Chapter 1 The Hesitation of Cheng Zijing

With this connection, and considering Master Qi's attitude, the Cheng family children absolutely had to be brought along. Ye Tao didn't argue. He freed up a carriage to accommodate the two children, throwing out most of the miscellaneous items from their original twenty carriages, keeping only a few souvenirs. He discarded nearly all their valuables, whether significant or not. Cheng Zijing, who had a minor reputation in calligraphy and painting, did bring his full set of painting tools, including several cai mo (color ink) products made by Ye's Workshop. Naturally, Ye Tao discarded all the delicate items, which took up a lot of space and were utterly worthless to him. This uninhibited behavior provoked an angry reaction from Cheng Zijing, but since Ye Tao had agreed to take them, he didn't dare say much.

They continued their journey from that point, spending six days traveling, stopping, and fighting to pass through the Yinan war zone and reach Yanan Port. Since they had pieced together a group of over five hundred people, it was a fairly large force. Combined with the Special Operations Battalion's powerful reconnaissance capabilities, they consistently chose the path of least resistance, specifically selecting secluded routes and avoiding locations where battles had occurred or were likely to occur. They managed to navigate with a few close calls. Although they had never disclosed their identities, those who consumed Western Liang provisions had become acutely aware that these formidable warriors were definitely not on their side. Their military equipment, orders, combat style, and even the way they spoke about the enemy were all too different. Especially those telescopes. Ye's Workshop strictly controlled exports to Western Liang. Even Chunan didn't get many, and most of those were second-rate in quality, let alone Western Liang. Aside from a few high-ranking generals, most common Western Liang soldiers had only heard of telescopes. The Special Operations Battalion's individual telescope allocation was rare, perhaps only matched by Chi Lei's scout cavalry, and only because this time in Western Liang they hadn't all been carried by the whole team.

Due to the interruption of trade routes, Yanan was much more desolate than usual, with sparse ships in the harbor. Most fleets and trading companies active in the Nanyang (South Seas) had retreated to their home ports. Only liaison ships from major merchant guilds remained. The Seven Seas Trading Company didn't have any liaison ships stationed there because, throughout the entire Nanyang, the Seven Seas Trading Company and the Samir family's communication systems were basically integrated. They used different codes when transporting confidential messages, which solved the problem. Establishing a coordinating agency was much cheaper than setting up two separate transport systems.

Wei Lian had already sent a letter to the Nanyang, confident that the Seven Seas Trading Company's own fleet would arrive within a few days. The Samir family also extended an incredibly warm welcome to these important clients of the Seven Seas Trading Company. Although they didn't bring any goods and the restoration of the Beiyi-Yanan trade route seemed distant, they had at least brought news of Xianju Village. The Samir family didn't yet know Ye Tao in Yanan, but they divulged that Asad, who had had several encounters with Ye Tao, should be nearby.

Sure enough, a few days later, the joint fleet of the Seven Seas Trading Company and the Samir family arrived in Yanan. Asad was the fleet commander, and Qi Zhu, who fully represented Master Qi, was the representative from the Seven Seas Trading Company. Their arrival finally relieved the guys from the Huishan Military Camp. Qi Zhu and Cheng Zijing had met before. And the fact that such a large fleet could be summoned by this group who had never revealed their identities, along with Qi Zhu and Asad's attitude towards the young man, made it clear that they viewed him as a superior, which was enough to put their minds at ease. The Huishan Military Camp also formed a very favorable impression of these anonymous individuals.

The Samir family and the Seven Seas Trading Company temporarily arranged for the Huishan Military Camp to settle down in Yanan. After all, they couldn't possibly mix with the Seven Seas Trading Company's people. Cheng Zijing and Cheng Ziqing, the siblings, boarded the Seven Seas Trading Company's ship with Ye Tao and his group, heading for Yazhou. Once on board, when Ye Tao finally revealed his identity to Cheng Zijing without any need for reservations, the young man was stunned, at a complete loss for words. The current Ye Tao couldn't be defined by terms like "important minister of Dongping"; he was practically a living legend. And when Ye Tao promised that he could guarantee the annihilation of the Xuanyi Society, but hoped that he and his sister would go to Yunzhou with him, Cheng Zijing didn't know how to react.

"Why do you want to take me to Yunzhou?" Cheng Zijing finally found Ye Tao after thinking about it for a whole day on the ship, and asked this question. "What can I do?"

"Don't you like color ink and sketching? Wouldn't you learn well by following me?" Ye Tao replied with a smile. "Actually, I'm looking for a scribe who can learn for a while and then create drawings by my side. There are plenty of people who can handle the textual work, but not many who can create the kind of drawings and sketches that satisfy me. Originally, this type of work was done by my wife, Sophie, but after so many years of drawing, Sophie can finally stand on her own and has started to take charge of some designs. I need to find someone who can take over part of her work. I don't trust you enough yet to entrust you with managing the drawings and documents at home, but I can let you do the sketching. What do you think? Is that a good enough reason?"

Ye Tao's gentle attitude made Cheng Zijing feel like he was basking in the spring breeze, but he was still somewhat hesitant. He had studied painting in Western Liang since he was a child and only had a few interactions with his elders and uncles during his visits home. His family had hoped that he could connect with the Western Liang aristocracy or even use him as a bargaining chip in marriage to strengthen the Cheng family's control over trade routes. Avenging his family was more a matter of responsibility than emotion. Ye Tao could understand the severity of a large family fighting independently in an environment surrounded by alien races, and he could understand Cheng Zijing's hesitation. And the proposal he had made was indeed very attractive to Cheng Zijing.

"How is it? Did Cheng Zijing agree?" Tan Weixin asked impatiently as soon as Ye Tao finished his conversation with Cheng Zijing and returned to his cabin. In fact, it was Tan Weixin who suggested bringing the Cheng siblings back to Yunzhou. Tan Weixin wasn't in a hurry to find Ye Tao a drawing assistant; rather, she was very fond of the little loli (cute young girl), Cheng Ziqing. Although the little loli was afraid of noise when she slept, she felt very comfortable on the ship, running around the deck of the Huya (Tiger Tooth) ship all day long, asking the sailors all sorts of questions in a cute tone. Everyone loved this beautiful child. And Tan Weixin had the idea of bringing the little girl back to Yunzhou. Their manor was already a well-equipped kindergarten with a considerable scale, and the little loli would probably like that place. Tan Weixin also had another idea in mind: to find a companion for Tan Weishi's child. No matter what, the Cheng family had already declined. Even if the Seven Seas Trading Company and the Samir family annihilated the Xuanyi Society, the Cheng family's original property couldn't be returned to them. Cheng Zijing's original idea was to rely on the Seven Seas Trading Company and other old friends to help, but they themselves were powerless. The Huishan Military Camp could have its say on Western Liang ground, but in the Nanyang, they were completely clueless. Raising the Cheng family's little loli as a child bride, and having Cheng Zijing follow Ye Tao and gain a position after a few years would create a good situation for both sides.

"He agreed. Anyway, the Xuanyi Society is a thorn in everyone's side. The Samir family is entangled in the war and can't get away, and now Master Qi has been dragged into it. It's difficult to suppress the Xuanyi Society's open and covert actions for the time being. Once the recent important battles are won, the Xuanyi Society will be in for a good show. Bringing the Cheng siblings to Yunzhou is just a byproduct." Ye Tao said.

"Didn't you say that the recent battles are complicated? Isn't it too strained at the front if this fleet is dispatched to send us to Yazhou?" Tan Weixin suddenly asked.

"This is an escort fleet, mainly for escorting cargo ships and destroying pirates. However, having Asad and Qi Zhu do this obviously means that the situation here isn't very peaceful. Maybe we'll even get to see a naval battle later." Ye Tao said casually.

The joint fleet of the Seven Seas Trading Company and the Samir family was really not afraid of enemy fleets. Two airships greatly expanded the fleet's field of vision. For long range, they had Shenbi (God's Arm) bows and crossbow cannons. For close range, they had Greek fire flamethrowers. At even closer range, hand crossbows were much more accurate and powerful than the opponent's bows and arrows. Even if they were forced into boarding combat, the crew members, who were generally wearing leather armor, had an advantage over their opponents. Qi Zhu and Asad always spread the fleet over a large area, forming the most loosely possible formation, and sending the airships to the limit of their combat radius in order to not let any pirates rampaging throughout the entire Nanyang slip through.

"You really are a jinx. Look, Asad's flagship is raising the battle flag." Tan Weixin said with a smile, looking out the window.

"Oh?" Ye Tao quickly looked and sure enough, it was true. The signal indicated that pirates were attacking a merchant fleet to the southeast of the fleet, and the fleet was turning to assist. The Huya ship they were on also sounded the alarm bell, and Ye Tao excitedly put on his leather armor, picked up his cavalry sword, hung his hand crossbow, and rushed towards the bridge. The Huya ship they were on was an authentic combat model. And Ye Tao, although not a battle-hardened naval commander, was a very good long-range shooting commander. And Ye Tao was so proactive that Qi Zhu, the captain of this warship, readily handed over the work of shooting command to Ye Tao.

Qi Zhu was quite aggressive when it came to naval battles, and he was also very confident in protecting himself in melee. He didn't hesitate to rush to the front of the line, raising the shooting command flag, demanding that this ship be responsible for assigning targets. After briefly asking about the equipment of each ship, glancing at the positions of both sides marked on the large table in the middle of the bridge, and asking about the route Qi Zhu was preparing to charge and the characteristics of the enemy ships, Ye Tao already understood the combat style. He clearly assigned targets, first knocking out the three pirate ships located on the south side of the sea. And Ye Tao ordered that the battle be resolved with the most intense crossbow cannon volleys. After Ye Tao's order was issued, each ship hoisted red triangular flags... Usually, this meant that they were high in fighting spirit.