Legend of Concubine's Daughter Minglan 知否知否 应是绿肥红瘦

C93. Be Attacked and Be Rescued (1)

Minglan hurried to open the window. When she looked out of it, she saw flames leaping to the sky in the distance. It seemed that a ship was set alight. Minglan gazed into the distance and saw some indistinct figures running and jumping into the river. She even heard shouts and sounds of fighting accompanied with the sounds of the wind and water. Changdong rested his chin on the sill of the window, his face pale in fear. Just then a sharp whistle came from the side of their own ship. It must be a warning from the boatman, who was posted as a sentry at night.

After a short while, all the people on the ship were wakened by the loud noise. Minglan woke Dangju up and asked her to gather other maids. Then she took Changdong's hand and went out to find Changwu together. Along the way there were many boatmen and servants leaning over the side of the ship to look into the distance with looks of panic. Minglan rushed all the way to Changwu's room without looking at them. In the room, Kang Yun'er sat on the side of the bed with a pale face, her hands above her slightly swollen belly. When she saw Minglan, she immediately grasped Minglan's hand and said, "You brother has gone outside to see what happened. I just asked someone to bring you both here and you came immediately. May Buddhas bless us. I hope everyone will be fine."

Minglan knew nothing about what happened outside, so she had to sit beside Yun'er, waiting for Changwu to come back. Changdong stretched his neck and wanted to go out, but Minglan pulled him back in time.

A quarter of an hour later, Changwu came back breathlessly and said, "They are pirates!" All women in the room paled with shock at the news. Changbai briefly told them what had happened outside.

The inland waterway they proceeded along was called Yongtong Canal, which was a north-south canal. Now they were in Huaiyin Prefecture. Tonight, the river was calm and many ships lay at anchor in the waterway. Besides the ship of Sheng family, there were two ships of wealthy aristocratic families, two frigates and several merchant ships of Baochanglong, which was a well-known trading company. They were all in this natural gourd-like harbor. The merchant ships were in front and at the back. The frigates and the passenger ships were in the middle.

After everyone fell asleep, a group of pirates secretly boarded the ships under cover of darkness. They robbed and killed people in the merchant ships, but they didn't expect that one of Baochanglong's merchant ships was loaded with tung oil. During the fight, several young employees of the trading company lit the cargo hold. Soon all the oil drums in the cargo hold exploded and the ship went up in flames. The sudden fire not only gave the young employees a chance to jump out of the ship and flee for their life but also gave other ships a warning.

When Minglan saw Kang Yun'er shivering in fear, she gently patted her hands and soothed, "Sister-in-law, don't worry too much. I think these pirates are stupid. If they are seasoned, they would have robbed the passenger ships first. But in fact, they went to the merchant ships. They stirred the grass and frightened away the snake...hmm, people."

As the words fell from her lips, Changwu, who had worn a straight face, couldn't help but smile and praise, "What Sister Minglan said is right. They must be a group of stupid pirates. Now they are surrounded by the frigates. And the dinghies are ready for us. Just gather our belongings and follow me to the dinghies. Everything will be fine as long as we go ashore on the left bank."

All the women exchanged relieved glances.

There were not many of the pirates. The reason why they had succeeded in stirring up such an uproar was that they attacked the ships by surprise, and the ships were narrow for the people on board to dodge the attacks. The right bank of Yongtong Canal was twisty and formed a haven, in which all the ships docked. On the left bank, there was a wide stretch of the reeds which were higher than a man. Moreover, there was a direct road to the barracks of Huaiyin soldiers. As long as they got ashore on the left bank, they would get help from the soldiers and the pirates would be separated by the reeds. By then they would escape from danger because the pirates couldn't catch up with them anymore.