Chapter 19 Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Each of the four major families has its own exclusive sea area, and the size and location of the sea area are all decided by the Park family.

The Cui family has two lanes at the entrance of Donghai, one of which occupies a favorable terrain and can directly lead to Donghai behind Yangzhou.

The ten large ships at the entrance of the alley have all gone out to sea.

In the second half of last night, when the second son of the Cui family was busy transporting people, the eldest son of the Cui family boarded the last ship at the entrance of the alley. After sailing on the sea all night, he arrived at the East China Sea area in the evening of the next day.

Ten miles further ahead is the Park family’s territory.

In order to pass the Park family, one has to pass through a sea corridor. At this time, the Cui family's ten cargo ships were blocked outside the corridor by the Park family and had been stuck there for five days.

As for the reason, both of them know it well.

The Cui family wanted to have the best of both worlds, taking advantage of the Park family's business on the one hand, and trying to establish a close relationship with the government on the other. This angered the Park family, and they seized their goods.

Young Master Cui lowered the deck and boarded one of the cargo ships. He asked the Cui family's steward, "Have you contacted Young Master Park?"

The other party shook his head and handed out letters one after another without any response.

The Cui family can't go back to Yangzhou now. The restaurant and pawnshop have long been empty shells. It's not that sad. What's important is the cargo. A few days ago, they encountered a group of pirates and lost two ships. The remaining ten are all the Cui family's property. The eldest son of Cui has already made a desperate plan. "Go tell Master Park that all the cargo will be divided into 20% and 80%. The Park family will get 80% and the Cui family will get 20%. My Cui family is already desperate. There is no way out. From now on, we have to rely on Master Park to give us a way out."

The steward went off the boat again to deliver the letter.

Half an hour later, he brought back the good news, "Mr. Park has agreed to meet with you."

Young Master Cui breathed a sigh of relief.

He left Cui's house in a hurry and was covered in dust. After getting on the boat, he was tense and didn't dare to relax for a moment. Only then did he go to the cabin to take a shower and change clothes.

It was dark, and ox-horn lanterns were hung on the boat, swaying in the sea breeze and making old creaking sounds. The sound was low and persistent. After listening to it for a long time, the loneliness and danger in the wind and waves turned into memories of life experiences, and when I listened to it again, I felt a sense of peace and stability.

He pushed open the cabin's wooden door and closed it again. The noisy sounds were blocked out behind him. The lights inside were quiet, shrouded in a layer of dim warmth. He looked up at the person sitting by the window, hesitated for a moment, and said softly, "It's getting late. You should rest first. We'll leave at dawn tomorrow."

"good."

After receiving the response, Master Cui showed a rare hint of relief on his face.

After passing this sea area, he will be able to make a comeback. After so many years of war, he was able to come back to life, and he can survive it now as well.

He turned and headed for the bathroom. Just as he took a step forward, the faint sound of waves suddenly broke through his ears, accompanied by the thunderous beating of drums. Before Master Cui could react, a flaming arrow pierced the darkness and fell from the sky, instantly illuminating the outside of the cabin with a fiery red glow.

Young Master Cui's face changed and he hurried out.

Everyone was awakened by the noise, and several of his subordinates followed him and rushed to the deck. They saw a fire in the dark sea opposite, and soon a ship appeared in everyone's sight.

The housekeeper took one look at the flag, his face turned green, and he couldn't help cursing: "It's the Seventh Lady of the Qian Family again, she's really haunting me..."

She had forced the Cui family to leave Yangzhou, what else did she want?

"I'm going to kill her!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the next batch of rockets was approaching. The ship behind him was full of cargo. Losing one of them would make people feel heartbroken. The subordinate gritted his teeth and said, "Master, let's fight her!"

Master Cui inquired about the location and number of the rockets and could tell she was just trying to intimidate them, not kill them. He then ordered his subordinates, "Blow the horn."

In recent years, the four major families have met on the sea many times, and they all used horns to represent their meetings. When the horn sounded, it meant peace talks.

Soon the arrows from the opposite side stopped, and were responded with a horn sound.

Young Master Cui stood on the deck, staring at the opposite ship slowly approaching on the sea.

Close enough to see each other clearly.

The young lady was holding an ox-horn lantern, her dress fluttering in the sea breeze, her hair ruffling her features, but she was smiling, as if she hadn't been the one to shoot the arrow at him. She shouted enthusiastically, "Master Cui, you're quite swift. I was just a step behind, and I almost didn't catch up."

Young Master Cui was no stranger to his sister-in-law. When they were children, she liked to follow him around. She was sweet-mouthed and clever. He had once carried her on a horse and bought her candied haws.

Unexpectedly, when she grew up, she became his biggest rival.

Qian Tong didn't realize he was praising her in his heart, and continued to ask, "Who did Master Cui bring with him on this trip? The head of the Cui family is still in prison, so you probably can't take them with you. Madam Cui, oh... and your concubine and illegitimate son must be with you. Poor Second Master, he was ultimately abandoned by his brother and buried in Yangzhou."

The sarcasm in her words could be heard even through the sea breeze, but Master Cui was a man who could keep his composure and remained silent.

He remained silent, but Qian Tong had much to say. "The eldest young master left so quickly, he probably hasn't heard the news yet that the imperial troops have arrived in Yangzhou." She raised the light to the side of her face, tilted her head slightly, and said with regret, "The Cui family is finished."

That extremely arrogant look finally made Master Cui's eyes twitch, and he opened his mouth, "Why do you have to make things difficult for my Cui family?"

Such a stupid question is unlikely to be asked by Master Cui.

If nothing happens to the Cui family, it will be her Qian family that will be in trouble. Besides, hasn't the Cui family done many bad things?

How did he treat the eldest lady of the Qian family, who was a good woman, after she married him? How did he treat her over the years when he was so affectionate with his concubines and forced the eldest lady to stay in the yard and drink bowl after bowl of fertility soup? Why didn't he come to ask why he was making things difficult for his Cui family?

Qian Tong's throat hurt from talking too much nonsense, so he said briefly, "Do I need a reason to embarrass someone?"

"You!" The servant of the Cui family was so angry that he drew his knife.

Master Cui raised his hand to stop her, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Your sister and I are not what you imagine..."

"Cui Wanzhong, have some shame." She didn't mention it, but he had the nerve to bring it up. "Back then, in order to marry my sister, you bought out all the fireworks in Yangzhou. In front of thousands of Yangzhou people, you proposed with a fireworks display on both sides of the river, tricking my sister into marrying into the Cui family. But you, Cui Wanzhong, abandoned her without hesitation. You despised her for being unable to bear children. Then why don't you give her back? My Qian family longs for her day and night, and cherishes her very much. Even if you divorced her, I wouldn't hate you. But you locked her up in the yard, grinding her heart day after day, making her suffer..."

Qian Tong's throat suddenly became hoarse. He took a deep breath of the sea breeze and forced himself to calm down. "I'm too lazy to talk to you about this. You can't leave today. Leave your things here and I'll spare your life."

She took a step back and was about to turn around when a voice came from the night wind, "Tong'er."

Qian Tong was stunned and stopped dead in her tracks. At first, she thought she had misheard, but when she looked up and saw that familiar face, she could hardly believe it. "Sister... why are you here?"

Is there any need to ask why she is here?

Qian Tong looked at Master Cui, his eyes full of disgust, "Cui Wanzhong, you are so disgusting."

In order to survive, others stopped doing it.

"Send her here." The smile on her face disappeared, and she had to step back, carefully staring at the thin figure that seemed to be swept into the sea by the sea breeze at any time, and admitted defeat to Master Cui: "Go, I won't stop you."

Her concession was decisive, without a trace of hesitation.

The lady noticed the lamp in her hand was shaking, and the bitterness in her mouth spread to her throat. She turned to look at the eldest son, "Sister Tong has always had a stubborn temper, as you know. I'll go and talk her down."

"A Ling..."

The lady smiled at him and said, "I promised you, I won't break my promise."

The two of them had not looked at each other like this for a long time. The day before yesterday, she suddenly came to him in the middle of the night. He was a little surprised, so he took the opportunity to say some words of apology to her and recalled their past.

He asked her, "Will you come with me?"

She stayed for a moment, as if struggling, and finally nodded, "Okay."

After leaving Yangzhou and the Cui family, no one interfered in their lives anymore, and even if they didn't have children, no one would point fingers at them.

If a fight breaks out tonight, the Cui family, caught between the Qian and Park families, will definitely not end up well.

The only person who could stop them at this moment was the eldest lady of the Qian family. Young Master Cui raised his hand to tighten her cloak and warned her, "Be careful."

The lady nodded.

"Let's take the young mistress over."

Qian Tong stood on the opposite deck, staring intently at the figure slowly approaching. His face seemed calm, but the fingers holding the lantern were turning blue.

The lady was getting closer and closer to her.

Finally, they reached her. The moment they were close to Qian Tong, the lady used all her strength to grasp her hand and whispered in her ear, "Retreat immediately and kill him. He has been smuggling tea for years and has a lot of property in Liao. If we let him leave the sea tonight, it will be a disaster for Dayu. Our Qian family, no, we cannot help others to sell out our country..."

She spoke too forcefully, lost her balance, and fell on Qian Tong.

Feeling her sinking weight, Qian Tong hurriedly dropped the lantern in his hand and tried to support her, but still failed to catch her. The two of them fell to the deck. Seeing his sister fall into his arms, Qian Tong's heart sank suddenly, and he felt a chill. A bad premonition instantly enveloped him, "Sister... Sister, what's wrong with you?"

The lady looked up, swallowing the fishy taste in her throat. She seemed afraid to see disappointment on her face as she explained, "I listened to Tong'er and went to find him, but he mentioned the past. He saved me from the rebels during the war and was injured for it... Since he mentioned his kindness to me, I couldn't help but repay him. After thinking it over, I couldn't forget it. My name is Qian Ling... So I thought, this life should be enough for him..."

The cold sea breeze blew in from all directions, and Qian Tong felt an indescribable fear. He watched streams of blood slowly flowing out from the corners of the lady's mouth in his arms, and tremblingly went to wipe it for her.

The pain made the lady unable to utter a word. She could only look at her with pity until her pupils gradually dilated and she closed her eyes completely.

The deep sea, roiling with huge waves, fell silent for a moment in deep sorrow. Qian Tong lowered his head and hugged the lady tightly, finally growling from his throat, "Cui Wanzhong, why don't you die first!"