Chapter 53: The Magistrate's Astonishment

Coastal County Town.

Within the yamen's official residence.

The magistrate, a man in his early forties, sat in the courtyard with his legs crossed, basking in the sun. Behind him, hanging on the wall inside the room, were two calligraphy scrolls: on the left, "Diligence makes up for lack of talent," and on the right, "Great virtue carries all things."

He hailed from the Longyou region. At thirty, he had passed the imperial examinations with distinction, managing to secure a minor official post and had come to Jiangnan to serve as a modest county magistrate.

“Master, something’s happened!”

The steward, Huang Jue, rushed in, flustered.

“Master Huang, what is the most important quality for us officials? Composure! Even if the sky falls, we must remain as calm as if Mount Tai crumbled before us. Don’t lose your dignity by panicking!” The magistrate leisurely picked up his teacup and blew on it. “Acting rashly only makes us look foolish!”

“Pirates have attacked!” Huang Jue blurted out.

The magistrate, originally the very picture of relaxation, immediately spat out his tea and leapt to his feet in disbelief.

“What did you say? Pirates?!”

Coastal County bordered the sea, and pirate raids were frequent. The previous magistrate had lost his head to such marauders!

At the news of another pirate attack, the magistrate turned pale with fear.

“Where are the pirates now? How many are there?” he asked, trying to appear calm, though inwardly he was already considering where to flee.

“Reportedly, about a hundred or so,” Huang Jue replied hesitantly.

A hundred or so? That’s not too many—shouldn’t be enough to take the yamen.

Before the magistrate could breathe a sigh of relief, Huang Jue continued, “Head Constable Chen sent word, asking us to come and collect the bodies.”

A hundred pirates were still enough to kill, and surely many commoners had lost their lives. The magistrate sighed, cursing the pirates’ inhumanity and then, with equal venom, the Imperial Navy. Each year, the court allocated so much money to the navy, and yet they could not even secure the coastline! He resolved that afterward, he would make a point of reporting this dereliction of duty to the governor, demanding that the navy be held accountable!

“How many civilians have died?” the magistrate asked, face darkening.

“Er… only twenty or thirty,” Huang Jue replied, leaving the magistrate momentarily stunned. Irritated, he snapped, “Just that few? What’s the point of collecting bodies? Why can’t Head Constable Chen just have his men bury them? Why trouble me to go in person?”

He had expected hundreds to have perished.

Twenty or thirty? That’s nothing!

Huang Jue’s expression turned odd. “Master, it’s not the townsfolk’s bodies they want you to collect—it’s the pirates’…”

“What?”

“Head Constable Chen reports that he led the villagers from Little Fishing Village in a fierce fight against the pirates, defeated them last night, pursued them to Golden Sands Beach, killed more than ninety, captured nine, and sent the rest fleeing in terror!”

The magistrate was dumbfounded.

Could such a thing be true?

“Has Old Chen lost his mind? Is he even capable of this?” the magistrate wondered aloud. “Has he been captured by the pirates and is sending us false information to lure us into a trap?”

This suggestion startled Huang Jue as well. He’d already found the whole business suspicious, and now, after the magistrate’s words, began to think it very likely. They knew Head Constable Chen’s abilities well enough. To say he had killed a few bandits was believable, but to say he led unarmed villagers to wipe out over a hundred ruthless pirates? Nonsense!

The magistrate paced back and forth. “Here’s what we’ll do—you go and take a look.”

“What?”

Meanwhile—

At Deepwater Bay, the ships had docked.

It had to be admitted: the shipbuilding skills of the Xietai Kingdom were truly remarkable. The hulls were sleekly constructed, stable and solid, able to withstand considerable storms at sea. Inside, there were holds filled with food and fresh water—nothing particularly valuable. The outer hulls were reinforced with beams to absorb ramming from other vessels.

The Xietai Kingdom’s naval strength could not be underestimated.

“Li Erniu, have the fishing crew get acquainted with the ships as soon as possible. I want them ready to sail by the end of the month,” Qin Zhen ordered.

The fishing crew had been longing for this moment and eagerly scrambled aboard to inspect the vessels.

Qin Zhen pondered. The nearshore fish were of little value; the real fortune lay in the deep-sea catch. Now that he had ships, many of his plans could be realized. He could even use the waterways to expand the cloth trade to other counties.

Just then, a shout came from the last ship—Li Erniu’s voice rang out.

“Benefactor, there are people on this ship!”

People? Could there be pirates still hiding?

Qin Zhen and his men rushed to the third ship, ready for anything. Peering inside the dark hold, they found it packed with bound captives—men and women, mostly women and children. Seeing Qin Zhen standing with a pirate sword, terror filled their faces. It appeared they were villagers abducted by the pirates.

“Are you citizens of the Great Shang?” Qin Zhen asked cautiously.

Hearing their native tongue, the captives first stared in confusion, then nodded excitedly.

Chen Shu removed the cloths gagging their mouths, and at once, the women began to plead.

“Please, save us!”

It turned out that, before landing at Golden Sands Beach, Oda Takaya had led his men to another shore, slaughtered several villages, and taken these people captive.

“I heard from Lin San that women and children from Great Shang fetch a high price in Xietai. Many pirates and kidnappers come here to abduct people for sale over there,” Chen Shu said, frowning. “A healthy woman can sell for ten taels of silver. Enticed by such profit, not only pirates but bandits and traffickers from within our own borders join in these crimes!”

These were hard times, and human life was worth less than grass.

“The pirates are dead. You’re safe now,” Qin Zhen told them, ordering his men to untie the captives. “We’ll take you to the village and see that you get something to eat.”

“Thank you, benefactor!” the women wept with gratitude, embracing one another.

Upon returning to the village, it was already late at night.

Liu Juan greeted them at the entrance. Seeing Qin Zhen bring back so many women, she was taken aback. After a brief explanation and learning the women had no homes to return to, a look of pity crossed Liu Juan’s face.

“What do you plan to do with them?” she asked.

“Let’s give them something to eat first. Whether they stay or leave is their own choice.”

Steaming buns and rice porridge brought warmth to the frightened women. The kindness and generosity of Little Fishing Village brought them all to tears, their cries echoing the relief of having survived disaster. The need to vent was mutual—for both villagers and victims.

“Heavens! Did you really kill over a hundred pirates?” Huang Jue arrived, breathless in the darkness. Staring at the neatly stacked corpses and the sacks of severed heads, he was both shocked and overjoyed.

“Why are you here alone? Where’s the magistrate?” Head Constable Chen asked, a bit disgruntled.