When the night lanterns along the bridge leading to the lake pavilion were lit, it was Yuan Manor’s most beautiful sight.
Ming Nian used copper covers to extinguish the two lamps at the pavilion entrance, gazing at the layered flying eaves and upturned corners near and far, and couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
Yuan Cheng was reading the Chronicles of the Warring States in the pavilion. Hearing his sigh, he said, “Reluctant to part?”
“When I first arrived, this place looked like ruins. I even wondered how a scholar’s manor could be so shabby. But after it was rebuilt, I found myself nostalgic for the time when Miss Mo Zi said we could roast rabbits right here on the spot. Now extinguishing these lamps one by one—it’s as if the path home is being sealed off. I feel somewhat lost for a moment.” With feelings of home invested in it, parting was difficult.
“Only when the lights behind are extinguished can there be light ahead. Only when the path behind is sealed can there be a path forward.” Yuan Cheng suddenly put down his book, braced his hands on the pavilion railing, and looked down at the dark water surface.
Seeing this, Ming Nian grew tense. “My lord, have they arrived?”
After a moment, Yuan Cheng shook his head. “I thought I heard water sounds. Why don’t you come help me look?”
Ming Nian walked over, squinting his eyes to look out at the lake. Just as he was about to turn back and say there wasn’t even a ghost’s shadow, his gaze accidentally fell on the area directly below the railing support.
A grinning wet face.
“Ah—” Ming Nian cried out in fright and staggered back two steps.
A gust of wind blew out the candles on the desk, and instantly one couldn’t see one’s hand before one’s face.
There were sounds of footsteps running onto the bridge, and someone said, “Lord Yuan, what happened?”
Yuan Cheng answered, “Ming Nian’s hand slipped and he nearly tumbled into the lake. In his panic he cried out. It’s nothing.” As he spoke, the candlelight was relit.
At the other end of the bridge were two or three shadows that came and went quickly.
“Sure enough, they have hidden sentries. Good thing they didn’t rush up directly.” The face that had been pressed against the stone wall at the pavilion’s base flashed behind the brocade curtain, grinning mischievously. It was none other than Stinky Fish, who said to Ming Nian, “Little brother, you’re quite timid.”
Mo Zi was similarly hiding in a blind spot, wearing an all-black sharkskin suit that absorbed light. Her graceful body curves were fully revealed—slender hands, long legs, waist like a willow branch.
Ming Nian only glanced at Mo Zi once before averting his eyes, his tender face flushing bright red. Staring at his toes, he thought to himself, what strange clothing—how could she have the nerve to wear it out?
Yuan Cheng was also slightly surprised, yet didn’t forget to appraise the outfit. He joked, “Ingenious thinking. The leather suit is waterproof and warm-keeping, and being so form-fitting, even swimming won’t cause worry about restricted movement. Only, if General Xiao saw you in this outfit, he’d be anxious again—so shocking to convention.”
Mo Zi shot him a sidelong glance. “You’re not anxious? You sound so magnanimous?”
“Acts that shock convention are mostly those intolerable in others’ eyes. Intolerance in the eye stems from impropriety in the heart. When the heart is proper, even naked seductiveness swaying before one’s face causes no shock or disturbance. It’s viewed as ordinary.”
As soon as Yuan Cheng finished speaking, Ming Nian defended himself. “My heart is very proper—I’m just embarrassed.”
Mo Zi laughed lightly, her figure shifting slightly so that most of her was blocked by the curtain. “What your lord means by an improper heart doesn’t necessarily mean evil thoughts.”
“Whether the heart harbors improper thoughts—evil or wicked.” Yuan Cheng didn’t accept her sentiment, pointing at Ming Nian teasingly. “Tell Miss Mo Zi the truth—why don’t you dare look at her?”
Ming Nian retorted, “One must not look at what is improper.”
“You think Miss Mo Zi’s outfit violates propriety, but you’re already wrong. It’s merely swimming attire—what has that to do with propriety?” Yuan Cheng was actually teaching Ming Nian a principle.
Ming Nian was clever and understood immediately. He performed a disciple’s bow. “My lord’s words have greatly benefited Ming Nian.”
“Yuan Cheng, I didn’t realize you had something of a teacher’s bearing.” Though Mo Zi’s words showed no mercy, in her heart she thought his argument was excellent.
The several hidden sentries on shore had been somewhat alarmed, but after watching for a while and seeing that the two people in the pavilion were only talking the whole time, they relaxed. After another moment, they saw that Lord Yuan, who didn’t much like sleeping, finally left the pavilion. The young steward Ming Nian held a lamp low, and the two walked toward the resting courtyard. The sentries hastily shifted their positions.
But they could never have anticipated that after they left, there were still people in the pitch-black pavilion. Not only were the infiltrators Mo Zi and Stinky Fish present, but Yuan Cheng and Ming Nian were also there, while those who left were Huayi and Xiao Yi wearing their clothes.
The four each guarded a pillar. The entire lake pavilion had been designed by Mo Zi—the pillars and beams of the pavilion made it easy to hide people, and utilized concave shapes to create two absolute blind spots.
Very soon, Mo Zi gently lifted a wooden floorboard, then leaned down to push it further. Then, bracing her hands on both sides, feet first then head, she disappeared from view.
Using the sharkskin suit for cover, Stinky Fish was responsible for leading Yuan Cheng and Ming Nian, demonstrating how to go down, then waiting for the departure signal.
Though it had been planned in advance, when actually executing it, Ming Nian was so nervous that both his hands and forehead were covered in sweat. Once below, it was pitch-black again—not only could he see nothing, but the floor beneath his feet swayed, so he panicked and reached out with his hands, but couldn’t feel anything.
“My lord—” His heart lacked confidence as he cautiously called out, “Miss Mo Zi—”
“Place your heel against your toes and walk ten steps forward. Don’t move after that—wait for Stinky Fish to come down.” Mo Zi’s voice.
Ming Nian did as instructed.
He had just steadied himself when Stinky Fish’s delighted voice came. “Brother Mo, they’ve given the signal over there.”
Mo Zi said, “Yuan Cheng, Ming Nian, in a moment when the boards seal the top, lie down where you are. Try to maintain stability, balance, and quiet. If you encounter any unexpected situations, don’t panic—Stinky Fish and I will handle it.” At this moment, her tone was that of a ship’s captain again.
Stinky Fish leapt down nimbly, closing the pavilion’s floorboards, then pushing, and finally lifting. “Done!”
Suddenly a pale blue-white light appeared. What met his eyes caused Ming Nian’s eyes to widen more and more. He dared say this was the most peculiar place he’d ever seen in his life. The light came from pearls in Stinky Fish’s and Mo Zi’s hands—weak but able to illuminate outlines. One person high, three people wide, large in the middle and small at both ends, six or seven zhang long, with the two walls embedded with reflective glass fragments. Where Mo Zi and Stinky Fish stood, there were many wooden wheel frames that seemed to be mechanisms.
When Mo Zi had originally said they would leave by the water route, he thought they would either take a boat or swim, and had been puzzled all along. Although Yuan Manor bordered the lake, because of the assassination case the lord was under house arrest, with the Qianniu Guard watching three sides, while the lakeside was controlled by two patrol boats from the water army, never leaving day or night. Even the smallest boat couldn’t escape their surveillance. As for swimming, the shore wasn’t close, and reaching the patrol boats would require excellent diving ability. He didn’t dare speak of the lord’s swimming skills, but he himself could only dog-paddle and would be panting with exhaustion even swimming across a small pond.
He was truly too curious. Even though Mo Zi said to be quiet, he still couldn’t help but say softly, “Are we inside a fish’s belly?”
Stinky Fish sat in a strange high chair, carefully pulling down a round tube with his hand and listening with his ear. “That’s exactly right—we’re in a fish’s belly! Brother Mo, there’s no movement outside.”
“Let’s depart then. Pay attention to the compass direction. If there’s any deviation, speak up immediately. After confirmation, adjust the direction. We can’t see the situation outside right now—we can only rely on them.” Mo Zi had installed magnetic needles at both ends to prevent malfunction.
Stinky Fish grunted his agreement and began pedaling with his feet.
Yuan Cheng lay flat down, as this was said to make the “boat” bear less weight. There were several black holes in the ceiling board, and he could occasionally feel air currents surging. Mo Zi had also explained to him that because the boat’s interior space wasn’t sufficient, lotus flowers were used as camouflage, with vertical tubes for air exchange. Mo Zi was right in front of his head. He listened to her and Stinky Fish discussing abstruse and difficult-to-understand things like propellers and tail fins, and from the corner of his eye glimpsed her hands moving, truly admiring her shipbuilding skill.
A boat that sailed underwater! With such craftsmanship, no wonder both Daqiu and Great Zhou wanted to secure her services.
The lake circled into a section of Yuan Manor—he had spent a great price to exchange for this with the Minister of Works, intending at the time to use it as an escape route. He had entrusted Mo Zi with the construction because she understood boats and water. As a result, when he first saw a beautiful pavilion with floating bridge, he thought she hadn’t understood his meaning. When he found time to ask her, she had smiled mysteriously and said her most outstanding work was hidden beneath this most beautiful scenery.
The secret wasn’t revealed until he had plans to leave Great Zhou. The first time he descended into this boat, no matter how experienced and knowledgeable one was, one would be as clumsy and awkward as Ming Nian was now. She said the olive-shaped boat had great buoyancy and must be held down by the pavilion, with iron ball chains tied to all four legs to keep it submerged. She said the boat was long, using the floating bridge as cover so people couldn’t possibly see suspicious shadows underwater. She said many things, most of which he understood little. He found it inconceivable, but she said that lacking materials, it could only be used for short distances, had no power source, and something about oxygen. Finally she sighed that even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice. He asked if the boat had a name. She said three characters, then said it didn’t deserve that name and changed it to two characters—Dolphin Boat. A type of fish that puffed itself into a spiky ball when encountering danger.
The Dolphin Boat—although she herself said it was almost completely worthless, it would probably cause panic, envy, and sinister thoughts from all sides the moment it appeared in the world.
“Brother Mo, we’ve reached one hundred fifty-five cycles.” Stinky Fish reported the count, stopping both his feet and hands.
“I’ve also just reached one hundred. The compass isn’t off, and we’re still about fifteen zhang from the wall.” To obtain precise data, the Dolphin Boat had entered and exited Yuan Manor several times. She was cautious but not nervous.
Mo Zi carefully instructed Yuan Cheng and Ming Nian, “Stinky Fish and I are about to seal the air vents. Once the air vents are sealed, air will become very precious. If all goes smoothly, it should be enough to sustain us four until the rendezvous boat arrives. If not, that’s fine too. We’ll abandon the boat and swim. Stinky Fish and I are good swimmers—we can each take one of you. Being caught by the water soldiers would be unfortunate, but it’s still better than suffocating to death. Besides, there’s still a fifty-fifty chance of encountering our own people.”
When crossing the wall, they naturally couldn’t bring the lotus camouflage over, and there were already boats outside the wall. Drifting lotus stalks would certainly arouse suspicion. Therefore, Mo Zi ultimately used very light bamboo tubes and flexible joints—the resistance of the wall surface would allow the camouflage and bamboo tubes to simply fall off. Sealing the air vents wasn’t difficult either. The Dolphin Boat had double-layered boards—pushing the inner board to lock it tight would prevent water from entering.
Mo Zi soon felt the boat encounter resistance, but couldn’t use brute force. Instead, she used a method of pedaling three cycles then retreating one cycle, until suddenly both her feet and hands felt lighter, and she knew they had exited Yuan Manor.
Before infiltrating Yuan Manor, she had already observed the distribution of the two patrol boats. The boat design wasn’t large—single cabin, single mast, pointed bow, fifteen people per boat, with a draft of one zhang and two chi. This section of the lake was six or seven zhang deep. The Dolphin Boat, when weighted, was about three zhang below the water surface—an absolute advantage in terms of measurements.
Just when she was fully confident, suddenly the Dolphin Boat lurched violently.