Chapter 6: Temporary Peace

The few days on the ship were the most peaceful days Ling Qingyu had experienced since her transmigration. Since arriving, a series of upheavals had left her struggling to keep up; after her mother's passing, anger and grief filled her chest. Although she had transmigrated, her mother in this world was identical to her mother in her previous life. Having also received the original host's memories, she knew that during those days together, even when her mother was gravely ill, she thought only of how to make her daughter's life easier. That maternal devotion had long ago caused Ling Qingyu to merge the two mothers into one, regarding her as her true biological mother. As a result of her own negligence, her mother had actually been driven to death by anger. Ling Qingyu was consumed by fury and self-reproach, her heart filled with nothing but the desire for vengeance.

Holding her breath, she had not left her cabin once since sitting on the ship. Even her meals were brought to her by Shanyao; she simply sat in quiet contemplation, planning her next moves.

This actually made Shanyao like this quiet young girl even more. One had to know that on the ship right now, there was not only her master but also the Sixth Young Master of the First House. There were many maidservants on board with wandering eyes. For the past two days, Shanyao had been worried daily about whether this young lady would do anything improper, but who would have thought this young lady wouldn't even step out of her door? It made her task as the supervisor much easier. Thus, when Ling Qingyu followed Zheng Xi down from the small sampan at the rear of the ship and gave another deep bow, she said, "My master is the newly appointed Chief of the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Bureau. In the future, you may come to the Fan residence to find me."

Ling Qingyu expressed her thanks: "Thank you, Sister Shanyao. If there is anything I can help with in the future, please do not hesitate to ask." She then slipped a small silver ingot into Shanyao's hand, waved, and jumped off the sampan.

Holding a notebook in her hand, Ling Qingyu checked off items one by one, reciting aloud: "Find a quiet courtyard to settle in," she looked up at the courtyard she was currently in. It wasn't large, consisting of three main rooms, two side rooms, a storage room, and a kitchen. However, there was a large tree in the courtyard; its canopy was like a cloud, its thick shade shielding most of the courtyard from the harsh sun. Under the tree sat a stone table with four stone stools. In the western corner of the courtyard, there was an old well. The ground was paved with bluestone; the entire courtyard was small but neat and refreshing.

Ling Qingyu nodded in satisfaction, added "one hundred taels" next to the item, and continued reciting: "Locate the whereabouts of the *Wind God*; inquire about the application process for maritime permits; check market prices; find sailors; purchase goods; draw nautical charts; hmm, I've already done this one."

She spread a silk map out on the courtyard table. She had begun drawing this silk map the moment she conceived the idea of maritime trade. Based on years of experience sailing vessels, she had drawn world maps, islands, ocean currents, and monsoons, and had even outlined latitudes and longitudes. She also marked the names of foreign ports she had gathered from Zheng Xi alongside the names from her own memory. Fearing prying eyes, Ling Qingyu had marked them using Pinyin or simplified characters.

Ling Qingyu looked closely at the nautical chart, wondering if there were any omissions, and also thinking about whether, despite this being a parallel world, the terrain or the distribution of other countries might have changed. She failed to notice that Zheng Xi had brought someone in, and that the man had been standing behind her for quite some time.

"Is this the nautical chart of Great Chief Lin?"

"Ah!" A sinister voice suddenly rang out from behind her. Ling Qingyu jumped in fright, quickly rolled up the silk map (as expected, using silk instead of paper was better!), and shouted, "Who goes there, thief? My elder brother will be back any moment; you'd better surrender immediately!" She darted around the table, only then seeing the person behind her—no, now in front of her—staring at her with an expression of astonishment.

"Miss, this is the former captain of the *Wind God*, now Old Man Ding of the Houshanshe Shipyard," Zheng Xi, who had been standing behind Ding Budong, said sheepishly.

Unable to push him back? Ling Qingyu looked at the man Zheng Xi had been talking about the whole way. In Zheng Xi's mouth, this man was an all-powerful, righteous, and loyal hero of the sea. But the man before her was less than 170cm tall, with an upper body as thick as his lower body. His graying hair was tied in a messy short bun, and only his small eyes flashed with sharp intelligence, giving his ageless face a sense of spirit.

"Old Man Ding, I have heard much of you," Ling Qingyu habitually reached out her hand, but immediately remembered that handshakes were not the custom in this era. She bowed her waist into a formal salutation instead, but before her bow could even descend, her hand was caught by Ding Budong. Before she could react in surprise, the silk map was taken from her hand and spread out on the table.

"Can you serve as a navigator?" Ding Budong glanced at Ling Qingyu and asked, staring at the chart.

"Naturally," Ling Qingyu said, lifting her chin. A navigator was the modern equivalent of a pilot; when Ling Qingyu was in university, she had joined a sailing organization and had participated in several editions of the World Amateur Sailing Race, serving as a navigator.

Ding Budong looked at the chart, but his brow furrowed. Although Lin Jiashen's charts were kept very strictly guarded, Ding Budong had once seen one during a voyage through a storm, and it was nowhere near as detailed as this one. Had Lin Jiashen added more to it later? But Ding Budong had personally followed the ships Lin Jiashen used to sail, yet this chart actually included vast areas that Lin Jiashen's ships had never even visited.

"You want to repair the *Wind God*?" Ding Budong rolled up the chart, returned it to Ling Qingyu, and asked.

"Yes. Not only do I want to repair the *Wind God*, I also want to invite Old Man Ding to sail again," Ling Qingyu paused, recalling the expression on Ding Budong's face when he looked at the chart, and continued, "Old Man Ding has seen my father's charts before, so you should know that my charts include places far beyond where my father ever went. I wonder if Old Man Ding still possesses that ambition?"

Ling Qingyu decided to take a gamble. Aside from herself, no one could actually understand that chart, but Ding Budong's expression suggested he understood the gist of it. This man was indeed a veteran of the sea. However, her father's death had been suspicious, and Old Man Ding had retired a year before the incident; who knew if there was an inside story? But for now, if she wanted to go to sea, the best helper she could find was this Ding Budong, whom Zheng Xi described as righteous and daring.

"Girl, do you know why your eldest uncle agreed to give the *Wind God* and the shipyard to you?" Ding Budong stared at Ling Qingyu. Seeing her think for a moment and then shake her head slightly, he said, "Follow me. Let's see the *Wind God*."

In Houshanshe, Quanzhou, there was the best shipyard in Quanzhou and even the entire country. Currently, in this completely abandoned small shipyard filled with nothing but scraps and debris, a large ship sat tilted at a steep angle by a small pier. For now, let's call it a large ship. Its main mast was snapped in half, large holes were torn into both sides of the hull, the bulkheads were shattered into pieces, and the entire vessel was covered in marks left by blades, swords, and axes.

Ling Qingyu couldn't help but sneer, "It truly was a storm of blades and blood."

"The *Wind God* was manned by experts, all of Great Chief Lin's trusted men. They were all concentrated on the *Wind God* that time. If the opponents didn't have at least three times their number, it would have been impossible to kill everyone on board. Girl," Ding Budong glanced at Ling Qingyu and said coldly, "Miss Lin, are you sure you want to restart maritime trade? The money needed to repair this ship could buy you hundreds of acres of fertile land and find a good man to marry. Wouldn't that be better?"

"I originally wanted to live a peaceful life, but since the opponents wouldn't even let my mother go, I fear they won't have any good intentions toward me either." Ling Qingyu gazed at the *Wind God*, her mind involuntarily imagining the wind and waves of that night, and the bloody carnage on that ship. She closed her eyes and said, "Besides, even if I could live a peaceful life, I cannot forget this blood feud. The reason Lin Cheng留 left this *Wind God* to me was nothing more than to remind me: if he could take down my father, what hope would a young girl like me have?"

Ding Budong couldn't help but laugh. "You even know you're just a young girl. What do you have to use to take revenge on them? Two years ago, I told Great Chief Lin that we shouldn't get involved in government affairs; we are just in it for profit, and that should be enough. Your father originally intended to retire from this trade, but I didn't expect this to be the result."

*Is it not just the Lin and Wu families?* Ling Qingyu keenly sensed a conspiracy. She looked toward Ding Budong, but seeing him shake his head and refuse to say more, she knew that given her current situation, he didn't want her to sink deeper into it. It was a kind gesture. Her heart warmed, and she said, "Uncle Ding, I know the path to revenge is difficult. Currently, I have neither power nor influence, and I will not do anything reckless. It is just that my father rose through maritime trade and died because of it, and I..."

Ling Qingyu raised her head and looked toward the distant coastline, where seagulls flew over the snowy white waves.

Ling Qingyu spread her arms toward the sea and said, "This world is so vast. I want to see the world my father traveled. Uncle Ding, please believe me, I will be a navigator who surpasses my father."

"Since ancient times, the old teachings have said a woman cannot board a ship." An elderly voice rang out from the side. Seeing Ling Qingyu turn around in surprise, an old man tapped a pipe against a stone, took a deep breath, and blew out a smoke ring. He squinted in enjoyment and said slowly, "If a woman boards a ship, it will inevitably capsize. Even if you are Lin Jiashen's daughter, the Sea God will make your ship sink just the same."

"Old Man Wu? You're actually not dead?" Ding Budong said in pleasant surprise.

"I should have been dead. Before boarding the ship, this old man caught a cold. The Great Chief pitied me and let me disembark, which saved my life." The old man looked at Ling Qingyu and said, "Miss, the Great Chief was a good man. Don't cut off his lineage."

Ling Qingyu whispered to Zheng Xi, "Who is this?"

Zheng Xi said with a face full of joy, "That's Old Wu. He's the one who built the *Wind God*. He's the best shipbuilder in Quanzhou."

Ling Qingyu straightened her expression, brushed her sleeves, and bowed deeply. "Greetings, Grandfather Wu."

"No need for formalities. Your father, Great Chief Lin, was of great kindness to me. I cannot watch his only descendant go to her death as well," Old Wu said in a muffled voice, glaring fiercely at Ding Budong.

Ling Qingyu cleared her throat and said, "Grandfather Wu, I heard that the *Wind God* was once the fastest sea vessel in Quanzhou."

"Naturally," Old Wu's head lifted slightly, looking as if to say, *don't you know who built it?*

"I see that the keel and other parts of the *Wind God* are still good. Do you think it would take much silver and time to repair it?" Ling Qingyu asked with a smile.

"Hmm, if Old Man Wu lends a hand, I think it would take at most a month and a half to repair. To replace the masts and the hull planks, it will probably cost at least three thousand taels of silver," Ding Budong said, seeing Old Wu frowning in silence.

"Women cannot board ships," Old Wu tapped his pipe and said.

"Grandfather Wu, 'women' usually refers to adult women, right? Look, I haven't even had my first period yet, so I don't count as a woman. But no one says a child cannot board a ship, right?" Ling Qingyu said with a beaming smile, which caused the three men to stare at her with wide eyes.

Old Wu couldn't help but take another good look at the girl opposite him. A large braid hung down her back, her green clothes were clean and neat, and her round, moon-like face carried a sincere smile; even her freckles and acne seemed amiable. He truly couldn't imagine what kind of girl could speak so easily about her first period.

Just as Ling Qingyu was forcing a smile and felt her face was about to go stiff, Old Wu said, "Once the ship is repaired, Ding Budong can go to sea."

"But we have no navigator," Ding Budong said before Ling Qingyu could speak. How could a woman board a ship? When Zheng Xi had found him, his thought was simply to find a place to settle this orphan of the Great Chief, and he certainly wouldn't take her to sea. But when he saw that nautical chart, and the look in that girl's eyes as she stared at it, Ding Budong felt something stirring in his heart. As if possessed, he had brought Ling Qingyu here.

"Once you are on the ship, no one will treat you as a woman or a child," Old Wu sighed. He also knew that for seafaring, the most important thing was the navigator. In the vast ocean, once you lost your way, it was a death sentence. A good navigator could greatly increase the survival rate. Since Ding Budong had accepted this girl, she must naturally have her own unique qualities, or perhaps Great Chief Lin had kept something in reserve.

"I know. Since I have chosen this path, I do not consider myself a woman or a child. Furthermore, I am now independent. The Lin family may have killed my father and brother, but I, Ling Qingyu, will ensure the maritime flag of the Ling family is planted even at the ends of the great ocean!" Ling Qingyu's smile was like the morning sun, and her words were powerful.

Although he still believed that the proper path for a young girl was to marry and live off some land, the girl had spoken such words. Moreover, given the grudge of her parents' murder, the fact that this girl was willing to risk everything to walk the path of vengeance earned him a measure of respect. Since he couldn't argue with her, he would contribute what strength his old bones had left.

"If Grandfather Wu has no objection, I have a small suggestion," seeing Old Wu's expression, Ling Qingyu took the opportunity to press on, "When my elder brother last came home, he mentioned some ideas to me. If we add a foresail and a spanker to the ship, it will be much faster. Then, we could add an iron bow and raise the bulwarks."

Ling Qingyu crouched down, picked up a stone from the ground, and began drawing the diagram of a tower ship in the sand.

As the drawing under her hand became clearer, both Old Wu and Ding Budong began to focus. They were both veterans of sea vessels; after careful consideration, they immediately understood how massive a change and how great an advancement this would be for current sea vessels.

It wasn't until she sat inside the carriage and lowered the curtain that Ling Qingyu let out a long sigh of relief, relaxing her body into the seat. She understood that her performance was certainly not the act of a fifteen-year-old girl, but there was no helping it—who told her that her core was that of a woman in her late thirties? Moreover, her personality couldn't fake the persona of a little girl. Fortunately, Lin Huiniang had been well-protected by her family since childhood, and her father's old subordinates had never met her. Although they had doubts, they would likely look after her to some extent out of respect for her father. Furthermore, both Ding Budong and Old Wu were capable men. She had thought they wouldn't immediately accept the kind of tower ship that wouldn't appear for several hundred years, but it turned out they not only accepted it, but seemed to have their own ideas about it as well.

This was for the best. Overseas trade had been the most profitable since ancient times; only by accumulating sufficient wealth could one hope to touch the reins of power.

Ling Qingyu closed her eyes slightly, thinking carefully in her mind about how to maximize the routes and profits.