The passenger ship made a muffled "thunk" sound and hit the wooden piles of the pier.
The water bandit who was driving the boat, Xu Ahliu, threw away the three-oar, turned around and kicked open the cabin door. A trace of anger flashed in his one eye, and he yelled at the cabin: "Come out here."
Zheng Haizhu stood up first and said softly to Han Ximeng: "Miss, don't be afraid."
In the darkness, she could feel that Han Ximeng, who was relatively calm after encountering the robbers at dusk, was breathing noticeably faster.
But the daughter of a wealthy family in Songjiang Prefecture still tried her best to steady her slightly trembling body. She gave Zheng Haizhu a gentle "hmm", got up and followed her out of the cabin.
His eyes suddenly brightened.
It is a large-scale dock, with brightly lit torches and dozens of large and small ships moored. On the shore, there are shirtless men on the ships with their trousers rolled up, either packing ropes or carrying cargo.
After his eyes adjusted to the light, Zheng Haizhu saw clearly the bodies of the ship's boss and his wife lying on the side of the ship.
In this Jiangnan water town, sailing boats and sculled boats are more convenient means of transportation than horse-drawn carriages. Starting from Changmen, Suzhou, you can travel more than a hundred miles by boat to Songjiangfu Pier. People usually travel, but the distance is a little longer.
They all take a boat.
More than half a month ago, the eldest lady Han Ximeng was eager to learn art. It happened that the newly acquired Zheng family's aunt and nephew held the "Introduction" for commercial use, so she asked Zheng Haizhu to use money to bribe the guards at Chengguan Wharf in Songjiang Prefecture.
The guide got on the domestic ship to Suzhou.
On the way back, the three masters and servants wanted to prevent people from Songjiang Prefecture from recognizing Han Ximeng in the same boat, so they abandoned those large boats with elegant structures and many passengers, and chartered a sculling "Sheep's Head" boat operated only by the couple.
Boat".
Unexpectedly, I was driving to the waters near Qiandun Town at dusk today and suddenly encountered water bandits. This kind of small boat without a young and strong boatman, as its name suggests, really became a lamb to be slaughtered.
At this moment, Xu Aliu saw two delicate young women, their wrists bound by hemp ropes, walking tremblingly onto the narrow deck. They were about to enjoy the pleasure of a cat playing with a mouse, when he suddenly frowned and said solemnly: "And...
What a brat!"
Immediately one of his men, a younger water bandit, rushed into the cabin to check. After a while, he came out and reported: "No one is there. There is a hole in the bamboo strip baffle at the stern. I think he escaped from there."
Xu Aliu sneered, glared at Han Ximeng and said: "This little coffin you raised is not authentic. It has the ability to break free of its own ropes, but it doesn't know how to help you untie the ropes."
Han Ximeng respected his identity and did not answer the gangster's remarks.
Zheng Haizhu thought that whether this group of water bandits kidnapped people for blackmail or committed sex acts for their own entertainment, before his nephew Zheng Shoukuan's request for help was successful, it was best not to show a proud and disdainful attitude, so as not to anger the bandits.
She immediately took over the words and said calmly: "Miss and I don't know the nature of water, so it's useless to loosen the ties."
Hearing this, Xu Aliu looked at Zheng Haizhu carefully.
The little girl's face is darker, but she can't hide her good looks. Judging from the texture of her clothes, she should be a servant of the Han family. Looking at her black hair combed into a big bun, she seems to be married. No wonder although
She is young, but not timid or careless like other maids.
In order to make a living today, the boss told me that all he had to do was kidnap Miss Han, and there was no harm in running him as a servant. Even if the brat went to report the news, with the boss's backing, he was afraid of nothing.
Xu Aliu then stopped asking any more questions, raised his face, and escorted Master Han, Master Zheng and his servant to the shore and walked to the village a hundred steps away.
The bandit's den here is really not too small. The wall is built with stones and is more than three feet tall. The top is even shaped like a female wall in a state city. There are figures on the wall, and some people are walking around and patrolling.
Entering the gate of the village, the stench hit your face. It turned out to be a long row of stables.
Zheng Haizhu was even more surprised.
Since traveling to the late Ming Dynasty two years ago, no matter in Zhangzhou, the "hometown" of God's reward, or in the state capitals passed through on the way north, if it were not for the garrison guards, the stables near the ordinary government offices would not be of this size.
When she was thinking about what famous bandits had occurred in the Sujiahu area in the late Ming Dynasty, she suddenly slipped, lost her center of gravity, and fell to the ground.
The summer heat has not really passed yet, and the women's clothes are also thinner. Xu Aliu stared at Zheng Haizhu's graceful back along the way, and there was already seven or eight points of evil fire in his belly.
At this moment, he finally seized the opportunity. He immediately stepped forward and bent down, pretending to drag Zheng Haizhu up. In fact, he pressed her spine with his left hand and touched her waist and hips with his right hand.
Zheng Haizhu felt nauseous and was about to struggle to shake off the dirty hands when she suddenly felt a light touch on her back.
Xu Aliu suddenly softened his voice: "Hey, Second Master, why did you come to brush the horses yourself?"
…
A tall but not very strong man held a broom brush in one hand and clasped Xu Ahliu's shoulder with the other.
Like a hawk catching a rabbit, he lifted Xu Aliu away from Zheng Haizhu's back.
Zheng Haizhu managed to get up, stood firm and looked around, meeting the eyes of the man Xu Aliu called "Second Master".
The rosin lamp in front of the stable was burning, and the man's facial features and eyes were reflected very clearly.
The moment their eyes met, Zheng Haizhu was startled.
She comes from a world four hundred years in the future.
In that world, she always looked at men as equals, whether they were bosses, clients or peers. Therefore, she accumulated more material about men's eyes than those women in this world who often lowered their heads and looked at the toes of their shoes.
The second master in front of him had a beard thicker than Xu Ahliu's, and a deep scar from his temples to his nose, but the look in his eyes was as fierce, cunning, or lewd as the gangsters.
Xie's eyes were completely different from the cold arrogance of the Ming Dynasty officials and the ignorance of the common people that Zheng Haizhu was already familiar with.
There was strong heroism and kindness in his eyes, and this brilliance of perseverance and compassion was mixed with a bit of wisdom, making his eyes particularly bright and eye-catching.
Han Ximeng, who was beside Zheng Haizhu, was looking at the man from the side. The fear that lingered around her was temporarily replaced by curiosity.
Unexpectedly, if one ignored the scar, a bandit leader's facial features and facial expression would be more handsome than Lingzi Xiaosheng from Songjiang Prefecture who specializes in playing heroic generals.
At this time, I could only hear Xu Ah Liu begging for mercy: "Second Master, please let go, Ah Liu's bones will be broken."
The man said to Xu Aliu in a frosty tone: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself as a man bullying a weak woman?
Xu Aliu pretended to be shameless and said "hehe" twice in a funny way, and said with a smile: "The second master is right. Brothers, don't they just do this for money and women? Even the official lady will sleep whenever she wants.
.Besides, Ah Liu, I am meeting this maid, not the young lady the master wants."
When the second master heard this, he was silent for a few breaths, then suddenly pulled out the riding crop from his waist at lightning speed, and slapped Xu Aliu on the leg with a "swish" sound.
Xu Aliu suffered a sharp pain that he was unprepared for. He screamed "Ah", bent his knees forward, and fell to the ground.
The second master raised his voice and said: "I don't know if these little girls are maids. I can only see that your surname is Xu, but you regard yourself as the master. The Yangzi (referring to the kidnapped person) brought by the first master, no matter whether it is the master or not.
Servant, are you worthy of it?"
After saying this, another whip was struck on Xu Aliu's back.
This whip was condescending and struck harder.
But Xu Ahliu seemed to be awakened by the severe pain. He gritted his teeth, stood up from the ground, cursed "Niu Chengzhong, I'm so jealous of your mother", and then rushed over to fight with the second master.
The water bandits, big and small, who were passing by or feeding their horses, immediately gathered around and began to make a fuss.
"Fuck stop it!"
In the chaos, a lean man standing outside the crowd let out a loud shout.
Everyone was distracted and looked over. Seeing that the leader Qiu Wanliang had arrived, they hurriedly cleared the stone road.