After hearing what he said, Qiu Yizhi guessed that he must have something to say, so he smiled and said, "My dear brother, although you and I are of different status, we are also friends who have shared life and death together. Is there anything to be avoided? Just tell me."
Li Shengjie then stammered, "Well... well... among the women that my brother brought on board... there is a girl, and I want to ask... is... is she already promised to someone?"
Qiu Yizhi was stunned when she heard this, and seemed to have guessed his thoughts: "I brought three women with me this time, oh, no, four in total. Among them, Wu Ruofei is Mr. Lin Shuhan's wife, Yang Qiaoer is Zhao Chengxiao's wife, Yang Yinger is a widow, and Heer..."
"Yes." Li Shengjie immediately interrupted, "It's He'er. How is He'er?"
Qiu Yizi finally understood the young master's thoughts, and said bluntly: "Brother, I'm afraid you have fallen in love with Miss He'er? She is indeed not betrothed to anyone, but there are some inconsistencies that you must know."
Li Shengjie asked in confusion: "Celebrating a festival? Miss He'er is a pure and innocent woman, what kind of festival can she celebrate?"
Qiu Yizi sighed, and then told Li Shengjie in detail about He'er's origins, as well as her relationship with the Saint of Tianzun Sect, Wen Lingjiao, and the Sect Leader Wen Honghui.
Li Shengjie was originally engaged in smuggling business. Although he was rich and a little respectable, he had to deal with all kinds of people on weekdays. He knew something about the Tianzun Sect. During his previous contacts with Wen Lingjiao and He'er, he also knew that they were important figures in the Tianzun Sect. However, he did not expect that they were so deeply involved with the cult.
Seeing Li Shengjie gradually fall into deep thought, Qiu Yizhi's expression became more and more solemn. He shook his head and said, "To be honest, my dear brother, Miss Wen is missing now, but before she left, she entrusted He'er to me. Although I am not talented, I know that a promise is worth a thousand gold. No matter how difficult He'er is, I will keep her safe..."
This was originally a commonplace sentence, but it actually aroused Li Shengjie's competitive spirit: "If my brother can protect her, I can protect her too. At worst, I can take her to Japan. No matter how long Wen Honghui's hands are, they can't reach Japan, right?"
After hearing this, Qiu Yizi's eyes lit up immediately - if they wanted to keep He'er away from Wen Honghui's clutches, there was indeed no better way than to let Li Shengjie take her to Japan; and Li Shengjie was a man who valued friendship and loyalty, and would not treat He'er badly even if he got tired of him in the future - although living abroad, for He'er, who lost her parents at a young age, it was the best possible destination.
Qiu Yizhi was about to agree when she heard a noisy sound of horse hooves coming from the dock below the ship. Following the sound, she looked far away and saw dozens of torches moving quickly towards Li Shengjie's warship.
Li Shengjie also heard the sound and saw the fire. Seeing so many people and horses gathering towards him, he couldn't help but feel a little worried. He asked Qiu Yizhi: "Brother, why are there so many people? They seem to be government troops. Won't they go against me?"
Qiu Yizi was already in the shadow of the firelight, vaguely seeing the color of the flag, knowing that the people coming must be the imperial army, so he smiled and replied: "What are you worried about, my dear brother? Wasn't your old father also appointed by the emperor as the General of the Jinghai Army, and also inherited the title of Viscount - you are also an imperial army official!"
Li Shengjie felt relieved after hearing this, but he was used to the smuggling business and his long-term status as a wanted criminal of the imperial court made him dare not be too arrogant. He still ordered all the sailors on the ship to go up to the deck, light torches and illuminate the entire deck as if it were daytime, so as to be ready to deal with emergencies at any time.
When the troops approached, Qiu Yizhi stood up straight on the boat and asked loudly, "Is it Zhang Long, General Zhang?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a general rode out from the team on horseback, bowed to the boat, and replied: "Zhang Long greets His Majesty Yi, please get off the boat to talk."
Qiu Yizi saw that the man who was speaking was wearing a green brocade battle robe, silver armor, and had three short beards on his face. He looked quite heroic, and it was undoubtedly Zhang Long.
This Zhang Long was originally the most trusted guard of Emperor Zheng Rong when he was still the Prince of Youyan. He was responsible for the security of the inner courtyard of the prince's palace and also participated in the military affairs of Youyan. He was the one who watched Qiu Yizi and the three princes grow up.
Qiu Yizhi was also very happy to see this person coming to greet him personally. Just as he was about to go down the ladder to talk to him, he heard Lin Shuhan whisper, "Sir, it's dark now, and we don't know how the situation has changed. How about asking General Zhang to come on board to talk?"
Qiu Yizhi thought that now was the time when nothing could go wrong, and what Lin Shuhan said made some sense, so he nodded and said to Zhang Long under the boat, "General Zhang, it would be inconvenient for me to get off the boat, so why don't you ask the general to come on board? I have confidential and important matters to discuss with you in person."
After hearing this, Zhang Long seemed a little reluctant. He discussed with several of his men for a long time before getting off the horse and climbing up to the deck along the ladder.
Qiu Yizhi watched every move of Zhang Long and others on the boat clearly. When Zhang Long stood still on the deck, he smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "General Zhang, I called you here in the middle of the night because I have something very important to discuss with you. Please don't be offended."
Zhang Long is no longer just a palace guard. He has endless things to do and people to meet. Qiu Yizi used a golden order to ask him to put down his current affairs and make a special trip here. He was also asked to let a senior official climb the ladder to the boat to talk in person. Of course, he was a little unhappy. What's more, he has been very busy and exhausted recently, and he is in no good mood.
However, due to Qiu Yizi's status and the power of the golden arrow, Zhang Long had to restrain his temper and said with a smile: "Your Highness Yi, what are you talking about? Let alone you summon me with the golden arrow, even if you summon me with the family rules of the Youyan Palace, I dare not not come."
Qiu Yizi pretended not to understand the dissatisfaction in Zhang Long's words, and said to himself: "The matter is very urgent, and I will not waste any more time talking to you. Please follow me to see someone. When you see this person, you will know that this trip is worthwhile."
Having said that, Qiu Yizi turned around and walked towards the cabin entrance without waiting for Zhang Long's consent.
Zhang Long knew Qiu Yi's background and knew that Qiu Yi always acted unexpectedly and was highly trusted by the emperor. He had summoned him from afar and would not go to see an unimportant person for no reason. So he had no choice but to follow him into the cabin.
At this time, Qiu Yizi stopped, blocked the entrance, and said, "General Zhang, not too many people should know about this. Your guards should not come in together."
Zhang Long then realized that five or six guards were following him closely. He was no longer the same person as before, and now he was on the Yangtze River defense line, so it was not excessive for him to have guards at all times. He was used to it, and would feel uncomfortable if he didn't have a few guards around him.
But since Qiu Yizi had spoken, there was no point in him being pretentious and he could only dismiss his attendants and follow Qiu Yizi into the cabin corridor.
In order to prevent the leakage of secrets and to prevent any accidents from happening to King Zheng Gui of Lingnan, Qiu Yizi specifically asked Li Shengjie to select the deepest cabin for Zheng Gui to live in.
Li Shengjie's boat was quite large. Qiu Yi and Zhang Long walked alone in silence for a long time, but they had not yet reached Zheng Gui's room.
It was Zhang Long's first time to board such a warship. After walking in the narrow corridor for a long time, he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable, so he asked, "Your Highness Yi, who do you want me to meet? How long will it take before I can meet this person?"
Qiu Yizi didn't even turn her head and replied in a low voice: "Don't ask, you will know later." The echo in the corridor made Qiu Yizi's words extremely deep and mysterious, so that even if Zhang Long had a hundred questions in his mind, he didn't dare to say another word.
After walking for an unknown number of steps, Qiu Yizi finally stopped in front of a wooden door. The wooden door was extremely heavy, and there was a tall and strong man with a ferocious face guarding each side - two of Qiu Yizi's eighteen personal soldiers.
Qiu Yizi nodded at them, and said to Zhang Long in an unquestionable and non-negotiable tone: "General Zhang, we're here. You can look through the doorway and see who is inside." As he spoke, he pointed to a square hole the size of a palm in the door.
Zhang Long heard this and walked cautiously to the doorway, poked his head out and looked inside. He saw that there was only a table, a chair and a bed in the small cabin. A flickering candle was lit on the table, and a man was sitting upright on the chair beside the table. The man looked to be in his fifties, wearing casual clothes. He sat in the chair with his eyes closed, but he didn't move at all, as if he was asleep. However, there was an air of inviolability emanating from him.
Zhang Long saw this person's demeanor, and he felt familiar with him, but he couldn't remember who he was. It took him a long while to finally understand what was going on. His head buzzed, and he subconsciously covered his mouth. He asked in a voice so low that even he couldn't hear it, "Your Highness Yi, could this person be the Prince of Lingnan?"
Qiu Yizi asked expressionlessly: "Why? Do you really know him?"
Zhang Long was a little panicked: "I recognize him, I recognize him. When I was still serving as the emperor's guard, I met the King of Lingnan. But that was more than 30 years ago. Isn't the King of Lingnan causing chaos in Jiangnan now? It is said that he personally led the army to besiege Nanjing. The emperor sent several imperial edicts a day to inquire about the situation in the front... He... How did he get on this ship?"
Qiu Yizhi heard Zhang Long talking louder and louder, so she quickly pulled him aside and said, "Don't worry about how the prince got here, you can't control this kind of thing. Don't ask too much, and don't say too much. The fewer people who know about this, the better. It's good for both you and me. Do you understand?"
Zhang Long was frightened by Qiu Yizhi's serious expression and said hurriedly, "I understand, I understand... Even if the King of Lingnan is on this ship, it won't be a long-term solution, right? Your Highness Yi must come up with an idea."
Qiu Yizi nodded: "You've hit the nail on the head. I asked you to come here just for this matter."
Zhang Long was born as the emperor's personal bodyguard. He knew that if he was involved in such a confidential matter concerning the world's affairs, he could be killed if he didn't handle it properly. How to properly handle such a big matter was far beyond his ability.
So Zhang Long looked at Qiu Yizi with an almost eager look: "I think Your Highness Yi has already made a plan, right? How to deal with it, I hope Your Highness Yi can teach me, and I will definitely help you with all my strength."
Seeing that Zhang Long's impatience had disappeared, Qiu Yizi said seriously, "This matter cannot go wrong at all. Only by being extremely cautious can we ensure that there will be no mistakes..." Then, Qiu Yizi told Zhang Long about the countermeasures that she had already discussed with Lin Shuhan.