Rumble——
Thunder roared in the blue sky, the wind blew, and clouds gathered. The sky darkened.
The rustling rain curtain fell on the endless river. At the end of the sight, several ships could be seen appearing and disappearing from time to time, and little dots of lights gradually lit up in the towns along both sides of the river.
Ye Jingtang was dressed in a black gentleman's robe made of water brocade. With a saber hanging from his waist, he stood at the bow of the ship holding an oil-paper umbrella. On the deck behind him, there were loads of sundries such as cloth, tea, and porcelain covered with oilcloth. Two disciples of Honghua Tower were fastening the ropes.
They had set off from Jiang'an Wharf the day before yesterday and had been sailing day and night along the Qingjiang River for two days. They would arrive at Xiwang Town on the border of Yunzhou early the next morning.
In these times, there were not many entertainment facilities. Running a ship outside was a tough job. Every day, apart from making rounds to prevent the goods from falling off or hitting the rocks, he practiced martial arts on the deck.
Although Third Miss was also on the ship, there were six disciples of the tower dressed as laborers on the ship. As the female leader, she had to maintain the demeanor of a top expert. It was not appropriate for her to come out and chat while dressed charmingly. So she had been staying in the cabin with Xiuhe all the time.
The river route from the capital city to Xiwang Town was the main trade route for the capital city. There were dense ships coming and going, and the ships of the water soldiers on patrol could be seen all the time. Logically speaking, it was very safe.
However, after observing for two days, Ye Jingtang still felt something was wrong. He stood at the bow of the ship and looked back. He could see a small merchant ship behind them, about two li away. He couldn't make out the name of the firm and asked:
"Li Jian, whose ship is that behind? Do you know it?"
The young man Li Jian, who was fastening the oilcloth beside the cargo stack, was the grandson of the incense master Li Sanwen. If counting by seniority, he was Ye Jingtang's fellow disciple.
Li Jian wore a bamboo wide-brimmed hat. Hearing this, he came over, craned his neck to look, but couldn't see clearly. So he ran into the cabin and brought a copper cylinder. After pulling it open, he put it to his eyes and looked:
"Hmm... It's flying a flag with the character 'Zhang'. I've never seen it before. It's probably a small merchant running sundries..."
Ye Jingtang was slightly taken aback when he saw the copper telescope. He took it and examined the front and back lenses:
"You have this thing?"
Seeing Ye Jingtang's surprised look, Li Jian showed a proud expression:
"Brother Jingtang has never seen it, right? This thing is called a 'thousand-mile viewer'. It has only been popular in Beiliang in recent years."
Ye Jingtang was definitely not unfamiliar with the telescope, but this was indeed the first time he had seen one in this world. He picked up the telescope and looked towards the rear. It was a small cargo ship loaded with sundries. There was a man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a long spear on the ship, covering the oilcloth to prevent the rain.
At a distance of two li, it was difficult to see the facial details of the man in the hat clearly. After observing for a while, Ye Jingtang returned the telescope to Li Jian:
"There's something wrong with this ship. Since we set off the day before yesterday, it has been following behind us, neither too far nor too close. According to my previous experience as an escort, it's highly likely that they are scouting the situation, preparing to find an opportunity to rob the escort."
"Brother Jingtang, don't be overly suspicious. Thousands of ships travel back and forth on this waterway every day. It's very normal to have a ship going the same way. Maybe they deliberately stayed close to our big ship to seek safety."
Having said this, Li Jian put away the telescope and signaled to his fellow disciples on the ship:
"Moreover, there are at most three or five people on that small ship. Our leader is right here on the ship, and there are still two grandmasters, eleven hall masters, and more than a hundred incense masters waiting in Xiwang Town. I really don't believe that anyone in the martial arts world dares to rob the main altar of Honghua Tower."
Ye Jingtang thought about it and nodded with a smile:
"It's a professional habit. It seems I was overthinking. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Keep an eye on that ship behind in turns. Once there's any strange movement in its whereabouts, give an alarm immediately."
"Don't worry, Brother Jingtang. I'm not that stupid."
After giving his instructions, Ye Jingtang took over the shift from the disciple of Honghua Tower and went to the rear of the merchant ship.
As a cargo ship, the living environment was not that good. There were only four rooms in the cabin at the stern, and the rest of the people had to live under the deck.
When Ye Jingtang entered the stern, he vaguely heard sounds coming from the room:
"Jiji ji~~"
"Enhengheng~~"
The crazy chirping of the bird and the humming of a woman.
The corners of Ye Jingtang's mouth curled up slightly, and he walked to the door of Third Miss's room and looked inside.
Even the "captain's" room wasn't very spacious. It was clean and simple, with a wooden bed, a table, and chairs inside. The window was at the stern of the ship, from which the situation behind could be seen. There was nothing else special about it.
The bird might have gone crazy from being cooped up on the ship. At this moment, it was rolling back and forth and doing somersaults on the bed. Xiuhe sat beside it, smiling and watching.
Third Miss was wearing a light summer dress that exposed half of her white forearms. She sat in front of the bronze mirror, holding a makeup box in her hand and slowly drawing her eyebrows.
Her originally bright almond-shaped eyes, after being carefully outlined, looked a bit more heroic. Her alluring red lips, which were especially attractive to young men, had also become much lighter in color.
Her appearance was still the same, but she looked very serious and cold, a bit fierce. Hmm... She somewhat resembled the Prince Jing, but she was at a disadvantage in terms of height and didn't have the same imposing manner as Dongfang Benben.
"Third Miss, why did you paint yourself like this?"
"Young Master Ye." Xiuhe quickly stood up, brought a chair, and then went to pour tea.
Pei Xiangjun put down the makeup box and turned her head, raising her face:
"Does it look good?"
Ye Jingtang sat down on the chair and carefully examined her beautiful face:
"Third Miss looks beautiful no matter how she's dressed, but this makeup, well... I think it makes you look a bit fierce."
"Hmph~"
Pei Xiangjun picked up the mirror and looked at herself: "A person relies on their clothes. I'm going to meet the various hall masters. If I'm too gentle and have no presence, how can I control the situation?"
Ye Jingtang suddenly understood.
There wasn't much to do on the ship. After Pei Xiangjun fussed around for a while, she seemed to have gotten interested. She stood up and walked behind Ye Jingtang, untied his black hairband, and let his long hair fall down:
"I'll dress you up too."
Xiuhe was quite interested in this. She quickly ran over: "Let me do it, let me do it..."
Ye Jingtang had always dressed simply and neatly and didn't pay much attention to his appearance. Seeing that the two women were interested, he didn't refuse. He sat on the stool with his back straight, letting Third Miss and Xiuhe do as they pleased.
Pei Xiangjun held a brow pencil and closely traced his eyebrows, getting very close.
Ye Jingtang sat upright, originally with no improper thoughts. But when Third Miss leaned over, her red lips were only about a foot away from his face. He could clearly feel her warm breath blowing on his cheek.
Hoo~~~
At first, Ye Jingtang's eyes were clear, but gradually he felt something was wrong and wanted to lean back a bit. However, behind him was the lovely Xiuhe. If he leaned back, he might end up resting his head on Xiuhe's chest. Caught in a dilemma, he could only look straight ahead, at the bird that was tilting its head and looking at him.
Pei Xiangjun also noticed Ye Jingtang's "shy" reaction. A faint smile appeared at the corners of her mouth, but she didn't say anything. She just raised her left hand and used her water sleeve to cover her plump chest to avoid making Ye Jingtang feel uncomfortable.
After busying themselves for a long time, the two finally finished.
Ye Jingtang was freed from the situation of being sandwiched between the two. He secretly let out a sigh of relief and picked up the bronze mirror to look at himself — with a jade crown on his head and his eyebrows as sharp as knives, when he didn't smile, he had a hint of evil charm, looking like a crazy young master who could attract both men and women...
"Uh..."
Ye Jingtang was at a loss for words.
Xiuhe eagerly looked at him for a few moments, then scratched her head: "Young Master doesn't seem as good-looking as before, but he's still very handsome~"
Pei Xiangjun also felt that she wasn't good at doing makeup for men. She said dejectedly: "Your foundation is too good. Any further dressing up would just be overdoing it. Let's forget it..."
While they were talking, Pei Xiangjun's eyes moved slightly, and she looked towards the window.
It was already raining heavily outside, and the sky had darkened. In the pitch-black river, only a few ship lights floating in the distance could be seen, and there was no other movement at all.
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang placed his hand on the handle of his saber and came to the window, scanning the river behind the merchant ship. But the rain was too heavy, and there were some waves on the river. The environment was too complex, and he couldn't see anything.
"What's wrong?"
"The sound of the water is not right."
Pei Xiangjun had stayed in the Pei family for many years and had gone on many ship voyages. Her sailing experience was much richer than Ye Jingtang's experience of escorting goods on land. She reminded him:
"Just now, something swam past about ten zhang away from the right side of the stern. It's either a finless porpoise or some martial artist approaching secretly."
Ye Jingtang placed his hand on the handle of his saber and focused his gaze on examining the river:
"Should I go down and take a look?"
"Once the expert realizes that someone has spotted them at the window, they already know that they've been discovered and have long since run away. There are many water thieves who steal from merchant ships on the Qingjiang River. They probably saw our big ship and wanted to take advantage of us. There's no need to pay attention to them. Just be more careful at night."
Ye Jingtang originally wanted to stay in the room and protect Third Miss closely throughout the night. But then he thought — Third Miss might seem gentle and as delicate as Lin Daiyu, but in fact, she was strong enough to pull out a willow tree. If there were really thieves boarding the ship, Third Miss would probably be the one protecting him.
So he didn't say anything to make Third Miss roll her eyes at him. He turned around and took his leave, returning to the room next door. He lay on the bed, keeping his saber by his side, and paid attention to the movements around the merchant ship...