In that moment, Sun Shi choked out a sob. For the first time, she felt the solid ground of the human world beneath her feet. She threw her arms around her daughter and wept openly.

Sun Fu had been taken by kidnappers since she was small, and had not spent a single day that was not passed in beatings and curses. At the thought that she would never again need to suffer under the Chu household’s roof, a wave of overwhelming joy and grief swept over her at once.

Chu Linlang’s eyes grew moist as well.

Compared to things like marrying and having children, the wish she had carried since she was small was this: to free her mother, to leave that suffocating home together, and to let her spend the rest of her life at ease and without worry.

She had finally done it.

Her heart’s wish fulfilled, Chu Linlang could not wait to take her mother far from Jiangkou and never return.

On the day of departure, everyone gathered again at the dock. When they saw Chu Linlang had brought back her concubine-mother who had left the household, Yixiu Junzhu began her cold sneering at once: “Is being cast aside a family tradition in the Chu household? You had your separation, and now you bring along a runaway concubine-mother. Do you think this imperial ark that the hundred officials once traveled on is some place that harbors filth, where just anyone may board?”

At her words, the other classmates said nothing. They had heard something of Chu Linlang having sent her father and brother to the county jail. Even without measuring it against the women’s code of conduct, such behavior was something no book written by any sage would fail to condemn as utterly contrary to the proper order of things.

And on ordinary days, Yixiu Junzhu was sharp-tongued and prone to taunting Chu Niangzi a few times, which had become a familiar habit. After all, most of the time Chu Linlang simply pretended not to hear, smiling and never talking back.

But today, Yixiu Junzhu was not speaking only about Chu Linlang — she was publicly humiliating Sun Shi before everyone present.

Clearly Yixiu Junzhu did not know where this Chu Niangzi, who normally seemed to have no temper whatsoever, truly could not be pushed.

Today, she had unfortunately pressed Chu Linlang in exactly the place that could not be endured.

Chu Linlang turned her head slowly, fixed her with a cool glance, and said in a voice that was not especially quiet: “I have heard that when Junzhu went to enter the palace, the Empress Dowager did not even grant you a look before cutting off your candidacy. Could it be because she knew of your habit of speaking ill of other people’s parents in public — and feared that if you entered the palace, you wouldn’t last long?”

Having stood at the very palace gate waiting to see the Empress Dowager only to be turned away, was Yixiu Junzhu’s most unspeakable humiliation.

But she had never imagined that the ever-silent Chu Linlang would simply come out and say it, coldly and mockingly, before everyone.

Yixiu, still young, instantly lost her composure and fired back: “What nonsense are you talking about! The Empress Dowager felt that I was the Emperor’s junior relative, and that entering the palace would create a confusion of generations — that is why she turned me away!”

The moment she finished speaking, Chu Linlang seemed to experience a sudden revelation and announced loudly: “So it’s true that Junzhu was turned away from the palace after all! Thank you for letting us know — now we all understand the reason you were unable to enter.”

The matter of Yixiu Junzhu being refused entry to the palace had never been openly disclosed. Everyone had only vague rumors of it, and no one would have spoken of it publicly. Yixiu Junzhu’s own mother had consistently maintained to the outside world that the family themselves had not wished to send her into the palace.

Yet with a few light words, Chu Linlang had tricked the Junzhu into confirming the reason for the Empress Dowager’s refusal with her own mouth.

When Yixiu realized she had been tricked into openly admitting the Empress Dowager’s rejection, her face flushed scarlet with fury.

She moved to press Chu Linlang for a reckoning — but Chu Linlang smoothly stepped aside, turned, and helped Sun Shi toward a smaller vessel moored alongside the ark: “Mother, I arranged a boat yesterday. It’s smaller than the ark and not quite as steady, but it will do quite nicely — the advantage being that no self-important cat or dog will come barking at you for no reason.”

It turned out Linlang had anticipated all along that the return journey would include her mother Sun Shi, who would not be comfortable traveling with the noble ladies of the women’s academy. She had arranged her own boat well in advance.

Even without Yixiu’s taunting, she had never planned to take advantage of the women’s academy’s ark.

As things stood, the one who had spoken out of turn was now Yixiu Junzhu, who found herself looking decidedly unreasonable.

Chu Niangzi was right — the woman had clearly arranged her own boat well beforehand and had not been imposing on anyone. Even if her origins were humble, this was still Chu Niangzi’s mother — and for the Junzhu to mock a classmate’s mother in such a way showed not a shred of upbringing.

Watching the surrounding classmates whispering and quietly laughing at her, Yixiu twisted around and stormed onto the ship in fury.

That Chu Linlang — she had taken note of her. Once she returned to the capital, she would report to her mother and then go into the palace to tell Consort Jing. She would ensure this merchant woman could no longer linger at the women’s academy taking up a space she did not deserve — and that the capital itself would be no place for her.

Once aboard, Sun Shi, remembering the Junzhu’s outburst, tugged at Chu Linlang’s hand with some worry and said quietly: “Has this gotten you into trouble because of me?”

Chu Linlang patted her hand and said steadily: “She was the unreasonable one. Mother, you need not worry.”

Her relationship with Yixiu Junzhu had already been poor — that young lady had looked down on her for far longer than just today. She was not afraid of adding one more quarrel to the tally.

Once they were aboard, Linlang noticed that Instructor Liao was not on the instructors’ vessel. Word had it that Instructor Liao had a sudden matter come up and needed to go visit a friend in the area, and would not be returning with the fleet.

Linlang suspected the instructor’s absence from the return journey was connected to what she had told him about the fourth aunt of the Tao Family, and that Liao Jingxuan had something he needed to take care of.

She could only wonder what method he would use to cut off Tao Huiru’s desire to keep digging.

Zheng Biao, the second brother-in-law who was accompanying the escort fleet, was a man who understood how things worked in the world. He had gone to the county office to pay the fine and bail out the Chu father and son, and while there had chatted with the county assistant for a few moments. When he learned that the Ministry of Finance had actually issued a document specifically on behalf of his sister-in-law Chu Linlang, his understanding of the situation clarified considerably. After delivering a thorough scolding to the Chu father and son for not knowing what they were doing, he greeted his little sister-in-law with the warmest and most agreeable smile he could manage.

When he came to deliver food to Linlang’s smaller vessel, Zheng Biao took the opportunity to make his position clear: he and second sister would not side with Chu Huaisheng, and Chu Linlang could rest assured that he would see that mother and daughter made it safely to the capital without incident along the way.

Chu Linlang was well aware of what kind of man this second brother-in-law was. She simply played along pleasantly with polite conversation and let the matter pass.

On the return journey, perhaps worn out by the trip, the mood aboard the ark was nothing like the all-night feasting and constant laughter of the outward voyage.

For most of the journey, they moored early at a post station to rest, then set off again the following day.

Only on the return leg, the passing vessels on the water seemed more numerous than before, with one or two boats always maintaining a distance — neither close nor far — moving alongside them.

Each time this happened, Sui Qiye would narrow his eyes and watch. But those boats would travel in parallel for a while before splitting off at other waterways and heading toward their own destinations.

More than ten days went by in this manner. One evening as the sun was setting, a boatman accidentally snapped the mast rigging, which brought the sail crashing down.

The need for repairs delayed the voyage, and they had already passed the nearest post station with no village or town nearby. So the fleet sought out an islet in the river, moored alongside it, and rested there.

Aside from the guards on watch, everyone aboard had turned in early.

Chu Linlang and Sun Shi’s boat was small and not nearly as steady as the great ark. Sleeping on such a small vessel at night, the rocking and swaying was quite uncomfortable.

Before leaving Jiangkou, Linlang had bought woven grass matting from local fishermen — the kind used to put up temporary shelters. With just a plot of ground and a few wooden poles, it could be fashioned into a simple lean-to.

It was the height of summer, with no need to worry about catching cold in the night.

With bedding spread out, one could sleep soundly on solid, steady ground.

Sui Qiye was a man of many skills, and he built the lean-tos well. He put up three in all: one for Linlang and her mother to share, one for the two maidservants, and one for Qiye and Wang Wu.

They slept like this until the middle of the night, when Chu Linlang suddenly heard Sui Qiye call in a low voice outside the lean-to: “Chu Niangzi — wake up.”

Chu Linlang poked her head out and saw Sui Qiye crouching on the ground, scanning the surroundings on alert, while saying in a hushed voice: “Wake Sun Furen and tell her to keep quiet — there is a vessel approaching us.”

Chu Linlang held her breath and listened. All she could hear was the rushing sound of the river. But she trusted Sui Qiye’s judgment — he would never wake someone in the middle of the night without reason.

If a vessel truly was approaching, that was very strange indeed.

It was the dead of night. No boat would travel the waterways in such darkness — without being able to see the riverbed beneath them, a single submerged rock could spell total disaster.

There was, of course, one exception: water bandits approaching under cover of night to raid and plunder.

Chu Linlang’s family had built its fortunes in the salt trade. She knew the tactics of water bandits far too well — she had even encountered river outlaws before and had heard of their codes and methods from their own lips.

At the thought, a sharp alertness seized her mind.

Their fleet had been traveling the canal the entire time, with many water relay stations along both banks — not the kind of remote waterway that water bandits usually frequented.

Before staging a raid, bandits always did reconnaissance first. Their code was never to touch a “hard target” — which included imperial officials and their households.

No single raid was worth the endless consequences — the risk of stirring up a hornet’s nest.

Their fleet had proceeded in full and impressive formation the whole way, with the imperial ark — a symbol of Great Jin’s prestige — at the head, enough to frighten off countless would-be troublemakers, to say nothing of the four ships of official troops accompanying them.

What ordinary water bandits could swallow a target like this?

If anyone truly dared move against them, they had clearly come with a specific purpose — either targeting the noble ladies or targeting the escort fleet itself.

Chu Linlang said quietly: “If a vessel really is approaching in the dead of night, whoever is coming — are they after the cargo, or after the people?”

If it was for valuables, that was at least manageable — they could simply board and rob, and with naval troops aboard, the fleet would not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

But if the goal was to kill or take people, then all they needed was a few strong swimmers to slip into the water with reed tubes in their mouths, approach beneath the hulls, and bore holes in the bottoms.

Once the ships began taking water and capsizing, and people were floundering in the river, a net thrown over the struggling swimmers would have everyone at the raiders’ mercy — to kill or do with as they pleased.

She remembered that at dusk, the naval troops had apparently received a reward from the noble passengers aboard the ark — several jars of wine. She could only hope the soldiers had not drunk themselves into a stupor.

Sui Qiye walked a circuit of the islet, his brow knitted deeply, and said in a low voice: “These past few days, there has always been a vessel following us. They kept changing ships, which fooled me — at first I took them for fellow travelers. But thinking back now, those vessels were taking turns doing reconnaissance. I can no longer tell how many of them there are. And now it is too late to flee.”

After waking Chu Linlang, Sui Qiye had Wang Wu run with him to the naval troop ships to alert the soldiers.

The lights aboard the military vessels were swaying, and there was still laughter — it did not appear that anyone had noticed anything amiss.

These soldiers, who had known only the peace of prosperous times, were no match for battle-hardened veterans when it came to vigilance.

Chu Linlang gritted her teeth, thought a moment, instructed Xia He to look after her mother, and then set off with Dongxue for the ark.

The guard on duty at the ark recognized Chu Niangzi. Seeing her approach, he assumed she had come to retrieve something and let her board.

When Chu Linlang climbed up onto the tall ark and looked out across the water, she strained her eyes into the darkness — and after a moment, she could just faintly make out the sound of a large vessel moving closer. But then, abruptly, the sound of water stopped.

Linlang’s heart lurched with dread. The sound of a moving vessel had gone silent — that meant whoever was approaching feared being discovered and had halted their boat at a distance. Which likely meant people had already slipped into the water and were now swimming toward the ships.

With no time to think further, she hurried first to knock on the door of Madam Hua, the wife of Qi Jingtang.

When Madam Hua opened the door, Linlang told her in a quiet voice what her servant had discovered, and put forward the analysis: it was possible that water bandits were planning a night raid.

Madam Hua, pulled from sleep, was somewhat dazed: “Surely not? We have four ships of troops escorting us!”

Chu Linlang was nearly stamping her foot in frustration. How could she have forgotten — these were women who had grown up in the cushioned comfort of the capital. They were nothing like her. They had never escorted salt shipments, never made a living on the water, and knew nothing of how terrifying a raid by water bandits could be.

But at that moment, someone spoke behind her: “If what you say is true, what should we do?”

Linlang turned around. Tao Yashu was standing behind her, a cloak draped over her shoulders.

It turned out Tao Yashu had not been sleeping well on the ship either, and had gotten up and gone to the stern of the vessel. When she heard Chu Linlang boarding the ship, she had followed.

Seeing that she seemed to believe her, Chu Linlang spoke quickly and concisely: “There is no time to waste. Everyone off the ship immediately. Get to the islet first. As long as we’re not in the water, with troop protection, they won’t be able to do much unless their numbers are very large.”

Tao Yashu heard her out and immediately instructed her own maidservants and attendants to knock on doors and alert the others, room by room.

In no time at all, the students and attendants who had already gone to sleep aboard the ark were all roused. Many were still bleary-eyed and confused, pulling on their clothes and following the crowd in a daze, pressing and jostling their way toward the gangway to disembark.

But this was no proper dock — the ark could not approach the shallow water directly. They were moored alongside an islet in the middle of the river. The water around the islet was not deep, but not exactly shallow either, and those disembarking from the large ship needed a small boat to ferry them to shore.

At this rate, waiting for the small boats to ferry them one at a time, they would be here until the next year.

Chu Linlang’s anxiety spiked, and she was the first to act: stepping off the gangway and plunging into the water with a splash, she called out: “The waves here aren’t too strong — anyone who can swim, don’t wait for the boat, get to shore quickly!”

Yixiu Junzhu had just fallen soundly asleep when she was woken up, and was already in a bad mood. Seeing Chu Linlang leap into the water like a duck without any regard for her dignity, she let out a contemptuous laugh: “Have you lost your mind in the middle of the night?! The naval troops haven’t even raised an alarm, and you have the whole ship unable to sleep. If they go in the water and catch a chill, can you answer for that?”

But before Yixiu Junzhu had finished speaking, Guan Jinhe, brushing aside her nanny’s objections, did exactly as Chu Linlang had done — leaped into the water with a splash, then laughed as she treaded water: “I’ve been wanting to swim all day, but Nanny wouldn’t let me. Now I finally have a legitimate excuse!”

After all, these were a group of young girls at heart, all with a taste for fun. Though they played the part of well-bred ladies in their daily lives, tonight’s unusual circumstances carried a frisson of excitement and adventure.

Three or four more young ladies jumped into the water, swimming after Chu Linlang toward the bank.

Yixiu had no intention of joining in their madness. She glanced over at the military vessel nearby and saw soldiers still drinking and chatting, some even pointing and laughing at the young ladies jumping into the water — they clearly detected nothing amiss. She reconsidered, decided she would not disembark at all, and went back to her room with her maidservants and attendants to sleep.

By this time, those who had boarded the small boats first had already reached the bank. And the vessel carrying the instructors, hearing the commotion, had crossed over as well.

Naval commander Wu, hearing the noise, led his men onto the islet, somewhat puzzled: “Madam Hua, why have you all left the ship?”

When Chu Linlang explained the situation, Commander Wu broke into a dismissive laugh. He had already sent men to check all around after that old man called Sui Qiye had run over claiming someone might be about to attack the ships. There had been nothing out of the ordinary, and the sound of any approaching vessel could not be heard.

Commander Wu concluded that Sui Qiye was an old man whose mind was playing tricks on him in the night. He had curtly waved him off and ordered him off the military vessel.

And this Chu Niangzi was somehow even more alarmist, actually taking an old servant’s ravings seriously.

A woman of small background like her — however much of a stroke of fortune had landed her among noble ladies — at a critical moment like this, her real origins showed. A little wind and a little rain, and she was thrown into a panic.

Thinking this, Commander Wu dropped the polite tone, turned to second deputy commander Zheng Biao behind him and said: “Isn’t she your sister-in-law? You explain to her that there is nothing unusual. Making a whole shipful of people unable to sleep in the middle of the night is quite something.”

Zheng Biao felt his face heat up as well, and shot Chu Linlang a glare: “That old servant of yours really does talk nonsense. What attack? His ears would be doing well just not to be deaf. And you took his word for it!”

Chu Linlang turned to look at Sui Qiye and Wang Wu as they came over.

The old man’s expression was still grave. He gave Chu Linlang a small shake of his head, then made a gesture that said: wait a little longer.

Chu Linlang understood. The socially expected response in this situation would be to reprimand her old retainer in front of everyone, shift the blame onto him, and urge the noble ladies who had been thoroughly put-out to reboard the ship.

But she had heard Situ Sheng speak of this old man. Sui Qiye had once been the personal guard commander for the great general Yang Xun. In truth, by the campaigns he had fought and the contributions he had made, he could easily have been a fourth-rank commander — but he had refused any rank or office, unwilling to leave Yang Xun, to whom he owed his life. He had chosen to remain at the general’s side as his personal guard commander, without title or post.

In those days, Qiye had been gravely wounded on the battlefield and buried beneath a pile of corpses, and had barely escaped alive.

And it was he who had carried the young Situ Sheng off the battlefield and brought him home.

For a veteran of such distinguished service and honor, Chu Linlang felt genuine admiration from the bottom of her heart. And so, even with Commander Wu so confidently insisting all was well — even at the risk of offending everyone present — she chose to believe Sui Qiye.

With that in mind, she said steadily: “When traveling away from home, caution should always come first. Since everyone is already on the islet, there is no harm in resting here a little while. If nothing happens, Linlang will take responsibility tomorrow and host several tables of wine and food as an apology to everyone.”

Upon hearing this, some of the young ladies who had had their rest disturbed were still displeased, grumbling under their breath.

But Tao Yashu spoke first: “The night scenery is quite lovely — such moonlight over such a river, who knows when we shall see it again. Since Chu Niangzi says so, let us wait a while and decide what wine and food to make her buy us tomorrow.”

At Miss Tao’s words, the ladies all laughed and said yes, they would make sure Chu Niangzi bought them plenty.

So in that spirit of good humor, Tao Yashu was the first to settle beside her fourth aunt, setting an example for the rest.

With the future empress-consort taking the lead, the others had little more to say and each found a spot to sit, leaning on one another, dozing as best they could.

Commander Wu, seeing so many noble ladies had disembarked, could only have Zheng Biao call down some soldiers to stand watch over the women’s safety.

Tao Huiru did not know Sui Qiye. When she had married into the Yang Family, Yang Xun had already been stationed at a strategic pass and had not even attended the wedding — naturally she would not recognize the personal guard troops either.

This round of disruption had left her somewhat weary. Just two days ago, a trusted informant she had left behind in Jiangkou had caught up with the fleet, reporting that the whereabouts of the boy who had once accompanied the madwoman had at last been traced.

Apparently the boy had been frail and sickly, and not long after the madwoman’s death, the child had also died of illness.

Reading the report her informant had brought, Tao Huiru felt a measure of relief settle over her, and for the first time in days had managed to sleep soundly.

Unfortunately, tonight she had just fallen into sound sleep when Chu Linlang’s disruption woke her.

She said to her niece in a low, mildly reproachful tone: “Commander Wu has said this is all a false alarm. Why did you go along with it and join in the commotion?”

Tao Yashu said nothing. She had not actually believed Chu Linlang’s warning — she simply had not wanted to see Chu Niangzi get flustered and embarrassed by Commander Wu’s rebuke, and had wanted to give her classmate and friend a way to save face. Sitting for a while was harmless enough — she had not been sleeping well anyway and could count it as an evening of idle sitting.

The river continued to rush and roar. But Sui Qiye’s ear twitched. He fixed a sharp, alert gaze on the military vessels moored at some distance from the bank.

He said in a low voice: “Someone is boring holes in the hull.”

Commander Wu, standing on the bank, could still hear nothing unusual amid the rush of the current.

But moments later, someone on one of the military ships appeared holding a lamp, leaning over to peer down the side of the hull.

Those on the ship could naturally detect the trembling and vibrating of the hull far better than those on shore.

As the officer on the ship urgently signaled toward the bank using the lamp in a lantern code, Commander Wu slapped his thigh: “Good heavens — someone really is boring through the hull!”

At these words, the noble ladies on the islet who had been half-drowsing jolted wide awake and looked at one another, faces beginning to show alarm.

At that moment, Guan Jinhe clapped her hand to her thigh: “Oh no — Yixiu Junzhu is still on that ship!”

Whatever tools the attackers were using, they were clearly not working alone — the sound of boring grew louder and louder. Even as the soldiers on the military ships fired arrows into the water by lamplight, no one surfaced.

When the hull was breached, water began to pour in rapidly — and since the holes had been deliberately cut, the flooding was fast.

The smaller military vessels showed it most clearly: by the light of the torches, one could see a ship beginning to tilt and capsize.

The great ark was the same — though slower, it too was visibly beginning to list and sink.

Yixiu Junzhu, who had gone back to sleep in the cabin, could rest no longer. She stumbled out, dazed and unsteady. When she heard the soldiers on the military ships shouting “water bandits — they’re boring through the hull!” terror overtook her, her legs gave out, and had her maidservant not been there to hold her up, she would have collapsed to the deck.

Recovering herself, Yixiu staggered to the bow of the ship and screamed across at the islet: “I’m still on board — someone come get me! Help! I can’t swim!”

Commander Wu panicked as well. Yixiu Junzhu was the beloved niece of Consort Jing, who was favored within the palace. If something happened to her, his career would be finished.