Chapter 176: The Black-sailed Boat Arrives in Jiangnan

As the day brightened, on the other side of the river at Guandukou in Danyang Prefecture, in a large ship anchored on the riverbank, steward Ji Ding knocked on the door of the cabin on the third floor early in the morning.

"Mr. Cheng, Madam Cheng, are you two awake?"

Hearing the noise outside the door, Cheng Su, who had not slept all night, patted his wife, whose eyes were also red from staying up late, and rolled his wheelchair to open the door. He saw that it was the manager Ji Ding, and Cheng Su was very polite to him as he had been taken care of all the way.

"Manager Ji, what can I do for you?"

Ji Ding bowed and said, "In reply to Master Cheng, I have already arranged everything. It is getting late, so I would like to invite you two to come downstairs for dinner so that we can leave early to settle down in Danyang Prefecture."

When she heard that they were leaving, Yu Meixue, who had been sitting by the window and staring at the river bank outside the window, became anxious. She took two steps forward and said anxiously, "How can that be? We won't leave and will just wait for my son here."

Seeing his wife getting anxious, Cheng Su hurriedly pulled her back to comfort her, "Meixue, don't embarrass Manager Ji." Then he looked at Manager Ji apologetically, "I'm really sorry, Manager Ji, my wife is too concerned, please don't mind it, Manager Ji."

"How dare I? Thank you for being so polite, Master Cheng." This was their master's distinguished guest. Before leaving Yangzhou City, his master had repeatedly told him to take good care of him.

At this moment, the master had instructed him to protect the distinguished guest and not let him leave. If he failed to protect him well, he would be blamed by the master later and he would not be able to bear it. Ji Ding hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Master Cheng, Madam Cheng, you two are the distinguished guests that my master has asked me to take good care of. But it was impossible yesterday. We all fled in a hurry and rushed to cross the river. We had a lot of baggage and a lot of people. It was already late when we landed. The gates of Danyang Prefecture were closed. I had no choice but to let you stay here temporarily. This is already very neglectful to you two. How can I let you stay here today? Wouldn't I be failing the trust of my master? Master Cheng and Madam Cheng, please don't embarrass me. Even if we have to wait, why don't we go to my Jiqitang annex in Danyang Prefecture and wait? When my master comes back, he will definitely bring your son back to the annex as soon as possible. What do you think?"

Cheng Su and Yu Meixue knew that the other party meant well and did not want to make things difficult for them, but if they were asked to leave, they really could not move.

After taking a look at his stubborn wife, Cheng Su sighed, then bowed to Manager Ji and begged for mercy. He still decided to stay for fear of causing trouble to others. He even suggested that if the ship was inconvenient, they could go to the ship next door to stay. In short, he had one attitude: he would not leave.

How could Manager Ji dare not ask his master to take good care of the distinguished guests and send them to another boat? He did not dare to persuade him anymore and went back to make arrangements sadly, leaving guards and a few smart people to serve them, and arranged for the rest of the people to enter the city one after another.

After seeing off Manager Ji, Yu Meixue sat back in her previous seat in a daze, and acted as a watchman again. Cheng Su felt very uncomfortable watching her. Just then, a maid brought up some hot meals. Cheng Su rolled his wheelchair up, forced his wife to the table, and stuffed the chopsticks into her hands.

"Meixue, eat first. Only when you are full will you have the energy to wait for the children to come back. If you fall ill, what will you do if Guangjie blames me, your uncle, for not taking good care of you when the family is reunited?"

Yu Meixue grabbed the chopsticks, looking at the food on the table but unable to swallow. She looked at the window behind her worriedly, feeling uncertain, "Su Lang, do you think Guang'er and Yang Ge'er are safe..."

"Yes, I can!" Cheng Su affirmed without thinking, and at the same time straightened his wife.

"Meixue, even if you don't trust me, your husband, you should at least believe in Guang Jie'er's ability and Doctor Ji's ability, right? With their support, and Black Whirlwind and Desheng helping to find people, Yang Ge'er and Yi Ge'er will definitely be found, and the children will definitely return safely."

"is it?"

"Of course! Be good and eat first. Only when we are full will we have the strength to wait for them. Even if the children don't come, Meixue, we can only go back to look for them if we are full and have strength, right? If you fall down without eating, what will happen to the children? Be obedient and eat." Hearing her husband say this, Yu Meixue became motivated and nodded repeatedly. She didn't need her husband to persuade her anymore and buried her head in eating. However, she had made up her mind that she would wait for one more day, only one day. If the children didn't come before dark today, she would find a way to go back and find her closest relatives, even if it meant risking her life. She would never compromise!

While the couple in the cabin were busy eating and secretly making up their minds, Gu Qing and his friends in the small boat next to them had also been awake all night.

Early in the morning, Gu Qing put on a cloak and came out of his cabin. When he went downstairs, he met Yanzhi. The two of them went out together, and Lu Qing and others who had been guarding all night went back to the cabin to rest. The two stood on the deck, facing the river breeze and looking at the opposite bank, eagerly waiting for the person they were looking forward to to appear.

Hearing the movement coming from the boat next door, and seeing that Manager Ji was arranging the people on the boat to go to Danyang Mansion behind him, Yanzhi nudged Gu Qing's waist with her elbow, "Sister Gu, look."

Gu Qing glanced at the window on the third floor of the neighboring ship that had never been closed, shook his head at Yanzhi, then retracted his gaze and continued to stare at the river.

Seeing her head of the family like this, Yanzhi withdrew her gaze from the river and couldn't help but become worried.

"Sister Gu, the riot in Yangzhou yesterday was even more terrifying than the previous Wuding. The Hu soldiers were much more numerous than those Japanese pirates, and they were also much more brutal and fierce. Miss Li..."

"My benefactor is so powerful, nothing will happen to him!" Yanzhi meant well, but Gu Qing didn't like to hear this and interrupted her quickly.

Yanzhi was about to say something else when she heard another noise from the deck next door. She turned around and saw Manager Ji, who had heard the report from the patrolling servant, rushing to the bow, lying on the side of the boat, leaning most of his body out, pointing happily at the black spot that appeared on the other side of the river and shouting excitedly.

"Quick, quick, that's our Jiqitang's light boat!" It was left by them specially for their master. Ji Ding was overjoyed, "Quick, quickly lower the speedboat to greet him, it must be the master, it must be the master!"

Hearing this, Yanzhi excitedly grabbed Gu Qing's arm, pointed happily at the several speedboats that were quickly lowered by the building next door and shouted, "Sister, Sister Gu, look."

Gu Qing heard it, nodded, patted Yanzhi's hand, and watched with hope as the speedboats headed towards the black spot on the opposite bank.

The river breeze blew gently, the sun rose from the mountain top, and golden light shone through the clouds and filled the world.

Gu Qing and others, together with Cheng Su and his wife who came to the deck from the third floor after hearing the news, stood at the bow of their respective ships, and watched the person they were waiting for walk towards them step by step on the shining gold without any harm.

"Aunt, Uncle, I brought Yangyang back safely!"

Tears welled up in Yu Meixue's eyes. She felt relieved and laughed while crying. She collapsed with joy into the arms of her husband who was leaning on crutches.

When Li Yaoguang boarded the ship and saw Gu Qing and the others who had been paying attention to him, he showed his big white teeth, waved excitedly, and shouted to them: "Madam Gu, thank you for your concern, we are back safely!"

Gu Qing and others put their hands on their chests, grinned silently, and laughed happily.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back...", they're back, they've crossed the river, the family is reunited, and they've felt safe since then.