“Why not? Prince Han is his brother-in-law.” Sheng Xiaojing had a different opinion. “Furthermore, do you know why Prince Han tested him? It is because I brought up the matter of marrying Chumu off to Princess Xinnan to the Emperor a while back. His Majesty did not give me a clear answer but went to talk to the Empress about it. The Empress then mentioned this to Prince Han, asking Prince Han to guide Chumu.”
Madam Sheng snorted, “No wonder they are suddenly concerned about Chumu. Ever since they were young, Consort Han could never bear to scold Chumu.”
“That is because you spoilt him.” Sheng Xiaojing became agitated. An overly kind mother would result in weak sons.
“What’s wrong with spoiling him? You spent half your life fighting for the country and finally got to where you are. What is wrong with letting our children enjoy themselves? I told you before that my children will not go to war.”
Sheng Xiaojing nodded lightly, brushing her off. “Then you shouldn’t care if he changes or not.”
Junhui entered at this moment.
Madam Fu still wanted to clarify. “Junhui, did something happen when you and Chumu went to Guangzhou?”
Junhui thought carefully, making sure to only mention the positive things. “We met Old Master Niu Wudi, he…”
Madam Fu’s expression fell. “Don’t bring him up! I get angry as soon as I think about how he tortured Chumu in the past.”
Sheng Xiaojing prompted, “Who else did you all meet?”
“We also met…” Should he say? How should he say it?
Sheng Xiaojing immediately knew what was up. “Did he meet a girl?”
“Mmhm…yes.” Junhui thought that it wasn’t anything new anyway. “But…” She is different from the rest of the girls that Chumu usually fell for.
Sheng Xiaojing had already given up on his son. “Does he spend his days only thinking about and following women around?”
“Mmhm…yes, but not…” Not only did he follow, he had suffered quite a bit this time.
Sheng Xiaojing could not be bothered to waste anymore energy. “Ha! His behaviour is the same as before! I am going out; I have an appointment with Fang Xuanlin to drink.” He kicked Junhui’s butt lightly. “Get lost boy.”
Madam Fu plopped down angrily.
On the day of her departure, Fu Rou arrived at the dock early in order to personally oversee the transportation of goods onto the ship. Beside Fu Rou’s ship, there was another ship in the midst of loading goods as well. Dark red boxes were being loaded on the ship and a line had formed. Each box required two men on each side to lift and each pair took turns to quickly load their boxes on the ship. Fu Rou did not pay any attention to them as she was focused on her own goods. This trip was going to decide the future of the Fu family’s dye workshop. It was extremely important and there was no room for error.
Wearing a cloth skirt and a hat with a veil, Third Madam hid herself amongst the crowd as she watched the Fu family’s boat closely, waiting for a chance to get onto the boat. Third Madam was afraid of being discovered by Fu Rou and kept darting around to avoid being seen. In the midst of her skirting around, she accidentally knocked into one of the workers that was transporting goods on the neighbouring boat. The worker lost his balance and the shoulder pole slipped off his shoulder as the box tilted and fell onto the floor. Jewels fell out onto the ground. Third Madam stared at the jewels.
The worker fumed, “Are you blind!”
The other worker became frantic. “Don’t talk so much. Hurry and pick them up!”
Hearing the commotion, Fu Rou looked over and was blinded by the jewels. As a result, she did not notice Third Madam by the side. As soon as Third Madam saw that Fu Rou’s attention had been drawn over, she immediately hid away from Fu Rou’s sight.
Lu Hanxing saw what had happened and immediately stepped forward, scolding them in hushed tones, “Clumsy fools. Hurry and pick them up. If you dare to say anything about this, I will come for your heads!”
All these valuables had been plundered from the rebels by Lu Yunji and Lu Qi when they led an army to subdue them. They had kept the valuables to themselves and planned to send it back to Lu Hanxing’s home region. If they were caught, the consequences would be disastrous.
Therefore, Lu Hanxing was being extra careful as he looked around warily. He caught sight of Fu Rou’s back view but did not see her face. Slightly concerned, he then ordered his men to investigate and found out that the ship belonged to the Fu family.
Fu Rou did not know that her moment of curiosity had caused her to become the recipient of ill-intentions. She also did not know that Third Madam had bribed a worker to sneak onto the ship and was currently hiding amongst the goods. All Fu Rou hoped for was a smooth journey and for the Fu family’s dye workshop to have a bright future.
The first night on board the ship went smoothly. On the second day, the sky was clear without a cloud in sight. Schools of fishes swam beside the ship, occasionally jumping out of the water.
Leaning against the railing of the ship, Fu Rou looked curiously at the fishes.
In the days after Sheng Chumu disappeared, she had been furious before her anger turned into pain. After her emotions had finally settled, she was left with a slight bitterness and ache in her heart. She felt bitter because she knew that she was also at fault. Thinking back, she had not really understood him. The ache was because she missed the good parts of him.
As she remembered his mischievous ways to make her laugh, she could not help but smile.
Third Madam had gotten thirsty and came out of her hiding place in order to get a sip of water. However, when she saw Fu Rou smiling and enjoying the sea breeze, her blood started to boil. Fu Rou instigated Tao’er to go through hardship but continued to enjoy herself. Third Madam narrowed her eyes as a sinister look appeared on her face. Silently, she made her way up to Fu Rou and extended her hand. As long as Fu Rou dies, the Fu family will be hers!
“Pirates!” A frantic cry filled the air.
Fu Rou became alert once again as she turned to look into the distance. All she saw was a black boat. It was heading straight for the Fu family’s ship. A gang of boorish looking pirates stood at the front of the boat. They held huge knives and metal rods in their hands, looking barbaric.
Third Madam was frightened out of her wits. She no longer thought about harming Fu Rou as she ran frantically to the lower levels of the ship.
Although Fu Rou was afraid, she kept calm. She knew that there was no point in hiding and made her way to the kitchen in order to find some ash. She used the coal dust and ash to dirty her face and skirt. Just as she was done, the pirates entered the kitchen to ransack the area. Seeing how dirty Fu Rou looked, they did not pay much attention to her and forced her to go to the deck.
Who would have known that as she stepped onto the deck, she would see Third Madam getting pulled by the boss of the pirates, Du Long. Third Madam was about to be forced onto the pirate’s ship. Du Long was just thinking that the goods on this ship were not worth much. He was hoping that there would be a lady from a rich family on this ship that he could kidnap and demand ransom for. Third Madam was extremely unwilling and desperately struggled to break free. Her resistance started to get on Du Long’s nerves as he took out his whip and was about to hit her. Fu Rou dashed up and took the hit for Third Madam.
Chapter 6.2: Pirates
“I am the Second Young Lady of the Fu family. If you want to demand ransom, you should take me. Let my Third Madam go. She has to go back in order to get the ransom money ready.” Fu Rou not only took the hit for Third Madam; she had offered herself in place of Third Madam.
Du Long grabbed a hold of Fu Rou as he looked at her in disdain. However, he realised that she was actually attractive and raised both his hands to slap the dust off her face. Alas, she was indeed beautiful.
Du Long’s eyes glimmered as he laughed out loud. “Ha, she is actually attractive. This trade is finally worth it! Get the goods and take the young lady!”