Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 217 Bloodstained Zhang River

"Hurry, get in the water! The boat is coming."

Li Dehui spoke Japanese and commanded the people who came to support the assassination.

Many Japanese pirates, with tools hanging on their bodies, jumped into the water from the small boat and lay in ambush beside the boat.

I don’t know if it was God’s help or what, but there was not a single extra boat on the Zhang River, which made it easier for Li Dehui and others to take action.

"This is a God-given opportunity. Today is the day for us to repay our master. Marquis Anjing is the most powerful general in the capital. If we cut off his head, our dynasty's reputation will spread throughout the Central Plains. It will only become more convenient for us to do things on the shore in the future."

"Women, money, nothing is lacking!"

The Japanese pirates in the water all waved the tools in their hands in response.

A cargo ship flying the government flag slowly passed by and headed this way.

Li Dehui also took tools, jumped into the water, and waited for the boat to approach.

It was a headwind day and the cargo ship was not moving fast, so the Japanese pirates easily sneaked under the water and approached the bottom of the cabin.

This was not the first time they had done this. When hijacking a ship on the sea, this method was inevitable.

Everyone was well-trained and held their breath, using small hammers to hit the weak spots on the boat. More than a hundred people actually hit the hull so hard that it shook twice.

But after the shaking, the hull remained intact.

Some wooden boards fell off, but what was exposed was a layer of iron sheet.

This made the Japanese dumbfounded on the spot. They made gestures in the water and asked Li Dehui what to do.

Things have come to this point, there is no reason to give up easily.

"Whose boat on the river needs to be covered with iron sheets? How much silver would it cost to build it? Is Cangzhou some wealthy place? Yue Ling must have been unlucky!"

With this in mind, Li Dehui issued another order, looking for the connection points of the iron sheets and chiseling a hole in some unprotected bottom of the cabin.

Iron is hard to come by, and it is impossible to cover the entire ship with iron sheets. But if there is only one hole in the entire ship, it will slowly sink.

Time waits for no one. We have to dig a hole quickly so that the people above will not have enough time to react.

It is more convenient for them to act, and when fighting in the water, they claim to have met no rivals.

……

After the boat shook, Yue Ling remained as still as a mountain, standing steadily in the same place.

Looking at Zhao Yuanxing, Yue Ling felt that he was somewhat pathetic.

"Isn't this what you're waiting for? Could it be that there are really people being trafficked in Qijiatun?"

Zhao Yuanxing's heart was greatly shocked, but his expression remained unchanged as he looked at Yue Ling.

"I don't know what you are talking about. There is indeed human trafficking in Qijiatun. I have seen it with my own eyes. It would be of no benefit to me to deceive you, Lord."

Yue Ling smiled calmly, "It's true that you are of no benefit. You are so ignorant. You are pretending with them. Do you think you can survive?"

"Even if the plan succeeds and I am killed, if they can't trace it back to them, then they can't trace it back to you? As a discarded pawn, do you still think you are the one holding the chess pieces?"

"I don't think you are doing this for the good of Yunxing Escort Agency. Or maybe Yunxing Escort Agency is just a bargaining chip for you to curry favor with the rich and powerful. Then you are indeed worse than Zhao Hao."

Zhao Hao was confused as he listened. He came up behind Yue Ling and looked at Zhao Yuanxing warily.

"My Lord, what are you talking to him about? Which powerful family is he trying to curry favor with?"

At that moment, a soldier walked onto the deck and reported, "Your Excellency, the thieves have already started to slash the boat. We just encountered a strong current, and with their combined efforts, the boat is shaking."

"Now that the thieves have been exposed, I wonder when the Marquis will give the order to attack?"

Yue Ling waved his hand and said, "Send a signal to the people on the shore first and ask them to gather here. Be careful if there are any people on the shore to meet us. I will make sure that these pirates will never come back!"

After hearing Yue Ling's instructions, Zhao Yuanxing was even more stunned, and his hand slowly touched the hilt of the knife.

It turned out that Yue Ling had already known about the Huang family's and others' plans.

He even used himself as bait, probably to lure them out and reveal their true colors so that he could catch them all in one fell swoop.

Zhao Yuanxing gritted his teeth and said, "I knew what good plan Huang Wenhua could have in mind. The Marquis kept him alive, so he must have taken a fancy to the talent behind him."

"I actually believed him when he said someone was coming to help him out of this dark world!"

Seeing that Zhao Yuanxing was no longer pretending, Yue Ling asked with a smile: "Boss Zhao, I wonder who is behind the Huang family? Is it the salt merchants in Lianghuai, or some noble families in the southeast, the Bai family, the Wu family, the Qian family, or the Zhen family who has old ties with the royal family?"

Zhao Yuanxing drew his sword and said, "I have nothing to say about this. My Lord, I am sorry for the offense, but I also want to live."

Behind Zhao Yuanxing, everyone who followed him drew their swords, faced Yue Ling, and surrounded him.

Zhao Hao immediately drew his sword and stepped forward to protect Yue Ling.

"Are you really that brave? You dare to draw your sword against the imperial envoy. Do you want to be killed along with your entire clan?"

Soldiers and officers began to pour onto the deck in an endless stream. Zhao Yuanxing immediately led the crowd and attacked Yue Ling and Zhao Hao with swords.

Yue Ling also drew his sword and held it horizontally to block.

"Interesting. Anyway, they will need a while to drill the boat, so I have time to learn your martial arts." Zhao Yuanxing chopped hard on Yue Ling's sword, but it did not move at all. The force that rebounded back to his palm even caused him severe pain in the palm of his hand, and he almost let go of the handle of the sword.

Zhao Yuanxing, who had been able to remain calm, suddenly changed his expression, "Why is there such a big difference?"

He could feel that his martial arts skills were inferior to Yue Ling's when he first met him.

Ordinary people cannot see the bloody aura on Yue Ling clearly, but people who practice martial arts can feel it.

This is not something that can happen when bodyguards like them fight against bandits and pirates.

Fighting with weapons and fighting on the battlefield, facing them again was like playing with children.

Zhao Hao watched with his eyes wide open. After all, he had really sparred with Yue Ling before. Even though they were both wooden swords, the difference didn't feel that big.

Yue Ling frowned and reminded: "Don't be distracted. If you are hacked to death, who will work for me?"

Zhao Hao quickly pulled himself together and dealt with his enemies. Although they were all members of the Yunxing Escort Agency, they obeyed Zhao Yuanxing's orders and did not hold back against the young master.

But it was much easier on his side, as soldiers came to help soon.

On Yue Ling's side, swords and knives were swinging wildly, and it was difficult for anyone to intervene for a while.

Yue Ling dealt with Zhao Yuanxing's attacks several times and had a rough idea of ​​his strength.

He then took a step forward and swung his sword at full speed, slashing it across the face, forcing Zhao Yuanxing to step back and defend himself.

Yue Ling pointed the sword but did not retract it. Instead, he twisted it and slashed straight at Zhao Yuanxing's hand holding the knife.

The ability to control and release this force freely was already at the master level of a founder of a school. Zhao Yuanxing felt inferior to him and felt helpless in his heart.

This is a teenager under twenty years old?

You said there are people who are born knowing everything, who understand the truth of the mundane world when they are born, or who have some mystical knowledge, after all, there are many child prodigies. But you are so young, and your martial arts skills are so high, could you have been practicing martial arts since you were in your mother's womb?
Zhao Yuanxing's mind was in a state of confusion, but he couldn't avoid Yue Ling's attack, so he had to drop the knife in his hand and then raised his foot, trying to hook the knife back into his hand.

Yue Ling didn't give him the chance. He raised his leg and kicked out, stepping back on Zhao Yuanxing's knee.

Zhao Yuanxing was restricted everywhere and felt that he would be captured alive within three moves, so he quickly took out his best skill. With a flick of his sleeves, a poisonous snake jumped out, performed the "Snake Spits Out Its Tongue" move, and ran towards Yue Ling's shoulder.

Yue Ling had long suspected his identity, so how could he not be on guard against such a hidden attack? He immediately swung his sword and cut the snake into two pieces.

After just a moment, Zhao Yuanxing stood up and wanted to jump into the water.

But because Yue Ling had just stepped on his knee, his movements were not as fast as usual.

But Yue Ling's movements were much faster than his. He snatched the long sword from the soldier beside the railing, slashed it in the air, and cut Zhao Yuanxing in half as he stepped on the railing and was about to jump into the water, leaving him with his little snake.

The blood dyed the river red, but it was just the beginning.

……

After the unremitting efforts of the Japanese pirates, they finally found the holes in the ship. Some parts that were not covered with iron sheets were the key for them to drill through the bottom of the ship.

It only takes a small hole to continue to expand, eventually causing the entire ship to fall into pieces and capsize in the river.

After another round of hammering and banging, with a clear division of labor among the hundred people, they finally chiseled a small hole in the bottom of the boat.

Li Dehui was overjoyed and immediately waved to the people around him, asking them to send a few more people up to expand the small hole.

But after knocking for a while, the crowd expanded the hole to the size of a human head, but they saw that the water no longer flowed in.

It turned out that this was a double-bottomed merchant ship.

The outermost layer of the ship's bottom is designed to prevent it from running aground. Even if it is pierced, there is still a real layer of bottom inside.

"Damn, this is on the river. Is Yue Ling crazy to bring such a boat?"

Li Dehui was so angry that he could hardly breathe.

Then I saw the people around me gesticulating and asking, "What should I do?"

Li Dehui responded, "Don't stab the boat, just send people to attack it by force, or burn the boat, which is the same."

Many Japanese pirates jumped out of the water, sent out a few signals, and more than a dozen small boats sailed out from the reeds on the river bank and quickly approached the merchant ship.

Yue Ling held the railing, in a good mood.

He was doing disaster relief work in the local area and protecting the people, but he could also achieve such military merit. It really showed that God was kind to him.

The shadowy figures of the boats on the water and the heads emerging from the waves were so numerous that I wonder if they could offset the great achievement.

"Send a message to the people on the shore, surround this gang of pirates, and don't let any of them escape. Set up checkpoints downstream to block the river surface. Even if there are fish passing by, they must be scooped up for me!"

"As ordered!"

Yue Ling waved his hand again and ordered, "Raise your shields, archers, move forward, shoot arrows!"

The elite troops of the Beijing camp who had already rushed to the deck were waiting for this moment. Under Yue Ling's command, they quickly deployed their troops and fired thousands of arrows at the small boats approaching from all sides.

From a high vantage point, the power of the bows and arrows was even greater. The small boats were unable to organize an effective counterattack and had to abandon their boats and jump into the river to avoid the attack.

(End of this chapter)