At the stroke of midnight, Shen Xitang changed into the short garments of a boatman and slipped back to the docks. Her modified Ice Silkworm Silk boots moved across the stacks of salt without a sound, though the frost on her moon-drop earrings grew heavier with each passing moment.
As she pried open the seventh partition of the hold, the acrid, salty river wind mingled with the scent of saltpeter rushed to greet her. Three thousand cowhide water bags were stacked neatly beneath the official salt. The sulfur sealant at the mouths of the bags shimmered in the moonlight with the distinct indigo hue of Peacock Gall.
"To think this poisoned salt is being transported along a military supply route..." Her hand, clutching a silkworm-silk needle, was suddenly gripped like an iron vice. Xiao Heng’s black cloak shimmered with the cold, characteristic luster of Ice Silkworm Silk in the moonlight. "Does Miss Shen realize that exposing this will cost the lives of all three hundred souls at the Armillary Firm?"
Chapter 25