Sorry for not posting yesterday. I went out to play with my friends and got home very late. Ha ha... the result of the cliffhanger sure sucks huh..lol..just felt like pranking you guys.Thank you  for your hard work in editing Minak Amie.

*************************-

Looking up,Feng Ming saw Tong Kingdom’s Royal Uncle, Qin Zhang, accompanied by a group ofhis personal guards, hurry over. His s.h.i.+p, along with the other s.h.i.+ps of theXiao Family, were already docked on sh.o.r.e. Of course, Feng Ming’s main s.h.i.+p wasnot among them.

Feng Mingquickly greeted him, presently, this person was his most important source ofprotection to use against the Tong Kingdom. “You didn’t get too frightened, didyou, Royal Uncle?”

“I’m fine.”

Contrary tohis response, his face was white as sheets, and his expression could not beconsidered good. His chubby face could still be seen quivering. Even though surroundinghim were plenty of imperial guards and Zhuang Pu, it appeared they were stillfrightened when he suddenly rushed over to Feng Ming’s side. Seeing thatnothing dangerous had occurred, they finally felt at ease.

A trace ofshame could be seen on Zhuang Pu’s face. He cupped his hands towards Feng Mingand said, “Ashamed. I am so ashamed. This General’s men have been guarding onland, yet they didn’t even notice an ambush until it was too late. Just now, asI was watching the fleet endure attack after attack, we were simply too far,and our arrows couldn’t reach to help you. I could only look on helplessly asDuke Ming’s vessel was besieged. Zhuang Pu’s incompetence, I hope can beforgiven.” With great respect, he bowed his head towards Feng Ming.

“No, pleasedon’t be like this!” Feng Ming’s hands reached out to stop him from continuing.“General has already tried his best. On the river, I could clearly see that theGeneral had been commanding your men to madly shoot arrows at the enemy. ThisFeng Ming is not even one of Tong Kingdom’s people, yet you had still tried toprotect me. In my heart, I am grateful for this kindness.”

This smallconversation further cemented the good relations between the Xiao Family’sYoung Lord and Zhuang Pu of Tong.

Zhuang Pureally had tried his best to rescue them, however his was disadvantaged by thedistance. He couldn’t fight the enemy head on, and the arrows fell short of thetarget. However, he didn’t expect Feng Ming to not blame him. He couldn’t helpbut gain a bit of affection for him, seeing him as a close friend.

Looking atthe river, the once amazing s.h.i.+p was now nearly sunken, but thankfully theriver was wide but not too deep. If they used enough manpower, they could pullthe s.h.i.+p out. Zhuang Pu volunteered, “As the general of Tong, I have theauthority to mobilize the soldiers. Letting Duke Ming’s s.h.i.+p remain in theriver is a real pity. Allow me to command some of my soldiers to aid DukeMing’s men bring the s.h.i.+p ash.o.r.e. If there is anything precious that fell tothe bottom of the river, you can ask us to recover it.”

Speaking ofprecious good, Feng Ming suddenly remembered that Luo Deng often took out allkinds of highly praised treasures the Xiao Family had collected. It is quitetroublesome now that those treasures are lost. Who knows how many precioustreasures his old man had left in the s.h.i.+p? This time, he had allowed Dan Lin’sHe Di to mess around with them, leading to the destruction of the big,luxurious s.h.i.+p. If he were to lose the priceless goods too, there’s no tellinghow the old man will react.

The worstcase would be him arriving with his sword in hand and giving this unfilial son ofhis a single strike to sever the ties between them.

Feng Mingsuddenly s.h.i.+vered and immediately nodded his head to express grat.i.tude towardsZhuang Pu’s enthusiasm. “It is really good that you offered your a.s.sistance. Iwas feeling quite regrettable looking at the condition of the s.h.i.+p and thinkingabout all the goods left inside…”

Meanwhile,back where the maids were, Rong Hu had come and resolved the quarrel. Then he,Chiu Lan, the other maids, and the Lie Family’s 2 clowns came over to FengMing’s side.

During halfof his conversation, Feng Ming caught a glimpse of Rong Hu coming over andalmost choked after a thought popped into his head.

Oh c.r.a.p!

Tong Kingdom’s king,Qing Ding! His head was inside the box. It can’t still be inside the s.h.i.+p,right?

If Zhuang Pu’s menwere to discover the box, I’m afraid his army will be mobilized to deal withme. I’m so unlucky!

Cold sweat beganto form and Feng Ming immediately retracted his earlier words. He awkwardlylaughed and said, “That…That’s…it’s okay. We shouldn’t be bothering GeneralZhuang Pu over something so trivial… ha ha ha… we will go and fish it outourselves… yes, yes… we’ll just go and fish it out… ha ha ha.”

Zhuang Puwas stunned.

Bust sincehis a.s.sistance wasn’t wanted, he wouldn’t insist.  With a small smile, he said, “Then in thefuture, if Duke Ming is in need of any help, just openly request of me, okay?”

“Sure, sure.”

Finisheddealing with Zhuang Pu, Feng Ming grabbed Rong Hu, snuck to a corner, andwhispered sneakily, “Rong Hu, that man’s head, where did you put it? Don’t tellme you really placed in within the main s.h.i.+p? Oh G.o.d, oh G.o.d…if it is somehowfloating around and fished out by someone around here, I will surely end updead! This is still the Tong Kingdom after all. It’s possible we will be capturedby their soldiers and beaten to death…”

Rong Hulaughed. “Duke Ming has no need to worry excessively. I have sealed the smallbox inside the cabin. It is impossible for it to end up drifting out on theriver. This subordinate will immediately dispatch someone who’s good atswimming to handle this matter.”

Feng Mingwent from worry to relief and patted the other man’s shoulders twice in praise.“I knew Rong Hu was reliable when handling such things. Haha, no wonder ChiuLan adores you.” Without waiting for Rong Hu’s response, the shameless FengMing had already sneaked off to look for his maids.

This area ofAman’s river valley had never been as bustling with noise as it was now.

There werepeople resting and others who were busy consolidating. Quite a few people werestill being treated for injuries. Luo Deng and Luo Ning were counting thenumber of survivors and making inventory of the casualties. Along with TongKingdom’s Royal Uncle, Qing Zhang, the sh.o.r.e was filled with a commotion thatlasted for a while.

By the timethe sky began to light up, everyone had begun calmly watching the water as thefog disappeared under the morning light.

The wood anddebris had long been washed down the stream. Any trace of last night’s b.l.o.o.d.ybattle had disappeared as if nothing happened.

They allfelt like they had been trapped in some sort of illusion.