Chapter 42: The Sovereign Medicine

Lei Sanxiang had served in the army, so he understood the principle of balancing authority with kindness.

This move would not only spare him the resentment of the two boatmen, but also establish his own prestige.

Lin Qian explained, "Third Brother, you are the boatswain, in charge of crew discipline. If you get too close to the boatmen, they will lose their fear and reverence of you; if you keep too distant, you'll easily earn their resentment. That's the difficulty of being an officer. So today I had you wield the whip—both to build your authority and to let you show mercy."

"This..." Lei Sanxiang suddenly found the wine turning bitter.

"When you go apply the medicine to those two, if you know what to say, say a few comforting words. If you don't know what to say, no matter—just apply the medicine. If applying it yourself seems too heavy-handed a show of favor, you can just leave the medicine in their room. In any case, you've served in the army; you should have seen the methods used to win men's hearts in the ranks."

"Helmsman..." Lei Sanxiang's voice trembled.

He understood that everything Lin Qian said came from the heart—every word was spoken from his standpoint. The helmsman truly regarded him as one of his own.

Not only was there no intention of using him to establish authority, he was instead being groomed as an officer.

And yet he had misunderstood Lin Qian so badly. Truly... truly a wolf with a heart of a dog, truly measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty man's measure, truly like the dog that bit Lü Dongbin—unable to recognize good will.

Lin Qian continued, "When you go, take the opportunity to sound out that boatman who abused the woman. If he truly just lost his head for a moment, then let it be. But if he's vicious by nature, find a chance to get rid of him, lest a petty man harm you in return..."

Those who made their living as sea bandits were steeped in drink, women, gambling, and every vice—Lin Qian didn't mind that. What he could not tolerate was cruelty and a twisted mind.

A bastard who lashed out at people like that looked like a ticking time bomb no matter how you saw it. If that was truly the case, better to eliminate him sooner rather than later.

Lei Sanxiang: "Helmsman... I..."

Lin Qian deliberately sighed and said, "Alas, Third Brother still calls me helmsman—it seems there's still a grudge in your heart. Then this whip..."

Lei Sanxiang stood up and bowed deeply, saying, "Helmsman, this Lei Zhendong has never submitted to anyone in his life, but today I submit to you!

If anyone should make amends, it should be me. I was narrow-minded and short-sighted, and I failed your painstaking efforts to cultivate me, helmsman.

If the helmsman mentions the whip again, I'll have nowhere to hide my shame. From this day forward, whatever the helmsman commands, if I disobey in the slightest, may I sink into the sea and become a turtle-bastard thief!"

Lin Qian rose and grasped his shoulder: "As long as there's no knot left in your heart, that's what matters. Enough of this mawkish talk—come, let's drink!"

With that, Lin Qian lifted the wine jar and took a great, heroic swig.

Lei Sanxiang also drank deeply, then set the jar down and said gravely, "Brother Lin, I still need to go apply the medicine shortly, so I can't keep drinking with you. Let me say this in advance—today's drinking doesn't count as your victory. Don't go bragging about it and needlessly tarnishing the pride of us Shandong men."

"Hahaha, well said, well said." Lin Qian replied with a laugh.

Evening.

At the forward end of the galleon's gun deck.

Boatmen with nothing to do had gathered here to gamble and chat.

A few listless groans were mixed in among the noise.

"Stop your wailing—no matter how hard you howl, it won't stop the bleeding." One boatman cursed impatiently.

The two men beaten during the day were lying prone on the deck, their backs a mess of blood and flesh, streaks of blood beneath them—a truly miserable sight.

"Have mercy, go find me some medicine again..." The one beaten worst begged.

"We already asked Quartermaster Zhou this afternoon—the ship's supply of wound medicine ran out long ago. Uncle Chen said that after he finishes making dinner, he'll scrape off some soot from the bottom of the pot for you two to use first."

Hearing this, both men shuddered.

Using soot from the pot bottom to stop bleeding was a poor folk remedy—whether it worked was entirely up to fate. If your luck was bad, it might even kill you faster.

"Can't we go buy medicine from the flower boat? They should have some on board..."

"Iron Palm Zhou, you still have the nerve to mention the flower boat? After the stunt you pulled, why would they stay here? They rowed off this afternoon."

The man who had struck the girl originally had a proper name, but after this incident he'd been given the nickname "Iron Palm Zhou."

Most of the boatmen scorned Iron Palm Zhou's conduct. On top of that, he'd gotten everyone punished during the day and driven off the flower boat, leaving them with no entertainment for the night—so they loathed him deeply. Watching him suffer in a pool of blood, they only mocked him.

The other one, who had drunk himself senseless, was surnamed Lü and had been given the nickname "Drunken Cat Lü."

To be fair, he was even more unlucky. The man was under twenty, had never touched a woman in his life, and it was his first time at such a place.

The girls on the flower boat had plied him with drink until he was thoroughly soused—he hadn't even stolen a kiss, yet he'd spent four taels of silver on wine.

When he woke up, he found himself in the sea.

When he woke again, he found himself tied to a pillar while the flower boat girls whipped him, no matter how he screamed and cried for his parents.

When he woke yet again, he was in the ship's hold, and only after hearing the others explain did he understand what had happened.

He felt nothing but shame, as if he had nowhere to hide.

Fortunately, he was usually an honest fellow, so the other boatmen treated him not too badly.

If the whip wounds on his back went untreated, he had nine chances in ten of not surviving—which was why the cook, Uncle Chen, was willing to spare some pot soot.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the deck gangway. The boatmen thought Uncle Chen had arrived and all looked over.

To their surprise, it was Lei Sanxiang walking over, and they all quickly averted their eyes.

Lei Sanxiang was usually a generous man who often treated everyone to drinks, so many boatmen were close to him—but now, seeing him, they only said: "Boatswain Lei."

Lei Sanxiang nodded in acknowledgment, his face set grim as he walked over.

The boatmen instinctively made way for him.

Reaching the two men lying prone, Lei Sanxiang frowned: "Get some rags and wipe the blood beneath them clean."

The boatmen dared not disobey. They hurriedly fetched rags, lifted the two men, and wiped away the blood scabs beneath them and on their chests.

But the movement reopened wounds that had already begun to scab over, and the two men couldn't help but hiss in pain—though they dared not cry out loud in front of Lei Sanxiang.

Lei Sanxiang had the two men lie prone on the deck, then took wound medicine from his bosom and handed it to a boatman: "Apply this to the two of them."

Seeing this, the two men voiced their thanks one after another.

The surrounding boatmen also began whispering among themselves.

Though the two men had brought their punishment upon themselves, the beating had been severe, and with the ship short on medicine, the other boatmen couldn't help but feel a sense of shared grief—the fox mourning the hare's death.

And now Lei Sanxiang had personally come to deliver medicine.

This clearly proved that Boatswain Lei was still the "Brother Lei" they all knew, that he still had everyone in his heart.

The boatman took the wound medicine and applied it to the two men.

The moment the medicine touched his wounds, Iron Palm Zhou arched his entire body back as if branded with a hot iron, letting out a shrill scream.

Lei Sanxiang cursed, "If you're a real man, just bear with it."

Iron Palm Zhou nodded repeatedly, but sweat kept beading on his forehead.

Fortunately, the medicine was extremely effective—the moment it was poured onto the wound, the bleeding stopped at once.

After a while, the medicine's effect spread, and even the pain lessened. A cool, icy sensation came from the wound, so pleasant that Iron Palm Zhou couldn't help but hum contentedly.

Taking advantage of the dressing change, Lei Sanxiang spoke in the tone of one scolding his own brother, "Now you know it hurts? When you were hitting her, didn't you think about whether that girl hurt? They may sell their flesh, but they're still people, not objects—how could you treat them like that?"

Iron Palm Zhou said aggrievedly, "The girls on the flower boats are all sharp cookies. I only gave her a light pat or two, and she turned around and claimed I injured her—she was clearly trying to extort money!"

Yahei

Pink Round

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