Volume 1 Chapter 87: A Pearl of Wisdom (Part 1)

  Chapter 87: With You, Mingzhu (Part One)

  Although there are many restrictions on entering and leaving Nandu, the waterway within the Great Zhou is still operating normally, and the wild boat ferry is busy as usual.

  Yongfu boat docked, Shi Ke led the way down, and brought the horse over. A big bearded man with a smelly face stared tightly at Mozi and others, strictly guarding against them playing any tricks at the last minute.

  Stinky fish sat on the deck with his legs dangling in the water, laughing and teasing, "Big Whiskers, you've been staring at us all morning, didn't you sleep well last night? Did you get seasick and throw up again?"

  Shi Ke is now resentful when people mention this, and as soon as he hears it, his nose spouts air like fire, glaring with a desire to speak coarsely.

  "Don't miss the main event." Zhong An carried two bags of luggage and walked down the gangway, stopping Shi Lei from getting angry.

  "Girl, you might as well just give me a stick and knock me out, it's better than suffering this kind of idle anger." Never have I been so muddle-headed when doing something.

  "I don't dare to hit you with a stick. Instead, I can take you back and treat you to good wine, get you drunk for three days, and then you won't remember anything." Zhong An handed the heavy bag to Shi Lei's hand and walked back onto the boat.

  The smelly fish can't bear the joke, shrugs his shoulders, claps his hands twice, and spreads them out to show he's innocent, just chatting casually.

  Shi Ke almost rolled his eyes.

  "Stinky fish, come and help." Meizhi was waiting outside the cabin. As soon as Yuancheng came out, he shouted.

  "No need to trouble Mo Ge, we have four people and eight hands here, can't we support this one?". Zhong An smiled politely, but actually didn't give Mo Zi and others a chance.

  Mozi smiled and walked forward, "With eight arms already, what's the harm in adding a few more pairs?" She deliberately stirred up trouble for these travelers, not for any particular reason, just to make their journey less smooth.

  Xiao Er Lang suddenly stood in front of Yuan Cheng, blocking Mo Zi's approach. "Once we reach the shore, it's up to us."

  "General Xiao wants to listen carefully. What I'm saying is, after getting off the boat, it's up to you. The difference between being on and off the boat is like heaven and earth, but Mozi didn't become overly arrogant, instead his words became more measured. Also, I'd like to ask General, since Yuan's husband is seriously injured, would it be possible for a doctor to come over and treat him with some medicine before you take him away?"

  Xiao Erlang's eyebrows rose, the corners of his lips curled up, and he quickly hid. The guy who relied on the boat to make them roll into the water earlier, now that they had landed ashore, how could he still pose a threat to himself?

  So he said: "No way." At least she asked for it, no way.

  Mozi was not surprised, the two of them had a falling out, and he didn't expect this person to be obedient. "General Xiao came from afar and wasn't afraid to join forces with us, but now that the person is in your hands, you're being stubborn and won't listen. Are you trying to take a mute corpse back with you?"

  "He won't die." Xiao Erlang said with great annoyance, "Besides, whether I bring back a live person or a dead one, it's none of your concern."

  "I'm not worried about the general, I just fear that the general will abandon the great affairs of the state for personal reasons and harm the people of Zhou." It's unnecessary to say more, everyone understands.

  Xiao Er Lang's voice was cold as ice: "I don't know what personal grudge you have, that would make me commit such a huge mistake? You'd better understand, this person is a traitor of the Great Zhou, a wanted criminal by imperial decree, whose crime deserves death. Perhaps, dying on the road will even reduce his suffering."

  Mo Zi didn't think much and responded, "You say Yuan Zhang is a traitor of the Great Zhou, as officials of the Great Zhou, why don't you openly ask Nan De for him instead of sneaking around like thieves? The Great Zhou and Nan De have always been on good terms. When Yuan Zhang was the prime minister of Nan De, why didn't you cause trouble then? Now that he has lost power, you're kicking him while he's down. Obviously, he still has value to be used, but you insist on making it sound righteous. If he is a wanted criminal by imperial decree, he should be handed over to the emperor for punishment. He himself doesn't mind suffering some hardship, so don't be in such a hurry to take his life."

  "It seems that we can't communicate." From this station in Mexico to the other side of Yuanping, Xiao Erlang spoke to him as if he was fighting a war, exhausting his mind and energy.

  "It doesn't matter if we can't come to an agreement, General Xiao can just call a doctor. It's not necessary for it to be on the boat, it can also be after getting off the boat. After all, it's a life, consider it as accumulating good fortune for yourselves, kindness will always be rewarded."

  "Mo Ge, it's no use telling us two. Yuan Gongzi will be taken away by these two people, whether or not to invite a doctor depends on their intentions." Zhong An still didn't want to completely fall out with Mo Zi, and continued to play the role of the good guy, regardless of whether anyone appreciated his efforts.

  Mozi glanced at the two men on either side of Yuan Cheng, weren't they the ones who followed Xiao Er Lang? And now they're following her too, pushing and shoving, using anyone to block the wind.

  She smiled lightly and said to Zhong An in a fairly polite tone, "I still believe what your husband said. However, don't these two men obey General Xiao? Actually, I took pity on Yuan's husband and since we're fellow passengers on the same boat, I wanted to help if I could. My words are always reliable; once you leave the Yongfu ship, it's each to their own, and when we meet again in the future, I'll pretend not to recognize you, so your husband doesn't need to worry that I'll kidnap anyone."

  Zhang Anxin thought: If you had shown sympathy for the first corrupt official earlier, it would have been better than forming an alliance with wolves and jackals. It's not like things are awkward between us to this point, so saying a couple of words might be useful after all.

  "You really treat people with predestined relationships differently." Xiao Erlang sneered with his arms around him, "We're on the same boat, but he's furious and tells us to get out. This guy is so eloquent and charming, it's ridiculous just listening to him."

  His dark purple eyes opened and closed, and the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of Yuancheng being held by someone with his head down. He silently recited "small tolerance leads to chaos" three times, raised his head, and spoke in a calm tone, smiling warmly, "General Xiao, I'm just a rough man. In your words, I'm a private goods peddler who doesn't understand the rules. If there's something that sounds unpleasant, you can just ignore it. Besides, back then I was targeting the situation, not the person. You let others bully other passengers, if I didn't step in, wouldn't that ruin my reputation? Moreover, these three days, I haven't treated you badly either. The good food was all left for you. The cabin was also given to you to live in alone, while my brothers and I squeezed into the cargo hold."

  At this point, Mozi took one hand of Xiao Erlang and the other of Zhong An, slightly distancing themselves from Yuan Cheng and the two men holding him.

  "What are you doing?" Xiao Erlang shook off Mozi's hand with a flick of his sleeve, feeling an inexplicable disgust at the awkward pulling and tugging.

  "Listen, I'll be honest with you two, I've taken a lot of money from people for this voyage. On the surface, I have to put on a show. Isn't that right? I'm just doing my duty as entrusted to me. I don't have a choice. You're a general, and even if you gave me ten lives, I wouldn't dare let you fall into the water. By the time you find out, it'll be too late, and I'll have to stick with it till the end, or else who will listen to me on this ship?"

  Xiao Erlang saw Mozi suddenly lower his voice and become depressed, but he didn't feel any better in his heart. On the contrary, he became more contemptuous of her character and was convinced that she was a person without backbone.

  "Mo Ge, you mean, you're just pretending to be angry with us?" Zhong An was actually a bit confused by Mo Zi's words. Unlike others, he had originally admired this kid for his daring and courage.

  "Zhong An's husband is really a clever man, I just said it and he understood." Mozi understood the reason why the situation was more important than human life, "Besides, we boatmen are most afraid of bad luck after someone dies. Even if they get off the ship in good health, they won't be able to go far before... In short, it's unlucky for the Yongfu number."

  Xiao Er Lang and Zhong An frowned at the same time because of her rough words, she secretly felt pleased and deepened the impression of being rough, continuing to say, "It's not necessarily to invite a doctor on board. There is a wandering doctor on the wild boat, just shout loudly and he will come, the diagnosis fee is very cheap, and the prescription can be negotiated. Hanging him with one breath, you are good at dealing with it, and you won't let people say that you are treating prisoners of war favorably, secretly communicating with the enemy..."

  Xiao Erlang said something nonsense, his expression was all impatient.

  Zhang Anxin thought for a moment, stroking his chin. "Since Mo Ge is so straightforward, we can't be angry with you anymore. However, Yuan Cheng has had many conflicts with Emperor Nan De of our Great Zhou Dynasty, and the court has criticized him severely. It's really difficult for me and General Xiao to treat him well, lest we fall into a trap. Nevertheless, if Mo Ge truly wants to avoid trouble, there is still a way."

  Xiao Erlang didn't know what Zhong An's intention was and gazed at his face.

  Just as Zhong An was somewhat tolerant of Mo Zi, Mo Zi didn't have a strong dislike for Zhong An either. She listened to him say that he had a plan and already believed half of it, with her hands clasped together in a fist, she asked, "Husband, what's the plan?"

  Zhang An stroked his chin with his thumb and index finger, forming an "eight" shape, with his index finger pointing directly at the two men who were about to take Yu Cheng away. "Those two are not our subordinates, they're just following our orders for this task. People say that Yan Wang is easy to get along with, but small ghosts are hard to deal with. If Mo Ge is willing to spend some silver, it's not difficult to bribe the little ghosts."

  Xiao Erlang understood but did not agree.

  Mei Zi naturally understood as well, she used to often play tricks on little ghosts, "Is my husband deceiving me? When I really go, they won't accept it either."

  "Mo Ge, don't worry. As long as you can convince them, we won't have any further discussion." The 'we' that Zhong An mentioned included Xiao Er Lang.

  He bowed and left with a deep purple complexion.

  "Why did you teach him to do such a thing?" Xiao Erlang disliked it.

  "I want to see who is smarter, him or me." Zhong An chuckled, "Or perhaps, I don't want to admit that I misjudged someone."

  Xiao Erlang saw Mozi talking to the two men for a while, then pulled out a silver note from his sleeve and stuffed it into their hands, and the two immediately looked at him.

  "General, just nod. Zhong An has been paying attention to the movement over there. We all know that if we don't treat his injuries, he may not make it until dawn. It's just that he has given us so much trouble in the past, and it's really hard for us to willingly spend money on him."

  "Nowadays, someone is willing to pay out of their own pocket, why not? Xia Erlang took over the conversation and stretched out two fingers to the two followers, as well as a gesture of silver ingots. 'Zhong An, I'll make that little brat spit out the 200 taels of silver he swallowed earlier, how about it?'"

  "If General Xiao has made up his mind, who can be more formidable than you?" Zhong An sneered.

  Chapter 87: With You, Mingzhu (Part 1)

  Chapter 87: With You, Mingzhu, Arrived at the Website