"It wouldn't bother me if I never heard his name again," said Wen. He heard himself sighing as well. In his case, though, he knew exactly what the problem was. He was nowhere near as rich as he wanted to be—needed to be. And it was, he suddenly realized, not so much a matter of being bored as it was of finding the demands of three dozen men—and one very frustrating young woman—much more of a problem than he'd ever contemplated, when he first imagined being a pirate.
So when Number One Grandfather said, "There is, in fact, a simple solution to your problem of too-small treasures," Wen suddenly found himself telling the craggy old spirit to just tell him.
The prize that Number One Grandfather described to him would, Wen realized happily, allow him to retire immediately and hire the prince's own physicians to heal Father, should he be fortunate enough to take it.
* * * *
"Sail coming up behind us!" Wen paused, turned to Foghorn and gestured for him to go to the man who'd shouted. Then he turned back to directing the powder-bomb launcher. They had successfully snuck up to the biggest ship Wen—or anyone, come to that—had ever seen, one of the giant eight-masted Treasure Ships of the long-ago Yongle Emperor. Having surprised their quarry, the Jade Maiden and her crew were dealing with the not-inconsiderable task of trying to suppress resistance from and then take control of a vessel some four hundred feet long.
Now this is fun, Wen thought as the gunners sent another fireball twisting through the air toward the giant floating mountain. No chance at all of any of us being bored now. Her name-plate said she was the Meiyou, legendary survivor of the first voyage from Nanjing to Fusang. The dragon eyes painted on her prow seemed to be especially angry with Wen Xia this morning. No doubt the treasure in her gigantic holds would make the trouble worth-while.
"DEFINITELY A SAIL ON THE REAR QUARTER, CAPTAIN." Foghorn's inimitable voice caused everyone to stop whatever they were doing. Those on the Meiyou were undoubtedly stunned into silence; a first encounter with Foghorn could be a bit overwhelming. "CLOSING FAST, CAPTAIN."
"Damn." Wen left the firing crew and made his way back along the deck.
"What good is that eye of yours," Yin Fengzi demanded as he passed the mainmast, "if it lets someone sneak up on us like that?" She wiped her brow. The Meiyou had dozens of cannon, and while they fired very slowly, a single ball from one of them would be enough to splinter the Jade Maiden. So Fengzi had been very busy, literally putting out fires: none of the Meiyou gunners had been able to keep his match lit anywhere near the guns.
"The Dragon Emerald Eye is working just fine," Wen said. "I've just been too busy to look."
Climbing to the roof of the stern, he praised the alert crewman, and turned his eye-patch in the direction the man pointed. "Oh, hells," he said.
"What is it, captain?"
"Not what—who. Chin Gwai is on that fuchuan. Damn it, and the thing's armed to the teeth. Or whatever it is a ship's armed to when it's carrying a dozen cannon."
"We're in trouble, aren't we?"
"Foghorn, we're never in trouble. We just have to run very, very fast. Tell the crew we're breaking off this action. We'll get the Meiyou another day."
With a noise that sounded like the shell of heaven's own crab splitting, the Jade Maiden's brand-new, barbarian-design mainsail split right down the center, the two halves crumpling into a heavy heap that buried a dozen crewmen and knocked several others into an ocean that was suddenly a lot more boisterous than it had been just moments ago. "All right," Wen said. "Yes, we're in trouble. Are you happy now?"
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