The man bared his teeth and looked at him, struggling with all his limbs, but to no avail. Instead, his body arched up like a shrimp striving desperately.
"This guy is disobedient. Should I take him back first? There are too many people talking here, if someone notices something, it might be troublesome."
Lian Rong advised again.
Xu Yin pulled open the man’s collar, glanced at the tattoo below the nape of his neck, then pulled the collar back to cover the tattoo, and looked at him deeply saying, "Take him away."
After saying this, he flicked his sleeve and stepped onto the stairs.
Lian Rong tugged at the knot, dragging the man to the bottom of the stairs. He called over two guards, who flanked the man on either side, pushed him into a large wooden box, and lifted it up the stairs.
Fu Zhen watched as the box passed before her eyes without saying a word. As they were about to set foot on the second flight of stairs, she asked Pei Zhan, "Do you know how to swim?"
Not many people from the northern region are adept swimmers.
Fu Zhen knew how because she taught herself in the moat as a child.
Pei Zhan replied, "If you know, then I know."
Fu Zhen rolled her eyes at him, craned her neck for a peek, then whispered a few words in his ear.
Pei Zhan nodded, "Understood."
By this point, the lights on the stairs had dimmed, and the two took advantage of the night to stealthily reach the ship’s deck.
Xu Yin and He Qunying were both waiting by the shore, along with their accompanying people, occupying a large area in a dense group, all paying attention to the people starting to board the ship to unload the cargo.
The big box with the person inside was lifted onto the deck like a specially-made cargo box filled with high-grade silk. Just as they were about to carry the box ashore, one of them let out an "Ah" and fell backward. Naturally, he let go of his end of the box, catching the other man off guard, and the box fell with a splash into the water!
Xu Yin was startled, "What’s going on?!"
The guards who rushed forward to investigate quickly returned to report, "Master! There’s oil on the deck, and the brothers had water on their feet. As soon as they stepped on the oil, they slipped!"
"Oil?!" Xu Yin raised his voice, looking at He Qunying, "Where did the oil come from on the ship? With so much cargo, how could there be oil below?—Quickly pull the box up! Fast!"
Unable to contain the urgency in his heart, he hurried a few steps to the water’s edge, but the box that had been bobbing on the surface momentarily had already sunk to the bottom! Except for a few ripples remaining on the lake’s surface, there was no sign of the box!
Xu Yin’s body immediately tensed up, "This is definitely no accident! Get in the water, now! Get that box back for me!"
He Qunying also stepped forward, while dispatching people to dive in and retrieve it, looked at Xu Yin in confusion, "Isn’t that your offending servant? If it sunk, it sunk. There’s no harm if he’s dead, why are you so anxious?"
In the firelight, Xu Yin’s complexion flickered, revealing nothing, yet failing to hide his taut muscles and his eyes fixed intently on the water’s surface! ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
He Qunying’s instincts aroused suspicion, "Who is this person really? He’s not your servant?"
Seven or eight men were already diving into the water, yet none had surfaced. Xu Yin gritted his teeth and looked up, "Indeed, he is not my servant, but he is closely related to both you and me!"
This sentence altered He Qunying’s expression as well...
The moment the box fell, Pei Zhan used his outstanding arm strength to swim away with it, covering a good twenty or thirty yards. By the time the Xu family guards reacted and dived in search, Pei Zhan had already dragged the box to the shore!
Fu Zhen surfaced from the water, glanced back at the shore fifty steps east of the dock, then helped grab the other end of the box, straining to drag it ashore!
After a covert whistle, Liang Zhi, who had been waiting along the line, immediately popped up. Seeing the situation, he asked no questions. The group worked in harmony, silently lifting the box onto a distant carriage. Only after Fu Zhen and Pei Zhan arrived did they open the box and pull out the person half-soaked by the river water!
"Leave one person behind to inform your masters, the rest don’t waste time, back to the city immediately!"
After Pei Zhan issued the order, the guard in charge of the carriage promptly urged the horse forward!
Fu Zhen, drenched, lay on the rear window looking back toward the dock; there, the lights were bright, and the noise roared like waves...