Northern Border, Linzhou.
Manager Wang, a grain merchant, stared at his empty warehouse, sweating profusely with anxiety.
He had originally stockpiled three thousand dan of grain, intending to wait until the price broke through twenty taels, or even twenty-five taels, before selling.
That was the capital he had wagered his entire family’s lives on.
But over the past few days, the situation had changed.
The grain price, which had been skyrocketing, suddenly stopped at eighteen taels, and then… it began to fall!
Fifteen taels, thirteen taels, and today it had fallen all the way to eleven!
“What’s going on? How can the grain price be falling this fast?!” Manager Wang grabbed his assistant by the collar and roared.
The assistant looked miserable. “Manager, the grain ships from Jiangnan have arrived! More than a dozen batches of grain ships came into Beiming Port over the past two days. Seven ships alone were registered as entering the port today. There’s grain everywhere on the market now. When the Northern Border Administrative Office’s military procurement officials saw that there was more grain available, they immediately stopped buying at high prices. They said they were going to ‘purchase slowly according to the market price’!”
Manager Wang’s legs went weak, and he collapsed into a chair.
If he didn’t sell now, he really would be stuck with all of it!
Just then, a Jiangnan merchant claiming to represent “Guangji Trading” came knocking.
The other party did not take advantage of the situation to force his grain price down, nor did he offer him charity out of pity. Instead, he produced a shrewd business agreement.
“Manager, we at Guangji Trading have only just arrived and need ready-made storage facilities and distribution channels. We have a business proposition that can absorb the depreciation risk on the grain you’re holding and hedge it with tea and salt certificates. Would you be interested in hearing us out?”
The merchant smiled warmly.
Manager Wang froze. “What kind of business?”
The merchant pulled over an abacus and began clicking the beads back and forth right in front of Manager Wang.
Manager Wang immediately sucked in a sharp breath as he calculated rapidly in his head.
The agreement was extremely clever. Not only could he safely unload this hot potato, he could even make a small profit through Guangji Trading’s tea-and-salt business.
“Is this really true?”
Manager Wang was still somewhat incredulous.
The merchant maintained his harmless smile. “Everything is clearly written in the agreement. No deception, whether you’re young or old.”
“Done! I’ll do it!”
Manager Wang signed the agreement without hesitation.
This was not an isolated case.
Under Guangji Trading’s maneuvering, those merchants who had originally been forced by market panic to hoard grain simply to protect themselves now saw an extremely reasonable and safe way out.
They no longer had to bear the risk of their grain being seized during wartime. They no longer had to worry about a price collapse, and they could continue doing business.
For a time, several privately owned grain warehouses in the Northern Border that had been tightly holding onto their stocks began voluntarily opening their doors and releasing grain.
◆◇◆◇◆
The night wind swept through the corridors of the Administrative Office’s main courtyard, carrying the distinctive chill of the Northern Border.
The study was brightly lit, yet the atmosphere was so heavy that even the air seemed to have been tempered in ice.
The enormous desk was piled high with copies of account books secretly obtained over the past few days from the three northern provinces, Beiming Port, and even Jiangnan.
There were faint shadows of exhaustion beneath Xia Lanshi’s eyes from staying up late, but his fingertip remained remarkably steady as it tapped against a thick general ledger.
“Your Highness, we have the results of the investigation.”
Xia Lanshi raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping across everyone in the study—Xiao Yuan, Su Muchen, Niao, and Chi Banyue, who had just returned with the latest intelligence from outside.
“A few days ago, we discovered that the number of grain ships entering Beiming Port had increased, but the amount recorded as entering the official warehouses didn’t match. At first, we thought the grain had been secretly intercepted and transported directly to the Northern Di.”
Xia Lanshi spread several dissected account sheets side by side.
“But in reality, the grain never ‘disappeared.’ It was simply broken up.”
He pointed to one entry.
“One shipload of grain was split into five batches. After those five batches were unloaded, they were divided into seventeen separate transactions. Each transaction was small enough that, viewed individually, it fell completely within the normal volume of goods entering and leaving a merchant’s warehouse.”
Chi Banyue picked up the explanation.
“Some of it was immediately exchanged after entering the private warehouses of several merchant houses for bean cakes, wheat bran, dried meat, salt, and tea leaves. Then, under the name of ‘private commercial goods,’ it was transported in separate batches to border towns by different horse caravans and escort agencies. In the end, it was handed over to unidentified caravans. They all traveled along the same secret route.”
“One month.”
Xia Lanshi raised his eyes and looked around the study before pressing the final sheet of accounts onto the table.
“I cross-checked the ship registers, customs records, grain transport records, and the account books of merchant houses across the three northern provinces for the past month.” He paused, his voice lowering. “The abnormal grain flow we can currently confirm amounts to at least six million jin.”
The study fell completely silent.
Su Muchen’s fingers paused slightly.
Six million jin.
He rapidly ran the numbers through his mind. With the Northern Border currently maintaining an army of thirty thousand, if one counted staple grain, beans, wheat, miscellaneous food, and transportation losses, each person required roughly three jin of combined provisions per day. In one month, that amounted to nearly three million jin.
In other words, the abnormal amount of grain lost over the past month was already equivalent to the Northern Border army’s minimum grain requirements for two months.
Xiao Yuan slowly spoke, his voice devoid of emotion yet carrying an oppressive force.
“And this is only the amount you’ve discovered so far.”
“Yes.”
Xia Lanshi’s voice was solemn. “This is absolutely not a volume that could be handled by a few greedy grain merchants trying to profit from a national crisis. This is a complete ‘grain supply chain’ hidden within Dasheng itself.”
“Whose people are these grain merchants?”
Xiao Yuan spoke slowly, his voice carrying an intense pressure.
Chi Banyue opened another register.
“I investigated more than thirty grain merchants involved in this. I discovered something. These merchants don’t even know that the others exist. There are only four true core players: one grain merchant is responsible for purchasing grain in Jiangnan, one escort agency handles the division and transportation, and one merchant house handles receiving the goods at the border…”
She paused, her fingertip landing on the final flow of funds.
“And all the money they receive eventually flows into the same money house. Guangyuan Money House.”
Su Muchen immediately frowned. “Then should we seal it?”
“Not it.”
Niao, who had been standing at the edge of the room as though he had merged with the shadows, suddenly spoke calmly.
He walked over and looked at the account books on the table.
“The money house is merely a settlement point. The real problem is where the money came from.”
His gaze settled on the incoming payment records, his brows drawing together slightly.
“If the Northern Di were simply suffering from a grain shortage, they would exchange large amounts of gold and silver, jewelry, jade, or the furs and horses unique to the Northern Di for grain. But the sources of the payments recorded here…”
He turned the ledger toward everyone.
“Payments for cloth from Jiangnan merchant houses, deposits for spices from overseas merchant ships, outstanding balances from southern tea merchants… This enormous amount of money used to purchase grain is too ‘clean,’ and it has been broken into tiny pieces.”
Su Muchen looked up, his eyes trembling slightly.
“This doesn’t look like a country making emergency purchases. It looks like someone deliberately took an astronomical sum of illicit money and divided it into countless transactions that appear to be legitimate business payments.”
“Money laundering.”
Niao said the words calmly.
Those two words caused Xiao Yuan’s gaze to darken abruptly.
In the unseen corners of Dasheng, there was a filthy side to the country that remained hidden from view.
Now, because of an imperial decree, the whole affair was gradually being dragged into the light.
But he knew very well that not every corner of a country could be clean.
What if some of this had been prepared for him?
He couldn’t help mocking himself inwardly.
If that were the case, it was almost too grand.
Xia Lanshi pulled another confidential report from his sleeve.
“If that’s the case, then the Northern Border’s skyrocketing grain prices and Jiangnan’s collapsing grain prices were not coincidental.”
He laid out the timelines from Jiangnan and the Northern Border side by side.
“Your Highness, look. The first batch of grain ships traveling north from Jiangnan arrived seven days before grain prices in Beiming Port began to skyrocket. The second batch arrived three days after grain prices in the Northern Border surged. And the third…”
Xia Lanshi drew a deep breath.
“…arrived on the very same day Your Highness ordered the investigation into the grain merchants.”
Xiao Yuan’s deep eyes narrowed slightly, cold darkness roiling beneath them.
This meant someone had known earlier than they had that grain prices in the Northern Border would surge.
Someone had laid the groundwork in Jiangnan ahead of time.
There was an invisible hand manipulating the market—or more precisely, manipulating the movement of grain.
This wasn’t market speculation.
It was a war that had been planned long ago.
Xiao Yuan’s low voice rang through the study, cold with the clarity of someone who had seen through everything.
“The Northern Border was already short of grain. As commander-in-chief, I had to purchase grain to stabilize the army’s morale. The merchants knew I had no choice but to buy, so they could raise their prices without restraint. No matter how deep the financial resources of Tingxue Pavilion were, we were still forced into this war of attrition.”
Xiao Yuan’s fingers slowly traced the Jiangnan grain-price curve.
His voice was icy.
“They don’t want me to run out of grain. They want me to drain the Northern Border’s market, trade routes, and popular support myself, little by little, in order to guarantee the army’s provisions.”
As soon as he said this, Su Muchen felt a chill run down his spine.
They wanted to use Dasheng’s own grain and market to slowly bleed the Northern Border defensive line to death.
What kind of person could be behind such a vicious scheme?
Just then, Chi Banyue spoke with a grave expression.
“There’s another abnormality. Several border merchant houses we’ve been secretly watching… have stopped.”
“Stopped?” Xia Lanshi’s gaze sharpened. “Were they raided by the authorities?”
“No.”
Chi Banyue shook her head, her expression grim.
“Until last night, they were still moving goods like crazy. But starting this morning, all their accounts were settled. Even their hidden warehouses were emptied.”
She raised her eyes, her voice dropping.
“Too clean. As if someone had warned them in advance… that we were investigating.”
The study instantly fell into silence.
Everyone thought of the same possibility—
The intelligence might have already leaked.
But at this moment, Niao walked over. He didn’t look at the flow of money. Instead, his gaze locked onto the “border goods” Chi Banyue had just mentioned.
“This isn’t the usual method of the Northern Di.”
Niao suddenly spoke.
Chi Banyue frowned. “How can you tell?”
Niao’s slender finger tapped against the cargo list.
“When the Northern Di suffer a disaster and lack food, all they want is grain—things that can keep them alive. But these people aren’t buying only grain. They’re buying tea leaves, salt, blood-stopping medicinal herbs, iron ingots for blacksmithing, and large quantities of coarse cloth at the same time.”
Niao raised his calm, expressionless eyes.
“And they deliberately bundled these different types of goods onto the same trade routes. If this were simply famine relief, they wouldn’t need ironware and large quantities of medicinal supplies.”
Su Muchen sucked in a breath.
“Logistical support… This is standard military logistics!”
“Mm.”
Niao nodded.
“They aren’t preparing to ‘survive.’ They’re preparing to ‘fight their way back.’”
The words struck like thunder out of a clear sky.
Su Muchen sucked in another breath and quickly calculated.
“If more than half of these six million jin of grain ultimately went into the Northern Di…” He paused. “Then it would already be enough to support an army of tens of thousands at the border for quite some time.”
Xiao Yuan raised his eyes, his gaze cold and severe.
“And the six million jin we’ve discovered is only what’s visible on the surface.”
The Northern Di might not be preparing for a localized conflict at all.
They might be planning to launch a full-scale war against the Northern Border.
The phrase Su Muchen had previously calculated—“strategic reserve grain for an army of one hundred thousand”—seemed to have found its confirmation at this moment.
“There’s one more thing.”
Xia Lanshi suppressed the shock in his heart, his voice solemn.
“The news about those batches of Jiangnan grain traveling north did not originally spread among merchants. It came from the capital.”
“The capital?”
Su Muchen was startled.
“Yes. And the information specifically mentioned Beiming Port’s throughput over the past month, as well as the exact fluctuations in grain prices across the three provinces.”
Xia Lanshi looked at Xiao Yuan.
“Your Highness, ordinary merchants couldn’t possibly know these figures with such precision. At the very least… they couldn’t know them so completely.”
A flicker passed through Xiao Yuan’s eyes.
“Ministry of Revenue?”
Xia Lanshi did not answer, but the expression on his face already confirmed it.
Throughout Dasheng, the only institution capable of simultaneously controlling Jiangnan grain prices, grain transport arrangements, and Beiming Port’s warehouse-entry records was the Ministry of Revenue, which controlled the empire’s finances and grain supplies.
The enemy was in the capital.
And it was right at the heart of the imperial government.
If they were talking about someone in the Ministry of Revenue who harbored ambitions and knew of the “Gate,” then there was only Sheng Yuanli.
Thinking back on Sheng Yuanli’s actions in the past, as well as the secret Xia Zhongqian had sent at the cost of breaking his clan jade, Xia Lanshi gradually pieced together an unsettling picture.
“The Crown Prince wouldn’t order him to use such a high-risk method. The Crown Prince cares more about preserving his position as heir. At most, he would use some legitimate excuse to delay the grain.”
Xia Lanshi fell silent for a moment before slowly saying,
“If Sheng Yuanli already knows that ‘the Gate Master has emerged’…”
Xiao Yuan’s heart tightened immediately.
Sheng Yuanli had always acted quietly and discreetly in the past.
Now, his behavior was indeed unusual.
It was almost as though… he was becoming desperate.
Niao picked up the thread, his voice icy.
“Then he doesn’t need to know who the Gate Master is.”
Su Muchen froze.
“What do you mean?”
Niao looked at Xiao Yuan.
“He only needs to know that after the old Gate Master died, a new Gate Master has appeared—if the broken fragment in his hands contains sufficiently clear information.”
“He may not know who the Gate Master actually is. He only needs to know that among the two imperial bloodlines currently in the Northern Border, one of them has become the Gate Master.”
His eyes lifted, sweeping between Xiao Yuan and Xia Lanshi.
“And whoever that person is, he will kill them.”
He looked toward Xia Lanshi, worry in his eyes.
Among those carrying imperial blood in the Northern Border, besides Prince Su Xiao Yuan, there was also Xia Lanshi, who had been born from the conspiracy all those years ago.
Xiao Yuan’s situation was dangerous.
Xia Lanshi’s situation was equally precarious. His identity itself was a secret that could never be spoken of. Once it was exposed, another round of bloodshed would follow, and Xia Lanshi could very well be dragged into it.
Moreover, the reason Xia Lanshi was still alive was more than half because of Xiao Yuan’s protection.
As for Sheng Yuanli, he knew Xia Lanshi’s deepest secret. But unless he wanted to destroy himself along with everyone else, Sheng Yuanli would never willingly expose it.
Just as this suffocating deduction had settled, the study door was knocked four times in a rhythmic pattern.
It was a code.
Chi Banyue immediately hurried over and opened the door. She accepted an ordinary envelope from the hidden guard, said a few quiet words, and then sent him away.
There was no signature on it, no wax seal, and even the paper of the envelope was the most ordinary kind available on the market.
After checking it for poison, Chi Banyue removed the letter and handed it to Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan unfolded the thin sheet of paper.
There were only a few lines written on it. The handwriting was extremely upright and composed, without the slightest trace of sharpness. It was a hand he had never seen before:
“The southern fields have yielded an abundant harvest this year, while the Northern lands have already heard of the high prices. Merchants were the first to know, yet the source did not come from the marketplace. Recently, there have repeatedly been signs of the central office examining the grain prices of the three provinces and reviewing the records of Beiming.”
After reading those few lines, Xiao Yuan fell completely silent.
The contents of the letter fit perfectly with the conclusion they had just reached—the Ministry of Revenue really had someone examining the old records.
This proved that someone had not only known about the Northern Border’s deadly predicament ahead of time, but had also been watching everything from the shadows.
“Where did this information come from?”
Xiao Yuan placed the letter on the table.
“It came through a new trade route connected to Tingxue Pavilion. Recently, a Jiangnan merchant house called ‘Guangji Trading’ not only stepped forward to help stabilize grain prices in the Northern Border, but also entered into a tea-and-salt partnership with Tingxue Pavilion. The letter came together with the account books.”
Chi Banyue paused before adding,
“But the person who delivered the letter seems to have no idea what it means. They thought it was simply an ordinary piece of business advice.”
Xia Lanshi looked up.
“Guangji Trading?”
Chi Banyue said, “I checked. It’s a merchant house under a wealthy Jiangnan merchant named Qian Guangde. Its background is clean. It mainly deals in salt and tea, and its sources are clean as well.”
Any merchant house it cooperated with underwent strict screening. Only after confirming there were no problems would she approve a partnership.
Then she suddenly remembered something and turned toward Niao.
“The strange thing is, I followed up with several merchant houses that Mr. Nangong marked with a ‘hook’ last time. Not only did they voluntarily supply grain to Tingxue Pavilion below market price, they also happened to bring along a batch of medicinal supplies and cloth urgently needed by the army. Mr. Nangong, how exactly did you know they would stand on our side?”
Niao’s eyelids lifted slightly. He knew Chi Banyue was trying to get an answer out of him.
He merely shrugged, his tone as calm as still water.
“Based on market research.”
“…”
Chi Banyue couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
He was obviously brushing her off.
She couldn’t resist probing again.
“Then did you know about Guangji Trading?”
Niao glanced at her and replied flatly,
“I know. But the time isn’t right yet.”
Chi Banyue was rendered speechless by him.
At the same time, however, a question arose in her mind.
According to her intelligence, Niao almost never left the Administrative Office or Linbei City. She had never seen him meeting anyone, and he usually stayed by Xia Lanshi’s side.
So where exactly did he get all this detailed and precise intelligence?
Xia Lanshi ignored this little exchange. His thoughts were entirely focused on Guangji Trading.
The timing and location of Guangji Trading’s connection with Tingxue Pavilion were far too sensitive.
Selling salt and tea required salt and tea certificates, which were essentially government-granted monopolies.
Moreover, the tea-and-salt trade required enormous logistics and storage costs. Anyone capable of operating both salt and tea businesses was no ordinary wealthy merchant.
Such businesses depended heavily on government connections. Without the support of local officials or powerful nobles, it would be extremely difficult to obtain the necessary certificates or open up trade routes.
“Guangji Trading itself may not have this capability.”
Xia Lanshi spoke slowly, his gaze deep and distant.
“What really deserves our attention is who could enable a Jiangnan merchant house to come into contact with Jiangnan grain, the Northern Border market, and information from the capital all at the same time, at this particular moment.”
“Guangji Trading is merely the hand reaching into the Northern Border. The real person is still hidden behind the arm.”
“I’m rather curious.”
Xia Lanshi narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Exactly who is willing to pave the road all the way to the Northern Border for Your Highness?”
Xiao Yuan’s greatest shortage was connections.
If there truly was another force willing to assist him, that could not be better.
Chi Banyue looked at Xiao Yuan.
“Your Highness, should we investigate Guangji Trading more deeply?”
Xiao Yuan looked at the letter in his hand but directly rejected the idea.
“No need.”
He pressed the letter against the tabletop, his voice calm.
“If they are enemies, then this letter is deliberately directing us toward the Ministry of Revenue, trying to make us clash with the imperial court. If they aren’t enemies… then someone is warning us.”
Chi Banyue asked, “Warning us?”
A clear understanding flashed through Xiao Yuan’s eyes.
“They may also be selling us a favor. If they are selling a favor, when the time comes, they will naturally come to collect.”
He paused before speaking solemnly.
“As long as their blade isn’t currently pointed toward the Northern Border, we don’t need to concern ourselves with who they are for now.”
◇◆◇◆◇
The night was already deep.
Xia Lanshi and the others had long since received their orders and withdrawn, each going to arrange new defensive measures and directions for further investigation.
Only Xiao Yuan remained in the study.
Beneath the flickering candlelight, several things lay spread across the broad desk:
The complicated grain routes surrounding Beiming Port, the register of grain merchants across the three northern provinces, Xia Lanshi’s chart of Jiangnan grain prices.
And the unsigned confidential letter.
Xiao Yuan stood before the desk and stared at them in silence for a long time.
Finally, his long, powerful fingers slowly came to rest on the line of text in the letter.
If the Crown Prince wanted to eliminate him, he could simply use grain and provisions to obstruct him. There was no need to go to such lengths.
Nor would he be foolish enough to strengthen the Northern Di’s ability to wage war by feeding the starving wolf.
This game was too large.
So large that if the Crown Prince were involved, he could only be one of the pawns being used.
As for Sheng Yuanli—was he truly someone who would betray his country and collaborate with the enemy?
Xiao Yuan didn’t completely believe that.
What that man truly wanted was the Gate.
Would he really be foolish enough to sacrifice all of Dasheng along with it?
What truly concerned him was the person who had written this letter.
That person had not written down any specific name.
They had only pointed him toward the Ministry of Revenue.
This meant that the other party did not want to expose all of their cards, yet had accurately grasped the value of the intelligence they were providing.
A faint smile, extremely rare, appeared on Xiao Yuan’s stern face.
He couldn’t help feeling somewhat moved.
All this time, whether in the capital or within the imperial court, no one had ever dared extend a helping hand toward him.
Even Grand Tutor Xia, as the balance of the imperial court, could not openly lean toward him.
Yet now, someone in the capital, separated from him by thousands of miles, had handed him the first crucial piece of the puzzle—and was attempting to establish an entirely new connection.
This battle seemed to be becoming more and more interesting.
He had once believed he was fighting alone, single-handedly resisting the snow and wind of the Northern Border and the hidden arrows of the capital.
But now it seemed…
“Someone is watching for me in the capital.”
If someone was truly willing to help him, then he would certainly remember this favor.