After Yun Ye landed ashore, the first thing he did was not to surround Gaoshan Yangzi, but rather to construct fortifications on the spot. He did not initiate dialogue with Gaoshan Yangzi, nor did Gaoshan Yangzi make any demands of Yun Ye.
Once the first fortification was completed, preparation began on the second one. Gaoshan Yangzi remained silent, but the pirates beneath her command grew restless, because the materials for constructing the second fortification were pirate corpses fished from the sea. There were so many corpses that the fortification had already approached the pirates’ defensive perimeter.
It was impossible for five thousand men to besiege over ten thousand—Yun Ye could only seize the initiative by relying on his superior equipment to break the pirates’ morale. Casualties were inevitable. Yun Ye sighed inwardly, hoping only that such meaningless sacrifices could be kept to a minimum.
Something suddenly occurred to him. He called over Ren Xiong and gave a few instructions. Ren Xiong immediately ran swiftly toward the harbor. Liu Renyuan, having heard Yun Ye’s words, wanted to ask but closed his mouth again.
Over ten thousand people confined in such a cramped space naturally had many needs, yet the citizens of Quanzhou dared not make any movement under the pirates’ steel blades. Just moments ago, the scholar who had tried to secure toilet privileges for the women had been hacked to death by the pirates with random sword strikes.
“Princess, the brothers are extremely agitated. Some are already clamoring to start killing, saying that after slaughtering these people they’ll immediately take to the mountains and become bandits—anything would be better than this standoff with government troops.”
“Cheng Jiu, I see this is actually your idea. Think about it—we’re pirates. Without ships, if we run into the mountains, I tell you, the Tang armies will immediately seal off the mountains and hunt us down. Heroes of the sea running to the mountains—that’s seeking our own death. Haven’t you noticed? Yun Ye isn’t attacking, just steadily advancing. This shows he’s thinking the same thing—he wants to drive us into the mountains.”
“I’ve said it before: the land belongs to the Tang. If we want to grow and develop, we can only find opportunities at sea. Only the vast ocean can provide us with enough hiding places.”
Cheng Jiu gave a bitter smile and said, “We don’t have a single ship now. How can we go to sea? And even if we did go to sea, which ship could escape pursuit by the Great Emperor? The fleet I commanded had fifty-one ships total, all our best vessels. In just two hours, they were completely destroyed by the Great Emperor. If I hadn’t boarded a small boat, I’d be hanging from Yun Ye’s ship hull by now.”
Gaoshan Yangzi smiled charmingly, her fingers pale as scallions brushing across Cheng Jiu’s face, lightly tapping his forehead as she said, “You simply don’t know to use your head more. Yun Ye’s fierce general Lai Chuanfeng has already arrived. Look—he’s right there commanding. His subordinates are no longer the disorganized rabble in disheveled clothing from last night, but warriors with gleaming helmets and bright armor. Though we have greater numbers, we’re no match for them. Why doesn’t he attack? One reason is to drive us into the mountains. Another reason is that he doesn’t dare. I understand Yun Ye very well. Toward us, he’s utterly ruthless—the corpses strewn all over Crab Island are proof of that. But ah, this man is infinitely compassionate toward his own country’s citizens.”
“When I was in Chang’an, I heard a little anecdote about him. One day, Yun Ye was carrying his precious son and passing by a small river. There was no bridge over the river, only a single log bridge. When he stepped onto the log bridge, an old farmer carrying dung buckets also got on the log bridge. When they met in the middle of the bridge, the old farmer didn’t recognize Yun Ye in his hemp clothing and started cursing at him, telling him to get back, also saying he had no eyes and couldn’t see he was carrying dung. Tell me, if you were Yun Ye, what would you do? Mind you, his guards were right behind him.”
Cheng Jiu rolled his eyes and said uncomprehendingly, “What else could happen? When an old farmer meets a marquis, naturally the old farmer yields, or else gets slapped and pushed into the river.”
Gaoshan Yangzi shook her head at Cheng Jiu and said, “This is exactly why you can never become a great figure. At the time, Yun Ye actually engaged in a shouting match with the old farmer, and only after winning the argument did he back up and yield the way to the old farmer. Cheng Jiu, this is who Yun Ye is—a gentleman can be deceived by appeals to righteousness. These citizens we’ve captured are the foundation of our survival. With these citizens, when we demand ships from Yun Ye, he’ll obediently give them to us.”
When the sun reached mid-morning, the citizens that Gaoshan Yangzi had kidnapped began to grow restless. Adults could still endure missing a meal or two, but children who hadn’t eaten immediately started crying out. Gaoshan Yangzi didn’t order suppression, but instead hid behind a window secretly watching for Yun Ye’s reaction. She didn’t believe there would be no movement from Yun Ye’s side.
Sure enough, a blue-robed youth driving a huge cart emerged, vigorously waving a white flag in his hand. Gaoshan Yangzi ordered that this blue-robed youth be allowed in and brought to her side.
The young man walked with steady steps. Upon reaching Gaoshan Yangzi, he didn’t lose his composure, cupping his hands in salute and saying, “My lord the Marquis says he’s sending some food for the hungry children. Leader, you still depend on these citizens to stay alive—I imagine you won’t mistreat them.”
Gaoshan Yangzi regarded the youth before her with interest, flicking his blue robe with her finger and smiling as she said, “You’re from Yushan Academy, aren’t you? Children from prestigious families truly are extraordinary—not startled when placed in danger, not afraid even knowing death is certain. How numerous the Tang’s talented people are! Could it be they’re already so numerous they can be carelessly squandered?”
“Yushan Academy has a total of over two thousand three hundred students. Pang Yuhai is the most useless one among them, which is why I’m the one who does this kind of dangerous work. At the academy, I’m also specifically assigned to carry water.”
Pang Yuhai looked completely like a shameless rogue. Cheng Jiu grabbed Pang Yuhai’s collar open, exposing his shoulder. Sure enough, Pang Yuhai’s shoulders were covered with calluses, indeed marks left from long-term water carrying.
Since he wasn’t the talent she had thought, Gaoshan Yangzi couldn’t be bothered to inquire further. She waved her hand and let Pang Yuhai go distribute the already-inspected food to those children. People from the academy were all somewhat fanatical—this much Gaoshan Yangzi knew. When she saw Pang Yuhai personally delivering rice balls to those children, she wasn’t surprised. However, when Pang Yuhai tried to leave, he was coldly refused by Cheng Jiu. This place allowed entry but not exit.
Pang Yuhai returned to the crowd. The Quanzhou Magistrate had been locked by Gaoshan Yangzi in the small building. Fortunately, a few minor officials remained. He whispered a few instructions, then found a corner to sit down. Beside him was one of the water ditches very common in Quanzhou—the people of Quanzhou relied on these ditches to supply their daily water needs. Pang Yuhai gave a rice ball from his bosom to a little girl who couldn’t find her parents, then licked his own lips. Truth be told, he himself hadn’t eaten in quite a while either.
One pirate, unable to endure this eerie atmosphere, had just stood up when a crossbow bolt shot through his throat. The other pirates were greatly alarmed and hastily concealed their bodies, but even so, crossbow bolts continued to shoot over, piercing through arms or thighs exposed beyond their cover.
Gaoshan Yangzi’s brows furrowed. By doing this, Yun Ye was only forcing her to kill. Did he not want to bear the crime of killing citizens himself, wanting instead to use her hand to break the deadlock?
“Guizhong, find a few women from the crowd. As soon as another crossbow bolt is fired from Yun Ye’s side, kill these women. I don’t believe Yun Ye would kill his own people.”
Yun Ye saw over a dozen wailing women dragged out and positioned in the middle of the road. Those women, seeing the gleaming ballista bolts of the eight-ox crossbows opposite them, desperately tried to retreat. Helplessly, the pirates showed no mercy, kicking these women into the middle of the road with a single boot.
Drums sounded from the Lingnan Naval Forces—the attack drums. A row of shield soldiers carrying large shields with long spears positioned in the openings appeared on the street, advancing toward the small building in neat formation without a word.
Gaoshan Yangzi’s face instantly turned deathly pale. She hadn’t expected that Yun Ye was actually calculating precisely this—since she had made the first move, Yun Ye now had reason to charge in, regardless of anyone’s life or death.
“Prepare torches! Once Yun Ye’s army crosses that white line, immediately throw the torches. If we can’t live, then let all of Quanzhou be buried with us!” When saying this, the veins on Gaoshan Yangzi’s face bulged.
One row, two rows, three rows of shield soldiers crossed past those women who had closed their eyes awaiting death, causing the pirates to tremble with fear. Just as they were about to cross the white line, they suddenly halted, shouting three times “Kill, kill, kill!” while extending and retracting their long spears three times.
Intimidated by the shield soldiers’ momentum, Cheng Jiu’s hand trembled and the torch he held fell down. Just as it was about to land in the crowd, it was struck away by a long blade and fell far away on the open ground. The blade had been thrown by Gaoshan Yangzi.
Gaoshan Yangzi glared reproachfully at Cheng Jiu, then ordered the pirates in the open ground to extinguish the torches. When Cheng Jiu looked out again, he discovered that those shield soldiers had returned to their original position, only the women who had been on the ground were nowhere to be seen.
“His objective is still these citizens—this is good. From now on, no random killing. Those who violate this order shall be executed!” Gaoshan Yangzi issued the command in a loud voice. Not only did the pirates beside her hear it, but Pang Yuhai, who had been feigning sleep with closed eyes, heard it too. He wrote a sentence on a small slip of paper, placed it in a tiny bamboo tube, and tossed it into the water ditch. At another outlet of the ditch, someone was waiting there.
A crossbow bolt whistling through the wind nailed into the window frame of the small building, its tail still slightly trembling. Tied to the arrow shaft was a small strip of cloth. Gaoshan Yangzi ordered someone to retrieve the cloth strip. Unfolding it, she saw written on it a single line from Yun Ye: “What do you want?”
Seeing the cloth strip, Gaoshan Yangzi finally revealed a long-absent smile. On the cloth strip she wrote one character: “Ship”! She had worked hard to maintain a relaxed negotiating environment, with the ultimate goal of wanting ships.
Liu Renyuan received the cloth strip that Gaoshan Yangzi had shot back, glanced at it once, then handed it to Yun Ye, who was examining a map of Quanzhou. Without even looking, Yun Ye said directly to Liu Renyuan, “Tell her: only one ship. Use the eight-ox crossbow to shoot it in!”
Liu Renyuan wrote down the answer “one ship” on the cloth strip, then tied it to the thick tail feathers of a siege bolt. With a wave of his hand, the siege bolt hummed as it drilled into the small building, passing straight through a pirate who had been hiding behind a pillar…