Zhu Zhanji was meticulous and saw through A’Lei. But he didn’t know A’Lei was about to depart on a long journey.
A’Lei thought she had concealed herself perfectly, but she didn’t know Zhu Zhanji had already confirmed her feelings through her eyes.
Each held a hidden card—it was a draw.
Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Zhanhe selected fifty thousand elite troops from the Youth Army for the expedition.
Before departure, A’Lei squeezed time from her busy schedule to invite them for tea: “I’m still busy this afternoon and can’t drink wine. Let me substitute tea for wine and wish you both triumphant return.”
A’Lei’s clock had reached the testing phase. By the time they returned, she would have already presented Emperor Yongle’s custom clock and left the capital.
When they met again in two years, these two young men would already be fathers.
Zhu Zhanhe smiled mysteriously: “What’s the hurry? This tea… we’ll drink it eventually anyway.”
I’m still waiting to drink your wedding tea.
Zhu Zhanhe winked and made faces, his expression uncontrolled.
Zhu Zhanji remained calm and confident, raising his teacup: “We definitely won’t disappoint expectations.”
When you hear news of my “death in battle,” don’t be too sad. Wait for me to return and see you in another identity.
Fifty thousand Youth Army troops departed, with Ji Gang leading a thousand Brocade Guards following to protect the two imperial grandsons’ safety.
Before departure, Ji Gang received a secret letter from Prince Han’s mansion in Qingzhou: Everything is prepared, success or failure hinges on this move. The mansion’s ten thousand secretly recruited private soldiers have been dispersed and separately dispatched to the Jiangzhe coast, ready for deployment.
Ji Gang sneered coldly, holding the secret letter to a candle flame to burn it.
Let the storm of the old Zhu family’s internal strife rage even more fiercely!
I, Ji Gang, refuse to be the hidden good bow or the cooked running dog.
Having burned the secret letter, Ji Gang wrote a reply:
“Ten thousand death warriors, shave pirate hairstyles, learn to wear wooden clogs, change hair and clothing, use the long swords commonly used by Japanese pirates. We’ll play mantis catching cicada with oriole behind, casually frame the Japanese pirates…”
A shocking conspiracy was unfolding like a great net enveloping the imperial palace.
One month later.
Selected women from various regions gradually arrived in the capital, residing in Chuxiu Palace. Just like the selection process twenty years ago, they first memorized palace rules and learned etiquette, four to a room, living collectively with palace attendants secretly monitoring to observe their character and personality.
With new people in the palace bringing vitality, during occasional leisure time, Hu Shanwei would let the selected women stroll within designated palace areas. The palace filled with chatter and was quite lively.
Since the fish-and-deer rebellion arose in the Eastern and Western Five Offices, killing over a thousand people in one night, the palace had been deathly quiet. Now with these newcomers entering the palace, even Noble Consort Zhang occasionally relaxed her brow, sighing that youth was wonderful.
Only A’Lei heard nothing outside her window, finally completing the clock in early August.
A’Lei presented the ship clock. When the time came, the wooden ship began sailing in the water pool, and a pair of embracing figures emerged from the bow, their features five parts similar to Emperor Yongle and Empress Ren Xiao in their youth.
Empress Ren Xiao’s unfulfilled promise was realized in the ship clock.
Emperor Yongle kept vigil by the ship clock, waiting like a child for the next hour.
A’Lei quietly withdrew, not disturbing Emperor Yongle’s remembrance of his deceased wife.
Like the ship clock, it was also time for her to leave.
Mu Chun personally packed A’Lei’s luggage, like parents in later generations sending their child to university.
A’Lei looked at the boxes piled like a small mountain and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Brother-in-law, this isn’t traveling—this is moving house! Eunuch Zheng He’s great ships can even accommodate horses and vegetable gardens. They have everything—I don’t need to bring so many things.”
With too many things in the boxes to close and lock them, Mu Chun simply sat his bottom on the lid, forcibly suppressing it, barely managing to lock them.
Mu Chun threw a string of keys to A’Lei: “No matter, I’ll see you off and carry the luggage onto the ship—you needn’t worry.”
A’Lei shook her head: “Sister is busy with the selection recently, and Brother-in-law should stay home to accompany her. The fleet won’t depart until winter anyway, and by then Sister will be finished with her busy period and have leisure time. Then you can both go to Liujiagang to see me off.”
Thinking about it, Mu Chun agreed this made sense. A’Lei would live in Liujiagang for half a year before departing west, so the couple could go together then.
Mu Chun yielded: “Fine, but you must take all the luggage I packed. I’ve already hired escort agencies and ships—they’ll escort you to Liujiagang.”
Following the Yangtze River south to the estuary, then sailing southeast along the coast to reach Liujiagang, the water route was relatively comfortable without land bumping.
A’Lei also compromised: “Good, Brother-in-law needn’t escort me, but I’ll take all the luggage.”
The next day, at Peach Leaf Ferry.
Hu Shanwei and Mu Chun bid farewell to A’Lei. Standing on deck, A’Lei waved continuously. She watched her parents holding hands at the dock gradually shrink until they became ant-sized, never leaving her sight.
A’Lei lowered her aching arm from waving and gripped the railing as a teardrop fell on her hand.
A perfect filial daughter means when parents are alive, don’t travel far to avoid worrying them.
But Sister said that achieving seven points in any role was already very good—bearing responsibility for one’s own life was most important.
I cannot call them parents, addressing them as Sister and Brother-in-law for life. Yet how fortunate I am to have such open-minded parents.
Ten days later, Yunjian County (present-day Shanghai).
The large ship passed through Wusong River and docked at the port. Here, A’Lei had to transfer to a large ship suitable for ocean navigation to proceed to Liujiagang.
Due to the excessive luggage, ordinary passenger ships couldn’t accommodate it. The escort agency guards chose a ship and arranged to travel with several merchants. This type of large ocean ship had three cargo holds below deck that could accommodate A’Lei’s boxes and the merchants’ goods.
For travel convenience, A’Lei wore men’s clothing, pretending to be a young merchant’s son with boxes full of goods.
The large ocean ship set sail. Being coastal navigation, the ship wasn’t far from land—on clear days, the shoreline was visible to the naked eye.
A’Lei stood on the top deck with rows of seagulls flying overhead. Spreading her arms wide, strong sea winds passed through her ribs, giving her a feeling of “the sky is high for birds to fly freely, the sea is broad for fish to leap.”
Indeed, taking one step forward made this world vastly different!
A’Lei closed her eyes, quietly experiencing this new world.
Suddenly, a cool wind struck, and the female escort beside her threw A’Lei down forcefully.
A’Lei fell painfully. Opening her eyes, she saw a feathered arrow embedded in the deck.
The sailors at the bow struck warning bronze bells, shouting loudly: “Japanese pirates! Japanese pirates attacking! Prepare for battle!”
Land had bandits, seas had pirates and Japanese raiders. For self-protection, large merchant ships were equipped with weapons, with cannon ports around the cabin sides.
Additionally, the five major merchants on board brought bodyguards. Facing a common enemy, everyone showed united hatred, revealing weapons and standing ready.
The female escort brought A’Lei to the cabin. A’Lei grabbed a flintlock rifle—she felt somewhat afraid but more excited. Looking through the window, the enemy had only five small boats of crude construction with sails woven from something like cooling mats.
The ships flew triangular flags with white backgrounds, a red sun in the center, red cloth borders around the triangle, and blue cloth serrated lotus edges outside the red borders.
This was the typical Japanese pirate flag.
On the five pirate ships stood about ten men each, heads shaved except for two tufts of hair on the sides, wearing sleeveless jackets. Not only were their legs bare, but some weren’t even wearing shorts!
The female escort closed the window tightly: “Most Japanese pirates dress like this—don’t pollute the honored guest’s eyes. This is just a small group trying their luck, nothing to fear. They don’t even have cannons or firearms. Our strength far exceeds theirs—we’ll drive these pirates away quickly.”
Just as she finished speaking, suddenly a tremendous boom shook the massive ship violently as if heaven and earth were collapsing, instantly shattering the windows.
Looking through the empty window, A’Lei saw a warship approaching in the distance, its dark cannon barrels aimed at the merchant ship.