Chapter 2315 - Several Pieces of "Good News"

The arrival of grain and troops quickly settled the people of Wuzhou. At Zhao Fengtian's urging, Xie Erren made several public appearances, including a special visit to the Dragon Mother Temple to cultivate an atmosphere of "the Dragon Mother protects Wuzhou."

Wuzhou followed suit as usual. Seven or eight days after the riot, victory reports also arrived from Guangxi: the Volte Army had occupied Nanning. With this, the Left Route Army's Guangxi strategy was essentially complete. Except for former Ming Dynasty bonded areas controlled by Tusi and some remote places inaccessible by water, most prefectures and counties under regular official rule had been occupied, and Guangxi's main water transportation was restored.

Shortly after capturing Nanning, Zhu Mingxia immediately proclaimed to merchants throughout the province that all waterway channels were now open for navigation.

"Whether goods backlogged before the war or goods currently in hand—as long as you're willing to transport them west to Wuzhou, warships and soldiers will escort you along the entire route without taking a penny."

Not only were Inland River Fleet ships sent for escort, but empty vessels from the Joint Logistics Fleet returning west also offered cargo space at reduced prices. Strategic materials—such as grain—were transported free of charge.

As a result, local products and grain originally stockpiled in Guangxi began flowing toward Guangdong.

By custom, most Guangxi merchants sold their goods upon reaching Wuzhou. So the restoration of water transportation was like a shot of adrenaline for the merchants and citizens who had fallen into depression. Especially the owners and managers of the Peace Code Guild—one could only imagine their excitement when they saw civilian boats arriving from the upper reaches of the West River.

Xie Erren and Zhao Fengtian remained indifferent to the changes brought by the improving situation. They had too many matters demanding their attention.

First was the case. After Cai Lan was escorted back to the Earth God Temple for custody, she was bullied and tormented daily by two female wardens—especially through verbal humiliation. Finally unable to endure it any longer, she swallowed gold and died. Upon hearing of her death, Zheng Ergen breathed a secret sigh of relief. After sending a coroner to verify the body, he found nuns from a local nunnery and commissioned them to handle the funeral arrangements.

"Don't be too frugal with the funeral. Select a proper coffin to see her off." Zheng Ergen followed Zhao Fengtian's instructions. "After encoffining, don't bury the coffin immediately. Keep it for half a year first. If there's no news after half a year, choose auspicious ground for burial."

The nuns took the silver and went about their duties. Zheng Ergen breathed another sigh of relief and went immediately to report to Zhao Fengtian.

"She's dead," he said excitedly. "Without any tampering."

Zhao Fengtian didn't smile. Instead, he sighed heavily. "We've done something with a guilty conscience..."

"Even at a public trial, she couldn't have escaped death," Zheng Ergen offered.

"That's true enough, but what we did can't be brought into the light. It violates 'Rule by Law.'" Zhao Fengtian sighed again. "When I was in the administrative training class, the Chief taught us that regardless of motive or intention, our actions must be aboveboard and able to withstand scrutiny. Don't think the law ties our hands—the law is protective armor for people like us..."

Seeing Zheng Ergen's expression of complete incomprehension, he realized the man couldn't grasp these concepts, and saying more was pointless. So he asked instead, "How are the follow-up matters arranged?"

Zheng Ergen immediately recounted the arrangements for Cai Lan's funeral. Zhao Fengtian nodded and asked, "What about those two female wardens?"

Zheng Ergen was startled. "I told them to return to their duties..."

"Those two cannot stay." Zhao Fengtian whispered, taking two small bundles from his drawer. "Each bundle contains twenty taels of silver. Tell them to take the silver and move out of Wuzhou with their families as soon as possible. Live incognito from now on—never return to Wuzhou. Make sure to frighten them a bit."

The management of retained personnel was strict on entry but loose on exit. Although there was vetting upon hiring, leaving wasn't rigorous. Some resigned formally, while plenty simply vanished without notice. With the regime's instability and unpredictable war situation in recent months, personnel turnover had been significant. Two female wardens running away wouldn't raise eyebrows.

"Understood. I'll arrange it right away." Sweat poured down Zheng Ergen's forehead. He thought to himself that following regulations in the past earned no good, yet following the Chief's wishes now was equally nerve-wracking! He truly didn't know what was best.

After Zheng Ergen left, Zhao Fengtian studied the seal script on the two cipher seals lying on his table once more. Thus far, the local police in Wuzhou hadn't discovered their origin. Managers and staff from several seal-carving shops in the city had been summoned to examine them, but none could identify the specific craftsman. However, they unanimously agreed these two seals hadn't come from ordinary seal-carving shops—they had likely been privately carved by some commercial establishment.

"...For private carving, the material can be kept secret, and the carving method differs from outside work. The shop controls it internally, so outsiders can't forge copies," one manager reported.

"In that case, which shops in Wuzhou carve cipher seals themselves?"

"That would be quite a few. At minimum, the local Peace Code Guild and substantial major shops all do it. Smaller establishments have little silver deposited and no large accounts, so they generally don't bother."

Within Wuzhou City, the substantial firms that carved their own cipher seals numbered perhaps thirty or forty at most. So the identification scope had narrowed considerably. Zhao Fengtian sent people to invite prominent figures from the local Chamber of Commerce, having them examine the seals to see if anyone could identify which family they belonged to—or at least which trade they likely pertained to.

Rapid footsteps sounded from outside—Luo Yangming's footsteps, always this hurried. Yet somehow listening to them brought reassurance.

What could be so urgent? Zhao Fengtian's heart tensed again.

Luo Yangming hurried in for good reason: he had just received an urgent letter through Political Security's secret channel.

He burst in and sat opposite Zhao Fengtian without time for pleasantries, lingering alarm on his face.

"Yangming, what's wrong? Is there an emergency?"

"Disaster!" Luo Yangming said urgently. "A great disaster!"

"What disaster?!" Zhao Fengtian's expression changed. Given his profession, Luo Yangming not only spoke cautiously but typically maintained an impassive demeanor. It was rare to see him rattled.

For him to be this agitated, the matter was clearly serious.

"Plague cases found in Guangzhou," Luo Yangming whispered.

"What?!" Zhao Fengtian nearly leapt to his feet. During his training in the administrative training class, there had been a special course on local administrative "health and epidemic prevention" work, focusing on the spread and prevention of several severe infectious diseases. So he was no stranger to the plague.

"Don't get excited—be careful the news doesn't spread." Luo Yangming lowered his voice. "This just arrived. The official document will probably be a few days behind."

The Political Security Bureau's secret channel had very high priority, often reaching destinations before official documents.

"What's the specific situation?"

"Cases were found during beggar repatriation and sheltering at the docks a few days ago. Since there are cases, I'm afraid the plague has already spread. In the coming wave, Guangzhou will likely see many deaths." Luo Yangming said. "The PSB ordered me to monitor visitors from Guangzhou in Wuzhou..."

Zhao Fengtian nodded silently and whispered, "This is truly terrible luck! The Senate is now under attack from front and rear?"

"Indeed. Fortunately, Guangxi is roughly pacified militarily now. As long as Guangzhou controls the epidemic and prevents it from spreading outward, it will naturally subside in a few months."

"Even so, if Guangzhou has problems, our commerce here—which has only just begun recovering—will probably suffer another heavy blow..."

"I don't think it'll be too serious. After all, what's coming from Guangxi is mostly grain, which the Planning Commission urgently needs." Luo Yangming said. "What's being transported to Guangxi is mainly salt—produced in the salt fields of Haibei and Hainan, completely unrelated to Guangzhou."

"That's reassuring to hear." Zhao Fengtian thought to himself that although plague had broken out in Guangzhou, this should actually count as a blessing for Chief Xie—at present, the Senate probably wouldn't have the bandwidth to investigate his affair. After another half year, the situation might be entirely different.

How could Luo Yangming know the calculations running through Zhao Fengtian's mind? He said, "Though Guangzhou is far from us, we should begin preparatory work."

The preparatory work amounted to setting up quarantine zones, conducting inspections on personnel from Guangzhou, and inevitably launching a rat extermination campaign.

"...We can start preparing these things now. After all, Wuzhou is a major water and land terminal for Liangguang. Normally merchants gather here—there's no guarantee no one comes from Guangzhou. Come to think of it, with the war disrupting traffic and commerce across Liangguang these past months, that's actually been a blessing in disguise."

"You're right," Zhao Fengtian nodded. "I'll go report to Chief Xie immediately and get this handled."

Just as they were speaking, a naturalized cadre entered, placed an envelope on the table, and whispered a few words in Zhao Fengtian's ear. Zhao Fengtian nodded slightly and said, "You may go."

He opened the envelope and poured out two cipher seals.

"These two seals have been identified."

"Oh?" Luo Yangming's interest was piqued. "Which family?"

"Ruijin Tang Silk Shop."

"The Jiang family's?" Luo Yangming feigned surprise. In fact, he had more or less guessed: since Jiang Qiuchan was deeply implicated in this case, her maiden family might also be involved.

"Correct. Several people from the Chamber of Commerce and the Aftermath Bureau examined them and said they should be theirs." Zhao Fengtian spoke playfully while watching Luo Yangming. "I originally thought Jiang Qiuchan was merely used. It seems the waters in her family run deeper than expected."

When they had discussed the case, Luo Yangming had more or less deliberately tried to exonerate Jiang Qiuchan. On one hand, it was at his wife's request; on the other, he also felt Jiang Qiuchan had a pitiable background and no malicious intent—quite different from the deliberate actions of Cai Lan and the others.

Originally, they had reached a certain tacit understanding about clearing Jiang Qiuchan's name. But now that new evidence had emerged, Luo Yangming knew this matter could no longer remain ambiguous.

(End of Chapter)