Mo Zi began pacing.
The entire structure of the ship gradually revealed itself in her mind. The bow and stern were extremely narrow—no wonder Huayi and the others couldn’t find anything. The main body of this ship was the recessed cargo hold; besides that, there couldn’t be any other place to hide hollow logs. But she had tapped everything once—the feel and sound couldn’t be wrong. They were definitely solid.
“Manager Mo, even if you refuse to give up, don’t try to frame innocent people. If you keep stalling like this, don’t blame me for filing a complaint. Then it won’t be something you can resolve just by saying you’re done with the shipping business.” Zeng Hai’s cold mockery and threats didn’t stop.
Yuan Cheng’s gentle voice came through, carrying a chill in the wind. “Why must Boss Zeng be so anxious? Since there’s nothing to hide, why worry about Manager Mo taking her time?”
Zeng Hai sneered. “Your Excellency speaks correctly. But on such a cold night, having believed slander, you’ve bound us like this—how can we not be anxious? Your Excellency, shouldn’t you release us, lest people think you’re in league with evildoers? Though I believe Your Excellency was misled by a villain’s words.”
“Whether Boss Zeng is sending timber or something else, the destination is Great Qiu—that much is certain. In any case, you’ve already violated Great Zhou’s laws. Don’t you deserve to be bound?” Yuan Cheng heard Zeng Hai’s insinuation that he was complicit, but his expression didn’t change—only his gaze followed Mo Zi’s movements.
Unlike Mo Zi, who relied on her familiarity with ships and timber, he used his intuition. This ship definitely had problems! Where the problems were, he depended on her and believed in her.
Mo Zi’s thoughts returned to earlier times, when she saw Hongtu’s cargo ship from the Yongfu. The ship had been moving very slowly. Calculate! Weight, draft depth, cargo hold height.
Wait!
The quantity and weight of these two piles of timber couldn’t possibly cause such a turtle-slow speed. The cargo hold height had no strict requirements, but if she had built it, it should have been recessed deeper. Moreover, though it was a flat-bottomed boat, it was wider and longer than ordinary flat-bottomed boats.
If a ship’s structure had anything special about it, it must exist for a special purpose.
Mo Zi exhaled, then inhaled. On the surface, nothing seemed amiss, and there were no hidden compartments. The only place to hide things… She jumped with both feet. After jumping, she looked toward Zeng Hai.
Zeng Hai’s face changed, and Manager Wang’s face changed too.
The sound from the bottom planks—anyone who could hear it would immediately know that underneath was hollow.
Chou Yu quickly chuckled. “Really good at hiding—actually under the ship’s bottom.”
Ding Gou’s eyes, which had held no hope for Mo Zi, now shot out a gleam. He’d seen her act with swift efficiency but hadn’t thought she had any remarkable abilities. At most, she’d read some books, knew some schemes and tricks, could manage accounts and oversee people. But at this moment, he somewhat understood that what truly set this woman apart was ships.
Yuan Cheng stepped forward. Though his lips pressed into a straight line, the corners lifted slightly. The flickering torchlight cast on his face seemed unpredictable, concealing that satisfaction.
“Lord Yuan, I need an axe.” Mo Zi was ready to burn her bridges.
Before Yuan Cheng could give the order, Chou Yu leaped down. “What axe? My black iron oar—one slap and it’ll shatter to pieces! Brother Mo, tell me where to hit?”
“Hit anywhere, just aim downward. Don’t use too much force though—if you sink the ship, we’ll have to dive down to retrieve Boss Zeng’s cargo. Besides, this is a new ship. Leave Boss Zeng some face and go easy on it.” Mo Zi stepped aside.
Chou Yu acted immediately. With one strike of his oar, he smashed through three or four planks.
Mo Zi came forward, crouched down and pried, working with Zan Jin and Ding Gou to move those planks aside.
Though hollow beneath, there was only a palm’s height of empty space. A palm’s height naturally couldn’t hold anything.
On Yuan Cheng’s side, everyone froze, many secretly groaning in dismay.
Zeng Hai shouted, “Has Brother Mo never even seen a ship with double-layer bottom planks? I think your career as a manager has truly reached its end.”
Mo Zi’s smile deepened.
Manager Wang had suffered greatly at her hands before. Seeing her still smiling, he immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
The more others clamored, the calmer she became. Standing on the second layer of planks, she bent down and tapped, then jumped back up. Without even glancing at Zeng Hai, she said, “Boss Zeng, don’t panic. My brother’s oar still has more use.” At the same time, she beckoned with both hands to Huayi and the others watching from above. “Several of you come down and help me widen this hole, then pry open this lower layer of planks. Pry them open, don’t smash them. Boss Zeng’s precious cargo should be at the very bottom, so be extremely careful.”
Now Zeng Hai’s eyeballs bulged out. His fat neck swelled to a purplish-red, spread to both cheeks, then turned a terrified pale.
Clang, clang, bang—the commotion was considerable. Many hands make light work. In just moments, all the removable first-layer planks were dismantled. After another while, twenty or so planks from the second layer were pried open. At the very bottom lay rows of densely packed, thick raw timber logs.
Mo Zi tapped again, then looked up at Yuan Cheng. Smiling to reveal white teeth like shells, her delicate brows lifted as she silently mouthed, “Hollow.”
Yuan Cheng gently nodded, also silently: “Indeed.”
Manager Wang’s face fell in despair. Ever since he’d seen Mo Zi appear, he hadn’t said a word. An ominous premonition pressed down on his head, but he couldn’t complain to his own boss.
But Zeng Hai shouted loudly, “This humble one had no idea there would be another layer! There must be a Great Qiu spy in my shipyard—whether a shipwright or worker—who secretly did this behind my back. Please, Your Excellency, investigate thoroughly and render justice for this humble one! I’ve been wronged!”
Mo Zi couldn’t help but laugh. “Boss Zeng, if you’re going to cry injustice, at least wait until we see what’s actually inside the timber. Otherwise, isn’t your crying in vain? Like a thief crying ‘catch the thief.'”
Zeng Hai froze. Wasn’t that right? Shouting too soon was tantamount to admitting he knew about it.
Zan Jin inserted his sword hilt into a log, pulled and stirred. Since only the shell remained, it easily broke apart. He reached inside and felt around twice, then raised his arm. In his hand were three finely crafted iron-tipped feathered arrows.
Manager Wang completely collapsed to the ground, dejected and resigned to his fate.
Zeng Hai didn’t care—he shouted that he hadn’t done it, that someone had framed him, demanding to see his family’s elder master.
Like a mad dog barking wildly.
While he shouted his innocence there, Mo Zi led people without hesitation, continuously splitting open many logs. They discovered not only arrows hidden inside, but also swords and blades, and even pig iron.
“Whether Boss Zeng is innocent or not probably won’t be decided by your family’s elder master, but by the Ministry of Justice after their trial. Transporting weapons across the border—the crime equals treason. You say you’re innocent, but others might think the Zeng family cannot escape suspicion of masterminding this. This official will truthfully report your words to the Emperor. Whether the Zeng family is implicated will certainly be investigated thoroughly.” Yuan Cheng was ruthless enough to use the entire Zeng family to pressure Zeng Hai.
How could Zeng Hai not be frightened? When he’d initially undertaken this business, it was out of greed for enormous profits. Thinking his concealment flawless, he hadn’t considered his family at all. Now that his crimes were exposed, his first thought was to seek the family’s help. But with Yuan Cheng’s words, the Zeng family might fall into an enormous crisis. He was completely stunned.
When the cargo ship entered the capital’s official port, Yuan Cheng ordered the news sealed and requested his superior to oversee the inspection. As a result, even the Emperor personally came to observe. By daybreak, they had searched out three thousand feathered arrows, seven to eight hundred swords and blades, and nearly nine hundred dan of pig iron.
This was the largest weapons smuggling case uncovered in recent years. Combined with the fact that it was bound for Great Qiu and even implicated the Zhongzhou Zeng family, the Emperor was furious. He immediately issued a secret edict for the highest officials of the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate to conduct a secret trial, report to the Secretariat, which would then present it directly to him.
As Yuan Cheng had said, the Zeng family’s elder master, the Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, and second master, the Prefectural Governor, temporarily suspended all official duties. Ostensibly to avoid suspicion, it was actually house arrest under interrogation by the three offices. Zeng Hai’s crime was enormous—large enough that executing his nine generations would face little opposition. Although Great Qiu came under the banner of seeking peace, and Great Zhou and Great Qiu’s surface relations were fairly good, Great Qiu’s military forces were Great Zhou’s greatest border concern.
Because the Great Qiu delegation was still in the capital and peace talks had to continue, this matter couldn’t be publicized. The Emperor praised Yuan Cheng for timely information suppression and for great merit in capturing Zeng Hai. He specially appointed him as commissioner for this case, ranking equivalent to a third-rank vice minister of the Secretariat, with authority to deploy the Metropolitan Guard for searches and arrests. But Zeng Hai’s crimes were clear—he was temporarily imprisoned in death row. From this day forward, Hongtu Shipyard’s license was revoked, and all ships inside, including the land, as well as all of Zeng Hai’s family property, were confiscated by the state.
The reason Mo Zi knew such details was because this “Lord Huang” who liked playing chess with “subordinates” followed Yuan Cheng back to the Yuan residence from the official port and ran right into her as she’d just woken and was about to go out.
The Emperor continued pretending to be Yuan Cheng’s superior, but Mo Zi couldn’t continue pretending to be a maid from Prince Jing’s mansion. While hesitating, Yuan Cheng simply found an explanation for her.
“This girl is quite clever. She came of age and was released from her master’s household. Since this subordinate lacks someone to manage affairs and the household, I hired her to help me both inside the residence and out.”
The Emperor laughed heartily. “This girl is indeed excellent. Yuan Cheng, your eye has always been good. Your actions are also swift. By the way, for New Year’s Eve at the Moon Palace lantern market, bring her along to join the festivities.”
“Moon Palace?” Mo Zi was ignorantly uninformed about entertainment matters.
“The Moon Palace is a palace complex in the imperial palace’s outer gardens, commonly used for informal, more relaxed ruler-subject banquets or guest reception banquets. Imperial relatives and nobles or official families’ dependents can mostly attend together.” After Yuan Cheng finished, he added, “This time, to make the two nations’ envoys feel at home, there’s not only a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner, but also many celebratory activities prepared according to the three kingdoms’ customs. So the Emperor invited each family to bring their dependents to join the fun.”
Hearing this, Mo Zi naturally didn’t want to go join the fun, especially with Great Qiu envoys present. She quickly waved her hands. “Then I definitely won’t go. What kind of family dependent am I? It would ruin Your Excellency’s reputation for no reason.”
The Emperor liked that Mo Zi spoke frankly. Not only did he encourage her to definitely attend, he even helped her strategize. He asked the eunuch behind him for a token and handed it to her. “Take this token. You don’t have to go with your lord—you can go on your own.”
Yuan Cheng, who hadn’t slept all night yet remained in excellent spirits, still found energy to cause mischief. “Oh, this is a come-and-go-freely pass issued by His Majesty—only those who have deeply earned His Majesty’s trust possess one. Mo Zi, quickly thank Lord Huang.” He didn’t allow her to decline.
Before Mo Zi could say thanks, the Emperor preemptively said “you’re welcome.” “I’m just lending it to you for one evening—you have to return it.”
Mo Zi thought to herself: I didn’t even ask to borrow it.
But this was equivalent to the Emperor’s golden decree—not going was now impossible!