When the first sea mist after the frost descended and covered Ningbo Harbor, the Ryukyu tribute ship was slowly approaching the shore. Tang Ren squatted on the dock, chewing on a grilled squid, and suddenly a fish bone stuck in his teeth - half a jade lock was wrapped in the charred squid tentacles, and the newly engraved star map on the back pointed to Ryukyu Shuri Castle.
"This, this is..." Qin Feng used a silver needle to pick open the lock layer. On the mulberry paper with a fishy smell, the meticulously painted red cannon was similar to Qi Jiguang's anti-Japanese artillery array. Su Chen looked at the tribute ship being unloaded. Twenty-three lacquer boxes were being moved into the Maritime Customs Office. The dark patterns on the box lids were flowing like stars in the twilight.
The drumbeat at the hour of Xu startled the albatross, and the golden thread of its wings spelled out a new hexagram under the moon. Tang Ren suddenly pointed at the sea and exclaimed, and the last lacquer box fell into the waves, and the floating silk stretched on the crest of the wave - it was the remnant of the "Hundred Sons and Grandsons" that was burned in the Suzhou Embroidery Case three years ago.
Su Chen rushed to the sea first, trying to pick up the debris. However, the waves were strong and the debris was quickly swept into the depths. Tang Ren shook his head and said, "How did this thing appear here? Could it be that there is another secret in the case that year?" Qin Feng frowned and analyzed, "It seems that this Ryukyu tribute ship is very interesting, and those lacquer boxes may also hide secrets." The three decided to go to the Maritime Customs to find out.
Arriving outside the Maritime Customs, the guards were tight. But this did not pose a problem for the clever Qin Feng. He used a little trick to distract the guards, and then the three of them sneaked in. After opening the lacquer box, they found all kinds of strange objects inside, which looked like some kind of machine parts, and some incomprehensible documents. At this time, there was a sound of the guards returning from outside. They hurriedly put the things back to their original places and hid. After the danger was lifted, Su Chen whispered: "These things must be related to some conspiracy, perhaps related to foreign invasion or internal strife in the court. We must find out the truth as soon as possible." Then, the three quietly left the Maritime Customs, ready to explore the huge secrets hidden behind these mysterious objects through other means.
The moonlight of Cold Dew was soaked with the salty sea breeze, and the Lu Ban ruler was stuck in the gilded lock of the lacquer box. Tang Ren held up half a skewer of grilled squid and muttered, "This box looks exactly like a Ryukyu tribute ship..." Before he finished speaking, the sound of porcelain breaking suddenly came from the warehouse of the Maritime Customs.
When Qin Feng rushed into the storehouse, the guard was lying face up on the green brick floor with a half-broken jade lock stuck in his throat. Only 22 of the 23 lacquer boxes were left, and the bottoms of the missing boxes were covered with a thin layer of white sand - the star sand that was unique to Ryukyu Shuri Castle.
"The broken lock smells like gunpowder." Su Chen dipped the broken lock into tea, and the rusty red lines on the bottom of the cup actually formed the picture of a crouching tiger and cannon from Qi Jiguang's "Jixiao Xinshu". Outside the window, an albatross flew by, and the golden lines of its wings cast new coordinates on the glazed tiles: 3:30 pm, East Gate Ferry.
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The tide at the hour of Yin was wrapped in morning mist, and Tang Ren stepped on the slippery rocks to flip the awning boat. The boxes of lacquerware at the bottom of the cabin were oozing blood, and Qin Feng used a silver needle to pick up the cinnabar: "This, this is the blood sand used by the Ryukyu royal family to offer sacrifices to the gods!"
Su Chen opened the third lacquer box, and inside the brocade that should have contained the tribute pearls was a toothed bronze key. When the key was inserted into the secret compartment of the ship's plank, the entire ship suddenly tilted - twenty-three gun barrels wrapped in oilcloth rolled down the gangplank into the shallow beach, and the word "天" etched on the barrels was the mark of the Qi family army's artillery.
"Be careful!" Tang Ren threw Su Chen to the ground, and the poisoned fishing net rubbed against his hair and pierced into the deck. In the mist, there was a sound of shaking. The lurking Ryukyu tribute ship was slowly heading out to sea, and a man in white wearing a Noh mask stood on the bow.
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The morning bell of Foding Mountain startled the birds. Su Chen knelt in front of the ancient well of Huiji Temple. The moss on the well wall was embedded with star sand, which formed a fragmentary map of the twenty-eight constellations. Tang Ren kicked open the merit box. Under the whole box of incense money was a half-volume of "Anti-Japanese Records". On a certain page, there was a red note saying "In the ninth month of the Si year, 23 tiger squatting cannons were fired."
Qin Feng suddenly stuttered: "Look, look at this!" On the sleeve of the Guanyin statue carved on the cliff in the back mountain, the newly carved muzzle is facing an island in the East China Sea. Su Chen pressed the bronze key into the crack of the reef, and the beach after the low tide revealed a cast iron anchor chain - the tooth marks of the anchor chain were exactly the same as those of the shipwreck three years ago.
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The hurricane tore at the dilapidated sailboat, and Tang Ren hugged the mast and vomited violently. Qin Feng used the compass to calibrate the direction, and the needle suddenly reversed at midnight. Su Chen opened the cabin board and found a box of Ryukyu shamisen in the secret compartment, which was vibrating at the same frequency as the waves.
The outline of the island was revealed in the lightning, and the artificially dug gun emplacements were hidden between the rugged reefs. Twenty-three gun barrels were aimed at the route, and the rusted "天" character shone in the lightning. Tang Ren felt the residual warmth of the gun barrel: "Damn it, these iron lumps are still usable!"
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A man in white stood in front of a replica of a crouching tiger cannon, and a hoarse laugh came from under his Noh mask: "General Qi's firearms should help us restore the Ryukyu Kingdom." Su Chen held up the swollen "Jixiao Xinshu", and the blood sand that had slipped between the pages was piecing together a map of the Japanese pirates' march at that time.
"In the 12th year of Hongzhi, your ancestors used fake sea maps to harm my fleet..." The man in white took off his mask, and raised a torch with half of his face twitching due to the burn. Qin Feng suddenly threw out the weight with silk thread, and at the moment when the torch was deflected, Tang Ren had already rolled down the cliff holding the gun barrel.
As the explosion shattered the morning mist, Su Chen dug out a skull with a lock in the ruins. In the cracks of the jadeite, the micro-carving of "Hundred Children and Grandchildren" was extending to the Ryukyu King's Tomb - the young child playing in the picture had the same eyebrows and eyes as the son of the embroidered lady he had spotted three years ago.
The tide flooded over the blood-stained star sand, and the albatross flew over the ruined artillery. The newly carved word "承" glowed phosphorescently on the reef, pointing to the more distant Borneo...