John followed her orders, but seeing that the other side still showed no concern whatsoever, Qing Xia finally gritted her teeth and said in a deep voice: “Cannons one, three, and four prepare for simultaneous firing. Target: the three sea vessels opposite us.”

Garifa and the other sailors immediately wheeled out the cannons from the inner cabin, loaded them with gunpowder, and signaled to Qing Xia that they were ready.

Qing Xia slowly lowered her telescope and said in a deep voice: “Eliminate them.”

With three thunderous roars, the gunpowder developed by Penglai Immortal Valley immediately demonstrated its overwhelming power. After brief, sharp screams, the three large ships instantly vanished into smoke and dust, their fragments scattered across the sea surface. The sailors and foreigners immediately cheered. Even John and the others had never seen gunpowder of such tremendous power and couldn’t help but be greatly shocked.

Qing Xia’s expression remained unchanged as she stood at the bow, looking at the smoke-shrouded sea surface in silence. The sea was a chaotic zone, even more lawless than the troubled times on land. If she couldn’t steel her heart to handle all crises, she would only drag down everyone on the Siyuan to die with her.

Her mood was somewhat low. She had just turned around to return to the cabin when she suddenly heard Erix shout: “Ah Xia, look, there’s someone still alive!”

Qing Xia immediately turned around to see that in the wreckage of the foremost ship, someone was actually swimming desperately toward their direction. Due to the great distance, his appearance couldn’t be clearly seen – only from his posture could they roughly tell he was still quite young.

“Ah Xia! Should we rescue him?”

Erix’s cheerful voice echoed across the ocean. Qing Xia’s gaze was slightly dazed. After thinking for a long while, she finally said in a deep voice: “Bring the ship over and rescue him.”

Erix was delighted and shouted: “Bring the ship over! Rope, rope, throw the rope!”

Qing Xia carried Da Huang back to the cabin, took out a cake of small dragon well tea leaves, brewed a pot, and quietly waited for the water to boil. The ship suddenly stopped – presumably Erix and the others were rescuing someone. At sea, there were many reasons for fighting, but it was nothing more than money. Qing Xia had no intention of prying into others’ affairs. Da Huang lay between her legs, drowsily dozing.

At that moment, Peter suddenly called loudly: “Ah Xia, we’ve rescued someone!”

Qing Xia sighed and still stood up, placing Da Huang on the bed, then bent her head and walked out.

A man in dark green robes sat with his back to her, leaning against the mast with his hair hanging down, appearing very exhausted. Erix, John, and the others were surrounding him, tirelessly telling lies about how God had sent them messages to rescue him. From the man’s appearance, he obviously hadn’t heard a single word.

Qing Xia slowly approached, smiled gently, and said: “Stop surrounding him. Take him down to rest first.”

As soon as her words fell, the man’s spine suddenly stiffened, as if he had received a tremendous shock. His neck straightened, and he almost didn’t dare turn his head around.

Qing Xia naturally couldn’t fail to notice this. She slowly frowned, her gaze sharp, thinking carefully. Suddenly a flash of inspiration struck her mind. Looking at his expression became even more complex as she carefully approached step by step, saying softly: “Could you turn your head around?”

The man’s spine was almost trembling slightly. Seeing Qing Xia about to approach, he suddenly supported himself against the mast and stood up. One leg seemed severely injured – limping, he hurriedly walked forward, as if unwilling to see Qing Xia.

“Stop!” Qing Xia suddenly shouted angrily, her eyes fixed on the man’s back, saying in a deep voice: “There’s nothing but vast ocean in all four directions. Where could you possibly go?”

She slowly took a step forward and said: “Are you so unwilling to see me?”

The man’s body shuddered. After a while, he slowly turned around. His features were bright as stars, his face handsome and beautiful. Even in such a disheveled state, he still appeared elegant and graceful, emanating an undisguisable noble bearing.

“Qing Xia, I’m already in this state – how could I have the face to see you again?”

Qing Xia had never imagined that one day she and Qi’an would meet in such circumstances. At this moment, in the spacious cabin, Qi’an wore clean white robes, slowly sipping small dragon well tea, looking elegant and graceful, just as he had been in the Taihe Great Hall. He was still that powerful Crown Prince of Great Qi, while she was a happy bride-to-be, and he was still intact by her side.

In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed.

The tremendous changes were like transformations of sea into mulberry fields. Everything seemed like a great dream – illusory flowers in a mirror, moon in water, completely unreal.

“Qi’an, what are your plans for the future?”

“Haha…” Qi’an raised his head with a bitter smile and said: “A person whose country has perished – what plans could I have? If I told you I’m now utterly disheartened, would you believe it?”

“I don’t believe it!” Qing Xia decisively shook her head and said: “The Qi’an I know is not someone who admits defeat easily. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have struggled so desperately in the sea calling for help.”

Qi’an smiled slightly, shaking his head: “Qing Xia, do you understand me that well? I’m afraid even I don’t understand what kind of person I am.”

“In one’s lifetime, the person hardest to understand is oneself.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Qing Xia’s gaze was resolute as she said in a deep voice: “Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, failed thousands of times, and finally sacrificed his life to complete the herbal compendium that benefited all living beings. King Goujian of Yue endured for ten years, sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, finally achieving great success. You are the legitimate Crown Prince of Great Qi – can you not even withstand this small setback? Where is the clever and decisive Qi’an I knew, who could come up with ten schemes with just one blink of his eyes?”

Even though he was in poor spirits, Qi’an still couldn’t help but laugh: “I really don’t know if you’re praising me or mocking me.”

Qing Xia smiled as she poured him tea, saying: “Think whatever you want. But this world is like this – good people don’t live long and can’t achieve great things.”

“Oh?” Qi’an raised an eyebrow and said: “Then what about you?”

“Didn’t you see that just because your ships approached, I ordered cannon fire? To protect myself, I can do many evil deeds, so naturally I can’t be considered a good person.”

Qi’an laughed heartily and said: “Qing Xia, being able to see you at this time is truly heaven’s kindness to me. It seems that every time I’m in desperate straits, the person I encounter is you.”

Qing Xia smiled and shook her head: “So you’re saying I’m your benefactor?”

“No,” Qi’an shook his head and said: “A savior – a savior who rescues me from difficulties. Qing Xia, I should thank you.”

“Verbal thanks won’t do. Keep it in your heart for now, and thank me properly when you reclaim your lost territories in the future.”

After this playful banter, Qi’an’s mood improved considerably. The servants responsible for cooking brought in food. Qing Xia set out bowls and chopsticks for Qi’an, saying: “Today consider this a welcome feast for you. Tomorrow we’ll return to port. Tell me a location that would be advantageous for you, and we’ll dock nearby.”

The two ate facing each other, just like old friends who hadn’t seen each other for many years, chatting and laughing without any trace of how they had once been so antagonistic and mutually hateful years ago.

“Qi’an, that woman named Ousi Lanya is your subordinate, isn’t she? Where is she?”

Qi’an was startled and frowned: “What do you want with her?”

Qing Xia said in a deep voice: “That day in the Hongtian water prison beneath Penglai Valley, she once ambushed me. One of my friends was separated from me in that incident. I’ve searched for him all these years without any news. But Penglai has searched all the underground caves beneath the Hongtian water prison and found no body. I think he should still be alive, just missing. I think Ousi Lanya might know something.”

Qi’an’s expression darkened slightly: “She’s not my subordinate, just a temporary collaborator. Recently she’s already switched to serve under Taiping King Qi Yan. If not for her betrayal, I wouldn’t have been defeated so miserably.”

Qing Xia frowned deeply, nodded, and said no more.

That night, Qi’an had already gone to sleep.

This civil war in Eastern Qi had continued intermittently for several years. Over these years, under the combined attacks of his various brothers, he had become physically and mentally exhausted. His recent flight like a homeless dog had nearly broken this formerly proud man.

Qing Xia wore a cotton white robe, sitting with her knees drawn up on the empty deck, watching the sea with its rolling white foam under the moonlight. Her heart gradually calmed down.

A huge moon hung high in the sky, casting pale white light. The sea surface rippled with waves, and black fish stirred up snow-white foam in the water. The humid, fishy wind blew across her face, playfully sweeping through Qing Xia’s hair tips and lifting her white dress hem.

It had been five years already. Time had passed so rapidly. Everything that had happened in these five years seemed to whistle past like arrows released from their strings. During these five years, she had been immersed in her own world, rarely inquiring about outside news. Suddenly coming back to her senses, she realized that heaven and earth had truly been turned upside down.

Chu Li was indeed a generation of martial emperor. Whether in civil administration or military prowess, he could be called outstanding in his time. As early as when Qin Zhiyan was reorganizing the Great Qin clans and implementing the Return to Emperor decree, Chu Li had already reclaimed central authority, decisively abolished the clan privilege system with thunderous resolve, eliminated the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, promoted industrial and commercial development, emphasized agricultural cultivation, greatly expanded trade, emphasized civil service examinations, abolished the recommendation of filial and honest candidates, made military merit the primary condition for promotion in the army, stationed troops in the southern borderlands, recovered lost southern territories, increased national power, and made all southern barbarians submit. He had already become the implicit leader among the four nations of the Chinese mainland. Even though Northern Qin under Qin Zhixiang could be considered prosperous and militarily strong, it still couldn’t compare with Southern Chu, whose territory was more than twice as large.

At this time, Chu Li had also set his sights outward. Just as Zhu Danchen had once said, Chu Li was a man with ambitions spanning all directions. His goal would definitely not be just to be a monarch who stabilized and governed one country. What he wanted to do was unify the continent and create unprecedented achievements since Emperor Qin Shi Huang.