Lin Wu continued in an even, unhurried tone: “In fact, when I was packing last night, I discovered that this strand of dried orange peel had somehow appeared in my bundle.”
Lin Jing nodded vigorously.
“At the time, I was horrified. I knew this was no small matter, and once it came to light, I would have no way to defend myself. So I didn’t dare say anything. This morning, taking advantage of my son’s close relationship with Little Zhao, I quietly told him what had happened and asked him to report it to Manager Zhang at once.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Xiao Zhao and Manager Zhang.
Xiao Zhao immediately chimed in loudly, “That’s right! The moment I heard, I knew something was wrong, so I went straight to report it to the manager! The manager told Uncle Hu and me to pretend we knew nothing and keep watch in secret, to see which kindhearted person would be the most eager—and happen to be the most conveniently placed—to help us find this missing strand of dried orange peel!”
He flashed a grin at Zhao Sanniang. “That’s what you call waiting for the rabbit to run into the snare!”
Manager Zhang’s expression was stern as he said in a low voice, “I wanted to see who exactly was trying to stir up trouble in my Jincheng Caravan.”
Lin Wu also turned to Zhao Sanniang. “Sister-in-law Zhao, just now you asked me what I was after and why I would frame you. To be honest, I don’t know either. You and I have no enmity between us, and even now I cannot understand why you went to such lengths to put this dried orange peel in my bundle and then stage this farce of identifying the culprit by scent. What could you possibly have hoped to gain? Perhaps only Manager Zhang’s careful questioning can reveal your true intentions.”
The moment she finished speaking, the entire camp fell silent. Every eye fixed tightly on Zhao Sanniang.
The last trace of color that Zhao Sanniang had managed to force into her face vanished. Her entire body seemed to crumple, and she staggered.
“No… That’s not true. You—you’ve all joined forces to frame me!” She suddenly raised her head. Her voice, torn from her throat, was shrill and grating, utterly unlike the pitiful weakness she had displayed moments earlier.
Lin Wu merely looked at her in silence, her gaze calm. Beside her, Xiao Zhao stood with his arms crossed, undisguised contempt and disdain in his eyes.
Zhao Sanniang was truly frightened now. She clutched her child’s hand tightly, her panicked gaze darting back and forth between Lin Wu and Xiao Zhao. Suddenly, she raised a trembling finger toward Lin Wu, then swung it fiercely toward Xiao Zhao, her voice shrill and frantic.
“That’s it! You two must have conspired together from the beginning! Mrs. Lin, you must have been caught stealing last night, so you came up with this vicious scheme to turn the tables and frame me! Manager Zhang, you must investigate this carefully! They’re working together, determined to pin the blame on me so she can clear her own name!”
Her accusations, however, were full of holes and utterly feeble.
Lin Wu shook her head and could not be bothered to respond.
Manager Zhang stood with his hands behind his back, staring expressionlessly at this clumsy farce. “Zhao Sanniang, at this point, continuing to invent excuses and argue will only bring you further humiliation. You kept claiming that you were acting out of concern for your daughter. Why, then, would you exploit her illness to carry out such a malicious plot? Is that how a kind mother behaves? If you still refuse to accept this, the county seat is only another twenty li away. We can hand the matter over to the county authorities to decide.”
Zhao Sanniang’s legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground.
“I…I…” Tears streamed down her face, and she became almost incoherent. “I only…I only wanted a way to survive. I saw that even a country widow like her could establish herself in the Jincheng Caravan. I…I could do it too. I only…I only wanted her to leave… She’s a helpless country widow with no one to rely on and no worldly experience, yet she can become the Jincheng Caravan’s cook. What about me?”
At this, she suddenly looked up at Manager Zhang, her eyes filled with resentment. “I can read and write. I know how to read people’s expressions, and I understand medicinal cuisine and dietary care. In what way am I inferior to her? Why can’t I take the position? I only…I only wanted her to leave… Once she was gone, the position would be open. Perhaps…perhaps I could have…”
By the end, her voice had turned hoarse. All the strength seemed to drain from her body, and her tightly clenched hands loosened and fell limply at her sides. She stopped trying to defend herself, burying her face in her trembling palms. Only muffled, broken sobs remained.
The child whose hand she had been clutching also crumpled her little mouth and burst into tears.
Manager Zhang shook his head. “I made it clear long ago that when the Jincheng Caravan hires people, we place the greatest importance on character and virtue.”
He did not spare Zhao Sanniang another glance. Instead, he turned to everyone present. “Zhao Sanniang deliberately framed another person and acted with malicious intent, damaging our caravan’s reputation while attempting to use us as her tools. Such conduct must not be tolerated! In consideration of the fact that you have a young daughter to raise, I am already showing leniency by not sending you to the authorities today.”
After a pause, he continued, “I will truthfully report this matter to the owner. From this day forward, none of the businesses under the Fang family’s name—including its caravans, embroidery workshops, cloth shops, and all related establishments—will hire someone of your character. You and your daughter are not to approach the Jincheng Caravan again! If I see you pestering us in the future, you will be punished according to the rules without mercy!”
The Fang family’s businesses were spread throughout the capital region and the surrounding prefectures and counties, and they maintained ties with countless other merchants. Once the Fang family blacklisted someone, finding respectable work in the surrounding area would be nearly impossible.
Zhao Sanniang’s face was ashen. Even her tears had dried up. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, two workers escorted her out of the camp.
Lin Jing pressed close to Lin Wu and silently watched Zhao Sanniang and her daughter being led away. He had learned that there were some unfortunate people in this world who would not put themselves in another’s shoes. Instead, they would inflict the suffering they had endured on someone who appeared even weaker than themselves—and do so many times over.
After Manager Zhang finished dealing with the matter, he turned to Lin Wu. “Mrs. Lin, I’m sorry you had to suffer such a fright. The caravan has its rules, and we will never allow someone who does her work honestly to be wronged.”
Lin Wu inclined her head slightly and lowered her eyes. “Thank you for upholding justice, Manager.”
Her face remained calm and composed, as if the trouble that had just been directed at her had been nothing more than a passing breeze.
Yet her steps toward the kitchen were heavier than usual. Rather than feeling relieved that the disturbance had ended, she was overcome by weariness. A large caravan could indeed shelter one from wind and rain, but a great tree attracted the wind; within its ranks, hidden attacks and open confrontations were never in short supply.
Lin Jing immediately followed her like a little shadow. He settled onto the small stool by the large cooking stove, as familiar with the routine as ever. With his little hands, he straightened the dry firewood piece by piece, then steadily fed it into the stove.
Though the trouble had passed, its aftereffects remained.
By the late-afternoon meal, cooking smoke curled up from all around the camp. Xiao Zhao and several off-duty guards sat around a fire not far from the kitchen. Holding their bowls, they shoveled down hot food while speaking in low voices.
Xiao Zhao took a large mouthful of rice and swallowed before saying, “I’ve finally found out about Zhao Sanniang’s background. She was the outside woman of a small merchant from the capital. That merchant had spent years desperately trying to climb the social ladder. After much effort, he managed to form a tenuous connection with some distant steward related to Duke Gu’s household—so distant that they were practically unrelated.”
“Duke Gu?” An old guard’s brows twitched, and he lowered his voice even further. “You mean the maternal family of the Crown Princess? I heard that all the adult men in the household are gone, and the remaining family members are to be exiled.”
By the stove not far away, Lin Wu was quietly ladling the last of the food from the pot into a basin. At the mention of “Duke Gu,” the hand gripping the spatula paused almost imperceptibly before returning to normal.
Lin Jing, sitting on a small stool at her feet and eating in silence, went rigid. He held a mouthful of rice without chewing, then lowered his head so deeply that it seemed he might bury it in his bowl.
“By rights, even if the court is in turmoil, there should be limits to the purge. How could it possibly implicate people as insignificant as them?” one of the younger guards asked, puzzled.
The older guard shook his head. He glanced around and, seeing that no outsiders were nearby, lowered his voice to a whisper. “The man on the throne now, along with the newly favored Noble Consort, places great importance on commerce. The former Crown Prince… and all the properties under Duke Gu’s name have become a tempting prize with no owner. Naturally, they’ll be handed over to people the Emperor trusts. Anyone who once so much as caught a whiff of that meat, even from the sidelines, will now be treated as filthy water and splashed away along with the rest. Not a trace will be left.”
Xiao Zhao chimed in, “Zhao Sanniang’s daughter was born frail. Without money for medicine and careful nursing, she wouldn’t survive. Now that her protector has fallen, she has nowhere to turn but to force herself to return to Lingzhou and seek refuge with her maternal family. But she’s grown accustomed to the splendor of the capital, and she knows her relatives can’t be relied upon, so she’s terrified and utterly at a loss. Then she happened to see that Mrs. Lin, though also alone with a child, had managed to establish herself in our caravan. Of course she developed the wicked idea of taking over what belonged to another.”
“Fortunately, our Jincheng Trading Company has always kept its hands clean and has never been entangled in the affairs of the official world,” the younger guard said with a sigh of relief.
“That’s only natural.” The older guard’s voice carried a hint of pride. “Our employer, the Fang family, has been in business for generations. The clan rule is that no one is to involve themselves in officialdom or pursue an official degree. In the past, those so-called upright scholars mocked us for reeking of money. As it turns out, that smell of money has become our protective charm. Earning an honest living through honest trade—that is the only way to live steadily and prosper for years to come.”
“True enough, old brother,” the younger guard agreed with a nod. “Getting entangled with those nobles is simply inviting disaster. You didn’t see what the capital was like during that period. Everyone was living in fear. The blood at the execution grounds had barely dried. And the Eastern Palace—after that fire reduced it to ashes… Ah…”
His throat tightened, and in the end he said no more, only letting out a heavy sigh.
“The residence of the illustrious Junior Tutor and Duke Gu collapsed just like that. Every adult male was sentenced to death, leaving only the elderly, women, and children. And that road to exile—the road to the underworld—how many of them could possibly have reached the end?” As he spoke, his voice filled with sorrow.
The younger guard fell silent for a moment, but in the end he could not hold back. His voice was barely audible. “To speak fairly, the former Crown Prince was known for his benevolence, restraint, and frugality. And although Duke Gu held the highest position among officials, he wasn’t the sort to do nothing but scheme for advancement. In his early years as a provincial inspector, he did many practical things for the local people. His reputation wasn’t bad…”
“Watch your tongue!” The older guard cut him off at once and cast a wary look around. “It’s enough to know these things in your heart. Not a single word is to leave your mouth! We’re merchants and guards; all we need to do is transport and protect the goods. What do the storms of the imperial court have to do with us? Don’t invite disaster upon yourself!”
“All right, all right. Let’s not talk about this…”
Their voices gradually faded until only the crackling of firewood in the stove remained.
Lin Wu busied herself tidying the stove, but her movements were a little slower than usual. Her straight back held a faint tension that was almost impossible to detect.
Lin Jing had already scraped every last grain of rice from his bowl, yet he still did not raise his head, as though he meant to curl himself into a tiny bundle and dissolve into the night.
The journey passed without further incident. Before long, the caravan arrived at the borders of Lingzhou.
When the towering walls of Lingzhou City came into view in the distance, even the weariness accumulated over their many days on the road seemed to ease somewhat.
