The Road South (Part 2)

"What was going on?" Gongshu Feng was somewhat puzzled.

The information he had received earlier was that although Princess Guangping had openly rebelled, transport through Shenzhou had not been cut off. At the very least, trade by land and water had continued, which was why he had chosen to travel by ship.

Yet that chain stretched across the river suggested otherwise.

Gongshu Jin shook his head.

This was Qi State, utterly unlike the world he knew.

Still, their "identities" were those of innocent commoners, and they carried government travel permits. So long as they did not run into rebels, they should not attract any trouble.

Half an hour later, the shipowner brought them bad news.

"What? This ship can't continue south?" Gongshu Feng frowned.

"Temporarily can't," the shipowner corrected him. "I heard Huiyang Prefecture is arresting resistance fighters. Every ship heading south has to undergo a thorough search and can only be released once it has been cleared."

"Then let them search it!" Gongshu Feng said, unable to understand. "Boarding the ship and going through it should take half an hour at most, shouldn't it?"

The shipowner gave him the same look Mr. Mo had before.

That look seemed to say: Did you really not know, or were you pretending not to know?

It made Gongshu Feng instinctively take half a step back.

"Fool, what they want is money." Another merchant aboard the ship stated it outright. "What spoiled young masters are you two, not even knowing that?"

"Inspections take time, especially with so many ships waiting in line." The shipowner coughed twice. "If some ships are carrying seasonal goods, they will be more eager to pass through. At times like that, money becomes rather important."

By this point, even Gongshu Feng fully understood what he meant.

Whoever paid more