Fire Captain

After Bai Ziyang returned to the boat, he saw Yun Jin walking towards him with an envelope.

Bai Ziyang asked, "What's the matter?"

Yun Jin said, "Sir, there was a letter from the capital saying that the government knows you are away and asked you to go to Pingquan. There have been bandits causing trouble there recently. If they are not eliminated... After all, it is not far from Youyang, and it may be affected..."

Bai Ziyang said: "The waterway is not safe right now, I will give her a ride!"

Yun Jin said in embarrassment: "But this..." and looked at the letter in his hand.

Bai Ziyang waved his hand casually and said, "Well, call Shang Cheng, and the two of you go over first to investigate the situation and find out where the bandits are moving!"

Yun Jin and Shang Cheng said: "Yes!"

Minglan returned to the ship and came to the deck. She was a little dazed when she saw the boat that had been following them.

Seeing this, Xiao Tao couldn't help but ask, "The young prince said that he would not marry anyone but the girl, can you do it?"

Minglan said, "He said yes!" There seemed to be certainty in his words, but they were also as ethereal as smoke, blowing along with the wind on the river, leaving no trace...

Bai Ziyang was right. That night, Minglan hadn't fallen asleep yet when she heard a noise coming from afar. She leaned over the side of the boat and looked. She saw a panic on the boat in front of her. There were constant screams of women and the sound of servants falling into the water. In the firelight, she could see many people with knives running around, killing people without mercy.

Xiao Tao screamed in fear: "Girl..."

Seeing this, Minglan immediately blew out the candles around her and said to Xiaotao, "Tell everyone to put out the candles. Don't panic or move around. I'm going to find my grandmother!"

Old Madam Sheng had fallen asleep after taking the medicine given by Bai Ziyang due to seasickness. Now she was gradually waking up at the call of Nanny Fang. Nanny Fang quickly changed clothes for Old Madam Sheng and explained the current situation to her.

When Minglan came in, she saw that Old Madam Sheng looked calm and serious, and said, "Don't panic. The pirates are after money. We can just give them our money and property. If we give them the whole ship, they will not have time to chase us after seeing our money and property. Tell the sailors to lower the sampan. Ming girl, get on board quickly. Isn't the young prince's ship nearby? You will be safe on his ship. At worst, there are troops stationed here. You will be fine once you reach the shore... Hurry, hurry up!"

Minglan supported Old Madam Sheng and said, "If we want to go, let's go together. If Grandma doesn't go, Minglan won't go either!"

Old Madam Sheng pushed Minglan aside and said, "I am just an old lady in my twilight years. You are different. Go quickly! Go find the young prince. It will be too late for him to save me then!"

The sampan was too small and could only hold two people. The pirates were coming. If she left first, she might be able to come back in time to save her grandmother, but what if she was too late? She couldn't leave her grandmother who loved her and run away first. When Minglan thought of this, she suddenly turned around and ran out. She came to the deck at the stern and looked at Bai Ziyang's boat in the distance. Minglan summoned up the courage to shout: "Little Prince! Little Prince!... Zhao Ziyang!!" She didn't know if her voice could be heard by Bai Ziyang at such a distance.

At this time, on Bai Ziyang's boat, Su Rao found Bai Ziyang and said, "Sir, something seems to be wrong ahead!"

Because the first ship the pirates boarded was some distance away from Bai Ziyang and his crew's ship, the sound did not come over. It was a dark night with strong winds and dark clouds covering the moon, so most people could not see clearly what was happening that far away. It was Su Rao who had the highest skill, and he vaguely heard some noises in the dead of night, so he hurried to inform Bai Ziyang.

Bai Ziyang turned over and got off the bed. He was concentrating and heard some noisy noises. Then he heard Minglan calling him. Bai Ziyang immediately opened the door of the cabin and said to Su Rao, "Gather the troops!" He quickly came to the deck at the bow and saw Minglan standing alone at the stern. At this time, he saw Bai Ziyang waving his hands vigorously.

"Son!"

"Son!"

Shang Cheng and Yun Jin received the news and rushed over with Su Rao.

Bai Ziyang picked up a bundle of ropes on the boat, threw them towards Minglan's boat with both arms, tied them to the side of the boat with his own strength, and tied the other end of the rope to the side of his own boat. Then he turned around and said, "Su Rao, come with me. You two can take people to deal with these blind pirates!"

After saying that, he jumped high with all his strength, and the whole person seemed to be flying in the air. When he came to the middle of the two boats, he landed on the middle cable, lightly tapped his feet and jumped again. In one jump, he came in front of Minglan.

When Minglan saw Bai Ziyang, she threw herself into his arms. Bai Ziyang gently embraced Minglan, feeling the little person in his arms trembling slightly because of fear. Bai Ziyang gave a look to Su Rao who followed behind him, asking him to deal with the pirates who wanted to board the ship, and then gently comforted Minglan in her ear: "Okay, okay, don't be afraid... I'm here!"

Minglan was frightened when facing the bandits for the first time, and was moved and relieved to see Bai Ziyang, who seemed to have descended from the sky like a god. She threw herself into Bai Ziyang's arms on impulse, but after all, Minglan was no longer a person who let her emotions outweigh her reason. The etiquette that she had memorized since childhood quickly awakened her. She immediately pushed Bai Ziyang away, hurriedly took two steps back to keep a distance from him, but for a moment she felt shy and embarrassed and lowered her head.

Bai Ziyang was still in a half-embrace and didn't react. He then withdrew his hand awkwardly, touched his nose and said, "Don't worry, I'm here. Shang Cheng and his men have already led the troops to wipe out these thieves... By the way, I hope Mrs. Sheng wasn't frightened!"

"Grandma!" After hearing Bai Ziyang's words, Minglan immediately turned around and returned to the cabin.

After the gang of water bandits was wiped out, Old Lady Sheng invited Bai Ziyang in to thank her. Bai Ziyang clearly felt that Old Lady Sheng's attitude towards him was particularly kind, and her eyes revealed a bit of "looking at her son-in-law" meaning... Bai Ziyang really wanted to thank the water bandits who helped in the attack. When Shang Cheng came to ask Bai Ziyang how to deal with the captured water bandits, Bai Ziyang waved his hand in a particularly good mood and said: "Then let's spare their lives... and send them to exile!"

Shang Cheng looked at the bandits who were thanking Bai Ziyang for his kindness, and thought to himself: If these bandits knew that they would be subjected to hard labor in the dark, would they thank Bai Ziyang for his kindness? Or would they want to be relieved at this moment?

Bai Ziyang escorted Minglan and her group all the way to Youyang Wharf, where they were picked up by the eldest son of the Sheng family who had been waiting at the wharf early in the morning. After they separated from the Sheng family at the wharf, Bai Ziyang glanced at the reins and said, "Tingyu stays behind to protect them in secret, Tingfeng and Su Rao follow me, let's go meet those bandits!"

The three of them said, "Yes, sir!"

After Minglan arrived in Youyang, she made new friends. Without the oppressive life in the capital, she didn't have to be so cautious in her words and actions, and she immediately felt that the sky seemed to be three inches higher, and every breath of air felt extraordinarily relaxing.

On the other hand, after Bai Ziyang arrived in Pingquan, he successfully took over the local garrison, and his former adjutant also brought a team of troops to join him. It is better to have your own army. It is just a bunch of bandits, and the local garrison can't deal with them, which also shows their combat effectiveness.

When Bai Ziyang was studying the map that day, Shang Cheng came to report: "Sir, two people came to our army with letters of recommendation!"

This gang of bandits were like mice, as timid as rabbits, and they knew the principle of a cunning rabbit having three burrows. Bai Ziyang chased them several times and killed quite a few of their men, but the leader was nowhere to be seen, and only some unimportant characters were captured, which made Bai Ziyang a little anxious. After all, his "wife" wouldn't be able to stay here for long, and he didn't have the time to play this cat and mouse game with them all the time!

After hearing Shang Cheng's voice, Bai Ziyang said without even raising his head: "Since you are here to join the army, you can test them and then make arrangements!"

Shang Cheng did not move after hearing this, but instead said deliberately: "Sir, I can't test this person, you should meet him!"

"Oh?" Bai Ziyang became curious and turned to Shang Cheng and said, "Then call him in!"

When the two men came in, they both saw the masks and shouted in surprise, "Why is it you?"

"Why are you here?"

Bai Ziyang was stunned for a moment and said: "I was about to ask you, why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Beijing?" Although Bai Ziyang thought that the person who came would be unusual after hearing what Shang Cheng said, he never expected that the person who came was Gu Tingye, whom he was very familiar with!