“It’s fine.” Mao Linye reached out his large hand and took hold of Feng Jiu’er’s small one.

Feng Jiu’er startled, immediately pulling her hand back from his grip.

“Boss.” Her head lowered until it nearly touched her chest. “I… you…”

“Sit down. It won’t be a bother!” Mao Linye said, rubbing her shoulder.

Feng Jiu’er took a deep breath, replied with a soft “Mm,” and sat down with her legs folded.

She composed herself, looked up at Mao Linye, and asked, “Boss, may I… look at the medical texts?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make any noise that disturbs your discussion.”

“Fine.” Mao Linye put another piece of pastry in his mouth and poured himself a cup of tea.

Feng Jiu’er said nothing more, stood, and turned away.

She found the medical text she had read the day before and returned to sit on the rug beside Mao Linye.

Mao Linye took a sip of tea and looked out over the hall.

“Continue,” he said flatly.

“Boss.” Song Shiniang frowned.

Mao Linye didn’t even look at her, and she said nothing more.

Feng Jiu’er didn’t look at anyone either; once she sat down to read, she made no sound at all, as if she were invisible.

Still, despite this, her presence was impossible for everyone in the room to ignore.

“Boss.” A man stood up and cupped his hands.

“There are still two quarter-hours before the former city lord’s body is to be cremated. Would you consider delaying it a bit longer?”

“No,” Mao Linye said, waving his hand. “This is what the monks decided, isn’t it?”

“But the former city lord’s children…” the man frowned.

“Let’s discuss other matters,” Mao Linye said, unwilling to continue that topic.

“Boss.” Another man stood and cupped his hands.

“Speak,” Mao Linye said, glancing at him.

The man cupped his hands again and said, “Boss, we’ve secretly met with the four generals of the Mao family army.”

“Unfortunately, they aren’t willing to submit to us yet.”

“Hu Biao.” Mao Linye looked at the burly, bearded man.

“Has there been any progress on the token?”

Hu Biao stood and, after cupping his hands, said, “City lord, no.”

“This lowly one has searched the entire town, and there’s no news at all.”

“You’ve really searched everywhere?” Mao Linye rubbed his temples.

“Except…” Hu Biao seemed reluctant to continue.

“Speak!” Mao Linye ordered.

Hu Biao cupped his hands again and said, “As boss knows, the people from Yi City, Yi City (Wing), Liuchuan City, and Xiang City are still in Fenggang Town.”

“They’re currently camped in the open space not far from the town gate. Aside from that spot, we’ve searched everywhere else.”

“Boss.” Song Shiniang also stood. “That place can’t be searched.”

Seeing Mao Linye stay silent, Song Shiniang continued, “General Cai died within our territory, and word of it will spread quickly.”

“If we can’t produce evidence, we’ll become the criminals who murdered a court official.”

“Now that the former city lord is dead, and troublemakers are spreading rumors everywhere that boss killed him, we could be facing trouble both within and without.”

“If we offend the remaining cities as well, and we happen to lose the fight…”

“Shiniang makes a good point,” said the man seated beside her.

“Boss.” He too cupped his hands. “In my view, the most important thing right now is to placate the former city lord’s descendants.”

“As long as they all support boss as city lord, I don’t think the Mao family army will object.”

“Once we’ve reorganized the Mao family army, we still have a fair chance of defeating our enemies.”

“As for Liuchuan City, Yi City, Yi City, and Xiang City — they too fear that unnamed army.”

“They surely don’t want Plains City to end up like Li City did.”

“As for General Cai’s unexpected death, boss has already reported the matter to the court to explain it. We don’t know when they’ll send someone to investigate.”

“By then, we can discuss the matter further — after all, it wasn’t us who killed him.”

Having finished speaking, the man sat back down, and the others followed suit.

Mao Linye said nothing; everyone looked at him.

After a while, the hall’s door was knocked on again.

“Boss.”

“Come in,” Mao Linye said, tossing out a single word.

A man pushed open the door and entered.

“Boss, the former city lord’s family has arrived. Should we let them in, or…”

“I’ll go out myself,” Mao Linye said softly.

Mao Linye led a group of people out of the east wing toward the estate’s main gate.

The group waited about the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn, and then Mao Zhongcai’s descendants arrived.

There were several dozen of them at once — quite a show of force.

At the front were three men. Two resembled Mao Zhongcai somewhat, while the other was taller and more refined-looking.

As soon as the horses stopped, the three men immediately dismounted.

Those guarding Mao Linye moved to step forward and block them.

But Mao Linye waved his hand, signaling them to stand down.

The guards, puzzled, looked at him, but eventually dispersed.

“Mao Linye, are you even human?”

“Mao Linye, how dare you kill my father?”

“Mao Linye, what exactly did you do to my father?”

The three men, walking forward, were Mao Zhongcai’s son-in-law Liao Mushan, and his elder sons Mao Yi and Mao Gang.

The three came straight up to him before stopping.

Mao Linye stood there, not moving at all.

“Your father was not killed by me. The enemy was about to break through our defenses — if you still refuse to believe that, well, that’s simply the truth!”

“Come in. There’s still a quarter-hour before his cremation. If you come now, you’ll make it in time.”

Mao Linye waved his hand, turned, and walked inside.

Mao Zhongcai’s two sons both turned their heads to look at Liao Mushan.

At that moment, Mao Zhongcai’s daughter and his two wives came stumbling over.

“Mushan, how is it? How is my father now?”

Liao Mushan turned back, supporting his wife; the two young Mao masters also turned back to support their mothers.

“Let’s go in first and see father-in-law one last time,” Liao Mushan said, looking toward the Mao family estate.

No one else said anything, and once he started walking, they all followed him in.

Several dozen people, full of aggressive energy, walked into the Mao family estate.

Feng Jiu’er followed Mao Linye, going around the main hall, walking a long way.

The mourners who had been wailing in the main hall earlier were now all in the back courtyard.

In the middle of the back courtyard stood a sturdy wooden frame, atop which lay a body dressed in white.

Around it stood a crowd of mourners, all dressed in white, with white flowers in their hair.

In the middle, beside the body, three monks were performing the funeral rites.

As soon as Mao Zhongcai’s family arrived, the mourners standing around stood up and made way for them.

The sound of weeping grew even louder than before, though how much of it was sincere and how much was pretense, only those involved truly knew.

Finally, the monks announced that the hour had come, and the mourners embraced one another before stepping back.

A man holding a burning wooden stick walked up beside the body.

The courtyard filled with even more anguished wailing.

Before long, all the wood had caught fire, and all anyone could see was the raging flames.

—