Zhang Yuehui stood on the rooftop of Huachao Pavilion, gazing into the distance. The Li Du Mansion, having fallen into night, was already shrouded in a blanket of ink-black darkness, with only the southeastern corner brilliantly lit.
That was the Bureau of Shipping.
In this enormous city, plans and accidents always occurred in fierce competition against time.
Even with his meticulous mind, he hadn’t anticipated that someone would confess at this critical juncture the information that the leader of the Bingzhu Division was within the Bureau of Shipping.
Wanyan Puruuo was the catalyst among them. Her arrival represented the will of royal authority, and the ministers of Great Qi would work even harder to compete for control of this city.
For the first time, Zhang Yuehui felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.
In the past, filled with the desire for destruction, he had been fearless—he had nothing to fear, at worst it would just mean death. But now he had a weakness. This powerlessness came from the fact that he had begun, like everyone else, to crawl forward on this land.
Wanyan Puruuo forced him to take sides, and he was clear about his own insincerity.
But where did his heart want to go? He had no answer. Someone as rebellious and treasonous as he couldn’t suddenly develop a heart of patriotic righteousness.
More than anything, it was for Nanyi.
When he said he would give all of Guilai Hall to the Bingzhu Division, that was just a word game. What he was thinking was to flee far away with Nanyi. Without him, Guilai Hall would just be an empty shell—whoever wanted it could take it.
Behind him came subtle movement—the light and cautious footsteps of a woman, neither an ordinary maidservant nor possibly Wanyan Puruuo.
Without showing any reaction, he touched his thumb ring, the hidden weapon on it ready to spring out at any moment. He vigilantly turned to look, but what he saw was Nanyi. He suspected he was seeing things. The wind pulled the lanterns into chaotic swaying, and her shadow swayed along with them, falling on him—only then did he feel a sense of reality.
“Zhang Yuehui, help me.”
She spoke before he could say anything. She had run all the way here; her hair was disheveled, loose strands brushing across her brow and eyes, creating a somewhat pitiful appearance.
For her to actively seek him out and even swallow her pride, what she was asking for must not be an easy matter.
Zhang Yuehui rarely became serious: “Speak slowly.”
“Song Muchuan is in danger. Xie Queshan was taken away by Gusha, and he left this note telling me to find you.”
Nanyi didn’t avoid anything. She guessed that Zhang Yuehui should know what he needed to know. She handed over the paper.
This thin slip of paper felt somewhat burning to the touch.
—Xie Queshan had Nanyi come find him, Zhang Yuehui, to save Song Muchuan.
Just speaking of this matter was filled with absurdity and strangeness—people who had nothing to do with each other were forcibly brought together.
But the person before him was Nanyi, so Zhang Yuehui still took it and unfolded it to look.
Just four characters: “Fish that escaped the net.”
Zhang Yuehui suppressed his urge to curse—if you, Xie Queshan, had just written a few more characters and clearly explained your plan, he could have considered helping out as a favor to Nanyi.
But immediately he understood. Xie Queshan hadn’t expected him to help at all, so naturally he wouldn’t tell him so clearly. Writing these ambiguous few characters was actually just to keep Nanyi safe.
His heart felt a bit sour.
For the first time, he felt that Xie Queshan was really something.
Nanyi anxiously stared at Zhang Yuehui. He had already looked at these four characters several times over.
“What does Xie Queshan mean?” she finally couldn’t help but ask.
Zhang Yuehui vaguely had a guess, but he didn’t intend to think deeply about it. This was too risky—if he took one step in that direction, he would be shattered to pieces. Wanyan Puruuo had already warned him.
He only replied regretfully: “I don’t understand.”
Nanyi was disappointed for a moment, but stubbornness quickly surfaced on her face: “Impossible, you must know.”
Xie Queshan couldn’t possibly do useless things. For these four characters to be delivered to Zhang Yuehui’s hands, there must be his meaning.
Zhang Yuehui thought to himself that anyway, he was just a shameless scoundrel. Since Xie Queshan had sent the person over, he would go with the flow and forcibly take her away—that would be very reasonable.
But he just stood there, doing nothing, with two little people fighting in his mind.
Nanyi became anxious and took out a bracelet from her sleeve, holding it up in front of Zhang Yuehui.
“If you help me with this favor, I’ll wear the bracelet you gave me.”
Zhang Yuehui hadn’t expected Nanyi to use this as a condition. He instinctively thought toward that good possibility, his heart suddenly leaping violently, even his thoughts freezing, and he asked a stupid question: “Wearing the bracelet—what does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?”
Nanyi had come prepared and threw the question back at him.
Zhang Yuehui was immediately speechless, then understood in a flash.
Anyway, it definitely wasn’t the meaning he wanted. But cleverly, she hadn’t admitted anything, nor had she denied anything. As long as there was the slightest possibility, he would climb up that pole—who told him he owed her.
Zhang Yuehui was once again forced to reassess Nanyi. He felt like he had been outmaneuvered, using exactly his old tricks, even quite in his shameless style.
Nanyi was someone with extremely strong learning ability. She would quickly absorb some outstanding qualities from the people she encountered.
For example, Xie Queshan’s cunning, Zhang Yuehui’s shamelessness. Then she would apply what she learned and give it back to them.
The pretentious sentiments of romance could all be thrown away when facing important matters. As long as she could force Zhang Yuehui to help now, she could wear ten bracelets. She didn’t care what Zhang Yuehui would think, whether he would consider this a sign of reconciliation—she hadn’t said anything. If everyone insisted on arguing about it afterward, a bracelet was just a bracelet. When you gave it, you only said it was a gift; you never said it was a love token.
He had left a bracelet without clarity, causing her to harbor thoughts for several years. Now she was using it to make a case for saving someone—that wasn’t excessive at all.
Zhang Yuehui also knew she was openly and honestly using him, but he was precisely susceptible to this approach. He truly had no way to deal with it.
People who wanted to be pursued had to be properly pursued. With sincerity, even metal and stone could be moved.
He accepted it.
Zhang Yuehui sighed, lowered his eyes, and pulled Nanyi’s hand over, sliding the bracelet onto her wrist.
“Wait here for me to come back. Don’t wander around, or you’ll cause me trouble.”
Zhang Yuehui agreed more readily than she had imagined. All the tension in Nanyi’s body could finally relax a little.
“Alright.”
After saying this, Zhang Yuehui lightly leaped directly from the rooftop like a graceful immortal banished from heaven.
This kid actually knew light martial arts—just how many things had he deceived her about? Nanyi suppressed the curse words in her mouth.
The task Xie Queshan had entrusted was finally accomplished.
These two extremely intelligent people working together should have more chance of success than ordinary people, right?
Nanyi knew that this was all she could do. The rest was waiting.
Just then, a team of Qi soldiers passed by on the street below.
“The general has ordered us to support the Bureau of Shipping. Everyone, hurry up and keep up.”
Nanyi perked up her ears to listen, her mind stirring.
Before entering the Bureau of Shipping, Xie Queshan was searched and had all the weapons and sharp objects on his person removed.
Rounding the official building’s screen wall, the courtyard was filled with kneeling craftsmen and clerks. Gusha had given everyone paper and brush, wanting them to identify the leader of the Bingzhu Division. Those who refused to write were tortured, and those who had been identified were executed on the spot. For a time, the Bureau of Shipping became a living hell, with wails of anguish continuous.
Xie Queshan’s gaze swept over the crowd—Song Muchuan was not among them.
Passing through the hanging flower gate, he saw a small pavilion burned beyond recognition. The fire had been extinguished, but thick smoke still permeated the air.
“Don’t you think this is strange? Just as I was about to investigate the Bureau of Shipping, the archives caught fire, and all the documents were burned.”
“Was the arsonist found?”
While responding, Xie Queshan glanced around and discovered that the dark corners of the entire square courtyard were filled with ambush troops.
“Young Master Queshan also thinks it was man-made? I think so too, but the cause of the fire was just an old, poorly maintained candlestick that collapsed… At the time, there was no one in the archives. I have to say, it was done quite brilliantly.”
Gusha chuckled and pushed open the half-burned door.
Song Muchuan sat at a desk in the ruins, his white robe stained with dust. Moonlight streamed in through the burned-through roof, creating a startling sense of falling. His hands were bound behind his back, with paper and brush laid out before him, but the paper was blank.
He hadn’t written down anyone’s name, but the Qi people hadn’t tortured him—they had only tied him to the chair with his hands bound behind his back.
“Young Master Queshan, this Mr. Song is an old friend of yours, isn’t he?”
Xie Queshan and Song Muchuan gazed at each other from a distance.
“We became strangers long ago.” Xie Queshan said indifferently.
“That makes it easy then.” Gusha drew a dagger from his waist and handed it ominously to Xie Queshan.
“He is the leader of the Bingzhu Division. You kill him.”
“Didn’t you call me here to interrogate him?” Xie Queshan paid no attention to the dagger before him, staring at Gusha calmly yet sharply.
“What, Young Master Queshan can’t bear to kill him?” The smile on Gusha’s face suddenly vanished, leaving only bone-chilling killing intent. The dagger tip pointed directly at Xie Queshan’s heart, lightly poking.
“Harboring Bingzhu Division members—that’s a serious crime! Or are you accomplices?”
Xie Queshan laughed and took the dagger from Gusha’s hand: “If we were accomplices, wouldn’t General Gusha be achieving great merit?”
“Exactly! That’s why I need Young Master Queshan to help me with this matter. Whether I can achieve great merit depends entirely on you two gentlemen.”
Gusha walked toward Song Muchuan and untied the rope around his hands.
“Of course, for the sake of fairness… if Mr. Song is willing to identify Young Master Queshan as a Bingzhu Division member, then you can live.”
Song Muchuan’s eyes finally showed some ripples, looking at Xie Queshan with disbelief.
What a performance of mutual destruction.
Xie Queshan smiled. He finally understood that Gusha’s target was never Song Muchuan, but himself.
If he didn’t kill Song Muchuan, his position would be questionable. But if he actually killed Song Muchuan… the ambush troops outside would swarm in, pin him down, and crown him with the crime of murder and silencing witnesses.
Then they would say that the Bureau of Shipping was a trap set by Gusha to draw out the snake. Whoever made a move would be the traitor.
And everyone here belonged to Gusha. Xie Queshan would be unable to defend himself.
At this moment, Nanyi had already changed into Qi soldier clothing and snuck into the Bureau of Shipping. She was lying on the opposite rooftop observing. The door to that room was wide open, and the voices inside carried out clearly.
Nanyi was anxious. She could also see the ambush troops below and immediately understood that whether Xie Queshan killed Song Muchuan or not, this was a death trap.
She noticed that Xie Queshan’s wrist holding the dagger moved slightly—even across some distance, as if by telepathy, she instantly received Xie Queshan’s intention.
He was going to kill Gusha!
But with ambush troops below, even if he killed Gusha, how would he get out?
Could it be that he wanted to exchange himself for Song Muchuan?!
But what about Zhang Yuehui? Why did he want Zhang Yuehui to do something? The situation here was so urgent, with the arrow nocked and ready, everything happening in an instant—what could be done from outside that would affect things here?