The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 72 Lagoon
The officers' mess on the USS St. Anna.

Lin Qian frowned as she listened to Bai Qing recount her experiences that night, her expression serious: "Thanks to you this time, but you are not allowed to act on your own in the future."

Bai Qing solemnly replied.

Lei Sanxiang: "Bai family sister, did you see Zhou Xiucai and the others in Chuancheng?"

Bai Qing shook his head: "I didn't dare to go close, afraid of alerting them, but I saw the body of Chen's second brother, so I figured Zhou Zhiku and the other surviving crew members should be there too, cough cough..."

After Bai Qing finished speaking, she coughed. She had been wearing wet clothes all night and had caught a chill, and she had also been forcing herself to stay awake. At this moment, her body was starting to feel the strain.

Lin Qian instructed her subordinates, "Go and invite Doctor Su here."

The men took orders and retreated.

Lin Qian added, "Tell Uncle Chen to make a bowl of brown sugar water and add plenty of ginger slices."

"Okay." The crew member outside the door responded and went to relay the message.

Not long after, a crew member brought up a bowl of steaming hot brown sugar ginger water and handed it to Bai Qing.

Bai Qing took it, blew on it to cool it down, took a sip, and a light sweat broke out on his forehead.

Chen Jiao murmured, "Years ago, I heard people talking about the South China Sea Ship City. At the time, I thought it was just a newly made-up story. I never expected it to be true."

"How does the story go?" Lin Qian pressed.

Chen Jiao smiled wryly and said, "Some say it is the Coral Palace of the Sea Dragon King, some say it is the Yama Palace of the Sea Yama King, and some say it is the Ghost Village built by Chen Youliang's former subordinates who fled to the sea two hundred years ago... These are all just folk rumors."

Bai Qing, holding a cup of brown sugar water, said, "The Tanka people also have similar stories, saying that the boat city is the place where souls return, but when I saw the corpse of the second brother of the Chen family, I understood. What do you mean by the place where souls return? The boat city is clearly full of evil people."

Lin Qian rubbed her temples, pondering these folk tales.

The people of the Ming Dynasty were generally superstitious, and these stories, passed down orally, have been embellished and exaggerated countless times over.

But it's not entirely without value.

Chen Jiao's mention of "the Coral Palace of the Sea Dragon King" caught Lin Qian's attention.

In Lin Qian's mind, the ship city should be built in a coral reef lagoon.

These coral reef lagoons are generally ring-shaped, with raised edges surrounding a section of the ocean, hence the name lagoon.

The surrounding coral reefs blocked the waves, forming a natural harbor that protected the shipyard from disintegration in the surging waves.

The reef Bai Qing passed by when he entered the ship city was a coral reef.

Coral reefs typically have varying elevations, and the shipping route that Baiqing emerged from happened to be at the lower part of the coral reef.

However, coral reefs have limited wave protection capabilities, and once a typhoon hits, the ship town is destined to be destroyed.

Therefore, the ship city is most likely not as twisted and tangled as Bai Qing described.

It should be a ship camp, with wooden planks laid between the ships to create an effect similar to the iron chains used to link the ships during the Battle of Red Cliffs.

It was a dark and windy night, and Bai Qing was also nervous, so it was inevitable that he would misjudge the situation.

When there are no typhoons, the boat city is built and people gather in the lagoon to have fun. When a typhoon comes, they break up and go back to the shore to take shelter from the wind.

It was precisely this ability to come and go as freely as the tides that allowed Li Kuiqi to remain a mystery to everyone throughout his years of roaming the coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian walked to the window and looked at the sky outside.

It's already August, and after a whole summer of scorching sun, the temperature on the southeastern seas has reached its peak.

The cold air mass is moving southward, and the convergence of warm and cold air masses over the ocean makes it very easy for a typhoon to form.

Moreover, because the subtropical high-pressure belt has retreated eastward and southward, typhoons are more likely to be affected by it and their paths are more likely to pass through the three provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang.

This is what is known as an autumn typhoon.

Once a typhoon hits, the ship city will inevitably be dismantled to take shelter from the wind, and no one will know where Zhou Xiucai and his companion will be transported.

Time is of the essence; we must hurry and save them!
While I was pondering this.

Zheng Zhilong suddenly asked, "Sister Bai, you just said there are women in the ship city?"

Bai Qing nodded: "Yes, and there are quite a few women. You can hear the moans of a horny cat from far away."

Zheng Zhilong thought for a moment and then asked, "Approximately how old were those women? What did they look like?"

Lei Sanxiang couldn't stand it anymore and complained, "Brother Zheng, what time is it? You're still thinking about women? If you're really feeling pent up, I'll take you after this is over."

Zheng Zhilong said, "Third Brother, you misunderstand. I asked about the women in Chuancheng not because of personal desires."

Then Zheng Zhilong cupped his hands to Bai Qing and said, "Sister Bai, these words are indeed a bit abrupt, but with such an important matter at hand, we can't worry about such details. Please tell me the truth." Bai Qing smiled and said, "Brother Yiguan is quite polite, but I was raised as a boy by my mother since I was a child. I don't have the same gender-related concerns as people on the shore. Brother Zheng, if you have any questions, just ask."

She paused, thought carefully for a moment, and then said, "It was dark at the time, so I couldn't see clearly, but from the shouts, they must have all been young women with good figures, and they were shouting very enthusiastically."

Lin Qian suddenly asked, "Are there any pleasure boats around the boat city?"

Zheng Zhilong glanced at Lin Qian and thought to himself, "The captain can guess what I'm thinking just from hearing a few of my questions?"

Bai Qing stared at the brown sugar water, silently reminiscing.

Zheng Zhilong then described the appearance of the pleasure boats: "The larger pleasure boats include multi-storied boats, cargo boats, and canton boats, while the smaller ones are covered boats. Usually, a madam stands at the bow of the boat, and a pair of red lanterns are lit at the entrance..."

Bai Qing waved to stop him: "I know what a flower boat looks like."

She thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head: "No."

Zheng Zhilong was somewhat surprised and hurriedly said, "Please think about it again, sister. Those young women in Chuancheng must have come from pleasure boats."

"No, not a single flower boat," Bai Qing said firmly.

Zheng Zhilong was about to ask another question when Lin Qian clapped her hands and said, "That's right, there shouldn't be a single one!"

Zheng Zhilong was a little confused and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? If there isn't a single pleasure boat, where did all those women come from?"

"They came from the shore!" Lin Qian said slowly.

Zheng Zhilong's eyes lit up: "That's right, how come I didn't think of that! That's it! They came from the shore, so we should find them from the shore, bring them here blindfolded, and then send them back. That's much safer than the pleasure boat!"

Chen Jiao seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.

Lei Sanxiang was completely confused, scratching his head and saying, "What are you guys talking about? Why are you talking about women? What do you mean by blindfolded? What's the deal?"

Zheng Zhilong said, "It's a prostitute..."

Just then, a woman's voice came from outside the door: "Are you... are you finished talking?"

Everyone recognized the voice as that of Dr. Su's daughter, Su Qingmei.

Zheng Zhilong abruptly shut his mouth, his face turning bright red.

Bai Qing couldn't help but chuckle upon seeing this.

Lin Qian said, "Miss Su? Please come in."

Su Qingmei, carrying a medicine box, entered with her head down and her face flushed, saying, "Master, my father has too many patients and can't leave. After hearing about Sister Bai's symptoms, he said it was just a cold. He also said that since Sister Bai and I are both women, it would be convenient for me to examine her, so he asked me to come and take a look."

Lin Qian smiled and said, "Thank you for your trouble."

Su Qingmei sat down at the table, took out a pulse pillow from the medicine box and placed it on the table, then asked Bai Qing to put her wrist on it so she could take her pulse.

Bai Qing placed her hand on it and smiled weakly, "Thank you for your help, Doctor Su."

Su Qingmei secretly made a face at her, then straightened her expression and began to take her pulse.

Everyone quieted down, and no one dared to mention the prostitutes on the pleasure boat in front of the young girl.

After a moment, Su Qingmei withdrew her hand, examined Bai Qing's tongue coating, asked about her symptoms, and after a moment's thought, said, "Sister Bai is suffering from wind-evil entering her body and insufficient internal energy, which leads to poor blood circulation. We should use a pungent and warm formula to relieve the exterior."

A look of confusion appeared on everyone's face.

Bai Langzai asked, "Dr. Su, is my sister's illness serious?"

Seeing everyone's expressions, Su Qingmei realized that they were not testing her medical skills, and quickly said, "It's not serious, it's just a common cold. Drinking some cinnamon twig soup to sweat it out will be fine."

Bai Langzai breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Qingmei wrote down a prescription for Guizhi Tang and handed it to Bai Langzai: "Get the medicine according to this prescription. Soak your feet before going to bed, and make sure you are well covered with the blanket at night. Also, until you recover, avoid raw, cold, greasy, and chilled foods. As for that boat congee... don't eat it."

Bai Langzai carefully put away the prescription and nodded in agreement.

After Su Qingmei finished her treatment and said goodbye to everyone, she prepared to disembark. Bai Langzai took out a silver ingot from his pocket and gave it to her as payment for the consultation.

The little girl pretended to decline a few times, but eventually accepted it with a smile.

After Su Qingmei left, Lei Sanxiang hurriedly urged, "That young lady is finally gone. Brother Zheng, continue the story about the prostitute from earlier."

Just as Zheng Zhilong was about to speak, Su Qingmei turned back, muttering, "Oh no, I forgot to put away the pulse pillow."

She had just reached the door when she heard Lei Sanxiang's words.

Su Qingmei blushed instantly.

(End of this chapter)