Chapter 471

Su Qiao could be considered to have breathed a sigh of relief as well, and rested a full day at the courier inn with Liu Rushi.

Just like last time, it wasn't long before Zhao Lin sent up an invitation, inviting Su Qiao to attend the banquet.

The one delivering the invitation was a familiar face—Lin Peiru!

Last time it was all thanks to the large ship Zhao Lin helped arrange.

Otherwise they wouldn't have had smooth sailing all the way to Suzhou.

Otherwise who knows what trouble might have cropped up along the way!

This time Su Qiao heading south also planned to take the sea route, departing directly from Tianjin Guard, heading straight for Quanzhou Port midway.

At most they would stop along the way to resupply.

Other than that, basically they wouldn't go ashore at all!

This way was both safe and fast.

So even though Su Qiao didn't really feel like going to Zhao Lin's banquet, he still had to give face and take a look.

Fortunately Su Qiao was an Imperial Commissioner, with high status and rank, so he only needed to drink a couple of cups of wine and the like to get through it.

……

Su Qiao drank some wine at the banquet, drew a bit closer to Zhao Lin, then made an excuse and took his leave.

Zhao Lin and the others naturally went along with it, not daring to forcibly keep him there.

However, although not much wine was drunk and the time spent wasn't long, both sides showed goodwill at the banquet.

Especially Zhao Lin, after the banquet began, even hinted at putting forward a request to be allocated some of the new-style warships.

Su Qiao naturally agreed.

But agreeing was agreeing—Su Qiao never said he'd allocate them to him right away.

Instead he told him in advance that it would have to be after they'd beaten the Dutch before he could be given any.

Everything had to be queued up after the Great Ming clashed with the Dutch.

Otherwise if something went wrong and Zhu Youjian blamed them, who knows whose head the black pot would land on.

Zhao Lin was also subtly woken up by Su Qiao.

Immediately he felt a wave of lingering fear and cold sweat.

He had only been thinking about how majestic and imposing the new-style warships of Tianjin Guard were, and had overlooked the matter of the Great Ming going to war with the Dutch.

Now that he'd been woken up, how would he dare keep asking for them?

As for Su Qiao saying they'd be allocated later, he didn't dare to fart a single sound, and hurriedly agreed.

Su Qiao also took the opportunity to say he was tired and took his leave.

Su Qiao didn't stay long at Tianjin Guard before Zhao Lin immediately arranged a large ship—said to be a large ship, but in reality it was just a shrunken treasure ship that could carry about two hundred people.

It wasn't really some proper large ship!

Even so, it was already the best among the Tianjin Navy.

Su Qiao and the others boarded the sea ship, said goodbye to Zhao Lin and the others, and the ship set sail into the sea, heading south.

Although the sea ship would sail along the coast, it couldn't really hug the shoreline tightly.

Otherwise when the tide rose and storms brought big waves, it was easy to veer off course, or even have the ship uncontrollably thrown onto shore by the storm.

At times like that it was very easy to run aground.

So they still needed to head into the open sea within a certain margin of safety, and sail along the coast at a distance.

They needed to keep a certain distance from the coast.

This was no longer the first time Su Qiao and the others had taken a sea ship and seen the ocean.

For them, the sea was no longer that mysterious; what it inspired more was tedium and awe.

Once the ship smoothly entered the open sea, everyone very skillfully pulled out chess, playing cards, mahjong, and the like to start entertaining themselves.

Su Qiao also took a straw hat, grabbed a bucket and fishing rod, and sat on the deck ready to go sea fishing.

This time Zhu Di wasn't on the road, so the Embroidered Uniform Guard relaxed a bit.

But Su Qiao and Liu Rushi felt they were missing some fun.

Fortunately Liu Rushi had prepared in advance.

She had brought two extra maids, named Lü He and Hong Lian.

Both maids were newly bought by her.

These two maids were actually bought by Liu Rushi when she was wandering the streets of Tianjin Guard, from a broker.

The main reason was that just one Qing'er alone had to attend to both herself and Su Qiao, and the manpower was a bit short.

As for Ma Kui and the others, they were all men, and merely subordinates, not servants.

So Liu Rushi said a word to Su Qiao, and went ahead and bought these two maids on her own.

Lü He and Hong Lian were both around fourteen or fifteen years old, and not bad looking.

Clever and sharp, obedient and well-behaved, and efficient in their work—Liu Rushi and Su Qiao both liked them very much.

With them around, they could just play mahjong together with Liu Rushi, so there wouldn't be a case of being four short of two.

Su Qiao could also leisurely go sea fishing.

……

For several days in a row, it could be said that the sea was calm.

Su Qiao and the others passed Qingdao, then calmly passed Suzhou; although they ran into two storms along the way,

fortunately neither was very big, and everyone responded in time and got through them smoothly.

However, there's always an exception to everything—just after they passed Suzhou Prefecture, they ran into big trouble!

Of all times—not coming early, not coming late!

The moment they entered the deep sea, the weather that had been clear and sunny instantly turned gloomy and overcast.

723　The sailors and soldiers at the helm quickly noticed something was wrong.

"My lord, this is bad—a storm is about to hit!"

Su Qiao froze at those words, hurried out of the cabin, and saw how the once-bright sky had grown so overcast.

It felt as though it would come crashing down at any second, and he understood that the storm he least wanted to meet was truly about to arrive!

Not only that—in the distance one could even see the "form" of a storm slowly approaching!

Su Qiao's face turned very ugly, and he quickly told the others: "Best to dodge it as fast as we can. If we can head toward the shore, then head toward the shore—at the very least, the odds of safety are higher there."

"Don't worry, my lord, we'll do our best!"

Fortunately, the sailors and soldiers Zhao Lin had assigned to Su Qiao's ship were all seasoned men.

Each and every one of them was experienced.

Even though they saw the danger of the impending storm, they remained fairly calm.

Liu Rushi, seeing that Su Qiao had not returned for a long time and sensing danger, immediately brought her maid Qing'er out to look for him.

Boom boom boom!

The downpour came crashing down.

The gale had already begun to blow—or rather, the storm had already drawn close.

They couldn't dodge even if they wanted to.

"Husband, husband…"

Just as Su Qiao was still anxiously discussing the route with the sailors, he suddenly heard Liu Rushi calling for him from outside.

327, plunge into the sea!

Su Qiao quickly ran out at a jog.

The wind and rain were heavy—indeed, the storm was growing fiercer by the minute—and on top of the downpour, the deck was slick beyond compare.

Walk without care and you'd easily slip and fall.

The moment he came out, Su Qiao spotted Liu Rushi searching for him some ten-odd paces away.

His brow furrowed tight, and he scolded her: "Hu Nao! Our sea ships have already run into a storm—it's extremely dangerous. Who told you to come out?"

Liu Rushi, however, was relieved at heart to see Su Qiao safe and sound.

She hurried over, ready to throw herself into his arms.

But the deck was simply too slick; Liu Rushi lost her footing for a moment and tumbled onto the deck at once.

"Ah!"

Even her maid Qing'er, who had been supporting her all along, did not escape the same fate.