Chen Shouheng hurried inside and said in a low voice, "Aunt, how can you say that? With something so terrible happening to the family, how could I not come to check on you? Are Uncle and... and Grandpa Bai all right?"
As he stepped into the courtyard, an indescribable, oppressive atmosphere washed over him.
Chen Yao wiped the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, her voice hoarse. "Your uncle... he just sighs all day, and most of his hair has turned white... As for Father... Father is even..."
She couldn’t go on, merely shaking her head as she led Chen Shouheng toward the main hall.
Hearing their arrival, Elder Bai emerged unsteadily from the main hall, leaning on a cane.
His back was now severely hunched, and his dull, aged eyes were completely bloodshot.
"Shouheng... you’ve come..."
Elder Bai’s voice was raspy. "The family... our family’s situation... you see it for yourself..."
Before he could finish, he turned and went back inside. He returned, fumbling to produce an object wrapped tightly in oilcloth. With trembling hands, he unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing a stack of yellowed land deeds.
"The Bai Family truly has no more silver to its name, and we won’t for many years to come. All that’s left are these ancestral lands, which are still worth something..."
Elder Bai pressed the deeds into Chen Shouheng’s hands. "Shouheng, take these. Settle the debt with them."
Hearing the commotion, Bai Shixuan also emerged from an inner room.
His face was ashen and his eyes were sunken. Seeing the scene before him, his lips trembled, but he couldn’t utter a single word.
Nearby, Chen Yao was sobbing uncontrollably.
Chen Shouheng looked at the deeds in his hands, a lump forming in his throat. He took a deep breath, fought back the surging emotions, and firmly pushed the deeds back into Elder Bai’s hands.
"Master Bai, what are you doing!"
Chen Shouheng shook his head. "Keep these deeds safe! The Chen Family lent the Bai Family silver to help in a crisis, not to take advantage of your misfortune! Our families are close kin. How could we possibly demand your land at a time like this? As for the silver, we can discuss it later. There’s no hurry."
At these words, Elder Bai froze, staring at Chen Shouheng in disbelief.
Chen Yao snapped her head up, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Bai Shixuan’s eyes opened, and a faint glimmer of light rekindled in their bloodshot depths.
"Shouheng... we... we can’t accept this..."
Elder Bai’s lips trembled.
"And why can’t you!"
Chen Shouheng’s voice was firm. "Please, rest easy and keep the deeds. Doing so is the greatest show of trust you can give the Chen Family. Besides, we have a favor to ask of the Bai Family."
"A... a favor?" Elder Bai asked, his voice trembling.
"My family is preparing to open an apothecary. We need medicinal herbs—a great many of them. But we lack suppliers. The Bai Family has been in commerce for many years and has extensive contacts. We hope the Bai Family will help us in this matter."
Chen Shouheng had heard his father mention this before, but various matters at home had delayed them, leaving no time to come and discuss it with the Bai Family.
This seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring it up.
"Done! The Bai Family accepts!"
Elder Bai and Bai Shixuan agreed without a moment’s hesitation.
After reassuring the Bai family and making a little small talk, Chen Shouheng finally asked, "Uncle, the day you went to pay the ransom, where did you meet that group?"
Bai Shixuan paused for a moment. "About ten li east of the village, in a long-abandoned River God Temple."
After getting the precise location and details of what happened, Chen Shouheng rose to take his leave.
Leaving the Bai residence, Chen Shouheng spurred his horse straight toward the abandoned River God Temple.
He circled the area and quickly found a mark on a stone: three short lines and one long one, shaped like a rat’s whiskers.
’Shu Qi’s mark...’
Chen Shouheng’s heart leaped with joy.
He continued searching and soon found an identical mark a short distance to the north.
’North!’
Chen Shouheng vaulted onto his horse and followed the direction the marks indicated.
The marks appeared intermittently—sometimes on the roots of an old tree by the road, other times on the corner of a rock—but the direction was always clear.
After tracking for the better part of the morning, he reached a wide, flat plain where the marks disappeared.
The sight in the distance made him yank hard on his reins.
Jingshan Pier.
On the vast surface of the Lishui River, a dozen high-masted vessels were moored in a long line.
Huge family-crest banners hung conspicuously from the sails or flagpoles of every ship.
Jiang, Su, Liu...
’The grain ships of the Noble Families.’
But it was the scene in the open area of the pier that truly shook him.
A dense mass of people had formed several long, winding lines.
They were common folk—men, women, old, and young—all with sallow, emaciated faces and dressed in rags.
Numbness and despair were etched onto their faces as they tightly clutched the very land deeds they depended on to survive.
At the head of each line, stewards and servants of the Noble Families were arrogantly registering deeds and weighing out grain, exchanging pitifully small rations for the people’s land.
To one side of the pier, a temporary Government Office tent had been brazenly erected.
Several Government Office clerks and junior officials sat behind desks laid out with ink, brushes, and seals, efficiently processing the title transfers for the people who had just sold their fields.
It saved the people the arduous trip to the county seat—how very considerate of them.
Sitting atop his horse, Chen Shouheng felt hot blood rush to his head. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked, his nails digging deep into his palms.
A powerful impulse surged through him, and he fought the urge to draw his sword and charge forward then and there.
But he was no longer the boy he used to be.
He knew full well that acting on impulse now would not only fail to save these people, but would also plunge him and his family into ruin.
Taking several deep breaths, Chen Shouheng forced himself to calm down.
The priority was to find Shu Qi and learn the whereabouts of the ten thousand taels of silver.
He turned his horse around and headed for the noisy, crowded market by the pier, his sharp eyes scanning every corner.
After making a full circuit, he finally spotted Shu Qi in the corner of a simple, noisy tavern marked by a tattered wine banner.
Shu Qi was sitting alone at a table, nibbling on a dish of peanuts and sipping old wine. His small eyes, however, were constantly darting about, vigilantly observing his surroundings.
Chen Shouheng tied his horse outside, strode in, and sat down across from Shu Qi.
Shu Qi had already spotted him. He lowered his voice. "You’re here."
Chen Shouheng nodded. He skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. "Did you find the three men? And the silver?"
Shu Qi let out a sly chuckle, but his expression was a mix of cunning and gravity.
He subtly gestured with his eyes toward the ships—specifically, toward a Tower Ship that was larger and more heavily guarded than all the others.
"See that biggest ship?"
Shu Qi’s voice dropped even lower. "Those three goons hauled your family’s ten thousand taels of silver onto that ship."
Hearing this, the color drained from Chen Shouheng’s face. He stared at the heavily guarded vessel, and his heart sank.
’On a ship belonging to the Noble Families? Wasn’t that like throwing a meat bun to a dog—gone with no chance of return?’
Ten thousand taels of silver.
For the Chen Family in its current state, that was by no means a small sum.
He’d be damned if he just let it fall into the hands of the Noble Families.