However, this was not a good time for meeting. Seeing that their carriage was also heading towards that temple, she only left a strand of spiritual sense behind and flew back up into the sky.
She said to Doctor Qiu, "Master, let's go! They'll catch up with us soon."
The group of people who had just experienced a huge shock checked the carriage and found that the damage wasn't too bad. Then they got back in the carriage and hurried towards the temple up ahead.
A storm was coming soon. She had heard that the coastal typhoons here were extremely fierce, strong enough to blow people up into the sky.
Jiang Yuqing and Doctor Qiu had arrived at a place to take shelter from the wind. They discovered that this was an abandoned Dragon King Temple that had probably been deserted for who knew how many years.
Although dilapidated and covered in cobwebs, the roof and doors and windows were still relatively intact.
Jiang Yuqing looked up at the dark clouds that seemed to press down to their heads and the increasingly fierce wind. She was a little worried whether this building could withstand the damage.
If they took shelter from the rain halfway and then the roof blew away, that would be disastrous.
So before the others arrived, she quickly flew up to the roof to set up a protective barrier over the Dragon King Temple, only then feeling reassured.
Doctor Qiu saw her flying around on the roof, making strange gestures. He shouted loudly, "Dear girl, with such strong winds, what are you doing?!"
Jiang Yuqing said, "I'm putting up a protective barrier on this temple, so the big winds don't blow it away."
Not long after she had finished setting it up, the carriage from before appeared, heading straight for the Dragon King Temple.
The carriage had just driven into the yard when torrential rain suddenly poured down.
The few people inside grabbed their bundles and rushed into the building in an undignified manner, using their sleeves to roughly wipe their faces. When they lifted their eyes, they saw Jiang Yuqing leaning against a pillar, smiling as she watched them.
Jiang Yuhai from the fourth branch was startled, thinking something had frightened him out of his wits. He stammered to Jiang Yuming, "Little Five, am I seeing things? I actually saw Little Sister!"
Jiang Yuming also said with trembling lips, "I see her too!"
The two brothers moved forward together hesitantly, waving their hands in front of her, and asked tentatively, "You... are you our sister—alive?"
Jiang Yuqing laughed. "Dear brothers, congratulations on successfully taking shelter from the storm!"
When she said this, the two brothers almost cried from happiness. "Little sister, it really is you. Brothers were almost about to never see you again just now!"
Jiang Yuqing patted her two brothers who had narrowly escaped death and were still badly shaken. "It's alright now. Come over here!"
Doctor Qiu shouted loudly from the side, "You few, you can catch up later. Help me prop the door up first and clean up a place to sit!"
Only then did the few people wake up as if from a dream and hurriedly put down their bundles to help.
There were five people in their group in total. They were all scholars from Lingzhou Prefecture. After passing the county-level imperial exam and becoming scholars, they had agreed to travel and study together to broaden their horizons. They had already been out for half a year since leaving after the new year.
Over ten days ago, they entered Fuzhou Prefecture from Yue Prefecture up north. They planned to head south all the way and visit Jiang Yujiang, the eldest brother, in Yashan County along the way.
They didn't expect that not long after they had passed this Dragon King Temple, the weather at sea changed abruptly. The few people had no choice but to turn the carriage around to take shelter from the rain here.
Because they were anxious, they used a bit too much force in whipping the horse. The horse jerked forward sharply in pain, and the carriage swerved violently. The right wheel was instantly suspended in midair.
If it weren't for Jiang Yuqing's timely rescue and a large rock happening to catch the carriage just in time, they were afraid the carriage would have been destroyed and lives lost already.
The siblings hadn't seen each other for four or five years and had endless things to say to each other.
The mischievous rascals from the past had now grown into graceful youths. This made Jiang Yuqing feel somewhat like a proud mother.
The typhoon raged fiercely for a full two days before it gradually settled down. The few waist-thick mixed trees in front of the temple had been uprooted.
Jiang Yuqing was glad she had had the foresight to put up a protective barrier over the Dragon King Temple. Otherwise, who knew where even the roof would have gone by now.
The few students didn't know why, and highly praised how sturdily built the temple was.
When the winds died down and the rain cleared, the clouds dispersed. The two groups of people also had to head in different directions.
When they were parting, Jiang Yuqing repeatedly urged her two brothers, "Piracy is rampant near Fuzhou's coasts. They could come ashore to raid at any unknown time.
You must avoid the coasts at all costs and leave Fuzhou as soon as possible.
Also, you must keep the protective charms close to you at all times and not give them to anyone!" The two brothers nodded obediently.
To put it bluntly, regarding the earlier carriage accident—if Jiang Yuqing hadn't come to their rescue in time when the carriage crashed down the cliff, her two brothers wouldn't have been harmed, but the same couldn't have been said for certainty about the three people traveling with them.
Jiang Yuqing also asked her brothers about their travel funds, afraid they wouldn't have enough. She stuffed each of them with another hundred taels worth of silver notes.
The siblings reluctantly bid farewell to each other. Jiang Yuqing and Doctor Qiu continued towards Zhong Mountain Camp, while Jiang Yuhai, Jiang Yuming and the others continued southwards towards Yashan County.
After they could no longer see the carriage, the master and disciple flew up into the sky again. In just a little over a minute, they arrived outside Zhong Mountain Camp.
They found an deserted area to land then headed straight for the camp.
The overall situation at Zhong Mountain Camp wasn't much different from Yashan Camp. It was slightly better, with two treasure ships.
But when facing Japanese pirates and pirates, it was just a drop in the bucket.
After staying there for over half a month, the master and disciple set off again, heading further north towards Jian Mountain Camp.
When they passed through Fuzhou Prefecture along the way, the master and disciple stopped to replenish some food.
Jiang Yuqing saw a string of five large treasure ships docked at the pier. The anchor chains tying them to the dock already had deep markings, which meant these ships must have been docked here for quite a long time.
Jiang Yuqing tugged Doctor Qiu and said, "Master, look at those treasure ships. Aren't they particularly amazing?"
Doctor Qiu glanced at his little disciple. "What is it? Don't tell me you want to get some ideas. Let me remind you, those are all privately owned."
Jiang Yuqing said, "I know. The government ships wouldn't dock here! I won't do anything else either. Can't we ask around about them?"
As she spoke, she pulled Doctor Qiu to a roadside food stand and ordered two bowls of fish noodle soup.
She struck up a conversation with the stand owner in passing, "Uncle, who do those ships belong to? They're so big and majestic!"
The stand owner continued working with both hands while responding in stiff Mandarin, "Those treasure ships belong to the Shen Family. You know the Shens? They're the richest family in our Da Xia.
Those ships used to sail to Nanyang.
It's just that there have been too many Japanese pirates and pirates in recent years, so they can't put to sea.
That's why they've been docked here for over two years now. It's a pity."
As soon as Jiang Yuqing heard this, her eyes instantly lit up brightly and even her toes were bouncing around happily.
When the fish noodles came up, Jiang Yuqing slurped them noisily into her mouth. Afraid that she would choke, Doctor Qiu hurriedly said, "Dear girl, slower, or you'll get it up your nose!"
As Jiang Yuqing shoveled it into her mouth, she mumbled unclearly, "Master, hurry and eat. When we're done eating, can we go borrow a ship?"
"Borrow a ship? Borrow what ship?"
Jiang Yuqing pointed in the direction of those big fellows, "Borrow those! The Shen Family's head family is in Fuzhou!"
After eating, paying, and settling the bill, Jiang Yuqing immediately dragged Doctor Qiu straight to the Shen manor.
When he heard the Nation-Protecting Princess and Doctor Qiu had come to visit, the Shen Family leader was frightened into a jump. He hurriedly tidied his clothes and led his whole family out to usher them in with the gates flung wide open.
"Shen Yunian leads the whole Shen Family in respectfully welcoming Her Highness the Nation-Protecting Princess and Doctor Qiu!"
Jiang Yuqing held out both hands to help him up. "Please rise, everyone! This princess and my master came to visit without notice. Please pardon us, Master Shen."
Shen Yunian said, "Princess must be joking. For you two esteemed guests to come here, it is the greatest glory for my Shen Family!"
He respectfully gestured for them to enter. "Princess, Doctor Qiu, please come inside!"
"Thank you!"
As expected of Da Xia's richest family. This manor was so spacious, it was probably not much smaller than the Jiang Ducal Manor.
Compared to the Jiang Ducal Manor's fresh elegance, the Shen manor was even more luxurious and majestic. Even the teacups were made of white jade.
Furthermore, thinking of the daughter the Shens had married off to the An Prince Manor—for a single Beauty Elixir pill, she had readily put up over a hundred thousand taels of silver without even batting an eye. From this, one could see a glimpse of exactly how wealthy the Shen Family was.
After exchanging pleasantries for a moment, Jiang Yuqing finally spoke seriously. "There is a saying that one does not go to the Three Jewels Palace without a reason. My purpose in coming today is to borrow something from the master of the Shen Family mansion?"
Shen Yunian let out an "oh" and said impassively, "I don't know what it is that the Princess wishes the borrow, but whatever my Shen Family is capable of lending, we will not be miserly with it."
Jiang Yuqing said, "Treasure ships! The five large treasure ships you have docked at the pier."
"Borrowed for what use?"
"Fighting Japanese pirates!"
Shen Yunian frowned and said, "If the Princess wanted to borrow other things, I, Shen Yunian, would definitely not be petty. As everyone knows, my Shen Family got rich from the shipping business, so these treasured ships are like the lifeline of the Shen Family. I'm afraid I cannot help the Princess with this matter!"
Jiang Yuqing said, "Master Shen need not refuse hastily, please hear me out.
Nowadays, the Japanese pirates and bandits are rampant at sea, and the coastal areas of Da Xia are often raided, resulting in casualties and huge losses of property among the common people.
Whether it is the common folks going out fishing, or the merchants going overseas to do business, it is extremely unsafe.
Otherwise, these treasured ships of your family would not be docked at the pier, allowing the sea winds to erode them.
However, the officers and soldiers of the naval garrison along the Da Xia coast are lacking large treasured ships. In their repeated battles with the Japanese pirates, the pirates managed to escape back to the sea each time.
The court has ordered the construction of treasured ships since the beginning of this year, but it ultimately takes time.
Therefore, when I happened to pass by this place and saw the idle treasured ships in your residence, I had the thought to plead with Master Shen on behalf of the officers of the naval garrison to borrow your treasured ships for use.
I swear in the name of Imperial Protector Princess that once the court's treasured ships arrive at the garrison, I will definitely return them in original condition. If they are accidentally damaged, I will compensate you with a new ship of the same model.
What's more, this is not a bad thing for you. After all, eliminating the Japanese pirates and bandits at sea sooner will allow your family’s ocean trade business to resume sooner, right?"
Shen Yunian seemed to be moved, but after thinking it over again, he still shook his head and said, "Although what the Princess said makes sense, I'm afraid I cannot agree to this matter of such importance."
Jiang Yuqing did not say anything more. She just took out an object from her bag and put it in front of him, "I wonder if Master Shen recognizes this object!"
When Shen Yunian picked up the token and took a look, it turned out to be his Shen Family’s token. He exclaimed in surprise, "How do you have my Shen Family’s token?"
Jiang Yuqing smiled and said, "Lu Yi is my third senior brother!"
Shen Yunian suddenly realized, "No wonder!" He once owed Lu Yi a huge favor. Now that the other party has this token, he has to agree to lend the ships.
Jiang Yuqing took out an exquisite jade bottle and put it on the table, "I won't let Master Shen suffer any losses. This treasure will serve as compensation for lending the ships this time!"
Doctor Qiu, who had been sitting there without saying a word, suddenly jumped up when he saw the bottle, "Dear, no!"
Jiang Yuqing shook her head at Doctor Qiu, "Master, the treasured ships are more important!"
