Chapter 660: If You've Been Kidnapped, Blink Twice

No one had expected Matsuura Dairo's move. People thought he would flip the table outright and teach Fang Zhenghua a lesson. But who could have guessed—he just caved like that?

Going to talk to the Imperial Navy?

Probably just going straight to surrender, right?

Everyone present felt somewhat peculiar, but they all knew this matter was as good as settled.

Zheng Zhilong's heart finally settled back into his chest. He turned to look at Fang Zhenghua and said, "Steward, this is truly..."

Waving a hand to cut him off, Fang Zhenghua said, "It's nothing. Alright, let's be on our way. Since the host has already left, it wouldn't be proper for us to linger here."

With that, Fang Zhenghua rose and walked out, the smile on his face unchanged.

For Fang Zhenghua, this matter could be counted as a complete success.

Through a mix of bluffing and intimidation, he had managed to handle Matsuura Dairo—that fellow wouldn't dare oppose the Great Ming for now. As for negotiating with the Imperial Navy, once he saw them, he'd learn what negotiation really meant.

Zheng Zhilong had no choice but to rise and follow him out.

No sooner had the group returned to Zheng Zhilong's residence than word arrived from outside—Matsuura Dairo had already sent men to invite the Imperial Navy's people over for a proper talk.

To this, Fang Zhenghua said nothing at all, simply finding a place to rest.

Fang Zhenghua knew perfectly well who was in charge on the Imperial Navy's side.

His Majesty had never authorized the Imperial Navy to negotiate, so they wouldn't dare do anything at all—he was the one responsible for negotiations. Matsuura Dairo going to the Imperial Navy would gain him nothing.

His own part as the good cop was done; now it was the Imperial Navy's turn to play bad cop. Fang Zhenghua trusted that the Imperial Navy's people could handle this matter well—he wasn't worried in the least.

Over at the Imperial Navy.

Yu Zigao sat on his ship, a look of worry on his face.

Several hours had passed with no word coming through, and the Japanese fleet outside had begun to assemble. Though Yu Zigao didn't hold these men in any regard, nor this fleet—to him, they were nothing but targets for a single cannon volley—

But Fang Zhenghua was on the island right now. If something actually happened, what would become of Fang Zhenghua?

That man was one of His Majesty's most trusted eunuchs. If someone like him ended up dead on Hirado Island, how could he explain himself upon returning?

Yu Zigao felt a faint pang of regret. He should never have listened to Fang Zhenghua in the first place. No matter what the man said—even if he could talk flowers into bloom—he shouldn't have agreed.

Soon, a ship approached from the opposite side.

Yu Zigao picked up his telescope and took a look—it was a Japanese warship, except it flew a white flag.

Was this a sign of surrender? Could it be that Fang Zhenghua had pulled it off?

Yu Zigao was instantly excited.

He placed great importance on this place, Hirado. If it were Hizen Province, that would be even better.

This was the key junction connecting Joseon and Japan—of great strategic significance. If the Great Ming wanted to conquer Japan, this was the most suitable base.

Though he could take this place by force without much effort, by the time the fighting was done, it would basically be destroyed, and its value as a base would be greatly diminished.

That wasn't what Yu Zigao wanted. He wanted an intact Hirado, not one battered to pieces.

Under these circumstances, Yu Zigao very much hoped Fang Zhenghua could reach an agreement.

Sure enough, word soon arrived from the front—it was an envoy sent by Matsuura Dairo of Hirado.

"Bring the man up." Yu Zigao said without hesitation.

Soon, a man walked up from below.

Upon seeing Yu Zigao, the man broke into a smile and hastily said, "Greetings to the Great General of the Great Ming. I am an envoy of Matsuura Dairo, lord of the Hirado domain."

Glancing at the man, Yu Zigao raised an eyebrow and asked with a displeased expression, "A Ming man?"

At this, the atmosphere immediately grew tense.

Ming men of the seas had never been well received—especially not by men like Yu Zigao. In Yu Zigao's view, many Ming men of the seas were pirates, were wokou.

A trace of embarrassment flickered across the man's face, and then he said, "I am a Ming man. I was captured by wokou raiders years ago and have been making a living overseas these past few years."

Yu Zigao nodded and said nothing more.

He didn't even bother to investigate whether the man's words were true or false, because it no longer mattered.

Yu Zigao asked instead, "What's your name?"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, this humble one's surname is Zhang, given name Qiu." The man said hurriedly.

"Zhang Qiu? Not much of a name. What did Matsuura Dairo send you here for?" Yu Zigao looked at Zhang Qiu and asked directly, "Has the matter on the island been settled? Why hasn't Steward Fang come?"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, Matsuura Dairo, lord of the Hirado domain, wishes to speak with the Grand Marshal." Zhang Qiu said quickly.

"What do you mean by that?" Yu Zigao frowned and said, "Steward Fang is the one from the palace. What would Matsuura Dairo want to discuss with me? Have you detained Steward Fang? Are you trying to lure me over?"

In Yu Zigao's view, this was likely a trap—Steward Fang's negotiations must have hit a snag, and the Hirado side wanted to kill him, so they'd come up with this excuse to lure him over.

Would he fall for such a petty trick? What kind of man did they take him for?

"No, no, no." Zhang Qiu waved his hands frantically and said, "Matsuura Dairo, lord of the Hirado domain, and Steward Fang got along quite well. It's just that on certain matters, the two sides have some differences that require the Grand Marshal to discuss."

"You're trying to deceive me?" Yu Zigao glared at Zhang Qiu and said, "What do you take me for? Do you think I'm so easy to fool?"

Zhang Qiu looked at Yu Zigao helplessly.

Are you all insane? Don't you know what your Steward Fang did?

But from the looks of it, even if he told you, you'd probably think it was perfectly normal. And are you really the commander of the Great Ming's Imperial Navy?

"Guards!" Yu Zigao didn't give Zhang Qiu any chance to speak, directly shouting toward the outside.

In an instant, his personal guards rushed up from the side and, without a word, seized Zhang Qiu and pinned him down.

The meaning was clear—at a single command from the Grand Marshal, he'd be dragged off and beheaded on the spot.

Beheading someone on a ship was simple: chop off the head and toss it straight into the sea, saving even the trouble of disposing of the body.

They fixed Zhang Qiu with malicious stares, eyes locked on him with burning intensity, looking as though they were ready to strike at any moment.

"Grand Marshal, Grand Marshal, I'm telling the truth!" Zhang Qiu said desperately.

By now, all trace of levity had vanished from Zhang Qiu's heart. His face was full of panic, and he was on the verge of tears.

You people are utterly unreasonable! You'd kill a man over a single disagreement!

"Take him away." Yu Zigao said directly: "Pass the order, press toward Hirado Island. Anyone who dares to block us, sink them all."

Having said this, Yu Zigao walked straight toward the bow, preparing for battle.

Dragging his feet — Yu Zigao had grown tired of wasting words with the people of Hirado. Whatever they were thinking, he wouldn't let them achieve it. Even if they had already detained Fang Zhengzheng, he would use this method to force them to hand the man over.

The warships pressed forward directly, while turning their cannon muzzles and opening fire on the Hirado warships on the sea.

Only this time they didn't sink the ships outright — boom, boom, boom, the cannons drove them away.

The Japanese warships simply couldn't get close, and could only turn around and flee as fast as they could. After all, their cannons didn't have enough range; coming closer was a dead end.

A very bizarre scene appeared on the sea — the Great Ming warships chasing from behind, the Japanese warships running for their lives ahead.

For a moment, the sea was bustling with activity.

On Hirado Island, a man ran quickly into a building.

The expression on his face was extremely anxious, even carrying a hint of terror. Seeing Matsura Taro, he fell to his knees with a thud and said: "Lord of the domain, the Great Ming's Imperial Navy has come to attack!"

Hearing this, Matsura Taro abruptly stood up, his face full of disbelief, and said with a terrified expression: "How could this be? Why would they attack? Didn't we send people over to negotiate with them? Why are they fighting?"

"I don't know!" The newcomer said with a mournful face and some helplessness: "The people we sent still have no news — it seems they've been detained."

"Right now they're driving off our warships, and our warships don't dare get close. Their cannons have too much range, so our ships can only run back. The harbor is already clogged with warships, and many people have already jumped off their ships and come ashore. If it really comes to a fight, the Great Ming ships will fire from outside and we'll have no way to fight back!"

Hearing this, Matsura Taro's face changed drastically.

He had originally heard Zheng Zhilong speak of how formidable the Great Ming warships were, but it had only been hearsay. This time, it seemed it was real.

Without the slightest hesitation, Matsura Taro said: "Let's go to the harbor. Oh, right — bring that Fang Gonggong of the Great Ming and Zheng Zhilong along too. We'll talk when we get there."

"Yes!" His subordinate hastily acknowledged and turned to run out.

Soon, Fang Zhengzheng received the news.

Upon hearing it, he too was completely baffled.

Where had the routine of one playing the good cop and one the bad cop gone? How had it turned into this? Yu Zigao had suddenly descended with a massive force — had something happened?

It truly made Fang Zhengzheng suspicious, and he could no longer sit still in the room.

Since Matsura Taro wanted him to go, then he would go take a look. If something else had truly happened, he would need to help resolve it.

In Fang Zhengzheng's view, something must have happened — otherwise Yu Zigao could not possibly have been so rash as to attack Hirado Island.

He had to go see, and quickly.

Fang Zhengzheng stood up and said hurriedly: "Prepare the carriage — we're going to the harbor."

Zhang Zhao, who was guarding Fang Zhengzheng, hastily nodded in agreement: "Yes, Gonggong."

There was a flurry of commotion, and the carriage was soon prepared.

Fang Zhengzheng rode the carriage straight to the harbor, and along the way the party saw many people.

Some were running back, some were running out — the whole of Hirado Island seemed to have fallen into chaos.

However, the situation soon calmed down, because Matsura Taro appeared.

His men also began to calm the situation and arrange defenses — clearly they were making preparations.

Fang Zhengzheng paid no attention to any of this, because it was meaningless. If the Great Ming's Imperial Navy truly opened fire, all these preparations by Matsura Taro would simply be a waste of time. Whether he prepared or not made no difference — the result of fighting them would be the same.

Fang Zhengzheng couldn't be bothered to needle Matsura Taro anymore. His only thought now was to reach the harbor, desperately wanting to know what on earth had happened there that had driven Yu Zigao to do something so insane.

In truth, Fang Zhengzheng could never have guessed that Yu Zigao had done all this for his sake.

By the time Fang Zhengzheng arrived at the harbor, it was crowded beyond measure, with many ships anchored outside.

All the ships were blocked inside the harbor, while the Great Ming warships drifted on the distant sea — visible at a single glance.

Fang Zhengzheng took a look, then turned to the people beside him and said: "Send flag signals."

Going out to sea was now impossible — the harbor was completely blocked. Rowing out from another spot wasn't easy either; the only option was to communicate by flag signals.

In this regard, there was naturally no problem, since Zhang Zhao was at his side.

Zhang Zhao soon had someone bring the flags and began signaling.

Standing at the bow of the warship, Yu Zigao held a telescope in his hand, looking at the shore opposite. He quickly spotted Fang Zhengzheng's figure. This finally let him breathe a sigh of relief.

When the flags came from the opposite side, Yu Zigao breathed another sigh of relief.

Judging by the current situation, things weren't too bad — the people opposite didn't seem to have taken Fang Zhengzheng into custody. Even if they had, he could still communicate with him now.

"Commander, Fang Gonggong on their side is asking what happened and why we suddenly made a move?" A man came to Yu Zigao's side and said respectfully.

Yu Zigao furrowed his brow.

Why was the question so baffling?

He said to the man beside him: "Ask Fang Gonggong whether he's been kidnapped right now. If he has been kidnapped, have him say so."

"Yes, Commander." His subordinate hastily acknowledged and had someone else wave the flags.

On the shore, Zhang Zhao came to Fang Zhengzheng's side and said: "Gonggong, the Commander is asking whether you've been kidnapped. If you have been kidnapped, tell him now."

"Does Your servant even need to be asked that?" Fang Zhengzheng said irritably: "Whether we've been kidnapped or not — don't you know?"

Zhang Zhao was a bit embarrassed, but didn't ask again. Instead, he directly waved the flags.

Standing at the bow, Yu Zigao received the report once more.

"Commander, Fang Gonggong's side says they have not been kidnapped, and the negotiations were about to succeed. They want to send a ship over to meet with us face to face here."

"So that's how it is." Yu Zigao nodded and said: "Then it seems there was a misunderstanding."

"Go drag that Zhang Qiu over here. It's all his fault — he couldn't speak clearly, and that's what caused this misunderstanding!"

"Right, it's all that Zhang Qiu's fault." The subordinates beside him nodded with exaggerated solemnity, all chiming in agreement.