Chapter 694: Speak of the Devil (2/2)
Just as they were talking, a few swift boats showed up and aggressively headed in the direction of their official ship. Behind them also appeared similar looking boats and they were now pincered between these two fleets. These ships pressed on towards their vessel and the coxswain hastily ran over and bowed towards Zhu Junyang, “Your Highness, pirates have appeared and we’re surrounded by them!”
“Are you sure they’re pirates?” Zhu Junyang narrowed his long phoenix eyes. Most pirates would only try to attack ordinary merchant ships. Their ship was obviously on governmental business, so pirates should be fleeing at the sight of them. Why would they come towards them instead? There was definitely something odd about this scenario!
The coxswain also realized that there was something off about this and said, “The markings on the ships really are the markings of pirate ships...it’s reasonable to say that most pirates wouldn’t dare to directly attack a government ship. Could it be someone else pretending to be pirates to attack us?”
The coxswain was also one of Zhu Junyang’s subordinates, and he was in charge of trade between the northern and southern parts of the country. Because he was very familiar with the canal and was experienced in guiding ships, he had been appointed to this trip.
Zhu Junyang lightly waved a hand and gave an order, “Ready the cannons at the front and back of the ships, then fire a couple of warning shots. If they continue on attacking us foolishly, then let them come ah!”
The coxswain grinned broadly and excitedly said, “Yes! This subordinate will follow your orders! Time to make them see what we’re made of! Everyone, begin to light the ‘guns’ ah!”
“Okay ah!!” More than a dozen sailors appeared on deck and the sound of their assent thundered across the ship.
Xiaocao found all of this quite interesting and smiled, “My Lord, the people serving beneath you are all very clever. When it's time to battle, they all become extremely energetic!”
“Some of these people are retired soldiers from the army, so their warlike tendencies have been engraved into their bones. Some of the others are some bandits that I tamed. Although they’re called bandits, they’re mostly people who had been forced into that life out of dire circumstances. Not a single one of them is a coward!” In the past ten years, as Zhu Junyang himself matured, he not only consolidated his power at court but also found some capable subordinates among the people to help him do tasks!
Bang——Bang——Bang——Yu Xiaocao could only feel the deck tremble a bit. After a few guns finished firing, she heard the sailors cheering, “We hit, we hit!”
Hou Xiaoliang appeared out of nowhere and revealed two rows of sparkling white teeth, “Leader, Old Cai and the others are pretty good at using the cannons. They sank two opposing ships!”
Yu Xiaocao leaned against the side rails of the ship and went up on her tiptoes to look in the distance. There were two opposing ships that had stopped moving now as they slowly sank deeper into the water. The remaining ships, however, didn’t seem deterred by this and continued to sail towards them. Clearly, they had come prepared!
The coxswain directed the battery of cannons at the bow to fire a few more shots at the opposing fleet. Another two ships were hit and gradually sank. The battery at the aft also destroyed two other ships. The opposing fleet’s ships were too fast and when the distance between them closed, the cannons could no longer be used!
“Brothers, it’s time to fight!!” The coxswain bellowed loudly as he took off his outer, more restrained jacket, revealing a short-sleeved jumpsuit. His arm muscles bulged menacingly. At this time, a large and long hatchet had also appeared in his hands. The sailors on the ship all revealed their own weapons.
The opposing ships threw up hooks towards their vessel and they swooshed through the air. Zhu Junyang pulled back his curious little wife and gently pushed her in the direction of the inner rooms of the ship as he said, “Be good ah! Go hide in the rooms for now and it’ll be over very soon. Chunhua, make sure to carefully protect the princess consort…”
“That ah...I can help too!” Yu Xiaocao waved the firearm in her hands as she had been previously complimented as a natural in using one.
“Be good! In a moment, it will be very chaotic here and I don’t want you to become splattered with blood!” Zhu Junyang helplessly tried to convince her. His wife was too brave and that made it hard for him.
Yu Xiaocao pouted a bit and then reluctantly said, “Alright ah——you be careful too.”
With Chunhua and Wutong protecting her at both sides, Xiaocao headed towards the rooms on the ship. Suddenly, she saw a head wrapped in a black cloth appear on her right at the side of the ship. She excitedly bounced, “Chunhua, quickly slap this fellow away for me!”
As she spoke, her eyes roved around and she spotted the bamboo pole, which was as thick as her arm, that had been used previously to fish a few days ago. She hurriedly holstered the gun onto her waist, grabbed the bamboo pole with both of her hands, and forcefully smacked a pirate who had just appeared on deck.
That unfortunate pirate screamed and fell face first into the water. The pirate behind him saw this and became a bit more cautious. When the bamboo pole headed his way, he grabbed onto it and stopped it from hitting him.
When Xiaocao saw that the pole had been grabbed, she tried to pull on it but was unable to move it. She stopped trying to fight force with force and took out the gun from her waist with her right hand. She stepped forward and aimed at the pirate who was only a couple steps away from her.
“Hey!” When that pirate just about thought he had succeeded in boarding the ship, Xiaocao waved her left hand at him as her right hand steadily aimed the gun at him. The smile on her face was bright and brilliant. The pirate stared down the black barrel of the gun with alarm and seemed to have realized what this object could do.