There was nothing more absurd under heaven than bearing thorns to plead guilty. When Lian Po carried thorn branches to apologize to Lin Xiangru, that was originally a political show. One willing to forgive, one willing to apologize—this was a situation that could only appear after political compromise. What qualifications did Qiu Ning have to apologize?
Qiu Hu was merely a battle commander under his command, perhaps not even worthy of being called a battle commander. Just by looking at the way Dongyu and Ren Xiong looked at him, one could tell he was nothing in the Lingnan naval forces. At most, he was just a minor soldier who had managed to work his way up. Could such a person really act tyrannically in a place like Yangzhou?
“I’ve said before, Qiu Hu, the naval forces’ officers and men need to know restraint, know when to advance and retreat. Your brother’s subordinates clearly knew the other party was a person of very high status, yet for the sake of some so-called face they dared to strike. Has shit clogged up your brains? Or do you think everyone under heaven must give you face?”
“Qiu Hu, your luck isn’t good. Although this Commander came to Lingnan to have fun, Her Highness commanded me to properly investigate military discipline. Since something happened, don’t think about getting forgiveness. Your merit was earned by risking your life, as was your rank, so I won’t touch those. But a lesson cannot be spared. Someone, severely punish Qiu Hu with fifty military strokes, confine him for five days, to serve as a warning to others.”
When Yun Ye’s judgment came down, only then did Qiu Hu let out a long breath of relief. According to military rules, corporal punishment doesn’t include dismissal, and dismissal doesn’t include corporal punishment. Since the Commander’s punishment had been issued, it meant that as long as he took the beating and was confined, nothing more would happen. If the Commander had truly treated him kindly and amicably, that would have been the real disaster.
Qiu Hu quickly expressed gratitude, thanking the Commander for showing mercy. After that, he was dragged aside by two of Yun Ye’s guards, his pants pulled down, and they began striking with the rod methodically. These two guards were the military’s designated executioners. They always carried military rods with them, and not having used them for quite some days, they were now striking with great enthusiasm.
With a wooden stick in his mouth, Qiu Hu endured all fifty military strokes, his whole body trembling as he returned to continue receiving orders.
“I’ll be staying in Yangzhou for another twenty days. After your confinement is complete, go collect sea charts—the more the better.” After assigning the task, Yun Ye returned to the rear hall. As for Qiu Ning, since he wasn’t military personnel, he couldn’t be bothered to deal with him.
Dongyu opened his mouth and slapped Qiu Hu’s buttocks, causing Qiu Hu to cry out in pain. He shouted loudly, “Brother Dongyu, your younger brother just received punishment. Even if you favor men, at least wait until my buttocks heal!”
Ren Xiong came over and said, “You bastard, it’s only because the Marquis is benevolent toward his own brothers. If you’d encountered Li Ji or Hou Junji, you’d have been sent to fill a grave long ago, yet you still have the spirit to banter with Dongyu. Hurry back to jail. The task the Marquis assigned must be handled urgently. Today, for the matter of sea charts, the Marquis nearly set fire to Daming Temple. Take your idiot brother away. Seeing him bare-chested is disgusting. Don’t play the grandee anymore in the future—he can’t afford to.”
Qiu Hu took his brother out of the residence, pulled a black-clothed man off a stretcher, lay on it himself, and was carried away. Qiu Ning asked anxiously, “Elder Brother, this is the Commander? He looks too young.”
Qiu Hu caught his breath and said, “Young? He has well over a hundred thousand lives under his command. Little Ning, this time Elder Brother bore the brunt. Don’t be arrogant anymore in the future. Our family has been sea merchants for generations. Although we have some money, our foundation isn’t clean. We still need to rely on the Commander’s protection to have any face in Yangzhou. Be content. Now go find sea charts right away. Whether you buy them or rob them, get as many sea charts as possible. The Commander has assigned the task, and we need to complete it beautifully.”
“You just told me to behave myself. Is it appropriate to go after sea charts with such fanfare?”
“You don’t understand shit. Before, you were causing trouble on your own. Now you’re doing things for the military—the two are completely different. Don’t worry, if something happens the Commander will cover for it. This is when you can throw your weight around. Hurry and go. Have those two send me back to the military camp.”
Qiu Ning threw the thorn branches from his back far away and quickly led a large group of henchmen, splitting up to head toward where the sea merchants lived…
When Yun Ye returned to the study again, Xi Tong was already there. Several sea charts were laid out on the desk. Yun Ye frowned and said, “Old Xi, there’s no need for this, right? Daming Temple already promised to send the sea charts over in a few days.”
Xi Tong snorted disdainfully and said, “You can actually trust what those bald donkeys say? They agreed with you on the front foot, then on the back foot hid away quite a few sea charts. Thinking you’d already inspected the sutra repository and wouldn’t go again, they mixed these things in with other scrolls, planning to slip them through. You’re someone who’s commanded great armies—how can you be so easily trusting?”
“In this day and age, even monks don’t tell the truth. What’s wrong with me being honest once? Don’t I still have you? You’re as cunning as a monkey. With you watching Daming Temple, I’m not worried about those monks playing tricks.”
Xi Tong’s temperament was sometimes like a child’s—you had to coax him. He didn’t know how he’d managed under Tian Xiangzi, yet managed to develop such childlike innocence. It was truly incredible.
Seeing him sitting in a chair with his feet up higher than his head, one knew he was immersed in smugness. However, when Yun Ye opened the sea chart and smiled bitterly, he said, “Trouble has arrived. You’ve taken the pirates’ distribution map. The people at Daming Temple are probably going to go mad. Look, Old Xi, I never imagined there were so many scourges in the South Sea.”
“Tsk tsk, the seas aren’t peaceful either. Who does this crescent represent? It can’t be the Mad Moon Monk, can it? Qiu Ran Ke has made a comeback and actually occupies so many islands. Doesn’t he know the principle that all land under heaven belongs to the king? Does he want to establish a state? Haha, Li Jing! If I send this thing to the imperial court, it’s enough to have your family property confiscated ten times over. Never mind, I’m famous for repaying evil with virtue, so I won’t quibble with you. If there’s a suitable opportunity, I can extort Qiu Ran Ke.”
“Who does this circle represent? The Wo people? The three-legged crow must be the Goguryeo people, right? In this world, besides the Dashi people, no one else likes the star and crescent flag, right? Oh my, I like this one—a complete skeleton frame. Needless to say, this is pirates from the West. Damn, my Lingnan naval forces’ dragon flag is drawn like a worm.”
“Good grief, the natives don’t properly stay in trees picking fruit to eat—what are they doing at sea as pirates? Damn it, this route has only just started to take shape, and a whole school of sharks has arrived? It looks like every one of them has eaten quite fat.”
Yun Ye was still immersed in intense excitement and hadn’t noticed at all that a black-faced monk was already standing across from Xi Tong. Outside the door stood another monk—clearly Daofa, an old monk who always looked miserable. Tonight he appeared particularly imposing, a jujube wood staff held horizontally behind him, his long eyebrows moving without wind. He looked extremely angry.
Wu She’s figure also appeared in the study, the teacup in his hand not yet set down. As for Han Zhe, he stood by the pond admiring the white lotus flowers at night. He actually wanted to go on the roof—with a bright moon behind him, he’d look even more like an immortal. Unfortunately, someone was already up there. Dan Ying stood on the flying eaves holding a powerful crossbow, already drawn and ready to fire.
“These pirates have terrible taste, not a bit of creativity. Old Xi, look at our black skeleton flag. When we sail the seas, anyone who sees it clearly knows pirates have arrived. Competing for supremacy on the high seas—I love this game. Old Xi, I’m so excited I’m trembling. Just thinking about those pirates swarming out to plunder, only to be plundered by me in the end, I can’t help wanting to get to Lingnan sooner.”
“Think about it, Old Xi—on the surging seas, countless large ships colliding, approaching each other, ropes hanging down from the masts covered with pirates, knives in their teeth. As soon as two ships get close, they jump aboard and fight chaotically, blood and flesh flying, heads rolling. The sea surges with waves, the great ships rise and fall unsteadily. Those who don’t jump ship well get crushed into meat paste between two vessels. The pirates who make it aboard fight with dance-like steps rising and falling with the waves. Those with graceful footwork cut down those with clumsy footwork. The clever kick the dull overboard.”
“If we add in lightning and thunder, pouring rain—what a beautiful dance that would be. Old Xi, then you’ll understand—if a person doesn’t become a pirate once in their lifetime, your life is incomplete.”
With his back to the door, Yun Ye chattered on incessantly, describing to Xi Tong how magnificent being a pirate was. He himself was already immersed in boundless fantasy. Yun Ye had received a complete pirate education since childhood—from Peter Pan to Captain Hook, to Sinbad’s voyages, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. When he got older, he read through the Odyssey in its entirety. Not to mention that before coming to the Tang, he’d been force-fed a dose of Pirates of the Caribbean. He loved those villains who committed all kinds of evil.
Now that he had the qualifications to be a pirate, why not do it? Just thinking about how he could be a pirate for at least three years, Yun Ye was so excited he couldn’t contain himself. He was already considering whether to leave behind a legend of a pirate king for the Great Tang, casually create some treasure to fake a treasure map, and make thousands of red-eyed fellows jump into the sea in droves. It was worth considering.
Why had he talked for so long with no reaction from Xi Tong? This fellow whose very bones were suffused with bandit genes actually wasn’t being seduced? This wasn’t normal. When Yun Ye turned his head and saw a room full of people, he felt embarrassed for once.
“Marquis Yun, if you want to go be a pirate, this poor monk has no power to stop you. But this map involves matters too significant. You must return it. Otherwise, today, even if blood splatters five paces, this poor monk will retrieve this map.”
Monk Daofa walked into the study step by step. He thumped his jujube wood staff on the ground, and the bluestone slabs paving the study floor instantly cracked into several pieces. A man in his seventies—how could he still have such great strength?
“Old monk, you’re overthinking it. If I wanted to impeach Li Jing, I wouldn’t need this map at all. Li Jing is already like a toothless old tiger in the imperial court. Without this map, do you think with the capabilities of the Lingnan naval forces, I couldn’t collect evidence of Qiu Ran Ke’s territorial occupation?”
“Marquis Yun is compassionate and surely wouldn’t commit petty acts. It’s just that this map is not suitable to be disclosed to outsiders. Please return it. As for the other sea charts, the Marquis may take them as he wishes.”
Looking at the old monk’s sorrowful expression, Yun Ye tapped his fingers on the desk, then rolled up that map, tied it securely, and placed it in the old monk’s hands, saying, “The human world is treacherous, and human hearts are difficult to fathom. Great Monk harbors great ambitions. Yun Ye won’t act like a petty person either. This map is returned to you, and no one will spread it around everywhere. But the Mad Moon Monk is a threat no matter what. This time at sea, I’ll eliminate this hidden danger for Li Jing. The imperial court is already chaotic enough—it cannot tolerate any more great generals meeting with calamity.”