Seeing A Man looking puzzled, Li Ying didn't beat around the bush and explained it to her in detail.
"The emperor loves Eastern pearls. If we can catch and present excellent pearls to him, it's not a daydream to rise from a commoner to a courtier overnight. Once my pearl - farming business is launched, it will surely affect the interests of many people, and I'm afraid I'll make a lot of enemies."
Now, Lian Ji is desperately trying to stop her in front of Commissioner Lin. Once her pearl farm is up and running, she doesn't know how many intrigues she'll have to endure, both openly and secretly.
As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge an open spear but hard to guard against a hidden arrow. In the public eye, she is vulnerable. The only thing she can rely on is the protection of the court.
Although Commissioner Lin and his wife are obviously hypocritical people, they are currently the only link between her and the capital. Even though she dislikes them, she can only greet them with a smiling face and handle things carefully.
A Man understood her intention and nodded reassuringly.
The two sisters were chatting warmly when Su Buchi happened to pass by and overheard their conversation. He frowned slightly.
Although he was not an official, he could see that Commissioner Lin and his wife were insatiable. Miss Li's move was like seeking the tiger's skin.
The businesses she was engaged in were all rare and novel things. She really needed someone to handle affairs in the court.
His master never liked his disciples to become officials, but...
Su Buchi stared fixedly at Li Ying's slender back. He secretly clenched his fists imperceptibly and took a deep breath.
Li Ying was completely unaware. She said softly, "A Man, go and ask Mrs. Zhang if her husband's boat has returned and if it has brought back what I need."
Commissioner Lin was obviously interested after seeing the sample of her cultured pearls. His only concern was that he had never seen the pink pearls she had described.
In that case, she would simply dispel his concern.
Natural sea pearls in pink, purple, and even black were indeed rare, but with the help of her little civet cat Mao Mao, it was not too difficult to obtain them.
Seeing is believing. As long as Commissioner Lin saw the colored sea pearls she presented with his own eyes, the last trace of doubt in his heart would surely disappear.
Not long after, A Man ran back out of breath. Mrs. Zhang, who was following behind, also looked extremely panicked.
"A Ying, something's wrong! Zhang Lu's boat has been seized!"
What?
Li Ying's face changed. Seeing Mrs. Zhang looking ashen - faced and crying, she quickly helped her into the house and poured her a cup of strong tea.
After drinking the tea, Mrs. Zhang finally calmed down a bit. With a sob in her voice, she trembled and said, "A Ying, Little Six came back to deliver the message. He said that Zhang Lu and the others met pirates!"
Little Six was the youngest fisherman in the village, only thirteen or fourteen years old. He was waiting forlornly in a broken sampan at Granny Sun's door.
"Sister Ying, please save the uncles quickly!"
As soon as Little Six saw her, he seemed to have met a savior. He knelt down on the ground with a thud, shivering.
"Sister Ying, we followed the map you gave us and smoothly found the pink pearls you mentioned. Just as we were about to return, unexpectedly, we suddenly met pirates! They intercepted our boat, and all the fish catch and pearls were taken by them!"
Little Six stammered and finally managed to tell the whole story of the attack clearly.
The pirates had looted the fishing boats and taken Zhang Lu and the other crew members as hostages. They said that if they wanted the hostages to return safely, Li Ying had to go on board the pirate ship with 500 taels of silver to redeem them.
The amount of 500 taels made Granny Sun, Mrs. Zhang, and other fisherwomen gasp in surprise.
"A Ying..."
Seeing Mrs. Zhang looking worried, Li Ying just gently patted her hand and comforted her softly, "Don't worry. Zhang Lu was doing things for me. Now that he's in trouble, I naturally won't stand by idly."
Hearing her say this so firmly, Mrs. Zhang finally managed to calm down a bit. She hesitated and left, looking back every few steps.
"A Ying... What are you going to do about this?"
After everyone had left, Granny Sun looked at her with a worried face, looking very troubled.
That was 500 taels!
A Ying had been working hard every day for the livelihood of the village and had finally saved some silver. Those pirates clearly wanted to empty her out!
Li Ying frowned slightly and then told A Man to get a box to hold the silver.
Not long after, the villagers also got the news. Men from every household had been taken hostage by the pirates. The women were at a loss. They cried and emptied their savings. With great difficulty, they managed to scrape together more than a hundred taels of silver and brought it to Li Ying.
"Sister, no! If we give this silver, those greedy pirates will be like a bottomless pit, always asking for more. This money can't be given!"
A Man hugged the money box tightly and refused to let go.
Seeing her like this, Li Ying just smiled calmly.
"A Man, I can naturally see that these pirates have great ambitions."
In the past few months, the lives of every household in the fishing village had been getting better and better, which was obvious to all within a hundred miles. It was reasonable for the pirates to want a share of the pie after hearing the news.
But what was strange was why these pirates had exactly targeted the fishing boat she had sent out to catch pink pearls?
Li Ying had a hunch that there must be something fishy about this.
If she wanted to find out who was behind these pirates, she had to take risks and handle it herself.
Sure enough, when they heard that she was going to follow the pirates' demands and go with the ransom to save the hostages, Granny Sun and the others frowned in unison.
"Sister, this is really too dangerous. If you insist on going, at least take me with you!"
A Man was the first to speak, but Li Ying shook her head.
"No, A Man. You can't swim. If something unexpected happens on the boat and you can't save yourself, it will only cause more trouble."
A Man pouted. Granny Sun then said, "Then let's all go together. If all the men, women, and children in our village go up together, those pirates and water bandits will surely be afraid of us!"
Hearing this, Li Ying shook her head again.
"No. If we all go out, the pirates might seize our village and cut off our retreat. Then we'll be in a desperate situation. Moreover, if they get desperate and take the hostages with them to their deaths, what shall we do?"
Granny Sun was speechless. Li Ying had already made up her mind. To reassure everyone, she simply brought up Lu Xunguang and said, "I won't take risks alone. With Lu Xunguang protecting me secretly, you should be able to rest assured, right?"
She thought that after saying this, everyone would surely have no objections. But unexpectedly, Lu Xunguang frowned tightly and said in a deep voice, "That won't do either."
How could he not guess Li Ying's plan?
She would pretend to obey, go with the ransom, and use the beauty trap to make the pirates let down their guard. And he would secretly board the ship, rescue all the trapped fishermen, and then wait for an opportunity to retreat safely.
Not to mention whether this plan would work, just the "beauty trap" part made him really worried.