Chapter 600: Shocking! China’ s Most Formidable Female Pirate!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Could this be… a flag?” Luo Feng asked, staring at the unfurled fabric, his voice tinged with surprise.
After all, the intricate pattern had been hidden, wrapped inside.
Surrounded by various gold and silver jewels, Luo Feng had naturally assumed it to be some sort of valuable silk merchandise. But when he opened it, the fabric seemed to reveal a different story altogether.
Of course, it wasn’t as though Luo Feng would have dismissed these objects as ordinary silk had Lin Yueting not been present. Anyone opening them would have recognized what they were, and they would not have been overlooked.
Even after soaking in seawater for so many years, the color remained as vibrant as ever.
This bright red flag bore no characters or symbols.
Could it be a flag from the Qing Dynasty?
Luo Feng touched his chin, feeling something was amiss. The Qing Dynasty’s first national flag was known as the Yellow Dragon Flag, not something like this.
Before the Yellow Dragon Flag, the Qing Dynasty had used the Eight Banners.
However, the symbols of the Eight Banners, apart from being used to lead troops during the early conquest of the Central Plains, would not have been used on merchant ships later on.
The concept of a flag representing a nation had developed later, and certainly not in pure red like this.
“Hehe, I know!” Lin Yueting’s voice suddenly grew excited, her pitch rising noticeably. She looked thrilled, as if she had stumbled upon treasure.
“What do you know?” Luo Feng asked, intrigued.
“I know where these sunken ships came from!” Lin Yueting announced, her eyes sparkling.
“Hehe, where did they come from?” Luo Feng probed, smiling.
At that moment, Lin Yueting’s bright eyes fixed on Luo Feng, and she uttered a word that left him utterly perplexed: “Pirates!”
“Pirates?” Luo Feng repeated, stalling for a couple of seconds. “You mean a pirate ship?”
The beautiful Lin nodded enthusiastically, declaring, “Yes, exactly!”
“So, from where did these pirates hail?” Luo Feng inquired further.
Smiling at Luo Feng’s question, Lin Yueting replied, “Do you know about the legend of the Liang Guang treasure?”
Luo Feng felt somewhat confused; how had the conversation turned to treasures again? Were there truly that many treasures in China?
Luo Feng shook his head, indicating his ignorance, and Lin Yueting began to narrate slowly, “In the South Sea, there’s an island called Shangchuan Island. A legend of a treasure is passed down there, along with a cryptic treasure poem! It goes like this: ‘Olive faces Emei, one hundred ninety thousand four, Moon laurel at the end of the bamboo pole, where two shadows intersect!”‘
“These treasures were left behind from the Qing Dynasty’s Jiaqing era. Legend has it that they were hidden by a very powerful pirate, a young woman named Zheng Yisao!”
Upon hearing this, Luo Feng’s mind cleared, and many of his uncertainties found answers.
Lin Yueting continued, “Legend has it that Yisao’s treasure is hidden near Shangchuan Island. For many years, people have been searching for it, and many treasure hunters have sailed in pursuit, but all in vain! Everyone thought the story about the treasure might have been a fabrication. But now it’s clear; the treasure does exist, just not near Shangchuan Island, but here!”
Chatter broke out among the viewers:
“Damn, the more I hear, the more confused I get!” “If you’re having trouble understanding, it’s only natural! Even I don’t get it!”
“I seem to have heard rumors about this legend before!”
“This female pirate’s name sounds like someone from our nation?” “Did our great Chinese nation have pirates? How did I not know?”
“Zheng Yisao was a formidable pirate back then, probably China’s most formidable one!”
“Back then, even the British, the Portuguese, and others formed a fleet to conquer Zheng Yisao, but those who went never returned. Yisao even captured some British warships! Truly a matchless record!”
“I heard about that treasure when I was a child. People searched for it every year but found nothing, and now it turns up here!”
“Is Mistress Ching in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ modeled after this Yisao?”
“Yes, definitely!”
“Damn, Mistress Ching has a real-life counterpart?”
Lin Yueting spoke up again, “Yisao was part of the Red Flag Gang among her pirate group. This red flag should be the one they hoisted on their pirate ships. After suffering losses, the British avoided this area of the sea; if they did come, they paid protection money in advance. Seeing a ship with a red flag, they knew it was Yisao’s fleet and dared not disturb it!”
Luo Feng, still curious, asked, “How do you know all this?”
“When I was conducting research in Guangdi, I heard the locals talk about it,” Lin Yueting explained. “Since it’s about pirates, and a female pirate at that, the story left a strong impression on me. But I’m just guessing; I’m not entirely sure about it!”
Luo Feng pondered for a moment and then spoke, “Looking at the era and the quantity of the treasure, it seems to fit.. I think you’re right!”
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