Chapter 18: A Puzzle Sharing a Common Solution

How could Xu Qi trust him? Who knew if something had been added to the soup? So she deliberately changed the subject, trying to divert his attention. “Boss Lei, are you from Gusu?”

“From Wuxian.”

“What a coincidence. Just now, the captain of our boat, Zhou Ping, is also from Wuxian.”

“Oh? So it’s his boat.”

They knew each other. Xu Qi’s heart tightened as she spoke, warming her hands on the soup bowl, carefully watching Lei Gengsheng’s reaction. “Hmm, and what about Wang Baihu? I wonder if they were rescued?”

“That’s hard to say; the boat sank.” Lei Gengsheng stared at her intently, a gleam of amusement in his eyes. “I heard Wang Baihu has a tough temper, not easy to deal with. Even with money, you can’t buy favors. It’s rare that you managed to get on a boat supervised by him.”

“My family’s elders know some people and managed to arrange it,” Xu Qi said, pretending to sip, her lips just brushing the rim.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She deliberately said, “My family name is Zhou. We run a small fabric shop called Five Colors Manor on the alley in front of the Weidao Temple. Boss Lei, have you heard of it?”

“…So you’re the daughter of Shopkeeper Zhou. Pleased to meet you.”

“Boss Lei knows my father?”

“He once took goods from Five Colors Manor. Shopkeeper Zhou pays promptly; he’s a good man.”

“You flatter me. My father just believes in harmony bringing wealth.”

“Hmph, but…” Lei Gengsheng had been nodding with a smile, stroking his chin, then his tone shifted. “How come I heard the Zhou family recently ran into trouble?”

Here it came.

“Boss Lei is truly sharp-eyed and sharp-eared. Yes, it’s true. A few days ago, I was unfortunately kidnapped,” she glanced sideways at Tan Jiuding, “but he rescued me, so I barely escaped. I planned to rest in Huai’an, but on the way, misfortune struck again, almost costing me my life.”

Lei Gengsheng hummed, and it was unclear whether he was suspicious or merely responding casually. Xu Qi looked down at her soup bowl, feeling as if his gaze was trying to peel off layers of her skin. The atmosphere grew tense, but she didn’t intend to say more.

The wind blew in from the deck. Calmly, she tightened her cloak, hiding more of herself.

Sure enough, Lei Gengsheng was the first to speak. “Strange, I’ve met Shopkeeper Zhou… but Miss Zhou, you don’t look like your father at all.” As he spoke, he reached out, seemingly to touch her face.

Xu Qi instinctively recoiled, suddenly sensing danger—Tan Jiuding was unconscious, and in the cabin, it was only her and Lei Gengsheng. If he harbored ill intent…

“Don’t you dare—” Before she could finish frowning, a tortoiseshell hand swiftly came up, fingers spread wide, blocking her face completely.

“Tan Jiuding…!” Xu Qi turned around, both shocked and relieved.

The man had somehow sat up, teeth clenched, his gaze cold as the biting river water, still as a lurking beast ready to pounce, locked in a silent stare with Lei Gengsheng.

“Heh,” the boat captain sneered, “your little lover is fierce. Fine, as long as you’re okay, drink the ginger soup while it’s hot.” He finally pushed himself up and left the cabin with a brisk step.

Once he left, Tan Jiuding leaned aside and vomited violently, clearly enduring great pain.

“Dizzy? Chest tightness?” Xu Qi guessed he had hit his head. She reached to offer a cloth, then remembered it was stained with mud and sand. “Do you want to lie down somewhere else for a bit?”

Tan Jiuding wiped his mouth with his sleeve, his voice hoarse and weak. “It’s nothing.”

Xu Qi thought for a moment and lifted the bowl. “Wait here. I’ll try it first. If it’s not poisoned—” But the bowl was stopped mid-air. She understood his meaning, smiled and said, “Then it should be me to try it. If you collapse, with just me here, we’re both doomed.”

“...Better not drink.”

“No, you need to warm up and regain strength.” Saying that, she tilted her head back and took a large gulp.

Even if it were poisoned, it would take time to act. During that time, Xu Qi feared he might get cold and slip back into unconsciousness, so she kept him talking. “What exactly happened on Wang Cheng’s boat? Why did they suddenly fire cannon shots at us?”

Leaning against a sack of grain, Tan Jiuding countered, “First tell me who that man was. Where are we?”

Xu Qi recounted exactly how they were rescued and what she had just said to Lei Gengsheng.

Tan Jiuding sighed deeply, exhaling sharply. “You actually left Zhou Zhiwei to help me? You’re lucky. If you’d bet wrong…”

“If I bet wrong, we’d just sink to the bottom and feed the turtles. What’s the difference?” Xu Qi curled her lips, uninterested in his moralizing.

Tan Jiuding chuckled, though with some effort.

“I owe you one.”

“No need. We help each other,” Xu Qi said decisively. “Did you see clearly? Who were those firing at us? What kind of rebels have access to cannons?”

After a pause, Tan Jiuding finally produced a hidden fragment from his chest.

Xu Qi took it, puzzled. The cabin was dark; only faint light from the doorway gave a vague outline. She felt the piece — something like silk — and detected a burnt smell.

“This is Five-Color Brocade,” Tan Jiuding explained.

“Five-Color Brocade…” Xu Qi suddenly realized, a bad feeling rising. “Where did you find this?”

“In Chunpo’s secret chamber, inside the fire basin.”

She was stunned, unsure whether it was the fact itself or Tan Jiuding’s concealment that shocked her more. “How could it be...?”

Five-Color Jacquard Brocade was reserved for the imperial court, specifically used for inscribing imperial edicts and decrees, aside from dragon robes and ceremonial attire. Woven with gold, silver, peacock feather threads, and colored silks, the five colors were woven as one. Each inch required two weavers operating a flower loom, throwing the shuttle a thousand times, all by memory and coordination. Ordinary artisans could never replicate it.

Such fabric should never appear casually among the common folk.

So how could it lie like trash in Chunpo’s fire basin?

“Chunpo, she?” Xu Qi asked.

“Hmph… I don’t know. Looks like I’ll have to ask her personally.”

Tan Jiuding’s discovery only deepened the mystery in Xu Qi’s mind, making the puzzle even more complex.

“…If this is involved, then the appearance of cannons doesn’t seem so strange,” Xu Qi smiled wryly. “It’s really interesting.”

“Interesting? Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid of what?” Xu Qi turned to him. Though the light was dim, she clearly felt the warmth of his gaze upon her, making her feel a bit shy.

She muttered, “What’s there to fear? Heaven doesn’t take me yet,” then pressed the soup bowl into his hands, urging him to drink quickly.

After recovering somewhat, sailors outside informed them that the Su Song military inspector’s inspection boat had arrived to see the survivors of the shipwreck. Tan Jiuding stopped her and stood to deal with it himself.

Xu Qi thought it made sense; his status made it easier to move about.

Sure enough, before long, a patrol officer came to invite her aboard.

After a hurried farewell to Lei Gengsheng and the others, she and Tan Jiuding borrowed the patrol boat, the “East Wind,” and headed back toward Ganhua Village.

Rushing to settle a matter of life and death.