After the chaotic battle, of the forty-plus people who had participated in robbing Mo Zi, fewer than ten remained.

Xiao Wei listened to Mo Zi recount the entire course of events, his sword-like eyebrows furrowing into a river, his lips pressed into a thin line. He saw her and Yuan Cheng standing so close together. Though he knew Yuan Cheng’s injury was a major reason for this, the discomfort in his heart was an undeniable fact.

It shouldn’t be like this.

Before him, there were more important matters awaiting his attention than caring about her, yet his gaze couldn’t leave those two overlapping arms. He felt anger, felt stifled, felt unable to catch his breath.

“I must ask General Xiao to imprison them. Though there is suspicion of being manipulated by someone, they truly had intent to rob an official carriage. In any case, they must be tried and sentenced.” Yuan Cheng spoke one sentence, then paused.

“No need for Official Yuan to say so—I naturally know how to handle this.” Xiao Wei had been appointed by the Emperor as commander of the metropolitan garrison during the peace talks period, bearing overall responsibility for the capital’s security.

Mo Zi rarely stood on the same side as Xiao the Second, though their starting points differed. “Yuan Cheng, with Junior General Xiao here, you needn’t worry about this. Quickly treating your arrow wound is what’s important. That thing stuck in your shoulder—even if only flesh suffers, there will be blood loss, infection, and life-threatening danger.”

Yuan Cheng’s lip color was somewhat pale gray, his eyes deep as the night sky. “Delaying a moment is still better than being set up and trapped by someone’s scheme.”

“Yes, yes, don’t I know that? But isn’t everything fine now?” Mo Zi had an impulse to pull out the long arrow because it really was an eyesore. Of course, she wouldn’t actually pull it out. If she did, there might be massive blood loss.

Huayi flew down from the eaves, dropped heavily to one knee, his tone full of self-reproach. “My lord, I was a step too slow and only deflected some of the opponent’s force.”

“If not for you, this arrow would have pierced through my shoulder bone. I said it’s nothing—no one needs to blame themselves. This injury, it also has its habituation. I’ve experienced pain to the point of death before. This small wound is nothing worth discussing.” He was strong not only in will—the body beneath his clothing wasn’t as frail as everyone assumed. Otherwise, how could he have endured torture?

“Ah?” Mo Zi couldn’t help but press her forehead. “Yuan Cheng, that statement really is… somewhat logical.” Modern scientific research showed that bones continuously struck would increase in strength, becoming tougher than ordinary bones.

Huayi was strong. Using skillful force, he helped Yuan Cheng into the carriage, glancing at Mo Zi with a look suggesting she was aiding tyranny.

Realizing this, Mo Zi changed her tune. “However, specific problems require specific analysis.”

Xiao Wei swept them with a cold glance. “Official Yuan should quickly go treat his injury. However, Supervisor Song must accompany me to the Ministry of Justice to clarify matters.”

Mo Zi immediately retorted, “I’m not going. If I go, I must first see Yuan Cheng off. He was injured because of me—I cannot ignore this.”

Xiao Wei felt this scene was quite familiar. Wasn’t this just like that time on the Yongfu, when she defended this person regardless of her own safety? He could assume she did so then because she didn’t know this person’s background and was motivated by the presumably generous ship fare, but what was her reason now? These two people’s bond seemed even deeper. His chest heaved, and he suddenly had the vicious thought of separating them. After separating them, what then? He—

A cold shudder, suddenly awakening.

What was he thinking? After the arrow shooting incident, he had decided to get along well with Mo Zi. If he used his power to pressure her again, it would only make her resent him more.

At this moment, the sound of many hooves approached. The metropolitan garrison, led by the duty lieutenant, came rushing up.

“Junior General Xiao, assassinating officials is a grave crime of treason against the court. It should be judged directly by the Court of Judicial Review. However, today all officials are attending court. If you go, you’ll likely find it empty. To prevent variables, this humble official suggests going directly to have an imperial audience, explain the circumstances, and request His Majesty’s decree to investigate the truth.” Yuan Cheng’s eyes were wearily half-closed.

In these words, the four characters “to prevent variables” were most important, because he saw more deeply and farther than others.

Xiao Wei hadn’t noticed this and thought him overly cautious, saying, “What variables could there be? The people are all—” dead.

But the variables came as soon as they were mentioned.

Those few who had luckily survived, including the bandit leader, suddenly knelt down and shouted at the lieutenant who had stopped before them, “My lord, save us! Quickly save us!”

Mo Zi was shocked.

Xiao Wei was shocked too.

Yuan Cheng closed his eyes, his head leaning against the carriage canopy’s door frame.

The lieutenant exchanged a glance with Xiao Wei, looking somewhat uneasy yet also somewhat resolved. He said, “Cunning lowly civilians, I’ve already received word that you actually dared to rob and kill Supervisor Song. So audacious and reckless, yet you cry for help?”

The bandit leader’s expression didn’t change as he spoke. “My lord must not believe falsehoods. We are beggars from the west of the city who rose early today to come to this area hoping to beg for some food. Not knowing it was the female official’s carriage, we thought it was some wealthy household, so we followed along begging for a few steps. At first, the female official paid us no mind. Later, the carriage stopped, and the female official came out and gave us a large ingot. I was thinking we’d truly met a noble person and led my brothers in thanking her profusely. Who knew, as soon as we turned around, the female official’s three guards drew their blades and swords. In the blink of an eye, they’d killed seven or eight people. We were scared stiff—we’re all honest and law-abiding. Though we beg, it’s truly because we have no other option. We never dare do anything underhanded. Yet unexpectedly, begging for food provoked a female killer star. I asked the female official why she was so vicious. She said she most detested beggars like us, that we’d be better off dead than alive. She’s also the newly appointed first female official of Great Zhou and could use defeating bandits to enhance her official reputation. If I hadn’t thought of a final trick, telling her she might as well keep a few people and say she fought back against attackers, otherwise if investigated, she’d have difficulty escaping the charge of indiscriminately killing innocents. She, eager for fame, had her guards feed us remaining few a poison pill each. Only then did she spare our lives, not realizing she’d fallen for my trick. My lord, quickly save us! She has a venomous heart—who knows what her purpose is in scheming for an official position. We’re willing to meet His Majesty and report everything. Also, the households on both sides of that alley surely heard the truth. My lord need only ask—if there’s half a lie, may we die terrible deaths.”

“Deceived and tricked, again and again. Thinking that having experienced so much, I should see clearly what can be seen, and thinking myself clever enough to deal with conspiracies.” Mo Zi let out a low laugh, very soft. “Turns out, it’s self-righteousness again.”

That bandit leader—she’d seen him as a man of blood and righteousness, an upright person. Yet actually, she had a plan within a plan, they had a trap within a trap. Three sets of interconnected schemes to drive her to a dead end. There were no pitiful poor people, no desperate miserable civilians, no so-called contrary-minded brothers. The other side had calculated that she would soften and pay off these seemingly impoverished people, so there was the internal conflict. They also calculated she would help and save survivors, so they could turn the tables at the end. Now the killers were dead, she had no witnesses, and these so-called beggars could arbitrarily pin crimes on her. Minor charges of cruelty, major charges of treason—all at their word.

However, Yuan Cheng had heard every word of her low murmur beside him. He suddenly opened both eyes, his gaze turning toward the bandit leader, cold and piercingly clear. “If that’s the case, how do you explain the assassins on the eaves? This official personally witnessed Supervisor Song being pursued for her life. This official’s shoulder also took an arrow.”

Most of this was within the plan. Even if Yuan Cheng and Xiao Wei’s appearance was unexpected, explanations had been prepared long ago.

“This we don’t know. Perhaps she deliberately arranged a ruse of self-harm, and you happened to take the physical pain for her. As I just said, who knows what her plans are in scheming for an official position, rushing to present merit to the Emperor.” The bandit leader was neither flustered nor hurried.

“This official asks you—before you lived a beggar’s life, what did you do?” Yuan Cheng was also neither flustered nor hurried.

The bandit leader was startled. “I was a farmer, escaped from my hometown after disaster struck.”

“Can you read?” Yuan Cheng asked again.

The bandit leader was startled again. “Living by farming, how would I have opportunity to read?”

“Mm, though you’re illiterate, your speech is quite refined. In front of us, you directly say ‘I, I, I’ without calling yourself a lowly civilian.” Yuan Cheng stared at him closely and, discovering his changed expression, sneered coldly.

“Junior General Xiao, what do you say?” Yuan Cheng turned to Xiao Wei. “You helped catch the killers. They died as soon as they hit the ground—you saw it with your own eyes. If Supervisor Song had arranged it beforehand, they should at least have said a few words clearing her of suspicion before dying. Otherwise, wouldn’t their deaths be in vain, serving no purpose?”

From beginning to end, Xiao Wei didn’t believe the bandit leader’s words, but the other party spoke with such certainty and claimed an entire alley of civilians as witnesses, leaving him unable to find the flaw for the moment. Knowing Mo Zi was being wrongly accused yet not knowing where to start in helping her out. Therefore, though he had never been able to like Yuan Cheng as a person, he inwardly said “good.”

But the bandit leader had quick wits. “I don’t understand etiquette. Ordinarily I say ‘I, I, I’ to everyone. Today, rarely meeting so many official lords, I learned to speak like in theater scripts. Those killers committed suicide by poison just to disguise a fake assassination of the female official—why would they need to say anything? Furthermore, would I stake my own life to wrongly accuse someone else?”

“Who said the killers committed suicide by poison?” Yuan Cheng’s “oh” held interest. “The more I look at you, this farming peasant, the more I feel your insight isn’t shallow.”

Cold sweat ran down the bandit leader’s back, but his mouth remained stubborn. “If you want officials to protect officials, I’ll offer up my own head. Don’t think you can intimidate me.”

“Even if this official wanted to protect, I would absolutely make you convinced from the heart. There were five killers—only two have died now. The other three are alive. Very well, originally fearing they’d be silenced, I planned to secretly escort them for covert interrogation. Since things have suddenly come to this, let them show their faces.”

As soon as Yuan Cheng said this, Huayi waved his hand.

From the shadows emerged seven or eight people, the front three bound hand and foot, beaten until their faces were black and blue, mouths stuffed with cloth, making muffled sounds.

The bandit leader was greatly shocked and finally began losing confidence. Facing the equally apprehensive-looking lieutenant, he loudly protested his innocence. “This… I don’t know them, my lord, please investigate clearly.”

“You don’t know them?” Xiao Wei discovered something suspicious between these two. “But they seem to know you.”

“Lieutenant, the metropolitan garrison was patrolling the city tonight. So many people died at once—could you truly not have heard any commotion?” Yuan Cheng followed up with a question.

“No… I did not.” The lieutenant hadn’t expected the unexpectedly appearing Yuan Cheng and Xiao Wei to disrupt the entire arrangement.

Yuan Cheng smiled. “That’s good then. Otherwise, I would have thought the lieutenant was also an accomplice.”

The lieutenant’s expression became even more unpleasant.

“Junior General Xiao, a word in private.” Yuan Cheng disregarded his arrow wound.

Xiao Wei walked toward the carriage.

Yuan Cheng took the opportunity to whisper to Mo Zi, “Don’t blame me for being ruthless, but those people must not leave a single one alive.”

Mo Zi bit her teeth and nodded silently.

To resolve this trap within a trap, one only needed to see who was more ruthless, regardless of right or wrong.

—