Chapter 212: and translation of chapter title

The Yangzhou Market Shipping Office is now the busiest and most delicate place in Yangzhou City.

Deputy Director Han Wei, holding the Court's appointment, should be a person whose word is law. But now, he sits every day in the public office, drinking tea, watching people come and go at the dock outside the window, yet his heart feels stifled as if blocked by a lump of cotton.

He had received the emperor's secret edict.

"Consider the Wang Family's difficulties, do not cause trouble."

These eight characters are like an invisible shackle, firmly locking this Court-appointed official to his chair.

The Wang Family's fleet has ships coming and going every day.

The ship's steward would bring a supposedly perfect cargo Era Name List to the Market Shipping Office for filing. It clearly stated: a certain ship, carrying 'River South superior Silk' three hundred bolts, 'Jiangde Town official kiln porcelain' five hundred crates, departing for Dongying.

Or: a certain ship, returning from Dongying, carrying 'Hokkaido kelp' one thousand dan, 'superior dried fish' two thousand dan, entering port.

Han Wei could tell with his toes that this ledger was fake.

How could a ship carrying silk and porcelain have such a deep draft? The hull is almost touching the water; if it were carrying silk, the silk would have to be made of Iron Control!

How could a ship carrying dried fish and kelp need the strongest laborers to move the cargo in batches, and moreover, while moving, have to cover it tightly with thick oilcloth?

He knew that what was really loaded in those ships was certainly not silk and dried fish.

When going out, they loaded grain, Iron Control ware, and cloth.

When returning, they loaded shipload after shipload of copper ingots and silver ingots dug from the mines of Dongying!

These are the lifeblood of the Wang Family's growth and expansion!

Han Wei more than once wanted to rush to the dock, stop the Wang Family's ships, pry open those oilcloth-covered boxes, and lay the evidence before everyone!

But whenever he felt that impulse, he would recall the cannon fire of that day.

And those eight characters in the emperor's secret edict.

He dared not.

He could only watch helplessly as the Wang Family's wealth, like a snowball, grew larger and larger.

What made him feel even more stifled was the newly appointed Yangzhou Prefect, Wang Hao.

Wang Hao came to the Market Shipping Office every day for official business. He would carefully inspect each cargo Era Name List submitted by the Wang Family, even personally running to the dock to solemnly point and check the quantities of the cargo on the ships.

Then he would take that flawless false ledger, put on a solemn face, and say to Han Wei: 'Sir Han, this humble official has already inspected; the Wang Family's ships have complete paperwork, the cargo matches the list, there is no problem.'

Han Wei looked at Wang Hao's face, full of the words 'impartial handling', and gritted his teeth in hatred.

This uncle-and-nephew pair, one playing the good cop, the other the bad cop, coordinated seamlessly, playing him like a puppet in their palms.

That day, a Wang Family treasure ship returning from Dongying slowly pulled up to the dock.

This ship was larger than any before, its hull even bearing several repaired scars, as if it had weathered a storm.

The ship's steward, as usual, brought a perfect Era Name List to file: carrying 'Dongying raw timber' five hundred logs, 'superior dried fish' three thousand dan.

Han Wei stood by the window, watching coldly.

He noticed that the ship's guard was stricter than ever before. Around the ship, double the Wang Family guards stood, each hand on sword hilt, eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Moreover, the one leading the team to 'receive the cargo' at the dock was none other than Wang Hao himself.

Han Wei's brows furrowed tightly.

Something was off.

This ship definitely had something fishy.

He watched the dockworkers begin to move from the ship's hold those oilcloth-covered 'dried fish'.

Just then, a gust of wind blew, lifting a small corner of one of the oilcloths.

Just a moment.

But Han Wei's eyes, like an eagle's, caught that instant's image.

Under the oilcloth was not dried fish.

But rather, a series of deathly pale, bloodless, shaven heads!

They were stacked like cargo, motionless.

Han Wei's mind went 'buzz' and turned blank.

What is this?!

Are they corpses? Did the Wang Family kill people overseas and ship the bodies back?

No, that's not right!

He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He noticed that the chests of those people seemed to have an extremely faint rise and fall.

They are alive!

A whole ship of living people!

Wang Family, why would they use a cargo ship, like transporting livestock, to bring back an entire ship of living people?!

A chill shot up from Han Wei's spine to the top of his head.

He saw Wang Hao stride quickly onto the ship, go straight down to the lowest hold. After a long while, he emerged with a solemn expression and quietly gave a few orders to the guards beside him.

Soon, those oilcloth-covered 'cargo' were loaded onto black-clothed horse-drawn carriages and swiftly hauled away from the dock, disappearing into the depths of Yangzhou City.

Han Wei's hands trembled.

He knew he might have seen the Wang Family's innermost, darkest secret.

A secret more terrifying than cannons and steam engines.

He rushed to the desk, grabbed a pen, wanting to write it all down and immediately report to the emperor.

But the pen tip hovered over the paper, and he couldn't write a single character.

How should he write it?

Tell the emperor that he saw the Wang Family bring back a ship of 'living dead'?

Would the emperor believe him?

Even if they believed it, what could they do? Send troops to investigate?

Just thinking about the cannon fire that day, just thinking about Wang Che's smiling face, Han Wei felt a wave of helplessness.

He wearily threw down his pen and slumped limp in the chair.

……

On the dock, Wang Hao stood at the bow, the sea breeze making his robes flutter loudly.

He had just come out of the "cargo hold."

The sight there made even him, accustomed to the treachery of the court, feel waves of nausea and palpitations.

One hundred living people, like logs, were crammed into the dark, damp hold. There was no sound, no movement, only a strong, foul odor mixed with sweat and some kind of spice.

Their eyes were empty, devoid of any trace of human emotion.

When Wang Hao entered, no one looked at him. They simply sat cross‑legged, palms together, lips moving slightly, as if chanting some indistinct sutra.

Wang Hao tried, asking the person nearest to him a question.

"What is your name?"

That person showed no reaction, as if he hadn't heard. His gaze passed through Wang Hao and fixed on some point in the void, his muttering continuing without pause.

Looking at these people, he knew that Wang Che and Wang Heng had succeeded.

They had created a group of monsters that lived only for "sacrifice" and "death".

He turned around, looking at the "cargo" being hauled away, and for the first time felt a tremor of doubt and fear about the Wang family's future.