Minglan hurriedly went to open the window and looked up, only to see fire somewhere in the distance. It seemed that one of the big ships was on fire. People's figures flashed in the meantime, and a person could be vaguely seen falling into the water. Following the sound of Feng Shui, Minglan
Lan faintly heard bursts of shouting and fighting. Changdong was leaning against the window, his face pale. At this time, a sharp whistle sounded from the side of the ship, as if the boatman was on guard to warn him.
After a while, everyone on the boat woke up. Minglan woke up Danju and asked her to wake up the other girls, while dragging Changdong to look for Changwu. Along the way, the boatman, maids, and women were lying on the side of the boat, looking around.
Everyone looked panicked. Minglan didn't look at them and rushed all the way to the Changwu cabin. She saw Yoon'er, whose face was pale with fright, sitting there holding her slightly bulging belly. As soon as she saw Minglan, she hurriedly
He grabbed her hand and said, "Your brother went outside to check. I just sent someone to look for you. With the blessing of Bodhisattva, everyone is fine!"
Minglan didn't know what was going on outside, so she had no choice but to sit next to Yuner. Changdong stretched his head and tried to get out, but Minglan slapped him back.
After a while of tea, Chang Wu came back panting and said: "It's a water thief!" All the female family members were shocked, and then Chang Wu explained the matter clearly in a few words.
The waterway that everyone travels on today is called Yongtong Canal. The Huaiyin section of the north-south canal is calm tonight, and many ships are anchored to rest. In addition to the Sheng family ship, there are also two large ships owned by officials and wealthy families, two escort ships, and
Bao Changlong's several merchant ships were anchored in the river, so they all docked in the shelter of Hulukou. There were merchant ships in front and behind, and escort ships and passenger ships in the middle.
After everyone fell asleep, a group of water thieves boarded the ship at night and first robbed and killed several merchant ships. Unexpectedly, one of Bao Changlong's ships was carrying tung oil. During the fight, several young men from the trading company
The cargo hold was ignited, and a whole hold of oil barrels exploded. The whole ship was immediately ablaze. Not only did the crew take the opportunity to jump into the water to escape, but it also gave an early warning to other ships.
Minglan saw that Yoon'er was trembling with fear, and patted her hand to comfort her: "Sister-in-law, don't worry too much. I don't think this water thief is very smart. Anyone with experience knows that he should rob the passenger ship first. How could he?"
Run to the cargo ship first? This is not a surprise... people."
As soon as he said this, Chang Wu, who had always had a sullen face, couldn't help but smile and praised: "Sixth sister is right, that's exactly what it is! They are probably a group of broken thieves who are now entangled by the escort ship. There are already people below.
We have prepared a sampan, you can pack it up and you will be ready when you get to the left bank!"
All the female family members suddenly felt relieved.
The number of water thieves was not large, but it was better than a "sneak attack". Moreover, the boat was small and it was inconvenient for the attackers to escape, so they could carry out their evil deeds. The right bank of Yongtong Canal was winding and happened to be a shelter from the wind, so all the boats stopped here.
, but the left bank is a vast reed field. The dense clumps of reeds are as tall as a person, and it leads directly to the nearest Huaiyin Guard camp. If you reach the left bank, there will be guards from the guard camp coming to help.
It is said that once the chasing water thieves disperse, they will be unable to catch up.
In this era, there was no concept of lifeboats. Originally, the boatmen on the shore had already called for the water thieves to stop them all at night. Chang Wu finally managed to get two small sampans. Fortunately, he was a boss who had killed people before, so he knew something about it.
As a strategy to deal with the enemy, he ordered people to pack up and get off the big ship, and at the same time ordered people to light up the lights in every room of the whole big ship, and then asked people to run back and forth. It seemed that the people on the ship were very panicked, and the small sampan
There is no light on the boat, and under the cover of night, we can go ashore silently.
In a hurry, the maids became even more frantic, Chang Wu kept urging, Yoon'er's face was frighteningly pale, she was clutching her abdomen, her face was in pain, she thought she might have fetal force, Minglan glanced at the firelight dozens of feet away, and she seemed to be fighting.
He was in a good mood and said, "My sister-in-law is not feeling well. I'm afraid she won't be able to move anymore. Why don't I escort my sister-in-law and fourth brother there first? I'll catch up as soon as I finish cleaning up."
Yoona and Chang Wu initially refused, but seeing that the water thieves had not yet arrived, Chang Wu gritted his teeth and left half of the guards and a small sampan behind. Before leaving, he solemnly said: "Some money is gone."
It’s gone, come up quickly!”
Minglan nodded and left Yancao beside Chang Wu.
In fact, she had estimated the distance to the other side. As a promising young man who aspired to go to the mountains and countryside, Minglan should be able to swim there even if she only had half of Yao Yiyi's previous swimming skills; for the rest, Danju could swim with a dog.
, Xiao Tao can take her swimming, and the few maids left behind by Yu Zhi and Yuner are also somewhat good at water.
This time Chang Wu went home for a funeral. He would ask for Ding You as soon as the old lady passed away. Therefore, Chang Wu brought almost all the property he had accumulated in the capital over the past few years with him, which was quite a lot. There was no reason to cheapen the skills of the group.
Minglan was instructing several maids to put all the light jade, porcelain, antiques and gold and silver jewelry into small bags wrapped in oilcloth. As they were packing them away, they suddenly heard a cheer from the dove tree hanging on the side of the ship: "You deserve it."
!Shoot them!"
Minglan rushed over to take a look and saw that on the side of several large ships not far away, some guards were shooting arrows into the water with bows and arrows. There were bursts of yelling and cursing, mixed with screams and exclamations, and Minglan was heartbroken.
He immediately said: "No! Their boat was blocked, so they spread their hands and swam over from the water!"
The girls were all frightened. Minglan pondered for a moment and looked up to see that Changwu's boat had arrived at the center of the river. She reacted quickly, pointed at the girls in front of her, and shouted in a deep voice: "You three, take this boat."
The lights in all the cabins on the first floor were thrown into the river. No lighting objects were allowed to be left. I took the bamboo sticks to the next floor. Xiaotao and Danjue scooped up the thin-skinned small iron boxes and tied them with ropes. Xiaotao was good at water, so they tied the ropes
Tie it to the bottom of the boat and put all the boxes into the water! When you're done, come meet us in the galley below! Be quick!"
"Girl, why don't we get on the boat and leave quickly?" One of Yoona's maids asked hesitantly.
Yuzhi glared and cursed angrily: "Asshole! Just do what the girl asks you to do, no nonsense! If it weren't for your master, our girl would have left long ago! How dare you be so nagging!" Dan Jue had a gentle temper and quickly explained:
"Now that there are thieves in the water, no matter how fast we can go, if we are caught up, our sampan will be overturned in a flash!"
The girl immediately blushed and lowered her head.
Minglan didn't bother to get angry, it was not her own team after all; she immediately ran outside to the side of the ship, divided the guards into four groups, and protected the four groups of girls respectively. After a while, the entire ship immediately turned pitch black.
Yes, God is so kind to me. The moonlight is so dim tonight that I can’t even see my fingers.
Minglan ran all the way and quickly asked all the servants and helpers to hide, and the strong ones went to the side of the ship to meet the enemy. She rushed straight to the kitchen and dug out many kitchen knives, forks, pots, shovels, and pestles, waiting to be separated.
When the girls came, they were all given some "weapons" in their hands; Xiao Tao was given an iron pot, Yu Zhi was given a kitchen knife, and the other girls also scooped out the food.
After preparations were completed, Minglan asked the guards to go on guard outside, and then went to hide in an inconspicuous cabin at the bottom of the ship.
In the darkness, the girls waited quietly, only vaguely hearing the sound of someone swallowing saliva. This feeling was very long. Minglan knew that the girls were very nervous, so she gently comforted everyone: First of all, not all water thieves
If you can swim over, some will be shot to death by arrows; secondly, there are three passenger ships here, and presumably they will not all rush to your ship, so there will be fewer people; thirdly, this ship has two floors, one upper and one lower.
There are a total of twelve rooms. If the water thieves are not confused, they should go to the side rooms first, which will spread some people. Also, the water thieves came from the water, so they must have no fire on their bodies.
All the lamps, candles and firewood in the kitchen were thrown into the river. They had to dismantle the ship planks or door frames to light the torches. Unfortunately, the wood on the ship was already stained with moisture from the river water and was not easy to ignite. They couldn't see clearly, so they couldn't search and understand;
Finally, there is a hatch at the back of this cabin, which leads directly to the river. It was originally used for the convenience of fetching and pouring water. If the situation goes bad, you can jump into the water immediately.
Besides, that group of water thieves won't stay on the boat for long. Seeing that they don't have much to gain, they might just switch to another boat and rob them, and everyone can just hide there... This made the girls feel a lot more at ease.
I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly I heard a cry from above, and the sound of weapons clashing. Minglan knew that the water thief was coming, so she secretly clenched a sharp long hairpin in her hand. The girls' breathing became rapid again; listening to the sound above
There were constant sounds of fighting and shouts for help, and then in a burst of suffocating chaotic footsteps, the door panel was kicked open with a bang.
Two black figures rushed in, cursing. Minglan had been waiting for a long time, and she and Danjue on the opposite side pulled the rope on the ground hard. There was a splash, and the one in front fell down first, and the light outside was shining.
, Xiaotao used all her strength and hit the man on the head with an iron pan. The thief snorted and fainted.
The second thief staggered for a moment. When he saw the room full of girls, he immediately wanted to call someone. A maid immediately raised the bench in her hand and smashed it hard. The thief grunted and shook, and then another maid jumped up.
It hit him and threw him to the ground. Minglan freed up her hands, stepped forward, stepped on his chest, and inserted the hairpin straight into the thief's chest. All she saw was blood and blood.
When he emerged, the thief was about to scream, when a handful of thatch ash was stuffed into his mouth, and then he was hit on the head many times by something unknown. He rolled his eyes and passed out.
, only the disgusting smell of blood filled the air.
Danju held back her nausea and gently closed the door. Minglan directed the girls to scoop out the prepared rope and tie up the two half-dead thieves tightly. Their mouths were gagged to prevent them from making any sound; after they were done,
, the seven girls in the room, including Minglan, looked at each other in confusion. After solving the two thieves, their courage suddenly increased. The fear in each other's eyes was diluted a lot, and they were a little excited.
After a burst of noise above, there was a burst of silence, and words such as "It's not here! Look for it elsewhere" were faintly heard along the air holes. The girls' faces showed joy. Just when Minglan was also relieved, she suddenly came up
There was a rough shout, and the sound was particularly loud. The girls listened carefully, and it turned out to be: "...these women have spoken, go to the bottom of the cabin quickly! They said that this lady is still on the boat, brother, come on quickly
! If you catch them, you can make a lot of money! There are also a few little girls with tender skin and tender flesh to make everyone happy!"
Minglan's face turned pale, and Yuzhi was already scolding: "How dare they betray the girl!" Minglan did not dare to wait any longer, and shouted to the girls: "Take off your coat and dive quickly!"
It was the beginning of winter, and the girls were all wearing thick brocade cotton-padded clothes. They tore them open and jumped into the water. There was a loud shouting outside, and the sound of footsteps coming down. The girls were panicked and all started thinking.
They all jumped down.
As soon as Minglan entered the water, she felt the river was bitingly cold. Fortunately, it was not the middle of winter. She also heard a scream in her ears, "No, someone is diving! Go and catch it!" Minglan immediately rowed her arms, holding back the chill that almost penetrated her heart.
Due to the coldness, she swam hard towards the other side. From behind, there were several sounds of splashing into the water, and then there was a burst of screams from girls. She thought one of them had been caught. Minglan took a deep breath and sank into the water.
Try not to let your head float above the water.
Just after swimming for a few times, her waist suddenly tightened and an arm stretched out from behind to wrap around herself. Minglan was shocked and immediately stretched out her legs to kick her. Unexpectedly, the man behind him was extremely flexible and turned over to Minglan's side.
, his hands clasped Minglan's arms somewhere. Minglan felt her arms become weak for a while, and then her body was surrounded by the man. As soon as she pressed against him, Minglan immediately felt that the person behind her was a woman!
The woman kicked her feet several times, and the two of them emerged from the water. Minglan faced the cold river wind, took a deep breath, and then tightened her chin. The woman behind her clasped her face and turned around to take a look.
Lan's skin hurt, she gritted her teeth and hissed slightly, and then the woman shouted loudly: "Found it! This is it!" There was great joy in her voice.
As soon as Minglan got free, she immediately hit her back with her elbows. The woman screamed in pain and used more strength. After all, she had some skills. She pinched Minglan's acupuncture points, grabbed her tightly, and returned her.
He smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, girl, we are here to save you! You are the sixth girl of the Sheng family, I mean the one with a pair of small dimples at the corners of your mouth!... Hey! Come on, it's over here!"
After the woman finished saying this, before Minglan could be surprised, she heard a sound of flapping in the river, and a small boat with several large lanterns came over. The woman seemed to be very good at water, and she straightened her waist.
After getting up, he pushed Minglan to the side of the boat, and then with a pair of strong hands, he lifted Minglan up.
As soon as he left the water, wisps of biting river wind pierced Minglan's body like needles. But in a moment, a thick quilt came over and covered Minglan's head and face, covering Minglan's top, bottom, left and right, and then in the water
The woman also climbed onto the boat, and through her wet hair, Minglan vaguely saw a bear-like man wrapping her clothes.
Minglan was trembling all over. She quickly raised her head and looked around. She saw that the boat was brightly illuminated by a lantern. There were several men standing on the boat. The man was busy wrapping himself into a big rice dumpling. He was tall and strong, wearing only black.
He was wearing a worn-out robe, and a big beard covered two-thirds of his face. He had no accessories on his body, only a pair of deep handsome eyes that seemed familiar to him.
Minglan blinked hard, and suddenly felt joyful in her heart, and said loudly: "Second uncle!"
She finally knew how she felt when she met a group of malicious hooligans in a dark alley and saw the policeman, even though the policeman had fined her for no reason.
Gu Tingye's eyes lit up, but there was no expression on his bearded face. He could only hear him whisper: "Do you recognize me?"
Minglan felt very strange. At this time, there was a lot of noise on the river. Shouting, fighting, and wailing all mixed into a commotion. But from the moment he spoke, she felt that every word was clearly audible. Minglan was busy.
He said: "Of course it's natural. If you don't recognize anyone, you can't recognize the one who saved your life!"
Minglan was thinking about Danju Xiaotao and the others, and quickly moved closer to Gu Tingye. Her delicate white jade face smiled very flatteringly, and begged: "Second uncle, my girls are still in the water, please help me quickly."
Let me fish them out. It’s so cold, don’t let them get soaked!” Minglan was always very cute when she asked someone for help.
Gu Tingye's dark eyes suddenly darkened, and his long eyeliner raised a few hints of anger, like light and shadow flowing on the faint lake. He seemed to want to glare at Minglan, but he held back.
The author has something to say:
Sorry, I have been so busy this year that I can’t take care of anything. I will reply to the update on the last day of the holiday. I hope that I can update normally in the future. Please forgive me; getting married means doubling the number of relatives.