By the second watch of the night, the wind howled like someone running across the rooftops.
The gusts brought some coolness into the room. Shu Rui lay with his head on Lu Ling’s arm, still half-asleep, muttering, “With such a commotion, it’s impossible to make out anything clearly—most annoying on a night like this.”
Lu Ling pulled the blanket over Shu Rui’s exposed arms. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping an eye out.”
It wasn’t until the second watch that the rain began in earnest, drumming heavily on the roof, no less noisy than the wind.
The oppressive heat in the room finally dissipated, and Shu Rui fell into a deep sleep.
But his rest was short-lived. Soon, urgent footsteps approached, accompanied by a knock at the door. The voice outside was hurried but careful not to be too loud: “Innkeeper Lu! Innkeeper Lu!”
The call came from the neighboring room—Xu Cheng was at Lu Ling’s door.
Hearing the voice, Shu Rui sat up abruptly, freeing Lu Ling’s arm in the process. On a rainy night, trouble was the last thing one wanted. Shu Rui’s heart thumped: What could have happened?
“I don’t know,” Lu Ling replied, about to get up, but Shu Rui quickly covered his mouth. “Don’t answer yet. It’s too loud outside. If you do, they’ll know we’re in the same room.”
Lu Ling blinked, nodded, and hurriedly got dressed. He slipped out through the back window and entered his own room from the other side, then went to open the door.
Shu Rui followed, listening to Lu Ling open the door.
“The storage shop assistant said a thief broke in and got caught. He’s sent for the innkeeper to handle it,” came the explanation.
Shu Rui and Lu Ling exchanged glances, put on raincoats, and went together to the storage shop.
Rainy nights were prime time for thieves. Summer heat made homes stuffy, windows often unlocked, and outsiders sleeping soundly made it easy for thieves to act.
When they arrived, the shop was brightly lit. Nothing had been stolen. The thief had triggered a mousetrap, injuring his foot badly, and was now tied up by the assistant, half-lying on the floor, wailing.
Shu Rui thought that the money spent on securing the shop had not been wasted.
Lu Ling noticed the thief’s foot was injured. If left untreated, it could permanently disable him, yet the thief, who came to steal, now required the victim’s assistance to treat it—somewhat distasteful.
Even in the rain, Lu Ling instructed an assistant to accompany them and take the thief to the authorities. The local magistrate’s office had on-duty officials for sudden incidents. The thief would be processed officially.
After the commotion, Shu Rui could not sleep, waiting until Lu Ling returned before heading back to the inn. Exhausted, their rest the next morning was restless.
During the day, Lu Ling checked the storage shop thoroughly, ensuring nothing was missing, summoning officials once more for verification before returning in the afternoon.
“How did the authorities respond?” Shu Rui asked.
“They did a routine inquiry this morning. The thief wasn’t very skilled, got in but didn’t touch the goods before being caught. Last night was stormy, so several incidents occurred. Some merchants came to report stolen property, but those weren’t caused by the thief we caught.”
Shu Rui sighed. The city was vast and prosperous, and theft was common. Lu Ling had recently caught a habitual offender, and now another petty thief had been apprehended so soon.
Thievery, however, never ceases entirely. Anywhere with goods, at any time, theft could occur. Fortunately, the authorities took theft seriously, enforcing punishments consistently.
The incident did not weigh heavily on them, but they instructed the assistants to be more vigilant.
Unexpectedly, after being victimized, the storage shop’s business began to decline.
It wasn’t that business vanished completely, but fewer customers came to store goods day by day. Incoming clients were now mostly brought by brokers directly from the docks or city gates. Surprisingly, there was almost no local traffic.
Shu Rui, stationed at the inn, hadn’t noticed the slowdown firsthand, but Lu Ling’s remarks suggested a significant drop. Concerned, Shu Rui reviewed the ledgers.
The results were startling. Previously, a single day’s transactions could fill one or two ledger pages. Now, over ten days, business dwindled steadily, with as few as five entries on some days. Only when a broker brought a client could half a page be recorded.
At this rate, monthly revenue barely covered shop rent and assistant wages; the innkeeper would labor fruitlessly.
Such a sudden decline alarmed them all. Yet neither Shu Rui nor Lu Ling could pinpoint the cause. Zhong Dayang checked repeatedly, and assistants continued as usual. Initially, they suspected accounting errors, but Lu Ling saw nothing amiss.
Finally, while settling wages one day, a broker brought a carrier to store goods, revealing the reason.
The carrier, inexperienced in the city, asked loudly about storage prices at the shop entrance, ensuring his goods were safe before handing them over. Unbeknownst to him, an elderly local woman overheard the conversation. She was forthright and helpful, and upon hearing the carrier’s foreign accent, immediately spoke up:
“Brother, don’t store your goods here! It’s a den of thieves! These shop assistants are skilled—if a dispute arises, you outsiders won’t stand a chance!”
The carrier was alarmed. The broker protested, “Madam, we bear you no grudge! Why speak so?”
“You brokers take bribes, leading outsiders to a thief’s den!” the woman insisted. “People come out here to make a small living, hoping to bring back a few coins for their families. How can you endanger them?”
The broker shouted back, insisting he was acting in good faith to guide clients, but the woman persisted. The carrier, unsure whom to trust, hesitated to store his goods.
Shu Rui and Lu Ling, hearing the commotion, came out.
“Manager Wang, what’s going on?”
The broker, red-faced, explained, “This old woman slanders your shop, saying you secretly fence stolen goods. She claims you take outsiders’ property and it never returns!”
Shu Rui and Lu Ling exchanged tense glances. “Why would she say such things? Spreading slander publicly like this is actionable—we could summon the city authorities!”
Hearing potential official action, the woman hesitated but added, “I’m not the only one saying it—rumors have spread. Your shop was once a habitual thief’s haunt, sealed by officials. Recently, a thief entered your shop and the innkeeper was summoned by the magistrate!”
Shu Rui’s brow furrowed. Despite being victims, their shop’s reputation had been twisted.
He realized the scheme: someone had used existing facts—the shop’s past seizure and the recent theft—to fabricate a story, spreading rumors to ruin their reputation. The person behind this was clever; the authorities had legitimately visited the shop, and now outsiders only saw partial truths, believing the story in full.
Shu Rui exhaled sharply. No wonder business had slumped—their good faith and diligence went unnoticed, while rumors harmed their shop. If the matter hadn’t surfaced publicly, they might have remained oblivious much longer.
It was the first time they had suffered such targeted sabotage in business.
Fortunately, Shu Rui was unflustered. When he had rented the shop, he had already prepared contingencies.
Taking advantage of the moment, he whispered instructions to Lu Ling.
Lu Ling’s brows twitched, worried about Shu Rui being alone at the shop.
“It’s fine, just go quickly and return,” Shu Rui assured him.
As Lu Ling left, more people on the street gathered to watch. Neighbors who had peeked before now craned their necks, and passersby crowded around, curious about the commotion.
Shu Rui took advantage of the crowd to seize the chance to clear things up:
“This shop having once been sealed by the authorities is true enough—everyone in the neighborhood saw the notice posted, there’s no denying that. But that was the previous tenant’s business. After the government reached its decision and the seal was lifted, then we paid to lease the premises and began operating. We are absolutely not criminals who changed faces and reopened under a different name!”
Someone in the crowd shouted back, “You can say whatever you like, but who really knows if that’s true? If there were no problems, why would everyone outside be talking about it? Flies don’t land on eggs without cracks!”
Seeing people take her side, the old woman straightened her back. “Exactly! Those black-hearted brokers took dirty money to do dirty work, and they still won’t admit it—arguing fiercely with us. If we hadn’t heard about this shop’s reputation, why would we risk offending people to speak up for that peddler from out of town?”
“That’s right, that’s right—thieves in, thieves out. This young fellow here has a slick tongue, and the shop’s full of capable hands. Scary, really.”
Someone in the crowd took the opportunity to curse loudly, “Black shop! Always full of sweet talk. Sooner or later the authorities will uncover your dirty goods!”
Once someone started it, the townsfolk—who had originally just been gossiping without proof—were stirred into anger. Things that had nothing to do with them became an outlet for their own frustrations, and the shouting grew louder and uglier.
“It’s a den for fencing stolen goods—maybe they even harbor criminals, doing all kinds of shady business!”
“So the inns along Ten-Li Street are all in cahoots, squeezing money out of people and ruining lives! Thieving merchants!”
Seeing things turn bad, Shu Rui sent the bookkeeper to report to the Street Office, while fixing his gaze on the person who had been leading the trouble.
He stepped back onto the shop’s steps and grabbed a clerk whose fists were clenched tight. “Don’t rush out and clash with the crowd. If someone with ulterior motives says we’re lashing out in embarrassment and beating people, then we’ll turn nothing into something. Once it spreads, we’ll be in the wrong no matter what.”
Protected by the clerks, Shu Rui raised his voice. “Everyone, with your pointing things out today, we’ve realized there are many shortcomings in our shop. We will certainly make improvements going forward, to better serve you all with a convenient place to store goods.”
“Though there may be lapses in how we’ve run things, accusations like ‘black shop’ or ‘den for stolen goods’ are truly more than we can bear. We’re honestly deeply wronged by this.
“The city is large, and unfortunately there are many who don’t make an honest living and instead steal, harming hardworking merchants and common folk alike. We detest such thieves just as much, and it is absolutely impossible that we would harbor criminals.
“To speak frankly—perhaps even boastfully—we have even caught quite a few thieves and handed them over to the authorities, hoping to cut away some of these tumors. We never expected that this would offend thieves who band together, and that they would now spread rumors everywhere to persecute us. It’s despicable.”
“Pah! A thief crying ‘thief’! Don’t dress it up so nicely and paste gold on your own face! A den for stolen goods, yet you dare brag about catching thieves!”
“Everyone, see these slippery merchants clearly. In the future, steer clear of them—don’t fall into their trap!”
“Merchant Fan, don’t you have goods stored here? Hurry and take them out while everyone’s here to bear witness! If you leave them too long and need the money later, what will you do if you can’t get them back?”
Those who had stored goods in the shop, hearing the commotion, rushed over. Most had originally felt at ease, but stirred up by others, panic crept into their hearts, and for a moment they hesitated over whether to retrieve their goods.
Just as the uproar reached its peak, a cold voice rang out: “Whether we are ‘thieves crying thief,’ or whether there are criminals seizing a chance for revenge—I trust everyone can judge for themselves.”
The crowd turned toward Lu Ling, who had just returned. In his hand he held a document, clearly stating:
In the twenty-fourth year of Fengwang, seventh month: the good citizen Lu Ling acted righteously, assisting the authorities in capturing the criminal Wang, relieving the government’s worries and the people’s distress. As a reward, ten taels of silver are granted. This document serves as proof.
A bright red official seal stamped the page.
“Oh my! The shopkeeper really is a righteous man! He’s the one who caught the habitual thief from this shop in the past and handed him over to the authorities.”
“What does it say? What does it say?”
“It’s an official reward document with a government seal! There was a wanted criminal before who stole from many wealthy households—very slippery, never caught for a long time. He was only captured last year. And it really was this storage shop’s proprietor who took him down!”
“No wonder no one rented this place for business for such a long time after the seal was lifted. That’s why Shopkeeper Lu wasn’t afraid of the bad luck and dared to lease it. He’s the one who caught the old thief—others were scared and wouldn’t rent it, but he wasn’t.”
With the document revealed, the ordinary townsfolk who had been led by the nose instantly swung back the other way.
Taking advantage of the moment, and prompted by a look from Shu Rui, Lu Ling struck swiftly and grabbed a man hiding in the crowd who had been leading the smear campaign. “You were the loudest one shouting about a black shop hiding stolen goods. Let’s see you dare say this document is fake too!”
The man Lu Ling seized wasn’t tall and blended easily into the crowd. If Shu Rui hadn’t already noticed someone muddying the waters against them, and if he’d been flustered by the flood of insults, he might not have spotted this person at all.
But once you’re on guard, no matter how crafty an eel may be, if it shows even the tip of its tail, it won’t escape Lu Ling’s grasp.
“Y-you’re talking nonsense. I was just here to watch the excitement.”
Caught firmly, unable to struggle free, the man’s heart plunged into panic.
“Whether you’re just watching or not—we’ll know once the constables take you in for proper questioning.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the bookkeeper came running and shouting, “The Street Office constables are here!”
Two constables hurried forward. After learning the situation, they took away both the old woman who had started the trouble and the man who had fanned the flames. Then they addressed the onlookers:
“Recently the prefectural office summoned Merchant Lu for questioning because a thief broke into his shop on a rainy night, was caught, and sent to the authorities. That is why he was called in during the daytime. Do not spread rumors or believe false talk and cause disturbances. With the autumn moon approaching and harvest season at hand, everyone should be even more careful guarding their own property, lest thieves find an opportunity.”
The Street Office personnel did not yet know of the relationship between Lu Ling and Lu Senior, but after previous incidents where the Street Office had wrongly harassed merchants and been punished, the atmosphere had been cleaned up, and they now handled matters far more steadily.
After being lectured, the onlookers finally dispersed.
Two days later, the Street Office reported back that the old woman truly had no malicious intent—she had merely heard gossip and, being warm-hearted, argued with the broker in front of the shop.
As for the man who had incited things, after interrogation he confessed that he had taken money to deliberately spread rumors and slander others. Following the trail led back to a manager at an inn on South Avenue.
Shu Rui’s shop and Lu Ling’s shop were closely linked and both doing brisk business, drawing away a good deal of trade from that inn. In the past, before their shops opened, that inn alone had thrived. As business declined, the innkeeper blamed the manager, who then resorted to crooked methods.
At first Shu Rui hadn’t known whether it was thieves seeking revenge or competitors angered by blocked business. He hadn’t expected it to truly be the latter.
By any fair measure, they had run their business honestly. There were many同行 in the market; win or lose through fair competition was something everyone should accept. Using underhanded tricks and smearing others crossed the line.
Commercial disputes mostly fell under the Tax Office, which was willing to put effort into maintaining fair competition. Having caught such a violation, together with the guild they punished the inn—the most direct penalty being a fine.
It was said the inn was fined fifty strings of cash, paid twenty strings in compensation to the storage shop, and received a formal reprimand publicly posted within the guild.
“It’s a good thing this was discovered before it went too far,” someone said. “Otherwise, let alone twenty strings—two hundred would’ve been cheap for them.”
Reputation, once damaged, was no easy thing to restore. Many shops spent decades building it up with the utmost care.
Shu Rui said, “Even though we made a public clarification that day, there are bound to be people who don’t know the truth and were fooled. They pass it on to others, and we can’t grab each person to explain. We’ve truly been harmed by these vile merchants.”
Lu Ling comforted him. “Business has picked up again. It probably didn’t spread too widely. Since the authorities and the guild have already taken a stance, if we keep pressing the matter, it might provoke resentment on the other side.”
“I know,” Shu Rui replied. “No matter what, I won’t go make trouble with the guild or the authorities.”
Part of it was that Shu Rui couldn’t swallow the injustice; more than that, he couldn’t bear to see the hard-won reputation they’d built be ruined.
As his eyes turned, a plan formed in his mind.
He went to the craftsmen’s guild and had a carpenter mount and frame the commendation document the authorities had given Lu Ling. When he returned, he hung it high in front of the shop counter—placed so that any customer would see it at a glance.
Then he found people to spread the story in teahouses and wine shops: praising the storage shop’s righteous act of catching thieves, and how jealous competitors had smeared them and hurt their business.
Using the same methods others had used against them—this time to their own benefit.
Though the method was the same, Shu Rui stuck strictly to the facts. He told no lies; he merely let more people know the truth. His efforts weren’t wasted—ordinary townsfolk really did eat it up. Not only was their damaged reputation restored, they even won a fresh wave of praise and sympathy.
Once that little document was hung up, it was like the brocade banners patients give to medical clinics. Merchants who came in saw it and immediately gave a thumbs-up, calling the place reliable.
Every time Lu Ling entered the shop, he felt a bit awkward. He wasn’t thin-skinned, but he was a low-key sort of person. Going in and out, lifting his eyes to see the document, then being praised at length by customers who came to store goods—it was truly hard to bear.
He asked Shu Rui several times to take it down. Shu Rui would soften under his words, but then Zhong Dayang would prop it right back up, saying it was a rare golden signboard. Business wasn’t just about doing your duties well—you also needed a bit of “blowing your own horn.” It was no different from paying for promotion.
Shu Rui found that very reasonable. No matter what Lu Ling said, he refused to take it down.
And it wasn’t only Shu Rui who knew how to act. The matter of the shop hadn’t been mentioned at home, yet somehow Lu Ling’s father learned that Lu Ling had caught a thief and gone to the prefectural office—and that others had made an issue of it. Anger rose in his heart, and no one knew what he said to the Criminal Office…
After the thief who had earlier been handed over to the prefectural office received his sentence, the authorities posted a commendation notice on the public bulletin boards, praising various good deeds done by people in the city. One of the notices was for Lu Ling.
This kind of commendation took little effort, cost nothing, and still conveyed the government’s stance, so the officials were more than happy to do it.
For ordinary townsfolk—and especially for Lu Ling and Shu Rui—it not only cleared up the previous misunderstanding once again, but also further boosted the shop’s reputation and made it even more trustworthy.
After the news fermented for a while, business at the shop became better than ever, with monthly earnings even surpassing those of the inn.
Taking advantage of the boom, Shu Rui had Lu Ling and Zhong Dayang add a few small sideline items—oilcloth, crates, baskets, ropes, and other packing supplies—to keep in stock at the shop, so customers who needed them could buy everything in one place.
The profits were thinner, but there was still money to be made, and it made things more convenient for merchants.