08 – Chapter 1

The sunlight was brilliant, the seawater crystal azure, and the flowers and trees on the shore were vivid crimson and emerald green, so clear they seemed right before one’s eyes.

The five-masted warship carrying Wen Ruhai and Meng Jianqing rounded a long, winding mountain ridge that extended into the sea. Ahead, dozens of vessels of various sizes suddenly appeared, with voices clamoring noisily. The mountain forests on shore were also crowded with people, and from afar, one could see more than ten colorful silk canopies erected there.

Wen Ruhai looked around in confusion. Was this Quanzhou Port? Why couldn’t he see that famous stone bridge spanning the sea? The shore also seemed to lack any bustling markets.

Meng Jianqing suddenly said, “This is Crescent Bay, where Quanzhou sea merchants sink porcelain. Today must be the day for retrieving porcelain.”

He handed Wen Ruhai the telescope with its focus already adjusted.

He figured that with Wen Ruhai’s disposition for collecting rare materials and unusual stories from all over the world, he would naturally have heard of the Quanzhou sea merchants’ custom of sinking and retrieving porcelain, requiring no explanation from him.

Sure enough, Wen Ruhai only responded with an “Oh” and didn’t ask further.

Porcelain sunk into the sea, day after day, year after year, was washed by seawater, entangled by seaweed, and eroded by sand and stones. After several years, not one in ten would survive intact. But those pieces fortunate enough to be retrieved whole, bearing the marks of the ocean, often possessed an eerie and captivating beauty that human craftsmanship could never achieve. The finest specimens were worth their weight in gold.

Wen Ruhai had long heard of this but had never seen a genuine piece. His curiosity was naturally greatly aroused, and he calculated that no matter what, he must fulfill this wish to make the trip worthwhile.

Meng Jianqing scanned those vessels, his brow suddenly furrowing slightly.

He recognized the Thousand-Li Ship from the Immortal Mountain of the Sea.

He didn’t know this ship would appear here.

Had he overlooked it, or had this ship indeed evaded the ever-present ears and eyes of the Imperial Guard?

Wen Ruhai was in high spirits. He lowered the telescope and said, “Let’s go over and take a look too.”

What Meng Jianqing wanted to see, however, was that Thousand-Li Ship.

As he expected, the Yun family siblings were both standing at the bow, watching with great interest those porcelain retrievers diving into the sea.

Meng Jianqing smiled to himself. He knew the Yun family siblings weren’t interested in the porcelain, but rather in those porcelain retrievers with their excellent swimming skills.

When the five-masted warship approached, the waves it created caused the Thousand-Li Ship to rock. The Yun family siblings immediately noticed the unusual speed and massive size of the approaching vessel. They turned around and saw Meng Jianqing. Meng Jianqing smiled slightly and cupped his hands in greeting.

Yun Yanran also cupped his hands slightly in return, while noticing the somewhat familiar Imperial Academy student beside Meng Jianqing. Yun Yanjiao had already said in a low voice, “That’s Wen Ruhai, who was ordered to come to Quanzhou to worship Mazu.”

They both had quite a favorable impression of Wen Ruhai. But they only paid attention to him briefly before turning back to focus on the porcelain retrievers emerging from the water.

Each piece of porcelain brought up from the water would elicit a cheer.

Meng Jianqing noticed that the heads of those porcelain retrievers were all bound with silk ribbons of different colors. The retrievers wearing the same color ribbon would send their porcelain to the ship flying a flag of the same color. He counted silently, and the most successful were five porcelain retrievers wearing white ribbons. The small boats receiving them delivered their retrieved porcelain to a three-masted tower ship flying a moon-white flag with the character “Pu.”

Wen Ruhai had also noticed that a large ship: “Is this Pu family indeed the descendants of Pu Shougeng?”

Meng Jianqing replied, “Exactly.”

The Pu family was originally Persian and had come to China during the Song Dynasty. They became enormously wealthy, and their power and influence grew accordingly. Pu Shougeng served as Quanzhou’s Maritime Trade Commissioner for decades. When Lin’an fell at the end of the Song Dynasty and the emperor and empress were captured and taken north, Fujian Province surrendered without a fight, with Pu Shougeng playing a key role behind the scenes. Thus, during the Mongol Yuan era, the Pu family enjoyed long-lasting prosperity. However, when the Hongwu Emperor founded the dynasty and pacified Fujian, although the Pu family considered themselves to have some merit for having helped preserve the military and civilian population of Fujian Province, the Hongwu Emperor deeply detested them. Therefore, over these past twenty years or so, the Pu family’s influence has gradually shown signs of decline.

Nevertheless, looking at them now, they were still a wealthy family that ordinary households couldn’t hope to match.

Wen Ruhai pondered for only a moment before temporarily putting this matter aside, focusing on observing the porcelain retrieved from the sea. After seeing more than ten pieces, he felt that their reputation exceeded their reality, and in his disappointment, he suddenly said, “I wonder where this custom originated—such a waste of people’s effort and money.”

Meng Jianqing raised his chin toward the left front: “It’s said to have originated from the Long family, known as the ‘Shen Wansan of Quanzhou.'”

Wen Ruhai saw the Long family’s bright yellow flag and double-decked tower ship, and asked in surprise, “How dare the Long family use bright yellow?”

Meng Jianqing smiled slightly: “The Long family came from a marriage between the Song Dynasty royal family and Southeast Asian royalty. They claim to be descendants of dragons and phoenixes, so during the Mongol Yuan era, they took the surname ‘Long’ to avoid disaster, making them half a foreign vassal. Therefore, the Ministry of Rites turned a blind eye and didn’t hold it against them. Besides, the extravagance of Quanzhou sea merchants is famous throughout the land. If they investigated everything, who knows how many violations of protocol there would be—I’m afraid Brother Wen’s brush couldn’t record them all.”

He naturally knew that Wen Ruhai’s trip was not just about worshipping Mazu. Fujian was originally Chen Youding’s territory. After Chen Youding was captured, he preferred death to surrender, leaving behind numerous old subordinates and relatives. Over these twenty years, the actual situation had developed in ways that probably hadn’t put the Hongwu Emperor’s mind at ease. The great pirate Chen Zuyi of the South Seas was currently very powerful. Rumors said Chen Zuyi was from Guangdong, but others claimed he was a clan member of Chen Youliang or Chen Youding. Many of their old subordinates and relatives had secretly sailed overseas to join Chen Zuyi. The true situation needed to be clarified.

Wen Ruhai paid no attention to the implications in Meng Jianqing’s words, only asking in puzzlement, “Why don’t we see the Long family’s porcelain retrievers?”

Indeed, not a single porcelain retriever had a bright yellow ribbon tied to their head, and not one piece of retrieved porcelain was sent to the Long family’s ship.

Meng Jianqing was also puzzled. What was the Long family up to?

The sun had passed noon. The various families’ porcelain retrievers were gradually becoming exhausted and returned to their respective ships to rest.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the surface. People were cheering, and Wen Ruhai listened carefully—they seemed to be calling, “Shark Boy, Shark Boy!” This startled him. How could the local customs be so bloody and barbaric?

Amid the cheering, a lean, dark youth with a bright yellow ribbon tied to his head appeared at the bow of the Long family’s ship. His upper body was bare, and his chest and back were tattooed with dragon patterns in azure and crimson, appearing fierce and terrifying in the sunlight.

When that youth stood at the bow, he possessed an aura of looking down upon all living beings.

Meng Jianqing’s spirits couldn’t help but be lifted. He glanced at the Yun family siblings, who were also staring intently at the youth without blinking.

Only then did Wen Ruhai understand that what the crowd was cheering was the youth’s name.

Meng Jianqing said from the side, “This must be Chen Sha. It’s said that from childhood, his swimming ability was so good he could play in the water alongside sharks, so Quanzhou people all call him ‘Shark Boy.’ The Long family truly has deep pockets, hiring Chen Sha to retrieve porcelain. They must be able to retrieve precious porcelain that others couldn’t dig up in a lifetime.”

Amid the crowd’s cheers, Chen Sha dove cleanly into the sea without even a splash, earning thunderous applause all around.

As the applause gradually died down, the sea surface became unusually quiet. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Chen Sha to reappear.

Meng Jianqing silently counted time in his heart. It had already exceeded the breath-holding time an ordinary person could endure, yet Chen Sha still hadn’t appeared, causing him to feel slightly alarmed.

Chen Sha was born into Chen Youding’s clan. Such swimming ability, such presence, and such worship from Quanzhou’s common people…

His thoughts suddenly stirred, and he turned to meet Yun Yanran’s gaze directly.

The moment their eyes met, he understood that Yun Yanran had already seen the thought that had just crossed his mind, and knew that he had perceived this point. Yet Yun Yanran had no intention of concealing anything, instead making a gesture of “please.”

Meng Jianqing nodded slightly.

Since they were both in Quanzhou, there would surely be an opportunity to meet with Yun Yanran and discuss Chen Sha’s matter in detail.

Wen Ruhai suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” and unconsciously leaned forward.

Chen Sha, who had suddenly emerged from the sea surface, held a beauty-shouldered vase in his left hand while continuously waving to the cheering crowd with his right, treading water as he slowly swam toward the Long family’s receiving boat. Under the clear, brilliant sunlight, the body of that beauty-shouldered vase was covered with the intertwining traces of sea serpents and water grass climbing upward, so enchantingly beautiful it was breathtaking. At the mouth of the vase, a small grain of cinnabar had crystallized, like a uniquely charming beauty mark.

Watching that beauty-shouldered vase being carefully carried into the Long family’s ship cabin and disappearing from view, Wen Ruhai couldn’t help but sigh.

He understood why Quanzhou sea merchants would spare no expense to sink and retrieve porcelain.

The person who came up with this scheme was truly a genius.