The rise of the poor

Chapter 2284 Finally Arrived

As the sun rises over the sea, a rosy dawn fills the sky. Luo Longwen sits by the cabin window, enjoying the sea breeze, his face even redder than the morning glow.

At his age, he soiled the bed before bed last night and again today. Anyone would be embarrassed. Luo Longwen is considered thick-skinned; those with thin skin would have drowned themselves in the ocean by now.

"Detoxification, sir, this is detoxification."

"The more you queue, the faster you'll recover."

Two lackeys, with cotton stuffed in their noses, cleaned Luo Longwen's bed while comforting him, whose face was as red as a monkey's bottom.

Luo Longwen summoned Ah San again, and Ah San gave the same explanation, saying that Luo Longwen was detoxifying.

"Haven't you finished yet?!" Luo Longwen glared at Ah San with an unfriendly expression. Having pulled two beds, Luo Longwen, who had lost all face, desperately wanted to find an outlet for his anger.

"Don't worry, sir, it's all done." Ah San pretended to feel Luo Longwen's pulse and said confidently, "It won't happen again. Please rest assured, sir. If it happens again, I'll offer my own head as your chamber pot."

Ah San swore with certainty that Luo Longwen would never cheat on the bed again, thus winning Luo Longwen's trust once more.

The reason Ah San was so confident was that he knew the reason why Luo Longwen was in bed with two different herbs. It was all because those two herbs were incompatible. Next time he brewed medicine, he would just not put those two herbs in.

Sure enough, when Ah San brewed medicine for Luo Longwen again without those two ingredients, Luo Longwen really stopped having diarrhea.

I slept well and didn't poop.

"He really is a miracle doctor. He said it was all gone, and it really was. There was no more oozing." Luo Longwen praised the Indian doctor again.

Another day passed.

Finally, we were about to reach our destination, Ligang, and had entered Wang Zhi's territory. A fleet of armed ships appeared on the distant sea.

"Quickly hoist the flag bestowed by the Prince of Hui, or we'll become prey." Upon seeing the armed ships in the distance, the captain hurriedly ordered the flag, which he had acquired at great expense from Wang Zhi, to be hoisted, proving that his ships were under Wang Zhi's control.

This is a triangular flag with the Chinese character "汪" (Wang) in white on a black background. This "汪" is not an ordinary character; it is formed by two pythons coiled together, with two Japanese swords crossed below them, making it look ferocious and arrogant.

Soon, the armed fleet cut straight through the waves and arrived. It was a naval battle formation consisting of a large ship as the flagship, two medium-sized ships as escorts, and four small ships as henchmen.

"Where did you come from?! Why are you flying our subordinate flag?! Tell me, where did you get the flag?!"

On the flagship, a Japanese pirate shouted down at the captain and his men, brandishing his katana and pointing it at them.

"General, we are a ship belonging to the Wang family of Hangzhou Prefecture. This flag was bestowed upon us by the Prince of Hui after my master presented him with 8,000 shi of grain as tribute," the captain replied humbly, bowing respectfully on the deck.

"The Wang family?! Really? Your family shares the same surname as our king?!" The Japanese pirates on the flagship looked at the captain suspiciously.

“It’s true, my master is from the Wang family of Hangzhou. He is honored to share the same surname as the Prince of Hui, but we are not related.”

The captain reported the truth.

"Is that so? Have everyone on your ship come out. I need to count the number of people. Not a single one can be missing, otherwise, you will be punished for harboring spies." The Japanese pirate on the flagship pointed and gave the order with his Japanese sword.

The captain had no choice but to call everyone on board onto the deck, including Luo Longwen and his two henchmen.

The Japanese pirate flagship lowered its gangway and was placed on the Wang family's smuggling ship. A group of Japanese pirates, armed with swords, crossbows, and muskets, boarded the Wang family's smuggling ship via the gangway, and the leader of the pirates began to count the number of people.

"One, two, three, fifty-three men." After counting the number of men, the leading Japanese pirate pointed his katana at the cabin and ordered the pirates behind him, "Go in and search, see if there are any more hiding places?"

"General, General, there really isn't any left," the captain pleaded with a bitter face.

"Whether they have it or not, we'll have to search to find out. If they don't, then we'll let you through. If they do, then you're not leaving!"

The leader of the Japanese pirates snorted, brandished his sword, and ordered, "Go in and search. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"

"Hey!" A group of Japanese pirates roared and rushed into the cabin.

"Let them search if they want. We're not harboring anyone, so what are we afraid of?" Luo Longwen said, looking at the captain who looked pained.

"My goodness, they're not going in to search for people as simply as they would," the captain said with a wry smile.

"Not just searching for people?" Luo Longwen was taken aback, puzzled.

He quickly understood.

Inside the cabin, there was a loud clanging and banging, and then the Japanese pirates who had gone in empty-handed came out laden with goods, carrying rice, flour, oil, cured meat, cloth, silk, and other valuables. None of the pirates were empty-handed; two of them even carried out the wolfskin rug that Luo Longwen had been drying.

"Wait, put down that wolfskin rug you're holding, that's mine!" Luo Longwen couldn't help but shout.

This wolf-skin rug was a gift from Yan Shifan, which Luo Longwen treasured. It was also a symbol of his close relationship with Yan Shifan. How could he not be agitated to see the wolf-skin rug being taken away by the Japanese pirates?

"I suspect these things are related to the government troops and need to be taken back for investigation. Are you trying to obstruct the investigation?! Or are you a spy for the government troops?!" The leading Japanese pirate pointed his sword at Luo Longwen and said in an unfriendly tone.

The captain stepped forward and tugged at Luo Longwen's clothes, whispering, "Sir, please bear with it. When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Now we're at their mercy, we have no choice but to bow our heads."

Luo Longwen was indignant and pointed to the triangular black python flag flying on the ship, "We have a flag bestowed by the Prince of Hui on our ship. We are guests who have received the Prince of Hui's protection. How can you treat us like this?!"

"Hmph, if it weren't for the Black Python Flag, would you still speak to me like that?! I would have killed you long ago! If it weren't for the Black Python Flag, we wouldn't be just checking these things! You would all be taken back as slaves, and your ships and everything on board would be confiscated!"

The leader of the Japanese pirates patted Luo Longwen on the shoulder with his katana, chuckled coldly, and said in an unfriendly tone.

"Thank you for your consideration, General." The captain quickly clasped his hands in thanks.

"And you?!" The leader of the Japanese pirates looked at Luo Longwen.

"Boss, let's just chop him up and feed him to the sharks. Anyway, accidents happen all the time at sea, and it's common for people to accidentally fall into the sea."

The Japanese pirates behind him offered a sinister suggestion.

"Thank you for your consideration, General." Seeing this, Luo Longwen decisively backed down.

"Heh, you're smart to know what's good for you." The leading Japanese pirate patted Luo Longwen's face with his katana and laughed smugly. (End of Chapter)