From the fake emperor to the concubine

The main room was empty.

The tables and chairs were gone, the long table was gone, the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall were gone, even several bricks on the floor had been pried off, exposing the soil underneath. In the corner, there was an overturned porcelain bowl, a large piece of its rim missing, covered with a thick layer of dust. On the ground were several scraps of paper, trampled and torn, making it impossible to make out what was written on them.

Shen Yuan stood in the middle of the main room and slowly turned around.

“They’ve all been taken,” she said.

The sound was very flat.

Zheng Yi followed her in, his gaze sweeping over the empty room.

“This is not an ordinary house raid,” he said.

Shen Yuan turned her head to look at him.

“In a typical raid, they just smash things up and that’s it. This is different—someone took all the valuables one by one. Tables, chairs, long tables, calligraphy and paintings, even the bricks on the ground were taken.” Zheng Yi squatted down and looked at the holes left by the bricks that had been pried off. “The bricks themselves aren’t valuable, but what’s underneath them might be.”

Shen Yuan was stunned.

She crouched down and peered down into the pit. It wasn't deep; just mud at the bottom, nothing else.

"You think my dad buried something down there?"

“I’m not sure.” Zheng Yi stood up and dusted off his hands. “But at least it means that someone searched this yard. They didn’t just smash things up and leave; they searched it thoroughly.”

Shen Yuan's face paled slightly.

What are they looking for?

"I don't know," Zheng Yi said, looking at her. "But what do you think?"

Shen Yuan remained silent for a long time. She stood up, walked to the empty wall, reached out, and touched it. The white plaster on the wall had fallen off, revealing the blue bricks underneath, with grayish-white lime embedded in the brick joints, and white mold growing in some places.

“My father’s study is on the second floor,” she suddenly said.

The two went upstairs.

The layout of the second floor was different from the first. A short corridor led up the stairs, at the end of which was a south-facing room. The door was open, and the room, like the first floor, was empty. The bookshelves were gone, the desk was gone, the chair was gone, even the plaque with the inscription "Tranquility Leads to Far-Reaching Vision" that had hung on the wall was gone. Several crumpled sheets of paper lay scattered on the floor, covered with incomprehensible accounts.

Shen Yuan squatted down, picked up the few pieces of paper, looked at them, and then put them down again.

"It's not my father's handwriting."

Zheng Yi walked to the window and pushed open the half-closed pane. Outside was an alley, and across the alley was a row of gray-tiled rooftops. A tabby cat was perched on one of the rooftops, lazily licking its paws. The cat saw the window was open, glanced up at Zheng Yi, then lowered its head again to continue licking its paws.

"Does your father have anyone he particularly trusts?" Zheng Yi turned around. "Friends, business partners, family acquaintances—the kind of people you can rely on if something happens?"

Shen Yuan thought for a moment and then shook her head.

“My dad… he’s good at business, but not at making friends.” She leaned against the wall, her fingers unconsciously picking at a protruding nail. “He always felt that having too many friends meant more trouble. He told me that business people don’t need friends, they need trustworthy partners. But partners are business partners, not personal ones.”

"Are there any trustworthy partners?"

Shen Yuan thought about it again, and her brows furrowed slightly.

“There is one. But I’m not sure.”

"Who?"

"Cao Fang".

Zheng Yi repeated the name twice, but he had never heard of it before.

Who is Cao Fang?

Shen Yuan lowered her head, as if trying to recall something.

“My dad mentioned him a few times before. Each time he mentioned him, it wasn’t in the context of business, but rather during a meal at home, when he would casually bring it up. He said that Cao Fang was a person of integrity and down-to-earth in his work. He had been in the grain business in Huzhou for over ten years. It wasn’t a large business, but it was stable. My dad said that the Shen family had been kind to Cao Fang—it happened many years ago, but I don’t know the specifics, and my dad didn’t explain it clearly. He only said one sentence.”

Shen Yuan raised her head and looked at Zheng Yi.

"He said that if anything happens to the Shen family one day, they can go to Cao Fang. She will help them."

Zheng Yi remained silent for a while.

"What was the context when your father said that?"

Shen Yuan frowned, trying hard to recall.

“It seems to be the autumn of when I was fourteen. That night, my father was drinking in the yard, and I was sitting with him. He had drunk too much and suddenly said that. I didn’t take it seriously at the time, thinking he was just talking nonsense because he was drunk. He never mentioned it again after that.”

"So, do you and your father have a lot of contact? This is Cao Fang."

"Not much. He would send people over during holidays, such as fish, rice, or homemade wine, but he rarely came in person. I've seen him once or twice. My impression of him is that he was a man in his forties, not tall, chubby, and spoke very softly, as if he was afraid of scaring people."

Zheng Yi leaned against the windowsill, one foot on the windowsill, his hands tucked into his sleeves.

Do you think he can be trusted?

Shen Yuan shook her head.

“I don’t know.” She paused, “but I believe what my father said.”

Zheng Yi glanced at her and jumped down from the windowsill.

Where in Huzhou is he?

"East of the city. Grain Lane."

Grain Lane was wider and more bustling than the lane where Shen Yuan lived. At the entrance was a fried dough stick stall, the oil in the pan bubbling and swirling. Several early risers waited at the door with bowls in hand, the aroma of fried dough sticks mingling with the morning dampness, filling the lane. Further in, on the left was a general store, its doors removed, the shop assistant dusting the counter with a feather duster; on the right was a tofu workshop, the stone mill humming, milky white soy milk flowing from the millstone into the wooden bucket below.

Cao Fang's shop was in the middle of the alley, with two wooden doors and a plaque hanging above the entrance that read "Cao's Grain Shop". The plaque had gold lettering on a black background, written in regular script, neat and orderly, neither ostentatious nor shabby.

The shop door was open, and the interior was dimly lit. Sacks of grain were stacked against the wall, labeled with words like "rice," "millet," and "soybeans." Behind the counter sat a man, head down, calculating on an abacus. The beads clattered rapidly and crisply.

Shen Yuan stood at the door, hesitating for a moment.

Zheng Yi stood half a body length behind her, while Chi Ya stood across the alley with three horses, pretending to look at the fried dough stick shop, but his eyes kept glancing this way.

Shen Yuan took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.

The person behind the counter looked up.

He was in his forties, with a round face, fair skin, a sparse stubble on his chin, light eyebrows, and bright, albeit small, eyes. He wore a gray-blue cotton robe, the material of which was decent but not particularly fine, with the cuffs worn slightly white. When he saw Shen Yuan, the abacus in his hand paused for a moment—just a moment—before he continued to move the abacus, making a crisp "snap" sound.

But Zheng Yi saw it. That momentary pause, that flash of something in that person's eyes—not surprise, but wariness.

"What would you like to buy, sir?" Cao Fang's voice was very soft, just as Shen Yuan had described, "as if afraid of scaring people."

Shen Yuan stood in front of the counter, her hands hanging at her sides, gripping the hem of her clothes so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Uncle Cao."

Cao Fang stopped using the abacus.

He looked at Shen Yuan, examining her from head to toe, from her face to her clothes, from her clothes to the silver bracelet on her wrist, and then back to her face. His lips moved, then closed, and when they opened again, his voice had changed—no longer the polite, businessman's voice, but a hoarse one, as if something was blocking his throat.

"You are... from the Shen family?"

Shen Yuan nodded.

Cao Fang stood up from behind the counter, pushing his chair back with a screeching sound. He walked around the counter to Shen Yuan, stopping two steps away from her. He raised and lowered his hands repeatedly, as if he wanted to touch her but dared not.

"Are you Huaiyuan's daughter?" His voice trembled. "Are you Yuan'er?"

Shen Yuan's eyes reddened, but she didn't cry.

“It’s me, Uncle Cao.”

Cao Fang's tears welled up instantly.

It wasn't the kind of tear that falls drop by drop; it was like a dam breaking, her whole face was suddenly wet, tears streaming down her cheeks, onto her chin, and dripping onto the front of her gray-blue cotton robe, spreading out a small dark water stain.

"You're still alive..." His voice seemed to be squeezed from the deepest part of his chest, muffled and hoarse, "You're still alive..."

He reached out and, without hesitation this time, gripped Shen Yuan's hands tightly with both of his. His hands were thick and warm, his palms sweaty, and his grip made Shen Yuan's fingers ache a little.

“They all told me that the Shen family is gone, not a single one left. I went to your house, the door was locked, the plaque had been scraped off, and the yard was deserted. I asked the neighbors, and they said they heard noises that night, but no one dared to come out to see. The next morning, your house was empty.”

He paused, tears still streaming down his face, his voice broken and intermittent.

“I sent people to look for it. They searched for more than half a month, but found nothing. I thought… I thought you too…”

He couldn't continue. He released Shen Yuan's hand, turned around, and vigorously wiped his face with his sleeve. His sleeve was soaked, and he wiped it again and again, as if he were wiping something that could never be cleaned.

Zheng Yi stood at the door without saying a word.

Chi Ya had somehow slipped over from the fried dough stick stall and was standing behind Zheng Yi, peeking inside cautiously. He saw Cao Fang crying like that, paused for a moment, then silently pulled his head back, leaning against the doorframe, pretending he hadn't seen anything.

Cao Fang finally stopped crying, but his eyes were still red, his nose was red, and his whole face looked like it had been washed with water. He cleared his throat forcefully, glanced at Zheng Yi, and then at Chi Ya, who was peeking in from outside the door.

"Who are these two...?"

"They came from the north," Shen Yuan said. "They saved me."

Cao Fang's gaze lingered on Zheng Yi for a moment, then she bowed deeply. It wasn't a casual nod; she bent over deeply, her head almost touching her knees.

Thank you. Thank you.

Zheng Yi reached out and helped him up.

"Manager Cao, there's no need for that."

Cao Fang straightened up, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand again, took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress all his emotions. He turned around, walked to the door, looked out at both ends of the alley, and then closed the door.

After the door closed, the shop became much darker. Light seeped in through the gaps in the door, drawing thin streaks of light on the floor.

Cao Fang brought over three chairs, asking Shen Yuan and Zheng Yi to sit down. After hesitating for a moment, she brought another chair for Chi Ya. Chi Ya waved his hand and squatted down by the door.

"Uncle Cao, what exactly happened to my family?" Shen Yuan's voice was not loud, but it was very steady. "I only know that someone killed my whole family, but I don't know who it was or why."

Cao Fang sat on the edge of the counter, her hands on her knees, head bowed, and remained silent for a long time.

When he looked up again, his eyes were red again, but this time he didn't cry.

Do you know the Zhao family?

Shen Yuan thought for a moment and nodded.

"The Zhao family is in the silk business, the Zhao family in the west of the city?"

“Yes. The Zhao family in the west of the city.” Cao Fang’s voice was very low, so low that only three people could hear it. “On the surface, they are in the silk business. But the Zhao family’s real money-making business is not silk.”

"What is it?"

Cao Fang hesitated for a moment and glanced at Zheng Yi.

Zheng Yi sat in the chair, his expression unchanged, as if he were listening to something that had nothing to do with him.

“Grand canal transport,” Cao Fang said.

Shen Yuan frowned slightly.

"The Zhao family is in the canal transport business? Hasn't the Wang family always controlled the canal transport in Huzhou?"

“That’s what’s out in the open.” Cao Fang rubbed her hands together, as if hesitating whether to continue. “Actually, in the past two years, half of the canal transport on the Huzhou-Lin’an line has fallen into the hands of the Zhao family. It wasn’t outright robbery, it was… through some means.”

"What methods?"

Cao Fang glanced at Shen Yuan, her eyes filled with heartache, hesitation, and a sense of "I can't bear to tell you."

"Your father was the one who acted as a go-between."

Shen Yuan's face turned pale.

Zheng Yi raised an eyebrow slightly.

Cao Fang's voice went even lower, so low that she was almost speaking in a breath.

“Your father was in the tea business and had a long-standing relationship with the Zhao family. The Zhao family wanted to get involved in the canal transport, but the Wang family was too powerful for the Zhao family to handle. So your father found someone for the Zhao family—I don’t know who that person was, your father never told me. But that person helped the Zhao family get in touch with the people in Lin’an, and that’s how the Zhao family got control of half of the canal transport route.”

Shen Yuan clenched her fingers into a fist on her knee.

"Why would my father help the Zhao family do such a thing?"

Cao Fang shook her head, a bitter smile curving her lips.

“Your dad never told me. But I guess… it’s for money.”

Shen Yuan swayed slightly.

“In the last few years of your father’s business, his cash flow ran into serious problems. The tea business looked big, but it was actually quite weak. That year, he had too much inventory stuck in the market, and then tea prices in the south plummeted. He couldn’t collect on several large debts, and his cash flow dried up.” Cao Fang’s voice was soft and hoarse. “He didn’t tell you any of this, did he?”

Shen Yuan shook her head, very slowly.

“He never talks about business at home.”

“That’s just the kind of person he is. He’ll shoulder everything himself, even if the sky falls.” Cao Fang sighed. “He must have received a large sum of money for helping the Zhao family make this connection. That money was just enough for him to fill the hole in his cash flow.” (End of Chapter)