The city at the Sannan border is nad Shuilan City. The city is located by the sea, and it is the closest city to the coastline in Sannan. It’s like spring all year round, but Fang Chuning had no mind to appreciate the scenery. Before Xie Jue fell into the sea, he fought with pirates and was not seriously injured. However, after falling into the water, he was overturned by the wind and waves, pierced through the waist by a sharp long wooden pole, and soaked in seawater for a long ti before being rescued. On the ship, his wound was only simply treated. Despite the discomfort from blood loss, he courteously conversed with Han Ziqi, not losing any manners. Fang Chuning saw through his discomfort at a glance, so he imdiately ordered soone to rush to the inn after the greetings.
After the delegation arrived at the inn, Fang Chuning helped Xie Jue to rest, no longer engaging Han Ziqi. The accompanying Imperial Physician bandaged Xie Jue’s wound. Fang Chuning was not assured and insisted on lifting his clothes to check the injury.
Xie Jue was in a daze from the pain. "What’s wrong with you? Do you have to take a look to be at ease?"
"If I don’t take a look, how would I know if you’re lying to ?"
"Will I get better just because you take a look?"
"Stop the nonsense, lie down!" Fang Chuning suddenly shouted sternly. Xie Jue didn’t know how anxious and worried he was when he couldn’t find him after he fell into the sea. He watched helplessly as the body of a soldier sank to the bottom of the sea. He feared that Xie Jue might also be swept into the sea by the wind and waves, disappearing without a trace.
Why was he so worried?
Because Xie Jue was not good at swimming. Xie Jue was not in good health in his childhood, and both the Marquis Zhenbei and his wife forbade him from nearing the water, especially in winter, when the wind couldn’t blow, and the rain couldn’t wet.
After his health improved slightly, Xie Jue developed a lot of habits typical of clan sons, making it absolutely impossible for him to take off his clothes and play in the river with his peers. He also disliked that the river water was dirty until they went to the Ningzhou Battlefield, where for a while, he and Xie Jue always secretly played by the Shaling River at night. He went into the river to catch fish, dragging Xie Jue into the water to teach him swimming, but Xie Jue’s swimming skills were genuinely poor, only able to ensure that he wouldn’t sink below the river’s surface. Such strong winds and waves could easily overturn even a proficient swimr, let alone soone like Xie Jue, who wasn’t good at swimming.
He deeply regretted being blinded by lust back then, focusing only on flirting rather than seriously teaching him how to survive in the water.
After failing to find Xie Jue for so long, he almost thought Xie Jue had sunk to the bottom of the sea, becoming a corpse. How could he not be afraid?
Xie Jue was pressed onto the bed, his waistband pulled open, they insisted on seeing the wound, so he simply closed his eyes. "Take your ti looking. I’m going to sleep."
Fang Chuning, "..."
Xie Jue’s waist injury was more severe than he had imagined. Excessive blood loss stained the bandage with fresh blood. Fang Chuning’s eyes were filled with pain. With such a severe injury, he still acted like nothing was wrong while chatting with Han Ziqi on the dock for a long ti without showing any sign. Is etiquette really that important?
"What did the Imperial Physician say?"
"Just recuperate, aren’t you annoyed? Go entertain Han Ziqi, stop bothering ." Xie Jue also feared Fang Chuning would ask question after question, so he simply shooed him away.
Fang Chuning took a deep breath, dressed him properly, and kissed his pale brow, "Rest assured, I’ll handle Han Ziqi along the way."
Xie Jue knew that when the pirates attacked, Fang Chuning remained calm and directed things well. They had handled it excellently, yet still lost many brothers. He had not yet heard the specific number of casualties, and his heart ached profoundly. If he hadn’t insisted on taking the water route, such a thing wouldn’t have happened. He resented his own stubbornness. Why hadn’t he listened to Fang Chuning’s suggestion to take the land route? If they had taken the land route, even if they encountered bandits, they were the best at land warfare, as the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry. It wouldn’t have resulted in such an embarrassing situation.
Even if the soldiers didn’t bla him, he couldn’t avoid responsibility!
Lin Xiao was discussing with Han Ziqi why a ship was missing. This wasn’t sothing that could be hidden, with too many people talking, it would inevitably be leaked out.
Han Ziqi was particularly shocked at their encounter with pirates. "Aren’t you flying the flag of the Jiangnan Navy? These pirates are crazy to dare rob you. Are they so desperate for money they don’t care about their lives?"
On his return from Yangzhou, he also took the water route and encountered pirates, but those pirates dared not rob the warship. Lin Xiao found it hard to explain these coincidences.
Bla the heavens?
The storm was too fierce, and their ships weren’t sailing together yet. The pirates assud it was a rchant ship. Fang Chuning ca over with a dark expression, "As far as I know, the pirates are only half a day’s journey from Shuilan City, and that island is under the jurisdiction of Sannan, correct?"
"General Fang, you are mistaken. That is a no-man’s land jointly governed by Sannan and Beining. There is no unified identity recognition there; so consider themselves Sannan people, others Beining people. Therefore, there is no official governnt on the island. We have negotiated with the previous dynasty several tis about obtaining the territorial rights to the island, but the Yuwen Dynasty disagreed. Negotiations between the two sides have always been unsuccessful. Now that you’ve been attacked, you cannot bla Sannan, as this has nothing to do with us!" Han Ziqi quickly distanced himself from the situation. "Of course, if Prince Yan promises that the island will belong to Sannan in the future, it would naturally fall under our jurisdiction, and we would send troops to govern it, certainly not allowing pirates to run rampant."
Han Ziqi was also strategically minded, understanding that confirming the sovereignty of the island from the start would indeed be a great achievent. Such a controversial matter falling to him would only benefit Sannan, with no downsides.
"Fine, since it’s a no man’s land, now that our delegation has been attacked, Prince Yan is injured, and we’ve suffered close to a hundred casualties, I request that the Sannan Navy seek justice for our fallen brothers," Fang Chuning said in a solemn tone.
"Didn’t you shoot their leader among thousands of troops? That leader was so arrogant that he didn’t even regard the governor of Shuilan City. They had just robbed Shuilan City. Now that you’ve killed him, it’s indeed greatly satisfying. Pirate movents are unpredictable, and knowing they’ve attacked the Jiangnan Navy, fearful of retaliation, they certainly won’t return to their lair. By now, they’re drifting at sea, making it impossible for us to find them, only wasting ti. At present, negotiation is a priority. Once the mission of the delegation is complete, I will surely escort you back to Yangzhou and bring troops to cleanse the pirates." Han Ziqi was stalling for ti. He wasn’t interested in wasting ti on pirate eradication and only wanted to quickly get Xie Jue to the capital.
Zhang Boxin sneered at his side, "You’re obviously bluffing us, and it’s likely you sent soone to disguise as pirates, hoping our Prince would die at sea."
"General, you mustn’t make baseless accusations..."
"A general is a general, why call a junior general?" Zhang Boxin interrupted Han Ziqi angrily, looking at him displeased. Does he look that young? Didn’t he see his official uniform? A third-ranked general!!
Han Ziqi, "..."
Are all the generals from the Ningzhou faction so unreasonable? When we usually deal with generals from the Jiangnan faction, they are very courteous!
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