By evening, the customs officers indeed fired cannons at the frozen surface. After a series of thunderous booms, the canal ice, previously crisscrossed like a spiderweb, began cracking and splintering. For merchants, this was undoubtedly a "Song of Wealth." Everyone leaned over tavern railings or beneath windows, eagerly watching the moment the ice shattered.
Broken ice, some as large as beds and others as small as duckweed, was swept along by underwater currents. At first, the fragments moved as sluggishly as someone constipated for three days, but gradually they sped up, flowing faster and more smoothly. The large merchant ships on both banks finally broke free from the ice, swaying at the canal docks. In that moment, the vessels seemed to gain souls, ready to traverse the canal from north to south year after year.
Merchants raised their glasses in toast, hoping for a year of abundant wealth, just like the surging canal waters.
The medicinal merchant Lu Ying, who had gone upstairs to "rest" all afternoon, carefully led his wife downstairs for dinner. Since Wang Daxia had already been "exposed" for cross-dressing as a man, she no longer bothered to conceal it. She descended in women's attire, radiant with excitement—rosy cheeks, crimson lips, a green jacket over a red skirt, and a pair of purple wisteria silk flowers adorning her hair bun. She piled vibrant colors onto herself, appearing dazzlingly beautiful. Fortunately, her youth and beauty allowed her to carry off such flamboyance.
Ding Wu treated the itinerant doctor Wei Caiwei to a feast, praising her miraculous healing skills. After her acupuncture treatment, his back no longer ached and his legs felt no pain. Wei Caiwei seized the opportunity to indulge in a hearty meal.
Prostitutes from Qinghe County returned to solicit customers, with Lu Ying naturally being their primary target. However, Wang Daxia sitting beside him was too strikingly beautiful, glaring with wide eyes like a "river east lioness" ready to tear apart anyone who dared compete for her man. The courtesans dared not approach, fearing their faces might be scratched by the fierce "lioness."
To avoid harassment, Lu Ying served Wang Daxia a bowl of chicken soup. "This is old hen soup. I had the kitchen prepare it specially for you, stewed with ginseng. It's very nourishing."
Wang Daxia beamed like a flower. "Thank you, my lord." She cheerfully embraced her complex persona—having disguised as a man, then a woman, now restored to female attire and even sporting a bulging belly.
Wang Daxia had an astonishing appetite, eating more than her husband. However, considering she was now eating for two, it seemed justifiable.
As for Ding Wu's Hua Brothers, upon learning that the ship would depart the next day and they would be without women for nearly a month, they didn't even leave their room. The sounds of singing and dancing from within lasted until midnight.
At night, guards from the Three Links Escort Agency kept watch over the cargo in the ship's hold. However, Wei Caiwei had slipped into their food the same sleep-inducing drug previously used on the White Lotus Sect, causing them to fall into a deep slumber.
Wu Xiaoqi, disguised amid the cargo, heard the snoring from inside a crate. He emerged, stretching his cramped limbs, and moved from his own cargo hold to the neighboring one. The crates were locked, but this didn't stump him.
He took out a set of keys from his bag, trying them one by one. Finding a similar one, he modified it with a file and small saw until he finally unlocked a crate.
The moment the crate opened, a dazzling golden light burst forth, as if Sun Wukong had leaped out of a divine stone, nearly blinding Wu Xiaoqi.
It was gold! Fifty-tael gold bars were neatly stacked inside the crate. Wu Xiaoqi roughly estimated there were about five thousand taels in total!Five thousand taels of gold, equivalent to fifty thousand taels of silver—what does that mean? To put it in perspective, in the 20th year of the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, the total tax revenue of Hangzhou was twenty-three thousand taels of silver (Note 1). In other words, the Favorable Wind merchant ship was carrying more than two years' worth of Hangzhou's total tax revenue.
Wu Xiaoqi put the gold bars back, locked the chest, left the cargo hold, and returned to the passenger cabins on the upper deck. "Boss, Luo Longwen's cargo is all gold, roughly five thousand taels. How could a scholar who makes ink sticks have so much gold? It must belong to Yan Shifan."
Eighty percent of this five thousand taels of gold likely includes the thousand taels my father bribed to save Yu Dayou. Lu Ying was deeply puzzled. "This doesn't make sense. Yan Shifan clings to wealth as if his life depends on it. How could he bear to let such a large amount of gold leave the capital? When things go against their nature, there must be something sinister afoot."
Taking Yan Shifan's money is like cutting his flesh. This five thousand taels of gold is equivalent to severing one of his arms. He has always been the one receiving gold from others, never the one giving it away. What is he trying to achieve?
Lu Ying was stuck at this point. "If my father were still here, he would surely be able to shed light on this. He understood Yan Shifan very well. What a pity..." She missed her father.
Ding Wu said, "Luo Longwen is also heading directly to Hangzhou without stopping at any ports along the way. That's why he shared the ship with us. The road will straighten when it reaches the bridge. Once we arrive in Hangzhou, we can just follow him. We're bound to catch a big fish eventually."
Lu Ying asked Wang Daxia, "What do you think?"
Wang Daxia's mind was still fixated on the five thousand taels of gold. "I've never seen so much gold in my life. Seriously, with that much money, why bother holding an official position in the court? If it were me, I'd have resigned long ago to enjoy my retirement. Even if I ate gold every day, I couldn't finish it in my lifetime."
Seeing Wang Daxia's hopeless demeanor, Lu Ying felt exasperated. "I'm asking you what we should do next!"
Wang Daxia's eyes gleamed with greed, and he rubbed his hands eagerly. "How about we pull a switcheroo? Steal the five thousand taels of gold and replace it with something else? After all, it's ill-gotten wealth. We'd be robbing the rich to help the poor, distributing the money to the needy and keeping just a small fee for our efforts—nothing much, just one gold bar each." With an extra gold bar for his future wife, it felt like money falling from the sky.
Lu Ying gave up on him. "Go back to your cabin and sleep—dream on."
Wang Daxia insisted, "Boss, just consider it—"
Lu Ying snapped, "Get lost!"
Wang Daxia, still drooling over the gold, retorted, "You should be nicer to me. I'm carrying your child, after all." Ever since Wei Caiwei diagnosed him with a "pregnancy pulse," Wang Daxia had been appearing in women's clothing.
Lu Ying felt the urge to hit him. Ding Wu's eyelids twitched in disbelief. Wu Xiaoqi shook his head and said, "Yan Shifan clings to wealth as if his life depends on it. Unless absolutely necessary, how could he possibly ship so much gold to Hangzhou? This is clearly a transfer of assets. Could it be that he's run into some trouble?"
Wang Daxia argued, "Impossible. After Wu Peng retired, Yan Shifan's uncle Ouyang Bijin just became the Minister of Personnel. Yan Shifan can now sell official positions even more easily, with so many officials lining up to give him money."
To outsiders, it appeared exactly that way. The Yan family still seemed prosperous, even growing more powerful, as if they would never fall.
Lu Ying had been observing mourning at home this entire month and was unaware of Yan Shifan's recent misfortunes: his first failure to deliver after taking a bribe, and his own uncle Ouyang Bijin refusing to cooperate in selling official positions. If Lu Bing were still alive, he would have recognized these as signs of the Yan family's impending collapse.Ding Wu said, "Could it be that Yan Shifan sent Luo Longwen with the gold to do business? In terms of power, the Yan family has already reached the pinnacle—the only step higher would be becoming emperor. Power has its limits, but money does not; it is endless. The cult leader Zhao Quan stole firearms from Wang Gong Factory and ordered Iron Bull to lead Death Warriors, disguised as Japanese Pirates, to smuggle and make money."
Lu Ying had a sudden inspiration. "To make quick money, it must involve dealings with pirates and smuggling. Luo Longwen spent five years along the southeast coast, familiar with both the underworld and legitimate circles. He called the pirate leader Xu Hai his sworn brother and even exchanged poems and drinks with the famed anti-pirate general Hu Zongxian. Five years have passed—could Luo Longwen be using Yan Shifan's capital to return to his old trade?"
Wang Daxia slapped his thigh. "Colluding with Japanese Pirates! Yan Shifan is colluding with Japanese Pirates!" The accusation was precise and accurate.
Wu Xiaoqi grew excited. "Yes, colluding with Japanese Pirates—it’s a capital offense. The Japanese Pirates have plagued the coast for years, and the Emperor despises them most. If we obtain evidence of Yan Shifan conspiring with the pirates, neither his father nor his uncle can save him."
Wang Daxia asked, "If we catch them red-handed and apprehend Luo Longwen trading with the Japanese Pirates, how much reward can we get?" His mind was filled with thoughts of gold and saving up for a wife. Now, his monthly salary was only a fraction of Wei Caiwei's, making him uneasy.
Wu Xiaoqi said, "I’ll give my share to Wang Commander. I only want Yan Shifan to pay with his life, to avenge my father."
Lu Ying said, "I will write a secret letter to inform my second brother-in-law (the son of Grand Secretariat minister Xu Jie). They have been fighting the Yan faction for over twenty years. If you can truly help them bring down the Yan faction, your future will be boundless—far beyond mere rewards."
Wang Daxia thought it over: no fortune, but a promotion wasn’t bad either. "Good, this trip won’t be in vain—killing two birds with one stone."
As they discussed strategies, a subordinate knocked and said, "Luo Longwen has requested Doctor Wei to treat his illness. Doctor Wei has already taken his medical kit and gone."
What? Everyone immediately became alert, exchanging glances.
Luo Longwen was genuinely ill. Having lived along the coast for many years, frequently sailing the seas, he indulged in seafood and sashimi. Now in his fifties, he suffered from gout. During attacks, it felt as if countless needles were piercing his joints. For five years, living luxuriously in the Yan residence, he had been treated by imperial physicians and initially looked down on itinerant healers like Wei Caiwei. But recently, life on the ship—damp, cold, and windy on the canal—had triggered a gout flare-up. He couldn’t even grip the iron pestle steadily while grinding herbs and had no choice but to seek help from a wandering doctor.
Luo Longwen scrutinized Wei Caiwei and asked, "We’ve been on the same ship for days, but may I ask your honorable surname, Doctor? Where are you from, and who was your teacher?"
Wei Caiwei replied calmly and confidently, "I am surnamed He, a wanderer with a life like duckweed. My medical skills were passed down orally by my master, supplemented by occasional reading of medical texts. The relationship between doctor and patient depends on fate. If you doubt my abilities, I shall take my leave."
She had already revealed her background to Wang Daxia and now used her original surname "He" when outside. Lu Ying had long suspected she was the missing Miss He Er. Hearing her call herself Doctor He, Lu Ying became even more certain but kept it to herself, as the He father and daughter had died too tragically.
Luo Longwen extended his wrist. "Trouble Doctor He to examine me."Wei Caiwei glanced at him, noting his swollen red knuckles and sesame seed-sized yellowish-white ulcers on his earlobes and fingertips. Without even taking his pulse, she immediately reached a diagnosis. "Remove your shoes and socks. Let me examine your feet."
Upon hearing this, Luo Longwen realized he was dealing with a true professional and exposed his most painfully affected foot.
Observing the already deformed joints of his toes, Wei Caiwei asked, "You've had gout for some years, haven't you? This condition is particularly common among coastal residents. From now on, you must abstain from seafood, fish broth, meat broth, and all alcohol. I'll begin by performing bloodletting acupuncture on the affected areas."
Wei Caiwei opened her medicine chest, lit a lamp, and extracted a three-edged needle to perform bloodletting on his hands and feet. Noticing her techniques and acupoint recognition were comparable to those of imperial physicians, Luo Longwen felt reassured—she truly possessed remarkable skill.
After the acupuncture session, silver needles remained inserted at major acupoints on Luo Longwen's limbs. Wei Caiwei picked up her brush to write a prescription. "Once we dock at the port, immediately send your guards on horseback to fetch these medicines from an apothecary. The further south we travel, the more relentless the spring rains become—your gout will worsen considerably."
Luo Longwen was well aware that journeying south during the Jiangnan rainy season would aggravate his gout. Yet, summoned by his patron, he had no choice but to see this mission through.
After removing the needles, collecting her fee, and taking her leave, Wei Caiwei departed. Luo Longwen soon felt significant relief in his joint pain, particularly in his hands and feet.
Returning to the cabin where Ding Wu and the others had been waiting, Wei Caiwei described Luo Longwen's condition. "His gout is already severe—the joints in his hands and feet are deformed. During flare-ups, the pain must be unbearable."
Lu Ying remarked, "This is an opportunity. Tend to him diligently to earn his trust."
Over nearly a month of voyage, Wei Caiwei administered acupuncture to Luo Longwen almost daily. Though not intimate, they became familiar acquaintances.
One rainy night, the ship entered Zhenjiang territory. Wei Caiwei was jolted awake by sudden clanging gongs as boatmen shouted, "Japanese Pirates! Japanese pirate ships ahead! Everyone arm yourselves!"
Author's note: Hahaha, everyone should be able to guess who these Japanese Pirates really are.
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