Though entry and exit from Nande had many restrictions, waterways within Da Zhou still operated normally, and the Yezhou Ferry remained as busy as ever.
The Yongfu docked at the pier. Shi Lei led people down first, then brought horses over. His big bearded, sour face was directed at Mo Zi and the others, watching them closely and guarding strictly, afraid they would pull tricks at the last moment.
Stinking Fish sat down on the ship’s planks with a thump, his feet dangling and swaying above the water surface, laughing gleefully, “Big Beard, glaring at us so unpleasantly first thing in the morning—could it be you didn’t sleep well last night and got seasick again, hugging people while vomiting sour water?”
Shi Lei now hated when people mentioned this. Upon hearing it, his nose snorted like fire, his eyes glaring as he prepared to curse.
“Don’t delay important business.” Zhong An carried two bags of luggage down the gangplank, stopping Shi Lei from losing his temper.
“Damn it, just knock me out with a club and be done with it, save me from suffering this senseless anger.” Never before had handling a matter been this frustrating and humiliating.
“I wouldn’t dare knock you out with one club. But I could invite you to drink fine wine when we return, let you get thoroughly drunk for three days, and then you won’t remember anything.” Zhong An stuffed the heavy bags into Shi Lei’s hands and walked back onto the ship.
Seeing he couldn’t get a rise out of them, Stinking Fish shrugged, clapped his hands twice, spread them open to show his innocence—just casual chatting.
Shi Lei nearly rolled his eyes.
“Stinking Fish, come help.” Mo Zi was waiting outside the cabin. As soon as she saw Yuan Cheng emerge, she called out.
“No need to trouble Mo Ge. We have four people with eight hands here—surely we can support this one person?” Zhong An smiled politely, but actually didn’t want to give Mo Zi and the others an opportunity.
Mo Zi also wore a broad smile as she stepped forward. “Since you already have eight hands, what’s wrong with having one or two more pairs?” These people had stirred up her rebellious nature. She had no other intention—she just didn’t want things to go too smoothly for them.
Xiao Erlang suddenly stood in front of Yuan Cheng, blocking Mo Zi from approaching. “Once we’re ashore, he’s ours to do with as we please.”
“General Xiao should listen carefully. What I said was, once off the ship, he’s yours to do with as you please.” On the ship versus off the ship was a world of difference, but Mo Zi wasn’t excessively arrogant. Instead, her tone softened. “Also, I’d like to ask the General—Yuan is seriously injured. Before you take him away, could you allow a physician to examine and treat him, and prepare some medicine?”
Xiao Erlang raised one eyebrow, the corner of his lips curved briefly then disappeared. The fellow who had previously relied on the ship to tell them to scram into the water—now that they’d reached shore, how could he threaten them?
Therefore, he said, “No.” At least not someone she summoned.
Mo Zi wasn’t surprised. The two of them had fallen out anyway—she didn’t expect him to be compliant. “General Xiao has come from afar, not hesitating to associate with people like us, just to cross the river and capture someone. Now that the person has fallen into your hands, yet you remain obstinate—could it be you want to bring back a dead person who can’t speak?”
“He won’t die.” Xiao Erlang was extremely annoyed. “Besides, whether I bring back a living person or a dead one has nothing to do with you.”
“I naturally don’t worry about the General. I only fear the General might, out of personal grievances, cast aside matters of national importance and harm the common people of Da Zhou.” The specifics needn’t be stated—everyone understood.
Xiao Erlang’s voice was cold as ice. “I don’t know what personal grievances would make me commit such a grave error. You need to understand—this person is a traitor to our Da Zhou, a criminal wanted by imperial decree, whose crimes deserve execution. Perhaps dying on the road would spare him some suffering.”
Mo Zi didn’t even think before responding to his words. “According to you, Yuan is a traitor to Da Zhou. As Da Zhou officials, why didn’t you openly demand him from Nande, but instead acted like thieves, sneaking around? Da Zhou and Nande have always been on good terms. When Yuan was Prime Minister of Nande, why didn’t you cause trouble then, waiting until he lost power to kick him while he’s down? Clearly he still has value to exploit, yet you insist on making it sound noble. A criminal wanted by imperial decree should be handed over to His Majesty for disposal. He himself doesn’t mind suffering a bit—you needn’t be so eager to take his life.”
“It seems there’s no reasoning with you.” From the moment this Mo Ge stood on Yuan Cheng’s side, talking to him was like fighting a battle for Xiao Erlang—exhausting and mentally draining.
“If we can’t reason, it doesn’t matter. General Xiao can just summon a physician. It doesn’t have to be on the ship—off the ship is fine too. After all, it’s a human life. Just consider it accumulating blessings for yourselves. Good hearts always receive good returns.” Mo Zi employed both soft and hard tactics in her words, lecturing first then persuading toward virtue.
“Mo Ge, talking to us two is useless. Yuan will be taken away by those two. Whether to summon a physician depends on their decision.” Zhong An never wanted to completely fall out with Mo Zi. He alone played the good cop, whether or not anyone appreciated it.
Mo Zi looked at the two men flanking Yuan Cheng. Weren’t they the ones who came with Xiao Erlang? And here they were pulling this routine again, passing the buck repeatedly, dragging everyone in as shields.
So she chuckled lightly and said to Zhong An with reasonable courtesy, “I still trust what you say. It’s just—don’t these two follow General Xiao’s orders? Actually, I just pity Yuan, and as someone who shared the same boat, I thought if I could help a little, I would. I harbor absolutely no ill will toward you gentlemen. I always keep my word. Once the person leaves the Yongfu, it’s bridge to bridge, road to road. Even if we meet in the future, I’ll pretend not to know you. Please don’t worry that I’ll try to seize the person.”
Zhong An thought to himself: If only you’d shown sympathy for the number one corrupt official from the start, rather than appearing like wolves plotting to become sworn brothers, things would be better. We wouldn’t be this antagonistic, and then saying a few words might actually be useful.
“Your treatment of those you’re ‘fated’ to meet certainly varies greatly.” Xiao Erlang crossed his arms coldly and mocked. “On the same boat, yet you angrily told us to scram.” This fellow’s honeyed words and ingratiating manner were truly increasingly laughable.
Mo Zi’s eyes widened. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Yuan Cheng hanging his head while being supported by others. She silently recited three times “impatience in small matters ruins great plans,” raised her head, and spoke in an extraordinarily calm voice and tone, smiling amiably, “General Xiao, I’m just a crude person. In your words, a smuggler who doesn’t understand propriety. If I said something unpleasant, just clean out your ears and ignore it. Besides, I was addressing the matter, not the person. When you had people bullying other boat passengers, if I hadn’t intervened, wouldn’t that have ruined my reputation? Moreover, these three days, I haven’t treated you poorly. I left you the good food. You had the cabin to yourselves while my brothers and I squeezed into the cargo hold.”
Having said this, Mo Zi pulled Xiao Erlang with one hand and Zhong An with the other, moving slightly away from Yuan Cheng and the two men restraining him.
“What are you doing?” Xiao Erlang shook his sleeve free from Mo Zi’s hand, detesting the inexplicable pulling and tugging.
Mo Zi released Zhong An and spoke in a low voice. “Let me tell you two the truth. I collected quite a lot in passage fees from someone, so I have to keep up appearances. Isn’t there a saying? When entrusted by others, be loyal to their affairs. I have no choice. If I’d known you were a general, even with ten heads I wouldn’t dare tell you to scram into the water. By the time I found out, it was too late. I had to stick it out to the end, otherwise who in the boat gang would still listen to me?”
Seeing Mo Zi suddenly humble and submissive, Xiao Erlang didn’t feel any better. Instead, he grew more contemptuous of her character, concluding she was just a spineless petty person.
“Mo Ge, you mean your conflict with us was actually just for show?” Zhong An was actually somewhat confused by Mo Zi’s words. Unlike the others, he had originally admired this fellow’s daring and decisive nature.
“You truly are a clever person—you understand with just one explanation.” Mo Zi understood the principle that circumstances are stronger than people. “Also, we boat people most fear the bad luck of someone dying. Even if they get off the ship fine but then drop dead not far away… in any case, it’s inauspicious for the Yongfu.”
Seeing both Xiao Erlang and Zhong An simultaneously frown at her crude language, she secretly took satisfaction in deepening the impression of being a rough person and continued, “It doesn’t have to be a physician coming onto the ship. Right here at Yezhou Ferry, there’s a traveling physician. Give a shout and he’ll come. His consultation fee is cheap, and the prescriptions can be negotiated… Keep him breathing so you can complete your mission, without people saying you treated a prisoner well or secretly conspired with enemies…”
Xiao Erlang said “nonsense,” his expression full of impatience.
Zhong An had a scheme. He stroked his chin. “Mo Ge speaks so frankly, we can’t stay angry at you. It’s just that this Yuan Cheng sowed many grievances between the Nande Emperor and our Da Zhou. There’s much denunciation of him in court. General Xiao and I truly cannot treat him well, lest we give people grounds for criticism. However, if Mo Ge truly wants to avoid bad luck, there is a method.”
Xiao Erlang didn’t know Zhong An’s intention and looked searchingly at his expression.
Just as Zhong An was still somewhat favorable toward Mo Zi, Mo Zi also had no great aversion to Zhong An. Hearing him say there was a method, she already believed more than half of it. She cupped her hands together in a gesture of seeking instruction. “What method?”
Zhong An’s thumb and index finger stroking his chin formed a figure eight, with the index finger pointing directly at the two men about to escort Yuan Cheng. “Those two are not our subordinates, merely under our command for this mission. As they say, the King of Hell is easy to deal with, but little devils are difficult. If Mo Ge is willing to spend some silver, the little devils aren’t hard to manage.”
“Zhong An!” Xiao Erlang understood but didn’t approve.
Mo Zi naturally understood as well. She used to frequently manage little devils. “Are you deceiving me? When I actually go, you’ll tell them not to accept it.”
“Mo Ge can rest assured. As long as you can persuade them, we absolutely have no objections.” The “we” Zhong An mentioned included Xiao Erlang.
Mo Zi bowed and left.
“Why did you teach that fellow to do this?” Xiao Erlang was displeased.
“I want to see whether he’s clever or I’m foolish.” Zhong An chuckled. “Or perhaps I don’t want to admit I misjudged someone.”
Xiao Erlang saw Mo Zi talk with those two for quite a while, then pull a banknote from her sleeve and stuff it into their hands. Those two immediately looked toward him.
“General, just nod your approval.” Zhong An had been watching the developments there. “We all know clearly that if we don’t treat his injuries, he might truly not survive to the capital. It’s just that he made us suffer so much—we really can’t be willing to spend silver on him.”
“Now someone is willing to pay out of their own pocket—why not?” Xiao Erlang took over the conversation and held up two fingers to those two attendants, also gesturing an ingot shape. “Zhong An, how about I make that brat cough up the two hundred taels of silver he swallowed earlier?”
“If you, General Xiao, have come around, who could be more formidable than you?” Zhong An grinned.