Li Zhi continued, "Er Gouzi, because your parents died early, I will take you on my boat. Although you won't achieve much, you can still have a full meal and some pocket money to spend. But one thing, don't think that you can become big just because you are related to me. Start by emptying the toilet and sweeping the toilet. If there is a fly in the toilet, do you believe I will feed it to you?"
After Li Zhi finished speaking, he was amused by himself and couldn't help laughing out loud. Others also laughed along.
After laughing for a long time, Li Zhicai said to Zhang Ergou: "Okay, stop kneeling here and getting in the way. Go down and empty your toilet!" Then he burst into laughter again.
After Zhang Ergou walked away with many thanks, Li Zhi turned to Qiu Yizi and said, "Master Qiu, are you frightened? I'd like to apologize first." The heroic tone in his words suddenly disappeared, and he seemed very humble.
Qiu Yizi said, "It's all my fault that I caused such a dispute and brought trouble to the old ship owner. I should be the one to apologize!" As he said that, he bowed deeply to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi saw this and quickly stood up from his chair, helped Qiu Yizhi up, and said, "My Lord, why do you have to do this? Isn't this embarrassing for me?"
"It's my due, it's my due!" Qiu Yizhi said, "I'm not showing off. I once followed the emperor in his battles and heard him say a few words from afar. Of course, I couldn't understand the deep meaning of the emperor's words, but the emperor and the old ship owner both valued filial piety when employing people. They are really similar!"
Qiu Yizi's words were both heartfelt and intentional flattery. The combination of truth and falsehood made Li Zhi extremely happy. The wrinkles on his face carved by the sea breeze also smoothed out. He said, "Lord Qiu is comparing me with the emperor. This is really a waste of my resources. Lord, you are a blessed man. At such a young age, you can listen to the emperor's teachings in person. I don't know how many lifetimes you have cultivated to earn this blessing!" As he spoke, envy flashed in his eyes.
Qiu Yizi thought: This old ship owner was so envious when he heard that I had worked for the emperor. If he knew my true identity, he would probably be so shocked that his mouth would be unable to close!
Qiu Yizhi calmed down and said with a smile: "I am not very good at seeing, but I think the old ship owner is a lucky person! The current emperor is clear about rewards and punishments, and he is not a mean and ungrateful ruler. As long as the old ship owner handles the Japanese pirates for the court, maybe the emperor will personally meet the old ship owner. Then the ship owner will be able to see the emperor's face!"
Li Zhi was even happier after hearing Qiu Yizhi's words. He didn't care about the majesty of the government. He smiled for a long time before he stopped smiling and said, "This is all in the future. It's something you can only encounter but not seek. But right now, although I have temporarily driven away the Japanese, they haven't gone far. Although their dead Japanese general was not killed by you, there is no guarantee that some of the Japanese pirates are not smart enough and think you killed them, waiting to cause trouble for you."
Qiu Yizi frowned and asked, "What should we do?"
Li Zhi thought for a moment and said with a smile, "How about this. If you don't mind, please invite you and a few people around you to live on my boat. I will send people to check from time to time. It won't be too late for you to get off the boat after the Japanese leave. If you have something urgent to do, I will order people to weigh anchor and sail to Quanzhou or Guangzhou, and then send you off the boat."
Qiu Yizhi thought for a while, and discussed with Lin Shuhan and Wen Lingjiao, and said: "Quanzhou and Guangzhou are too far away. I have discussed with a few companions and decided that it would be better to stay on the old ship owner's ship for a few days and then make plans."
Li Zhi was very happy to hear this: if he could keep Qiu Yi for a few more days, he could talk with him more. Even if he could not clear the stain of being a smuggler through him, at least he could find out about the palace secrets and officialdom trivia, which would be a good thing with no disadvantages for his business.
So Li Zhi readily agreed and said, "This old ship is newly built, and there are plenty of empty rooms on board. Lord Qiu, please stay and stay."
In this way, Qiu Yizhi and others stayed overnight on the boat under the arrangement of Li Zhi and Li Shengjie. In order to take care of each other, Qiu Yizhi asked Li Shengjie for four rooms side by side - Wen Lingjiao lived alone in the innermost room, Yuchi Jiming and He'er lived next door, Lin Shuhan also lived alone in a room, and Qiu Yizhi and several of his personal soldiers were divided into two groups and lived in two rooms.
Qiu Yizi and others had not had a good sleep for two days. After a quick dinner, sleepiness came over them like a tide. After saying a few words to Li Zhi and Li Shengjie, they left and went straight into their own room.
Qiu Yizi saw that the room was not spacious, but it was clean. It was not a large bunk bed like ordinary military tents, but there was a single bed in each corner, which was just enough for four people to rest. A thin layer of mat was covered on the bed, making it look neat and comfortable.
Qiu Yizi didn't care whether this was specially arranged by Li Zhi to entertain her. She chose a bed at the back and lay down with her clothes on. Although Li Zhi's ship was huge, it was still just a grain of sand in the sea. A gust of sea breeze blew, stirring up the waves and making the ship sway slightly. Qiu Yizi gradually fell asleep in this cradle-like rocking...
I don’t know how long I slept, but Qiu Yizi suddenly felt her lower body was very swollen. Although she was still drowsy, she knew she had to go to the bathroom urgently.
This matter was the most important task in life that could not be delayed, so although Qiu Yizi was reluctant, he had to get up quickly. He saw that three personal soldiers had already been lying on the other three beds. They were all sleeping soundly, with slight snoring sounds coming from their noses.
Qiu Yizi was afraid of waking up the three of them, so she carefully sat up from the bed, looked around for a long time, and groped under the bed, but couldn't find the chamber pot. So she sighed softly and had to tiptoe to the door.
He suddenly remembered that the Japanese pirates might not have gone far and might be dangerous, so he held back his urge to urinate, went back to the bed, put his precious sword from the Western Regions on his waist, and then walked out of the cabin again.
It was late at night and the clouds in the sky were thick, blocking the moonlight. Qiu Yizi walked on the deck in the dark for a long time but still couldn't find the toilet. Her lower abdomen was getting swollen.
At this time, a sea breeze blew, bringing with it the salty and astringent smell of the sea. Qiu Yizi suddenly had an idea: if he could perform a "Milky Way Falling from the Sky" on such a majestic ship, returning the dregs after the circulation of the body to the sea, it would be a good story.
So Qiu Yizi's childishness suddenly came to her, and she ran to a gap on the edge of the deck, lifted the corner of her robe, and urinated smoothly. Qiu Yizi had been holding her urine for a long time, so she had a lot of urine left. It took her quite a while to urinate halfway.
While Qiu Yi was feeling the sense of comfort and relief from the inside out, she was also sighing - Li Zhi's ship was so tall and big that she could not hear any sound of water when she was pouring water into the sea from the deck.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizi couldn't help but slowly stick his head out to see how tall this ship was.
But he would have been better off not looking. When he looked, he was frightened—he saw a man hanging on the side of the boat, at his feet. He was dressed in black, even his face was covered with a black cloth. In the night, only a pair of white eyes could be seen, and Qiu Yizi's urine fell squarely on his face. This man was very patient. He was pissed and soaked, but he didn't say a word. He still clung to the side of the boat and looked at Qiu Yizi. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes showed unconcealable anger.
Qiu Yizi was frightened by this man, and naturally he forced himself to hold back the remaining half of his urine. In the blink of an eye, he felt ashamed again. He thought it was a boatman who was ordered to inspect the ship in the middle of the night, and he just happened to offend him. He apologized repeatedly: "My brother, it was an unintentional mistake. Please forgive me, please forgive me! The money for my clothes was naturally paid by me!" His face was already red.
Unexpectedly, the black-clothed man hanging on the side of the boat did not say a word, but suddenly, he flew up into the air by some unknown means, and on his right hand, he wore a row of claws—these claws were about a foot long, like short knives, a handy weapon. While the black-clothed man was still in the air, before he landed, he waved his hand to cut towards Qiu Yi's face.
Qiu Yizi's martial arts skills were limited, and he had never seen such a weapon before. He didn't know how to deal with it, so he took big steps back. Unexpectedly, his heel caught on a cable, and he stumbled and fell on the deck with his four limbs in the air.
The deck was made of the finest wood, and although it was hard, it was also quite resilient. Qiu Yizhi didn't feel any pain when she fell on her butt. However, this was not the time to be thankful. The man in black had just landed on the ground, and he rushed towards her without stopping. The blades in his hands stabbed directly at Qiu Yizhi's chest without mercy.
Qiu Yizi secretly groaned, and suddenly remembered that he had brought a precious sword with him when he went out to relieve himself. It came in handy at this moment of life and death, so he quickly pulled it out, and swung it into the air while lying on the ground.
The blade of this precious sword is pitch black and does not reflect light. It seems invisible in the night. But when a breeze blows in front of it, the row of claws on the right hand of the man in black are cut off.
The man in black must have never seen such a powerful weapon before. Fearing that Qiu Yizi had another trick up his sleeve, he leaped over in a hurry and stood firmly a palm's distance away from the edge of the ship. Then he threw down the half-broken hooks and took out a few new ones from somewhere, holding them in his palms. At the same time, he held the same weapon in his left hand and took a defensive stance, wanting to deal with Qiu Yizi with all his strength.
There was no sound as the man in black rose and fell. Not only did he not make a roar, but he also landed and swung his sword silently, making Qiu Yizi wonder if he was dreaming.
However, although Qiu Yizi was young, he had experienced many dangers. Seeing that his opponent's methods were very vicious and his kung fu was definitely not something he could deal with, he suddenly had an idea and shouted loudly: "Help! There's an assassin! There's an assassin! Help!"
The ship owner Li Zhi is an expert in sailing, and he has his own sailors on board to keep watch at night.
When the sailors heard someone shouting "There is an assassin", they all got out of their posts and surrounded the direction of the shouting in the dark. Although they did not have any weapons in their hands, they were holding tools such as wooden sticks, crowbars, and hammers.
The man in black was not panicked when he saw this. He remained silent and stabbed towards Qiu Yizi's face with the two steel claws in his hands.
Qiu Yizhi had already stood up at this time, and seeing that his opponent was not in a good position, he hurriedly used the precious sword in his hand to slash and hack in front of him, not seeking to kill the man in black, but only hoping that he would retreat and take away this move for the time being. (To be continued)