The Wife of a Loyal Servant - Chapter 12

Blood dripped slowly from the weapons, seeping into the soil. A few stones lay quietly in the broken box, making their earlier life-and-death struggle feel utterly ironic.

“Damn it! I spent half the night feeding mosquitoes for these few stones?” Realizing he had worked for nothing, one of the bandits finally cursed aloud.

“Retreat!” Though he himself was simmering with anger, the bandit leader glanced sympathetically at the stunned escorts, then waved his hand and led his men away.

“What on earth is going on? Was the cargo switched along the way?” Song Chao couldn’t accept that what he had protected all this way turned out to be a few stones.

“Impossible! We kept our eyes on it the whole way. Even at night, it was never left unattended. Forget switching it—not even a fly could’ve gotten close,” Tang Jinyuan retorted loudly.

“Brother Tang is right. We didn’t dare relax for even a moment. Since the goods left the escort agency, no one has touched them. The brothers have been watching the whole time. Unless they vanished into thin air!”

“But now the facts are right in front of us. There are only a few stones in the box!”

“Maybe… maybe these aren’t just ordinary stones. Didn’t the storyteller say the priceless He Shi Bi* jade was hidden inside a stone, and many people thought it worthless?” Someone refused to accept this harsh reality.

(*TL’s note: 和氏璧 (Héshìbì)—the legendary jade that later became the Heirloom Seal of the First Emperor.)

“I wish your wild idea could come true, but damn it, these are just a few stones that couldn’t be more ordinary!” A hot-tempered man finally cursed.

“Do you think it’s possible that from the very beginning, the box only held stones?” After a long silence, someone finally whispered this possibility.

As soon as the words came out, the group who had been arguing so fiercely looked at one another, none daring to speak.

If this possibility were true, then from the start someone had made them work for nothing—even sending them here to die.

“Shaotang, what do you think we should do now?” Song Chao might have been the oldest, but Cheng Shaotang was always the steady one. Now that trouble had struck, everyone instinctively looked to him.

Cheng Shaotang frowned deeply, then said in a low voice, “The brothers are all injured. Let’s find a place to treat the wounds first, then discuss what to do next.”

Although no one lost their life in the fight, everyone was injured to some extent. Even Cheng Shaotang himself had taken a cut to his left arm, and it throbbed dully.

But the ache in his body couldn’t compare to the chill in their hearts.

If they had really been escorting stones from the very beginning, then the one framing them was most likely someone from the escort agency.

“We all signed the handover before we set off. Now the goods have turned into stones. Even if it really was someone from the escort agency who tampered with them, the documents still have our signatures. If they insist they gave us the right goods, then we won’t be able to explain ourselves!” The group found a clear stream to wash their wounds, and Tang Jinyuan, deeply worried, spoke first.

“I checked everything before signing; the goods were correct. Now it looks like they were switched afterward. That person must be from inside the escort agency! Damn it! There’s an inside traitor. If I ever find out who it is, I’ll wring his neck!” Song Chao’s face was red with fury.

Cheng Shaotang’s thin lips pressed together. After everyone finished voicing their outrage, he said, “There’s actually another possibility: this might be a case of ‘openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing Chencang.’”*

(*TL’s note: 明修栈道，暗度陈仓 (míng xiū zhàn dào, àn dù chén cāng)—a famous military stratagem. They pretended to repair a highly visible mountain road, while actually sneaking troops through a hidden path.)

Everyone froze. They looked at one another, and after a long moment, Tang Jinyuan said, looking conflicted, “Though it really damn hurts to swallow, compared to being falsely accused of dereliction of duty, I guess we’ll just grit our teeth and be the ones ‘repairing the plank road.’”

Silence fell over the group once more.

If it truly was a case of ‘openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing Chencang,’ then the mastermind behind this was already obvious.

“We should continue according to the original plan. Only when we reach the destination will we know the truth,” Cheng Shaotang said.

At this point, it was the only path they could take. Though none of the possible outcomes would feel good, at least no one wanted to be accused of negligence or, worse, of embezzling the client’s goods.

Clinging to that last sliver of hope, they spurred their horses on, traveling day and night toward Tongzhou City, where they located the residence of the client who had hired them—the Ren family estate.

But when they saw the ruins, clearly recently consumed by a massive fire, their hearts lurched.

“Old sir, is this the Ren residence?” Cheng Shaotang asked the elderly man who had brought them here, unable to believe what he was seeing.

The old man sighed. “Yes, this is the estate of Lord Ren Zhong. You came too late. Seven nights ago, the Ren residence caught fire, and Lord Ren and his whole family died in the blaze.”

“Dead?!” Tang Jinyuan and the others cried out.

Their client was dead. What did that make of the entire escort mission?

Cheng Shaotang hadn’t expected this result either, yet a strange feeling stirred in his chest. He felt as though they had fallen straight into a conspiracy.

The one who hired them was said to be Ren Zhong, dismissed from office and returned home. The item he entrusted to them was rumored to be extremely valuable. What exactly it was, and how valuable, Cheng Shaotang didn’t know. He wasn’t the one who accepted the job.

Now the cargo had vanished, and the client had died in a fire…

“Brother, what do we do now?” one of the escorts whispered to Song Chao.

Song Chao remained silent for a long moment. Then, looking at the equally grim faces around him, he rasped, “We go back to the escort agency. Whether the client is alive or dead, we must get to the bottom of where that item went. Only then will this trip not be for nothing!”

“Brother is right. We must find what Mr. Ren entrusted to the escort agency before his death!” Tang Jinyuan chimed in.

Cheng Shaotang’s worries deepened, but he nodded and said, “Brother is right. We’ve been traveling day and night these past few days, and all the brothers are exhausted. Why don’t we find an inn in this city to rest for a while and set off back to the escort agency early tomorrow morning? What do you all think?”

Everyone agreed.

That night, the group of escorts rested at an inn in the city.

The chirping of cicadas drifted in from outside the window, and the night breeze blew through the windowpanes. Cheng Shaotang leaned against the window, frowning as he pondered this bizarre mission.

It is said that Ren Zhong, the official who had been dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown, entrusted a rather valuable box to their escort agency for some unknown reason, asking them to deliver it to his residence in Tongzhou City. He himself returned to Tongzhou City unattended, only to be caught in a fire and lose his life.

The box he entrusted to the escort agency had its contents somehow replaced with stones. Unaware of this, they even fought with bandits from the Chichuan region over these stones.

What exactly had Ren Zhong entrusted before his death? Could there be more behind his demise? Despite having no evidence, Cheng Shaotang couldn’t help growing suspicious because everything was simply too coincidental.

Some matters, it seemed, could only be clarified once they returned to the escort agency and met with the chief escort.

But he never expected that when they rushed back to the agency, they would be told that the chief escort hadn’t shown his face for over half a month.

Over half a month—that was during their return journey from Tongzhou City…

“Damn it, disappearing for no reason! He must be hiding something. I bet he’s the one who pocketed Lord Ren’s belongings!” Tang Jinyuan said angrily.

“Did you send anyone to his residence to look for him?” Cheng Shaotang asked.

“I did, but there wasn’t a single person at their house. I’m wondering if they went back to the countryside to visit relatives.”

“A monk may run, but his temple can’t*. We’ll wait. I don’t believe he won’t show himself,” Song Chao sneered.

(*TL’s note: 跑得了和尚，跑不了庙 (pǎo de liǎo héshàng, pǎo bù liǎo miào)—He can run, but he can’t hide.)

“Yes, we’ll wait!” The dusty, travel-worn escorts had wanted answers from the start, and now, unable to find the person responsible, they were all simmering with anger.

But they had no idea that the chief escort they spoke of was already a corpse.

Dressed in black, the man sneered as he wiped his blood-soaked sword on the body. He picked up a dark, carved sandalwood box beside it, tossed a burning oil lamp onto the corpse, and only when the flames grew stronger did he leap away.

“Master, the item is in hand!” In a secluded residence somewhere in the city, the man in black knelt on one knee and respectfully presented the box he carried to the man in brocade robes.

“Well done!” Excitement flickered across the brocaded man’s face as the corner of his mouth curved slightly. He used a dagger to break the iron lock and tossed it aside. Upon opening the box, his expression instantly darkened.

“Stones?!”

“What?!” The man in black blanched. “That’s impossible!”

“See for yourself what’s in this box!!” Zhao Fu roared, snatching the box, slamming it heavily to the floor, then kicking the man hard in the chest.

The man in black was kicked several meters away, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, yet he didn’t dare utter even half a sentence, crawling and scrambling back on his knees.

“Your Highness, please forgive me!”

“That Chief Escort He—how bold of him to even dare toy with me! Go tie him up. I want to see exactly what sort of courage he thinks he has!” Zhao Fu said with a chilling tone.

The man in black hesitated. “Your Highness… this subordinate has already killed him…”

“You—!” Zhao Fu nearly lost his breath in fury. Unable to restrain himself, he drew the long sword from the table. With a single stroke, the man died instantly, unable even to make a sound.

“I don’t keep useless things.” Zhao Fu sneered. After a moment’s thought, hatred surged again for the Chief Escort who had deceived him.

“Someone—send Chief Escort He’s family to accompany him, so he won’t be lonely on the road to the underworld!”

***
Inside the study, Prince Qi, Zhao Yi, was writing vigorously. His maid, Ying Liu, hesitated for a moment before softly reminding him, “Your Highness, it’s late. You should rest.”

Zhao Yi didn’t respond until he finished the final brushstroke. Only then did he set down the brush and say lightly, “I know.”