Now that they're on the ship, passing messages becomes even more difficult.

"Hey! Why are you hitting people? That's your boss, it has nothing to do with me!"

"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me. Here's your lunch." He shoved the tray in his hand at the other person, hoping to avoid being beaten.

But those people burst into laughter, "You still have money? Judging by your attire, you must be a merchant from the Yuehai Kingdom, right? Your Yuehai Kingdom has harassed our Da'an border many times, so you should give us some compensation."

"I'm just an ordinary citizen... Ah—" He was kicked hard again.

Qin Su originally didn't want to get involved in other people's business, but...

She patted Chongyang, and he immediately understood. In a flash, he grabbed the arrogant men and rescued the person.

"Thank you, thank you." The man's face was bruised and swollen. He had actually seen these people a while ago, but he thought they would just stand by and do nothing like the others.

Of course, he didn't expect them to save him.

There were many people like that on the ship. Just because they were from a foreign country, they were bullied like this.

"Who are you?! How dare you meddle in other people's business!"

The man in the lead rolled up his sleeves, but before he could get close to Qin Su, he was kicked several meters away by Chongyang.

"You...you are clearly from Da'an, why are you helping the people of Yuehai?! You are traitors!"

Several men clutched their stomachs in pain, but even in their agony, they didn't forget to berate Qin Su and the others.

Qin Su said coldly, "The war was started by officials of Yuehai Kingdom, and has nothing to do with the common people."

The harm did not extend to the common people.

The people suffer the most when two countries are at war.

"You're a traitor! How could you speak up for a person from Yuehai? You're a piece of trash!"

Chongyang couldn't stand these words, so he immediately grabbed the man and slapped him hard across the face, almost knocking out his hearing.

Qin Su remained indifferent. "Don't use this excuse to cover up your evil nature. Da'an has never allowed you to bully the people of Yuehai Kingdom."

Otherwise, trade between the two countries would not be permitted.

"If you dare to swear again, I'll throw you down to feed the fish." Regular Yue was much worse than Qin Su. He didn't care what men thought; swearing at them was unacceptable.

The man was scared after all, so he shut his mouth, afraid of being thrown overboard.

"roll!"

The group ran away in a panic, afraid that the attackers would catch up and beat them up again.

The man who had been hit picked up his hat and wiped the blood from his nose with a handkerchief, still thanking everyone, "Thank you, thank you so much. I thought, I thought..." that they would be like the others.

Neither Chongyang nor Lubanyue spoke; they didn't know what Qin Su was planning to do.

Qin Su is indeed kind-hearted, but she doesn't seem to enjoy meddling in other people's business. There's definitely something wrong here.

Qin Su said to him again, "Actually, most people know that it's not your fault. The fault lies with the greed of those in power. We have also suffered greatly from it."

Qin Su lowered her eyes, as if she was thinking of something very sad.

"Is there a doctor on board? Let's get the wound bandaged first."

The man gave a bitter smile. "We merchants are already looked down upon in Da'an. Even if there were doctors, they wouldn't treat us."

He wiped the blood from his nose, and thankfully the bleeding had stopped, but he was still limping.

He forced a smile and said to Qin Su, "My name is Xu Ji. May I ask how you should address me, sir?"

"My name is Qin Zhi." Qin Su used her younger brother's name, since no one knew it anyway.

I just feel so strange about both the Double Ninth Festival and the regular lunar calendar. I want to laugh, but I don't dare to.

"So it's Young Master Qin. Does Young Master Qin intend to go to Yuehai Kingdom? Or some other country?"

There are other countries near Yuehai Kingdom, but none of them are eyeing Da'an covetously. Only the people of Yuehai Kingdom are warlike.

"It's not certain yet. My family used to be merchants, but last year my parents were attacked by bandits while doing business and they were both killed. In order to support the family business, I decided to come out and look for opportunities."

Xu Ji nodded knowingly, "I see. I'm not very familiar with other countries, but I am familiar with Yuehai Kingdom. If Young Master Qin is willing, you can come with me to Yuehai Kingdom. I will do my best to help you."

Qin Su expressed her gratitude and asked Xu Ji to bandage the wound first.

Xu Ji obediently went.

"Did they find someone to guide them?" Lu Yue crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

Qin Su glanced at him, "I'm afraid if I don't let him make a move, you'll rush in first."

She actually had quite a few wound medicines, and also had the doctor Luo Zhi. The reason she didn't reveal these was because she felt it was best not to be too attentive, and the other party was clearly still not completely at ease.

"Don't greet him if you see him during this time."

The two nodded.

Qin Su didn't bring Lian Tao with her this time, so Chongyang had to take care of getting the food.

Xu Ji did indeed have suspicions and was wary of Qin Su and the others. After all, the answerer hadn't treated them well, and now this seemingly friendly person had appeared—what if they had ulterior motives?

That's how people are. If they're in a bad environment for a long time, even if someone is suddenly kind to them, they'll still feel uneasy.

For the next few days, Xu Ji met Qin Su and the others. Each time, he thought they would greet him or do something, but they would just nod when they saw him. They were just casual acquaintances with no ulterior motives.

Xu Ji finally lowered his guard and took the initiative to bring Qin Su and the others some gifts and food, all of which were specialties unique to Yuehai Kingdom.

Xu Ji said to Qin Su, "I haven't properly thanked you for what happened before, Young Master Qin. This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please don't refuse it."

Qin Su glanced at them and then smiled, "Brother Xu, you're being too polite. It was just a small favor; anyone would have done the same. I appreciate your kind gesture, but please don't bother with the gift. It's not easy for Brother Xu to run a business, so there's no need for it."

Xu Ji felt even more pleased upon hearing this.

I thought they were after my money, but it turns out they weren't.

"Actually, I have another request."

Qin Su pretended to be all ears, "Oh? Brother Xu, please speak freely."

"As you can see, there are too many people on this ship who have ill intentions towards me. I would like to ask you to travel with me, so that you can help me out."

"I see." Qin Su chuckled. "I did bring some men with me, all of them were thugs left behind by my father. Protecting Brother Xu won't be a problem."

Xu Ji was immediately relieved upon hearing this, but Qin Su suddenly frowned, "But..."

His heart jumped again.

"Does Young Master Qin have any concerns?"

Qin Su nodded. "I'm worried that the people of Yuehai Kingdom won't welcome us either."

“I saved Brother Xu only because I couldn’t stand those people being so arrogant, but… Brother Xu probably doesn’t trust us at all.” She pretended to be troubled, then said, “Let’s take the gift back. As long as we’re on Brother Xu’s side, we definitely won’t stand idly by if we encounter the same thing again.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Ji immediately said, "How can that be?"