This was a hard battle. Ye Jingchuan gripped his customary sword, cold sweat gradually seeping into his palm. But he wasn’t afraid—he had nothing to fear. At nine years old, his father had thrown him to his uncle at Zijing Pass. At nine years old, he dared to follow his uncle beyond the pass to fight the Tartars. He had sworn to become a military general and defend the nation. If he couldn’t even protect His Highness and the girl he loved, what future talk could there be of establishing merit and building a career?!

From where the arrow had grazed his ear, bright red blood dripped down. He paid it no mind, staring intently at the small boats that were rapidly approaching, pulled along by iron hooks that had caught onto the large vessel. When over a dozen black-clad figures emerged from the covered boats and swiftly climbed up the ship’s gunwale, only then did he shout in a tone so calm and cold it reached the extreme: “Pour!”

From the stairways on both sides, a group of orderly armored soldiers rapidly surged forth, each quickly carrying wooden buckets. Without a word, they each took their assigned positions, as if they had rehearsed it a thousand times, and immediately upended the contents of their buckets into the water below.

Ye Jingchuan soon heard screams like pigs being slaughtered—his uncle had used boiling oil to pour on the Tartars attacking the city walls. In winter, he would even use hot water to pour down below, both scalding off a layer of skin and reinforcing the city walls, making them so slippery there was no way to get a grip. He had long wanted to use this tactic, and now he had finally employed it in actual combat.

The ship was high, and the people they were dealing with weren’t the same batch of bandits that Song Chuyi had encountered on her previous journey. Nets wouldn’t be able to contain this group. Ye Jingchuan knew this well. Before coming, he had already pestered his eldest brother and Zhou Weizhao for several days, discussing what methods to use and what situations they might encounter—he had a general idea in his mind.

It was just a matter of moments before seventy to eighty percent of the people from the first batch of covered boats were taken down. The remaining few who luckily avoided the hot oil were also too slippery to stand firm or grip the gunwale, sliding down into the water.

The ship advanced even faster. Ye Jingchuan looked at the large boat behind them—originally one of their own—that was still pursuing relentlessly, along with over a dozen small boats disguised as fishing vessels. He pressed his lips together. Before he had time to issue orders, the ship’s body suddenly shook violently several times, nearly throwing him to the deck as he stood there. In fact, it was only because he reacted quickly and grabbed onto something in time that he didn’t fall onto the deck. Chang’an fell hard and had to scramble several times before managing to get up.

When he turned back to look, he discovered that the large ship that hadn’t turned around had rammed into them. Now the two ships’ bows were joined together. These people were actually insane enough to use even the tactic of mutual destruction. As soon as this thought arose in his mind, he saw smoke beginning to rise faintly from where the bows connected.

In just moments, a massive explosion sounded. Nearly the entire bow was blown off, and the ship’s body tilted violently. This time even Ye Jingchuan couldn’t steady himself and fell headlong onto the deck.

By the time he climbed back up, the ship was already destroyed almost beyond recognition. The bow was gone, water was flooding in everywhere, and he could even hear the dull sounds the ship made as it sank.

Cui Hualuan, Cui Huayi, and Madam Yu were all staying together. The previous tremor hadn’t been much, but this time it was catastrophic. The whole group tumbled to the ground. Madam Yu was hit hard, her waist striking the corner of a nearby table. For a moment she couldn’t even get up, until Little Nanny Xu and Yulu together helped her to her feet.

Cui Huayi was so frightened her voice trembled as she clenched her fists and asked: “Mother, are you all right?!”

Madam Yu’s face had already turned pale from pain, cold sweat continuously seeping from her forehead. Covering her waist, she could only shake her head after a long moment.

Danzhu and Danqing each took a side to help Cui Hualuan up as well, then busily helped straighten her clothes—Cui Hualuan had always loved cleanliness and had never been in such a disheveled state before.

Song Chuyi had also been struck hard, but she couldn’t concern herself with her injuries. These people came with fierce momentum and had made such a big commotion—according to reason, there should be official patrol boats on the water surface in this area, yet these people showed no restraint whatsoever. Clearly they had made thorough preparations long ago. She couldn’t let Madam Yu and Cui Hualuan remain on the ship.

Fortunately, they had already considered various possibilities beforehand and prepared small boats. As soon as she entered, she saw Madam Yu and the Cui sisters huddled together. She hurried forward to examine them. Seeing that although they were injured, none faced mortal danger, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and ordered Qing Luo and Han Yan behind her: “You escort Madam Uncle and the young cousin ladies off the ship!”

Madam Yu’s eyes widened: “Off the ship?!”

Song Chuyi nodded: “Off the ship. The bow has been blown through. Soon the ship will sink. Aunt, please take the two cousin sisters and leave first. Once you reach shore, someone will be there to receive you.”

Actually, Song Chuyi deeply regretted bringing Madam Yu and the Cui sisters along. In this life-threatening affair, she herself couldn’t calculate exactly how things would develop or what insane tactics they might encounter—there were truly too many variables. But if she hadn’t brought them along, this performance would have been for nothing. She gripped Madam Yu’s hand, pressed her lips together, and earnestly instructed repeatedly: “Aunt, please rest assured. I’ll have Qing Ying and Han Yan accompany you and the cousin sisters. The people escorting you on the small boat are all Imperial Guards who came with us from the Shanxi garrison.”

Madam Yu didn’t care about this. She grabbed Song Chuyi’s hand tightly and asked: “But what about you?! The ship is about to sink—aren’t you leaving with us?”

How could she leave together? These people had come for her. If she left together with Madam Yu and the others, she would be making Madam Yu into a living target. She was absolutely unwilling to let Madam Yu and her two cousin sisters face such risk—otherwise, wouldn’t that be too unfair to Uncle?

She steadied herself and reassured Madam Yu: “It’s not that I’m not leaving, I’m leaving later. You go first. I’ll leave with Second Young Master Ye afterward. Splitting up, we’ll also make smaller targets.”

Qing Luo anxiously poked her head in to report: “Miss, someone has boarded the ship!”

Since the ship had been blown through, naturally there were breaches everywhere. No matter how many people they had, they couldn’t guard against everyone. Song Chuyi had no time to say anything more to Madam Yu. She emphasized with a heavier tone: “Aunt, please leave quickly! I won’t come to harm!”

Whether she would come to harm wasn’t something she could decide herself. Madam Yu was terribly worried, but she also had two girls beside her. Both of them lacked even the strength to truss a chicken. If they stayed on the ship, even if the ship didn’t sink, the group coming up from below wouldn’t spare them either. She was so anxious she was on the verge of tears.

Song Chuyi nodded to Little Nanny Xu and quickly led Madam Yu and the others to the stern. Seeing the plank had already been laid out, she urged Madam Yu, Cui Hualuan, and Cui Huayi to board.

Fortunately, the ship’s defenses were tight. Even though the bow had been blown up, no one could immediately attack here. The water surface was filled with unremarkable-looking small boats everywhere. The one carrying Madam Yu and the others also didn’t stand out in the slightest. Song Chuyi’s gaze was heavy as she looked at them once, then turned her head back around.