The difficulties of reality turned every counter-surveillance measure into a joke, and as the enormous, lumbering fleet continued onward for several more days, everyone grew tense, even though there was still no sign whatsoever that they would miss their deadline.
Finally, not long after the fleet entered Pengcheng Commandery, the commandery clerks aboard could no longer contain themselves once again.
"Inspector Bai, please, you must save us!"
"If we ruin this business, what good will that do any of you?"
"You have so many boats loaded with goods yourselves. Would those rebels bother distinguishing whose boats were whose when they came?"
"Even if the Jing'an Directorate has its own regulations, this is official business, making up the autumn tax and delivering the spring fiscal report. If anything goes wrong, how can any eggs remain whole beneath an overturned nest?"
"Exactly. We're all grasshoppers on the same string now... this simply cannot go on."
"..."
"Where has Zhang Sanlang gone?"
It was an afternoon in the twelfth lunar month, and the weather was none too good. Atop a large, two-story boat in the middle of the fleet, Bai Yousi had watched half a day's monkey show, yet the monkeys still showed no end to their desire to perform. Finally worn down into a measure of helplessness, she turned to ask where the keeper was.
"I don't know." Li Qingchen looked somewhat agitated beside her. "Why don't I go down and drive them away?"
"You'll make a mess of things if you go down..." Bai Yousi shook her head. "Never mind. Have them come up. I'll see them... then go fetch Brother Hu and Qian Tang, and we'll discuss a solution together... however little we can count on these people, they're right about one thing: this simply cannot go on."
Helpless, Li