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As soon as the news spread in Wuming Town that a merchant ship had been hijacked by pirates, the relatives of the boatmen surrounded the Chu Mansion, asking for the whereabouts of their relatives.
"Open the door, open the door!" Those people were banging on the door of the Chu Mansion outside, and even screamed: "Let Chu Yiqing come out, come out!"
"Is there someone in charge? Come out quickly and give me an explanation!" Soon, the relatives of the boatmen recommended a man with a square face and big ears to come out, slamming the door of the house hard, and shouting loudly.
Inside the gate of the Chu Mansion, Mai Xiang asked people to hold the door hard to prevent those people from breaking in. Looking back, he saw the doctor treating Shi Shi coming out, so he quickly stepped forward and asked: "Doctor, how is Brother Shi Shi's injury?
"
"It's just a skin injury, it's not a problem. It's just that he has been sunburned and disfigured after drifting on the sea for several days. Give him more water!" The old doctor sighed, looked at the situation in front of him, and had to ask: "
Do you have a back door here?"
Mai Xiang nodded quickly and had the doctor sent away through the back door.
"Oh, miss, look, someone climbed over the wall and came in!" Mr. Shi pointed at the wall and exclaimed.
Mai Xiang looked up and saw the man sitting on the wall, cursing loudly: "You conscience-stricken people, you think hiding will be fine? Nowadays, there are hundreds of people alive and dead without seeing their corpses. Why do you, the Chu Mansion, have to give an explanation!"
"
Mai Xiang frowned coldly and shouted loudly: "I made it very clear on the dock just now. My aunt is already on her way back. If you need anything, please wait until my aunt comes back!"
"If Chu Yiqing doesn't come back, will all our relatives wait to die in the hands of pirates? The pirates clearly put forward conditions. Your Chu family is so rich, just use money to redeem people, isn't it because you treat hired workers as non-human beings?
, are you unwilling to pay such a high price?"
After fifteen woke up, he conveyed the conditions of the pirate Scar. On the ship, there were 200 people hired by Jiajiehuang. Seven of them died. One messenger was put back, and there were still 192 people left.
One hundred taels per person, ten thousand taels per merchant ship, a total of 150,000 taels of silver, which is simply a sky-high price. Mai Xiang is only an eleven or twelve-year-old child. How can he do this? So he had to send someone to Lucheng.
While delivering the letter to find Chu Yiqing, he also delivered the letter to Shangjia Village. The door was closed here to avoid any further conflicts with the ungrateful family members of the hired workers.
"Uncle, if you want to pay, you have to wait for my aunt to come back. You see, there are only a few of us in this house, where do we get so much money?" Mai Xiang said loudly, "Don't worry, there are not only your relatives on the ship, but also your relatives.
And our people from the Chu Mansion, my aunt will definitely come up with a solution when she comes back!"
"You people from the Chu Mansion? Aren't you just a few servants? Do you have any relatives from your Chu Mansion? You must have known about the danger of this sea trip early on, so you didn't get on the ship yourself and hired our brothers to get on the ship. Now something happened.
Of course your Chu Mansion is not in a hurry!" The man roared like this, and the people guarding the gate became even more excited. Some even brought a cart and tried to break the door open.
When Mai Xiang heard the banging of the door, more than a dozen nurses could no longer hold on, and said in a cold voice: "Open the door!"
Shi Da quickly said: "Miss Mai Xiang, you can't do it. These people outside are going crazy now. As soon as the door opens..."
"Open the door!" Mai Xiang said coldly, insisting.
Shi Da and Ashu looked at each other and had no choice but to pull back. The door opened in response, and a dozen people led by them immediately broke in and shouted: "If the Chu government is not willing to pay for the ransom,
Let’s just rob the things in this house and collect the money to ransom people!”
"None of you dare to move!" Mai Xiang jumped on the cart that crashed in, stood coldly, waved the whip in his hand, and twenty or thirty servants in the mansion also surrounded those people.
"Miss Mai Xiang, we are here!" At this moment, Lin Yi and Mo Da called all the waiters from the vegetable shop and Tiandi Jian. There were about fifty people, and they also helped to block those people and prevent them from letting them go.
Run into the yard.
A man who had received a lesson from the wheat-flavored whip yesterday shouted loudly: "Are you proud of being able to use a whip? Do you still want to hit people? Are you still being reasonable?"
Mai Xiang shouted coldly: "Let me say it again, although my aunt has not come back, I can guarantee everyone that our Chu Mansion will definitely try our best to rescue everyone's relatives. If anyone makes trouble again, Uncle Shi, write down the name.
We don’t offer any money! But for those who honestly trust the Chu Mansion, our Chu Mansion will naturally provide the money. To put it bluntly, one hundred taels for this person is not a small amount. Even if the person dies, we can’t compensate him even if he goes to the Yamen.
One hundred taels of silver!"
Although Mai Xiang's words were unpleasant, they struck a chord in everyone's heart. Yes, human life is worthless. A fire broke out in a silk shop in Dongdaemun a while ago, killing twelve people. Each person only lost ten dollars.
Two pieces of silver, they are a poor family, and there is nothing they can do if they don't recognize it. Now they are asking the Chu Mansion to provide money to redeem the people. If the Chu Mansion really makes trouble, and they don't give out a single piece of silver, then they will directly compensate the dead people.
Indeed, it does not require one hundred taels of silver!
For a moment, everyone shut their mouths, and the man who climbed up the wall quickly came down. Although he was dissatisfied, there was nothing he could do, for fear that Shi Da would write him down and not give him any money to redeem him.
"I can understand everyone's mood. Please go back now and wait until my aunt comes back!" Mai Xiang said loudly.
Everyone looked at each other and realized that they promised not to make any noise, but they would not go back. The pirate had given a time limit. What if Chu Yiqing didn't come back by the time limit? By then, even if the little girl couldn't tell the money, then
They also want to rob the Chu Mansion's money to redeem people! So they each left the mansion gate. On both sides of the mansion gate, and opposite, they all sat down and closed their mouths. Although they didn't speak, their eyes were staring straight at the mansion.
Door.
Seeing them like this, Mai Xiang really had no choice but to calm down anyway, so she was ready to go home and think about bibimbap again.
"Maixiang, uncle and aunt are here!" Cherry said happily as she looked up and saw the carriage approaching not far away.
Mai Xiang looked up and saw a carriage creaking towards him. The driver was none other than Zhao Maixiang. He looked at the large crowd of people sitting quietly outside the door and quickly stepped forward to see Mai Xiang, "Are you okay?"
Mai Xiang shook her head. At this moment, Mrs. Huangfu and the pregnant Jin Yu also got out of the car. As soon as those people saw the adults coming, they all gathered around. Zhao Wu, who was the guard, quickly asked people to form a circle.
, protect the gold and jade.
"Is the person in charge here now? Give us an explanation!" Someone couldn't help shouting.
Mai Xiang glared and said: "Whose family do you belong to, Uncle Shi, write it down!"
When Mai Xiang shouted, the man quickly shrank his neck. Mai Xiang took the opportunity to pull Jin Yu and Mrs. Huangfu into the house. Lin Yi and Mo Da also followed in and closed the door.
In the hall, Jin Yu wiped off the sweat, drank a glass of water, took a breath and said: "Maixiang, what is going on, why is such a big thing happening!"
Mrs. Huangfu and Zhao Xiaomai also looked at Mai Xiang, eager to know the whole story.
Mai Xiang bit her lip and said: "Grandma, dad, mom, we encountered a big problem this time. Pirates robbed a merchant ship, killed seven people, and captured 192 people, along with 13 merchant ships.
There’s a ransom of 150,000 taels of silver!”
As soon as Mai Xiang said these numbers, Jin Yu almost fainted, and Mrs. Huangfu trembled all over.
"What should we do?" Zhao Xiaomai was so anxious that he slapped his thigh and squatted on the ground.
"Does your aunt know?" Mrs. Huangfu was the first to calm down and asked.
"I have asked Asen to take people to Lucheng to find my aunt, but it will take more than ten days to go back and forth. The pirate said that he will need the silver within ten days, and he will kill two people one day later..." Mai Xiang whispered.
"Ten days? How many days does it take to get from here to that sea?" When the old lady Huangfu heard this, she said anxiously, "There's no time for this!"
Mai Xiang said anxiously: "I'm also afraid that I won't be able to make it in time, but it costs 150,000 taels. How can our family have so much money? Now shopkeepers Lin and Mo are here too, and they are all waiting in the flower hall, but in that shop
, without my aunt’s order, I can’t get the money out!”
Mrs. Huangfu suddenly remembered something, turned her eyes and asked, "Maixiang, why haven't you seen your aunt?"
Mai Xiang quickly said: "My aunt and Lu Ping went out early this morning. They just said they were going out to raise money!"
Mrs. Huangfu was stunned, looked at Jin Yu, and said quickly: "You girl, your aunt and grandma are not familiar with the place here. They rarely go out on weekdays. Where can you raise money? Why don't you send someone quickly?
Looking for it?"
Mai Xiang said aggrievedly: "My aunt said when she left that she and Lu Ping would be back soon, and she specifically refused to let us follow. Lu Ping is enough to protect her!"
Jin Yu suddenly became anxious and slapped Mai Xiang on the body: "Do you believe anything she says? You... Zhao Wu, take the people and go find her quickly. You must find Mrs. Qing!"
Zhao Wu quickly agreed and went out with a dozen guards.
Mrs. Huangfu couldn't help but patted her thigh and complained: "Isn't this adding trouble? Why do you think she..."
Now that the merchant ship has been hijacked, the Chu Mansion has already become the focus of people's attention. If Concubine Qing wanders around at this time, it may attract the attention of interested people. All of these things are probably not as serious as hiding a concubine who faked her death.
?
"Mom, what should we do? Such a big thing happened to the merchant ship, and Aunt Qing is nowhere to be seen..." Jin Yu covered her stomach, feeling intuitively that the sky was about to fall.
"Just leave it alone and go lie down in the room!" Mrs. Huangfu was very irritable and quickly said loudly, asking Yingying to help Jinyu in.
Just when everyone was in a mess, there was a sudden commotion outside the house. Shi Da hurriedly ran in and said happily: "Old madam, madam, the lady is back!"
When Mrs. Huangfu and the others heard this, they were surprised at first, and then they were happy. As long as Chu Yiqing was around, nothing could be solved. Everyone finally found the backbone.
Outside the gate, Chu Yiqing's carriage had already been surrounded by people. The anxious relatives of the boatmen, because they had received Maixiang earlier, they dared not make any noise now. They knelt on the ground and all they said were pleading words.
Chu Yiqing got off the carriage, looked at the dark group of people kneeling in front of him, his eyes were sharp, and he said loudly: "Don't worry, your relatives are following me, they are my people, I will definitely save them and find a way to save them."
Come out!"
"Thank you Miss Chu, thank you Miss Chu!" Everyone kowtowed.
Some were reluctant and unwilling, but now they were afraid of offending the Chu Mansion and had no money to redeem them, so they had no choice but to kneel and kowtow.
Chu Yiqing directly asked people to drive the carriage in. At this moment, Mrs. Huangfu and the others had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Chu Yiqing, they felt an indescribable feeling in their hearts, and they just kept wiping away tears.
"Mom, don't worry. Does Sister Jinyu know about this?" Chu Yiqing looked around, but didn't see Jinyu, and couldn't help but worry.
"Jin Yu just went in and was lying down. I didn't know you were coming back at this moment! No matter what happens, it will be good if you come back. No matter how difficult it is, as a family, we will always find a way to work together!" Old Mrs. Huangfu shook his head.
Hold Chu Yiqing's hand.
Chu Yiqing nodded and said in a low voice: "Mom, you and Brother Zhao wait here for a while. I'll go in first to see Shi Fifteen and find out what happened!"
Mrs. Huangfu said quickly: "You can just be busy with your business, but you don't have to wait on us!"
Chu Yiqing nodded, let Yingying lead the way, and went to the room to see Fifteen.
"Miss..." As soon as Fifteen saw Chu Yiqing, the half-grown young man couldn't help but shed tears.
"Why are you crying? How can such a big person cry when something happens?" Chu Yiqing said coldly.
Shi Fifteen bit his lip. He had been back for two days, but thinking of everything he encountered at sea, he still had lingering fears in his heart - that man was too scary!
Seeing that he had calmed down, Chu Yiqing couldn't help but ask the question in his mind: "Tell me everything carefully, how did you meet that pirate?"
Shi Fifteen quickly wiped away her tears and said: "It went smoothly when we went there. But something happened on the way back, slowly approaching the Haiying Gorge. Because we had received the order from the young lady in advance, we all had a good time.
The spirit came up, but no one expected that the bottoms of the thirteen ships began to leak. Everyone on the ship suddenly panicked. Everyone was anxious to plug the leaks in the ships and scoop out water. The pirates just
Climbing onto the boat, they caught us by surprise!"
Chu Yiqing frowned: "How many pirates are there in total?"
"There were one or two hundred people. I couldn't see clearly at the time. I saw pirates everywhere. Their martial arts skills were also high. Our people were no match for them!" Shififu said quickly.
"One or two hundred people?" Chu Yiqing frowned. She remembered that the last time she encountered pirates, there were only forty or fifty people and only two pirate ships. Why were one or two hundred people dispatched this time?
"What about General Manager Diao? Isn't General Manager Diao a match for Scar?"
Fifteen nodded and said: "The pirate leader named Scar is very powerful in martial arts. They seem to know our numbers and arrangements well. Before Master Diao took action, the man took out an object and Master Diao captured him without any effort.
!”
"What did you say?" Chu Yiqing's eyes widened. In fact, Chu Yiqing was thinking about one problem along the way. Diao San's martial arts is one of the best in the entire martial arts world. In addition, he is familiar with the nature of water. It is impossible.
It was so easy for the pirates to catch her, unless there was some secret she didn't know about.
"What is it? Can you see clearly?" Chu Yiqing asked.
"At that time, my subordinate was entangled by two pirates and I didn't see clearly. However, Master Diao captured him without hesitation, and everyone on the ship panicked!" Fifteen held his head in annoyance, "I'm sorry, miss, Fifteen is useless.
…”
Chu Yiqing patted him on the shoulder: "I don't blame you, just take good care of your injuries!"
Coming out of the room, Chu Yiqing had a heavy look on his face. If her guess was correct, there might be something else going on behind the pirate hijacking this time. What happened to make Diao San abandon the ship and surrender?
"Auntie, there is one more thing..." Before Mai Xiang could finish her words, she saw Concubine Qing coming out of the inner hall. She couldn't help but said happily: "Grandma, are you back?"
Concubine Qing nodded lightly, turned to Chu Yiqing and said, "Yiqing, come here, I have something to ask you!"
Chu Yiqing nodded and followed Concubine Qing to the backyard room.
Mai Xiang was stunned and quickly went to the hall to tell Mrs. Huangfu: "Grandma, you don't have to worry, my aunt is back!"
"You're back? I've been in the front hall, why don't you see her?" Mrs. Huangfu was stunned, stood up and asked.
"Maybe I went through the back door. There are so many people at the front door. My aunt is afraid of strangers, so naturally she won't go through the front door!" Mai Xiang said quickly.
"That's right!" Mrs. Huangfu frowned and asked, "Maixiang, let me ask you, what did your great-aunt look like when she found out that the ship was hijacked by pirates? Did she say anything?"
Mai Xiang thought for a while and said: "She just said it was impossible. Later, when she heard that the pirate wanted so much silver, she stopped talking. She went out early this morning. No, she just came back!"
Mrs. Huangfu nodded, excused herself from the Maixiang tribe, entered Jinyu's house and whispered: "Jinyu, your sister is in trouble again this time!"
Jin Yu was much better now. He stood up and said, "Mom, I know it without you having to tell me. These 150,000 taels of silver are not a small amount! But no matter how much money we have, we can't just die without saving him!"
These are between one and two hundred people!"
"I didn't say I won't save people, but if I save people, what will your sister do? You also know that it's not easy for your sister to earn this business. Besides, your sister has a child and no family business. What do you think about Concubine Qing?
Madam, will she dislike Yiqing?" Mrs. Huangfu asked in a low voice.
Jin Yu was stunned and asked: "Mom, what do you mean?"
"Don't even think about it. Your sister has money and a family business, and she is worthy of the fifth prince... If you lose so much money at once, I am afraid that even if the entire family business is sold, it won't be enough. Your sister will have nothing. How can Concubine Qing
Do you still care about your sister?" Mrs. Huangfu frowned.
Jin Yu was startled, then slapped her thigh with an ouch and said, "No, if you really go to redeem someone, there won't be anything left for the girl, then..."
"That's the truth!" Mrs. Huangfu sighed, "Your sister is also a hard-working girl. She cares about no one, but she cares about people of such a high status. It doesn't matter that our family has a great business, but now it's all gone.
, I’m afraid…”
Jin Yu sat up immediately and was about to get off the kang, "No, I have to talk to my sister. If we don't want to redeem this person, let the government come forward directly!"
"Don't be impatient. We'll see what your sister thinks later!" Mrs. Huangfu quickly stopped Jin Yudao, fearing that if she got anxious, she would get into trouble again.
In the room, Concubine Qing said directly: "There is only one reason why Diao San was captured without hesitation. In order to determine that reason, I went out specially!"
Chu Yiqing quickly asked: "Aunt Qing knows the reason?"
Qing Fei did not answer directly, but stared at Chu Yiqing closely and asked: "Yiqing, do you know a person named White Snake?"
Chu Yiqing was stunned, "How does Aunt Qing know this person?"
Concubine Qing's eyes widened: "Do you really recognize her? She... what did she say to you?"
Chu Yiqing hesitated for a moment, his face full of embarrassment.
"I guessed it even if you didn't tell me. Early this morning, I went to see a person who has been monitoring the actions of the Water Dragon clan for so many years. He told me that White Snake released the Water Dragon Clan two months ago.
There must be a reason for the sudden and frequent activities of the Water Dragon Clan, which has been dormant for decades. The reason is that they have found the blood of the Water Dragon Clan that can open the Heavenly Turtle Formation!" Concubine Qing said in a low voice, her eyes always staying on Chu Yiqing's.
On the body.
"Aunt Qing, I...I don't know what you are talking about!" Chu Yiqing could only pretend to be confused.
Concubine Qing said again: "I forgot to tell you that Diao San is also a member of the Water Dragon Clan. There is only one possibility for him to be defeated without a fight. He cannot disobey the orders of the Water Dragon Clan!"
Chu Yiqing opened his eyes wide, "Aunt Qing means that those pirates are from the Water Dragon Tribe?"
Concubine Qing nodded, "Scar's original name was Hai Long, and he was the descendant of one of the four guardian generals of the Water Dragon Clan. Now the Water Dragon Clan is also concentrated in the four cities of Yanjing and on the sea. This time they proposed such a high ransom, I'm afraid
The ambition is not money!"
If this is the case, Diao San's defeat without a fight can be explained. But how could the pirates in Haiying Gorge be White Snake's people? In this way, the pirates are not conspiring with Lan Yi?
Chu Yiqing suddenly felt extremely confused. What was going on? And how did Concubine Qing, who had never gone out since coming to Chu Han, get this news in such a short period of time?
"This is one hundred thousand taels of silver. It is Diao San's savings over the years. I brought it to you. You may be able to use it!" Concubine Qing placed a thick stack of silver notes in front of Chu Yiqing, meaning
Someone pointed out: "Yiqing, you can take care of yourself!"
Chu Yiqing nodded.
After Chu Yiqing left, Lu Ping couldn't help but stepped forward and asked: "Madam, do you think Aunt Chu can really understand your painstaking efforts?"
Concubine Qing sighed quietly: "If she is a smart child, she will naturally understand!"
Lu Ping nodded and said: "I hope Aunt Chu can understand, otherwise it will really be a waste of Madam's efforts!"
When she thought of that man Li Jue, Concubine Qing couldn't help but darken her eyes, "This is what he owes me and should have been returned long ago!"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
The update may be interrupted tomorrow because it is Children’s Day and I have to rehearse the program with my children. No matter what, Xiaoyao will try its best to update tomorrow. If it cannot be updated, I will send a message in advance to let everyone know. Thank you for your support!