When the escort agency received the assignment, the patron expressed that the escorts could arrive any time before the first day of May. However, Su Yunkai believed that the loose time demonstrated that the employer was a cautious person rather than demonstrating his lack of care for the goods. Therefore, since the escorts were waiting until the last day of the agreement to make the delivery, it would be easier to lure the employer out, as he had been anxiously waiting for a long time.
As soon as the mountain road was reopened, Lord Xu let the party know. He personally escorted them out. Once they were sent away, he blocked the road and put up a notice saying that the road was not open yet, hoping to stall for at least four days.
As only thirteen of them were traveling, the taverns on the road all had plenty of rooms to spare, so Qin Fang had even less opportunities to get in touch with Bai Shui. He still couldn’t figure out how to talk to her.
Ten days passed quickly. As they were going to arrive at the entrance of Zhuangjia early tomorrow morning, Su Yunkai, Ming Yue, and Qin Fang separated themselves from the escort agency. Early in the morning, the three went to a tea house near the entrance of Zhuangjia for breakfast.
Now and then, Ming Yue glanced at the pagoda tree, yet no suspicious people appeared. There were simply peddlers and passerby. She checked one more time before hearing Su Yunkai picking up the teacup and saying quietly, “Don’t alert them. Eat your breakfast and stop looking around.”
“Oh.” Ming Yue picked up a steamed bun with chopsticks. Seeing that Qin Fang was still absent-minded, she said, “Little marquis, haven’t you made up with Bai Shui yet?”
Qin Fang’s ears perked. “Make up with her? We didn’t fight. No, I’m not upset because of her.”
“Then why are you upset?”
“Because…” Qin Fang set down his chopsticks. “This boiled beef steamed bun tastes nasty.” He stood up abruptly, complaining about the bad taste, and left.
Ming Yue called for him to come back, but Qin Fang was determined to avoid further questioning. The more she called, the faster he ran. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
”What now?” Ming Yue said helplessly.
“This is perfect.”
“Perfect?”
Su Yunkai picked up the dish of meat that Qin Fang had snatched for himself earlier. Su Yunkai placed it in front of Ming Yue and said joyfully, “Absolutely perfect.”
Ming Yue immediately smiled. Qin Fang loved eating meat. Normally, he swept half of the meat off the table into his stomach. Now that no one was fighting for the meat, it was indeed perfect.
In the distance, an old woman walked under the pagoda tree, sat down on the stone stool. Ming Yue spotted this instantly. She saw that Su Yunkai only looked over once. He didn’t look again. Her eyes opened wide. “Someone came.”
“She’s just a passerby resting on the road.”
“How do you know? She’s been looking around.”
Su Yunkai smiled, “Is there a child playing around the pagoda tree?”
Ming Yue looked cautiously and there was indeed a child of five or six years circling around the tree and skipping about.
“After the old grandma sat down, she continued to rub her waist, but her eyes were always on the child. I think she likely has a waist problem, so she took a break. If she really was the person picking up treasure, she wouldn’t have brought such a small child. Even if it was to cover-up her identity, she would’ve chosen something that wouldn’t generate so much noise.”
“You really are the cleverest, aren’t you?” Ming Yue said.
Su Yunkai pushed the dish in front of her again. “Don’t make a fuss. Eat your meal properly. I’ll keep watch.”
Sure enough, after a while, the old woman’s kneading movement eased down and she led the child away. After a while, a ferocious-looking man came. Su Yunkai did not move, so Ming Yue stayed silent. A moment later, they saw a woman carrying a basket and some cloth. Seeing it, the man took it from her and the two walked away affectionately.
Because there were stone stools under the tree, many people came and went. After a while, even Ming Yue’s eyes started hurting from looking so often. She covered her eyes and rubbed them. Just as she put her hands down, she saw that Su Yunkai’s expression had changed. His eyes were focused on the pagoda tree.
With a very slight movement, she turned her head and saw a man in an old, long shirt. He looked like a scholar and he was standing in front of a jewelry shop. She did not look, but occasionally glanced at the street. His clothing and his appearance were both exceedingly too plain. Ming Yue was curious. “So it’s that person?”
Su Yunkai took a sip of tea gently, as if nothing had happened. “Mhm.”
“But he doesn’t look like it.”
Su Yunkai asked with a smile, “What do you think he looks like?”
Ming Yue tried to use her peripheral vision to look and said, “Like a scholar from a poor family.”
“Why do you think so?”
“His clothes are very shabby. If he came to pick up the chest, it would look suspicious.”
“But what are the goods he’s receiving?”
“Gold.” Ming Yue blinked. “No, wait. In the eyes of the escorts, he is only receiving five vases.”
“Right.” Su Yunkai nodded. “It would instead be suspicious if bright clothes were worn. Although, I think the person who has worked out this plan must be a greenhorn. If they wanted to be all-encompassing in their deception, they shouldn’t have asked ten people to escort a few vases in the first place.”
“In the end, it’s two hundred taels of gold. It would be really painful to lose…”
“If you’re not bold enough, don’t learn from others and become a corrupt official.”
“True.” Ming Yue came back to her senses. “How do you know that this is the money of a corrupt official?”
Su Yunkai said, “These things were robbed half a month ago by the bandits. If an ordinary businessman lost his money, he would report to the police in a panic. However, he didn’t. Therefore, this gold must be stolen. The method of obtainment must also be illegal. If it is not a businessman, then the only people who could swallow money so secretly would be people from the government.”
“Two hundred taels of gold…to think that one could even think to embezzle so much money.” Ming Yue added, “But how could you tell that person was the one receiving the goods?”
“It is strange.” Su Yunkai gently used his chin to point. “His clothes don’t fit and his sleeves are also short by half a palm. It’s clear that he borrowed the clothing from someone else.”
“It’s not strange for the poor to wear other people’s old clothes, though.”
“Have you ever seen a poor scholar with shabby clothes but a jade-embellished hat?”
Ming Yue paused and took a close look. Not only did the scholar wear a jade-embellished hat, but his hair was also combed very neatly.
“He probably changed into the disguise right before he went out. Before that, he was still well-dressed. Perhaps he is the confidant of the corrupt official, or someone acting as the receiver for the goods. In short, he is not a poor scholar.” Su Yunkai saw Ming Yue hesitate and asked with a smile, “Do you still have questions?”
Ming Yue said weakly, “Yes…But I’m afraid to ask too much. You’ll say I’m stupid.”
“I won’t. Ask away.”
“Ok…I want to ask, what if these are his heirlooms? My father left me a jade pendant made of good material. The neighbors who opened the pawnshop said it was valuable. Now, I still carry it with me. It’s priceless, but I’m a poor girl.”
Su Yunkai suddenly smiled, “Then, let me ask you. If you saw someone drop a valuable piece of jewelry outside the jewelry store, what would you do?”
“Pick it up and give it back to them.”
“Would you hide it?”
“I think only bad people would do that.”
“Would you not pick it up nor hide it?”
Ming Yue frowned. “I don’t think so…”
“The scholar just did so. When you were busy rubbing your eyes, a girl went inside and dropped a pearl hairpin. Although she was far away and I couldn’t see clearly, I could make out that she was well-dressed. The hairpin was probably quite valuable. The scholar looked at it, didn’t pick it up, didn’t shout, and acted altogether indifferent.”
Ming Yue nodded. It seemed quite reasonable. But whoever the person was, they would still be able to tell immediately once the people from the escort agency came.
After a while, Bai Shui and the other nine finally arrived. The pagoda tree was at the entrance of Zhuangjia, so they headed over quickly.
The group stood as they always did for their missions, drinking some water from their canteens to quench their thirst and waiting for the receiver to appear.
Ming Yue paid more attention to the scholar’s movements. Although she tried to avoid staring, she still met his gaze. Suddenly, she found herself looking into the keen eyes of the scholar. First, he looked at Ming Yue. Then, he spotted the person sitting beside Ming Yue and saw that Su Yunkai’s gaze was also on him. The scholar was a little surprised. And then, he turned around and left.
He walked so fast that he seemed to be in a bit of a panic. Su Yunkai was doubtful. According to reason, Ming Yue hadn’t moved much and he also hadn’t shown any flaws. Why did the man take one look at them then bolt?
Even after waiting for a long time, no one came. Bai Shui saw Su Yunkai and Ming Yue. Looking again, she found that Qin Fang wasn’t there. She couldn’t help but look around for him. Still, she couldn’t see him.
Where did that guy go? Didn’t he fix his habit of running around in foreign places? With no strength in his hands and no flesh on his body, how did he possess the daring?
Bai Shui’s heart was half dismissive, half worried. Only when a small child ran over did she collect her wits. She originally thought that the child was passing by, but the child came to her side and said, “The elder brother who was drinking tea asked me to tell you that after dusk, he will look for a place to stay so you can discuss things again.”
That was strange. How was he sure that the receiver would not appear? If that was so, didn’t that mean they did all of this in vain?
Still, she always listened to Su Yunkai’s words. In fact, since she had no idea what was going on, she was too lazy to think.
Sure enough, from sunset to dusk, the receiver never made an appearance.
.
A Hint of Spring 