With the arrival of the height of summer, the oppressive heat became almost unbearable.
As the deadline for delivering the tea approached, not the slightest hint of anything out of the ordinary stirred within the inner chambers of the Fang residence.
Wang Xiuhe had withdrawn the guards from the inner courtyard, but Cui’er, who was unable to set her mind at ease, would still head over from time to time to take a look.
However, no matter how much she looked, she couldn’t discover anything.
She would either see the two of them reading together in the study or see them sitting together in the courtyard playing chess. Second Young Master Fu would occasionally go out for a stroll and bring back some strange gadgets; otherwise, he would buy pastries, all sorts of fresh snacks spanning every bakery across the East and West markets. Cui’er took this to heart and checked those shops one by one, but aside from finding that the pastries were unusually sweet, she discovered nothing else.
Wang Xiuhe sat in her bedroom in the outer courtyard drinking tea.
While massaging her shoulders, Cui’er recounted everything she had seen over the past few days.
Wang Xiuhe had known this would be the case. Once again, she opened the jewelry box on the table and pulled out those few letters. “I told you long ago there was no need to keep watch right now.”
Cui’er murmured, “This servant was only afraid they might block Madam’s path again.”
Wang Xiuhe glanced at Cui’er. “They will block the path, of course, but not now. There will be a time for you to watch them before the tea delivery deadline; there is no need to hurry at the moment.”
Cui’er acknowledged her with a soft response. Noticing that she had been going over the letters often these past days, she asked, “Does Madam truly plan to seek assistance from the Liu clan?”
“Naturally.”
“But we are not close to her. How can you trust her so much as to hand such an important matter over to her?”
Wang Xiuhe smiled slightly and closed the lid of the jewelry box. “Of course I trust her. After all, she is the only one who would never conspire with Fu Jingxuan in this world.”
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the seventh month.
The warehouse at the northwest corner of Linjiang Ferry was stocked with the Fang family’s tea, waiting to be dispatched to the capital on a selected day and entered into the Purchasing Department’s inventory before the fifteenth.
Since Fang Zesheng had stated he would not involve himself in the matter, he did not ask a single question from beginning to end. Still, Wang Xiuhe maintained proper appearances; despite his refusal to interfere, she personally pushed him to the ferry two days before the tea was due to be sent to the capital for a look.
She had also asked Fu Jingxuan to accompany them, but his face was ashen with illness that day, and he lay on his bed, struggling to catch his breath.
At the ferry.
Wang Xiuhe said with concern, “What has happened to Jingxuan? He was perfectly fine a few days ago.”
Fang Zesheng said indifferently, “He has a cold.”
Disbelief flickered in Wang Xiuhe’s eyes, yet she still asked, “Has a physician been summoned?”
Fang Zesheng said, “One has been summoned. Thank you for your concern, Aunt.”
Wang Xiuhe said, “Sheng’er, why are you still being so formal? Jingxuan is already a member of our Fang family; it is only right that I care for him. When we return today, I’ll have Chen Fu come over to take a look and prescribe a few doses of medicine to nurse him back to health.”
Fang Zesheng nodded as Wang Xiuhe pushed him through the main doors of the warehouse.
The warehouse rented at the ferry was indeed somewhat larger than the one at the back of the Fang residence. The tea products were wrapped in waterproof oilcloth and packed bag by bag into hemp sacks. Wang Xiuhe ordered a tea worker to open a bag and took out a tea brick to hand to Fang Zesheng. The rented warehouse at the ferry was indeed somewhat larger than the Fang residence’s rear compound. The tea had been wrapped in waterproof oilcloth, then packed bundle by bundle into coarse hemp sacks. Wang Xiuhe instructed a tea worker to open one of the bags, took out a compressed tea cake, and handed it to Fang Zesheng. “For this batch of ‘Carved Lotus’, I’ve had the tea workers adjust the process in line with the cake-pressing method. The quality is assured; we won’t be ruining the Fang family’s name. The tea fragments have all been replaced with newly roasted buds, and corresponding adjustments were made according to the tastes of the foreigners; the eastern nomads’ brew was made darker, the western village folk’s lighter, so that when they drank it, they could appreciate our gift. After all, it wasn’t our fault if they didn’t understand.”
Fang Zesheng listened in silence until Wang Xiuhe finished. “Aunt has always had a keen mind for business. When you first came to the Fang family, my father said you were naturally gifted and told me to learn well from you.”
Wang Xiuhe was slightly stunned. After a long moment, she laughed and said, “What could you possibly learn from me? I don’t know how to identify tea, nor do I know how to brew it. I can only fiddle with an abacus a bit. Your father has been gone for a long time now; let us not mention things from the past.”
Fang Zesheng nodded in agreement and gave a seemingly casual glance at the tea piled in the warehouse. “Let us return. As for the upcoming shipment, I’ll have to trouble Aunt to take care of it with more effort.”
Wang Xiuhe smiled and said, “Very well,” then cast a knowing glance at Cui’er, signaling her to stay behind at the ferry.
Fu Jingxuan’s sudden cold today was suspicious; it seemed as if the two of them sensed the moment had arrived and were ready to interfere with this batch of tea.
At night, the river tides surged in the darkness.
At Linjiang Ferry, only a handful of Fang family tea workers were present, each carrying a torch as they paced in front of the warehouse entrance.
In the distance, red lights speckled the river’s surface, as if dozens of cargo ships were approaching to dock; it was uncertain whether they had come to Chu to unload or were simply pausing to rest.
An old fisherman, clad in a bamboo hat and a coir raincoat, had ventured out to fish in the stillness of the night. He hastily drew in his net, only to find a few shriveled little fish; not enough for even a single meal. He could only release them back into the river to grow, waiting for a night with no merchant ships passing by to fish again.
Standing by the ferry, Cui’er noticed the hour was growing late. She went to the warehouse entrance to tell the patrolling tea workers to take their turns and rest, then slipped into a shadowed corner and whispered, “Madam, everyone is in position.”
Wang Xiuhe stood there, quietly watching the flickering torches on both sides of the warehouse. She nodded. “They’re coming soon.”
A stick of incense later, two figures acting suspiciously indeed took advantage of the workers’ shift change to creep up to the warehouse entrance.
One looked left and right to keep watch, while the other, dressed in a dark robe with his head and face covered, hunched his back against the warehouse doors and began picking the lock.
Wang Xiuhe covered her mouth and laughed. “It must be difficult for the Second Young Master of the Fu family; a young master of such a prominent house yet stooping to such petty theft all for the sake of a cripple.”
Cui’er squinted and watched carefully for a long while. She recognized San Bao, and although she couldn’t see the other one clearly, it was likely Fu Jingxuan, who had been feigning illness in bed this morning. She followed with a smile. “How does Madam plan to deal with them?”
Wang Xiuhe said, “Of course, it must be reported to the authorities. To lay hands on the Imperial family’s goods; no matter what the deed, it is a grave crime punishable by death.”
Cui’er asked, “And if the Head Merchant begs you to release them?”
“If he comes begging, I certainly won’t be heartless,” Wang Xiuhe said gently. “Let him exchange the Fang family for them. By any measure, it’s a fair trade.”
As they spoke, the warehouse doors had already been opened. Wang Xiuhe waited a moment longer before ordering Cui’er to summon the dozens of tea workers hidden nearby. Carrying blazing torches, they advanced in a solemn procession and halted at the warehouse entrance, shouting at the top of their lungs, “Caught red-handed! Why bother hiding any longer, Second Young Master?”
The warehouse doors were ajar, and it was pitching black inside with no one making a sound. Wang Xiuhe raised her hand, and the tea workers behind her rushed forward, bursting through the doors and dragging two people out from behind the rows of goods.
San Bao’s face was concealed, yet his distinctive small eyes flicked around, leaving no doubt as to who he was.
The other was more tightly bundled up, keeping his head buried and his back hunched low, making him truly difficult to distinguish.
Assuming he was too ashamed to show his face, Wang Xiuhe ordered the tea workers to seize him by the scruff of his neck and roughly rip off his mask.
“Zhou Qi!?”
Cui’er, catching a clear glimpse of the man’s face, exclaimed in shock beside Wang Xiuhe, “How is it you!?”
The person who had slipped into the warehouse with San Bao was indeed Zhou Qi; he now glared indignantly at Wang Xiuhe before snapping his head to the side.
Wang Xiuhe had not expected the situation to turn out this way. She demanded sharply with a friwn “Where is Fu Jingxuan?”
San Bao first gave her an insolent roll of his eyes, then tilted his round chin toward the river.
The fleet on the river drew nearer. As it reached the ferry, the lead ship raised a large banner. The fabric flapped in the night breeze, and the character “Fu” could be faintly made out upon it.
Wang Xiuhe was instantly shaken, staggering back a few steps in a daze. Once the lead ship had docked securely, Fu Jingxuan, who was dressed in a round-collared green robe, stepped out from behind the cabin curtain. Emerging alongside him was another person.
It was the very woman Wang Xiuhe had trusted implicitly and called her sister—Lady Liu, Liu Ruyan.
