The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 344 Can't Catch Up

The strange ship without a flag was indeed a Jin Dynasty ship, but there wasn't a single Jin person on board; they were all Song people.

The boat carried Qin Hui's entire family, including his wife Wang, servants Yantong and Xing'er, as well as Weng Shun, the censor of the Imperial Censorate, and his confidant Gao Yigong, a large group of people.

At this moment, Qin Hui was discussing matters after returning to China with his confidant Gao Yigong.

"Lord Qin, we need to come up with a good excuse to explain our return to the country," Gao Yigong said in a low voice. "If we can't come up with a good reason and just run back like this, we'll definitely be treated as spies."

Qin Hui said, "I've already thought of this. We'll say that we killed the Jin soldiers who were monitoring us and seized a ship to go to sea."

Gao Yigong said, "I'm afraid everyone will have doubts."

Qin Hui: "It's alright. I have a very good relationship with Chancellor Fan Zongyin and Privy Councilor Li Hui. They will definitely speak up for me."

Gao Yigong nodded: "In that case, we need to make the story more detailed. How we killed the Jin soldiers, how we seized the ships, and how many difficulties we encountered along the way must all be detailed. Everyone must memorize them so that our testimonies will not have any flaws."

Qin Hui: "I'll leave this to you. You make up a story, and make sure that everyone on the ship knows exactly what they were doing at the time."

Gao Yigong then picked up his pen and began writing a novel. His novel was even more fantastical than the online novels of later generations. He first wrote about how Qin Hui and his group were tortured by the Jin Kingdom, and then about how they were forced to do hard labor by the sea. Just when they were at their most miserable, Lord Qin Hui stepped forward, killed the Jin soldiers guarding them with a sharp stone, and seized a sword.

Then, Lord Qin Hui brandished his sword and fought, as if the immortal swordsman Li Bai had been reincarnated, killing one person in ten steps and leaving no trace for a thousand miles...

Thanks to Lord Qin's valiant efforts, his family members, who had been trembling with fear, picked up their weapons and fought a bloody battle against the Jin army. They finally wiped out the Jin soldiers guarding them and seized a ship.

After Gao Yigong finished writing, he handed the manuscript to Qin Hui: "Lord Qin, what do you think of this?"

Qin Hui glanced at it: "The description here is insufficient; you should portray me as even more handsome!"

Just as the two were talking, the lookout on the ship shouted, "There's a ship coming from the south!"

"what?"

Qin Hui and Gao Yigong were startled. They stopped reading their novels and jumped up at the same time.

"That's a flag from the Northern Song Dynasty!"

"Oh no, the Northern Song ships are coming."

The sailors on the ship all shouted.

The soldiers on this ship were all surrendered soldiers from Hebei. As for their naval combat capabilities, well... you know how northerners are.

Upon seeing the ships from the Northern Song Dynasty, these people were quite frightened.

The naval captain shouted, "Run! We can't defeat the Northern Song!"

"Even the Jurchens couldn't defeat them, so we are no match for them."

"Run away."

"How do we escape? Which direction?"

"First head east... sail towards the deep sea, and after we've shaken them off, head south."

After a brief period of chaos, the Hebei soldiers devised a basic escape plan and then frantically began rowing their boats.

Meanwhile, Li Bao and his group were frantically maneuvering the boat.

"Oh? The wind... the wind is coming from this direction. Turn the sail a little."

"Damn, something's not right, our boat can't move."

"Quickly, quickly, turn the sail a little more."

"Damn it, you turned the wrong way, pull this rope." Chaos reigned on the boat, a bunch of novice boatmen were scrambling to keep up.

After a series of skillful maneuvers by Li Bao and his group, the unidentified ship sailed further and further away...

Li Bao: "Ah, we can't outrun them."

Qin Hui: "Hey, they can't outrun us."

The Hebei sailors on the ship were also cheering: "They're getting further and further ahead! The Northern Song people are all from Shandong, and their rowing skills are even weaker than ours from Hebei, hahahaha."

"They're so weak at rowing, their naval combat skills must be weak too, right? Should we turn back and kill them all?"

"No, I don't want to take the risk."

"Just shake them off, killing them won't earn you any merit."

The Hebei soldiers on the ship chatted awkwardly, waving and making disdainful gestures at Li Bao and his men's ship. The distance between the two ships grew farther and farther... until they finally disappeared from sight.

The field of vision on the sea can extend for miles, meaning that if you've fallen behind by several miles, it's simply impossible to catch up.

Zheng Chenggong pursed his lips. The plastic man had no emotions. Although he could also make actions like "swearing," he didn't really feel anger, disappointment, or regret. He didn't care that the ship couldn't catch up.

But Li Bao and the others cared. The people on the boat surrounded him with long faces, cowering in front of Zheng Chenggong, waiting to be scolded.

At this moment...

Another ship arrived from the south, with a handsome young man standing at the bow, none other than Yue Wenxuan. Beside him stood Gong Erniangzi. The ship was moving extremely fast, as if it were flying, cutting through the waves. It was so fast, so incredibly fast... that the sea breeze made their clothes flutter backward.

Gong Er Niangzi's red dress fluttering in the wind was absolutely stunning.

The speedboat swiftly pulled up alongside Li Bao's boat, the two ships sailing side by side. Yue Wenxuan, who was standing at the bow, suddenly came to life and laughed, "I've been looking for you for ages, and here you are!"

Gong Erniangzi also laughed and said, "A group of people who have just started learning to row a boat have sailed the boat so far, making it hard for us to find them."

Li Bao quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Young Master Yue and Grand Councilor. Our teacher brought us out to learn how to sail, but we unexpectedly discovered a mysterious ship at sea. We tried to stop it and ask about it, but the ship was incredibly fast, and we chased it for a long time without catching up..."

"Huh?" Gong Er Niangzi asked in surprise, "A bunch of novices who are just learning to swim actually want to catch up with other ships?"

Li Bao blushed so badly he almost jumped into the sea in embarrassment.

Yue Wenxuan's focus, however, was on the word "mysterious," and he asked, "What's so mysterious about that ship? Tell me about it."

Li Bao then explained the two key issues: the ship had no flag and it came from the north.

Yue Wenxuan frowned: "This is interesting! We really need to stop this ship and investigate it thoroughly; there's definitely something fishy going on."

Li Bao once again wore an embarrassed expression: "But... our boat handling skills are too poor, we can't catch up at all..."

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "It's alright. You can use the tow rope to tie your boat to the stern of my boat, and I'll take you to chase after them."

Everyone: "?"

Li Bao couldn't help but look towards Yue Wenxuan's ship, and then he immediately spotted the hundred old brothers under Gong Erniangzi's command.

Li Bao recognized these people and asked in surprise, "I remember they didn't know how to handle a boat either, right?"

The group shook their heads in unison: "We won't, but this ship is none of our business."

Li Bao: "???"

"Stop asking, or the mysterious ship will really escape. Quickly tie the rope."

(End of this chapter)