Giant Ship Across the Song Dynasty: My Supplies Come from My Motherland

50, 5 have arrived

"Hey, Lord Xu. What do you think if I were to have Hongliu or Yangti tell his father that Wanyan Liang is a scoundrel and might try to take advantage of them? Would that be alright?"

"You?" Si Hou was about to leave when he suddenly turned back and smiled, "What's your identity?"

Lin Zhou was taken aback, then spread his hands: "A... peddler."

"Okay, if a peddler tells a second-class prince of the Jin Kingdom that a first-class prince of the Jin Kingdom wants to settle scores with them, do you think they would believe you?"

The way Si Hou looked at Lin Zhou at this moment wasn't like he was looking at an idiot. Rather, it was the kind of look a father would give when picking up his son from kindergarten and hearing his son ask, "Daddy, Daddy, where did I come from?" His eyes even held a hint of affection.

But Lin Zhou couldn't stand the look of pity directed at the mentally challenged. He scratched his head and said, "Won't this just make them suspicious of each other?"

"Of course, even if you don't say anything, they'll still be suspicious of each other. But you must understand that unfounded suspicions won't be accepted, because the Jin Dynasty is currently at its zenith, enjoying unparalleled success. They've destroyed the Liao, defeated the Song, and have the Mongols completely under their thumb. They might be wary of each other, but they definitely won't start fighting each other because of your words. If the Jin people were all that foolish, wouldn't our Great Song be..." Si Hou gently shook his head, with a hint of helplessness, then reached out and patted Lin Zhou's head: "It's good that you can use your brain, but you must avoid acting blindly. Not only will it be useless, but it will also sever your connection with that princess."

"Thank you, Lord Sihou..."

"You're welcome, it's my duty." Si Hou patted him on the shoulder: "Get ready to go out and get a beating, shall we?"

"What?"

"Time for a beating," Si Hou laughed, arms crossed. "You almost caused a major incident. Qin Hui and Prince Rui have both come out. You and that brat are both going to get a beating. Twenty strokes each."

"Wouldn't I beat him to death?"

"You won't die." Si Hou laughed uncontrollably: "The Imperial City Guard can beat someone to death with one stroke or make them sleep peacefully with a hundred strokes. Three out of your twenty strokes were really hard. Ten out of his twenty strokes were real. You acted more convincingly."

"Does it hurt a lot...?"

"It hurts a lot."

Lin Zhou had no choice but to go out and get beaten. He and the boy who had challenged him were pinned to a bench. Si Gou, who was standing next to them, stepped forward, first pulling down their pants, and then took out a water and fire stick and prepared to start.

"Wait a minute!" Lin Zhou shouted, "Can we not fight?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

No sooner said than done, the paddle struck his buttocks with a loud crack. This first blow was real, and Lin Zhou let out a howl and tried to jump up, but was held down firmly.

The guy next to him fared even worse; with one stroke of the paddle, snot and tears streamed down his face. Then, their cries of pain rose and fell, until the eighth stroke, when the vice minister's son fainted, while Lin Zhou felt almost no pain.

"Is he really unconscious or just pretending?" Lin Zhou turned around and asked the man who was hitting him with the cane.

"What do you think?" The master clerk chuckled. "The Lord Si specifically instructed me to do this, so you can rest assured."

At this moment, Lin Zhou looked at the guy next to him and saw that his buttocks were covered in crisscrossing bloodstains, which was simply a terrible sight. Although he could also feel the burning sensation, it was nothing serious.

"Shout!" the master clerk suddenly said. "Don't look."

"Ouch~~~ That hurts so much..."

"Is that a cry of pain or a moan?" Xu Cheng couldn't help but chime in. "Don't cause me any trouble. Make it real."

This shout amused the executioners, who misjudged the force of the next blow and struck him squarely on the buttocks.

"ah!!!"

"That's right, just shout it like that."

"You fucking...it really hurts!"

In the end, both Lin Zhou and the young master were carried out. Lin Zhou lay there unable to move, or at least had to pretend to be unable to move. After all, if the son of the vice minister was in such a state of barely breathing, it would be somewhat unreasonable for him to wander out on his own...

He was sent back to the shop, thrown onto the bed, and that was the end of it. Both sides had saved face, and no one would bother to investigate further.

Eagle was squatting by the bed, looking at Lin Zhou with an innocent expression.

"What are you looking at?"

"Ah? Master, you're not dead..."

"Oh, go, go, go..." Lin Zhou waved his hand: "Go buy me some food."

Just as she was going downstairs, she heard Hongliu's movements below. She must have been asking Ying Ge a question. After a while, the sound of footsteps came, taking three steps at a time, sounding really anxious.

The door was quickly pushed open, and Hongliu's eyes instantly reddened when she saw Lin Zhou on the bed. She didn't look as good as yesterday, probably because she hadn't dressed up carefully, but her delicate and pitiful appearance was truly adorable.

"I heard you were punished with a cane..."

Hongliu stepped forward and sat down on the edge of Lin Zhou's bed. Her slightly hoarse voice made Lin Zhou chuckle.

"You're still laughing!" Hongliu said, making a move to pull down Lin Zhou's pants. "Let me check the wound."

"No, Princess. Why are you looking at my butt?"

"I'm checking your wound, are you going to be shy?" Hongliu frowned. "Be a man, don't be afraid."

"Hey, you're talking like one of those seasoned brothel regulars." Lin Zhou, lying there, looked Hong Liu up and down. "What's wrong? Crying?"

"No, I didn't..."

Hongliu turned her head to the side: "When I get back, I will definitely ask my father to get justice for you."

"This is already quite fair," Lin Zhou sighed. "The biggest problem now is your father. He keeps calling me his son-in-law all over the world. I'm now the biggest traitor in Lin'an."

"That's just how he is... Don't worry about him, I'll talk to him when I get back."

Lin Zhou didn't speak, but turned his head to look at Hong Liu. She was tilting her head and tearing at the beard on the bedside table with her hands. Although her tone and expression were normal, she was still wearing her heart on her sleeve, and her cheeks were flushed.

"What's the use of talking to him? My innocence is already gone. And you still come here every day. It's like getting mud on your pants; even if it's not shit, it's still shit, a whole bunch of it."

"How annoying!" Hongliu frowned and patted Lin Zhou on the back. "You're calling him that like the old man too!"

"Sigh, big skewers."

"Um?"

Lin Zhou turned to the side and asked, "How come you're different from those princesses and noblewomen? They have such bad tempers, but you look just like an ordinary girl."

"I'm a beautiful girl, not an ordinary girl."

"Yes, yes, yes, beautiful girl." Lin Zhou nodded quickly, "Beautiful, exceptionally beautiful."

Hongliu sighed, "As far back as I can remember, my father was always away fighting, and my mother followed him to take care of him. The Jurchens are different from you Han people. We don't have as many rules. My brother would take me out to play every day, to fight, catch fish, and steal bird eggs. I didn't feel any different from other children. But ever since we came to Lin'an... they keep calling me 'Princess,' which is really annoying."

"Oh, so you're a tomboy." Lin Zhou laughed.

"You're still laughing! I felt terrible when you got punished. You were standing up for me, but I couldn't help you."

"Oh, alright, alright. I'm the kind of guy who'd go to great lengths for his brothers. Back when I was a kid, someone in my class was being bullied by some thugs from outside school. My buddies and I each grabbed a watermelon knife and slashed our way from Mong Kok to the New Territories. We didn't even blink when we lost an arm."

"You're starting your weird stories again."

Hongliu burst into laughter through her tears, but suddenly the two fell silent. The afternoon sun shone on the snow on the opposite rooftop, reflecting into the room and casting a hazy glow on Hongliu's profile.

At this moment, the atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

Anyway…

Just as Hongliu was about to say, "Anyway, I can't get married, so I might as well make do," the door to the room opened, and Yingge walked in with a flatbread in her mouth, three steamed buns in her hand, and a bowl of salted tofu soup in her other hand. She put the flatbread and tofu on the cabinet, then pulled up her pants, took the flatbread out of her mouth and stuffed it into Lin Zhou's mouth, and finally soaked the steamed buns in the tofu soup and served it to Lin Zhou.

"Master, dinner is ready."

"Brother Eagle, you..." Lin Zhou took the biscuit out of his mouth and looked at the teeth marks on it: "It's filthy..."

He sighed and looked at Hongliu: "Big String, what did you just say?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing, you eat first. I'll go get some wound medicine for you to apply..." After saying that, she fled in a panic.