Inside the Council Hall of the Tongji Canal Guild, the sandalwood incense had burned to its end, the fallen ash accumulating at the edge of the bronze censer.
Eight master’s chairs were arranged in the hall; aside from Lu Wenzhao’s empty seat, the hall masters of the remaining six divisions were seated in order of rank.
At the head, the Grand Guild Chief, Lei Zhen, sat with a ashen face, his pair of round lion-head walnuts ceasing to rotate in his hands.
No one below dared to speak first; only the sound of wind rustling fallen leaves outside could be heard.
A stifling tension, like sitting on needles, flickered in everyone’s eyes.
After a long pause, Hall Master Chen of the Perfume Hall shifted in his seat, breaking the deathly silence:
“Guild Chief, with this situation, we can’t hold out by force anymore. Last night, the commotion from the Water Transport Hall—even the stone slabs on the docks were scrubbed clean three times.”
“Setting aside that bastard Lu Wenzhao getting taken down, Young Master Xu has returned that one hundred and forty thousand taels of silver untouched. A man who won’t touch grease like that is the hardest to deal with.”
Several managers from the Silver Accounts Office quickly echoed his words.
Hall Master Chen lowered his voice and continued:
“Since ancient times, the people don’t fight the officials. The Xu family still holds the title of Minister of Revenue.”
“Let’s pool together from each hall—take out fifty thousand taels of silver, prepare lavish gifts, and send them to the Earl of Sincerity’s mansion.”
“No one strikes a smiling face. Spend money to ward off disaster, and we’ll still have to get by on the Tongzhou and capital waterways.”
These words grated on Lei Zhen’s ears unbearably. In his half a lifetime, when had he ever groveled to a mere whelp? Yet reason told him that, for now, paying off the calamity was the only way out.
As the crowd pondered how to split the hundred thousand taels, a jumble of hurried footsteps and startled shouts suddenly erupted from the courtyard outside.
With a heavy bang, the two doors of the Council Hall were kicked open from outside.
All the hall masters were stunned and rose to their feet.
Xu Wuyou, dressed in a moon-white brocade robe and bearing no weapons, led only his umbrella-holding attendant, Lao Zhou, as he leisurely stepped over the half-foot-high wooden threshold.
In the courtyard beyond, a hundred fully armed elite of the canal guild stood in formation.
These water brigands, who’d licked blood on the knife’s edge, glared fiercely at the intruder.
Xu Wuyou didn’t even spare a glance at these blades; he strode straight through the ranks of the murderous square formation as if no one was there.
He halted at the center of the hall, looking directly at Lei Zhen, who sat high above.
No bow, no fist-clasp salute—he even skipped the most basic martial courtesy.
“Guild Chief Lei,” Xu Wuyou spoke, “hand over the Tongji Canal Guild’s master roster, along with the water tally records for all thirty-six docks in the capital region.”
At these words, the hall erupted in uproar.
The remaining three or four enforcers of the Punishment Water Hall, already simmering with fury over last night’s casualties, immediately drew their horizontal sabers, pointing the tips at Xu Wuyou’s face.
“Arrogant brat!” one scar-faced enforcer cursed harshly, “Who the hell do you think you are? With just the plaque of the Earl of Sincerity’s mansion, you come here to seize power? Do you think the tens of thousands of brothers in the Tongji Canal Guild are dead men?”
Lei Zhen slammed both hands on the armrests of his master’s chair and rose abruptly.
Staring at this young man who had stripped him of much of his authority, he mustered what little backbone he had left:
“Hall Master Xu, don’t forget your place. This is the Tongji Canal Guild—a foundation built by our elders with their lives. Here, we follow rules, we honor the incense halls!”
He stepped forward, pressing down from his height: “Since ancient times, no hall master has ever overthrown a guild chief or leader. Ask these hundred blades inside and outside the hall—are they willing to accept this?”
Steel met steel; murderous intent leaked out.
Lao Zhou, standing behind Xu Wuyou, trembled on his legs, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.
He instinctively shrank closer to Xu Wuyou’s side, thinking to himself that his hall master was overconfident this time, venturing into the tiger’s lair without a single soldier or guard.
Xu Wuyou stood his ground, not retreating half a step. He raised his right hand, pointing his fingers at the wrists of the enforcers holding their sabers, and spoke lightly: “Getting riled up so soon?”
Then he turned his head, his gaze sweeping past the blade-wielding members of the guild, toward the wide-open doors.
From beyond the street, sudden noise arose.
First, the neighing of war horses.
Then, the sound of iron hooves shattering the ground like a torrential rainstorm passing through.
It was the sound of a full cavalry unit charging.
The canal guild elites in the courtyard hadn’t even reacted when dozens of dark-red figures swarmed over the walls on both sides.
Dozens of fully armed Imperial Guard Cavalry swathed in red, like a canopy of crimson clouds, instantly took control of the entire council hall interior and exterior.
“Drop your blades! Step back!”
Shen Lian, walking at the front with his hand on his embroidered spring saber, strode briskly into the courtyard.
Behind him, the Imperial Guardsmen directly raised military-grade crossbows.
Without any superfluous talk, these government agents, hardened killers, crashed into the hall, kicking over the sabers of the Punishment Water Hall enforcers and knocking them to the ground.
Knees pinned their backs, steel blades sheathed, the enforcers were pressed flat on the floor, leaving no room for resistance.
The hall fell instantly silent.
Shen Lian walked to the main aisle, ignoring the pale-faced hall masters on either side, and presented a square casket to Xu Wuyou with both hands.
The lid flipped open, revealing a heavy tiger-head gold medallion and a bright yellow scroll bound with a golden cord.
Shen Lian dispensed with imperial edict formalities and cut straight to the point:
“By order of the Son of Heaven. Bestowed upon Xu Wuyou—the Tiger-Headed Gold Medallion, granting the authority to submit sealed memorials for the Emperor’s exclusive perusal.”
"From this day forward, I shall oversee the water transport of the capital region. All vessels on the river and all docks, whether on water or land, are under my command. Anyone who dares to defy will be executed on the spot."
Four words: "confidential memorials to the throne." Three words: "executed on the spot."
Each word struck down, shattering the martial brotherhood within this meeting hall.
Hall Master Chen stood frozen, his eyes locked onto the imperial gold plaque before him.
His mind raced. The precise ambush by the Imperial Guard on the pier last night, the imperial gold plaque bestowed this morning at dawn...
It all came together.
This was never about the Earl of Sincerity's mansion vying for power! This—
This was the Son of Heaven on the dragon throne, intending to take back all authority over the waterways.
The Xu family, father and son, and Xu Wuyou—from beginning to end, they were nothing but the blade in the Emperor's hand.
They had long set a dragnet across the Tongzhou river, simply waiting for Lu Wenzhao to jump out as bait. Now, it was Tongji Water Transport Guild's turn.
Hall Master Chen could no longer hold on. Before his mind could fully process everything, his legs gave way, and with a thud, he dropped to his knees.
Cash? Connections? In the face of imperial authority, all of that was evidence for the eradication of entire clans.
Lei Zhen let his hands fall slack.
Two century-old tight-walnut spheres clattered to the floor.
Thirty years of navigating the underworld, and in this one moment, he saw it all clearly.
Xu Wuyou had never been arguing with him about guild rules, for the man held the Emperor's power over life and death.
If he dared utter a single "no" today, the crossbows outside would turn everyone here into a hedgehog, and tomorrow the capital prefecture would post a notice proclaiming Tongji Water Transport Guild as traitors and rebels.
Lei Zhen's frame hunched over, his backbone utterly spent.
Dragging his heavy steps, he staggered down from the main platform.
He came to the side table and picked up the white jade seal that represented the guild's utmost authority.
"This old man... accepts the decree."
These words scraped from Lei Zhen's dry throat. With both hands holding the seal, he walked step by step to stand before Xu Wuyou.
He extended the jade seal, stained by the blood of countless factions, respectfully proffered it outward.
Xu Wuyou took the jade seal, then casually grabbed the tiger-head gold plaque.
He stepped past Lei Zhen, climbed the wooden stairs, and walked to the main seat that had once belonged to the guild chief. Flipping the hem of his robe up, he sat down with commanding ease.
Slap!
The gold plaque and the jade seal, side by side, struck the red lacquer table with a heavy thud.
Xu Wuyou looked down upon those before him from above.
His gaze swept across them; no one dared to lift their eyes in return.
"Everyone," Xu Wuyou began, his voice drowning out the wind outside the hall, "the old chapter has turned."
He tapped his knuckles on the tabletop. "From now on, matters on the waterways will follow the court's rules."
"The thirty-six docks on this river will no longer be divided by guild affiliation. There will be no more flag-hanging fees or safe-passage silver. Only one rule remains."
He then spoke the words that would go down in the annals of the Great Qian Empire: "Protect the water transport for the nation, every cent belongs to the state."
His words landed.
Hall Master Chen was the first to react, pressing his face against the brick floor, his head heavily striking the ground: "Fragrant Waters Hall shall follow the new rules of the Hall Master."
The other hall masters—Silver Vault, Official Relations and so on—dared not hesitate even for a moment. Kneeling in unison, they submitted to the coercion of imperial authority.
"We shall follow the new rules of the Guild Master."
A hundred men knelt, silent as a grave.
The mighty Tongji Water Transport Guild, before this one gold plaque and this one jade seal, had been handed over without a single drop of blood spilled.
Outside the hall, the dense fog that had shrouded Tongzhou for days finally dissipated.
A crimson sun leaped above the river surface. Golden morning light slanted through the carved window lattices of the assembly hall.
It fell exactly upon the cold, hard tiger-head gold plaque, casting a dazzling radiance.
Looking through the window,
At the distant Tongzhou docks, a long horn sounded.
A newly arriving line of grain-laden ships pressed deep into the waterline, cleaving through the muddy waves of the river, sailing in a mighty procession toward the northern border.
Departure!
Xu Wuyou sat at the border where shadow and morning light met, his fingers running over the tiger's patterns on the gold plaque.
The pieces on the northern front were finally assembled, with pawns ready to cross the river.
