Chapter 1: Caught a Handsome Merman

“Second Miss, the winds and waves in the South Sea are really strong~~ Ugh~~” A wave hit, causing the ship to sway and rock. Lan Qian was leaning over the railing, vomiting profusely.

Jiang Yang was lying on the soft couch. She rolled over and covered her ears with a pillow.

After a while, Lan Qian returned holding his mouth. He had been vomiting from morning till night, to the point that his legs went weak from all the vomiting. He collapsed beside Jiang Yang’s soft couch and said pitifully, “Second Miss, what kind of situation is this? The national treasury can’t spare any money, so they sent you to find money.”

“What else can be done.” Jiang Yang let out a sigh.

The emperor was an extravagant and lascivious old bastard, infuriating the rebels to the point of revolting. The national treasury was almost emptied from the fighting. With no money to be found, they set their sights on the ocean merchant ships.

The Jiang clan had resided in Lingnan for generations. With their proximity to the mountains and sea, this task naturally fell on their shoulders. Jiang Yang’s elder sister commanded the troops in the Lingnan region, a leader amongst leaders in Lingnan. The Jiang clan naturally couldn’t bear to let her go out to sea.

After much consideration, this task fell to Jiang Yang.

However, she had absolutely no experience in doing business!

She had been reborn into this female-dominant world. Before her rebirth, she was just an ordinary office worker, working nine-to-five with little vacation time and pay but plenty of work. If she was capable of doing business, why would she have been a wage slave in her previous life?

That dog emperor should hurry up and get overthrown already. Jiang Yang put on a pained expression.

“Yang’er, you’re all grown up now. It’s time for you to learn how to be independent. Go, set out to sea and earn more money before coming back.” When she was leaving, her old man cried profusely while her old lady patted her shoulder and said with deep feelings.

Jiang Yang forced a smile, “But mother, I don’t know how to do business.” And she wasn’t fluent in foreign languages either. Do foreigners in a female-dominant country also speak English? After so many years of not using it, her current English proficiency was limited to ‘How are you, I’m fine thank you, and you’.

Her old lady affectionately patted her and pointed to the ocean-going ship, saying, “As long as they know how to do business, it’s fine.”

“They?” Jiang Yang looked towards the large ship behind her. The largest ship was over a hundred meters long and could carry nearly a few hundred people. With 10 large sails, it was like a castle on the sea. But after looking around, she couldn’t figure out who her old lady was pointing to. She looked at her blankly, “Who?”

Her old lady’s loving smile cracked a little. She pointed again.

Jiang Yang squinted and finally noticed that there were also cannon positions on both sides of the hull, with black cannon muzzles that looked wildly cool.

Well, well, well. It turned out she wasn’t going to earn money, but to rob money.

“Sigh——” Jiang Yang let out a long sigh.

Lan Qian thought she was worried about earning money and said, “Second Miss, you don’t need to worry. We’ve made very thorough preparations this time~ Ugh~~”

Jiang Yang lazily said, “With cannons ready, the preparations are indeed very thorough.”

Lan Qian humbly scratched the back of his head, “In business, it’s very reasonable and sensible to carry some cannons and handguns~ Ugh~”

“I told you long ago that with your poor sea legs, you shouldn’t have come along. Look at you now.” Jiang Yang opened one eye and glanced at Lan Qian’s face that looked like death from all the vomiting.

Lan Qian said resolutely, “I am Second Miss’s~ Ugh~ personal maidservant. Wherever Second Miss goes, I go.”

“Right now, don’t stick so close to me.” Jiang Yang pushed his face away in disgust, “Don’t vomit on my bed.”

Lan Qian hugged the spittoon pitifully, “Second Miss is also out at sea for the first time, how come you’re not seasick?”

“Probably natural talent.” She stretched lazily and got off the bed. She picked some dried insects from the bird food box and fed them to the creature on the windowsill, “Eat up, Angry Bird.”

The white ball of fluff on the windowsill moved. Its owl-like head rotated 360 degrees before lowering to peck at the food.

Angry Bird was a messenger bird gifted to her by her elder sister Jiang Qingzhou for communication during the sea voyage. Its name was Hua Xiao.

Jiang Yang could never figure out this creature’s breed. Usually it wouldn’t hoot or fly, quiet as a chicken. Its head was like an owl, its feathers like a snowy owl. Its two pitch-black eyes staring unblinkingly at you were quite scary. Even more ridiculous were its eyebrows, just like the Angry Birds. She simply called it Angry Bird.

After playing with Angry Bird for a while, Jiang Yang pushed open the wooden lattice window. The magnificent seascape was fully visible, the deep blue sky connecting with the azure sea, converging into a single line on the horizon. The humid sea spray could almost be felt with each breath.

The ocean-going ship had a total of seven levels, with the bottom four used for ballast and storing grain. Sailors and such lived in the fore cabin, with over a dozen people crammed together in one cabin.

While Jiang Yang lived in the wheelhouse at the stern, enjoying a luxurious three-story solo residence with 360-degree unobstructed ocean views and a vantage point overlooking the entire deck. Connections, so awesome!

The sea breeze blew in gusts, the waves surging. Jiang Yang said boredly, “I wonder where we’ve sailed to?”

Lan Qian held the spittoon and stood up with an indomitable spirit, “I heard the sailors say yesterday that we’re in the center of the South Sea.”

Jiang Yang rested her chin on her hand, “I heard there are merpeople in the South Sea?”

“Yes, the eternal lamp oil in the mausoleums of emperors throughout history is made by stewing merpeople’s flesh, it’s very precious.” Talk of stewing for oil made Jiang Yang feel a chill down her spine. She changed the subject, “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a real merperson.”

Lan Qian thought for a bit and said, “I have seen one, but it was a dead merperson. Because merpeople mostly have a fierce temperament and are hard to tame. Otherwise they’d make good pets… But it’s fine if they can’t be pets, merpeople are treasures from head to fin and very popular. Their tears are pearls worth a fortune, their scales can be plucked and ground into pearl powder for skincare and beauty, and can also be stewed into eternal lamp oil. Supposedly their flesh is also particularly tasty, hehe.” As he spoke, Lan Qian swallowed, actually drooling.

Jiang Yang: “……” Damn, you’re so cruel.

Forget it, these ancient folk haven’t been taught the principles of cherishing endangered wildlife and not consuming them. Not going to fault you for it.

“Merperson! There’s a merperson! Quick, ready the harpoons!”

The sailors below suddenly became riled up. Jiang Yang looked down. Under the deep blue endless waves, there seemed to be something faintly flashing. A barbed harpoon tied with hemp rope shot fiercely from the deck into the surging waves. An alarming red surged out from the deep blue seawater.

“It’s hit! Release the net!” The sailors below cheered. A giant spider silk net was cast into the sea, devouring the injured prey.

The sailors chanted work songs as they hauled the net up with effort. The merperson under the sea’s surface seemed to be desperately struggling to sink and escape.

“It’s got quite some strength, pull! Don’t let this merperson get away!” Lan Qian was anxious, “It absolutely mustn’t get away! Second Miss, I’ll go down and help them.”

“Get back here!” Jiang Yang called out to stop him.

He was vomiting as if on death’s door just now, but now catching a merperson he’s spry and full of energy, completely refreshed.

“I just want to go help them.” Lan Qian twisted his hands.

“More like you want to eat merperson flesh.” Jiang Yang ruthlessly exposed him.

If this were modern times, you’d be jailed for life.

Lan Qian lowered his head in disappointment, but the next second the deck erupted in cheers, “It’s hauled up! It’s hauled up!”

Lan Qian’s eyes instantly lit up, shining with a hungry tiger pouncing on prey kind of light, “Miss, it’s hauled up, hauled up! This fish looks really big, surely a lot of oil can be refined from it, there should be some meat left over too.”

Jiang Yang: “……” Damn, calm yourself! Has the Jiang family been stingy with feeding you meat?

Jiang Yang looked down and saw a beautiful fish tail exposed in the circle formed by the sailors. It was a deep sea blue like an oil painting, gradually diffusing under the sunlight into the pale pink of a sunset cherry blossom. It swayed with exquisite opalescence in the light, drooping weakly.

“They’re going to make a move.” Before Jiang Yang could appreciate the merperson’s beauty, she heard Lan Qian excitedly say beside her ear.

“Make what move?”

Lan Qian excitedly leaned over the railing to look down, afraid to miss the scene of the fish being killed, “Kill the merperson! Merpeople are extremely hard to catch. After hauling one on board, they’re usually killed right away and directly stewed for oil to present to the emperor.”

“Why kill it right away?”

“Because merpeople have fierce temperaments and are very brutal too.”

Jiang Yang: “……” Girl, you look even more brutal right now.

“Didn’t you just say that merperson tears are priceless? Wouldn’t it be more profitable to keep the merperson and let him cry constantly rather than directly refining him for oil?”

“Second Miss, you’re unaware. Only the merperson tears shed when they are moved are priceless. In other situations, the tears turn into ordinary pearls that aren’t worth much. Besides, how could a merperson be moved by humans? So it’s still more convenient to directly slaughter them on the spot.” Lan Qian made a throat-slitting gesture.

As they spoke, the sailors on the deck had already raised their blades, the cold light on the blade’s edge exuding a chilling air.

The moment the sailors raised their hands, she finally saw the full appearance of the merperson surrounded on all sides. His upper body was completely identical to a human’s, wearing the mer-silk unique to the merpeople clan. He was helplessly sprawled on the deck, his features indiscernible. His soaking wet long hair was like spilled ink, thickly diffusing across his pale, sickly skin.

Undoubtedly, this was a creature of heart-shaking beauty.

The saintly heart of the beauty-loving Jiang Yang began to glow with heat, “Tell them to stop.”

“Ah? Why?” Lan Qian asked in surprise, “Second Miss, merpeople are very rare and precious. Only one or two can be caught every few years. If we don’t hurry and kill him to refine for oil, the imperial court will blame us if they find out.”

“I know.” It’s just that after living in this female-dominant society for so long, she still couldn’t abandon her modern societal concepts.

If it was just killing a fish, she wouldn’t have such a big reaction. She would have long been pondering whether to braise it in soy sauce, steam it plain, or stir-fry it with chopped peppers – several ways to eat one fish.

But merpeople, half of their body is human. This made it impossible for her to treat him as an ordinary livestock.

However, if she just let the merperson go like this, there were many people on the ship and loose tongues. Someone would definitely go back and tattle to the emperor. Ah, that dog emperor should abdicate soon.

“Didn’t you say before that merpeople can be kept as pets?” She asked.

Lan Qian nodded, “Yes, but very few people can manage it. That’s why they would rather give up such a good merperson body, give up the priceless merperson tears, even give up the merpearls, and directly refine them for oil.”

“I think this merperson looks quite good. If properly trained and brought on shore to present directly to Her Majesty the Emperor, wouldn’t that be better than directly refining for oil? It might even earn the Jiang family merit. Even if the training ultimately fails, it’s not too late to refine him for oil then.” Jiang Yang said.

Lan Qian instantly looked at Jiang Yang with worshipful eyes, “Miss is right, you’re so smart!”

“Don’t kill, don’t kill, Second Miss has decreed to spare this merperson’s life.” Lan Qian braced against the railing and ran unsteadily towards the deck.

The sailors below unanimously stayed their hands and put down the blades and axes in their hands. When they used hemp ropes to jointly lift him up, Jiang Yang finally saw his features clearly. Because he was weakly closing his eyes, the color of his pupils couldn’t be seen. His skin was a somewhat sickly pale complexion, his features deep and sculpted, his lips as if painted cinnabar red.

Yo, as expected of a merman, incredibly handsome!

Seeing him, those so-called top stars and idols from her previous life… All just ordinary powdered beauties!

Just as Jiang Yang was secretly indulging in his beauty, the merman who had his eyes tightly closed abruptly opened them, his jet-black eyes staring straight at her.

Oh wow, caught peeping at the handsome fish.