The official ship sank, the rains swelled to torrents, the Huai River breached its dikes, and tens of thousands of commoners and livestock perished.
This matter caused an uproar in the imperial court.
The court decided to dispatch an imperial envoy to the south to inspect and supervise the situation.
When Xie Yu returned, his father spoke with him about the court affairs. Xie Yu asked, "Father, is His Majesty going to send someone south to inspect?"
"You guessed it?"
"Sending Grand Secretary Gu?"
"Yes!"
Xie Anfeng was gratified that he could deduce this.
Before he could praise his son's keen political insight, he saw Xie Yu's grave expression as he said, "Father, please take a look at this information."
Xie Yu handed a notebook to Xie Anfeng, in which the letters were organized clearly in chronological order.
Xie Anfeng stared at the intelligence for a long while without saying a word.
More than a dozen official salt ships had been sunk—deliberately holed by bandits, who then salvaged the salt bags from the water.
And the salt on those ships had never been loaded to full capacity in the first place.
For an old fox like Xie Anfeng, born of an aristocratic family and steeped in court politics for decades, these few pieces of intelligence were enough to reveal that this hurricane had become a natural cover for certain people.
Whatever Xie Yu could deduce, Xie Anfeng could deduce as well.
He immediately sent a name card to Gu Shaoyu.
That very night, Xie Anfeng, Gu Shaoyu, and others all entered the palace.
The officers of the Imperial City Bureau also presented the letters and items they had intercepted from various sources.
Emperor Hui, draped in a fox-fur cloak, looked at his ministers gathered in the dead of night, then at Leng Luo, the commander of the Imperial City Bureau, and asked, "What have you found?"
Leng Luo, clad in a purple round-collar narrow-sleeved official robe, belted and booted, wearing a pendant-foot futou headdress with a ceremonial saber at his waist, respectfully reported: "The other letters have no major issues, except…"
He glanced at Gu Shaoyu, who said, "Before His Majesty, speak the truth."
"We intercepted a parcel from the Hereditary Prince of Pingyang, addressed to Zhang Shaojun, grandson of the former Salt Commissioner Zhang Zhengdao. I dare not speculate further."
He placed the parcel on the table: a packet of Shuzhou Huangya Tea and a packet of salt.
Emperor Hui tilted his head slightly, gazing at his ministers.
The ministers, their minds full of conspiracy theories, immediately conjured up several possible answers.
Gu Shaoyu said, "Zhang Shaojun currently oversees the issuance of salt permits in Yangzhou. The Shuzhou Huangya is tea; combined with the salt, it forms 'tea-salt'—a reminder that the court is sending someone to Jiangnan to investigate salt affairs."
This was a tip-off, warning the other party to make preparations immediately.
But Gu Shaoyu added one more thing: "Gu Chengyan met with Shi Xiu, the chief attendant of the Crown Prince, on the Shangsi Festival. The parcel was given to him by Shi Xiu."
Gu Chengyan had sent this parcel through the postal relay to Zhang Shaojun, without even knowing what use the thing served.
His Majesty let out a cold snort. Fool.
Gu Shaoyu said, "Your servant's opinion is that we should not move against anyone for now."
The next day, the court issued an edict: Grand Secretary Gu was appointed imperial envoy to inspect salt affairs in Jiangnan.
At noon, Xie Yu returned from the Ministry of Revenue and delivered a letter to Xie Zhaozhao. Looking at the unfamiliar envelope, she saw calligraphy like iron strokes and silver hooks—clearly a man's handwriting.
Her face immediately flushed red.
There was no need to guess who it was from.
"He departs at the hour of wei. If you wish to see him before he leaves, your brother will take you."
The matter of dispatching Grand Secretary Gu to Jiangnan had been proposed at court the previous day, and today the edict was issued for immediate departure.
Grand Secretary Gu had not yet sent the betrothal gifts, yet on his inspection tour of Jiangnan, he had written a letter specifically to inform her of his itinerary—it was clear he held her in high regard.
Xie Zhaozhao's face had flushed slightly upon receiving the letter, but now, hearing that he had been appointed Imperial Envoy for Salt Affairs Inspection in Jiangnan, her complexion turned pale in an instant. She lifted her eyes and said, "He still went to Jiangnan?"
Xie Yu said helplessly, "This was His Majesty's decision."
Departing the capital at weishi—that meant there was only one hour left.
Her heart raced wildly. She said to Xie Yu, "At weishi, Brother, please take me to see him."
Xie Yu said he would come to fetch her at weishi.
Gu Shaoyu's letter was not long—it said that duty called, and he must go; he would return as soon as possible, and upon his return he would send the betrothal gifts. She should wait in peace.
Xie Zhaozhao read it three times in a row. How could she be at peace?
But there was little she could do.
She put the letter away, slipped off the Agarwood and Coral Bracelet, smoothed the yellow tassel hanging below, and silently recited a Buddhist verse.
Xie Yu rode on horseback, while Yuanyuan accompanied her in the carriage to the city gate.
Along the way, she thought—going to meet an unrelated man like this was something she would never have dared to imagine before. But now, she could not afford to care about such propriety.
She had already warned him, and yet he still went to Jiangnan. Either he had made thorough preparations, or he felt compelled to go for the sake of the country and its people.
Gu Shaoyu rode out from the marquis's estate, accompanied only by his personal guard, Nanxing.
At the city gate, he saw the Xie family carriage, and he saw Xie Yu.
Gu Shaoyu dismounted, exchanged greetings with Xie Yu, and his gaze inadvertently drifted toward the carriage bearing the Xie family insignia. The pair of snow-white steeds stood quietly.
The eldest young lady's carriage?
Xie Zhaozhao naturally would not stand out in the open. She heard Xie Yu say from outside the carriage, "Grand Secretary Gu is going to Jiangnan—who knows how long it will take. My sister and I have come to see you off."
Gu Shaoyu stood before the carriage and, through the curtain, expressed his thanks: "I will return once my business is done. The young lady need not worry."
Through the curtain, Xie Zhaozhao could dimly make out a figure—taller and more robust than her brother, clad in a dark robe with subtle patterns and gold-thread trim, bearing an air of refined nobility.
She was not shy, and said softly, "This bracelet was gifted by Living Buddha Yuanji. I give it to you. Take good care of yourself."
Gu Shaoyu saw the hand extended through the curtain—truly white enough to glow, tender enough to yield water at a pinch, fingertips like fresh spring bamboo shoots, nails like lustrous pearls.
He opened his broad palm and received it with reverence, afraid that he might shatter such a delicate wrist.
Taking it, he said solemnly, "Rest assured."
What he meant by "rest assured"—she surely understood.
Xie Yu knew of this bracelet.
Because when his sister was born, their mother had passed away. Her birthday was their mother's death anniversary, so she never celebrated it. Every year on that day, she went to Huguo Temple to pray for their late mother's soul.
On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, his sister held a memorial service for their mother at Huguo Temple. Living Buddha Yuanji had appeared from who knows where and given it to her.
The Living Buddha, in his madcap way, had said, "I have personally chanted sutras and blessed it for forty-nine days—this is my reward for your filial devotion."
His sister wore it constantly, never letting it leave her person.
Now that she had given it to Gu Shaoyu, he knew how deeply worried she was.
Gu Shaoyu accepted the bracelet, took his leave, and departed.
He spurred his horse out of the city and rode more than ten li before reining to a stop. He drew the bracelet from his bosom.
The bracelet was small—eighteen beads of agarwood, with one coral mother bead and one spacer bead. The pendant was strung with pearls and tiny coral beads, finished with a yellow tassel below.
One could tell this bracelet was extraordinary—the faint fragrance, the smooth round beads. He could guess that this must have been something she kept close to her person.
He tucked it back into his bosom, pressed it once, then mounted his horse and rode on.
Xie Zhaozhao returned from outside and happened upon Xie Xiangxiang, who was painting in the pear garden, along with her younger sister Xie Tingting.
"Elder sister," Xie Xiangxiang said, her eyes sparkling, "I heard that Grand Secretary Gu has gone to Jiangnan?"