The Black Sails of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 100 Fire, Trees and Silver Flowers
"The Girls' School," also known as "Chunxiang's Mischief at School," tells the story of a maid named Chunxiang who teases an old, pedantic scholar in the school.

The Garden Stroll and the Startled Dream are the two most beautiful and joyful scenes in The Peony Pavilion, but they also foreshadow many of its decline.

All that could be heard was the singing on stage.

"The vibrant colors of spring have faded, leaving only broken wells and crumbling walls."

"Flying at dawn and rolling at dusk, clouds and rosy hues adorn the green pavilion; rain threads and wind fragments, misty waves and painted boats—the people of Jinping take this fleeting time too lightly!"

In her dream, Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei consummated their love before the peony railing.

After the ultimate pleasure, a mother's call from the stage shattered the beautiful dream.

"My child, my child, why are you dozing off here?"

A sudden turn of events, the dream shattered, and everything vanished.

Lin Jiren broke out in a cold sweat for no apparent reason.

He looked around and, not seeing his eldest son, hurriedly asked those around him, "Where is the eldest son?"

The servant replied, "The eldest young master has left his seat."

"Bring him here!" Lin Jiren felt a tightness in his chest and had a bad feeling. He whispered a reprimand to the servant.

Just then, the eldest son's voice came from beside him. "Father, are you looking for me?"

Lin Jiren turned around and saw his eldest son standing beside him.

Lin Jiren looked him over and asked, "What have you been doing?"

"My son just went to change his clothes."

Changing clothes is a polite way of saying "to relieve oneself," so Lin Jiren didn't press the matter further and gestured for his son to sit down.

By the light of the stage lights, Lin Jiren saw a string of beads of sweat hanging on his eldest son's forehead.

It's already late autumn, would you sweat so much while changing clothes?

With guests around, Lin Jiren had no choice but to suppress his doubts.

After the three plays were performed, it was time for the evening banquet.

The dinner was a simple, informal affair; though it lacked elaborate dishes, it was elegant and refined.

The banquet lasted until 7 PM, after which the guests gradually left, and the servants distributed return gifts.

Lin Jiren and his son went to the main gate to see them off, and at the same time set off firecrackers. Two strings of 1,800 firecrackers were set off outside the Lin residence, creating a scene of dazzling fireworks that could be heard for miles.

……

At the beginning of the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the guards of the Lin residence changed shifts, and there was no one behind the back wall for the time being.

Lin Qian, who had been lying in ambush outside the water gate of the Lin residence, whispered the order: "Go!"

Subsequently, Lin Qian led more than ten people to approach the water gate.

At this moment, the guards inside the watchtower were looking back at the firecrackers at the front gate.

The crew placed a huge wooden plank across the waterway, then took out black cotton cloth that they had prepared beforehand, wet it with water, and layered it on top to form a sealed tent.

The crew had practiced this set of movements countless times, and now their movements were as smooth as flowing water, covering the water gate in no time.

Lin Qian and Bai Langzai stepped onto the wooden planks and went to the water gate.

The water gate was about half a person's height and three feet wide, and it was made into a round arch. Inside the gate, more than ten iron pillars, each about the thickness of a finger, were arranged in an interlaced pattern to form an iron fence.

Bai Langzai took out the custom-made pottery from his satchel, arranged them in pairs, and placed them on the fence.

The two holes in the pottery allow the iron pillar to pass through, and the clips between the two pieces of pottery can then be joined together and fixed to the iron pillar.

Cylindrical pottery was arranged around the archway. Lin Qian carefully adjusted the orientation of each piece of pottery, so that the side holes faced her.

Afterwards, Lin Qian took the carbothermic agent gourd from her waist, inserted the custom-made crooked funnel into the side hole, and poured the carbothermic agent into it.

After emptying one gourd, Lin Qian took another gourd from her waist and continued pouring until each pottery vessel was half full.

During this time, the other boatmen kept an eye on the activity on the courtyard wall.

Fortunately, the firecrackers in front of the main gate were extremely loud, which masked the sounds of their movements and also drew the attention of the guards.

To show off their wealth, the Lin family had a huge stockpile of firecrackers. Before the 1,800 strings of "Full Ground Red" firecrackers had even completely burned out, two more strings of "Full Ground Red" firecrackers were lit and hung up.

And occasionally, towering flowers bloom in the sky, dazzling and mesmerizing.

Lin Qian's original plan was to make her move on a rainy night and use the sound of the heavy rain to cover up the commotion, but she didn't expect it to happen to coincide with the Lin family's birthday celebration, so she changed her plan at the last minute.

In the backyard kennel, the dogs seemed to sense something and began to bark.

A crew member brought some meat buns and threw them over the wall toward the kennel. After about ten buns were thrown, the barking gradually subsided.

Before the water gate, Lin Qian, with steady hands, finished loading the carbothermal agent and then took a smaller gourd from her waist. Inside was black powder, the ignition source for the carbothermal reaction.

The control of the ignition powder is extremely important. If too little is used, it will not ignite; if too much is used, the black powder will explode instantly and blow the earthenware pot apart.

Even though Lin Qian had experimented dozens of times and determined the optimal dosage ratio, she couldn't help but feel nervous at this moment.

"Snapped!"

In the darkness, a giant, fiery explosion erupted, leaving a dazzling trail of stars, and in an instant, countless meteors streaked across the sky.

After a moment of extreme brilliance, the sky returned to silence.

The sound of firecrackers had stopped outside the mansion gate.

The guards on their shift, still somewhat dazed, came to their senses and walked towards the courtyard wall.

"Helmsman".

A crew member whispered a reminder.

Lin Qian remained unmoved, continuing to pack the medicine.

"Captain, it's time to go," a crew member said urgently.

Lin Qian did not respond. At this moment, the gunpowder was loaded, and she took out the fuses from her bosom and inserted them one by one into the holes on the side of the pottery jar.

Bai Langzai, who was standing to the side, took out a thin rope and tied it tightly to the ceramic pot with the fuse attached.

"Clap clap clap..."

Just then, another burst of firecrackers came from the main gate, presumably because the previous two strings of firecrackers had burned out and new ones had just been lit.

The guards looked toward the main gate with great interest. Although they could not see the scene of red dust flying everywhere, they could still see the glittering light in the distance.

Finally, the last wire was plugged in. Lin Qian wiped the sweat from her forehead and reached out to Bai Langzai.

The two were already in perfect sync. Bai Langzai knew that Lin Qian wanted a fire rope, but he didn't hand it to her. Instead, he whispered, "I'll do it."

Lin Qian glanced at him. Bai Langzai's expression was firm, and the fire rope tied to his right hand emitted a dark red glow.

“This is dangerous, let me handle it,” Bai Langzai said again.

Lin Qian nodded and said, "Okay, you know what to do?"

Bai Langzai nodded slowly. During the few days in Huangyan, Lin Qian tested the fire resistance of the pottery jar several times, and Bai Langzai watched from the side. He had already figured out how to use the pottery jar.

Lin Qian stopped talking nonsense, stepped off the wooden plank, and retreated to the shadows.

Bai Langzai blew a few puffs on the tinder, and the tinder became even redder.

Bai Langzai brought the fuses close to the fuses one by one.

"hiss--"

"hiss--"

The sound of the fuse being detonated was drowned out by the sound of firecrackers.

After lighting all the fuses, Bai Langzai immediately moved the wooden plank under his feet, exited the tent, and lowered the black cloth at the tent's exit.

The moment he emerged, a burst of intense white flame erupted from the side of the pottery jar, shooting out like a spray gun, accompanied by a series of sounds.

The wet black cloth covered most of the sound and light, but some still leaked out.

Fortunately, the red fireworks were still burning in front of the gate, and the air was already filled with the smell of smoke, so the noise was also covered by the red fireworks.

Lin Qian lay on the ground, unconsciously clenching a handful of mud in her palm.

The most dangerous aspect of this method is that the pottery jar could crack from the heat. Although several experiments were conducted beforehand to ensure the jar's strength, it was still a cause for concern.

Beside him were five or six bamboo ladders, which he would use to climb the wall if the carbide failed.

Of course, forcibly scaling the wall would be noticed by the guards in the watchtowers on both sides. Lin Qian's men had practiced many times and were confident that they could take over the Lin residence even if they launched a full-scale attack.

A moment later, through the soaked black cotton cloth, the white light inside the tent could be seen dimming, and orange-red flames emerged from the mouth of the pottery jar, a sign that the black powder had burned out and the red lead had begun its reduction reaction.

The beauty of this method lies in this: the reduction reaction of red lead is extremely quiet, and the carbon monoxide produced is colorless and odorless, so it is not easily detected.

The wind is light tonight, and the guards on the back wall, after being exposed to carbon monoxide, will be either completely disoriented or dazed, and will not notice anything unusual.

Time ticked by, second by second.

A few minutes later, the orange-red flames weakened again, and the flames on the side of the flames shortened.

After a while, the firelight had completely dimmed.

(End of this chapter)