Episode 4: Duanwu prepares to go ashore to earn money to redeem the pearl

Duanwu and his brother Xiao Xiami stayed on the boat temporarily. Since there was no idleness on the boat, the siblings started to work like other slaves. Duanwu told his brother to get familiar with the place as soon as possible, find out the situation of the people inside, and escape from here when the opportunity was right.

Although Xiao Xiami is young, he quickly found out everything about everyone on the ship. Duanwu heard Xiao Xiami say that there were warriors on the ship, and the leader was called Kang Ju, who often accompanied Yan Zijing and would definitely be useful in the future, so she made a special note of this person.

There was a man on the deck named Caotou, who spoke in a very gentle tone and always helped the servants on the ship to buy things. Everyone liked him very much and every time they were paid, they would take out their wages and ask Caotou to buy things.

When Xiao Xiami heard Caotou’s offer, he immediately told Duanwu. Caotou told them that the price was twice as high as the market price, which showed that he was not a good person. Duanwu asked Xiao Xiami not to tell anyone, because they were now living under someone else’s roof and were in danger at any time, so they should be cautious.

Duanwu found out that the ship would dock the next day, so she found a way to get to Yan Zijing and applied for the opportunity to go ashore. She was willing to work as a slave at the bottom of the cabin for the rest of her life because she could not buy the pearls. Yan Zijing agreed to Duanwu’s request and emphasized that as long as Duanwu could clean the entire deck before dawn, he would let them go.

Cui Ding couldn’t stand the beating, so he bit his tongue and committed suicide. Before he died, he said that Yan Zijing’s sister was in Shaozhou.

With the whereabouts of his sister, Yan Zijing planned to dock in Shaozhou, and then hold a pearl poetry meeting, inviting the target nobles to participate in the poetry meeting. In order to complete his plan, he specially let his subordinates announce that the winner would be rewarded with ten taels of pearls.

Duanwu originally begged Zhang Jinran to let her go ashore so that she could do business and make money. Unexpectedly, Zhang Jinran allowed her to go ashore, but asked her to get off the boat to work. When Duanwu and Xiao Xiami were forced to wipe the floor with a rag, they were so reluctant when they saw Yan Zijing again.

There was an endless stream of people coming to the poetry meeting. When Cui Shijiu saw Duanwu, he sneered and said that he was a lowly slave who was not worthy of being on the stage. Duanwu of course recognized this Cui Shijiu.

It was she who demanded a large number of pearls every year, which caused countless pearl divers to die in the sea. Duanwu was not cowardly at all. She reminded Cui Shijiu not to be too proud. Every pearl of the Cui family was stained with blood, and they would not be rewarded.

Cui Shijiu and Duanwu started to wrestle. Although Duanwu refused to surrender, he was pinned to the ground by Cui Shijiu and could not move. Fortunately, Zhang Jinran passed by and Cui Shijiu let Duanwu go.

At the Pearl Poetry Festival, Zhang Jinran improvised a poem about the hardships of pearl divers, which won applause from the audience. When Zhang Jinran wrote about the tears of mermaids on every pearl, Duanwu wept with gratitude. She had asked Zhang Jinran to write a poem about the hardships of pearl divers, and now it has finally been done. Those unknown pearl divers can finally know about it and get some comfort.

This poetry meeting brought Cui Shijiu and Zhang Jinran together again. Zhang Jinran’s men had found Cui Ding’s body, and the coroner also reported that Cui Ding had been tortured before his death. Zhang Jinran suspected that Yan Zijing had killed Cui Ding, and Yan Zijing refuted that he had never seen Cui Ding, and asked Duanwu to testify.

When Duanwu saw Yan Zijing’s eyes, she immediately knew how to respond. She also covered up and said that she had been on Yan Zijing’s boat and had never seen Cui Ding.

Zhang Jinran has always felt that Duanwu is honest and fair. Now that he hears that Duanwu is shielding Yan Zijing, he can’t help but remind her that shielding a criminal will be punished. Duanwu is unmoved. After Zhang Jinran leaves, Duanwu asks Yan Zijing for a reward.