Chapter 108: Grandfather Departs

Lin Qian gave the order, and the white sail rose on the single mast of the bird boat.

The hard sail caught the wind full, and the boat swept downstream like a flash.

In their field of view, the blazing Lin estate gradually shrank to a speck on the horizon and vanished from sight.

All the crewmen cheered wildly.

Lin Qian smiled, thinking that if Second Brother were here, he would surely recite a line: "With monkeys' cries from both banks never ceasing, the light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains."

After the crewmen had whooped and hollered for a while, Lin Qian asked: "How much silver is in the silver vault altogether?"

Lei Sanxiang's brows were alight with joy: "About forty thousand taels or more. Counting what we seized in the back courtyard earlier, at least fifty thousand-plus taels—just as the helmsman said!"

Lin Qian frowned slightly. When he had said the estate held fifty thousand taels of silver, it had been an estimate based on the number of ships—a very rough calculation. Matching it exactly was pure coincidence.

Moreover, fifty thousand was only his lowest estimate. The Lin estate claimed four hundred years as a great house; even if all their silver were sunk into farmland, mansions, trading firms, and stockpiled goods, they could not possibly have no reserves at all. It should not be merely fifty thousand taels.

Seeing Lin Qian's grave expression, Zheng Zhilong said: "Helmsman, is something amiss?"

Lin Qian slowly shook his head, then asked: "How many brothers did we lose?"

Chen Jiao said: "Eight wounded, two dead."

For sea bandits, such a result was almost equivalent to no casualties at all.

Especially considering that just now, when they were sailing out of the waterway, that well-equipped cavalry alone had suffered no fewer than ten dead or wounded.

The exchange ratio was astonishing!

Only, Lin Qian also knew that this exchange ratio was because they held the advantage of terrain.

If they had been standing on the shore, or holding the Lin estate, facing cavalry armed to the teeth, even with matchlock muskets and thermite, the sea bandits would have been slaughtered one-sidedly.

Lin Qian guessed inwardly that that cavalry was most likely the household troops of the Haimen Guard Commander.

Thinking of the beggarly fighting ability of the ordinary guard station soldiers, contrasted with the ferocity of the household troops—

It could not help but feel utterly absurd.

At the same time, Lin Qian silently reminded himself that he must never, because of several victories over guard stations, come to look down on the heroes of the world.

This raid on the Lin estate—had he not had the flash of inspiration to drive the Lin family members and servants out of the estate to fish in troubled waters, escaping would surely not have been so easy.

Thinking of this, Lin Qian looked around and asked: "Where's Xie Er?"

Bai Qing: "I killed him."

Lin Qian nodded and did not ask further. Before entering the estate, he had instructed the Bai siblings to keep watch on Xie Er, and if the man made any suspicious move, to kill him on the spot.

A slippery, cowardly, yet foolishly loyal man like Xie Er could never truly defect. If not killed today, he would sooner or later court death on his own.

On the Yongning River, the bird boat flew like the wind, while the others chatted and laughed freely.

Lin Qian stood at the bow, his mind replaying the entire process of the estate raid, carefully considering whether anything had been overlooked.

At this time the morning sun was just rising. On both banks of the Yongning River, tenant farmers had already risen, and cooking smoke rose from chimneys.

By the riverbank, several fishing households were carrying their nets aboard their boats.

Lin Qian's eyes lit up—a new idea surfaced in his mind.

Lin Qian had someone fetch fifty taels of silver. After checking that the silver ingots bore no special markings, he called over the Bai siblings.

"There is a dangerous task that requires the two of you."

Bai Qing clasped his fists: "Helmsman, just give the order!"

Lin Qian handed the silver to the two, and said mysteriously: "Go buy a fishing boat."

An hour later, the bird boat fleet sailed into the Ling River.

In less than another hour, Haimen Guard was already in sight from afar.

Even from a great distance, one could see the river-blocking chain on the south bank stretched across the river, while the one on the north bank still lay sunk in the water.

Dozens of boats around were sealing off the gap.

The guard station officers and soldiers had lashed the boats together bow to stern, strung across the water, with the holds filled with sand for ballast—this was their crude river-blocking chain.

This was the Haimen Guard Commander's contingency to prevent the bandits from escaping. He had only received word of the bandits in the middle of the night, and ordered the guard station troops to seal off the Ling River—no more than four or five hours had passed since.

What were the southeastern guard station troops? Calling them veteran soldiers was flattering them; calling them starving refugees was more apt.

On top of that, yesterday the Guard Commander had just executed the Company Commander of the north bank camp, dragging the morale of the entire north bank camp to rock bottom.

And being roused from sleep in the middle of the night to work—everyone was seething with resentment.

From the small hours all the way to noon, they still had not managed to fill the ballast sand. Ten boats sat crooked and askew on the river, and the ropes at bow and stern had not even been tied.

The guard station soldiers busy tying ropes saw from afar a fleet charging straight at them, and promptly tossed their ropes aside and scattered like birds and beasts.

No matter how the Assistant Guard Commander cursed and berated them, it was useless.

After entering the Ling River, the bird boat carrying Lin Qian moved to the head of the fleet.

Seeing the guard station troops blocking the river with their ships, everyone aboard wore worried expressions.

The crewman at the stern working the oar asked: "Helmsman, what do we do?"

Lin Qian said calmly: "Ram them."

Their boat had silver in the hold as ballast, making it heavier, and the bow was sturdy—ramming the enemy's side would not cause serious damage.

As they drew closer and closer to Haimen, everyone's expressions grew tense.

Lin Qian shouted: "Everyone, crouch low, tie yourselves fast with rope, and hold on tight!"

As they passed between the two mountains of Haimen Guard, a sparse volley of arrows came down.

Most fell into the water; the few that landed on the boat had lost their force, and after a light clatter against the shields, dropped into the water.

"Watch out!" Lin Qian shouted.

The moment the words left his mouth, the bird boat's bow slammed hard into another boat. That boat tilted sharply and was immediately knocked far aside.

Unexpectedly, the force of the collision was not strong—the river-blocking boat was easily pushed open.

Lei Sanxiang, Chen Jiao, and the others had already been stationed at the gunwale, ready to cut the ropes.

Unexpectedly, the ship's bow and stern were not connected to the other vessels.

Before he could even wonder at this, seven bird boats had already filed out through the gap they had rammed open.

The guard station soldiers on the north and south banks stood on the cliffs, watching Lin Qian's fleet sail into the distance.

"Hahahahaha... Your grandpa's off!" Lei Sanxiang's wild laughter echoed between the two mountains of the sea gate.

A moment later, the Haimen Guard returned to silence.

"Bureau Secretary, do we still repair these ship cables?"

"Repair your mother's head!"

At the same time.

Before the Lin residence, engulfed in raging flames.

All of the Lin family's dependents and servants had been settled and gathered in the open space before the residence.

The women huddled together like a flock of ducks, wiping tears and wailing, every one of them covered in black handprints.

Most of the men stared with hollow eyes; some knelt before the burning mansion, kowtowing and weeping bitterly.

A naked, mad woman wove through the crowd of Lin family members, her face twisted in a maniacal grin, occasionally spewing vicious curses at those around her.

"Hehehehehe... hahahaha..."

"Kill, kill you all, hahahahaha... kill you all..."

The Guard Commander sat on the high ground nearby. Under the attendance of his household soldiers, he removed his dented arm guard, revealing an arm beneath that had already turned purple and swollen high.

Had the arm guard not been made of fine steel, and had the crossbow bolt not struck at an oblique angle, his arm would not have merely swollen like this.

The Guard Commander's eyes reflected the great fire before him, his expression shifting unpredictably.

A household soldier came to report: "General, five brothers are dead, ten wounded, five warhorses dead, and two gone lame."

"Understood. Gather the remains and take them back for proper burial."

"Yes!" The household soldier clasped his fists in acknowledgment.

The Guard Commander wore a calm face, but his heart was bleeding.

Household soldiers are valued for quality, not quantity.

Every household soldier under his command had been fed with silver, and every warhorse had been raised on mountains of fodder.

As a full third-rank Guard Commander, he had taken who knows how much black money and embezzled who knows how much military pay, all just barely enough to support these sixty-odd household soldiers.

Who would have thought... a single sortie, and fifteen men were dead or wounded!

"Zhao Ba!" The Guard Commander shouted.

"Your subordinate is here!" Zhao Ba clasped his fists in acknowledgment, the plates of his armor clattering.

"Bring me the heads of the Lin household!" the Guard Commander snarled, veins bulging on his forehead.

(End of chapter)

Yahei

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