The morning mist at Zhaoqing’s Seven Star Crags was thick with the scent of sulfur as Shen Xitang’s black boots crushed the charred edges of the "Two Guangs Viceroy Secret Files." Xiao Heng’s Xiuchun Saber cleaved through the hidden cabin of a shipwreck in Dinghu Mountain, and a broken ivory ceremonial tablet suddenly glowed with phosphorescence in the mountain wind—tucked between the tiny, fly-head-sized script on the back was a hidden seal in seal script: "Regent Prince Gui."
"Lord Thousand-Householder, look at these cracks." Her fingertips brushed over the fractured surface of the tablet. "This ivory is from the Siam tribute of the 40th year of Wanli; it should have been stored in the Chengyun Treasury..."
Suddenly, cannon fire erupted on the river. Five Portuguese warships, flying the Sun and Moon flags, broke through the waves; yet, amid the gunpowder smoke, the Jesuit emblem on their prows had been replaced with Prince Gui’s coiled dragon crest. Xiao Heng’s scabbard shattered the base of a cannon; what spilled out were not lead shot, but bundles of the "Zhaoqing Naval Secret Files," each wax seal stamped with the Yongli Emperor’s private signet!
Chapter 146