Chapter 17: Redeem

Before he finished speaking, Yu Qiuping heard a slack sound on the left. Immediately afterwards, the sound of sharp arrows breaking through the air across the sea. In the blink of an eye, he saw a rope on the mast of the opposite ship being shot off, and the sail fell straight to the end and hit two soldiers.

"So far! It's about two hundred meters!" Yu Qiuping was shocked and turned to look to the left.

A young man with golden eyes, with a tall figure about the same height as Yu Qiuhei. He was wearing a sleeveless Arctic Haori, holding a long bow that was almost a man tall, with a serious expression bent his bow and arrows. He twisted his waist and the bowstring was suddenly pulled open to an exaggerated level. He closed his left eye, narrowed his right eye slightly aimed. The fingers of his right hand were loosened, and another arrow shot away. The sails of another ship were also shot down.

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Whoosh, whoosh.

There were two more arrows, and the sails on the other two ships also fell down one after another. In horror, the Hojo Navy looked at the Imakawa Navy, which was carrying the two flags, and welcomed a volley of the Imakawa Navy. The side deck of the ship was immediately inserted into a row of feather arrows. When the Hojo Navy was frightened, he heard Imakawa Katsuki's loud shouts.

"You don't want to do this dirty thing on my Imakawa channel! Leave! I won't be investigated for the sake of the two alliances!" He changed his breath and shouted again: "The merchant ship over there, come to our team!"

After the incident, Yu Qiuping and Itan Katsuki met the foreign archer just now on the deck. The foreigner glanced at Yu Qiuping, turned around and continued to wipe his longbow.

"Does he not understand Japanese?" Yu Qiuping asked.

"That's not. He is like Hongye, both a foreigner who knows Japanese." Yasuki Idao explained, "but the way he talks to others is very strange. He seems to be deliberately not communicating with others, and is busy practicing archery every day. He will not stop without shooting hundreds of arrows at the target. The whole ship is uneasy. It's so annoying."

"Then he..." Yu Qiuping asked with some confusion, "How did you get on the Imakawa family's ship?"

"Oh, this," Idan Kangqing smiled, "It was the Western merchant who asked me to take care of me. His family seemed to be a noble from a country in Europe. He offended the king and was executed. After he barely escaped, he arrived at the merchant's ship. The merchant happened to come to Japan for trade, so he entrusted him to me to take care of him and asked me to help him settle. Hey! He shouldn't have agreed at that time."

"That's how it is," Yu Qiuping was stunned. He remembered that there was a big difference between the English in the West during the Shakespeare era and the modern English he learned in later generations. He didn't know if he could communicate, so he was curious and went to ask.

"Sir, ask me presumptuously. Are you from England? Or England, Great Britain?" Yu Qiuping asked in Japanese, but those British names were written in pure English.

"Oh, yes, my noble knight." The foreigner seemed to be able to understand and blinked unexpectedly. "You seem to know the language of our old Big 6. As you know, many Japanese people can't tell our UK from other countries at all."

"It's just a little bit of knowledge." Yu Qiuping smiled. He was a student of history. Although European history is not as skilled as Japanese history, he has a lot of knowledge. "So, were you expelled by the bloody Queen Mary because of your belief in Protestantism?"

"I was surprised by your knowledge." This time the British man was really shocked, "Dignity Knight, have you ever been to our country before?"

"That's not, it's just that my father has been there." Yu Qiuping explained, "But don't worry, it's probably His Highness Elizabeth who succeeds the throne. She will be a generous queen and will no longer persecute Protestants seriously."

"You are really the most knowledgeable Japanese I have ever met." He said.

"No, I'm from Ming Dynasty." Yu Qiuping explained.

"Oh! Ming Kingdom? That great country with a wise monarch." The British sighed, "I'm lucky to meet you, but I'm about to start practicing the longbow, so I can only talk to you next time." The British ended the conversation and prepared to leave.

"Hey, Lord Charlie, don't leave first," Idan Kangqing called her, "You can't live on the boat all the time. After the boat arrived at Jun Mansion, I plan to entrust you to this adult."

"Oh?" Yu Qiuping and Charlie looked up unexpectedly at the same time.

Charlie's full name is Thompson Charlie. He is an English longbowman this year. No wonder he has such superb shooting skills. His family is a Puritan family, so he had a conflict with Queen Mary, who believed in Catholicism. Queen Mary used bloody means to massacre thousands of Puritans in the territory, and Charlie's family was also killed in the massacre. Only he escaped alone and relied on a Dutch merchant ship, which was the merchant ship of Idan Kangqing.

When Idao Katsuki gave Charlie to him, Yu Qiuping was a little resistant. After all, he felt that Idao Katsuki had the intention of plagiarizing the blame for his good friends. But he realized that Charlie, like him, had lost all his family and lived in a foreign land alone. With the same illness and compassion, Yu Qiuping agreed to arrange him in his shop and sleep in the place where he had entered Kondo Yashu.

This Charlie also encountered a situation similar to time travel, even worse than Yu Qiuping. Yu Qiuping's relatives were at least not dead. However, this Charlie did not seem to be too sad. He focused on his bow and arrow, like a master of meditation, with nothing outside his heart. Every day, Yu Qiuping could hardly see his people except eating and sleeping together. He seemed to be unwilling to communicate too much with him in life to influence himself to practice archery. He seemed to have a savings, so he did not need Yu Qiuping's support.

What kind of obsession should make a person so obsessed with archery? Yu Qiuping couldn't figure it out.

After arriving in Junfu City, Yu Qiuping's first thing was to go to the market outside Junfu City to buy chickens for the slaves' homes. Nowadays, under the background of the meat ban, the price of chickens cannot be considered too expensive, and there are not many people selling them. But it is still a considerable amount, not something that ordinary people can afford. Yu Qiuping is facing the problem of money at this moment.

"Two thirty-two families, a total of 116 chickens, each chicken is about 80 yuan, my god, 9 guan."

Yu Qiuping worked hard to settle the score, but now his family only has less than 3 coins left.

"This young man, should you buy it or not?" the old man selling chicken urged.

"Uncle, can you keep these chickens for me first?" Yu Qiuping said in distress, "I don't have enough money."

"Then wait until sunset, go back to the city to get it." said the old man.

"This..." Yu Qiuping smiled awkwardly, "I guess I'm going to borrow money from my friend, so..."

"Why don't you buy chickens if you don't have money? You have to buy more than 100?" The old man sneered, "Forget it, I still have to dare to do business!" After that, he made a move and wanted to leave.

"Don't, uncle!" Yu Qiuping hurriedly stopped him, "There are not many people selling chickens these days. I don't know how long it will take to get more than 100 chickens to get you away."

"You guys know the goods," the old man successfully raised the price and smiled, "Waiting for you for two days, remember to pay me 10 knots at that time."

"This..." Yu Qiuping couldn't help but feel angry when he thought of himself, since he had promised to buy a chicken for those poor families, he had to grit his teeth and agree. He must do what he promised.

After Yu Qiuping hurried back to the city, he wanted to borrow money from Aobi Nai Taihyung. When he arrived at Aobi Nai's house, he found that Aobi Nai Taihyung was still in Yuanjiang and had not come back. The dozens of followers who Yu Qiuping knew also stopped in Yuanjiang. Yu Qiuping had no choice but to go home.

"Thompson..." Yu Qiuping spoke hesitantly during dinner, "I don't know if you have any extra money..."

"Yes." Charlie replied very readily, "Sir, do you have any urgent matters to clear?"

"Yes." Yu Qiuping admitted honestly, "I've met more than two hundred poor slaves in Sanhe, that is, on the east side. Well, it's about the same as your Western slaves. Their family is very embarrassed. Out of kindness, I promised them to buy half a chicken for each family, but now I don't have enough money..."

"This is something that every knight and noble who cares about love will do," Charlie said with approval. "I have four taels of silver here, which should be considered four jin of coins for you. If Mr. Red Leaf is very anxious, please take it first." After that, he took out a few ingots of silver from the package.

"You... are so thankful." Yu Qiuping was speechless for a moment. He didn't expect that this British man who had known each other for a while would be so generous. "Don't you keep a little?"

"No need, I won't spend much money every day," Charlie said. "How to use money is a compulsory course that every noble knight should learn. My father taught me since he was a child that money was prepared for those in need."

"I thank you so much, I will definitely give it back to you in the future." Yu Qiuping accepted the silver ingots with gratitude.

"I believe that a person with integrity makes a guarantee to your chivalrous spirit!" Charlie raised the water cup in his hand, touched Yu Qiuping for a while and drank it all.

The next afternoon, Yu Qiuping ran to Cuju venue again and found the uncle in the backcourt.

"Hey, I haven't seen you for a long time, Yuqiu," the uncle said, "I heard that you and Young Master Asabena went to Sanhe?"

"Hey, uncle, how did you know?" Yu Qiuping asked in surprise.

"Haha, businessmen, naturally they should know more people and have a wider path." The uncle explained, "I also heard that you encountered people from the Oda family?"

"That's right." Yu Qiuping's face suddenly dimmed, and the sad memories that had been buried in his heart also rolled in. "And because of my cowardice," Yu Qiuping sighed, "My good friend died to protect me."

"I... watched him not strangle him to death, but he didn't even have the courage to swing the knife," Yu Qiuping said decadently, "Uncle, do you think I'm useless and timid?"

"But I also heard that you rushed out bravely later and saved Young Master Chaobina's life," the uncle said, "The head of the Chobina family plans to thank you in person."

"At that time..." Yu Qiuping almost blurted out, "I was just impulsive... After thinking about it, I was so scared. I was still timid and cowardly."

"Haha, no one is not afraid of death," the uncle slid his palm and laughed. "The so-called desperate charge on the battlefield, the righteousness of the warrior before his death, and the calmness of his righteousness, are actually what you call a momentary impulse."

"When a person is influenced by emotions, rational thinking will be suppressed, and the fear of death will be diluted," the uncle explained. "Even if the warrior with a strong will is pulled back and calm before he dies, and if he wants to think about whether he wants to be executed bravely in ten days, he will probably change his mind."

"It's just a mature soldier who can briefly mobilize his emotions in the battle and fight better." The uncle smiled. "It's already amazing that you can rush up bravely on the first time you go to battle, so you don't have to underestimate yourself. You know, many new recruits vomit in the first time they go to the battlefield. It's great if you don't vomit."

"Thank you for your comfort. I have heard a lot of comfort from others these days, and it is your most useful one." Yu Qiuping smiled bitterly, "This time I came, I actually want to ask you to borrow some money. I wonder if Fang is not convenient?"

"If you want it, just open your mouth. There is no inconvenience," the uncle waved his hand cheerfully, "It's just that you borrow money, what are you doing?"

"I saw more than 200 slave soldiers in Mikawa Kariya Castle. They worked hard and saved money. They raised chickens for a year and wanted to send them home to replenish their bodies for their families and tasted meat. But they were taken away by the military officers for Young Master Asahina and the others." Yu Qiupi said, thinking of the men who stood up and down so weak, and couldn't help but feel a sore nose. "I promised them to buy half a chicken for each family, but I had never bought chicken before. I didn't know I had so much money at that time, but now I don't have enough money..."

"This is a good thing with immeasurable merits," the uncle agreed without hesitation, "Aoping, get it for him..."

"How much money are you missing, Yuqiu." The uncle asked.

"It's still 3 coins away." Yu Qiuping nodded and replied.

"Then get him 4 guan. I guess some of the families may be short of herbs, so you can buy some, too." The uncle said generously.

"Thank you, I will definitely pay you back in the future."

"I believe that Yu Qiuping, who we say, will definitely pay back the money, but you can't repay the money," the uncle stared at Yu Qiuping and said, "Because you have a valuable quality and compassion. That is our human beings, who feel empathy for those who suffer and sympathy from the inside. This quality cannot be exchanged for a thousand gold coins. I don't want you to gradually lose this precious quality because of lack of money."

"I will go to Yuanjiang in a few days. I may not come to Cuju anymore. I will go to Cuju together when I come back." The uncle said with a smile at the end.

Yu Qiuping, who had been busy with the pharmacy and the market for a day, finally bought all the things. It took him nearly three days to give the food and medicine he bought to each family. In fact, it was not difficult to find them. The difficulty was that from the homes of these enthusiastic people who were moved to tears, they would leave Yu Qiuping for a meal no matter what. Yu Qiuping had eaten more than forty meals in the past three days. His stomach was very full, but he would still try his best to show that every family was very attentive.

Five days of running around were very tired and hard, and he still owed huge debts. But when he saw the weathered old people crying, when he saw the innocent and lively children smiling and eating chicken, when he thought that the hard-working slaves finally no longer had to worry about their livelihood at home, Yu Qiuping suddenly felt that everything he did was worth it.
Chapter completed!