Chapter 38: The White Lotus Sect

  A night without words.

  The next day, He Xiongxiang, Zhao Zhilong and other Nanjing officials and meritorious officials sent Wang Pu out of Chaoyang Gate with grand ceremony. Because the road to Beijing is far away, and Shandong is currently in a White Lotus uprising, apart from the 2,000 Jin Yiwei led by Chang Yanying and Li Zushou, the Nanjing Minister of War Shi Kefa also sent Admiral Huang Degong to lead 3,000 soldiers to escort him.

  Huang Degong was a brave general who rose through the ranks from a common soldier to become a lieutenant general due to his military achievements.

  More than 50,000 officials and soldiers, as well as Wang Pu, set off from Shengjing and Korea with part of the looted goods, divided among more than 50 warships. With the help of trackers and boatmen, they sailed along the Grand Canal towards the capital in a grand and majestic manner. Along the way, officials followed the emperor's instructions to entertain them warmly and treat them with courtesy, not daring to be even slightly negligent.

  Half a month later, the fleet began to enter Shandong territory, and the scenery on both sides of the canal began to become desolate.

  Wang Pu, Chen Yuanyuan and the soldiers stood on the boat and looked out. Many villages along both sides of the canal had been burned to ruins, large tracts of good fields were trampled and desolate, refugees carrying children and supporting the elderly even blocked the docks on both sides of the canal, seeing passing boats made them knock their heads in grief, the scene was truly shocking.

  Chen Yuanyuan saw that many children and elderly people among the refugees by the canal were on the verge of starvation, and she couldn't help but shed tears. She buried her face in Wang Pu's chest and said sorrowfully: "Sir, these children and old people are really pitiful. They must not have had a full meal for many days."

  Wang Pu's mood was equally heavy, and he was about to order the fleet to dock at the shore to rescue the refugees when something unexpected happened.

  Because Wang Pu's fleet had more than 50 warships and over 5,000 government soldiers, from Nanjing onwards, merchant ships followed one after another. After passing Huaiyin, the number of large and small merchant ships following them had already exceeded 100.

  Witnessing the miserable situation of refugees on both banks of the canal, a merchant ship was moved by sympathy and voluntarily docked to offer some food. As a result, a shocking scene occurred: nearby refugees swarmed in, competing with each other to squeeze onto the boat. The people on the boat originally wanted to control the situation, but the refugees who boarded the boat took up their belongings and drove them into the river without saying a word.

  The merchant ship was forcibly towed to the shore, and the food and goods on the ship were also looted. After looting the merchant ship, the refugees who were increasingly out of control picked up stones and wooden sticks from the ground and threw them at other merchant ships. Driven by hunger, the refugees had evolved into a mob!

  Chang Yanling and Li Zushou lived in the beautiful Jiangnan, when had they ever seen such a chaotic scene? The two were so angry that their lungs almost burst, and immediately ordered the boatmen to dock their warships by the shore, preparing to lead the Brocade Guards ashore to disperse these out-of-control refugees. Huang Degong feared that the two would suffer losses, and hastily led a large fleet of warships to provide support.

  Before Chang Yanling and Li Zushu led the men ashore, the refugees crowded along the canal had already swarmed up, rushing to loot the naval warships. These refugees were so starved that they even dared to rob the naval warships. Wang Pu saw that the situation was not good, and hastily ordered Knife Scarface to deploy all 50 of his house guards on deck, forming a tight array in preparation for battle.

  At this moment, Chen Yuanyuan suddenly saw a familiar figure in the crowded mob. This person was none other than Liu Badao, the water bandit who had almost kidnapped her into Taihu Lake. Liu Badao was holding a powerful crossbow and had already taken aim at Chen Yuanyuan's side. Chen Yuanyuan turned her head to look and saw that Wang Pu was standing with his back to the riverbank, directing the servants to line up.

  "Psst!"

  In a burst of sound, an arrow shot towards Wang Pu's back like lightning.

  "No!"

  Chen Yuanyuan let out a sharp cry, and with a swift movement, she blocked Wang Pu's path. A cold light flashed, and the strong crossbow bolt had already hit Chen Yuanyuan's chest, but instead of the expected sound of flesh being pierced, there was a strange cracking noise. Chen Yuanyuan groaned softly and fell backwards, her body going limp as she collapsed into Wang Pu's arms, who happened to be turning around just in time to catch her.

  "Assassins! Protect the General!"

  Scarface let out a loud shout and quickly stood in front of Wang Pu and Chen Yuanyuan.

  Xiao Qi and the remaining fifty servants rushed up at the sound, suddenly forming two solid walls of people in front of and behind Wang Pu.

  "Old Li!" Wang Pu hugged Chen Yuanyuan and rushed into the cabin, wailing loudly, "Xiao Qi, go find Old Li quickly, quick!"

  Soon, Xiao Qi brought Li Lao Die to Wang Pu's cabin.

  However, before Li Lao could examine the injury, Chen Yuanyuan woke up on her own. Wang Pu hastily pressed down on Chen Yuanyuan's fragrant shoulder and softly said: "Don't move, Yuanyuan, lie still, whatever you do don't move."

  "Master." Chen Yuanyuan's powdered face turned slightly red as she said softly, "I'm fine."

  "It's okay, nothing will happen to you."

  Wang Pu gazed at the crossbow bolt still lodged in Chen Yuanyuan's chest, his heart shattered.

  If it weren't for Chen Yuanyuan, this strong crossbow would have been inserted into Wang Pu's back by now. What a good woman, using her own body to block the arrow for a man!

  "Master, I'm really fine," Chen Yuanyuan said, suddenly pulling out the arrow stuck in her chest. Her face flushed with shame as she added, "Master, you forgot your jade pendant?"

  "You..." Seeing Chen Yuanyuan suddenly drawing her bow, Wang Pu was first shocked and then overjoyed. He stretched out his hand to untie Chen Yuanyuan's collar, but suddenly remembered that there were others present. He immediately turned around and said to Xia Qi and Li Lao Die, "You two, Xia Qi and Li Lao Die, please step aside for a moment."

  As soon as Xiao Qi and Li Lao Die left the cabin, Wang Pu hastily reached out to untie Chen Yuanyuan's robe, and gently pulled down her pink undergarment. A pair of plump and full breasts were completely exposed before Wang Pu's eyes. Wang Pu fixed his gaze, and saw that the jade pendant in her cleavage had been completely shattered.

  Chen Yuanyuan was not injured, but a small red mark remained on her pale skin.

  It was truly fate, it turned out that the arrow shot from below upwards, just happened to pass through Chen Yuanyuan's cleavage, hitting the jade pendant, as a result, the jade pendant shattered, but Chen Yuanyuan was fine. The reason why the arrow didn't fall off her body was because it was squeezed by her full and plump breasts.

  If it weren't for Wang Pu sending that necklace to Chen Yuanyuan in the first place, and if Chen Yuanyuan hadn't been wearing it all along, she might have already died a tragic death.

  "Yuanyuan, you're really okay!" Wang Pu exclaimed excitedly, grasping Chen Yuanyuan's plump breasts tightly, "This is great, this is just too great."

  "Hubby, don't." Chen Yuanyuan moaned softly, her beautiful eyes becoming hazy as she said in a delicate and charming tone, "Xiao Qi and Old Man Li are still outside, and those refugees out there are causing trouble too."

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble..."

  As soon as Chen Yuanyuan's voice fell, a deafening roar suddenly came from outside the cabin. Chen Yuanyuan was so frightened that she let out a sharp cry and rushed into Wang Pu's arms.

  "What's going on?" Wang Pu hugged Chen Yuanyuan and helped her adjust her clothes, then turned to ask outside, "Xiao Qi, who gave the order to fire the cannon?"

  "Report to the general." A response came from outside the cabin, "It was an order given by General Mo to fire the cannon, but don't worry, sir, it was a blank shot. I just wanted to scare away these rioters."

  Wang Pu supported Chen Yuanyuan as she lay down on the couch, saying: "Yuanyuan, you rest first, I'll come back to see you later."

  "Master, nothing's wrong at our place." Chen Yuanyuan said softly, "You can go now, Master."

  Wang Pu gave Chen Yuanyuan a gentle kiss on the forehead, turned around and strode out of the cabin. He saw Huang Degong, Knife Scarface, Xiao Qi and others standing guard outside with tense expressions. As soon as they saw Wang Pu come out, they asked anxiously: "General, how is Madame's injury?"

  "It's nothing." Wang Pu let out a breath and asked Huang Degong, "Huang Zanjiang, what about the rioters by the canal?"

  "Huang Degong cupped his hands and bowed: 'General, don't worry, the rioters have been dispersed.'"

  At this time, a team of Jin Yiwei suddenly brought a middle-aged man with a wet and tattered shirt from the corridor. The leading Li Zushu said loudly: "Brother, this guy is making noise saying he wants to see you, and says he is the Pushan of Jining Prefecture, and has important military information to report to you."