Chapter 29 How about I carry you on my back?

The lantern light drew closer, and Pei Zhiwei curled up in the pile of cables, barely breathing.

My knee hit the deck hard, and now it's numb and painful.

She tried to pull her leg back a little, but the slightest movement aggravated her injury, causing her to gasp in pain.

The guards beside them had stopped in their tracks.

One of them held up a lantern and shone it over the pile of cables, muttering, "I clearly heard a sound coming from this side, but there's nothing here?"

Another impatiently pushed him.

"Stop dawdling. The prince consort ordered us to guard the deck and no unauthorized personnel are allowed to approach."

"If the prince consort catches us slacking off, you'll be in big trouble!"

The lantern light swept through the gaps in the cable, and Pei Zhiwei's breath hitched; her heart leaped into her throat.

The energy in my dantian hadn't recovered yet. Let alone knocking them out, even if I wanted to run, I couldn't outrun these guards.

Moreover, the deck was completely empty; there was nowhere to hide.

Her mind was racing, but she couldn't come up with a single solution.

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind her. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to calm Pei Zhiwei down.

What are you doing here?

It is Xiao Yunzhan.

The two guards turned around abruptly, and the light from the lanterns illuminated the faces of the people who came out.

The two were immediately flustered and hurriedly put down their lanterns and bowed.

"Greetings, Your Highness! Your Highness... Your Highness, I was patrolling the deck when I heard some noise and came to check it out."

Xiao Yunzhan walked straight to the pile of cables, observed it carefully, and then turned around to reprimand:

"There's nothing here, yet you've made quite a commotion. I heard you shouting from inside the cabin. Do you think this deck is too big, and you have to shout to keep watch?"

The guard lowered his head even further and quickly begged for forgiveness, "Your Highness, I know I was wrong! I will patrol quietly and will not disturb you."

Xiao Yunzhan gave a light "hmm" and waved his hand: "Go ahead, be careful, and don't overreact."

The two guards responded in unison and hurriedly retreated.

Only when their footsteps completely disappeared at the other end of the deck did Pei Zhiwei let out a long sigh of relief, and her tense body finally relaxed.

Leaning against the cable, a thin layer of sweat had already seeped from his forehead.

Xiao Yunzhan walked over and squatted down, his gaze first falling on her knees, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly: "Did you bump your knees?"

Pei Zhiwei looked up at him.

The night was dark, and all that could be seen was his well-defined profile and the worry that could not be hidden in his eyes.

She nodded a little shyly, then quickly shook her head: "It's nothing, I just didn't stand properly when I jumped up and bumped into something, I'll be fine after a while."

Xiao Yunzhan didn't speak, but got up and took off his dark cloak.

The cloak, still warm from his body, was gently wrapped around her shoulders. He reached out and pulled her collar tighter, covering her exposed neck as well.

His fingertips brushed against her skin unintentionally, and Pei Zhiwei subconsciously shrank her neck.

Xiao Yunzhan paused, then awkwardly withdrew his hand.

Fortunately, it was nighttime, otherwise Pei Zhiwei would have noticed that a suspicious red color was quietly spreading to Xiao Yunzhan's entire ear.

He cleared his throat and said with a hint of panic, "The river wind is strong at night. Wearing such thin night clothes, even if you don't bump into anything, you'll still get cold."

Pei Zhiwei lowered her head and muttered softly, "I was just in a hurry..."

Xiao Yunzhan sighed and looked into her eyes.

Being so close, Pei Zhiwei could clearly see the worry in his eyes, and a hint of seriousness she had never seen before.

"You think you're invincible just because you're good at light-footed skills?"

Besides the post station guards, who knows if there are other people watching over the original official ship?

"What if you run into a skilled opponent? How do you plan to escape?"

"And what if you had accidentally fallen into the river just now? Don't you know how cold the river water is at night?"

How can you expect me... how can I, Pei Shaoqing, to feel at ease?

He became more and more anxious as he spoke.

"I felt something was wrong when I didn't see you in the cabin earlier, so I searched all the way here and found you huddled here. You know me..."

He suddenly stopped, swallowing the rest of his sentence.

Pei Zhiwei was taken aback: "Know what?"

Xiao Yunzhan coughed lightly, forcibly changing the subject of his swallowed words.

"...You know that even if Lord Pei and I don't give any further instructions, the secret guards will still be watching over there."

If they make a move, the guards will follow.

Pei Zhiwei was taken aback, and then realized that the guards that Prince Rui would bring on his business trips could not be ordinary.

"It was my oversight."

Seeing you and your father being entangled by the imperial son-in-law and Transport Commissioner Zhang,

My only fear is that if the contents of the original official ship are moved by daybreak, we won't even know what they were...

That's why I acted on my own.

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, and she couldn't help but rub her knees again.

After resting for a while, the pain in her knee lessened considerably. Pei Zhiwei tentatively moved it around and found that there was nothing seriously wrong.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Yunzhan's expression softened slightly. He reached out to help her up and let her sit on the mooring post next to him.

Pei Zhiwei composed herself, took out a handkerchief from her bosom, and carefully unfolded it.

A small piece of salt brick was wrapped in a handkerchief, covered with fine white salt grains, still clearly visible in the darkness.

“Look,” she said, handing the handkerchief to Xiao Yunzhan, her eyes sparkling with undisguised excitement.

"I found it in the cargo hold of the original official ship."

"There's a piece of wood in the corner of the cargo hold. Its grain is different from the rest of the wood, and there are gaps along the edges. It looks like it was nailed on later."

I pried it open, and inside were neatly stacked bricks.

"It looks like a counterweight brick used to weigh down a ship, but when you hold it in your hand and weigh it, it's much heavier than a regular brick."

She lowered her voice even further and continued, "I broke off a corner of a brick, and it turned out to be full of smuggled salt."

The interlayer was much deeper than I expected. If it was full of smuggled salt of this quality, the quantity must be considerable.

That's enough to sell privately in Jiangnan for quite some time.

Xiao Yunzhan stared at the corner of the salt brick, his face expressionless, but his aura grew increasingly heavy and suffocating.

"Ha...they really have guts."

He pinched the salt grains between two fingers and rubbed them together.

"This official ship was specially assigned to me by the Grand Canal Transport Office."

They actually dared to hide smuggled salt in the ship's hull compartments, openly smuggling official salt under the king's name?!

This clearly shows they don't respect me, a prince.

Xiao Yunzhan scoffed lightly, "I really underestimated them."

I had only suspected corruption within the canal transport system in Jiangnan, but I never imagined they would dare to be so blatant.

"It seems that they have long held a tight grip on the canal transport in Jiangnan."

This was the first time Pei Zhiwei had seen him so angry, and she didn't dare to say anything for a moment, only quietly watching him.

Xiao Yunzhan rewrapped the salt brick corner and handed it back to Pei Zhiwei, then changed the subject.

"However, there was an unexpected gain this time."

"An unexpected bonus?" Pei Zhiwei took the handkerchief, carefully put it away, and looked at him with a hint of doubt.

“Hmm,” Xiao Yunzhan nodded, his gaze fixed on the dark river in the distance.

"The appearance of the Prince Consort and Zhang Chengye is too coincidental. I absolutely do not believe that they have nothing to do with the things in the cabin."

The Zhang family of Jiangnan already controlled the Grand Canal, and Zhang Chengye, as the transport commissioner of Suzhou, held real power. There was also Zhang Qifeng, the Vice Minister of Revenue in the capital…”

He crossed his arms and pondered carefully, “As for the consort… although he is backed by the princess’s mansion, he comes from the Gu family, and the Gu family also has a lot of canal transport business in Jiangnan.”

Previously, I hadn't connected the Gu family with the Zhang family, but now it seems they may have been colluding all along.

Pei Zhiwei was startled when she heard the words "Princess's Residence".

She had only thought about the canal transport office and local officials, and had never suspected the princess.

After all, a princess is born into royalty, so how could she get involved in something like salt smuggling?

By calculation, this princess is Xiao Yunzhan's third older sister.

Xiao Yunzhan was the youngest child of the late emperor, and she had heard that he was greatly favored by his older brothers and sisters.

In other words, he and the third princess must have had a very close relationship.

"Could the princess's residence... also be involved?"

Xiao Yunzhan thought for a moment before saying, "It's hard to say right now."

The princess's husband was the prince consort, and she might not have been completely unaware of what he did, but it cannot be ruled out that he had colluded with her in secret without informing her.

Without concrete evidence, we cannot draw hasty conclusions; we can only investigate gradually.

She looked at Xiao Yunzhan and suddenly thought: What would he do if the princess were involved?

The wind picked up a bit, and Pei Zhiwei wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, but still felt a little cold.

She unconsciously moved closer to Xiao Yunzhan, trying to avoid the river breeze.

Xiao Yunzhan noticed this and leaned to the side to shield her from most of the cold wind.

"It's windy tonight, don't stay on deck for long, go back to your cabin first."

He looked down at her knee. "Does the injury still hurt? I'll have someone get some medicinal wine for you to rub on it, otherwise you'll have trouble walking tomorrow."

Pei Zhiwei quickly waved her hand: "No need to trouble yourself, it was just a minor injury, and it's almost healed now."

Xiao Yunzhan insisted, "Even minor injuries should not be taken lightly."

Investigating cases is already hard work; if you add pain to the process, wouldn't that only delay things further?

Besides, if Madam Pei knew you had bumped yourself, she would definitely be worried.

Although his tone was gentle, it carried an undeniable meaning.

Pei Zhiwei could only nod: "Then... I'll have to trouble Your Highness."

Xiao Yunzhan didn't say anything more, but simply took her arm and walked along the deck towards the cabin.

We walked in silence, with only the river breeze brushing past our ears and our footsteps lightly landing on the wooden planks.

Pei Zhiwei thought about everything that had just happened, and then recalled Xiao Yunzhan's reaction. She couldn't help but steal a glance at him.

He stood tall and straight, the moonlight flowing over his shoulders, casting a faint silver glow.

Although Xiao Yunzhan was a prince and deeply favored by the emperor, she found that he was actually quite down-to-earth after getting to know him.

They also seem to not care much about worldly opinions.

He is persistent in investigating cases and is sincere in his dealings with people, especially towards her, whom he seems to take extra care of.

When they looked at the map together at Hongyepo, he would patiently listen to her explain the specifications of the canal boats.

During their late-night conversation at the inn, he listened attentively to her recount her fears while investigating the case and the moments when she gritted her teeth and persevered.

Now I see him worrying about her safety and thinking about finding her medicinal wine.

Just then, Xiao Yunzhan seemed to notice that her gaze was always on him, and suddenly turned his face away.

Pei Zhiwei's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly lowered her head, her ears secretly burning.

She could feel his gaze still on her, and her heart started to beat faster.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Yunzhan couldn't help but chuckle softly, and his tone softened.

"What's wrong? Is your knee hurting again? If you really can't bear it... I'll carry you back?"