“As a person of a fallen nation, my body drifts like duckweed. How could I have any plans? After returning to Chang’an, I will be perfectly content if I can just have a room to shelter me from wind and rain, and two meals to fill my stomach. How would I dare to hope for more?”
Lu Chengqing laughed heartily and said, “Madam, you make the Great Tang sound far too heartless. Since you have already surrendered, we are all one family. The Great Tang is not only the realm of the Tang people, but also the realm of all our brother tribes. Just look at those foreign generals in the court—which one of them hasn’t been entrusted with important duties by His Majesty? The smoke and fire of the Cold Food Festival equally enters their residences. People like Gao Jianwu and Yeon Gaesomun naturally need to be kept under observation to see what happens next, but Madam, you are vastly different.”
“A mere woman will absolutely not be envied by those strongmen. As long as Madam continues to remain in the South Seas, we still have a great many things to do, and these matters are, as you said, merely making a living. Speaking of familiarity with the South Seas, Yun Ye should be considered the best in the world—there’s nothing to debate about that. But speaking of second place, I’m afraid it must belong to you, Madam.”
“Yun Ye has always had a reputation as a brilliant strategist. When he doesn’t move, that’s one thing, but once he begins his campaign, he’s swift as a raging fire. Your nation of Goguryeo should have deep experience with this. All of General Li’s military texts and tactical manuals have been mastered by this man. Add to that his fox-like cunning and wolf-like ferocity—Madam, you’ve been able to stand against him for many years without ever falling into a disadvantage, and have even grown to such a scale, dominating the outer seas with no rival. Lu Chengqing admires you extremely.”
“However, if we are to cooperate, we must treat each other with complete honesty. Why has Madam sent your most elite subordinates far away?”
Gao Sanyang’s hand trembled, and the tea water from the cup in her palm spilled over. Lu Chengqing said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “Madam is a surrendered person, so it’s appropriate to keep a few contingency plans. But you don’t understand how we Tang people think. Either you surrender without holding anything back—only then will you be accepted—or else your little band of pirates will instantly be ground to powder by the great army. Which path to take, Madam should consider carefully.”
Watching Gao Sanyang hurrying away, Lu Chengqing smiled even more cheerfully. Removing a woman’s clothing also requires particular skill. It’s like eating walnuts—you must smash through that hard outer shell before you can possibly eat the delicious walnut meat. He wasn’t in a hurry. When it came to beautiful women, Lu Chengqing had excellent patience.
Since this woman had personally come to the Lingnan Fleet, it showed she truly wanted to surrender. Preserving a bit of her own strength was just to guard against unexpected developments—there was nothing wrong with that. If it were him, he would do the same. By the hour of three quarters past noon, if that hidden force still hadn’t appeared, his first order to the Lingnan Navy should be an extermination order.
After returning to her ship, Gao Sanyang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the paper kite floating high in the sky, she revealed a rarely seen smile. Onizuka’s fleet should be coming over now. She refused to believe Lu Chengqing would break up this fleet composed entirely of foreigners again. Without them, who would fish for money for those noble lords?
“Hidemi, send someone to the warehouse on shore to collect tung oil. If there’s fire oil, get some of that too. Don’t take too much, to avoid arousing suspicion. Ah, how numerous are the talented people in the Tang nation! Even a fool like Lu Chengqing can say such words—concealing needles in silk cotton, suddenly launching an attack. Fortunately we made preparations. Onizuka’s fleet should be returning, right?”
“Yes, we agreed from the start that when he sees the paper kite, Onizuka will come to surrender. Princess, our wager is getting bigger and bigger. What if something goes wrong?”
Gao Sanyang propped her forehead with her hand and said, “There’s no choice. Compared to the Tang nation, we’re too insignificant, so insignificant we almost don’t count. A straightforward military force can’t defeat the Tang nation. I even suspect that all the great armies in the world couldn’t possibly be a match for the Great Tang. Think about it—we’ve seen a great many armies.”
“The Romans are like an iron block—rigid but tenacious. The Arab light cavalry plunder like the wind. The armies of the Srivijaya Kingdom are fierce and brave. As for the armies of Tianzhu, they’re nothing but a flock of sheep on a grassland.”
“When we dealt with them, we always had opportunities to exploit, and we gained quite a few benefits from them. Only when facing the Great Tang’s army did we feel that suffocating sense of despair. If you don’t fight desperately, you’ll have no life left. Even if you fight desperately, you still can’t see any glimmer of hope. This change of generals is when this fierce tiger of the Tang nation took a nap—it’s our only opportunity. If the commander of the Lingnan Navy were Yun Ye, we absolutely wouldn’t cross the strait. I would rather drift on the ocean forever in this life than risk entering the Tang’s inner seas.”
Lu Chengqing looked at the goods list that Gao Sanyang had taken. They took a lot of tung oil—nothing strange about that. They also took seven or eight barrels of fire oil. Good, that was within his expectations. If this woman had requisitioned fire oil on a large scale, he would have to think it over carefully.
Before the sun had reached its zenith, the deputy general reported that a fleet had arrived. They had lowered their sails ten li from the harbor and were slowly approaching the camp by rowing—they looked quite submissive.
“Pass the order: don’t let them approach the camp. They should drop anchor outside the harbor, surrender their weapons, and await the army’s inspection.” When Lu Chengqing heard the deputy general say these people were all foreign sailors, he finally felt relieved. These people should be Gao Sanyang’s last remaining force. In his view, Gao Sanyang’s final outer shell had been smashed to pieces by him. Perhaps tonight would be the time for him to invite Gao Sanyang to dine together.
Following Lu Chengqing’s orders, the harbor became busy. Countless warships came and went, and from time to time cheers were transmitted inside. All of this indicated that they had encountered no obstacles when collecting weapons.
Mixed in with the cheers were also some low and mournful foreign folk songs, so sorrowful they could make one weep blood. These songs entering Lu Chengqing’s ears were no different from the most beautiful music in the world. The feeling of having everything under his control was very wonderful.
The cook from his household specially brought over a complete set of exquisite porcelain for Lu Chengqing’s inspection. This was porcelain that Lu Chengqing had spent a great sum to win at auction at the Chang’an auction house. At that time, Yun Ye’s wife had also wanted it, but in the end still couldn’t compete with him. From that moment on, although this set of porcelain wasn’t the most precious, it was the set Lu Chengqing treasured most. Sitting in the Lingnan Navy that Yun Ye had founded, wielding great power, using porcelain snatched from Yun Ye’s wife—he felt this was a kind of destiny. Who said he wasn’t as good as that bastard Yun Ye? As long as tonight the jade beauty was in his arms, Yun Ye’s barbarian wife couldn’t be called an exclusive beauty of the Yun family anymore.
“Tonight, bring out your full twelve-tenths of skill. As long as it’s outstanding, this master will definitely reward you handsomely. I’ve already told the steward that whatever ingredients you can think of, he’ll procure for you. Quanzhou is a place where merchants gather—you won’t lack ingredients for cooking. Go now, put your heart into it.”
Lu Chengqing was actively preparing the dinner, hoping to end his desire for Gao Sanyang through a perfect and flawless banquet. In life, when one is content, one must fully enjoy it. For a great man to hold the power of life and death, to lie drunk on a beauty’s lap, was originally a kind of ultimate pursuit.
Gao Sanyang helped up Onizuka, whose face and head were covered in whip marks. She took a handkerchief dipped in strong liquor to clean his wounds. One whip mark crossed diagonally over his eyebrow and eye—if the blow had been three parts heavier, it would have burst his eyeball.
“Onizuka, bear with it a little longer. If your sword is gone, then it’s gone. I know it was passed down from your ancestors. Just let them keep it safe for you a while longer. Tonight, you’ll go raid that damned Tang warship. Their warships all have numbers on them, so they’re easy to recognize. Since they’re monitoring you, it means they’re not far from you. Kill them and seize their warship.”
Onizuka crawled backward a few steps and heavily knocked his head against the wooden planks. His expression was fierce and terrifying. He spoke a few sentences in the Wa language through clenched teeth. Gao Sanyang said with a light laugh, “I’ll deal with Lu Chengqing myself. He really wants to see me dance. I’ll dance a soul-requiem dance for him. Our great plan will be implemented tonight. Among the Tang officials on shore, we have our own people. The weapons and fire oil that Cheng Jiuyun gave him are at the Number Two Wharf not far from you. They’ll deliver the weapons to you under the pretext of delivering grain and fodder. Unfortunately, there are only short blades and crossbows, and longbows—other weapons can’t be transported up. I entrust everything to you, Onizuka.”
After Onizuka knocked his head once more, he left the cabin. When he came, his rage towered to the heavens; when he left, he was incomparably calm. The princess was right—victory or defeat would be decided tonight. The family’s treasured sword could not be defiled by outsiders.
The bow of the Great Emperor plunged violently into the seawater and then suddenly rose up. Surging seawater flooded the deck, and at the instant the bow lifted, it flowed back into the ocean through the grooves. Five giant sails were blown taut by the strong wind. The entire ship was advancing at maximum speed. Yun Ye paced irritably back and forth on the bridge. Liu Renyuan remained steady as a mountain, holding the ship’s wheel with both hands. He focused on what was ahead and paid no attention to what was happening around him.
Pang Yuhai was about to pass out, so Ren Xiong knocked him on the head, and he got his wish and fainted. Li Yifu also wanted to pass out, but his excessively robust nerves kept him wide awake, staring at the world of water and sky outside the bridge. Yumin had long since been carried back to the cabin by Dongyu—his body was too weak to withstand such turbulence.
Two dolphins burst forth from the bow, cheerfully leading the way ahead. Li Yifu was delighted beyond measure at this miraculous sight. Could it be that we truly have the mandate of heaven? Even the dolphins have started to guide us?
“What are you thinking? Dolphins just like to swim at the bow of ships. If that stinking woman Gao Sanyang’s ship also ran this fast, these dolphins would guide her too.” Ren Xiong’s words instantly extinguished Li Yifu’s enthusiasm. So dolphins were also creatures who would nurse from anyone who had milk. A gentleman disdains such behavior!
“How much farther to Quanzhou Harbor? The storm is chasing right behind our rear. Fighting in a storm is very disadvantageous for us. We must increase speed. We need to completely disintegrate Gao Sanyang’s armed forces in the shortest time possible.”
“We can’t go any faster. Right now we’re already at the Great Emperor’s limit. At midnight tonight we’ll definitely reach Quanzhou. We just don’t know whether heaven will give us the opportunity to save the Lingnan Navy.”
Liu Renyuan handed the wheel over to Dongyu and took a drink of liquor himself. His two blood-red eyeballs made him look like an evil spirit.