knife

Chapter 634 Demonstration
Niu Er leaned against the wall, basking in the sun.

Having not found any work for two days in a row, the rice jar at home is almost empty. If there is no work to do today, the children will definitely go hungry tomorrow.

Niu Er was a porter.

They have always made a living at the docks.

In the past, the docks in Danyang City were extremely prosperous. People like them, who made a living by physical labor, never imagined that one day they would have no bags to carry and no money to earn.

The sun in the sky was also soft and weak, without any strength. Niu Er tightened the hemp rope around his waist again, turned up his collar, curled up into a ball, and tried to move as little as possible.

This morning, my wife cooked a pot of porridge. She took almost all the dry rice for herself, and the two kids only had a few grains of rice in their bowls. My wife herself only had a bowl of rice water.

Because his wife knew that carrying loads was hard work. If they didn't have enough to eat, they wouldn't have the strength to work, and if they didn't have the strength to work, they wouldn't be able to find work, and the family would continue to go hungry.

Full of hope, he arrived at the dock, only to find everywhere he looked people just like him, hoping to find work.

But the dock remained empty.

The only boats that were still moored were all pleasure boats. In the past, you could hear the sounds of string and wind instruments and women singing inside. But these days, there was no movement on the boats, and it seemed that business was not very good.

When will things get better?
Niu Er sighed.

Why can't things be peaceful when life is going so well?
They said the Empress Dowager was a demonic sorcerer, and that she had killed the late Emperor.
Anyway, it was being spread all over the streets and alleys that Niu Er had overheard the storyteller outside the teahouse, but because he couldn't bear to spend two coins to go in for tea, he was chased away by that wretched waiter.

Niu Er thought the storyteller's tales were too fantastical and must be nonsense.

Anyway, he felt that his life had been much better than before since the Empress Dowager took over the reins of the family. Every now and then, he could even have some meat in the house, although it was mostly pig offal that other people didn't want. But after cleaning it, it could be eaten as meat.

Poor families don't have such fancy rules!
But now that the Empress Dowager has been driven away, life has suddenly become difficult again.

"A boat is coming!" A joyful shout rang in his ears. Niu Er jumped up and stood up abruptly. Before he even opened his eyes, he grabbed the rope and carrying pole lying beside him and ran towards the dock.

There are too many people vying for jobs, and if you can't get to the front, you won't get any work.

As I ran, I kept looking up at the great river.

Upon seeing this, Niu Er stopped in his tracks.

That's not a cargo ship.
That was a warship.

In the past, warships did have business, but it was all done at night, secretly, and the pay was high. Niu Er did it a few times.

But if it's daytime, forget about it.

So Niu Er didn't want to waste his energy squeezing it out, since squeezing also takes effort. He had to save the little bit of rice he ate in the morning for when he was working!

So he went back to the base of the wall, hugged the carrying pole, and squinted his eyes.

So many warships!
There are at least a hundred ships.

Seeing the increasing number of warships on the river, Niu Er couldn't help but stand up again.

Maybe there really is business to be had!

Although it's not easy to do business while serving in the military, now is not the time to be particular about that.

But the flag on the ship is wrong!

Niu Er was illiterate, but he remembered that the character in the middle of the large flag on the naval warship that had been stationed here some time ago had many strokes. However, the character on the flag that was getting closer and closer was very simple, just like his surname Niu, with only four strokes.

Niu Er can write his own surname.

Suddenly, Niu Er saw people from the pleasure boats on the dock running off the boats and then desperately running up the stone steps.

Most of these people were women, dressed in red and green, with alluring figures and faces painted like monkey buttocks. They were all lifting their skirts and running very fast.

What's going on? Before Niu Er could figure it out, he saw even more people running uphill from below the dock, shouting as they ran, "Director Wang is here! Director Wang is here! Run!"

Niu Er was also startled.

Among the people who make a living at the docks, Director Wang's name is still known.

He was originally a high-ranking figure, but recently he suddenly became a traitor, and his portrait was posted on the city gate as a wanted poster. Moreover, his father's head was hung on the city wall for a long time before it was taken down.

Is this someone coming for revenge?
Niu Er wasn't in a hurry to run; he was still some distance from the lower dock!

One bell after another rang in their ears, and the entire dock was thrown into chaos.

Niu Er's eyes suddenly lit up. He saw a woman running and a bag fell off her body, but she was running so fast that she didn't notice.

Niu Er ran in the opposite direction, first stepping on the bag, then squatting down to pick it up. When he opened it, he was overjoyed to find more than a dozen silver coins inside. He quickly stuffed the bag into his purse.

Everyone is heading to the city.

Because the city gates were slowly closing at that moment.

Niu Er wasn't in a hurry. His eyes scanned the ground, and sure enough, not long after, he found another thing lying on the ground. It was a copper hairpin. Although it wasn't worth much money, it was much prettier than the wooden fork his wife used to tie her hair.

On the river, Wang Dao stood with his legs spread apart on the command platform on the top deck of the warship, one hand on his hip and the other on his sword. His bright red cloak billowed high in the river wind. Behind him, two rows of strong soldiers lined up in a V-shape along the ship's side, each one as fierce as a wolf or tiger.

I, Director Wang, am back!
He looked up to the sky and roared!
The warships approached the dock from the middle of the river.

The sound of rustling leaves came from behind. Niu Er turned around and saw squads of soldiers coming out from both sides of the city wall and heading towards the dock. With a loud bang, a large rock was suddenly thrown out from behind the city wall. It flew a long distance in the air and landed on the river with a loud bang, creating a huge wave.

He quickly grabbed the carrying pole and ran towards the base of the city wall, where there were many others like Niu Er who hadn't managed to get back into the city before the gates closed.

Everyone huddled there, shivering.

Wang Dao seemed oblivious to the threat posed to the warships by the stone projectiles thrown from behind the city walls.

The river defenses of Danyang were extremely familiar to him.

Because that was the plan he and his father had set up together, and he knew exactly how far those giant catapults could go.

So his warship sailed forward without hesitation, stopping just outside the range of the catapults in the city. Then, at a command from the ship, several stone projectiles flew up and crashed into the dock.

The poor pleasure boats were smashed open in an instant, with large holes punched in them. River water gushed out from below, and the boats slowly sank.

Rockets were fired one after another, setting other ships on the dock ablaze.

More and more armored soldiers gathered above the dock. Niu Er looked up and saw even more soldiers on the city wall, but it seemed that no one had any ideas.

Because the enemy is on the great river.

On the city wall, Na Wei, Xiong Yi, Zhou Zheng and others arrived.

Things couldn't be worse.

Wang Dao's presence here signifies that Chen Yan has failed again, and the last naval force of the Great Chu is likely no more.

The other party is here to demonstrate.

Everyone's face was ashen, like the bottom of a pot.

His face was swollen from being punched, but he had no way to fight back.

Are you hoping they'll get out of there?
Director Wang isn't stupid.

(End of this chapter)