Episode 3: Duanwu escapes death and gains freedom

Cui Shijiu from the capital came to urge the tribute pearls. Cui Wu said that there had just been a fire, not only the pearls were burned, but also the account book for reconciliation could not be found. The other party did not pardon him for this.

Cui Shijiu reminded Cui Wu that according to the requirements from above, not a single pearl could be missing. Cui Ding knew that the person who came was a powerful character, so in order to avoid him, he fled overnight with his small treasury.

When Duanwu woke up, she was out of danger. She came to the deck to thank Zhang Jinran for saving her life. Zhang Jinran told her about the many beautiful sights he saw during his trip to Beijing. He also said that the most amazing thing was the pearl divers jumping between the boat and the sea.

The beautiful sights Zhang Jinran talked about sounded very sad to Duanwu. These pearl divers jumped off the boat just to survive. Maybe they were avoiding sharks or killing each other.

The boat sailed all the way to the dock. When Duanwu was separated from her mother, she accidentally dropped the blood bead her mother gave her on the beach, which was picked up by Cui Ding. This time, she saw Cui Ding and told her brother to stay at the dock while she went to get the relic her mother gave her.

Before the Pearl Tower was burned down, Cui Ding had sold all the pearls to Yan Zijing, but later his subordinates told him that the gold was fake, and Cui Ding hated Yan Zijing. However, Yan Zijing’s people had been keeping an eye on Cui Ding, and just as they saw him escaping to the shore, they blocked his escape route.

Duanwu was so angry that he took a big wooden stick and hit Cui Ding desperately. Yan Zijing did not stop him until Duanwu had vented his anger. Duanwu saw the falling blood beads and was about to pick them up, but Yan Zijing stepped on his hand and he could not reach it at all.

The people on the boat thought that Duanwu was stealing. Although Duanwu insisted that the pearl was hers, she could not escape the fate of being punished. Yan Zijing had Duanwu tied up with ropes under the deck. Duanwu held on to the ropes tightly and was finally brought back to the deck with her tenacious perseverance.

That night, Duanwu did not rest for a moment and ran directly to the cargo hold. She had already found the blood bead, but was still caught by Yan Zijing’s men. Yan Zijing reminded her that she could not get the bead by doing this because she was too weak. Only when she became stronger could she get the bead back.

Duanwu asked Yan Zijing to name a price, and originally wanted to bargain, but unexpectedly, every time he mentioned the price, Yan Zijing would increase it by another million, and finally settled on a price of three million. Duanwu wanted to find a way to earn money to redeem the pearl, and she asked Yan Zijing to give her some time, and there would be a chance when the ship docked.

Yan Zijing’s subordinate Kang Ju fell in love with Duanwu. He felt very bored after drifting on the sea for a long time. Kang Ju met Duanwu several times and found that she was eloquent, smart and brave, so he suggested to Yan Zijing that he should keep her by his side. Yan Zijing did not agree and reminded Kang Ju to find a job and not to have any idea about Duanwu.