The copy of Illustrated Thousand-Character Classic for Elementary Learning lay open on the table, its pages rough and yellowed with age.
The swelling on Floating Cloud’s cheeks had mostly subsided, though bluish-purple bruises still lingered. She leaned close beside Qin Shu and pointed at a simple illustration on the page.
“Madam, doesn’t this look like the character ‘口’? An open mouth.”
Qin Shu’s fingertips traced the square-shaped character, her gaze calm.
The candlelight flickered, illuminating her pale, focused profile. The emptiness that had once filled her dark brown eyes had disappeared. In its place, something sharp was slowly forcing its way through the darkness.
Learning to read was no longer a pastime.
It was the key Jiang Chen had left behind.
It was the first ray of light capable of piercing this prison of darkness.
She needed to see clearly.
She needed to see every crack in the man-eating fortress that was Xu Feng’s world.
“Heaven and earth are mysterious and yellow; the universe vast and ancient…” Floating Cloud softly stumbled through the opening lines, her brows tightly furrowed.
Qin Shu’s gaze drifted beyond the pages and out the window.
Beyond the withered pomegranate tree stood the towering walls of the Governor’s Mansion.
Outside those walls lay the tense and dangerous Linjiang City Jiang Chen had spoken of.
The docks.
Weapons.
Smuggling.
The words circled endlessly through her mind like fireflies dancing in the darkness, carrying a deadly allure.
Xu Feng’s study.
That was the heart of this fortress.
How many filthy secrets were hidden there?
The opportunity arrived without warning, yet with chilling inevitability.
That afternoon, Nanny Zhang shuffled in with a bucket of icy well water, her stooped back bent low. Her cloudy eyes darted about, too frightened to meet anyone’s gaze.
She hurriedly whispered, “Steward Li gave orders up front… every courtyard is to gather last year’s… last year’s empty medicine jars and send them to the small courtyard behind the warehouse before noon. They… they said they were going to dispose of them.”
She set down the bucket and hurried away as though fleeing a plague.
Medicine jars?
The Side Courtyard hardly had any proper medicine jars.
There were only a few cracked earthenware pots.
Yet that order tightened around Qin Shu’s neck like an invisible noose.
This was her only legitimate chance to leave the Side Courtyard, even if only briefly.
Her destination could only be the warehouse.
And the warehouse stood adjacent to the Front Courtyard’s central district.
Xu Feng’s study was separated from it by nothing more than a covered corridor.
“Floating Cloud.”
Qin Shu’s voice remained unusually calm as she closed the Thousand-Character Classic.
“Find those empty jars.”
Her eyes settled on the corner beside the stacked firewood.
Sure enough, two chipped earthenware medicine jars sat there, covered with dried medicinal residue and dust.
Floating Cloud froze briefly before immediately understanding Qin Shu’s intention. Her eyes lit up at once.
“Yes, Young Miss!”
Qin Shu stood.
She still wore the same worn grayish-blue padded jacket, the greasy stains on its sleeves as stubborn as ever.
She walked to the blurry bronze mirror.
The reflection staring back at her was pale and thin, but her eyes had become as calm and hard as steel tempered in fire.
She carefully tucked the loose strands of hair before her forehead behind her ears, every movement meticulous.
Then she bent down, dipped her fingers into the dust on the floor, and lightly smeared a little across her pale cheeks and collar.
The gesture looked perfectly natural, as though she were merely brushing away dirt.
The reflection instantly appeared even more shabby and humble.
Floating Cloud approached carrying the two filthy earthenware jars. The moment she noticed the dust streaks on Qin Shu’s face, she immediately understood.
The light in her eyes burned even brighter.
Without exchanging another word, mistress and servant stepped out through the Side Courtyard’s eternally locked gate.
The cold wind swept dead leaves into their faces.
Qin Shu had not walked the path leading to the small courtyard behind the warehouse in five years.
Yet every step remained branded into her bones.
She carried one broken jar, her head slightly lowered.
Her pace was neither hurried nor slow.
Each footstep landed steadily upon the cold stone pavement.
Floating Cloud followed half a step behind, clutching the other jar while vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
The closer they drew to the Front Courtyard, the more the atmosphere changed.
Gone was the deathly silence and moldy odor of the Side Courtyard.
Instead, an invisible pressure of authority and tension hung in the air.
Occasionally, soldiers or servants hurried past.
Upon seeing Qin Shu and Floating Cloud dressed in shabby clothes while carrying broken jars, most cast openly contemptuous looks before quickly avoiding them, as though fearing they might catch their misfortune.
No one stopped a discarded wife and her maid from taking out the trash.
Looking at them any longer was already considered a waste.
The small courtyard behind the warehouse overflowed with discarded junk, the air thick with the smell of decay.
Qin Shu calmly placed her broken jar beside a heap of abandoned rubble in the designated corner.
Yet her eyes swept across every inch of the surroundings with the precision of a finely crafted instrument.
Behind the towering warehouse wall stretched a corridor leading into the inner residence.
At the corridor’s far end stood a massive oak door reinforced with brass studs.
Two armed guards stood motionless on either side like stone statues.
That…
Was Xu Feng’s study.
The most heavily guarded place in the entire Governor’s Mansion.
The filthy heart of the fortress.
Her heart pounded heavily against her ribs.
Each beat carried both icy excitement and tremendous danger.
Qin Shu lowered her gaze as though merely brushing dust from her clothes.
At the same time, she quietly signaled to Floating Cloud.
Floating Cloud understood immediately.
Carrying the second jar, she deliberately walked deeper into the warehouse grounds toward the pile of clutter near the corridor entrance, pretending to search for somewhere to discard it.
She muttered in a voice neither loud nor soft, “Why is this place so hard to find? Where am I supposed to leave this broken jar…”
Her voice was just loud enough to catch the guards’ attention.
At the same time, it perfectly concealed the faint sound of Qin Shu’s movements.
The instant Floating Cloud distracted the guards with a brief glance, Qin Shu slipped silently beneath the warehouse’s towering shadows.
Using the cover of a clump of withered banana leaves growing beside the wall, she glided soundlessly into the corridor leading toward the inner residence.
Her back pressed tightly against the cold, rough pillar.
Her heart pounded wildly against her throat, nearly bursting from her chest.
Cold sweat instantly formed along her temples.
The corridor lay dimly lit.
A faint scent of cigars and leather lingered in the air.
The pillar hiding her stood less than ten steps away from the tightly shut study door.
The thick wooden door muffled most sounds.
Inside the study, faint voices drifted through.
One belonged to a man with a deep, hoarse voice carrying the crisp decisiveness of a military officer, tinged with barely concealed flattery.
It was Wang Zhenbiao, Xu Feng’s trusted adjutant.
Qin Shu had once heard him barking orders at soldiers from afar.
“Governor, rest assured! The ‘goods’ have already passed Qingshakou. The ship is the Changlong, sailing under the British flag. Everything on the foreigners’ side has been arranged, and every checkpoint along the route has been taken care of!”
Wang Zhenbiao’s voice overflowed with eagerness to claim credit.
A brief silence followed.
Then another voice rang out.
Lower.
Colder.
As hard as steel scraping against steel.
Every word carried overwhelming weight.
Xu Feng.
Qin Shu’s breathing stopped instantly.
“Hm.”
Only a single syllable.
Yet it seemed to freeze the very air outside the door.
Wang Zhenbiao immediately lowered his voice further, speaking with secretive caution.
“As instructed, this shipment isn’t like the scattered pieces before. These are complete heavy goods. The brothers have everything arranged. Same old place—the abandoned warehouse at the eastern end of Dock Number Three. The innermost compartment. Absolutely hidden. We’ll unload everything overnight as soon as the ship docks and move it straight into storage. No one will know.”
Heavy goods?
Complete shipments?
The abandoned warehouse at Dock Number Three?
Qin Shu’s fingernails dug deeply into her palms.
Jiang Chen’s words exploded through her mind like thunder.
The docks.
Weapons.
Smuggling.
Xu Feng truly was collaborating with the enemy and betraying the nation.
And this shipment was clearly no ordinary cargo.
“Hmph.”
Xu Feng’s voice carried a trace of icy satisfaction before becoming even colder.
“The wind has grown stronger.”
“Keep a close eye on every dockworker, every sailor, and those student brats whose noses are sharper than dogs’.”
“There cannot be the slightest mistake with this shipment.”
“If even the tiniest rumor leaks…”
His voice dropped suddenly, like a venomous snake hissing.
Even through the thick door, Qin Shu could feel the murderous intent piercing her bones.
“You know the consequences.”
“Yes, sir! I understand!”
A faint tremor crept into Wang Zhenbiao’s reply.
“We’ve already replaced everyone at the docks with our most trusted men. Every mouth has been sealed. Anyone approaching within a hundred meters of the warehouse will be killed immediately. Not even a fly will get inside. Once the goods arrive, they’ll be sealed at once. As for the key…”
He paused before lowering his voice even further.
“As always, it’ll be delivered directly to your study.”
The key would be delivered directly to the study.
Qin Shu’s heartbeat thundered against her ears.
Just how confidential was this shipment?
Xu Feng intended to personally control the key.
“Hm.”
Xu Feng answered, his tone unreadable.
At that very moment, hurried footsteps echoed from the opposite end of the corridor.
Then came Cui Xi’s shrill, ingratiating voice.
“Governor! Fourth Concubine has obtained some excellent Longjing tea and respectfully invites you over to enjoy something fresh!”
The footsteps rapidly approached the study.
All the blood in Qin Shu’s body rushed to her head before freezing in the next instant.
Cold sweat soaked through her inner garments.
She felt nailed to the spot.
Her mind went completely blank.
If she was discovered…
She would die.
At the critical moment, the corner of her eye caught sight of a waist-high Taihu scholar’s rock arrangement standing near the bend in the corridor.
Its naturally formed holes and crevices created deep shadows.
Her instinct to survive overwhelmed her terror.
She suddenly crouched low.
Like a silent bolt of lightning, she slid across the cold stone floor into the narrow, dusty shadows behind the rockery.
She curled herself into the smallest possible shape.
Holding her breath, she seemed to stop even her heartbeat.
The footsteps halted outside the study.
Cui Xi’s sweet, flattering voice rang out.
“Governor, Fourth Concubine is waiting for you.”
The study door creaked open.
Xu Feng’s tall figure appeared in the doorway.
Backlit by the light spilling from the study, his enormous shadow stretched across the corridor, almost swallowing the corner where Qin Shu hid.
Qin Shu squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
She buried her face against her cold arm.
Her body became as rigid as stone.
“Hm.”
Xu Feng answered in his deep voice.
Footsteps sounded again as he walked toward Cui Xi.
Wang Zhenbiao appeared to leave with him.
The footsteps gradually faded into the distance until silence once again enveloped the corridor.
Qin Shu remained curled within the icy shadows behind the rockery.
Her back pressed against the rough stone surface.
The smell of dust filled her nose.
She did not move.
She resembled nothing more than a lifeless stone statue.
Only after a long time—long enough for her limbs to become numb from the cold—did she slowly raise her head.
The corridor stood empty.
The study door had closed once more.
The two guards still stood motionless at either side like carved statues, as though everything that had just happened had been nothing more than a dying hallucination.
Only the wildly pounding heart inside her chest…
And the crescent-shaped wounds in her palms where her nails had drawn blood…
Proved that the breathtaking eavesdropping had truly happened.
Heavy goods.
Complete shipments.
The abandoned warehouse at Dock Number Three.
The key.
Delivered to the study.
Kill anyone on sight.
Every word branded itself into her memory like red-hot iron.
Xu Feng’s voice.
Wang Zhenbiao’s assurances.
Cui Xi’s shrill interruption.
All of them buzzed endlessly inside her mind.
She stiffly crawled out from behind the rockery.
The icy stone floor scraped painfully against her knees.
Steadying herself against the cold corridor pillar, she slowly forced herself upright.
Her old grayish-blue jacket was covered in dust and cobwebs.
The dirt smeared across her cheeks had been streaked by cold sweat into miserable trails.
She made no attempt to wipe them away.
Stooping slightly beneath the invisible weight pressing upon her shoulders, she slowly made her way back toward the small courtyard behind the warehouse.
Every step landed upon the cold stone pavement, leaving faint footprints behind.
When she returned, Floating Cloud was anxiously looking around.
The moment she saw Qin Shu emerge safely, she finally let out a long breath of relief and hurried over.
Qin Shu said nothing.
She did not even glance at Floating Cloud.
Instead, she walked directly to the pile of rubble where she had discarded the broken jars earlier.
Bending down, she carefully stacked each shattered earthenware jar neatly together.
Every movement was meticulous.
As though she were completing some sacred ritual.
Only after finishing did she straighten once more.
The cold wind stirred the dust across the courtyard, whipping against her worn jacket.
She lifted her face, damp with sweat and coated in dust.
Her gaze passed over the cluttered courtyard before settling once again upon the dark corridor leading toward the inner residence and Xu Feng’s study.
Within her dark brown eyes, that newly ignited light pierced through the cold haze.
It shone with astonishing brilliance.
Sharp.
Resolute.
Like someone who had finally discovered the hidden lair of a venomous serpent.
She turned and walked back toward the Side Courtyard.
Her steps remained heavy.
Yet her back stood perfectly straight.
Hidden beneath the wide sleeve of her old jacket, the hand stained with dust and sweat clenched tightly into a fist.
Her fingernails once again dug deeply into the old wounds in her palm that had not yet healed.