The main gates of the Chengyi Count Estate were tightly shut, the two white marble guardian lions baking hot under the scorching sun.
Dozens of official palanquins were parked along the long street outside. Entourages of various officials, clutching calling cards and visiting petitions, crowded the steps so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through.
There were those sent by Shang Qitai, the Minister of Revenue, to spy out the situation, and those sent by Xu Jie, the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, to deliver health tonics.
There were also censors from the Court of Judicature and Revision and the Chief Surveillance Bureau who wanted to gauge the political winds.
Standing inside the threshold, Xu Fu called out through the crack in the doors, his voice feigning absolute anxiety.
"Please return, my lords! The Count suffered a terrible fright in the Golden Throne Room today!"
"He coughed up a huge mouthful of blood right after stepping out of his palanquin upon returning to the estate! He is currently bedridden. We have already called for the imperial physicians three times; he truly cannot see any guests!"
The people outside did not buy this excuse at all, and their clamoring rose and fell in waves.
An attendant from the Ministry of Revenue shouted, "Steward Xu, please make an exception! My lord only wishes to ask the Count what exactly His Majesty's intentions were in court today!"
An attendant from the Ministry of War chimed in, "Yes! The Minister of Revenue has been ordered to stay behind closed doors and self-reflect. This is an unprecedented event; the Count must give us some insight! My lord is still waiting for a reply!"
Xu Fu simply jammed the thick, sturdy wooden bolt of the main gate firmly into place. No matter how much they pounded on the doors outside, he did not utter another word.
He turned around, the anxiety on his face vanishing completely, and walked briskly across the front courtyard, heading straight for the study in the inner residence.
Inside the study, Xu Youde was not sick at all.
He stood before a bronze washbasin, taking off his heavy and cumbersome court attire.
He casually draped it over a red sandalwood folding screen and changed into a set of washed-out, grey cotton everyday clothes.
The water in the bronze basin had been prepared in advance. He rolled up his sleeves and immersed his hands in the water.
He meticulously washed away the sweat on his hands and the incense scent he had picked up in the imperial court.
Taking a dry cloth towel from the rack, he dried his fingers one by one, then walked over to the spacious desk.
On the desk lay several account books, all of which his eldest son, Xu Wuyou, had risked his life to send back via the waterways.
Xu Youde did not flip through those account books. Instead, he spread out a blank sheet of Xuan paper, took up a writing brush, and dipped it fully in thick ink.
He wrote three phrases on the paper: Illegally detaining cargo ships, Disrupting water transport, Silencing witnesses.
These three phrases were the crimes that Shang Qitai had hoarsely accused Xu Wuyou of in the Golden Throne Room. Every single charge was enough to warrant the confiscation of their estate and the extermination of their entire clan.
Xu Fu pushed the door open and entered, carrying a cup of hot tea which he placed at the corner of the desk. He peeked at the words on the paper and could not help but spit in disgust.
"Master, that old dog Shang Qitai bit really hard in court today. He looked as if he wanted to crush the Eldest Young Master to death directly in the imperial prison."
"We clearly hold his fatal weakness in our hands, so why did you plead guilty before His Majesty? You even degraded the Eldest Young Master as if he were worthless!"
Xu Youde did not even lift his head. His wrist hung suspended in mid-air without the slightest tremble.
Beside "Illegally detaining cargo ships," he wrote the word "Water-tag."
Then, beside "Disrupting water transport," he wrote "Shipping schedule."
Finally, beside "Silencing witnesses" — "Ah Gui."
He set down the brush, picked up the teacup, and took a sip to moisten his dry throat.
"Shang Qitai jumped so high in court today, so anxious to trample Wuyou to death. What he fears is not that bloodstained account book at all."
"The things hidden behind these three phrases are what will actually take his life."
Xu Fu looked utterly confused, pointing at the account books on the desk.
"The account books the Eldest Young Master sent back clearly record the exact losses of the military rations on the northern route. Is that not enough to take his life?"
Xu Youde slammed the teacup down heavily on the desk, splashing out a few drops of tea.
"No matter how large the numbers in the account books are, Shang Qitai can just blame it on natural disasters and floods, or push the blame onto his subordinates for their incompetence."
"He could easily find a few scapegoats to take the fall and wash his own hands completely clean. What he truly fears are the shipping schedule log and the water-tags that Wuyou holds in his hands."
Xu Youde pointed to the words on the paper, breaking down the underlying tricks for Xu Fu bit by bit.
"A water-tag is the proof of unloading cargo at the docks, and the shipping schedule is the itinerary of the ships travelling on the water."
"Wuyou detained the ships of the Guangyi Merchant Guild and obtained these two things."
"The exact same batch of military rations gets loaded onto a ship at the Jiangning docks, and one entry is recorded. When it reaches the Huaisi transit granary, they change the seal, load it onto a ship again, and record another entry."
"Ten thousand shi of grain circles the waterways a few times, and on the books, it turns into thirty thousand shi. By the time it finally reaches the northern borders, only eight thousand shi remain at the handover."
Xu Youde tapped his fingers on the desk.
"Where did the remaining twenty-two thousand shi go? It was all intercepted by them midway and resold at a high price."
"The Ministry of Revenue simply waves their brush, stamps it as 'lost at sea,' and this rotten debt is balanced out... Shang Qitai is the dirty hand that stamps that seal."
Xu Fu broke out in a cold sweat listening to this, a chill running down his spine.
"Then what about Ah Gui? Shang Qitai insisted that the Eldest Young Master murdered him to silence him."
"Ah Gui is a steward of the Guangyi Merchant Guild, and he is also a man of the Tongji Water Transport Association. He holds the detailed records of all the bribes given to superiors and subordinates."
"Shang Qitai accusing Wuyou of silencing a witness was actually because he himself wanted Ah Gui to shut up."
"Since Shang Qitai could not find the man, he could only bite back, hoping to borrow His Majesty's hand to throw Wuyou into prison."
Xu Youde stood up, walked to the bottom shelf of the bookcase, and dragged out a dust-covered camphor wood chest.
He took out a key, unlocked the bronze padlock, and lifted the lid. A musty smell of aged paper wafted out to meet his face.
He rummaged inside for a moment and pulled out a few yellowed old files.
He extracted a memorial regarding the reform of the water transport system from twenty years ago and spread it open on the desk.
"Look at the names on this."
Xu Fu leaned in, carefully making them out by the light filtering in through the window.
"Shang Qitai, Xu Jie, and Lei Zhen, the chief boss of the Tongji Water Transport Association."
Xu Youde then dug out a large red wedding invitation from the bottom of the chest and tossed it next to the memorial.
"Twenty years ago, the water transport system was reformed."
"Xu Jie proposed, and Shang Qitai seconded, to contract the state-run transport ships out to private merchants."
"That was when the Tongji Water Transport Association grew powerful."
"Lei Zhen took over the water transport operations, Shang Qitai managed the accounts in the Ministry of Revenue, and Xu Jie held the fort in the Cabinet."
"To tie this relationship together securely, Shang Qitai married his illegitimate daughter to Lei Zhen's godson, and Xu Jie personally acted as the matchmaker for this marriage."
Xu Fu gasped, his voice trembling slightly.
"They were already wearing the same pair of pants twenty years ago! These capital waterways have long since become their impenetrable stronghold!"
Xu Youde gathered the memorial and the wedding invitation together, staring fixedly at the invitation.
"Shang Qitai could not swallow such a massive operation all by himself."
"He has the First Prince backing him from behind, and the Tongji Water Transport Association risking their lives for him from below."
"The First Prince wants to raise a private army beyond the borders, which requires oceans of silver."
"Shang Qitai converts the 'lost' military rations into ready silver, launders it through the Tongji Water Transport Association, and sends it in an endless stream into the First Prince's hands."
"He is merely a passing god of wealth."
"This is the earth-shattering secret of the Water Transport Gang!"
Xu Fu lowered his voice, pointing at the evidence on the desk, and urgently suggested:
"Master, since we have this ironclad evidence in our hands, should we present it to His Majesty overnight? Take his life while he's sick! We can uproot the Ministry of Revenue entirely!"
Xu Youde pressed the reform memorial under a heavy Duan inkstone and shook his head.
"If we give it too early, it will look like our Xu family wants them dead. His Majesty will think we are eager for quick success and are forming factions for selfish gains."
If they handed it over too late, they were just courting death. The Emperor will simply use this opportunity to fan the flames.
Xu Youde walked to the window, pushed it open a crack, and watched the sky gradually darken outside.
In the imperial court today, the Emperor forced Shang Qitai to cover the deficit within a month. If Shang Qitai fails to do so, the First Prince will definitely sacrifice him to save himself.
Shang Qitai does not want to die, so he will turn around and bite the First Prince.
What we need to do now is solidify the evidence and wait for them to tear each other apart.
Xu Youde turned around, his face stern, and instructed Xu Fu.
Mobilize all the hidden spies in the estate to investigate three things. They must be investigated thoroughly, without the slightest negligence.
First, track the destination of the silver transferred by the Shang estate over the past three months. Not a single tael can be missed. I want to know exactly where his money went.
Second, get me the list of clerks in the Ministry of Revenue who have handled the embezzlement accounts over the years. Turn their houses upside down, right down to the rat holes. See if anyone kept a backup ledger.
Third, check the old shipping logs of the Tongji Water Transport Guild to see if they still have a duplicate register. An old fox like Lei Zhen would never leave his life entirely in Shang Qitai's hands; he definitely left a contingency plan to guard against the Ministry of Revenue.
Xu Fu nodded repeatedly, committing these three tasks firmly to memory, and turned to go make the arrangements.
Wait.
Xu Youde called out to stop him.
Prepare paper and pen. I am going to write a letter home to the Northern Frontier.
Xu Fu hurriedly laid out a fresh sheet of Xuelang paper and carefully ground the ink.
Xu Youde took up the brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote with flying speed, his strokes flowing like dragons and snakes.
Qinghuan has made quite a stir promoting medicinal rations in the Northern Frontier. Once Shang Qitai is pushed into a corner, he will definitely make an issue out of the military provisions in the North to muddy the waters.
Xu Youde explained to Xu Fu as he wrote.
Tell her that the medicinal ration accounts cannot merely record the medicinal effects, nor can they only focus on treating illnesses.
For every pack of dried vegetables leaving Jiangning, which waterway it took, which dock it passed, who received it, and who transported it... everything must be recorded in the ledger!
We must ensure that every single vegetable leaf can be traced. We absolutely cannot leave the Ministry of Revenue with anything to use against us.
Xu Fu took the finished letter, blew the ink dry, carefully placed it into an envelope, and sealed it with wax.
Rest assured, Master. I will immediately arrange for our most reliable man to ride a fast horse through the night to deliver this to the Northern Frontier without delay.
After Xu Fu withdrew, Xu Youde was left alone in the study.
The sky had turned completely dark, and an oil lamp was lit in the room.
Xu Youde walked to the desk and gathered all the public ledgers, letters, and the rice paper on which he had just written the list of crimes.
He brought over a nearby brazier, threw all these papers into it, and struck a fire starter.
The flames leaped up, devouring the papers until they were reduced to a pile of black ash, emitting a burnt smell.
The desk was now clean, leaving only the secret ledger and old files pressed beneath the inkstone.
Xu Youde picked up a pair of scissors and snipped off a section of the charred candle wick.
The candle flame flickered violently for a moment and then completely went out.
The study plunged into darkness, with only a faint glimmer of moonlight filtering in through the window.
The night breeze blew in through the crack in the window, causing the window frame to creak softly.
Right at that moment, an extremely light tapping sound came from outside the window.
Three short taps.
He knew that the night spy from the Imperial City Department had arrived.
