The rain poured down, interspersed with occasional flashes of lightning, and thunder rumbled, shaking the city in the darkness.

Changzhou was a major city along the river shipping routes of Jiangnan. During the Tang Dynasty, it was known as one of the ten most promising prefectures in the land. However, despite its prosperity due to the shipping routes, it still couldn't compare to the large cities like Bianjing, Jiangning, Suzhou, or Hangzhou. In this heavy rain, only a few faint lights flickered in the city, sparse and scattered, only outlining the overlapping and towering buildings when lightning occasionally flashed.

The sudden heavy rain caught everyone off guard in the afternoon. Even now, near the docks of Changzhou, figures were still bustling about in the downpour. In reality, the truly chaotic situation had ended with the heavy rain in the evening. At that time, many ships had docked, rushing to load and unload cargo, and securing their vessels. Those still busy in the heavy rain now were mostly merchants who had encountered accidents and couldn't afford the losses. They hired fearless boatmen at great expense to brave the rain and move the goods.

The entire dock was howling with wind and rain. Occasionally, when lightning flashed, it revealed about two or three locations where activity was still taking place. The group of people at a spot on the eastern side of the dock was clearly the largest. Seeing the waves pushing the densely packed ships in the river up and down, many people were still moving things on and off a cargo ship. In the sound of the wind and rain, these people were like ants, blown off balance by the wind, shouting loudly. Torches were burning on the cargo ship, and lights were also on in the dock buildings not far away. They were currently trying to move some items from the cargo ship into the rooms.

This cargo ship belonged to a large merchant house in the Jiangzhe area, owned by someone surnamed Lou. This time, the cargo ship was carrying a load of goods south. Near Changzhou, the ship had some problems, and they encountered heavy rain, forcing them to dock in a hurry. They originally thought they could wait out the storm at the dock, but they discovered that the ship's problems were more serious during the night. With so many goods on board, they had to hire boatmen willing to risk their lives to salvage some of the cargo first to reduce the weight of the ship and avoid greater problems.

Of course, in such windy and rainy weather, with no adequate lighting, the workers could be blown over or fall into the water at any time. However, the river wasn't deep after all, and most of these boatmen were quite skilled in swimming. It was also summer, so falling in might not be a big deal. If not for this, they probably wouldn't have found anyone to come, even at a high price.

At this time, the wind howled through the rain-filled sky and earth. Closer to the dock, one could vaguely hear the chaotic creaking of hundreds of ships rocking on the water. The boatmen carried the goods, staggering through the rain, heading towards the brightly lit room on the dock. The room seemed rather simple and spacious at this time. The boatmen, soaked to the bone, carried the goods in and stacked them in the middle, where the merchant's clerks were busily counting and recording them.

In front of a window on one side of the room, several people were looking out into the darkness, watching the ship vaguely floating in the rain. The leader was a woman in brightly colored clothes, her hair already wet. A maid behind her handed her a towel, and she casually wiped the water droplets from her face. Actually, rain was constantly drifting in from outside the window, but a man dressed as a scholar stood beside her, blocking some of it.

"How's the ship? Can it be repaired? Will it sink?"

The one asking the question was the brightly dressed woman. After she finished speaking, a man who ran in from outside answered while wiping the water droplets from his face: "Reporting to Miss, it's already inside the dock, so it shouldn't sink. But the weather is really too bad, it's difficult to repair, and some of the goods on the ship still need to be moved down."

"Then continue moving them."

"Understood."

The man nodded in agreement. After saying this, the woman looked out the window again, her expression a little gloomy. Many of the goods on this ship were fragile items like porcelain. After this incident, there would inevitably be a lot of damage, so she wasn't in a good mood. The man who was blocking half of the rain for her turned around and said, "Shuwan, everyone is moving the goods, there's no need for you to keep standing here watching. It's not good to get rained on, why don't you go inside?"

This couple was probably husband and wife. The woman glanced at him, her expression still a little gloomy. Then she suddenly smiled, turned her head and walked away. The man dressed as a scholar smiled and walked over again. The two of them were talking about something by the wall. The man was obviously trying to say something interesting to make the woman laugh. Others – including the maids – knew better than to interfere. After the woman said a few words to the man, she looked out the window again, obviously still worried about the ship's problem.

After another while, another ship sailed towards the shore in this heavy rain on one side of the dock. It was a two-story painted boat. It seemed that people with some wealth were traveling and had come to Changzhou due to the storm. In the storm, it sailed relatively smoothly. The lights flickered in the cabin, which should be torches for illumination, reflecting figures in the darkness.

It wasn't very strange to come to the dock to dock at this time, after all, there would occasionally be stragglers. The location where the painted boat docked wasn't far from here, so it attracted some attention. It wasn't easy to dock in this kind of weather. The crew on the boat held bamboo poles against the shore and tried their best to adjust for a long time before they managed to moor the painted boat with difficulty. The people coming down from above were also extremely laborious. Because the wind and rain were too strong, the extended plank was unstable, and they could basically only jump down. The group of people wore rain capes. Among them were women and children. They were supported or caught by the men who went down first. After a long time, dozens of people got off and hid under the eaves not far away, lighting torches.

Although the wind and rain were quite strong, some of the children were still quite happy, shouting some strange words like "Mighty Heavenly Dragon" and scurrying around under the eaves. Some also poked their heads out to look here, but were then called back by their parents, probably to count the number of people, and then discussed leaving the dock.

In this kind of weather, no one had time to care about others. The people in this room also just looked over there. In the end, they were still concerned about their own ship problems. The woman named Lou Shuwan chatted with the scholar for a while, and then began to frown and ask about the ship and the goods again. However, at a certain moment, when she glanced at the eaves outside the door, just as lightning flashed, she was slightly stunned.

Three torches were burning in the hands of the crowd under the eaves, swaying violently as the wind whipped them. The light wasn't very bright. Some people were smiling and talking, untying their rain capes, and then tightening them again. The lightning flashed, vaguely revealing the smiles on their faces. It was evident that they were in a good mood to be able to talk and laugh in this kind of weather. However, one face seemed to slightly stir the woman's memory here.

"Hmm? Shuwan, what are you looking at?"

Lou Shuwan opened her mouth, and then her gaze turned to the man beside her, becoming indifferent and impatient: "Nothing."

In this kind of weather, she couldn't see clearly after all. It wasn't an important memory anyway. She shook her head and returned her thoughts to her own business. This delay was really unpleasant. Damn rainy weather. Then she felt that the man beside her was really too long-winded and began to dislike him a little.

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Although she wasn't in a good mood, there was no use in being anxious about the current situation. Soon after confirming that the goods were almost moved and the ship's condition was slightly stable, they left the dock and returned to the inn through the rain. The Lou family's business was mainly in Hangzhou. Changzhou was just a stop along the way. They were staying at one of the best inns here. The weather was so sudden that there weren't many guests. They went out in the evening and came back at this time, so it seemed deserted.

After instructing the maid to bring hot water for a simple bath, Lou Shuwan called over a manager who was traveling with them and discussed the ship's problem. Summer storms come and go quickly and don't last for days, but the ship was broken and couldn't leave. Most of the goods on board were fine, only a small portion was promised to others and couldn't be delayed, so they had to consider renting a ship. After discussing this matter briefly, the manager left. The scholar, who had also washed up in another room, came over, knowing that she was arranging business matters, and had been waiting outside for a while.

She had things on her mind. The scholar closed the door, made a few jokes, and then came to hug her, wanting to be intimate. She was unhappy in her heart and frowned slightly, but she didn't resist. However, just after her outer garment was taken off, she heard someone knocking on the door in the hall below. Then it seemed that many people had entered. She was curious, pushed the scholar away, put on her outer garment again, and opened the window to look out. There were about twenty people taking off their rain capes in the hall, and two children were running around. They were the people she had seen at the dock.

"What's wrong?"

The scholar came closer and also looked outside through the window. The woman frowned slightly, her eyes scanning among the crowd in the hall. After a long while, she pushed the scholar away: "You go to sleep, I don't want to tonight… There's someone I recognize in there."

"Oh?" The scholar became interested and leaned out to look down. "It looks like a family of officials traveling."

In this kind of weather, umbrellas were useless. Although these people were wearing rain capes, they were actually soaked all over by the time they found this place. Some of the women couldn't change their clothes for a while, so they found thin shawls to put on. Judging from the clothes of several women, this family was quite wealthy.

At this time, the scene in the hall was chaotic. The manager and the waiters were busy arranging rooms. The people who came in were busy ordering water and bringing up luggage. It was extremely lively for a while. Of course, the maids and masters were also clearly distinguished in a moment. One of the women gathered her wet hair and turned her head to talk to the people around her, seeming to be arranging things as well. She had some of Lou Shuwan's usual demeanor. This woman was tall and beautiful. The scholar took a few glances, and Lou Shuwan pointed at her.

"This woman's surname is Su. I've seen her before and I know her. Her family is in Jiangning. It's been several years, I didn't expect to meet her here."

"Do you want to go out and meet her?"

"It's not urgent…" Lou Shuwan said, and then thought about it, "However… she has a boat, and it seems that she's also going south. If that's the case…" Thinking of this, she looked down again. Seeing that the waiter seemed to have arranged the rooms and was leading people up, she closed the window, slightly straightened her clothes, and then pushed the door open and went out…

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There will be another chapter tonight. (To be continued. Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)