Lin had been asleep for more than an hour when he was woken by someone knocking on the door and calling out to him that something had happened.

  It was Wu Qi's voice of the crow. Lin Xie put on his clothes and went to the outer room, opened the door to let him in, and asked: "What happened?"

  "There are many unidentified boats coming from the west, with torches inserted at the bow, similar to lantern boats cruising on the river. It's unclear whether they're heading in this direction, and no alarm has been raised yet. The island prison is also on high alert, and people have been sent to wake up Zikang, Cunxin, Lin Jingzhong and others...". Wu Qi said. Two alarms were sounded in one night, which would affect the morale of the soldiers, so he wanted to come over and ask Lin Xie's opinion first.

  Lin furrowed his brow in deep thought, unable to figure out where the female assassin from last night came from. These ships arrived with torches, clearly a show of force to prevent harm to the woman on this side, and their movements were extremely swift. He had thought he could sleep for a while before dealing with this matter.

  Lin Xuan turned his head and took a look, Xiao Man and Liu Yue'er each poked their heads out of the room to take a look, he waved his hand and said: "All go back to bed..." Lin Xuan and Wu Qi walked towards the dock on the riverbank, halfway they met Lin Jingzhong who was walking quickly.

  Lin Jingzhong said: "The big fisherman got on the Dongyang number, Cao Ye got on the corner tower and stared at it. From a high place, you can see that there are almost a hundred boats, with most of them being black awning cargo ships. The bow and stern of the ships were crowded with people, and there must be no less than two thousand people. These ships stopped east of the boundary stake, all dropping anchor, and a large ship sent a signal asking to dock by the riverbank..." They all lived in the surrounding houses behind the river embankment, able to react quickly. The boundary stake was a pillar on the riverbank that marked the distance between the river mouth and the prison island, and the corner tower's lanterns reflected over, using the boundary stake to gauge the enemy's distance.

  "Scared the wits out of me," Lin Xie said, stopping in his tracks. "Tell Da Yu to be on high alert at the Dongyang Wharf and shout it out: last night we caught a female assassin, tomorrow she'll be sent to the Weiling County yamen for interrogation. The Jiangbin Wharf and the He Di Wharf will not accept any ships docking at night; if an unidentified ship approaches, treat it as a pirate vessel... Let them think twice about it." After adjusting his clothes, he said, "I'm going back to sleep now. Don't bother with that first ship, but if any of the other black-sailed ships cross the boundary marker, just ring the alarm bell and call me."

  "Wasn't that woman an assassin last night?" Lin Jingzhong asked.

  "Neither swallowed teeth nor snatched people's courage," Lin Xuan smiled and said, "They probably also want to drag things out until dawn to solve them, so let's drag it out for now..."

  Lin tied back to the grass hall, looking at Liu Yue'er and Xiao Man who were all dressed up and sitting in the front hall guarding a lone lamp waiting for his return: "Didn't I tell you to go back to bed and sleep?"

  "I'm not going out to bother you, can't I just sit here and wait for your return?" Xiaoman's hands were pressed on the table, her chin rested on the back of her hands, her dark eyes staring at Lin Xuan.

  "Nothing happened?" asked Liu Yu'er.

  "It's nothing major, just a discussion. I've spent months accumulating some bad reputation, and it would be so easy for someone to take it away from me," Lin Xie yawned and said, "I'm going to sleep again, aren't you guys sleeping?"

  "I'm worried I won't be able to sleep, you go to sleep, I'll sit beside you and keep watch. If anything happens, I can wake you up." Xiao Man stood up and pitifully stared at Lin Xie.

  Lin Yibai had a headache, and Xiaonizi definitely didn't have any guard against him as a man.

  Liu Yu'er picked up the oil lamp on the table and said: "You guys feel your way back to the house, I'll take the lamp back to sleep..."

  Xiao Man pushed Lin Xie's waist back to his room, as if he had won a battle. The room was not lit, but when the thatched hut was built, there was a gap between the eaves and the wall, so even with the windows closed, some faint light still seeped in. Lin Xie took off his boots and lay on the bed, asking Xiao Man, "Do you really want to sit here for a whole night?"

  "Hmm," Xiaoman nodded, sat down on a stool at the head of the bed and said, "Even personal slaves in wealthy families keep watch like this at night. Since there's no outer room here, I can only stay in your room..."

  Lin Yilian smiled and said: "The personal maidservants of wealthy families still help warm their beds..."

  "Then I'll warm the bed for you too..." Xiaoman stood up and helped Lin Wei spread out the thin quilt, sat on the edge of the bed, was about to take off her shoes and get into bed.

  "You're still waiting to be a night watchman, it's already hot in April and sleeping with a quilt is uncomfortable." Lin Mou didn't know what little trick the young girl was playing again, letting her sit on the edge of the bed while he lay down.

  "I've thought about it, I won't be your concubine..." Xiaoman said suddenly, her eyes shining brightly in the dim night as she looked at Lin's face hidden in an even deeper shadow.

  "Ah?" Lin Xie asked in confusion.

  "I've talked to Moon Sister, and in the future when you take a wife, she might be even more tyrannical than Moon Sister. A concubine's fate is always to be bullied, but being bullied is one thing, what's certain is that the time spent with you will be restricted..." Little Man said solemnly as he sat on the edge of the bed.

  "Tap, tap..." Liu Yu'er lightly knocked twice from next door, indicating that she could hear from the adjacent room.

  Lin Yidu didn't know what the two women had talked about just now.

  "I'll be your personal maid, so I can spend more time by your side..." Xiao Man said seriously.

  “……” Lin Xie didn't know how to comfort the girl, and was also afraid that she would think wildly, so he said, "Then you can be my personal maid." Liu Yue'er was listening from next door, he couldn't let Xiao Man sleep on his bed, besides, the little girl should have known about men and women's matters long ago, and even more couldn't sleep on the bed.

  Ling was besieged by a strong desire to sleep, and he thought that when Xiaoman got tired, she would go back to her room to rest. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, leaving Xiaoman sitting on the edge of the bed. In a daze, Xiaoman curled up like a small animal and leaned against Ling's arm, shrinking back and falling into a deep sleep. Ling couldn't bear to wake her up and drive her away, so he carefully pulled out a corner of the quilt to cover her body.

  Listening to the sound of horses and carriages outside, but not hearing anyone calling, Lin Xie continued to sleep. Xiao Man had already crawled into his quilt with her whole body, her black hair scattered all over his neck and chest, like a dark flower blooming in the morning light. Her small head and face were completely hidden, and her bare feet were stuck to his back. He didn't know when she woke up and took off her socks. Anyway, they slept together with their clothes on, smooth and slippery like sticky rice cakes. Lin Xie resigned himself to continue sleeping with his head covered. When he heard Liu Yue'er calling him, he opened his eyes to find Xiao Man half-lying on top of him, her face against his chest, her body against his lower abdomen, and her legs slanted to one side. The quilt was thin, but it still managed to cover the fragrant warmth of her body, with only her black hair spilling out like the night sky. It seemed that she hadn't woken up Liu Yue'er. Lin Xie smiled at Liu Yue'er with a red face and asked her in a low voice what was going on.

  "Su Mei and Fourth Mistress arrived by carriage and are sitting in the front hall..." Liu Yue'er pretended not to see the black hair exposed on Lin's chest.

  Lin Xuan was taken aback, not knowing why Su Mei had come out of the city so early. Could it be that yesterday's female assassin knew her? The little savage who was sleeping soundly on Lin Xuan's body also subconsciously startled, and suddenly felt something pressing against her chest, and she jumped up in fright, not even noticing that Liu Yue'er was also in the room. She let out a cry and jumped off the bed, just about to ask Lin Xuan what kind of ghost thing he was hiding that was pressing against her, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she realized what the hard wooden-like object was. Her face, which had been pale from sleep, suddenly flushed red, and she picked up her shoes and slipped back into her own room barefoot.

  "She's wearing her clothes," Lin said, covering his face and explaining to Liu Yue'er in a low voice, "She says she's keeping watch, and when she gets tired, she just falls asleep. I also can't drive her back to the house."

  "You've got her in your arms, what am I supposed to say? Su Mei is waiting outside," Liu Yue'er urged Lin Xie to get out of bed quickly. She knelt on one knee at the bedside, reaching into the bed to grab his clothes for him. Her hand couldn't reach the corner, so she propped herself up against Lin Xie's body with one hand, which just happened to land on a hard object that felt like a wooden stake. She moved her hand to prop herself up against Lin Xie's thigh instead and handed over his shirt, teasing him by saying, "Oh, you're wearing clothes! I was wondering why the little girl was so startled - didn't she know someone had lain on top of you at night?"

  If it weren't for Su Mei rushing over, Lin Xie would have pressed Liu Yu'er onto the bed and taken advantage of her. At this time, all he could do was put on his clothes properly, and Xiao Man's affairs were also hard to explain. How could he explain to Liu Yu'er that this was a normal physiological reaction? After arriving at the grass hall, Lin Xie washed up; Xiao Man had already finished washing up, her eyes flashing as she avoided looking at him, and said in a low voice: "I'll go see Su Mei first..." before slipping away.

  Lin Daiyu hastily washed up and came to the front hall, where Su Meiren and Si Nangzi were already present. Seeing Lin Daiyu come out, Su Meiren asked: "The female assassin from last night, didn't you let her suffer a bit?" She had asked Xiao Man about it and knew that the female assassin was imprisoned on Prison Island.

  "Ah?" Lin Xie saw that Su Mei was indeed here for the female assassin from last night and asked, "Who is she?"

  “She is the daughter of Sun Jingxuan from Xihewan...”

  "River Gang people?" Lin Xuan was slightly stunned, thinking that this was indeed the case, as the hundreds of black-sailed ships in Chao Tian Tang had not yet made a show of force. The Yangtze River reaches Jiangning City's northern section at Chao Tian Tang, where the water system is well-developed and is an important starting point for grain transportation. However, the hardships of river transportation are unimaginable to ordinary people, especially during the autumn and spring seasons when grain transportation takes place, which can take up to half a year. Jiangning is a wealthy region, and local people have land to farm; they would rather be tenants than suffer the hardships of boat life. The majority of boat workers and sailors in Jiangning are actually displaced farmers from the northern regions along the Grand Canal. It is extremely difficult for them to make a living away from home, so they gather together with their fellow villagers, forming the River Gang faction in Jiangning City. When not on the river, they concentrate their residences in the southern part of the city, near the Longcangpu and Sanjiahe rivers. Although they are collectively known as the River Gang faction, the River Gang in Jiangning is actually divided into eighteen branches by region, with the Xihai Guild being one of them. The majority of its members are from Xihai County on the west bank of the Grand Canal. The River Gang can be said to be a variant of the local party faction; although they have many people and great power, they are not considered a major force. However, officials in charge of grain transportation, river affairs, and coastal defense will try every means to extort money from the River Gang, as most of its members are boat workers and sailors at the bottom of society. Lin Xuan was not afraid that the Xihai Guild would come to cause trouble; he asked Su Mei, "Were the boat workers who were killed in Baisha County last time also from the Xihai Guild?"

  "Yes," Su Mei also anxiously said, "Sun Jingxuan is still Master Fu's friend, and the letter Master Fu sent a few days ago had another letter enclosed for Sun Jingxuan..."

  "Ah," Lin Tie was stunned again, Fu Qinghe didn't say he had a friend in Jiangning who could entrust his life and death, asked, "Did Master Fu tell Sun Jingxuan about the Changshan Island matter?"

  "No," Su Mei said, "Master Fu has been thinking of returning to Jiangning for a while now. He wants to arrange a marriage between you and Sun Jingxuan's daughter. I suppose the letter mentions this intention..."

  Lin tied down his subconscious and wiped his forehead, feeling cold sweat had already broken out.

  ***************

  P.S: Looking for red tickets.