“Is Prince Hui’s mother, wife, and child really still alive?!” Mao Haifeng grabbed Liu Daqiang’s hand, confirming once more.
For such a significant matter, no amount of confirmation was too much. If he reported this and it turned out to be a misunderstanding, making Prince Hui rejoice for nothing, he wouldn’t be rewarded for merit but punished for a crime.
This wasn’t toying with Prince Hui, especially not with his family!
Even if Prince Hui was his adoptive father, he wouldn’t tolerate such an outrageous mistake. He’d surely face multiple punishments.
“Of course they’re alive. Actually, it’s fine to tell you—they’re in our main camp right now. If you want to confirm, just come with me later to see for yourself,” Liu Daqiang said, pointing to the Zhejiang army camp across the way.
“Mao-san, you can’t go! It might be a trap!” Ootomo Sadakawa interjected quickly.
“Brother Ootomo makes a valid point,” Mao Haifeng nodded, turning to scrutinise Liu Daqiang suspiciously. “How do I know you’re not luring me into your camp to signal with a dropped cup and capture me alive?! You’ve gone to such lengths to set this up—don’t tell me it’s really just to trick me into your camp?”
What the hell?!
Your imaginations are too wild!
Liu Daqiang gave a wry chuckle. “Hah, Leader Mao, you’re not worth our governor going to such trouble. If we wanted to capture you alive, we could’ve chased you a few more miles during our victory. Why would we let you set up a temporary camp and then bother tricking you?”
Mao Haifeng stroked his chin, considering.
The envoy’s words made sense.
“Besides, if you’re too scared to go, just send someone who knows Wang Zhi’s mother, wife, and child to verify with me,” Liu Daqiang said exasperatedly.
“Ahem…” Ootomo Sadakawa coughed, masking the embarrassment on his face.
Right, it didn’t have to be Mao Haifeng. They could send someone who recognised Prince Hui’s family.
“Uh, well, Prince Hui keeps his identity secret. Hardly any of the pirates know his exact hometown, let alone anyone who’s seen his mother, wife, or child. As far as I know, besides me, the only one who’s seen them is Wang Xiaoyi, Prince Hui’s close aide from the same village. But Wang Xiaoyi barely leaves Prince Hui’s side.”
“Eight years ago, before Prince Hui’s identity was exposed, I followed him back to his hometown and had the honour of meeting his mother. As for his wife and son, I’ve also seen them,” Mao Haifeng said with a wry smile.
This was troublesome. In the entire pirate camp, only Mao Haifeng had seen Prince Hui’s mother and could recognise her. None of the other pirates knew what Wang Zhi’s mother, wife, or child looked like.
Ootomo Sadakawa also frowned.
Liu Daqiang shrugged nonchalantly. “Since someone else can recognise Wang Zhi’s family, it’s simple. Report this to Wang Zhi, and have him send that Wang Xiaoyi to our camp to verify.”
“No way. If we need Prince Hui to send someone to confirm, the good news loses its impact,” Mao Haifeng shook his head firmly.
Prince Hui’s mother, wife, and child being alive was a huge merit.
If they were only *possibly* alive and needed verification, it was still a merit, but far less significant. The difference wasn’t night and day, but it was vast.
“This won’t do, that won’t do. So what do you suggest?” Liu Daqiang looked at Mao Haifeng and Ootomo Sadakawa, exasperated.
“Well, uh, could you bring Prince Hui’s mother, wife, and child to our camp so I can verify?” Mao Haifeng asked hesitantly, lacking confidence.
He knew his request was rude and unrealistic. Why would they bring Prince Hui’s family to him for verification? And if they did, would he let them leave?
Sure enough, Liu Daqiang looked at him like he was an idiot. “Do you think that’s possible? Isn’t that like sending meat buns to a dog—gone for good?”
And so, they reached a stalemate.
“Report! Another Zhejiang envoy has arrived,” a pirate announced outside the tent.
“Bring him in,” Mao Haifeng ordered.
Soon, another Zhejiang soldier entered—Huang Dashan, one of Zhu Ping’an’s personal guards.
“Dashan, why are you here? Does the governor have new instructions?” Liu Daqiang asked.
“Big Brother Daqiang, the governor sent me to check since you’ve been gone so long. He wanted to know if you’ve hit any snags in the talks,” Huang Dashan replied.
Liu Daqiang and Mao Haifeng explained the key issue they were stuck on.
“I’ll report back to the governor,” Huang Dashan said, clasping his fists before turning to leave.
“Wait. It’s impolite not to reciprocate. I’m not one to take advantage. Your governor returned our banner, so this katana—though not an heirloom—is one of three treasured blades from a Japanese daimyo, named Fuji, bestowed upon me by Prince Hui. I gift it to your governor.”
Mao Haifeng reluctantly removed the katana from his waist, gave it a fond glance, and handed it to Huang Dashan.
Huang Dashan accepted the katana, nodded, and said, “I’ll present this to the governor. I’m off.”
“Escort the envoy across the river,” Mao Haifeng ordered two pirates.
He then had tea prepared and some dishes served, inviting Liu Daqiang and his group to eat while waiting.
During the meal, Mao Haifeng and Ootomo Sadakawa tried to pry military secrets from Liu Daqiang—details about the Zhejiang army’s firearms tactics, where they sourced their muskets and cannons, whether their soldiers were new recruits, and so on.
But Liu Daqiang, forewarned by Zhu Ping’an, stayed tight-lipped about Zhejiang’s secrets.
Liu Daqiang also tried to extract information from Mao Haifeng and Ootomo Sadakawa—how many pirates served under Prince Hui, how many were directly loyal, how many only followed orders loosely, how many more could Prince Hui summon from Japan—but they were equally cunning, dodging such questions.
Both sides knew the game, engaging in superficial pleasantries.
Before they could probe further, Huang Dashan returned.
“What did your governor say?” Mao Haifeng asked eagerly, desperate for this major news after their defeat.
“My governor asked me to thank Leader Mao for the treasured blade and to present you with this token. It’s a standard token from our governor’s office, one of over three hundred, with no special markings. With this, you can travel freely in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and visit our governor at his office. He says you’re welcome to tour Jiangsu and Zhejiang anytime,” Huang Dashan said, handing Mao Haifeng the token.
