Chapter 28: Coincidence Upon Coincidence

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“The dock freight yard?” Xu Qi jolted. She knew the Bai family’s salt convoy had left its cargo there. “What about the caravan? Is everyone safe?”

The corner of Tan Jiuding’s mouth twitched. “You seem rather concerned about them.”

“Who’s concerned? I’m only afraid they’ll expose our business and drag us into trouble.”

The man pressed his lips together to suppress a smile and stirred the brazier until the flames burned brighter. “They escaped by the skin of their teeth. Evading the night patrols’ repeated searches is no easy matter. Still, it was an entirely undeserved disaster.”

Xu Qi’s thoughts turned. “Then you came from the freight yard? Weren’t you supposed to question people at the Canal Transport Office? How did you end up going there?”

“Huang Zhang is staying at the Waterside Granary’s offices, within the walls of the Ever-Full Granary on the western bank of the wharf.”

“That’s near the pawnshop that was robbed just now…”

“Only a hundred paces away.”

Xu Qi drew a slow breath. “A coincidence?”

“Perhaps.” Tan Jiuding poured himself a cup of hot tea and swallowed it down. “Transport officials below the third rank stay temporarily in the public offices while waiting to return.”

What an unsettled place. They had only just arrived in Huai’an, and already they had crossed paths with a notorious thief. Yet it had nothing whatsoever to do with the reason they had come, so there was no need to waste their attention on it. That was what Xu Qi told herself.

“You saw Huang Zhang?”

“No. But I learned that he occasionally fails to return for the night, which means he must have some amusement outside. There was no opportunity to look for him tonight. We’ll see what we can find after dawn.” Tan Jiuding rubbed his belly. “I’m starving. Have you eaten?”

Xu Qi shook her head. At his words, she realized that she was hungry too.

Tan Jiuding called over a waiter and ordered three bowls of plain noodles and a plate of braised dried tofu. They ate a simple meal.

“When is Huang Zhang returning?”

“I don’t know. He may return to Suzhou at any time, or he may be reassigned north to Tongzhou.”

“Then we must catch him quickly.” Xu Qi set down her bamboo chopsticks and muttered, “Since he has somewhere to spend the night outside, we have a chance to make a move. But where would he go for amusement?”

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“Pfft.” Tan Jiuding burst out laughing and nearly spilled his noodle broth.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Your innocence.”

“You—”

“A grown man’s amusements when spending the night away from home are nothing more than wine, women, and gambling. He either has a woman, gets blind drunk, or loses himself at the gambling tables.” He drained his noodle broth, then fixed his eyes on the half-bowl of noodles Xu Qi had left.

After traveling together all this way, Xu Qi no longer had the energy to comment. She pushed the bowl toward him. She suspected that he must once have suffered real hunger; otherwise, why did he always eat as though possessed by a starving ghost, without the slightest regard for decorum, snatching at food like a dog?

“Since you know the way around, you go find him. I’ll also go out tomorrow to gather information.”

Tan Jiuding tipped his head back and swallowed half the noodles in one gulp, barely chewing. When he finished, he wiped his mouth. “Where are you going?”

“The Cloud Brocade Quarter in the south of the city, to the Qiu family’s silk shop.”

He stopped moving. “What are you going there for?”

“I merely want to confirm something.” Xu Qi met his questioning gaze. “My master once mentioned a Qiu family from Huai’an. The surname is uncommon, and they happen to run a silk shop. It should not be a coincidence. If I can establish a connection, perhaps I can draw some information about Huai’an out of them.”

Preferably information concerning Zhou Zhiwei.

“Would you like me to accompany you? It would hardly do for Third Miss Xu to go out without a household guard for protection, would it?”

Xu Qi gave a derisive snort, struggling not to laugh. “Don’t you still have to inquire into Huang Zhang’s whereabouts?”

“There’s no hurry. Such sneaky business is best conducted after the sun has begun to set.”

At dawn the following day, Xu Qi rose and dressed herself with particular care. At least today, she was the third miss of the Xu clan of Gusu, born into a great family. She could not afford to lose face.

When she opened the door, Tan Jiuding was waiting outside. He looked her over, then pressed his lips together in amusement. “After you, Third Miss.”

The damp mist rising from the Grand Canal enveloped Huai’an. The din of Qingjiangpu Wharf was deafening, and the flagstone road gleamed slickly, as though covered by a thin layer of ice.

Beneath the finely carved brick archway of the Qiu Family Silk Shop, the waiters were briskly sweeping the entrance and preparing to receive customers. A small sedan chair came to a stop before them. The shop assistant hurried forward, never expecting the shop to receive a customer so early.

“A distinguished guest has arrived! Mind your step, please—this way…”

He extended an arm, only to have it blocked by the tall attendant accompanying her.

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The curtain was lifted, and a graceful, nimble young woman stepped out with light, measured steps. Naturally, she rested one hand on the attendant’s forearm for support.

The shop assistant cast a quick glance over her and was immediately startled. Her lotus-colored jacket of subtly patterned satin looked plain from a distance, but up close one could see silver-threaded sprays of honeysuckle embroidered along the lapels. Her horse-face skirt was patterned all over with gold. With each delicate step, the tips of her embroidered shoes revealed strings of South Sea pearls no larger than grains of rice.

This was certainly no girl of ordinary birth.

He hurriedly bent into a deep bow. “Many blessings to Your Ladyship! Please, come in!”

Then he hastened inside and called out, “Tea in the east chamber!”

“No need,” the young woman replied in a clear, pleasant voice. “I have business with your master. Just tell him… that the Lu family of Gusu has come to call.”

The shop assistant was troubled. After a hesitation, he said, “Please forgive us, Your Ladyship, but our master is not at the shop at present. He rarely comes here in person, either. I’m afraid this may be…”

The young woman smiled, as though she had anticipated this. She beckoned, and the attendant opened the brocade bundle slung over his shoulder, taking out an embroidered piece.

On plain white crepe gauze, golden threads coiled and intertwined, forming a cricket with its feelers and claws flung wide in defiance, as if it were about to spread its wings. Its delicate wings were as thin as a cicada’s shell. The creature was so lifelike that it seemed ready to leap from the cloth and fly away at any moment.

The shop assistant rubbed his eyes, unable to speak.

“I would trouble you to make a trip to your master’s residence and deliver this embroidery to him. I shall wait here.”

“Ah… yes, yes! At once!” The shop assistant dared not delay. Cradling the piece in both hands lest a thread catch, he hurried away with extreme care.

After they had taken their seats and been served tea, Tan Jiuding cautiously lowered his head and murmured, “A handkerchief is enough to get us through the door?”

Since leaving home, Xu Qi had not tasted a single cup of tea that suited her. The Qiu family’s silk shop, however, spared no expense in entertaining guests. She breathed in the fragrance of the tea and savored it slowly before swallowing. Only then did she say, “If you cater to someone’s interests, even a stone picked up by the roadside can knock upon a door.”

“As long as he comes in person, it means we guessed correctly. Be patient and wait.”

Tan Jiuding quietly surveyed the room. Morning light filtered through the cicada-wing gauze windows, spreading throughout the hall and bathing it in a honey-colored glow. An entire wall to the north was occupied by a rosewood display cabinet, where Suzhou kesi scrolls and Ru ware vases glazed in the blue of a clear sky were arranged in pleasing disorder.

Beside it hung a painting of loquats and mountain birds. It was, in fact, an embroidery. The threads were as fine as hairs, rendering the image so vividly that the birds seemed to be preening their feathers. It suddenly reminded him of the unfinished embroidery of loquats and feathered birds he had seen in Zhou Zhiwei’s room. The two works had much in common.

Yet even to his untrained eye, Zhou Zhiwei’s craftsmanship seemed a shade superior.

After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, footsteps sounded outside. The shop assistant led the way and opened the door. A short, thin man in splendid clothes stepped inside. He looked as though a gust of wind might topple him three times over, yet the worry on his face had been replaced by delight.

He clutched the handkerchief Xu Qi had sent as though he had found a long-lost relative. But the moment he saw Xu Qi, his delight faded by half. He asked suspiciously, “The gold-disc stacked-needle technique of Third Madam Lu! Ever since her hand was injured, I have never again seen embroidery of such exquisite skill. How could this be… May I ask what relation you bear to her?”

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