Killing Intent Under the Moon

Lingnan, Hengpu Pass.

"My lord! It's been seven days, and King Fanyang hasn't appeared again. Everything at Hengpu Pass is as usual. The guards won't stop us from leaving, but they won't let the caravan through either. We can't keep dragging this out..."

As the sun set and the moon began to rise, Zhao Deping, head of the Zhao Clan, finally lost patience and spoke to Jian Shang.

King Fanyang had vanished for seven days. Hengpu Pass seemed to treat the Zhao Clan Caravan as honored guests. Whatever its people did, whether entering or leaving the pass, the guards never interfered. They did not even stop Jian Shang from going out, and they covered the food expenses for all thirty-five hundred members of the caravan.

There was just one restriction: the caravan's thousand-odd carts could not pass through, though they were free to leave northward.

Jian Shang smiled. "What's the problem? We have food and a roof over our heads."

No one had an answer.

"But... your time is precious, my lord. And some of our goods have already begun to spoil. If this goes on..."

Zhao Deping forced a rueful smile.

The Zhao Clan lived by trade. Although the Wuhuan Faction had paid for the goods in this caravan and they were not meant for sale in Lingnan, watching shipment after shipment spoil still left most of the clan frantic.

They had planned to give the goods away, but that was no reason to waste them!

"Fair enough. Have the caravan sell the goods that spoil easily tomorrow. Hengpu Pass must have merchants willing to buy them."

Jian Shang considered it a moment before answering.

He had intended to use the goods to win people over in Lingnan, so the losses meant little to him. Still, he had to