Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan’s eyes lit up when they heard that a reward of ten thousand taels of silver was being offered. That was no small sum.
They weren’t short of money, but this was money they had earned fair and square. Letting someone else take advantage of them was not their style.
Xi Qingyue immediately steered the yacht slowly forward. They had to haul the bodies out of the water. Aside from Scarface, who would fetch the bulk of the reward, the others could be exchanged for money as well. The more silver they earned, the more they would have to spend.
However, she really didn’t want to store the bodies on her yacht, and she was even less willing to put those waterlogged corpses in her spatial storage. Her eyes flickered as an idea came to her: she would use the large ship occupied by the Red-Robed Young Master and the others.
When her yacht drew near, the Red-Robed Young Master and the others felt their hearts jump. They were genuinely afraid of the two children who claimed to be commanderies’ princesses.
Standing at the front of the yacht, Xi Qingyue smiled sweetly in their direction. In a friendly tone, she asked, “Young Master, might we borrow your ship? Our boat is too small to hold all these bodies. In return, I’ll tie your ship behind mine with ropes and tow it along at high speed. How does that sound?”
The corner of the Red-Robed Young Master’s mouth twitched. He glanced at Xi Qingyue’s beautiful, sizable yacht, then at his own rather shabby wooden boat, and was utterly baffled. Was staring someone straight in the eye and spouting obvious nonsense simply a natural talent of children?
The several young ladies beside him turned pale with fright. They were supposed to stay on a boat full of corpses? That was terrifying enough—especially since Scarface’s body didn’t seem to be intact. The moment they recalled what they had seen earlier, their stomachs churned, and fear overwhelmed them.
As though she knew exactly what they were thinking, Xi Qingyue considerately added, “Girls tend to be more timid. How about this? You can come onto my boat. No one else may come—we don’t take boys.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the young ladies breathed a sigh of relief, while the Red-Robed Young Master and the others wore mournful expressions. They were timid too, all right!
None of them dared argue. Forcing smiles onto their faces, they nodded in agreement.
The Red-Robed Young Master simply couldn’t understand why, out of so many boats, she had chosen theirs.
Once Xi Qingyue saw that they had agreed, a satisfied smile spread across her face. These people seemed fairly agreeable. Their boat wasn’t the largest, but it carried the fewest passengers. Apart from a few maids and guards, there were only seven or eight young masters and ladies—apparently a group of friends traveling together for pleasure.
The largest ship was a passenger vessel, and there were elderly people and children aboard. If she tossed the bodies onto that one, everyone would panic and start shrieking. Too much trouble. Young people were better; they were braver.
She lowered a ladder for the young ladies and their maids to climb aboard, then took out a steel cable and securely fastened the wooden boat to the back of her yacht.
When she had finished, she swept the surrounding water with her supernatural ability. With brisk efficiency, she flung the portions of Scarface’s body she had recovered onto the boat occupied by the Red-Robed Young Master and the others.
The young masters on the boat were shocked and terrified when the corpses were tossed onto their deck out of nowhere. They were astonished because they had witnessed a legendary expert, and terrified because the bodies were incomplete.
Xi Qingyue continued hauling the bodies from the water. One corpse after another was thrown onto the deck, making the scene look horrifying.
A young master in blue turned pale and tugged at the Red-Robed Young Master’s sleeve. “Brother Wu, I feel dizzy. I need to go back to my room and lie down for a while.”
“Brother Wu, I feel dizzy too. I want to go back to my room and lie down.”
Hearing his good friend’s words of retreat, the Red-Robed Young Master shook his head firmly. “No. We can’t let anyone look down on us. If we go into the cabin now, won’t that make it obvious we’re afraid? We can’t let two children think less of us. If any of you dare go inside, I’ll tell everyone all your embarrassing stories.”
He held his head high, desperately putting on a calm expression as he stubbornly clung to his pride. The sight made the others grit their teeth in frustration.
When the people on the other boats saw Xi Qingyue speaking to the Red-Robed Young Master, they had initially planned to watch the spectacle. But the moment she mentioned putting the corpses on one of the boats, they hurriedly set sail, afraid that if they were even a moment too slow, the bodies would end up on their boat.
At that moment, the only vessels remaining on the river were Xi Qingyue’s yacht, the Red-Robed Young Master’s large ship, and the scattered wreckage floating in the water.
After the several young ladies arrived on Xi Qingyue’s yacht, each of them wore an expression of shock. From a distance, they had only been able to see the yacht’s exterior; they had had no idea what the inside looked like. Only now did they realize just how beautiful the vessel truly was.
After recovering from her astonishment, the green-robed woman in the lead bowed respectfully to Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan. “Thank you, Commandery Princess, for your generosity. Not only did you save our lives, but you also allowed us to ride on your ship. I, Gu Huan, am deeply grateful.”
After she finished speaking, the other three women introduced themselves and offered their thanks as well.
Xi Qingyue set the automatic pilot once more, then turned to Gu Huan and the others with a smile. “Do you really believe that we’re commandery princesses?”
At that, a flicker of unease crossed Gu Huan’s face. She did not entirely believe them. She had assumed the two children were simply making things up. After all, their group had still been enjoying themselves in the capital a month ago, and they had never heard of two commandery princesses so young.
Besides, which commandery princess would travel without guards? There was not a single guard on this boat—not even a maidservant. It was all very strange.
Xi Weilan patted her chest and looked at Gu Huan with a solemn expression. “Miss Gu, I am the Commandery Princess Suwei personally appointed by His Majesty. My elder sister is the Commandery Princess Cenyue. His Majesty has even granted us permission to stand before him without kneeling.”
Gu Huan and the others were stunned. Could these two really be commandery princesses?
Xi Qingyue gave a faint smile. “All right, find somewhere to sit. We’ll reach Lucheng in half an hour. Once we collect the reward money, you can return to your own boat.”
A faint smile appeared in Gu Huan’s eyes. “Thank you, Commandery Princess!”
Whether the two girls were telling the truth or not, they had genuinely saved them, and helping transport the corpses was only right. It was just a pity for her older brother. He was terrified out of his wits, yet still had to put on a brave front.
Afterward, she and the other young ladies sat down on the sofa. Everything before their eyes filled them with curiosity.
A strange boat, strange seats, countless unfamiliar objects, and two sisters who might—or might not—be genuine commandery princesses.
What shocked them even more was that the vessel traveled several times faster than their own boats, while remaining as steady as level ground beneath them.
When Gu Huan looked back, she saw that her older brother Gu Wu’s wooden boat was keeping pace with them, secured by ropes. Strangely, however, she could not see Gu Wu or the others anywhere.
On the wooden boat, Gu Wu and the others were being tossed around until they were dizzy. Their boat was nowhere near as stable as Xi Qingyue’s yacht. It had suddenly been forced to travel at such a tremendous speed that the hull could barely remain steady, swaying violently from side to side and making them cling to the handrails as they vomited uncontrollably.
“Brother Wu, I can’t take this anymore. I’m not going with you.”
After the young man in blue finished speaking, he hurriedly crawled toward the cabin. He wasn’t about to stay there and be humiliated by having his embarrassing exploits exposed. It was too unbearable.
Before long, only Gu Wu, his guards, and a group of corpses remained on deck.
He could hold out no longer and hurriedly rolled and crawled back to his room.
Half an hour later, Xi Qingyue’s yacht docked at Lucheng.
She and Xi Weilan, along with the others, walked briskly down the gangplank. Meanwhile, Gu Wu and the others disembarked with pale faces and unsteady steps, needing to be supported by their companions.
Seeing this, Gu Huan was baffled. “Big Brother, what happened to all of you?”
Gu Wu waved a hand. “It’s nothing. I accidentally took a tumble just now. I’ll be fine after resting for a while.”
With that, he quickly instructed one of his guards to report the matter to the authorities.
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue cast him a strange look. So this was what it meant to suffer for the sake of saving face.
