The mist of the rainy season drifted over the canal as Shen Xitang stood in the wheelhouse of the modified junk, her brass calipers tracing the damp pages of the *Essentials of River Engineering*.
She gazed at the towing path’s stone pilings stretching along both banks and suddenly pressed the calipers against the intricate scrollwork on the bulkhead. "Turn the helm seven and a half degrees to avoid the vortex at the hour of the Rabbit."
As the boatmen strained at the windlass, a muffled thud echoed from the eastern bank of the canal as rock collapsed.
Shen Xitang raised her telescope and saw patches of blue bricks exposed at the landslide. The fish-scale patterns on the bricks were identical to those on the Armillary Secret Key. These were "Dragon Scale Bricks," specially crafted by the Ministry of Works for reinforcing the canal's hidden embankments.
"Stop the boat!" She flicked her wrist, the golden silk *jinbu* sash flying out; the agate beads wrapped tightly around the helm. "Qingxing, get the sounding lead from the Salt and Canal Yamen."
The sounding lead submerged into the murky canal water, and the copper bell emitted a peculiar trembling resonance beneath the surface.
Shen Xitang counted the marks on the hemp rope and suddenly tugged three long and two short—the secret signal used by the Shen Family fleet for measuring submerged reefs. As the water churned, twenty cast-iron sluice gates slowly rose, their panels molded with the patterns of the Big Dipper.
Xiao Heng struck a gate with his Steel Whip, sending sparks flying. "These are water-saving gates abandoned since the Yongxuan era. How did they come to be hidden here?"
"My lord, look at the back of the gate panel." Shen Xitang splashed tung oil onto the surface; where the rust peeled away, an intaglio *Canal Dragon Vein Map* was revealed.
Her fingertips traced the winding canal lines. "This so-called Dragon Vein is actually a network of secret conduits excavated by the Ministry of Works. These gates open at every new and full moon, using the power of the tide to flush away silt."
The scarred boatman suddenly cried out; the sounding lead had snagged a piece of rotted iron chain.
Shen Xitang hauled up a bronze casket from the end of the chain, its surface thick with salt crystals—it was a waterproof mechanical casket specially made by the Ministry of Works, requiring weights from the Four Seasons salt tax to open.
She inserted the Spring Equinox weight into the keyhole. The copper casket clicked and sprang open, revealing half a scroll of the rot-damaged *Illustrated Manual of Military Equipment*.
"It’s the improved blueprints for the Shenji Crossbow!" Xiao Heng used his Steel Whip to lift the tattered scroll. "This water-marked seal... it’s jointly stamped by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works!"
Shen Xitang touched the wormholes on the edges of the paper and suddenly caught a faint scent of agarwood. She held the fragment near the charcoal brazier, and as the scorched edges darkened, red imperial annotations appeared: "In the fifth year of Jiajing, convert the crossbow mechanism into a loom, hidden at the Jiangning Imperial Textile Factory." The handwriting was identical to the notes found in her father's study.
Hoofbeats thundered on the western bank of the canal. A courier carrying an "eight-hundred-li" urgent dispatch held up a yellow silk banner: "The selection for the Imperial Merchant will begin in three days in Jinling!"
Shen Xitang unfolded the official document. Under the moisture, hidden cloud-pattern watermarks appeared, revealing a simplified *Xuanji Bureau Survey Map*, with the location of the Jiangning Textile Bureau heavily circled in cinnabar.
"Change course for Gusu immediately." She pulled the signaling flag. "Since the Japanese pirates know the secrets of the Xuanji Bureau, they will surely sabotage the looms designated for the selection!"
When the junk moored at Fengqiao by night, Shen Xitang stood on the deck, observing the stars. The third star of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure flickered, corresponding to the location of a secret sluice on the *Canal Dragon Vein Map*.
She pressed the Armillary Secret Key against the scrollwork on the deck, and a hidden compartment opened, revealing bundles of Ice Silkworm Silk soaked in phosphorus—this was the "Skysining Brocade" the Shen Family was to present for the Imperial Merchant selection.
"Miss, the Textile Bureau is on fire!"
Qingxing’s scream tore through the night. Shen Xitang saw the blaze in the southwest and grabbed the modified Pear Blossom Rain Needle canister.
The mechanism inside the canister was loaded with sulfur powder; its property of exploding upon contact with heat was perfect for suppressing the flames. She led her team onto the Red Horse Boat, spotting chrysanthemum-pattern headbands—the mark of Japanese death squads—amidst the firelight.
As they charged into the Textile Bureau, Shen Xitang was pushed back three steps by the heatwave.
Twenty jacquard looms were twisted and warped in the inferno, but the cast-iron loom in the center remained unscathed—the Big Dipper pattern on its shuttle matched the Armillary Secret Key. She threw the Ice Silkworm Silk, snagging a beam, and swung toward the loom.
"Third Miss, look out!"
Xiao Heng’s Steel Whip shattered a falling crossbeam. Shen Xitang seized the chance to insert the key into the loom’s secret compartment; the iron casing popped open, revealing the hidden *Xuanji Bureau Armory Ledger*.
As flames licked the pages, the phosphorus-ink technique took effect, the scorch marks spelling out the locations of the Ministry of Works’ hidden storehouses across the Jiangnan region.
"Get the water pump!" She tore off half a length of Skysining Brocade and soaked it in a water vat. "Use the wave-stacking method to suppress the fire on the east side!"
The modified water pump shot out a column of water using the siphon principle. Amidst the steam, Shen Xitang caught a glimpse of the python-patterned hem of the Japanese leader's robe.
She fired all the Pear Blossom Rain Needles; the steel needles pierced the burning brocade, pinning the man’s flapping sleeves. Xiao Heng’s whip coiled around the man's ankle, dragging him out of the fire and revealing a gilded fish charm at his waist—a Ministry of Works token originating from the same source as the Armillary Secret Key.
"It’s the ambassador of the Textile Bureau!" Qingxing pulled off his mask. "On his arm... why does he have the cinnabar mark of the Shen Family fleet?"
Shen Xitang tore open the man’s sleeve; beneath three cinnabar moles lay the tattoo of a Ministry of Works secret agent. "The Ryukyu sea merchant saved by the Shen family twenty years ago was an undercover mole planted by the Ministry of Works."
She pressed the fish charm against the wreckage of the loom. "This is the true key to the selection loom!"
At dawn, Shen Xitang stood in the charred courtyard of the Textile Bureau. She unfolded the Skysining Brocade that had been soaked in alum water. The Big Dipper patterns, revealed by the heat, aligned perfectly with the Armillary Secret Key.
The scarred boatman brought over the remains of the cast-iron loom. The sulfur-corroded marks on the mechanism revealed the pirates' true goal: to destroy the very loom the Shen Family needed for the selection.
"Refit the Red Horse Boat immediately." She threw the *Xuanji Bureau Armory Ledger* into the brazier. "We will use the water-transport method of the canal’s hidden sluices. We shall reach Jinling in three days!"
The plum rain tapped a frantic rhythm on the boat’s canopy as Shen Xitang hunched over her desk, redrawing the *Canal Dragon Vein Map*.
The improved junk sped along using the power of the Big Dipper sluice gates. At every gate they passed, they dropped a bag of sulfur powder—a navigational marker for the fleet following behind.
When they reached the Danyang section, she triggered the secret lock. A hidden wheel under the hull flipped up, snagging the iron chains hidden at the bottom of the river.
"Haul the nets!"
Twenty cast-iron sluice gates broke the surface, forming a temporary water-transport dock. Shen Xitang unfolded the rotted *Illustrated Manual of Military Equipment* and, following the diagrams, retrofitted the loom parts into a mobile jacquard device.
Just as the first sliver of Skysining Brocade was woven at the prow, the sound of war drums echoed from the opposite bank—a pirate fleet carrying imitation Skysining Brocade had cut off the waterway.
"Release the fire-kites!" Shen Xitang lit the sulfur incense. Twelve bamboo fire-kites rose into the air, riding the wind. These were ancient Song dynasty weapons she had reconstructed from the *Wubei Zhi*; their wings, soaked in naphtha, ignited upon contact with the pirates' sails.
The Shen Family’s secret mark, woven with phosphorus, glowed in the indigo flames, serving as an anti-counterfeit seal.
In the midst of the melee, Shen Xitang’s junk broke through the final gate. As the walls of Jinling City came into view, she pressed the Armillary Secret Key onto the Big Dipper pattern of the selection loom.
The iron armor unfolded in layers, revealing three thousand threads of golden Ice Silkworm Silk hidden inside—premium silk tempered by the hydraulic force of the secret conduits recorded in the *Canal Dragon Vein Map*.
"Open the gate!"
Xiao Heng’s Steel Whip cracked like lightning. With a sharp "clack," the anchor chain snapped. The freed junk, like a wild horse, surged forward with the water’s momentum, shooting like an arrow into the Imperial Merchant selection venue.
Standing at the prow, Shen Xitang held her posture straight, her Skysining Brocade snapping in the morning breeze.
The moment the rising sun pierced the clouds, a miracle occurred—the formerly plain silk suddenly seemed imbued with life, the seven stars of the Big Dipper shimmering and flowing with light!
This miraculous scene stunned everyone present. They stared with wide, disbelieving eyes. In truth, it was a visual spectacle meticulously orchestrated by Shen Xitang.
This Skysining Brocade was a secret technique exclusive to the Shen Family. It utilized special minerals from the hidden conduits for dyeing, with every warp and weft cleverly embedded with the patterns of the Canal Dragon Map.
When the sunlight hit it at just the right angle, these patterns emerged to form a breathtaking sight.
As the crowd stood in awe, the head examiner finally collected his senses. He held high the Shen Family’s gold seal and declared in a booming voice: "The light of the Shen Family shines as bright as the stars! This brocade is a peerless masterpiece. The Shen Family is worthy of the title of Imperial Merchant!"
Shen Xitang looked toward the python-patterned figure standing in the shadows of the gallery. The glint of the fish charm at that man's waist fit perfectly with the notch of the Armillary Secret Key...