Fu Shanyue looked relaxed, not flustered in the slightest. After all, so long as he revealed his identity, he could easily lead the entire caravan across the border. No one would dare inspect his belongings.
A few figures suddenly emerged from inside the checkpoint.
Six or seven bailiffs, and one base slave.
A base slave appearing at the checkpoint was a rare sight, drawing stares from traveling merchants all around.
Paying no mind to anyone else, they walked straight up to the Shimen caravan and Fu Shanyue's party, shouting, "This line! Strict inspection!"
Second Master Shi was taken aback and stepped forward with cupped hands. "Officers, what has happened?"
"Dagong County Yamen!" An officer flashed a medallion before them. "Nothing has happened. Routine spot check, and your turn just came up!"
Second Master Shi could not help smiling. "There is no need to trouble yourselves, officers. We carry no contraband of any kind."
The head bailiff had seen it with his own eyes the night before, so how could he be fooled? His expression hardened at once. "Save the chatter. Step aside, and don't obstruct official business!"
"And you lot, you!" he barked at the caravan hands who were about to move. "Nobody move, or you'll taste the cangue and chains! Alright, search them for me! Search thoroughly!"
As he spoke, the other bailiffs fanned out to conduct the search, letting not a single carriage slip by, whether carrying goods or passengers.
The results for the first ten carriages came back: nothing.
Then continue searching.
The Shimen Merchant Guild had many carts and even more goods, so searching them took quite a bit of time. Taking advantage of the lull, He Lingchuan and Fu Shanyue both hurried over.
Second Master Shi was trying to sound them out. "What is all this about? Officers, we are all law-abiding folk!" He pointed at the base slave. "What is this person doing here? Why is he standing with you?"
The head bailiff glared at him. "None of your business!"
"Oh? Could it be that this base slave falsely accused us?" Fu Shanyue cast a look at the base slave that chilled the man to the bone. "He used to attend to me, but after a few beatings from my hand, he harbored a grudge and decided to take reckless revenge."
At this point, he raised his head and sniffed twice, furrowing his brow. "This scoundrel was even drinking earlier. You would actually take the word of a drunk base slave?!"
As his voice rose, more curious travelers gathered around to watch the commotion.
The bailiffs thought to themselves: *Does he have the nose of a dog? He can even smell the liquor this base slave drank last night?* On the surface, however, they had to answer, "Routine spot check, strictly by the book!"
Fu Shanyue smiled. "And if you find nothing?"
The cold gleam in his eyes made the base slave shiver uncontrollably.
The head bailiff did not care. "Then congratulations, you get to pass through."
Fu Shanyue gave him a long, penetrating stare. "Do you know who I am?"
The head bailiff braced himself. "I don't care who you are. On Lingxu City's territory, you obey the laws here!"
Fu Shanyue chuckled. "Good, good. Impartial enforcement of the law, is it?"
Uncle Da and the other guards rushed up from behind, glaring menacingly at the bailiffs. Fu Shanyue waved a hand, signaling them to fall back into the ranks.
Too many eyes and ears were watching; this was no place to use force.
By this time, the other bailiffs had finished checking the last carriage. One scrambled out and announced, "Nothing! Not a thing!"
Everyone's eyes instantly locked onto the base slave.
The head bailiff panicked a little as well.
He had clearly seen it with his own eyes last night—how could it not be in the carriages?
Could Young Master Fu Shan have been alerted and discarded the target long ago?
Fu Shanyue wore a cold, empty smile. "And now, what do you plan to do?"
The head bailiff asked his men, "Did you truly search every corner?"
"Bah, we were even worried about illusions or concealment arts, so we climbed into every compartment and checked with our own hands! Nothing."
This really was... Meeting Fu Shanyue's icy gaze, the head bailiff could only gulp. "Well... about that..."
Just then, several more people stepped out from behind the checkpoint. The leader asked, "What is going on here?"
At first glance, this figure's build, limbs, clothing, and proud, chest-out posture looked human, but his skin had a greenish cast. The parts of his body left uncovered by fabric were all coated in fine scales.
His eyes were emerald-green, his ears bore fin-like spines, and He Lingchuan noticed faint webbing between his fingers.
Was that... webbing?
What breed of monster was this?
The moment Fu Shanyue laid eyes on him, his eyes narrowed, and an expression of sudden realization dawned on his face. "Zhongsun Mou? So you're the one tripping me up! No wonder!"
"Audacious!" A guard behind the man stepped forward and barked sharply, "How dare you show disrespect to Lord Inspector!"
"Inspector?" Fu Shanyue was somewhat surprised. He had been about to step forward, but pulled back upon hearing that title.
"Fu Shanyue? Do not judge a gentleman by your own petty standards." Zhongsun Mou turned unhurriedly to the head bailiff. "Go on, tell me what happened."
"A rou-routine spot check."
"Did you find anything?"
"No—"
The head bailiff barely squeaked out a word before someone behind them shouted loudly, "Lord Inspector, there is contraband here!"
Everyone was taken aback. Turning their heads, they saw two soldiers standing beside one of the Shimen caravan's carts. Pulling back the tarp, they pointed at a glass jar beneath it and cried, "This is dragonscale spikemoss! It is strictly forbidden to take it out of the Twilight Plains!"
"How can that be possible?!" Second Master Shi blurted out. "We have traveled this trade route for over a dozen years, and we have never carried dragonscale spikemoss!"
He knew this route inside and out and never made mistakes; how could he possibly smuggle contraband?
Dragonscale spikemoss was a plant unique to the Twilight Marshes. Its leaves resembled dragon scales, and when prepared as medicine, it could powerfully restore a man's vigor. Naturally, such an item never lacked buyers, as there was always someone visiting an apothecary beginning their plea with, "I have a friend who..."
However, excessive harvesting in the past had left dragonscale spikemoss extremely scarce. It had become a strictly controlled medicinal ingredient that commoners were forbidden to harvest or transport privately.
Once discovered, heavy penalties followed!
This was why blood rushed straight to Second Master Shi's head the moment he saw dragonscale spikemoss appear on his own cart—and a damningly large jar of it at that.
He was beside himself with fury.
What caravan smuggling valuable goods would be foolish enough to use an unobstructed glass jar?
If private individuals couldn't harvest it, then this obviously came from the authorities.
The other side's underhanded plot against the Shimen caravan had truly reached a shameless, bottomless low!
He Lingchuan watched the whole farce from the side and whispered to Fu Shanyue, "What's this fellow's connection to you?"
"A rival," Fu Shanyue whispered, his voice like the hum of a mosquito. "He'd love nothing more than to see me dead."
"What did you do to him?"
"My royal father killed his grandfather."
"..."
Fu Shanyue touched his nose again. "His brother's death also has a little something to do with me."
"...Fair enough." *A 'little' something, or an awful lot?*
So Zhongsun Mou had every reason to hate Fu Shanyue, and hate by association as well?
Sure enough, when Zhongsun Mou's gaze swept over, the hatred directed at He Lingchuan was no less intense; He Lingchuan seemed to be receiving the exact same treatment as Fu Shanyue.
*If I kick Fu Shanyue away right now and yell 'I barely know him,' would it still be in time?*
"Illicitly carrying dragonscale spikemoss, attempting to cross the border checkpoint..." Zhongsun Mou drawled. "How is that usually sentenced?"
After all, this was not his profession.
A clerk scampered over from behind. "Dragonscale spikemoss, two jin or more—"
He glanced at the jar. Never mind two jin, there were easily seven or eight jin in there.
"As the quantity is substantial, a ten-fold fine may be levied—which comes to three thousand taels of silver."
"Three thousand taels..." Cold sweat broke out on Second Master Shi's forehead, his heart clenching at the number. If penalized such a fortune, how much money would he have left to show for this entire trade journey? "My lord, this penalty is far too severe."
He no longer bothered to dispute the origin of the dragonscale spikemoss. Commoners could not fight officials; if they wanted to frame him, they would succeed without fail.
Yet he still wanted to minimize his losses.
The clerk said a ten-fold fine "may" be levied, not that it must be, which meant there was discretion in the sentencing.
By this time, the convoy had been forcibly dragged away from the checkpoint gate to avoid blocking the queue behind them.
Zhongsun Mou looked at Fu Shanyue with a relaxed, amused smile. "If Young Master Fu Shan is willing to plead on your behalf, I would still grant that face."
Fu Shanyue's cheek twitched.
The bastard was thoroughly venomous! To humble himself and beg Zhongsun Mou was something he could never bring himself to do.
Yet if he refused, He Lingchuan and the Shimen caravan would bear the brunt of the torment.
"Zhongsun Mou, you are playing with fire," he warned Zhongsun Mou. "Do too many guilty deeds, and you'd better grow eyes in the back of your head."
A guard at the side shouted, "You dare threaten a commissioned official of Lingxu City?!"
Zhongsun Mou chuckled. "Young Master Fu Shan has refused. If you want to blame anyone, blame him."
Fu Shanyue bared his teeth and whispered to He Lingchuan, "Tell Shi the Second to pay the fine. However much he pays, I will reimburse him later."
He Lingchuan nodded to Second Master Shi immediately.
Having traveled together the whole way, they shared a tacit understanding. Furious though he was, Second Master Shi had spent years doing business and believed that harmony brought wealth; swallowing his indignation, he paid the three-thousand-tael fine.
"My lord, may we leave now?" A mere ten zhang ahead lay the territory of the Chiyan Kingdom, yet they were barred from crossing.
"What's the rush?" Zhongsun Mou asked the clerk languidly. "Is this party done being inspected?"
The clerk was sharp. "No, not yet! We've only checked half of it!"
"Then what are you standing around for? Don't waste Young Master Fu Shan's time!"
"Yes, sir." The clerk turned and waved at the bailiffs. "What are you gaping for? Unload everything, inspect every single piece!"
Fu Shanyue fixed his gaze upon him, a faint sneer on his lips. "What mighty authority you display."
Meeting that sinister, predatory glare, the clerk instinctively pulled his neck in. But the order had been given, and with one or two thousand officials and civilians watching at the checkpoint, the bailiffs sprang into action immediately, hauling every scrap of cargo off the carts onto the ground to examine item by item.
They even drew their blades, stabbing and poking into the bundles of raw materials. Had anyone been hiding inside, blood would have pooled across the ground by now.
Second Master Shi watched with a pounding heart; he had originally intended to hide Little Taozi in the pile of materials.
The Shimen caravan's cargo was vast and varied. Seeing the caravan members simply standing by while he and his subordinates worked themselves to exhaustion, the head bailiff bellowed, "What are you staring at? Get over here and help unload!"
The caravan hands' expressions soured. This bastard was tormenting them to death, and now he wanted them to do his heavy lifting?
He Lingchuan chimed in at just the right moment: "If their hands move, it costs money. I'm afraid we'll have to trouble you officers."
Seeing him smiling so pleasantly while delivering such a biting remark, the head bailiff pointed right at his nose. "Don't play the big man here, boy, or you'll get a taste of suffering!"
"As you can see, I have nothing of value to my name—not even a carriage." He Lingchuan patted his ribs. "If someone wanted to frame me and plant some dragonscale spikemoss on my person, it wouldn't be very easy, would it?"
Chapter 432