The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 109 Fire
Old Master Lin, Lin Jiren, Lin Zhishu, and Lin Zhili were dragged and pulled by the family soldiers to their side.

The commander's gaze was sharp as a knife, sweeping over the group of men.

The four people looked extremely miserable, and Old Master Lin was listless, as if he was about to breathe his last.

Lin Jiren's face was covered in tears, and his eyes were empty and lifeless.

Lin Zhishu trembled violently, and there were several scratches on her face.

Lin Zhili's cheek was swollen, and there were traces of blood on his face and clothes.

"Killed them all... Hehehehe... Killed them all..."

The naked, crazy woman in the distance was still making a racket.

The commander spoke coldly: "Do you know who the thief is?"

The four remained silent.

Zhao Ba roared, "Answer me!"

All four of them shuddered.

Lin Jiren shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Lin Zhishu's eyes widened, and he hurriedly said, "Xie Er! Xie Er knew, but it's a pity he's dead..."

Zhao Ba was about to reprimand him again, but the commander stopped him: "Xie Er? Explain in detail."

Lin Zhishu told him about Xie Er running a boat for the Lin family. Although it was a private boat, it wasn't a big deal in the southeastern coastal area where smuggling was rampant. Besides, the Lin family mansion was now destroyed, so there was no time to worry about anything else.

The commander frowned, thinking to himself that this steward of the Lin family's ship must have been hijacked in the southeastern seas and coerced into revealing information about the Lin family, which led to the arrival of the thieves.

He stared intently at the fire at the Lin residence, pondering to himself that the Lin family was a prominent family with connections to many coastal defense posts in the south, and ordinary pirates would not dare to touch the Lin family's ships.

Could it be... Li Kuiqi?
The commander thought to himself, "This is bad. Li Kuiqi is elusive. If he has committed a crime, once he escapes into the sea, it will be difficult to catch him again."

Lin Zhili spoke, then added indistinctly, "The thieves call the leader the boat owner."

The term "ship owner," like "helmsman" and "sailor," is simply a different way of referring to the captain of a ship and has no inherent pirate connotations.

However, Li Kuiqi, a notorious pirate, was generally referred to as the leader by his subordinates, which is different.

Of course, it's also possible that Li Kuiqi had his men change the names they used during the looting to avoid suspicion.

"What are the thief's physical characteristics and appearance?" the commander pressed.

Lin Jiren: "The leader is tall, of medium build, with sharp eyes and a fierce demeanor."

Lin Zhili added, "And there's one of his leaders, a burly man, tall and incredibly strong. Oh yes, and there seems to be a woman too."

The commander was even more puzzled upon hearing this. He knew Li Kuiqi's appearance and figured he was the tall leader. But if that was the case, who was the leader? It couldn't be Li Dan from Kyushu Island who had come to rob the Lin family mansion in person.
"What accent does the thief have?" the commander asked again.

"The tall one spoke with a Shandong accent. Most of the other thieves spoke with Fujian or Guangdong accents. The leader, although speaking Mandarin, had a faint Jiangzhe accent, so he seemed... he seemed to be a local..."

A local from Jiangsu or Zhejiang? Of medium height? A boat owner?
The commander's heart skipped a beat; he had already guessed who the thief was. He abruptly stood up and ordered his men, "Go! Back to the garrison!"

"drive!"

With a flick of the reins, he took the lead, followed closely by dozens of soldiers who mounted their horses and followed closely behind, their hooves thundering and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Hahahaha... Hehehehehe... I'll kill you all! I'll kill you all!"

The madwoman's laughter mingled with the angry crackling sounds.

The clerk and the inspector both left with their men. Seeing that the Lin family had already been defeated, they didn't even bother to make the polite gesture of saying goodbye.

The local militia approached Lin Jiren and said with difficulty, "Sir, the fire is too big to be saved."

Lin Jiren said dejectedly, "I know, let's all go, let's all go."

The squad leader responded and dismissed the local militia. The raging fire attracted many onlookers from the surrounding area.

Someone commented, "Look at that mansion, the wood is so good, the fire burns so brightly."

“Smell it, there’s a fragrance in the smoke, it smells like sandalwood to me.”

"The fire only burned inside the mansion and couldn't spread outside. Do you know why? It's because the walls and fire lanes were well-constructed!"

The speaker seemed to have served as a servant in a wealthy household and was very familiar with the layout of such a place. He explained the function of the gable walls and fire lanes to the surrounding people, which drew repeated praises from them.

"The Lin family truly lives up to their reputation as a kind and benevolent family. When they were building the mansion, they even considered things like how a fire in the mansion would not harm the surrounding people. That's rare."

"Hahaha... Old sir, you don't understand. The gable walls and fire lanes were originally for the protection of the people, so that if the people caught fire, it would not affect the Lin family."

Amidst the crowd's gossip and comments, a naked woman rushed forward, her face contorted in a ferocious grin, appearing as if she had gone mad.

"Hehehehe... I'll kill you all, kill you! I'll kill you all!"

The crowd was frightened by the madwoman's terrifying face and her incantations, and they all scattered in fear.

"Father, what should we do about Aunt Li?" Lin Zhili helped his father up and looked at the madwoman in the distance.

Lin Jiren glared at her fiercely and said hatefully, "Arrest her first, and once things settle down, find a secluded place and drown her in a pig cage!"

Lin Zhili agreed, a fleeting look of vengeful pleasure flashing in his eyes.

Boom!

On a clear, sunny day, a muffled clap of thunder suddenly resounded.

The Lin father and son were startled. Lin Jiren fell to the ground, looked up at the sky, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Lin Zhili quickly helped his father up.

Boom!

Another clap of thunder, and the once clear sky suddenly began to rain.

The rain came suddenly, turning into a downpour in an instant, and the sky was quickly covered by dark clouds.

The people who had been watching the fire rushed home to avoid the rain.

The fire at the Lin residence was gradually extinguished by the rain.

Lin Zhili gave a few instructions to his servants, and four strong servants quickly walked towards Aunt Li.

"Hahaha... I killed them all... What are you doing? I killed you! I killed them all... Waaaaah..."

The servants imitated the thieves, grabbing a handful of mud from the ground and stuffing it into Aunt Li's mouth, then using the rope left behind by the thieves to tie her mouth shut.

Aunt Li could no longer make a sound. Her hands were tied behind her back by the servants. She was bent over in excruciating pain, tears streaming down her face, as she struggled incessantly.

Lin Jiren helped Old Master Lin up and led the clansmen back to the mansion.

The mansion is now a ruin, with the former pavilions and towers reduced to ashes.

The group walked towards the backyard. Fortunately, most of the houses in the backyard were intact, so the owners of each house had a place to stay.

It must have been the fire lanes and alleys in the mansion that kept the fire at bay; this is the foundation of a noble family!
Upon entering the inner palace, the Lin family members, who had previously been as fearful as stray dogs, regained their confidence.

Lin Zhili arranged for servants to help the masters of each household rest and change clothes, and also ordered people to clean up the mess outside the main gate.

"Second Young Master, what should we do about Consort Li?" a servant asked.

Lin Zhili's face showed resentment: "Find a place to lock him up first, and deal with him another day."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)