To this day, the Great Chen Dynasty has long since vanished into dust. The founding emperor of the current dynasty, James Miller, was originally a member of the The Miller Family from Shangyang in Huainan. In the chaotic final years of the previous dynasty, Emperor Taizu James Miller, then serving as the Jiangdong Pacification Commissioner, established his imperial enterprise with Jiangning Prefecture as his base, founding the Great Yue Empire, which has now lasted for two hundred years. When Taizu James Miller first proclaimed himself emperor, he made Jiangning the capital. To defend against northern tribes, Emperor Taizong moved the capital to Yanshan Prefecture in Hebei, renaming it Yanjing, and designated Jiangning as the secondary capital, then called Nanjing—this coincides with the Nanjing remembered in later generations.

Edward Sullivan was flipping through the general history book "Comprehensive Annals of the Spring and Autumn," but couldn't make sense of this unfamiliar history for the moment. Since there was no Common Era dating system, and the imperial reign years recorded in the histories were rather complicated, he could only roughly estimate that this period was about equivalent to the early Song Dynasty. After three unfamiliar dynasties had ruled, the political, economic, and military situations were all vastly different from the hazy memories he had of the early Song.

He didn't know when it happened, but listening to the sounds outside, the guests gradually left the boat and dispersed. He also heard Charles Parker bidding farewell on the shore, leading his group away on horseback.

The three men who had boarded earlier to listen to music were still in high spirits, continuing to invite Matthew Harris. The boatman was drinking at the bow, and they also looked after Edward Sullivan, keeping their laughter rather subdued. Edward Sullivan wasn't one to spoil others' fun. Thinking that he needed to instruct the boatman to set off early the next day, he undressed, blew out the candle, and went to bed to rest.

Just as he was about to drift into sleep, Edward Sullivan heard some strange noises outside the cabin. He sat up alertly, and the more he listened, the more wrong it sounded. Carefully pressing himself against the wooden door, he peered out through the crack. What he saw shocked him: the two men who had earlier boarded to drink were now standing at the bow, one holding a knife to Matthew Harris's throat, the other forcing the boatman at knifepoint to untie the mooring rope. The third man was nowhere to be seen.

Volume One: Pirates of Mountains and Seas

Chapter Four: Night Raiders for a Beauty

The autumn moon shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the Baishui River ferry as if it were daylight. Edward Sullivan watched as the two men who had boarded at dusk to listen to music now held Matthew Harris and the boatman hostage with knives, and was greatly alarmed. Instinctively, a thought flashed through his mind: river bandits hijacking the boat! But he was also puzzled—what was there to rob on his little black-awning boat?

The boat's mooring rope had already been untied, and it was slowly drifting away from the shore. Through the crack in the door, Edward Sullivan saw that the fishing boat opposite had also been untied and was drifting toward the center of the Baishui River. By the moonlight, he could make out five or six dark figures crouched at the bow of the grain boat, but couldn't tell who was the boatman and who were the bandits.

The cabin doors were tightly shut. Outside, the moonlight was bright, but inside, it was pitch black. Edward Sullivan remembered his sword was hanging on the opposite wall. He carefully tightened his clothes, mentally measured the distance to the window, and ran through in his mind how he could, in the darkness, grab the sword as quickly as possible and then leap out the wooden window into the river... But he couldn't see the situation on Grace Bennett's pleasure boat through the crack, nor did he know how many river bandits were involved in this hijacking. Edward Sullivan patiently pressed himself against the door, thinking that maybe jumping into the water amid the chaos would be the best option.

Edward Sullivan wanted to wait for the right moment, but the two men at the bow had no intention of giving him that time. The man holding the knife to Matthew Harris's throat had a scar running across his nose. He asked the other, "Do you think that weakling has woken up yet? Why is there no sound at all?" He didn't seem worried about Edward Sullivan waking up.

Edward Sullivan was startled. Matthew Harris had scolded him at dusk, telling him not to gossip in front of outsiders. These two seemed quite familiar with his previous self?

"That weakling is infatuated with that woman. When he goes crazy, he's really unpredictable. Better be careful..." The other man had a lean face and squinted toward the riverbank.

At this point, they weren't far from shore. Next to the disaster relief camp at Wentou Mountain, nearly a hundred saber and bowmen from Baisha County were stationed—since William Brooks became the prefect of Weiyang, he had placed great emphasis on training the security forces, including saber and bowmen, in all the counties under his jurisdiction, even intending to build an elite local army. The lean-faced man was still quite wary of Baisha County's saber and bowmen. Besides, William Brooks was well-known for his reputation and was currently in Baisha County. If they caused a disturbance now, tonight's plan might fail. With this in mind, he exchanged a look with the scar-faced man.

Hiding in the cabin, Edward Sullivan heard their conversation and was shocked. He thought, are they after Grace Bennett?

The bearded man understood and grinned, hooking his arm around Matthew Harris's neck and threatening in a low voice, "If you want to live and avoid pain, don't make a sound! If you shout, I'll chop you up right here!" He reversed the knife and struck Matthew Harris hard on the temple. Matthew Harris let out a muffled groan and collapsed limply.

Seeing the bearded man stick his knife through the crack to try to lift the latch, Edward Sullivan stepped back half a pace. When the latch was about to be lifted, he grabbed the back of the knife blade and kicked, snapping the knife at the door crack. The man outside was caught off guard, and, holding the broken knife, stumbled inside.

Suddenly plunged into darkness, the man was blinded, while Edward Sullivan, already accustomed to the dark, seized his wrist holding the broken knife and jabbed two fingers fiercely at his eyes.

The scar-faced man was tough, but when his eyes were poked, he screamed like a slaughtered pig from the pain. Still, he managed to wrench his wrist free from Edward Sullivan's grip, and, charging and stumbling, jumped into the corner of the cabin. Blood streamed from his eye sockets, but he still held the broken knife, waving it wildly to keep Edward Sullivan at bay, and shouted out of the cabin, "Old Biao, this one's tough! He blinded me—get in here and help!"