Chapter Twelve The Great Ship Turns Over

  Pearl's aunt was tossed about by the capsized boat, and in a flurry, she rushed to the bed, picked up Zhao'er, and stumbled as she went to find Zhao Wei. At this time, both children needed attention, and Mrs. Mi also had to take care of Zhao Zhuo, so it was unlikely that she could look after her son.

  Zhaowei's cabin was next door, and it would have been easy to get there, just a two-step walk, but now the ship was unstable, and Pearl Aunt swayed for half a day before walking out of the door. She saw Zhaowei frantically shouting "Dad" as he ran to the other end of the corridor to Zhao Zhuo's cabin. Autumn Leaf quickly grabbed him and handed him over to Mistress Mi. At that moment, the lights in the cabin went out.

  Zhaowei has someone to take care of, so Zhenzhu hesitated. Logically speaking, she should have sent Zhao over together with her, but now the boat is capsizing so badly, the corridor is not short, and there are no lights, what if she accidentally drops or bumps the child on the way? It's better to stay in the room. Zhenzhu looked down at Zhao, saw that although she was a bit scared, she was very calm and didn't cry or make a fuss, so she immediately made up her mind, returned to the bedside, sat down, hugged her tightly with one hand, and grasped the bed frame firmly with the other hand to steady herself.

  After a while, the boat didn't rock as violently, and the wind and rain outside seemed to have subsided. Zhang ordered someone to relight the lanterns, and soon the main cabin was bright again. However, from Zhao Zhuo's room came the sound of vomiting. It turned out that Zhao Zhuo had gotten seasick again and was throwing up badly. Zhao Wei was so scared that he burst into tears. Mi Shi was busy taking care of her husband and couldn't take care of her son, running around frantically. Zhang ordered Akira to hold Zhao Wei and take care of him, only then could Mi Shi free up her hands.

  "Zhang asked again: 'How is elder sister? Where is Pearl's wife?'"

  "Here, sister is fine, not crying or making a fuss, just the lamp went out. I don't dare leave her to light it, and I'm afraid that if I go out of the room, the boat will capsize and she'll get hurt."

  "Very well," said Zhang, "since it's like that, you all stay in that house and wait until the wind and rain let up a bit before doing anything else."

  "Be good, don't cry or make a fuss," Pearl whispered to Zhao'er, "or Old Mistress will get angry."

  Zhao? Good grief, when did she ever throw a tantrum? Among this whole family, isn't she the one who gives people the least trouble?

  The Mi family was short-handed, so Zhang watched the grandson and sent Autumn Leaf to help. She also scolded Spring Grass: "Let her go find ginseng, it's been more than an hour and there's no sign of her, where did she sneak off to be lazy? The medicine! The freshly brewed medicine has all been spilled, hurry up and brew some more!"

  As soon as the mistress mentioned the name of her younger sister, Pearl immediately became alert. Nowadays, among several cabins, except for taking care of her sister, only one Autumn Leaf is able to do chores, and Spring Grass's absence is really too noticeable. The old lady said it was right, Spring Grass just needed to go down to the bottom cabin to find a few ginseng roots, and at night to decoct ginseng soup for the second master, but the old lady had given orders for so long, and Spring Grass had been gone for so long, how come she still hadn't returned? Pearl didn't suspect that her younger sister would intentionally slack off, it's just that her father-in-law and mother-in-law were both on the boat, she might have taken the opportunity to go to the back cabin to talk to them, because suddenly a strong wind and rain started, the boat was too rocky, and temporarily didn't dare to come back, this is also very possible.

  Zhang was a gentle and dignified hostess, but at ordinary times, it wouldn't be a big deal if Chun Cao slacked off a bit. However, now that they were waiting for guests to arrive, she still did this, and no matter how gentle Zhang was, she couldn't let it slide.

  Pearl's aunt bit her lip, seeing that the ship had stabilized a lot, and quietly got up to find her younger sister. As soon as she moved, Zhao called out, and she didn't dare move again. There was only one cabin in the house, and she couldn't bear to leave the child alone, which would be a crime. But if she took the child to the master's house to settle down, what should she say when they asked her where she was going? If she looked for Chuncao, where did Chuncao go, maybe even the public would be involved.

  Since we can't leave the child behind and also can't disturb the master, the best solution is to take the child with us.

  Thinking of this, Pearl Aunt looked down at Zhao and the idea that had just arisen was scattered. Although the wind and rain outside were smaller, the child might not be able to withstand it, so she went to the cabin entrance and called someone to bring her little sister back, as long as the noise was small, there was a great hope that it would not disturb the owner's family.

  She whispered to Zhao: "Sister, be quiet, don't make a sound, we'll be back soon."

  Zhao looked at her with some confusion, not understanding what she wanted to do, but he was not afraid in his heart. This nanny would never have any harmful intentions towards him.

  Pearl carefully picked up Zhao, looked out into the corridor, saw that the master bedroom and Zhao Zhuo's couple were busy with their own affairs, didn't notice this, and quietly slipped out.

  She hastily made her way through the corridor to the vicinity of the cabin entrance, where there was a staircase leading down to the next cabin. A few more steps forward would be the cabin door. Originally, two maids were guarding outside, but now they were nowhere to be seen due to the stormy weather, probably hiding somewhere. She felt at a loss, without even a messenger, how could she find her younger sister?

  At this time, footsteps sounded from the stairs below. Pearl Aunt was puzzled, as the two lower cabins were used for storing luggage, and it was unlikely that anyone would be there at such a late hour. The heavy footsteps didn't sound like those of a servant girl from the Hou household either; could it be that a sailor had sneaked in?

  She left a heart eye, quietly hiding in the first cabin of the corridor, which was originally the bedroom for these maidservants. She was extremely familiar with this place, and at this time, it was dark and not easy to be seen.

  A dark figure emerged from the staircase, looked around, and the light was too dim to see who it was. But judging by his height, she knew he must be a man. Pearl's heart immediately rose to her throat.

  This is a place for women, except for Second Master and Wei Ge, how could there be any other men coming in?!

  Suddenly a loud thunderstorm erupted in the sky outside, lightning flashed through the porthole and illuminated the man's face, which was somehow familiar yet strange.

  Pearl and Zhao, who was in her arms, discovered at the same time that the man was soaked from head to toe, with bloodstains on his cheeks, a ferocious expression, and a long knife tucked into his waist.

  Pearl tightly covered her mouth, not letting herself cry out, and Zhao also clenched his teeth, holding his breath.

  The man quickly opened the cabin door and went out, hastily pulling the cabin door with him without closing it tightly, and then jumped up and disappeared.

  Zhenzhu sister carefully walked over, quickly closing the cabin door, only then did she start to feel her legs go soft. Zhao however turned her head towards the stairs leading down to the lower cabins: "Down there, there's blood." Zhenzhu sister was reminded by her words and her face turned white, looking at the main cabin at the end of the corridor, everyone was in a flurry, outside the thunderstorm was getting louder, no one had discovered the commotion over here yet.

  She gritted her teeth, took a lighter from the shelf beside her, opened the lid and lit it. Zhao saw that things were not going well and called out to her: "Quickly call someone." But Pearl's face was pale as she gently patted her twice, coaxing her: "Sister, be good and don't make a sound." Then, taking advantage of the faint light from the flame, she slowly made her way down the stairs.

  The stairs are very wide and stable, with large pieces of luggage at the bottom. When moving luggage, if the stairs are not wide enough or stable, it is easy to damage things. Pearl Aunt often comes up and down here, and she has gotten used to it. At this moment, she carefully holds Zhao in one hand and a lighter in the other, tightly hugging the wall as she walks down. She had only gone down one floor when she faintly heard the sound of running water.

  How can there be the sound of running water?

  Pearl didn't notice and continued walking down, unaware that Zhao had already turned pale in her arms. The sound of the water wasn't wave after wave, like the sound of waves crashing against the hull, but rather a gurgling noise, as if the water was coming from somewhere, probably a problem with the hold!

  Zhao tightly grasped Pearl's collar: "Go up!"

  "Sister, listen and don't make trouble." Pearl didn't understand her meaning and continued walking down, but soon she also stopped.

  In the lower cabin, large luggage was arranged as usual without any abnormalities. However, further down, water had flooded the entire bottom of the hold, and at the entrance to the stairs, a light-colored object was floating, emitting a bloody smell that made one feel ominous.

  Pearl's face turned even paler, she took a few more steps forward, the dim light of the firefly lantern shone on the pale object, reflecting the fabric of Chuncao's clothes today, and that object was clearly a person, it was indeed the long-lost Chuncao!

  Zhao couldn't help but exclaim in shock. The Chuncao at this time was probably already dead, with several obvious knife wounds on his body, bloodstains all over him, and he floated motionlessly in the water.

  Pearl's legs went soft and she collapsed on the stairs. Zhao couldn't care about that anymore, shouting loudly: "Quickly call someone! Go upstairs and call someone!"

  This loud cry awakened Pearl, who hastily carried Zhao upstairs and back to their floor. As they reached the corridor, Autumn Leaves was already peeking from the other end: "Pearl, was it your sister crying just now?"

  Pearl's sister sat at the foot of the stairs, trembling all over, unable to utter a word. Zhao was placed on the deck board, shouting loudly: "Spring grass is dead! The boat is flooded! Run quickly!"

  Qiu Ye rushed over and picked her up. Zhang Shi and Mi Shi also heard the noise and walked out of the cabin: "What's wrong? What happened? What is sister saying?"

  "Spring grass... spring grass is dead, killed by someone... who was that person! Just now that person!"

  "What was that just now?" Akira didn't understand, "Sister, what are you trying to say?"

  "Zhao?" shouted loudly and violently: "The ship is taking on water!"

  Akane let out a big jump, Zhang quickly walked over to hug her granddaughter and ordered Akane to hurry down to check what was going on. Akane hastily lit the lantern and went downstairs, but soon ran back in fear: "The boat is taking on water, the hold is already half flooded, Chuncao is completely soaked in the water, I'm afraid she's already dead!"

  Mr. Zhang hastily ordered: "Hurry up and inform the whole ship, send an urgent message to other ships, we must dock immediately!"

  The orders were quickly passed down, and the entire boat was busy. Some lit the distress signal lanterns, others shook the lanterns to send signals to passing boats, while some hastily gathered their belongings, retrieved the bodies of Chuncao and her father, and went to check for leaks in the hold. It was discovered that the leak was severe, with over a dozen large holes in the bottom of the boat, which could not be supported for much longer. Zhang Shi quickly made a decision, ordering the boat to head ashore and abandon ship. He also ordered his servant to carry Zhao Jiong and prepare to leave. Chuncao's parents had already cried themselves into a mess upon hearing the news of their daughter's death. Zhenzhu was also unable to cope, so Zhang Shi let her hold their granddaughter tightly and follow closely behind Mi Shi, as long as they could keep up when they went ashore.

  A group of people stumbled onto the deck, the ship was quickly approaching the shore, but the hull was heavy and the speed was getting slower. At this time, the old sailor came to report, drenched from head to toe: "The other ships have all set off, and the Houye's ship didn't wait for us!"

  "What did you say?!" Zhang was furious, "Didn't you make it clear what you were saying?!"

  "I'm telling you clearly, I saw with my own eyes Lord Hou ordering people to speed up the boat!"

  Zhang's family was furious, and just then someone came to report: "One of the servants on the boat is missing. He is tall and big, maybe he is the person that the wet nurse saw. Now he has gone somewhere!"

  In a flash of insight, Zhang suddenly understood something, but she still didn't dare believe it.

  A cracking sound came, and everyone looked up to see the mast creaking in response, then suddenly breaking off in the middle and falling towards the right side of the boat, causing the entire boat to tilt to the right as well. Zhao? in Pearl's arms clearly saw a huge wave crashing towards them.