Chapter 113

Chapter 113

Xue Shechuan spoke concisely, laying out for Nan Wuxie the discrepancy in the official paperwork, the emperor's scheming intentions, and the peril involved.

When his words fell, the room fell into dead silence, broken only by the faint chirping of cicadas outside the window, making the atmosphere even more oppressive.

If this situation were allowed to develop unchecked, by the time the canal boats arrived in the capital and the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works conducted an on-site audit, the irrefutable evidence of mismatched numbers but matching total silver amounts would come crashing down on the Xue family. At that point, they would either have to admit to the crime of "embezzlement," tarnishing the family's reputation and destroying years of hard work, or "bow to circumstances" and accept the emperor's "kindness," becoming nothing more than pawns under imperial power.

Either way, it was a goddamn dead end.

Nan Wuxie leaned against the headboard, his head dizzy and his eyes barely wanting to open. The exhaustion from his illness made him yawn incessantly, and a throbbing pain at the back of his skull forced him to concentrate despite the fatigue.

Xue Shuyu was hot-tempered by nature, and hearing his elder brother's words, he was the first to blow up.

He sprang up from his chair, his eyes wide and burning with fury, all trace of his earlier nervousness at being caught by his brother vanished.

"Fuck!" he cursed loudly. "Are they trying to force our Xue family to the brink of extinction?"

He stamped his foot in anger, "No way! I'll take some men, sneak onto the boats just before they dock, kill all those bastard escorts, and scuttle the ships! Dead men tell no tales—let's see how they can frame us!"

His reasoning was simple and crude, full of a reckless, mad-dog spirit.

The logic held: as long as the boats didn't arrive with mismatched cargo to be handed over, the accusation of embezzling official silver couldn't stick.

Before his foot had even landed, Xue Shechuan shot him a glance, saying nothing.

Ridiculous.

Nan Wuxie also slowly shook his head. "No, if something happens to the canal boats just as they're about to reach the capital's docks—loss of life and sunken ships—it would cause a major incident that would shake the capital. Then the Capital Defense Battalion, the Imperial Guard, the Celestial Inspectorate, and even the Listening Terrace would all be implicated. And by the time the Three Judicial Bureaus launch a thorough investigation, tracing the clues, your Xue family will only find it harder to extricate yourselves."

Xue Shuyu, having been dismissed by both men, sat back down grumpily. "So we just sit here and watch that damn boat sail in?"

Xue Shechuan ignored his younger brother's agitation and turned his gaze to Nan Wuxie. "Marquis, what do you think should be done to turn this around? The key is that the boats must not be allowed to reach the dock and complete the handover with the wrong numbers."

Nan Wuxie pulled the blanket tighter around himself, feeling a chill from his illness, his thoughts as sluggish as if frozen.

He sniffled loudly and clicked his tongue in discomfort. "Let me think, let me think."

As he struggled to focus, sorting through every possibility, he also had to endure Xue Shuyu's restless muttering under his breath and occasional violent suggestions of "kill them all," which only made his head feel like it was splitting.

Xue Shechuan continued his calm analysis, trying to help Nan Wuxie clarify the bigger picture. "The good news is that the perpetrator is confident we won't notice until the handover. Since we've learned of it early, we have the upper hand."

Nan Wuxie closed his eyes, his mind racing through the fragmented chaos.

Xue Shechuan was right. The key was to prevent the boats from completing the handover—block them from docking, intercept them mid-route, staging an accident...

As he was thinking, Xue Shuyu lost patience again, jumping up once more, cursing wildly off-key.

"Damn it! I still think killing them all is the cleanest solution! Finish it once and for all! Brother, Brother Nan, you're just overthinking it! Let me take a few good men, disguise us as river bandits—"

"Tch—"

A clearly annoyed clicking sound escaped Xue Shechuan's lips.

Xue Shuyu's voice cut off like a chicken with its neck wrung. His bluster deflated with a "poof."

He glanced at his brother, shrank back, and obediently but somewhat sheepishly sat back down, his eyes darting between his brother and Nan Wuxie.

At last, the world was a little quieter.

Nan Wuxie knocked on his aching head, his fevered brain struggling under pressure to rule out one unworkable plan after another.

Kill? Not really...at least not openly...What about in secret? No, that won't do either...

Suddenly, his tightly shut eyes snapped open, a dark glint flickered in their depths.

"Killing... isn't completely out of the question..." he said slowly.

Xue Shechuan's gaze sharpened, and Xue Shuyu's eyes lit up again, but this time he didn't dare jump up.

Nan Wuxie continued, speaking slowly, weighing each word. "We can kill, but they can't be killed by 'outsiders,' and certainly not in the vicinity of the capital. If we kill them, it has to look like an internal conflict—the escort team quarreled among themselves, had a fight, or fell out over sharing spoils, leading to the ship's damage, cargo loss, and casualties."

He paused, rubbing his eyes, and took a breath before continuing. "That way, when the court investigates, they can only look into problems within the escort team itself—poor supervision or internal embezzlement that sparked the riot. It won't implicate you in the slightest."

It was truly a strain on Nan Wuxie's unwell mind, but this solution not only left the Xue family utterly clean but also solved the problem of the mismatched cargo numbers. During the chaos, the account books might have been destroyed, and the goods might have been stolen, burned, or lost overboard—anything was possible in the confusion. The messy accounting would then be blamed on those "dead" and "missing" items, and the Xue family would simply be victims who had followed the rules and suffered an unfortunate accident.

The room fell silent again. Xue Shechuan lowered his head in thought, while Xue Shuyu stared at Nan Wuxie with his mouth agape, an expression of "That's an option?" quickly turning into "That sounds exciting!"

Having finished his lengthy speech, Nan Wuxie seemed drained of energy, slumping back against his pillow weakly. He looked at Xue Shechuan and instructed weakly, "This must be handled cleanly. You need a thorough understanding of the escort team's composition, itinerary, and internal relationships. The location, timing, and method of the attack must be carefully planned to ensure it looks like an 'accidental' internal conflict, not an outside assault. The aftermath must be watertight."

Xue Shechuan raised his head and met Nan Wuxie's gaze. "What the Marquis says is indeed the only viable path forward."

He stood up. "I will immediately look into the escort team's situation. As for how to make this 'internal conflict' seem flawless..."

He paused. "We'll need the Marquis's guidance."

Xue Shuyu could no longer contain himself, itching to get started. "This is a brilliant plan! Let me do it! I'll make sure it's perfect, like they really fought among themselves!"

Nan Wuxie quickly closed his eyes before he could babble on, having no energy left to deal with this mad dog.

After settling on the internal conflict plan, Nan Wuxie mulled over the details Xue Shechuan had gathered about the escort team: two boats, forty armed escorts, three minor officials from the Ministry of Works, and over twenty boatmen and sailors—all registered with the Canal Transport Office, not elite troops, but not rabble either.

The boats were nearing their destination. They would reach the last supply point outside the capital by evening and arrive at the docks by nightfall. If no action was taken today, there would be no other chance.

He had already formed a plan: a night raid, staging a scene with no survivors that looked like an internal conflict.

But since the matter involved the Xue family, and the emperor was likely watching every move of the Xue residence, any Xue family member near those boats would be walking into a trap. The emperor, wanting to frame them, would seize any incriminating evidence. The Xue family must appear "unaware," going through the motions, preparing to receive the cargo.

The Xue family couldn't act.

So who's going to do the job?

At that moment, in the imperial city, Li Sheng was musing behind the imperial desk, a report on the canal boats' schedule laid out before him.

Wang Dequan stood in respectful silence, eyes downcast, in silent attendance.

After a moment, the emperor picked up his writing brush, and soon a secret edict was discreetly carried out of the palace, delivered to a certain government office on the eastern side of the city.

Shortly after the edict arrived, a squad of men in black emerged silently from the office.

But they were not heading toward the Xue residence.

They were heading to the docks!

This time, Li Sheng had been thorough indeed. Instead of directly monitoring the Xue family, who might tamper with the cargo, he was monitoring the target itself—the cargo that might be tampered with!

Thus, two silent undercurrents began to flow, converging on the same target—the two canal boats about to dock.

The night was as thick as pitch, with neither stars nor moon.

The dock outside the capital was reduced to a silent silhouette in the night, like a crouching beast. Only the sound of canal water slapping against wooden pilings accompanied a few lanterns swaying in the night breeze, casting a dim, unsteady halo.

Just after midnight, a group of several dozen dark figures, like ghosts, silently infiltrated the abandoned warehouses and reed marshes on the periphery of the dock.

They were almost one with the night, moving swiftly and landing soundlessly.

The leader gave rapid hand signals, and the group swiftly dispersed, like night made tangible seeping into the ground, penetrating the entire riverbank, and quickly disappearing from view.

Their orders were "prevention," so they only lay in wait quietly, their gazes locked on the silhouettes of two boats far off on the river, in breathless silence.

About a quarter of an hour later, another, more urgent sound of horse hooves came from the direction of the main road and quickly stopped at the edge of the woods outside the dock.

A dozen or so riders dismounted, their movements neat and crisp, and the horses were quickly led deep into the woods to be hidden.

The leader, clad in dark attire, had a straight and upright figure.

Nan Wuxie's face still showed signs of illness, but his eyes burned with cold focus in the darkness. Pain and fatigue were temporarily suppressed by a stronger will. Killing was his profession, and even illness didn't slow him down.

Behind him followed Wei Qinghe and a group of soldiers who had truly experienced carnage and bloodbath, their eyes calm, their stance steady as rocks.

Nan Wuxie did not act immediately. He stood quietly at the edge of the woods, his gaze sweeping over the silent dock, the few dim yellow lanterns, the sparkling river, and finally resting on the two grain boats drawing nearer.

Their outlines grew clearer.

"They're here."

Then, he raised his hand and made a fist.

The next moment, several dark figures silently darted out from behind him, like nocturnal bats, skimming close to the ground and rapidly rushing toward the various lanterns on the dock.

"Puff," "Puff," "Puff"...

Several muffled sounds of precise shattering rang out at the same time, and the few halos of light in the dock area suddenly extinguished!

In an instant, darkness like a tidal wave engulfed the entire dock area. The two boats whose outlines could just be discerned a moment ago all merged into the thick inky blackness.

Just as the lights went out, the leader of the team lurking on the top of the abandoned warehouse suddenly crouched even lower, holding his breath, trying to catch any movement in the absolute darkness.

Silent midnight march, shadows hide their plots. *1

In the darkness, Nan Wuxie and his group had moved at some unknown time.

Quiet and fast, like a group of nocturnal owls, they pounced on their prey, targeting directly the two grain boats that had already docked.

With the force of a thunderbolt, they spared none.

There weren't even many footsteps to hear, only the faint rustle of robes against the air and the slight vibrations of bodies brushing against the planks of the gangway.

Where blades meet, killing is silent. *2

The short, shrill stifled cries of the deck guards were instantly snuffed out, as if choked by an invisible hand or as if Death had covered their mouths.

Then came the dull thuds of blades cutting through flesh and bone, the heavy thumps of bodies falling onto the deck, the chaotic sounds of weapons swinging wildly in panic and hitting the ship's side planks...

In the pitch black, nothing could be seen, no perception of distance, as if darkness had pressed down right before their eyes, nothing there, only solid black.

Soon, the sounds of fighting erupted from both boats simultaneously!

Darkness became the best cover and also the most terrifying amplifier. In sheer terror, people inside the cabins were reaped by blades silently striking from the darkness.

Screams rose and fell in succession, but often were abruptly cut short. The thick scent of blood quickly spread in the night breeze.

Nan Wuxie and his men were like vengeful spirits wielding blades without hesitation, silently clearing the ship of all life.

Their strikes were ruthless and precise, killing in one blow, leaving no room for cries or any chance of resistance.

On the deck, inside the cabins, muffled sounds and dying whimpers wove into a cruel dark symphony.

However, just as this one-sided slaughter commenced, suddenly a sharp whistle sounded from outside the boat!

Then, dozens of black figures seeped out from the shadows all around, flowing like a river backward, converging toward the shore.

No footsteps, only an enveloping approach, as if the night itself had become tangible and hungry, tearing gaps in the thick ink with ghostly lights, then locking onto prey with precision.

They came crushing the night. The darkness was alive, swift, silent, like a host of Yama lords sweeping across the earth.

In that moment, the dark night bared its teeth.

Li Sheng's men were here.

Waters rage, winds devour.

Time to hunt ghosts.

Author's note: *1 "Silent night march" is from Ming Dynasty Shen Mingchen's "Song of Victory: Five thousand troops marching silently through the night."

-----------------------

*2 "Where blades clash, killing is soundless" is from the same source.