Xiawei Castle, the guerrilla general's residence.

Under a huge banana tree, Lin Daoqian was sitting at a stone table, talking in a friendly manner with a very handsome young man.

"Ah Feng, you're here so soon. I thought you'd be here in two days." Lin Daoqian said with a doting smile, "Is the sea still calm? Did you encounter any storms?"

"There's no typhoon yet, so how can there be any storms? It's just that big brother treats me like a child all day long." The young man was tall and thin, with a sea-blue headband on his forehead and a well-cut brocade robe of the same color. The hand that was waving the folding fan had the skin of ivory, and was slender and long, and very handsome.

What was even better was his flawless face, with such delicate features, which added infinite charm when matched together, making him even more beautiful than Lin Run. Of course, Lin Zhongcheng was already in his forties, but he looked less than 20 years old, so this comparison was too unfair.

If it weren't for the mustache as beautiful as his eyebrows, he would have looked like a girl, and a beauty like Brigitte Lin.

In short, when you see him, you will think of Du Fu's poem:

'Zongzhi is a handsome and elegant young man, raising his cup and looking up at the sky, as bright as a jade tree in the wind.'

However, all those who know his identity will not have any wild thoughts about him, because he is the famous Lin Afeng.

Lin Feng, the master of the sea, is as famous as Zeng Yiben and Lin Daoquan, and can stop children from crying at night in Fujian and Guangdong!

Oh, my goodness, another Lin. And he is a handsome man. Lin Run, Lin Daoqian, Lin Feng, all are handsome, it is true that beautiful women come from Yangzhou and beautiful men come from Fujian, this is a world-famous name, it is not deceptive.

~~

However, compared to the notorious Zeng Yiben and the business-savvy Lin Daoquan, Lin Feng is much more low-key and became famous much later. There have been many different opinions about his origins. Some say that he inherited Old Man Tai’s fleet, some say that he is Wu Ping’s subordinate, and some say that he is Lin Daoquan’s clone. In short, he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

But no one dared to underestimate him, because he quickly won the title of the strongest in the Southeast Naval Battle with a series of decisive victories.

Moreover, after each battle, he and his powerful fleet would quickly disappear, and no one, including the imperial navy and sea lords, knew where his lair was. This naturally added a bit of mystery to him.

However, after a long time, those who are interested can still figure out some patterns. For example, Lin Feng and Lin Daoqian are active in the same sea area, but there has never been a conflict; and the two of them cooperate with each other in their actions. For example, three years ago, when Lin Daoqian was fighting with Chen Sigen, the sea lord entrenched in Kinmen, Lin Feng's fleet raided Chen Sigen's ally, Zhu Liliang's troops entrenched in Mazu, leaving the former without reinforcements and had no choice but to surrender.

There are many such examples. In addition, both of them have the surname Lin and are from the same hometown...so most of the sea masters believe that the two Lins are probably allies who are related by blood. However, the parties involved have never admitted it, and there is no solid evidence, so traditionally, the two are still viewed separately, rather than as a group.

Obviously, rumors are unconfirmed truths. This statement is absolutely correct. The relationship between Lin Daoqian and Lin Feng is indeed extraordinary.

"Haha, our parents died early. If I, as your eldest brother, don't worry about you, who else can?" Lin Daoquan peeled a coconut skillfully, opened the hole and put it upside down in a porcelain bowl.

"Who is worrying about whom?" Lin Feng waved his folding fan and said helplessly, "Brother, you should drink less. Although I picked a boatload for you, if you drink too much, you will have diarrhea like last time."

"This stuff won't last long. If you don't drink more, you'll run out of it in a few days." Lin Daoqian picked up a full bowl of coconut milk, gulped down two sips, wiped his chin with satisfaction and said, "This is the taste. I'll never forget it in my life."

"In the 45th year of Jiajing, Nan'ao Island was captured. We escaped from Qing'ao Bay with the dragon head, but were later chased by the imperial navy and fled in all directions. I and several other boats entered the Black Water Ditch in a panic. At that time, we were short of food and water, and the wind and waves were high. We were pushed north by the wind and waves and thought we were going to die."

The Black Water Ditch mentioned by Lin Daoqian is the Penghu Trench. Because the water in this area is very deep and there are strong turbulence, the water is dark, so it is called the Black Water Ditch by the locals. He said with a face full of nostalgia:

"These people didn't die of starvation at sea, but of sunburn and thirst. It was the dry season in early spring, and it didn't rain at all. Our skin was cracked and our lips were bleeding from the dryness. We were about to die, and then..."

"At this time, a few coconuts floated on the sea." Lin Feng obviously didn't know how many times he had heard him talk about this experience. He could imitate his tone and said, "Although there are not many coconuts, after fishing them out, everyone drank a few sips, which is still very life-saving. Moreover, these coconuts are quite fresh, which means they floated from somewhere not far away, not from Qiongzhou. We were energized and rowed hard along the trajectory of the coconuts. We actually got rid of the constraints of the ocean current, successfully sailed out of the Black Water Ditch, and arrived at Takao!"

"That's right." Lin Daoqian didn't care about the other party's teasing, and recalled to himself: "In fact, 'Dagou' means 'bamboo forest'. Because the local natives planted thorny bamboos all over the port as fences to block the wind and defend against enemies, so they gave it this name. As a result, people heard it as 'Dagou', and it has been called this way until now."

"It's really not nice to hear." Lin Feng waved his folding fan leisurely. On the fan was a large freehand painting of phoenix flowers by Mr. Qingteng, a fiery red rising to the sky, very domineering. This was naturally what Lin Daoqian asked his godfather for him. Lin Feng couldn't let it go and waved it on the spot.

"Every time someone asked me where I was from, I felt very aggrieved. I couldn't just say I was a dog beater, right? So I had to keep silent. But they said that Lin Feng was deliberately keeping it a secret and not revealing the whole story."

"Hahaha, I've heard of it." Lin Daoquan laughed heartily.

"Actually, even if I tell them where it is, they have to be able to cross the Black Water Ditch before they can go there." Lin Feng raised his eyebrows complacently, with a bit of mischief, and then smiled and said, "But brother, did you call me here just to chat?"

"What does Lao Ke mean?" Lin Daoquan was stunned.

"It's a new word I learned from the Yankees. It's just bullshit."

"Oh, so that's it." Lin Daoqian understood now, because he knew that in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, "chatan" means talking nonsense or idle talk.

His godfather always talked nonsense all day long. When he was drunk, he loved to sing a catchy little tune "Han Shan asked Shi De":

'I think people in this world are all talking nonsense. I advise you to turn back and just practice cultivation. Be a real man and cut it off. Jump out of the red fire pit, be a cool man, understand the life of longevity, and have the sun and the moon as your neighbors..."

He finally understood why his godfather had left an egg behind. It turned out that he was afraid that there would be nothing left to eat...

~~

One of the brothers was at Xiawei, and the other was beating a dog. In fact, they hadn't seen each other for a long time, so naturally they had to chat for a while before getting down to business.

"I called you back this time because I have something important to discuss." Lin Daoqian then told Lin Feng everything that had happened after Zeng Yiben attacked Chaozhou City, including Xu Wei and Da Jin Ya's successive lobbying; Zhao Hao pinning the results of the battle of Hanjiangkou on himself; Lin Run personally visiting Xiawei to inspect and appease the people; and Zhao Hao telling him that the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi would lead a large army by water to Jieyang to suppress the bandits, and would definitely pass through Xiawei and so on...

Lin Feng listened quietly while waving her folding fan. After he finished speaking, she laughed and said, "I didn't expect that Big Brother would become such a popular guy that everyone wants to get him."

"Haha, everyone wants to eat this fat piece of meat." Lin Daoqian said with a bad smile, "Now Zeng Laoguan has become skinny and hairy, and you are so elusive, so I naturally become the biggest fat sheep in their eyes."

"What does big brother mean?" Lin Feng nodded slightly.

"I called you back just to work out a plan. Alas, what should we do from now on?" Lin Daoquan said with a sad face as he took another sip of coconut juice.

"Brother, what are you worried about? Didn't you know that although Xiawei is good, it is not a place to stay for a long time, so you let me run the dog-beating business?" Lin Feng was much more optimistic, and still smiled heartlessly: "Besides, no matter how bad the life is, can it be worse than when I needed Coconut to save my life at sea?"

"Haha, that's true." Lin Daoqian couldn't help but feel a little happy and said, "This person must not forget his roots. He must always remind himself where he came from and where he is going. Fortunately, he has been transporting his family's wealth to dogs in the past few years, so he has not become a stray dog."

After saying that, he said gloomily, "But if we leave this time, we will be completely thieves with no home to return to."

"Aren't we thieves?" Lin Feng's voice was as sweet as a girl's, but it revealed a wildness and freedom that ordinary men could not match. "From the day I went to sea with you at the age of fifteen, I considered myself a pirate."

"Alas, Ah Feng, I have harmed you..." Lin Daoqian sighed with guilt. He was born in the system, and although he was just a low-ranking clerk, he always had serious identity prejudice. Just like Song Jiang always wanted to seek amnesty, he could not get rid of the bad nature of a small civil servant. He always felt that only by whitewashing his identity and wearing a round-collar official robe could he face his ancestors in the afterlife.

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't want to stay at home. For someone like me, being a pirate for life is the greatest happiness." Lin Feng said without appreciation, "Of course, if you can't bear to give up this official uniform, just go with that Mr. Zhao. Since he is so capable, can't he protect a little guerrilla general like you?"

After saying that, he raised his beautiful eyebrows and said, "But I'm not the kind of person who likes to cause trouble. But if it were me, and I let others play with me like this... Bah, bah, it's such a scam, I can't stand it!"

"You are just looking for trouble?" Lin Daoqian said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I know he is leading me by the nose because he wants me to break off completely with the sea masters and cling to him wholeheartedly. But he is daydreaming if he thinks he can control me with this trick."