Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 478 The Crown Princess (Part 4)

Although she had expected it, Pearl still couldn't help but let out a short scream when those people reached out to her. She could smell the stench on those people from Nanyu Kingdom. But the next moment, a scream suddenly rang in her ears, followed by a series of scalding hot bloodstains that sprayed all over Pearl's head and face.

Through the thin layer of red, Pearl immediately saw the incredulous Nanyu man reaching out to her, looking down at his chest where a long black arrow was embedded! Blood was flowing continuously from that small wound.

The people of Nanyu Kingdom, who originally thought they had victory in their grasp, were now in a panic, especially when they looked up and saw the ship speeding towards them. They were terrified!

Many people immediately screamed and tried to turn the ship around. At that moment, who cared about the father and daughter who had been taken advantage of? Those who were slow to run were probably doomed!

Zheng Yu was also stunned by this sudden scene. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he turned around sharply and let out a sharp scream.

"This is... Da Jing's ship! It's our warship! Pearl, Pearl! You have sharp eyes, quickly look at the flag flying on it and see what it says!"

Pearl squinted and stared intently at the flag, quickly drawing a conclusion.

"Father! The top part has the character 'Chen'! Chen... that's Her Highness the Crown Princess! Her Highness the Crown Princess really came to save us!"

Zheng Yu immediately hugged his daughter, tears welling in his eyes, while frantically rowing the small boat to leave. After all, the enormous warship behind them was clearly heading straight for the pirate ships. Their boat was too small, and being sandwiched between the two would make them vulnerable to being caught in the crossfire.

On the bow of that towering warship, resembling a building on the sea, stood a figure with flowing robes. In her hand, she held a large bow, taller than a person. The arrow that had just hurtled towards them was shot by her.

"Your Highness!"

Chunyu Shuang, dressed in a vermilion official robe, strode forward. Unlike her mature and composed expression, a hint of excitement flashed in her eyes.

"Our spies have confirmed that those pirate ships do indeed belong to the Southern Feather Kingdom."

Jiu Que turned around, looking at his friend of many years, and revealed a slightly bloodthirsty smile. The Great Jing Kingdom has been at peace for so many years; perhaps many have forgotten that their Great Jing was founded on military might.

Nanyu, though a small country, has repeatedly violated maritime prohibitions and even abducted people from Dajing. Half a month ago, the imperial court received an urgent report that a small fishing village on the South China Sea coast had been plundered by pirates, and all of the village's hundreds of residents perished. The South China Sea navy immediately went to track them down, but the pirates' speed was beyond imagination, and in the end, they only managed to find a few long swords.

The news caused a stir in the court and among the people, even enraging the Jingtai Emperor, who had long been detached from worldly affairs. He immediately ordered troops to be mobilized to wipe out the pirates. However, at that moment, Jiu Que's heart stirred slightly.

[It might not be pirates. Perhaps it's some small neighboring country pretending to be pirates, plundering and burning our dynasty, and then shifting the blame onto those elusive pirates. Let me think... judging by the forging craftsmanship of this longsword, at this time, it seems only one country among the surrounding nations of the South China Sea could achieve this. Hiss... the entire Southern Feather Kingdom is a bunch of beasts in human skin. They are cruel and murderous, yet extremely shrewd, not daring to utter a sound when their neighbors are strong. But once they show signs of weakness, they swarm in like sharks smelling blood. Our military strength hasn't been weak these past few years, how dare they?] Emperor Jingtai's heart clenched, desperately wanting to know the answer. He had originally thought that Great Jing had become a superior nation, after all, countless small countries came to pay tribute every year. But unexpectedly, right under his nose, someone dared to plunder the people of Great Jing. It was simply unforgivable!

[These past few years, we've focused on developing the inland areas. The warships are actually finished, but haven't been launched yet. Those people probably think the Great Jing's naval power is weak and want a piece of the pie. It's possible, after all, the people have become much wealthier these days. We'll have to see for ourselves to know for sure. If the Southern Feather Kingdom is truly as despicable and vile as history records, slaughtering millions of people in the Central Plains and nearly bringing it to its knees…]

The only way to prevent future trouble is to kill them!

Emperor Jingtai slammed his hand on the armrest of his throne, the loud noise silencing the court officials who were engaged in a heated debate. What was going on? Why had His Majesty suddenly become so angry?

In truth, Emperor Jingtai felt a little guilty; he simply wanted to approve of his daughter's shrewdness. Over the years, he had been worried that Jiuque was too benevolent. After all, considering the efforts she had made to develop the country, it was worrying whether she would become a lenient ruler in the future.

Although Emperor Jingtai had long known that Jiuque was not that kind of person, he couldn't help but admire him after hearing his inner thoughts firsthand! Good! As the ruler of a nation, one must possess such decisive and resolute courage. Although he didn't know when the so-called Southern Feather Kingdom had committed such a calamity as the massacre of millions of people, he absolutely trusted Jiuque.

Therefore, he immediately appointed Jiu Que to personally lead the expedition and quell the war in the South China Sea.

Jiu Que glanced at the small fishing boats swaying on the sea ahead, pointed in that direction, and immediately a valiant squad of soldiers sped off in those small boats.

Upon seeing the group of resolute and serious-looking soldiers, Zheng Yu and his daughter were not afraid at all; instead, they waved excitedly at them. These were the army of their Great Jing Dynasty, personally trained by Her Highness the Crown Princess—how could they possibly harm ordinary people?
After rescuing the father and daughter, the team quickly returned to port. Zheng Yu, who had finally breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly noticed something incomprehensible. The people on those small boats didn't seem to be paddling, so how were they moving so fast?

The warship Jiu Que was aboard was named Jiu Yuan. At that moment, the soldiers on board were adjusting the direction by the gun emplacement. When the observer suddenly waved his small red flag, everyone instinctively covered their ears, followed by several loud bangs. The pirate ship's crew, who were speeding forward, looked back, their eyes narrowing into tiny dots.

"What the hell is that...?"

"Bang bang bang!"

A series of explosions rang out around them. The pirate ship's originally sturdy hull was instantly shattered into pieces by the cannonballs. The flying fragments would randomly take the lives of some crew members, and some unlucky ones were even directly hit by the cannonballs, their bodies torn to pieces, and blood mist filled the air.

Screams immediately filled the air.

Five pirate ships, two large and three small, came to raid. The two larger ships, being obvious targets, had already been blown to pieces. The surviving crew members jumped into the sea like dumplings being dropped into boiling water. Some who managed to struggle out from the wreckage hadn't even had time to feel relieved before they saw triangular flags hurtling towards them from all sides, and immediately screamed in terror.

"shark--"