Chapter 254: Reckless Behavior, Accidental Rescue

With the Meng family having many members and Zhang Yue also having a large entourage, they had to split into two groups. Though he tried not to cause a stir before leaving, quite a few people came to see him off when he left Qingzhou City. In addition to the officials from the Qingzhou government, from the prefect to the judicial officers, there were also many commoners who had heard about it, and even quite a number of merchants. Although it wasn’t as exaggerated as the custom of thousands of people seeing off an official with umbrellas when they left office, everyone expressed their goodwill with many words.
“Lord Zhang, we still need you to come back and plant jujube trees and raise silkworms in our mountains!”
“Lord Zhang, by the time you return, the irrigation canal there should be repaired!”
“Brother Zhang, if you get a minor punishment, just endure it. Every official faces some punishment; a true man doesn’t suffer immediate losses—sometimes suffering brings fortune!”
There were also those who loudly thanked him for saving their lives, those who cursed Zhang Yue for arresting people recklessly, and those who urged him not to leave… In short, all kinds of people were there. The most surprising thing was that the Fang family, along with several other wealthy families, sent him an extremely sturdy carriage—this was the most valuable gift Zhang Yue received before leaving. Xi Er, supporting Liu Da, squeezed into the crowd watching Zhang Yue mount his horse, feeling as if she had lost something indescribable inside her.
To Zhang Yue’s surprise, Feng Yuanming, that money-obsessed old man, offered to accompany them all the way without hesitation after learning that the Meng family was returning to Beijing. Since meeting Tang Sair that day, he, who had gradually become more talkative, reverted to being that strange and quiet old man. Though he was dedicated to treatment, he didn’t say a single unnecessary word. Along the way, he stayed in the carriage when traveling by land and in his cabin when traveling by boat, rarely seen outside of treating patients.
The five or six days of bumpy travel by land caused Mrs. Wu’s condition to worsen somewhat, and she even started coughing up blood again when they set sail on the canal. But since she was determined to hurry along, it was difficult for others to dissuade her. Zhang Yue could only order the boat captain to speed up, while he sent two of his attendants by fast horseback to report back via land from Dongchang Prefecture.
At that time, it was the season for harvesting summer crops and collecting summer taxes in the north, so the canals were not very busy with grain and civilian ships, allowing for fast travel. When the ship passed Dezhou, it even encountered an official ship. Although that official ship was only a two-story vessel, there were more than a dozen stern bodyguards on its deck, suggesting that its owner seemed to be a military general stationed in the south.

Peng Shisan didn’t know when he had moved behind Zhang Yue. After glancing at the ship, he said thoughtfully, “It’s quite unfortunate. If the Duke of Britain hadn’t gone to Xuanfu to train his troops, things would have been much easier this time. Still, with solid evidence this time, the King of Han can at most be charged with negligence. To insist on taking the matter to court in front of the emperor is really unnecessary.”

“The King of Han is used to being domineering. Losing face for no reason—if he simply accepts it, he wouldn’t be the King of Han.”

Zhang Yue was recalling that when he met Du Zhen in Jinan Prefecture earlier, Du Zhen had said that he could use the intelligence resources of the Jinyiwei by imperial order. But as more and more matters arose, he had forgotten about it. He also hadn’t expected Du Zhen to step in and take all the blame on himself. Watching the ships coming and going on the canal, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Suddenly, he felt the ship shake, quickly reached out to hold onto the railing in front of him. Just as he turned to ask what was going on, the ship’s captain rushed over from the stern.

“Sir, there are ships from the King of Han’s palace behind us. Let’s take cover first!”

Turning around, Zhang Yue and Peng Shisan immediately saw a massive fleet behind them. At the center was a three-story-high warship, flanked by three or four ships each serving as guides and escorts. They occupied almost half of the wide canal, forcing all cargo ships and civilian boats to carefully move aside, even the official ships with guards on board. The fleet moved at great speed, passing by Zhang Yue and the others’ ship from about ten zhang away in no time, leaving a deep white trail on the water. On the main ship, rows of guards in bright armor could be seen—clearly the uniform of the Tiancewei of the King of Han’s palace.

Seeing this, Zhang Yue raised his eyebrows. “Princes are not allowed to enter the capital without an imperial order. So, it seems the King of Han is entering the capital by the emperor’s command?”

Peng Shisan nodded. “It seems that’s the case. Last time, the King of Han angered the emperor. If it weren’t for the crown prince interceding, he might have lost his title as prince. Now that the emperor is busy with the relocation of the capital, it’s not strange that he’s summoned the King of Han for questioning.”

It is said that when a prince sets out, it causes a stir throughout the land. With such a conspicuous fleet leading the way, the ships following naturally slowed down. Even so, along the way, Zhang Yue could still see small boats overturned and shattered skiffs in the canal. Whenever they stopped at counties near the canal to restock, the boatmasters and sailors would inevitably engage in lively discussions upon returning. As expected, the impact of the Han Prince’s fleet was comparable to an invasion of locusts.

As evening approached and Tianjin was near, the boatmaster had ordered to lower the sails and sail slowly. Suddenly, someone shouted something in the direction of the port, and immediately the boatmaster began shouting orders loudly. In an instant, sails were raised, oars were paddled—the whole ship was in chaos. Curious, Zhang Yue came out of his cabin at once. When he saw the massive fleet of the Han Prince’s palace heading straight toward him, he was stunned.

“Quick, quick, turn left! What are you waiting for? If we don’t move now, our ship will be hit!”

“What’s going on? Weren’t their ships already in the port? Why are they turning back suddenly?”

“Who knows what those people from the palace are up to… There’s no time to worry about that. Let’s get to shore first!”

“Boss Zhou, if we dock now, it will take so much time!”

“Tch! Who cares about time now? Do you want time or your lives? Good heavens, that small boat has been overturned!”

Surrounded by these chaotic noises, Zhang Yue’s head buzzed. When he saw a small boat unable to avoid being rammed by a six-masted ship, with its passengers jumping into the water to escape, he couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

Tianjin Port was one of the major ports in the north, and it was already the busiest time for ships coming and going. Although many ships, like his own, were hurriedly trying to avoid collisions, even more were pushed off course. Though only a few small skiffs were destroyed and sunk, most were in disarray. As the massive fleet disappeared from sight, many people were furious and wanted to curse, but they forced down their insults.

Words can bring disaster—who knew if the people from the Han Prince’s palace might retaliate?

Seeing many people on the water holding wooden planks and drifting with the currents, along with faint cries for help, Zhang Yue quickly ordered the sailors to rescue them, promising a reward of one guan for each person saved. With such a generous reward, the sailors worked hard and soon rescued three men and one woman. Despite it being summer, after staying in the water for so long and suffering from shock, the completely soaked young woman was unconscious with her teeth clenched. In the end, Feng Yuanming came out of the cabin, checked her pulse, and found that she was pregnant. He ordered a maid from the Meng family to assist in the rescue and personally performed acupuncture, finally bringing her back from the brink of death.

It was not until the ship docked at Tianjin that Zhang Yue learned why the large fleet had turned around. It turned out that the Han King was indeed returning to the capital by imperial order, but along the way, people reported his misdeeds to the emperor. Upon hearing this, the court officials inevitably voiced their objections and criticisms, causing a huge uproar. Frustrated, Zhu Di issued an edict ordering the Han King to return to his fiefdom and even sent troops from the three garrisons in Tianjin to blockade the port, leading to the chaotic scene earlier.

Upon arriving in Tianjin, the three men rescued first thanked them profusely and left the ship, while the young woman remained weak and unconscious. She appeared to be in her early twenties, quite beautiful, but her soaked clothes were actually fine silk and brocade. Her jewelry seemed to have fallen into the canal, and no identifying items could be found. So, while the ship was docked, Zhang Yue sent a few sailors to investigate, and soon news came back.

“They are the family members from General Zhang You’s ship, who is the deputy commander guarding Jiaozhi. General Zhang has already sent people over to express their gratitude.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yue was greatly surprised. When a few bodyguards from the other ship brought gifts to thank them, he asked further questions and realized that they had indeed encountered relatives. Since the woman was still too weak to move, he went directly to their official ship. When he met Zhang You, the uncle and nephew stared at each other awkwardly.

“Rou Niang is originally a woman from the Bai tribe. I brought her along when I returned to the capital. Her pregnancy was only discovered recently on the road, and she refused to stay in the cabin. Today, she was looking at the scenery on the ship when, unfortunately, the fleet passed by and she fell into the water. By the time I sent people to rescue her, she had already disappeared.”

Speaking of that thrilling scene just now, Zhang You couldn’t help but sigh. Then he looked at Zhang Yue and said with a smile, “Fortunately, she knows how to swim, and she also met a kind person like you, Brother Yue. By saving her this time, you’ve saved two lives. I really don’t know how to thank you. After falling into the water, she’s quite weak. I think it would be best for her to rest well on your boat for now. What do you think?”
“I’ll follow whatever second uncle orders. Speaking of which, at that time I just saw someone shouting for help on the river, so I had the sailors go to rescue them. I didn’t expect to happen to save Auntie by chance. I left in a hurry this time, and there was already a patient on that boat—there weren’t enough people. Second uncle, perhaps you could send a few people over to take care of her, so as to avoid any oversight.”
Seeing Zhang You nod repeatedly with evident concern on his face, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but think of his second aunt, Dong Fang, and Auntie Luo. Zhang You hadn’t returned home for many years, and now he was coming back with a pregnant Puyi concubine. While it might not lead to a major uproar when he got home, trouble was likely to follow.