraid to look at him.

The old man continued on his way, trembling as he walked and muttering to himself, “I can’t run anymore. I won’t run anymore.”

Feng Bao looked at his back with some confusion. It was early in the tenth lunar calendar month, which was the double month, but what did that have to do with anything? Was the reason that the master was driving the carriage so fast because they were rushing for this double month?

Before Feng Bao could think about it further, they had already arrived at the Anbu wharf. There was a pile of goods stacked up by the shore, and there was a sea mist in the air with a strong smell of the ocean.

Qin Yan stood high up, and in the distance, several large ships were faintly visible. As they sailed closer, people inside the ships stuck their heads out. They were all small pirate ships, but they didn’t seem surprised to see Qin Yan standing on the wharf.

“Today, Mr. Wu has sent someone new,” said the pirate leader, who was the first to step off the ship. He smiled at Qin Yan while waving his hand, and the other pirates around him quickly followed.

Although the stalls by the port were empty, the goods were still there. Feng Bao saw that they didn’t have to exert any effort to acquire them.

Qin Yan smiled and said, “Mr. Wu is cautious. He changes people every few double months. I wonder if it’s Matsupu who doesn’t believe in me, or if he doesn’t believe in Mr. Wu.”

The pirate leader Matsupu saw that Qin Yan’s appearance and demeanor were exceptional, and he seemed to be very knowledgeable about trading. He let down half of his guard.

In Quanzhou, he had an agreement with Wu Songling to raid every other double month. After they finished looting, Wu Songling would lead troops to suppress them and send them back to the sea. They would pay a commission of one or two hundred, and Wu Songling would continue to be their resistance leader. Both sides benefited from this.

On days other than the double month, everything was peaceful and smooth. Over time, the people got used to it, and it became a strange kind of harmonious retreat at a fixed time.

Feng Bao lowered his head behind him, and at first glance at the pirates, he was a little scared. But with the chief in front of him, he boldly looked around.

He was quick-witted and could guess from these few sentences that it was an official collusion with the pirates.

Trading wealth for security was a common practice. As long as Quanzhou Port was open, merchants came to fill it up, even if one was closed. And at the beginning of every two months, it was like a tribute day. In the eyes of the people, even this peace was hard-earned by their commander, so they didn’t complain. Regular looting was better than random rampaging. It was like a blunt knife cutting flesh—painful but not fatal.

While Feng Bao was still pondering, Qin Yan spoke up:

“Matsupu, the court will send someone in the eleventh month. Mr. Wu wants you not to attack Yankang for the following three months to avoid implicating him.”

When the pirate leader, Matsupu, heard this, he became anxious. “Not attack for three months? How will my men survive?”

Qin Yan’s face turned cold. “If you don’t believe it, you can go to the Navy camp to find him.”

Seeing that Qin Yan seemed angry, Matsupu quickly smiled and said, “How could I not believe it? It’s just that three months is too long; can you persuade him to reduce it by one month?” Matsupu took out a string of money from his waist, ready to give it to the messenger.

Ling An stood in front of Qin Yan and silently accepted the money.

After receiving the money, Qin Yan smiled and said, “Don’t say I didn’t remind you. At the end of this month, you should send more people to raid and loot. You can get 115, and the rest will be enough for you to survive the three months. As for Mr. Wu, I will persuade him.”

Matsupu heard this and thought it was feasible. “Thank you very much, sir.”

Shortly after Qin Yan left, the navy from Quanzhou’s garrison arrived as promised. They made some fighting movements and then drove the pirates back to the sea before retreating to their camp.

Qin Yan watched in the dark, his eyes showing a hint of coldness.

Fifteen days later, Matsupu attacked the port as planned, causing panic among the people on the shore and chaos in the entire street market.

At this time, Qin Yan was sitting with Wu Songling and drinking tea at the command post.

“I never expected that the head of the Eastern Bureau would need to use the name of Jizhou county to dare to enter Quanzhou,” Wu Songling sneered.

Indeed, Qin Yan had been hiding in Quanzhou for these days and hadn’t accomplished anything. It seemed that he was overestimating Qin Yan because he had Zhang Huaian above him.

“Yes, the name Jizhou is indeed very useful. I did not only borrow the name.” Qin Yan chuckled lightly, and the teacup cover fell, making a slight noise. “Mr. Wu will soon know what I mean.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a messenger rushed in from outside and said, “Commander, there is a pirate attack at the Anbu wharf!”

“How is that possible? Wasn’t it already…?” Wu Songling asked.

“Mr. Wu, don’t you know there are two attacks this month?” Qin Yan lazily leaned back with a hint of a smile.

Wu Songling gave Qin Yan a fierce look, ignoring his words, “Send troops to pursue the pirates at sea.”

“But, sir, our navy has already surrounded them!”

“Where did the Navy come from?”

The messenger looked confused and said, “It’s our Quanzhou navy!” But their navy was still in the camp.

Wu Songling was shocked by this revelation and looked at Qin Yan again. The chilly smile on his face made Wu Songling shiver.

“Is it your plan?”

“I made you a hero; is that not good?” Qin Yan replied.

“You!”

Wu Songling finally understood what was happening. Qin Yan had used a plan to lure the pirates out. Although it was difficult to launch an attack from the city gate, Jizhou and Quanzhou waterways were connected, and with some tactics and the Jizhou navy and the Eastern Bureau, they could attack the pirates from both land and sea. Even if they couldn’t destroy them all, they could severely injure them. And all of this was under the name of his Quanzhou guard.

From then on, Wu Songling became a hero against the pirates. However, he couldn’t be happy about it. The Japanese pirates were cowardly and treacherous, and he would never be able to cooperate with them again. The majority of the bounty he obtained was given to those above him. Without the commissions, how could Zhang Huaian bother to protect him? Qin Yan’s most important objective was to cut off his usefulness to Zhang Huaian.

Looking at the Jin YIwei guards who had just arrived, Wu Songling felt uneasy. “Qin Yan, I am now a hero against the pirates. Without written proof, are you not afraid of being despised by the people?”

“Wu Songling, have you forgotten?” Qin Yan laughed and looked him in the eye. “I am the unscrupulous courtier of the MingYin Dynasty. The people I want to arrest don’t need any proof.”

Before leaving Quanzhou, Qin Yan returned to Anbu Wharf once again. On that day, he saw a string of pearls and remembered that they would look good on Su Mi.

Feng Bao followed behind him as they revisited the area. Despite some damage caused by the war, everyone’s faces seemed to have a bit more vitality. After all, their leader had dealt a heavy blow to the pirates this time.

As Qin Yan walked by, he overheard some fishermen talking in hushed tones.

“Poor Mr. Wu…he was captured by the Eastern Bureau, and we don’t know what kind of punishment he’ll receive.”

“Don’t say that! They have the emperor’s decree. It’s not like we can do anything about it.”

“Come on, you know the saying, “Uproot the enemy within.’ Without Mr. Wu, we would have been killed by the pirates a long time ago. How many pirates did our sailors kill this time?”

“Ugh, those eunuchs from the Eastern Bureau are all heartless.”

Feng Bao couldn’t bear to listen anymore.

“Master, they don’t know anything at all…”

However, Qin Yan still smiled and said, ‘Ling’an, take them to the Quanzhou government building for a few days so that they understand the consequences of gossiping about me.’

‘Yes,’ Ling’an responded.

Qin Yan looked at the string of pearls in his hand. It had been over a month since he left, and now he suddenly missed her.