sbdcsierra Chapter 308 Boarding the Ship
Chapter 308 Boarding the Ship
That evening, a strong wind rose over the river.
The wind made the nearby boats rock and sway, but the boat beneath Wen Shuyao remained motionless in the strong wind.
Seeing this, the skinny monkey and his men, who were hiding in the water plants, became even more certain that there must be many treasures on this ship!
Moreover, just as Third Brother said, five or six nearby boats were protecting this seemingly simple little boat at all times, which further confirmed their suspicions.
However, plundering these ships is no small matter. They need to inform their boss and wait for his decision before they can take action.
"Why haven't we heard anything from the boss yet?" Skinny Monkey asked anxiously.
The winds are strong tonight, and there are hardly any other ships in sight, making it the perfect time for them to make their move.
Third Brother's face was also very ugly. If they missed today, and things were calm in the next two days, it would be much more troublesome for them to take action.
Just then, a dozen small boats silently parted the water plants and sailed over.
Upon seeing this, the third brother was overjoyed: "Boss! You've come!"
The man standing before them was none other than the boat captain who had robbed the Chen family a few days earlier.
The boat captain was a refugee who fled from the border to Jiangnan. At that time, there were too many refugees to enter the city, so he simply stayed in the countryside and ended up becoming a river bandit by chance.
He was lucky; the imperial court sent troops to suppress the bandits several times, but he escaped each time because he was in the city. As time went on, he became the leader of these river bandits.
Although the bandit group did not grow larger, they earned more with these few hundred men than when they had several thousand.
With fewer people, the amount of money distributed was greater, and moreover, as the most senior among them, he could command everyone.
In the past few days, the biggest order he received was the one from the Chen family.
Not only did he receive tens of thousands of taels of silver, but he also gained a wife who became his bandit leader.
"The eldest brother is beaming with joy, and his complexion is much rosier."
Seeing the boat captain's expression, the men began to make sarcastic remarks.
Upon hearing this, the boatman waved his hand and said, "The noble ladies in the capital are much more exciting to play with than those courtesans in brothels."
He kept hurling insults and profanities along the way, and the people around him burst into laughter.
They have always treated women as playthings, let alone Wen Yitong.
Even in this state, Wen Yitong still looks down on them. She is just a noblewoman from a fallen family, not a daughter of a powerful family, yet she still acts so arrogantly. It's truly laughable.
The small boats reached the water plants, and Third Brother quickly stood up: "Boss, you've finally arrived!"
“We’ve been observing these ships for several days,” Third Brother said loudly. “There must be something good on board.”
Upon hearing this, the boat captain did not immediately order his men to act. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and looked around, saying, "Let's wait until it's late at night and everyone is quiet before we make our move."
Their dozen or so small boats followed closely behind the large ship at just the right distance—a distance that would prevent them from being detected while allowing them to keep track of the other ship's movements at all times.
Finally, night fell.
The strong winds made the boats on the river rock and sway, and their dozen or so small boats rocked even more, but having lived on boats for many years, this level of swaying was not enough to affect their movements.
Last time, when tens of thousands of taels of silver were distributed, each person only received a few dozen taels; the real lion's share was taken by the boat captain.
A few dozen taels of silver would be gone in a single trip ashore, so they naturally wanted to take this opportunity to plunder and fill their pockets.
The boat captain saw through everyone's thoughts, but he knew he had to know when to stop. Last time he took the lion's share, so this time he naturally had to distribute most of the silver to his men.
Only in this way would they be willing to stay by his side and risk their lives for him.
"Once you board this ship, whatever you take is yours," the captain said to the men before taking action. "However, you must hand over 20% of the spoils. Do you have any objections?"
“The boss has spoken, how could we have any objections?” The quick-witted third brother immediately agreed.
It's just a paltry 20% of the assets; it's not worth mentioning.
This ship must have valuables worth tens of thousands of taels of silver to warrant so many ships escorting it. Even if they manage to steal a thousand taels of silver from it, they'd still get eight hundred taels in hand.
Eight hundred taels... that's enough for him to live a carefree life on the shore for a month.
After Third Brother spoke, he enlightened the skinny monkey and the others around him. They nodded quickly and echoed Third Brother's words.
The boat captain glanced approvingly at Third Brother.
Before he set off, he patted his third brother on the shoulder and said, "Do a good job, I will never treat you unfairly."
Once he understood the meaning behind the boat captain's words, Third Brother's eyes lit up.
He nodded quickly and followed closely behind the boat captain.
If one could follow the boat captain and become one of the leaders of the river pirates, he would enjoy endless wealth and glory in the future.
A dozen small boats quietly approached the large ship in the middle under the cover of night.
As soon as they approached the large ship, the captain realized that it was no ordinary vessel.
"The curtains used up there are all made of silk." The boat captain squinted his eyes. "And it's the finest silk. This is much richer than the Chen family from a few days ago."
Upon hearing this, the desire in the third brother's heart immediately ignited: "So, they are even richer than the Chen family?"
"No wonder they could send so many ships to guard the area," the third brother muttered, then became happy again. "But they don't realize that the water is our territory."
"We come and go without a trace. Even if there are many ships guarding the area, we can still sneak onto the ship silently."
These small boats served precisely this purpose.
The boat captain snorted coldly; he and his third brother had the same idea.
In the darkness, they nimbly climbed onto the large ship.
The curtains on the large ship fluttered in the wind, and upon seeing this, the men's eyes burned with fervor.
Such furnishings are only found in wealthy households.
However, the skinny monkey had some doubts: "Could this be the family of some high-ranking official...? What if we offend those nobles..."
What should we do if the imperial court sends troops to suppress them?
The imperial court had previously launched several campaigns against him, and he had personally witnessed people he knew being killed by government soldiers. At the execution ground in Longzhou Prefecture, countless brothers were beheaded in public.
Upon hearing this, the boat captain gave the skinny monkey a cold look: "Important people? Haven't we killed enough important people already?"
"What powerful figure could possibly command the government troops to intervene?" The boat captain, clearly knowledgeable about current affairs, said, "These corrupt officials are all busy protecting themselves; why would they go to such lengths to hunt us down over such a trivial murder case?"
Their numbers have drastically decreased, and they no longer commit murder and robbery every day as before. For the officials in Jiangnan, they are much easier to manage.