This stalemate persisted for a full five days. Just when everyone was at their wits' end,
in the distance beyond Jingcheng, at the junction where the sea met the sky, white waves were faintly rising.
At first, the prefect of Jingcheng was simply stunned. He sent someone to secretly go and investigate. The person then returned, his face full of astonishment, to report to the emperor.
"Your Majesty, that dark mass... seems to be a large pod of whales!"
Whales were extremely rare. Moreover, since Li Ying had presented "ambergris," which had a remarkable calming effect and was much favored by the emperor, the empress dowager, and others, the people of Jingcheng had come to regard these whales as a rare auspicious omen.
"Your Majesty, it must be that the heavens have taken note of your kindness towards all living things and thus sent down this auspicious sign!"
The whale pod swam to the outer sea of Jingcheng but didn't come any closer. They let out urgent calls in the direction of the baby whale.
The baby whale hesitated several times. Finally, after a long while, it slowly turned around, rejoined the pod, and swam back together into the vast and boundless deep sea.
The prefect of Jingcheng strained his eyes as he watched the departing whale pod spout high, snow - white water columns. Only then did he finally let out a soft sigh.
"It's a pity that the mother whale couldn't be saved in the end. If we had known that the mother whale was doomed, we might as well have divided and eaten it earlier and presented it to Your Majesty. I imagine it would have the effect of prolonging one's life."
Hearing his words, Li Ying couldn't help but frown tightly.
What nonsense was this prefect of Jingcheng spouting!
Seeing the emperor raise his eyebrows, as if he was indeed a bit interested, Li Ying's alarm bells rang in her mind. She quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, although the mother whale didn't survive, it was still a great deed of merit."
Seeing the emperor looking puzzled, she added in a solemn voice, "Your Majesty, have you ever heard of 'whale fall'?"
When a whale dies and sinks, life thrives.
More than a hundred meters below the sea surface, sunlight can no longer penetrate. In these pitch - black waters, aquatic plants can't thrive, and the variety and number of marine animals also decline sharply due to the lack of food sources.
But when a whale's body sinks to the seabed and falls into a silent slumber, it can bring a miracle of life cycle to this desolate deep sea and inject new and endless vitality into it.
This is the "most romantic death" - whale fall.
After a whale dies, it first attracts scavengers such as sharks and hagfish to decompose the whale carcass.
Then, a large number of "opportunists," such as various crustaceans, will use the remaining whale carcass as a habitat and continue to decompose the fragments of the whale's body tissue. This process can last for several years.
After that, anaerobic bacteria, invisible to the naked eye, further decompose the various oils contained in the whale bones, providing energy for mussels, deep - sea worms, and other organisms for fifty years or even hundreds of years.
Finally, the remains of the whale can become a solid reef and a habitat for countless marine organisms.
The world is vast, and all things in nature follow certain natural laws. It's not just whale fall that does so.
But this spectacle of whale fall is the most gentle and magnificent wonder in the ocean world.
Although it can't be seen with the naked eye, just listening to Li Ying's gentle narration, everyone's faces showed a hint of shock.
The emperor squinted his eyes slightly and watched the whale pod in the distance turn into almost imperceptible dark dots. Only then did he let out a long, soft sigh, his face full of thought.
The prefect of Jingcheng seemed to sense something and flattered, "Miss Li, since you know so much about the habits of these whales, I wonder if you can lead us to see these whales at sea again?"
The people following him also echoed, "The prefect is right. Releasing this baby whale is a great favor bestowed by the emperor. Since the whale pod is so spiritual, they should come to express their gratitude."
Hearing this, Lu Xunguang couldn't help but frown tightly.
During this southern tour, Li Ying had outshone everyone else all the way and was highly favored by the emperor. On the contrary, the local officials along the way had failed to gain the emperor's favor during the reception. Naturally, they were somewhat resentful towards her.
Princess Yongning also sensed that the prefect of Jingcheng was deliberately making things difficult for Li Ying. She snorted and was about to step forward to argue for her.
But Li Ying just gave her a carefree smile when their eyes met.
That confident look immediately made Princess Yongning understand - she must have a perfect plan.
Princess Yongning felt relieved and put away all her words, just waiting to see how Li Ying would handle this.
Li Ying smiled sweetly, stepped forward, and bowed slightly to the emperor. "Thanks to the prefect's reminder. Otherwise, I would have overlooked this."
"Although whales are unpredictable in their movements, it's not difficult to watch them."
Where whale pods appear, there are often large flocks of seagulls circling. By following this method, it's not difficult to sail the ship to where the whales are.
Moreover, when Li Ying released the sperm whale mother and baby, she had secretly checked and found that there were many barnacles of various sizes attached to the mother whale.
Whales are intelligent, and with the little spiritual cat Maomao as a link for communication. Additionally, Li Ying had once ordered people to remove the barnacles attached to the back of the hawksbill turtle.
This deed had quietly spread among the marine creatures. During this southern journey, there were many turtles of various sizes waiting along the coast in many ports, only hoping that Li Ying could help remove those annoying "hitchhikers."
Li Ying was confident that, considering her act of returning the baby whale and her ability to help remove barnacles, the sperm whale pod would surely cooperate for the whale - watching.
Seeing her so confident, the emperor also became a bit interested. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh? I really do want to see the majestic appearance of these sea giants roaming among the white waves. If you really have this ability, Li, I will surely give you the greatest credit!"
Li Ying said nervously, "Your Majesty, I dare not. Since you trust me so much, I will surely go all out to fulfill your wish."
She paused for a moment and then added, "However, before the whale - watching, I have a few unseemly requests that I must tell Your Majesty in advance."
Empress Pei was afraid that she might anger the emperor, so she quickly said, "Tell us what they are."
Li Ying bowed again and said gently and calmly, "Whales are huge in size. If we rashly collide with them and anger them, the ship may capsize and people may die. Therefore, I beg Your Majesty to order that those who watch the whales on the ship must never touch the whales."
"Do not feed the whales, and do not swim with them. Keep a safe distance and do not make loud noises to avoid disturbing the whale pod."
She spoke so reasonably that the emperor just nodded imperceptibly.
"Naturally. I'll give the order immediately. Everything will be as you say."
Li Ying added, "Whale - watching is an intrusion into the habitat of the whale pod. I beg Your Majesty to order that during the voyage, everything should be arranged according to my plan to minimize the interference with the whales."
The emperor naturally readily agreed.