Knight of the Sea

Because her husband worked as a porter, the cook left after setting the table so that she could prepare the next day’s breakfast for her husband. Just as she was walking out, she happened to meet Hai Lian and Fang Tinglan.

“What happened to your foreheads?” The woman called out to them in surprise.

“It’s nothing. Just now, the room was very dark and we bumped into each other.” Fang Tinglan lied with a completely straight face. There were clearly candles sitting on the table by the door and there were lights outside the window too. Not to mention, Hai Lian was half a head shorter than Fang Tinglan, so unless he tiptoed, his forehead would only hit Fang Tinglan’s nose.

Luckily, the kitchen-hand was not very attentive and didn’t think too much. She reminded the two to be more careful and was about to leave, but suddenly turned to smile at Hai Lian.

“Oh right. Hai Lian, do you have any girls you like?”

“What?” Hai Lian gave a start.

“If not, maybe you could find some time to meet my daughter Ah-Lan? She’s at that age now. I’m not just bragging, really. If you take a look at my appearance, you’ll know that my daughter definitely can’t look too bad. Moreover, she’s good with her hands; she can even make fishnets and use a loom. She’s also inherited my cooking skills. And look at you; you’re young, successful, and frankly, quite good looking. If the two of you were to become a couple, and later have children, then the days would be…”

The cook showed no signs of stopping; it seemed the only thing she was missing was their future children’s names.

“No need. I’m not looking for anyone right now.” Hai Lian quickly dispelled her ideas.

“It’s not like you have to marry, you can still meet her first…”

“Really, there’s no need…” Hai Lian said helplessly. He thought for a moment, then suddenly pointed to the amused peanut gallery, “If you’re looking for a son-in-law, you can consider him.”

“Him?” The cook raised her round eyes towards Fang Tinglan. He politely greeted the woman, who hurriedly waved her hands in the air, “No, no, how can I let you bow to me? Even with a single look, it’s obvious you are the master’s valued guest and will live a privileged life in the future. Our little family doesn’t match up, no, not at all.”

Fang Tinglan couldn’t help but laugh. Hai Lian poked him in the side.

Seeing that she couldn’t convince Hai Lian, the kitchen-hand simply sighed that some other girl would be lucky in the future. After reminding the two about the fruits in the kitchen and asking them to tell the old couple to eat them post dinner, she left holding her own little bag.

“Seems like you’re quite well liked,” Fang Tinglan said.

“Oh shut it. If she knew what I do, she’d probably faint from fear.” Hai Lian gave a lopsided smile. He put one hand on the other’s arm and used the other to point backwards.

“Let’s go. Valued. Guest.” Hai Lian raised a brow.

A narrow corridor separated the living room and the dining. Several paintings hung along the corridor – gifts from the old knight’s friends. Fang Tinglan couldn’t help but look closer as he walked by. A couple were done rather poorly and clearly wouldn’t sell for much, but there were also obviously works of the city’s great masters. Yet, no matter the value of the painting, the old knight used the same type of frame. The works were hung neatly, with a little placard below each one noting the year and month it was given to him. Fang Tinglan reached out and touched the frames; not a single speck of dust could be seen. He sighed silently, further understanding Yener’s heart.

The two passed throught he corridor and arrived at the dining room. The inside was austere to the extreme; besides a serving of chicken soup, there were only some vegetarian dishes1. On an average day, the couple only had a strip or two of dried meat. If it weren’t for the guests today, then chicken soup would only have been served once every three months. Currently, the only two silver bowls of the household were set in front of Hai Lian and Fang Tinglan; the old couple was using copper ones. Hai Lian made to give it up a couple times, but helplessly accepted it after seeing the hostess nearing anger.

Even though Hai Lian had known the couple for three years, this was the first time they’d had a meal together. He was extremely respectful and caring towards the both of them, but had always kept a certain distance – just as those from the Bainiao District did when they went to the Mud District. Even though he and the people of Chenming Palace lived under the same sun, Hai Lian understood that he and the Yener couple were from different walks of life.

During the entire meal, Hai Lian felt he could neither taste anything nor sit still. But a certain person sitting across from him was completely different.

The young pirate swallowed a bite of chicken, quietly listening to Fang Tinglan chat happily with Yener. The two mentioned everything from Nanjing poetry to Dongzhou songs, from the new route between Danqi and Xilu in Beimo to General Harvey of Fanshui Country’s disastrous defeat at Jiayang Plateau two years ago.

“…then, you don’t think Fanshui lost due to their continued battles?”

“Indeed, their defeat was due to the speed of their intelligence network.”

“Oh?”

“…the speed at which information arrives is very important. If Harvey had known a day earlier that their opponent’s reinforcements were coming from the canyon and not from Mofang Mountain, then the outcome of this battle might have been different.”

Despite the fact that Fang Tinglan and Yener were clearly speaking in the Nanjing language, Hai Lian still found their conversation completely incomprehensible. He gave up trying to listen and instead stood up to serve himself another bowl of soup. Hai Lian opened the clay pot; the old knight’s praise and Fang Tinglan’s humble laughter seemed to join the steam, filtering into his ears. He put down his spoon and licked the drops of soup that dripped onto the back of his hand. His already swollen forehead suddenly pricked with pain.

Yes, Fang Tinglan and himself were from different worlds as well.

When he sat down again, Fang Tinglan glanced at him and suddenly spoke.

“Speaking of which, how did you and Hai Lian become acquainted?”

Hai Lian and the knight exchanged a glance.

“Once, he saved my wife and me.” Yener hummed lightly.

“Saved your lives?”

“Yes.” Yener’s wife spoke up. “Several years ago, we were kidnapped by a group of bandits in the city outskirts. There was no way we could pay the ransom, but luckily God was watching and we managed to escape from confinement. When we were being chased, Hai Lian – who we’d never met before – pointed them in the wrong direction. Only then did we manage to escape with our lives.”

This tale was a mix of truths and lies. Anyone who’d investigated this incident would only learn this story. Even if Hai Lian hadn’t been involved when the story was first told, it wasn’t too late to add him in now. Seeing as even the upstanding couple would lie, one could guess that they were trying to protect their adopted daughter and Hai Lian.

“That certainly is a great favor.” Fang Tinglan couldn’t help but laugh when he thought of his previous conversation with Zhou Buyi.

“And you? Why did you come to Tisu?”

“I’m here to collect a debt,” Fang Tinglan answered.

Hai Lian rolled his eyes at the man and gave a cold hum. Fang Tinglan acted as if he didn’t hear. Afterwards, he suddenly stopped mentioning any profound and complicated battles, any arts or politics, but started talking about everything he’d seen in Dongzhou.

Fang Tinglan was naturally talented in making conversation; no matter if it was the scene of some market filled with thousands of people or something he saw while traveling with a friend, he could make an interesting tale out of any event. The old couple couldn’t help but laugh along. The originally formal and stiff atmosphere seemed to relax into the atmosphere of a child having a meal with his family.

When Fang Tinglan started talking about his experiences while hunting in the fall, his eyes calmly rested upon Hai Lian’s face. The little pirate’s mouth was still twisted unhappily, but his clear focus on the story completely gave him away. When Fang Tinglan stopped speaking, the boy unconsciously frowned, the scar along his eye moving along with his eyebrows.

“Quit beating around the bush. What happened next?”

“Next…” Fang Tinglan dragged out the syllable, “Next we went to look for that gyrfalcon and found that the arrow through its skull was mine, so I won.”

“Tsk, you were just lucky.”

The boy’s eyes had clearly lit up after hearing the result, but his speech was still aggressive.

“My good luck is also my skill.” Fang Tinglan’s spirits soared.

After the meal, the old knight borrowed a carriage from next door. Fang Tinglan took the initiative to help with the dishes. Hai Lian suddenly became the extra one; he leaned against the door, chewing on a pear and watched Fang Tinglan efficiently put the dishes away.

“I thought Officer Fang was the young master type who was neither willing to help nor knew how to.”

“Your understanding of me is quite off.” Fang Tinglan smiled at him, “Rather it’s you who should come and give a hand.”

“Hai Lian helped in the afternoon; the chicken today was killed by him.” Yener’s wife said. “You don’t know how happy we were that the two of you were willing to have a meal with us. If Mister Fang plans to stay in Jiumeng City longer, feel free to visit.”

“Of course.” Fang Tinglan accepted her invitation.

~~~

The horse was old and the carriage was meant for shipping goods; a plank in the front served as a seat and the open air carriage in the back, which was messily filled with knick-knacks was now emptied, looking very much like a large wooden box of poor quality. Hai Lian hesitated before slowly sitting down by Fang Tinglan. The two bid the old couple a farewell and the cart shakily moved forward.

Fang Tinglan thought Hai Lian was sitting so stiffly because the boy didn’t want to sit next to him, but after a while, he realized that the boy’s gaze was fixed on the old horse. Hai Lian’s muscles were tensed, ready to run away at any moment, as if this poor bony horse was some ferocious beast.

“You’re scared of horses?” He asked the little pirate.

“I…” Hai Lian swallowed and looked to the side, “You’d better slow down. Jiumeng City has regulations. If you speed, you’ll spend at least a month in jail.”

“With this sort of old horse, I doubt I could speed even if I wanted to.” Fang Tinglan’s face fell. As it was, the two weren’t traveling any faster than walking.

“You’ve been hit by a speeding carriage before?” Since the little pirate was so nervous, it was easy to tell that he had been on the short end of this situation before.

“Almost.” Hai Lian corrected him.

Fang Tinglan sighed. Wasn’t it a little too easy to get information from this one? He shook his head in his heart, but felt no guilt. He even gave the boy some well-intentioned advice:

“How about you sit in the back then? You won’t be scared if you can’t see the horse.”

A good point. Hai Lian immediately let out a breath, then flipped into the back. The two went from sitting shoulder to shoulder to sitting back to back.

After Hai Lian settled down, he tapped Fang Tinglan on the back.

“Didn’t you say you went to the old man on business? You can tell me now.”

“Sure,” Fang Tinglan slightly turned his head back; the two happened to lock eyes, “The person you need to kill is Fei Kena”

Fang Tinglan barely finished speaking before Hai Lian’s face filled with shock.

“Who?!”

“Fei Kena,” Fang Tinglan repeated. “You’re not going to say you can’t, right?”

“You want me to kill Fei Kena?” Hai Lian repeated as well, his voice rising. “Are you joking? Do you know who he is?”

“I know. The old knight told me he was the strongest pirate on Yun Sea.” Fang Tinglan said. “Are you afraid of him?”

“I fear nobody at sea.” Hai Lian laughed coldly.

“Then why don’t you dare?” Fang Tinglan raised a brow.

“Because it’s very difficult and not worth it. Not only is it unclear where Fei Kena even is, but his navy and men are difficult to deal with as well. Asking me to kill someone like this is as difficult as asking me to assassinate the Amber Emperor.” Hai Lian’s eyes flashed. “Moreover, making an enemy of Fei Kena is making an enemy of most of the pirates along Shagui Bay.”

“So it’s like that.” Fang Tinglan looked down and thought for a moment.

“Do all the pirates obey him?” He asked.

“How is that possible?” Hai Lian shook his head. The Dufeng itself had often dreamed of plundering Fei Kena’s fleet and had even twice come close. The other pirates didn’t even need to be mentioned. At sea, there was no law, no ethics, only gunpowder and cutlasses.

“That works then,” Fang Tinglan smiled. He drove the horse down the pitted road, the wheels going up and down along the bumps. The planks seemed ready to fall apart at any moment. After making it past this stretch of road so bumpy that one might bite their tongue even when swallowing, Fang Tinglan spoke again.

“When the time comes, I’ll go with you to the Shagui Bay.”