Chapter 49: Junior Sister: As if I'd freeload off him (Thanks to my good brother "Too Much Talk Breeds Boredom" for the Silver Alliance!')

That loud and clear declaration of "Good brother-in-law!" almost caused certain individuals in the magistrate's main hall to turn black in their vision and pass out on the spot.

Even Ouyang Rong almost broke his composure.

Yet, the person most consumed by shyness and vexation on the scene was undoubtedly a certain noble daughter of the Xie family hiding in the inner hall.

As for Wang Chaozhi himself, not a single blush stained his aged face. When Ouyang Rong spat a mouthful of tea mist right at him, Wang merely raised a hand to wipe his face, his gaze remaining thoroughly affectionate. Once those two words—brother-in-law—crossed his lips, every subsequent repetition rolled off his tongue with increasing smoothness.

Originally, for this courtroom performance of official benevolence and filial citizenry, Ouyang Rong had assigned Xie Lingjiang a specific role. They had agreed beforehand that she would join in the game.

Thus, later in the proceedings, this female legal advisor was supposed to step forward and deliver a few earth-shattering lines. Should the need arise, her persona as someone who detested evil as she detested mortal foes would allow her to passionately denounce the senior apprentice-brother as a corrupted official shielding unscrupulous merchants... followed by another round of dramatic tug-of-war.

Yet at this moment, that unexpected "brother-in-law" directly caused the girl whose face was burning in the back room to become too embarrassed to show her face.

Wang Chaozhi possessed no shame, but she was thin-skinned and cared deeply about her reputation.

Just imagining it felt utterly bizarre: the female legal advisor who hated evil like an enemy actually had something going on behind closed doors with the corrupted official who shielded dishonest merchants. Before the public, she castigated him with an aura of pure sanctity; behind the scenes... what on earth happened? The imagery was simply too much to contemplate...

Anyway, that casual "brother-in-law" slightly disrupted the plan. However, Ouyang Rong and Yan Liulang improvised on the spot, swiftly wrapping up the courtroom trial, roughly finalizing the grain-inspection scheme, and dismissing the crowd of grain merchants whose expressions wavered between joy and anxiety.

Watching Yan Liulang escort the group out, the young magistrate lowered his head to dust off his sleeves, gave a light chuckle, turned, and walked toward the inner hall. Pushing open the door, he caught sight of his junior sister sitting sideways on the railing beneath the funnel-shaped courtyard skylight, tossing fish feed into the water with gentle flicks of her hand.

Xie Lingjiang's expression appeared completely normal.

Ouyang Rong drew closer.

"No wonder your worthy junior brother loves sweet rice dumplings; his little mouth is as sweet as if it were smeared with honey."

"And what about me?"

"Looking salty, but actually sweet—a sharp tongue with a tender heart."

Xie Lingjiang's lips curved upward before she quickly concealed the movement. "Senior Apprentice-Brother doesn't look like someone who eats salty rice dumplings."

Ouyang Rong smiled and shifted the topic.

"What do you say? Shall we swap the order and let your worthy junior brother go first?"

"Is it because he called you brother-in-law?" Xie Lingjiang asked without turning her head.

"No," Ouyang Rong shook his head. "Because regardless of whether we swap it or not, the outcome remains the same."

Staring straight ahead, Xie Lingjiang bit her lip and said, "Put him right at the end."

"Very well."

She scattered another handful of fish feed and remarked nonchalantly, "He was just talking nonsense. Don't take it too seriously."

"Oh."

Perhaps because the senior apprentice-brother replied too quickly and too readily, the junior sister was momentarily left speechless, and the atmosphere beside the skylight went cold.

Acting as though he perceived nothing amiss, Ouyang Rong turned and waved a hand.

"Time to go back and eat." His movements were crisp and decisive, and before stepping out, he did not forget to remind her: "When you feed these fish, don't throw in too much or you'll foul the water."

"..." Xie Lingjiang.

***

Beside the inner-hall skylight, she remained entirely alone. She turned her head and gazed blankly at the empty main hall.

After a moment, the girl picked up the box of fish feed, as if intending to dump the entire contents into her senior apprentice-brother's fish pond. Halting the motion in mid-air, she put the box down and left with a small, stern expression on her face.

She had plenty of meals of her own to eat.

She would certainly not sponge off his food.

***

The order for the grain inspection had been established.

Merchant Ma's and Merchant Li's hoarded grains were to be inspected simultaneously, though the former was assigned a larger contingent of men. Wang Chaozhi and the other grain merchants were still waiting further down the line.

In truth, the price of grain in Dragon City remained exceptionally high. The embargo edict delivered from Jiangzhou on the Dragon Boat Festival had only caused market prices to drop by the slimmest margin.

Eighteen cash per dou.

It still constituted exorbitant profiteering.

Clearly, the outside grain merchants were still trying their best to prop up the market, while numerous gentry and landlords remained on the sidelines to see how the situation would unfold.

Within Dragon City, these merchants hoarding grain harbored shifting mindsets: some sought to buy time to flee, while others hoped grain prices would maintain their stability.

Consequently, Merchant Ma was in no great hurry to leave Dragon City immediately, nor was he in a rush to transport all his hoarded grain away.

A merchant's shrewdness prompted him to first secure the transit permit allowing the movement of grain, dispatching a portion of his stock out of Dragon City to control his inventory levels. Should the market collapse shortly thereafter, he would be the first to transport his grain and escape, minimizing his losses compared to the rest of the grain merchants.

If grain prices remained steady and he could continue reaping profits from the populace, he could always ship the grain back depending on circumstances. After all, water transport was convenient; as long as the gates weren't locked shut, Merchant Ma's inventory positions were as flexible as his moral standards.

As for the flattery Merchant Ma had previously directed at the young magistrate and the family favors he had promised behind the scenes, those were merely conventional pleasantries. Once he left Dragon City, they would be cast to the winds. Whether they held any validity depended entirely on circumstances—equally flexible.

In truth, as a white-gloved proxy for the powerful and elite, Merchant Ma did not wield all that much genuine influence. In this era, the status of merchants was low; they had no choice but to attach themselves to influential patrons and borrow their prestige to make a show of force.

That very afternoon, Merchant Ma received another piece of good news.

Yan Liulang and his subordinates had finished inspecting his first storage warehouse at the docks, which contained approximately one thousand shi of grain.

Merchant Ma learned from the county office that he could obtain his transit permit in advance and ship out this portion of cleared, untainted grain first.

Merchant Ma's square face bloomed into a smile. Under the expressionless gazes of his fellow grain merchant colleagues, he accepted the transit permits for two cargo junks from the smiling Magistrate Ouyang.

Following another round of polite pleasantries and promises, the young magistrate not only escorted Merchant Ma out with due courtesy but also dispatched the county丞 (assistant magistrate) to accompany him to Penglang Ferry. The official helped organize local porters and boatmen so that his grain could be loaded onto the vessels as swiftly as possible, allowing them to set sail that very night!

True to his word, this Magistrate Ouyang had created no obstacles whatsoever. Once the grain inspection was completed, the paperwork required from the Dragon City magistrate's office all the way to Penglang Ferry proceeded without a single hitch.

Merchant Ma felt quite satisfied, developing a certain fondness for the young magistrate. Yet, upon second thought, his grain had been legitimate all along—the imperial court had merely been making a fuss over nothing, and the magistrate was simply performing his due diligence in rendering such service. With that reflection, his peace of mind returned tenfold.

Penglang Ferry under the setting sun.

Merchant Ma stood on the steps with his hands tucked into his sleeves, smiling as he watched bag after bag of grain being hoisted onto the boats by bare-chested porters.

The cheap labor resulting from the disaster in Dragon City pleased him greatly, saving him yet another sum of silver.

Although only a thousand shi of grain had been inspected thus far—scarcely a fraction of Merchant Ma's total reserves remaining in the dock warehouses—it was already enough to completely fill two medium-sized cargo junks.

Catching sight of several fellow grain merchants quietly observing from nearby, Merchant Ma walked over with a smile and greeted Wang Chaozhi and the others. The latter group offered stiff, forced smiles and did not even bother to reply.

The grain merchants exchanged a few brief remarks, but this little clique that had once united to sell grain lacked its former warmth and tacit understanding, and the conversation quickly died down into awkward silence.

Merchant Ma cared not a whit about this, casually suggesting, "How about everyone joins me for a banquet later?"

This was merely the shipment of the first batch of grain; the bulk of his stock remained in Dragon City. He was not leaving with tonight's boats, nor had Dragon City's grain prices dropped yet.

Wang Chaozhi and the other merchants exchanged glances, each inventing excuses to decline.

Merchant Ma smiled dismissively. At that moment, a junior steward trotted over: "Master, both cargo junks are fully loaded, but it's time for the evening meal. Should we let the boatmen and laborers grab a bite to eat before setting off?"

Merchant Ma's face instantly lengthened into a scowling glare:

"Eat what food, eat, eat, eat! You want them to eat on company wages while working? Where is there such a fine deal? Tell them to set sail immediately and stop dawdling, or their wages will be cut in half!"

The steward bowed and scraped as he hurried off to urge the crew to depart.

Before long, the two cargo junks cut through the river water stained with the orange-yellow glow of the setting sun, slowly pulling away from the docks.

At that moment, the setting sun also dipped below the horizon at the end of the river. Night descended silently, blanketing the ancient ferry.

Merchant Ma stood on a high platform by the bank, squinting as he watched them go. Seeing the distant, solitary shadows of the successfully departed cargo junks out on the river, the other grain merchants wore complex expressions. With a collective sigh, they prepared to leave.

Catching sight of his departing merchant colleagues out of the corner of his eye, Merchant Ma tucked his hands into his sleeves, hummed a little tune, hurried after them, and called out to stop them.

"Hold on, my good brothers."

Wang Chaozhi and the others turned around.

With an air of easy familiarity, Merchant Ma hooked his arms through theirs and shook his head. "Hey, there's no need for everyone to feel so dejected. In a few days, once your grain is inspected, you'll be able to ship it out too..."

Wang Chaozhi suddenly froze, muttering beneath his breath, "Ma... Merchant Ma."

With his back to the ferry, Merchant Ma smiled amiably. "What is it? Could it be that you've changed your mind and want to go grab a drink with this old brother of yours?"

"N-no... you... it seems..."

"What about me?" Merchant Ma rubbed his face, asking with curiosity.

Yet he instantly noticed that under the dim twilight, Wang Chaozhi and the few grain merchants beside him were staring blankly past his shoulder, their eyes seemingly reflecting a crimson sun upon the river.

Eh? Hadn't the sun already set? Why was there still a sun?

Curious, Merchant Ma turned around.

And then, within the eyes of this tall, middle-aged merchant, two crimson suns also appeared... No, not two crimson suns, but two raging pillars of fire, dancing fiercely upon the river waters beneath the distant night sky.

Out upon the great river, the two cargo junks had been transformed into blazing fire ships.

While Merchant Ma stood dumbfounded, Wang Chaozhi, who had been staring for a moment with his mouth agape, finally forced the words out:

"It seems... your grain is gone."

"...???" Someone collapsed heavily to the ground.