Chapter 794 – Li Yongxun's Reconnaissance

Lin Ming rose in the morning and, attended by two maids, indulged in a comfortable petal bath that left him feeling thoroughly refreshed. He changed clothes and strolled leisurely to the main hall—a moderate amount of pleasant exertion had proven beneficial to body and mind. Lin Ming was physically and mentally delighted at this moment. Seeing a full set of fine porcelain containing breakfast already laid out on the redwood round table, his mood brightened further.

Li Yongxun, however, seemed preoccupied, unable to finish even a bowl of high-quality raw fish porridge. Because his desires had been thoroughly satisfied by the previous night's "great battle," Lin Ming's "familial affection" for his sister-in-law had increased considerably today. He asked with concern:

"Does your foot still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Li Yongxun had tossed and turned after returning to her room, unable to sleep as she pondered how to deal with the bald bandits. She had wanted to wake her brother-in-law overnight to arrest them but feared his wrath—she now understood something of men's foul tempers. "A moment of spring night is worth a thousand gold," and the consequences of interrupting her brother-in-law's spring night would have been severe indeed.

"Brother-in-law," Li Yongxun stammered, "this Master Huang is secretly dealing with the bald bandits, isn't he?"

"Of course. If he wasn't, where did you think yesterday's delicacies came from?" Lin Ming replied lightly.

"But the bald bandits are overseas barbarians usurping prefectures and counties... Lord Wang even launched a campaign against them..." Li Yongxun sensed her brother-in-law lacked enthusiasm for catching bald bandits. "I saw them last night—there are bald bandits right here in the Huang residence. Why not arrest them and send them to Guangzhou? It would be a merit for you, brother-in-law..."

Lin Ming set down his porridge bowl and scolded in a low voice: "Arrest them and send them to Guangzhou—to invite the bald thief navy back to Guangzhou's city walls? A woman's short-sightedness!"

Though the bald thief navy had retreated after invading Guangzhou, everyone from top to bottom understood this outcome had resulted from Governor Li "negotiating terms." It wasn't because the bald bandits had been defeated or feared the Court. Why provoke the tiger's whiskers for no reason when he had nothing pressing to attend to?

Seeing his sister-in-law's face cloud with displeasure, Lin Ming realized his words had been too harsh. He explained patiently: "What use is catching bald bandits? If you want to catch one, Proprietor Guo—the big bald bandit boss himself—will soon return to Guangzhou openly and grandly. Governor Li will probably even send congratulatory gifts. Who dares catch bald bandits now?"

"But—" Li Yongxun's loyal heart toward the Court and her desire for personal revenge intertwined, still pushing her to make a final effort.

"The bald bandits haven't wronged us; there's no need to make enemies of them. Besides, if you arrested him and sent him to Guangzhou, they'd just release him anyway."

"No need to release him," Li Yongxun said eagerly. "Don't hand him to the yamen—take him back to the Battalion headquarters for private interrogation. I don't believe all bald bandits have iron teeth and bronze mouths. They'll confess their treasonous plots..."

Lin Ming sipped his porridge unhurriedly, letting her ramble freely. Only when she finished did he say leisurely: "Eat your breakfast first. After the meal, I'll take you out for a walk."

Li Yongxun instantly felt deflated, realizing her brother-in-law had no intention of dealing with the bald bandits. Filled with indignation, she simply refused to eat breakfast in a fit of pique. After the meal, she even declined when her brother-in-law offered to take her out.

"I don't feel well." Li Yongxun affected an attitude she considered quite cool. Lin Ming recognized she was throwing a tantrum and simply ignored her. As it happened, Huang Shunlong had invited him to discuss matters, so he made a few perfunctory remarks and departed.

Once Lin Ming left, Li Yongxun felt her patriotic enthusiasm had not only gone unsupported but had been mocked by her brother-in-law. Depressed, she lay on the bed and wept. After crying for a while and hearing only silence around her, she concluded that weeping was useless if no one heard or comforted her, so she stopped.

"Hmph, if you won't arrest them, I will! I, Li Yongxun, am a true loyalist of the Court!" Li Yongxun's stubborn streak surged. She changed back into men's clothing and hung her small-sized embroidered spring sword at her waist. Though she had long ago returned the stolen Embroidered Uniform Guard badge to the pursuing family servants, in Foshan Lin Ming had been unable to resist her demands and felt having a badge would be safer, so he had given her the badge of a long-vacant Xiaowei Guard position in the Battalion. Li Yongxun hung the badge at her waist, one hand on her sword, the other on her hip, and stood chest out in the center of the hall. Suddenly she felt possessed by generations of Embroidered Uniform Guard commanders!

Li Yongxun abandoned the idea of extracting information from the Huang household's maids and servants: since Huang Shunlong was conducting shady business, his subordinates had surely been trained not to talk to outsiders. Without official status, she could neither threaten nor torture anyone; she could only investigate secretly. Her foot had largely healed—though running remained impossible, walking posed no difficulty. She quietly climbed over a low section of the courtyard wall in the backyard and slipped out.

She didn't know the way at all—fortunately, Macau was small. Huang Shunlong was a famous figure; if she got lost, she could simply hail a sedan chair to take her back. Li Yongxun wandered the alleys after climbing the wall and soon learned from a chatty, bored clerk in a grocery store that the previous night, a sedan chair and seven or eight people had indeed entered the Huang residence through the back door. Several of them had carried rattan chests on their backs that looked heavy.

She also learned these people had come from the direction of Seventh Lane. Li Yongxun proceeded toward Seventh Lane, which appeared no different from the Fifth Lane she had walked the day before. When she noticed the same pointed roof she had seen yesterday, she suddenly realized this group must have come from the pier direction—Fifth Lane and Seventh Lane must run parallel. And the Huang residence was actually not far from the pier.

Li Yongxun followed the alley slowly toward the waterfront. More pedestrians populated this lane—occasionally small vendors, porters, and some barbaric-looking foreigners in strange clothing passed by: red-skinned, yellow-haired, blue-eyed Northern Europeans; light-brown-skinned, black-haired Latins; short, yellow-eyed Southeast Asian natives; short Japanese with messy hair shaved into half-moon shapes; dark-skinned Indians; and authentic Africans, pitch-black all over with only the whites of their eyes showing... One could spot a few of almost every kind here. The grotesque appearances made Li Yongxun quite nervous—terrifying stories about overseas barbarians circulated widely in Guangdong.

Fortunately, no one paid her any attention along the way. Li Yongxun observed her surroundings as she walked. She heard seagull cries not far off and smelled the salty tang of the sea on the wind, knowing she was nearing the shore.

Sure enough, the alley's end opened up where the residential area terminated. Before her lay a large expanse of compacted mud. Several wooden trestles extended into the bay, where many ships were moored. Masts stood like a forest—many were vessels she had never seen before. Several large galleons in particular caught her eye, with massive hulls, masts towering into the clouds, and cannons gleaming in the gun ports... Li Yongxun, seeing European ships for the first time, stood amazed. Ignoring the mud puddles scattered across the ground, she kept walking forward, wanting to get closer for a clearer look.

Piles of goods lay on the ground, covered with reed mats. Teams of coolies, shouting work chants, carried goods wrapped in straw bags and hemp sacks onto the ships in an endless stream. Some packaging was damaged, revealing straw ropes binding porcelain or coarse cloth wrapping silk.

Li Yongxun watched almost dumbfounded—where had she ever witnessed such a large-scale overseas trade operation? She had already forgotten most of her mission to track bald bandits. She simply walked and looked around, wishing she could grow a few more pairs of eyes.

Nearly everything before her aroused her curiosity: even a broken small boat abandoned in the mud, the wreckage of a ship destroyed by storm, and a stone anchor deeply embedded in the mud captured her interest. Walking and watching, she unknowingly reached the pier's far side, which ended at a silted-up dead-water bay where various garbage floated on the surface, emitting foul odors. Li Yongxun covered her nose and hurried back. She found a tea stall on the pier, ordered a pot of tea to rest her feet, and inquired whether any ships from Lingao were present.

"Oh yes, definitely." The tea stall owner was a middle-aged woman. Though called a tea stall, she primarily earned income from hot water—her customers were coolies on the pier who couldn't afford tea, only purchasing some "herbal tea" without actual tea leaves for one or two copper coins to replenish fluids. Selling an entire pot today made her exceedingly enthusiastic.

"Lingao ships come every ten days or so. Three or four at a time." The middle-aged woman pointed to a vessel not far away. "Isn't that one of their ships?"

Li Yongxun looked where she indicated: it was merely an ordinary-looking two-masted large Guangdong ship, nothing special. It simply appeared tidier and cleaner than typical vessels. She felt somewhat disappointed—she had long heard bald bandits possessed great iron ships and had expected to see something remarkable.

On the Lingao ship, a man stood at bow and stern respectively, occasionally scanning their surroundings. Li Yongxun recognized they were likely "lookouts"—it seemed they were extremely careful, probably engaged in some shady business.

"Is it transporting goods?"

"Of course it's transporting goods." The tea-selling auntie wiped the table and sat opposite Li Yongxun. Having no other customers at the moment, she was happy to chat. "Ship after ship of goods. The coolies have to unload for half a day to finish. The goods are moved to a warehouse once unloaded—I hear they're all valuable items. Who doesn't know about Lingao's Australian goods? I'd even like to buy one of their small mirror powder compacts! Pity it costs two taels of silver!"

"Where is the warehouse?"

"Right at the entrance of Fifth Lane." The tea-selling auntie explained that the warehouse was a building specially rented by Lingao people to store and transship goods. Traveling merchants and sailors also lodged there.

Li Yongxun's heart skipped a beat. She looked toward the alley entrance—and spotted a group of people emerging from Fifth Lane. Seven or eight large men surrounded a two-bearer small sedan chair, walking briskly.

"Are these people from Lingao?" she asked.

"Probably." The tea-selling lady looked up and nodded. "See, there are a few with short hair in the group. Who else could they be if not bald people?"

(End of Chapter)