Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 841 Matchup
A small boat slowly approached the large ship. The people on the boat climbed up a short ladder and then saw the situation on the large ship.

There were obvious signs of burning on the ship. Some people were repairing the damaged planks, while others wrapped up the bodies and threw them into the sea. The man stood there stunned; everything before him looked exceptionally gruesome.

A cold wind blew, and he couldn't help but shiver.

"Manager Wu is waiting for you."

The person leading the way had a hostile look on their face, practically screaming "blame me!"

The man responded and quickly walked into the cabin.

Inside the cabin, the doctor was running around busily, and screams and groans of pain filled the air. The man gasped again.

"move!"

Hearing the harsh words, the man swallowed hard, and without further delay, strode into the fifth manager's cabin.

"Fifth Manager." The man bowed respectfully.

The fifth shopkeeper, who was sitting down, was having the doctor apply medicine to his arm. His arm had been injured by a firearm that had exploded; a small piece of porcelain had caused a wound so deep that the bone was visible.

Fortunately, it was just a shard of porcelain; many more people were injured by the iron pieces inside the pottery jars, and some even died on the spot.

Thinking of this, the fifth shopkeeper's anger intensified, and his words became even more unfriendly.

"Lord Sun, please don't do this. You are now a fifth-rank official of the imperial court. How can you bow to someone like me? We should be grateful to Lord Sun for not arresting us and throwing us into prison."

Upon hearing this, Sun Yuan's expression immediately changed. He hurriedly said, "It was the master who arranged for me to join the Maritime Trade Office. I have been wholeheartedly serving the master. How could Manager Wu say such a thing?"

The fifth shopkeeper said coldly, "Since Lord Sun is serving in Quanzhou, is he unaware that the imperial court has sent naval forces to deal with us?"

Sun Yuan also came for this reason. He took a deep breath and said, "I discovered something amiss, so I immediately took a boat to find Manager Qi, hoping that Manager Qi would investigate the situation and report it to the master."

When the Fifth Manager heard Sun Yuan mention the Seventh Manager, his gaze darkened even more.

Sun Yuan's heart sank upon seeing this: "What...what happened? Seventh Manager, he..."

“He’s dead,” said the fifth manager. “He was tied to the mast and burned alive.”

Sun Yuan's legs went weak, and he involuntarily took a step back. No wonder the people on the ship looked at him like that; it turned out that things were so serious.

Sun Yuan hurriedly explained, "I've been keeping a close eye on the situation in Quanzhou these days, but... the imperial court didn't send troops from Quanzhou... if I didn't have many informants, I might not have discovered the clues by now."

"The imperial court has been mobilizing troops to deal with the Duke of Wei, and it is common for temporary military camps to be set up. My informants heard from villagers in coastal villages that one night many people took small boats out to sea, which aroused my suspicion and led me to investigate."

"Then they discovered the small boats that had been hidden."

“They transported soldiers in small boats, and they all did it at night…” Sun Yuan said with great regret, “It’s not that I let my guard down, nor that I deliberately didn’t report it; it’s just that they hid it too well.”

After listening to this, the fifth shopkeeper paused for a long time before saying, "Are you sure now that it's the imperial navy?"

Sun Yuan nodded: "We found some clues. I sent people to investigate in the coastal military bases and verify everything..."

"It was eventually discovered that there were problems with two naval bases."

"These two military camps, despite the constant guards and movement within them, reveal something upon closer inspection: they're not home to the navy, but rather..."

The fifth manager replied, "They are the merchants' hired laborers."

Sun Yuan was surprised that the Fifth Manager had guessed the truth so quickly. He nodded and said, "That's right. There are two caravans among them. They usually walk around in armor to avoid arousing suspicion."

As he spoke, he asked, "How could Manager Wu know these things?"

The fifth manager said, "Because those naval soldiers disguised themselves as merchants and boarded merchant ships to ambush the seventh manager, severely damaging us. Since they used merchant ships, the people pretending to be them moving around in the camp must be people arranged by the merchants."

"Which merchant is it?" Sun Yuan asked. "Does Manager Wu know?"

The fifth manager raised his eyes and looked at Sun Yuan: "How many merchants would dare to do such a thing?"

Sun Yuan had a conclusion in his mind: "That woman has always been at odds with the master; if I had known this would happen..."

“There’s no point in saying all this,” said the fifth shopkeeper. “I’m afraid the court has become suspicious of you, otherwise they wouldn’t be hiding this.” Sun Yuan nodded. Wasn’t that the very reason he came all this way? He had seen the Fujian officials being arrested and was afraid he would be next.

"The military commander leading the navy this time should have been arranged by Wang Yan in advance. After thinking about it, I think there are two most likely candidates: Zhao Shilian and Zhang Heng. Both of them are skilled in naval warfare and have supported the new policies."

“Especially that Zhang Heng. We finally managed to drive him away back then, so we already have a grudge against him… This person is extremely familiar with the seas around Daliang and has even modified Daliang’s nautical charts.”

The fifth manager frowned: "You mean, if it's that Zhang Heng, it's very likely he's already found his employer?"

It's not just a matter of chance, but if the imperial court were to search for the master's whereabouts at sea, Zhang Heng would be the most suitable candidate.

"We can't wait any longer," said the fifth manager. "We need to go back immediately."

He didn't dare to go straight back to his master's side, fearing that he would be watched by the imperial ships. But now that he thought about it carefully, he realized that the Seventh Manager had sent messages to his master several times, which might have exposed his master's whereabouts long ago.

The reason the imperial navy dealt with them first was to prevent them from returning to aid their master.

……

"My boss."

The master had just fallen asleep when he heard a noise beside his bed. He opened his eyes and looked over. His bodyguard, holding a lamp, said anxiously, "Master, a fleet has been spotted on the east side of the island."

The host immediately got up.

He's been constantly changing his lodgings lately. He's only been on this island for two days, so how could he be being watched? Unless someone has been tracking them all along.

"Which fleet is it? Have you sent frogmen to investigate?"

Frogmen risk their lives to get close to ships and check on the situation on board.

“They’ve gone,” the guard said. “They’ll get back soon, but… before that, let’s leave the island first.”

The landlord nodded.

A moment later, everyone had boarded the large ship and began to head in the opposite direction from the other fleet.

It was still dark, and they couldn't see their surroundings. They could only keep their heads down and keep moving forward until light gradually appeared on the horizon, and the fleet made some new discoveries.

“That fleet has followed us too,” the guard said. “They probably have spies among us, otherwise they wouldn’t have found out so quickly.”

Only this reason can explain the current situation.

The landlord didn't speak, but calmly considered the cause and effect. Since he was able to find out where he was, he must have guessed his identity.

The only one who can do this is...

“It’s the imperial navy,” the owner said. “They’ve ordered all ships to be on guard; war might break out any minute now.”

The guards responded.

The master took a deep breath. Something might have happened to the King of Qin. The fact that the court could spare resources to deal with him showed they were confident of capturing the King. Could all of this be part of the Emperor's scheme?

Use the King of Qin to lure them out? Take advantage of the fact that he has weakened his forces by sending out dozens of ships, and send a navy to besiege him.

As the landlord was thinking this, a signal arrow shot into the air. The arrow was launched from his ship and was obviously meant to guide the ships that were pursuing them.

The guards' expressions changed drastically, and they were about to arrest the person.

“They must be assassins,” the landlord said. “Asking them is useless; we’d better find a way to escape.”

The imperial navy is coming in a fierce manner and will not leave easily until it achieves a result.

After arranging everything, Manager Jiu strode over and said, "I've had the catapults ready. If we can't escape, we're not afraid of them; we'll fight them."

The landlord remained silent for a long while before finally asking, "Do you know if there are any reinforcements for them nearby? And who is leading them?"

(End of this chapter)