While waiting for Governor Zhou to arrive, Censorate soldiers brought water over for Li Chi to wash his face.

He rinsed off the disguise, his true features restored, then returned to his chair to rest.

And in that waiting time, the anxiety and dread inside Guo Hui and his group only continued to grow.

By now they were not only frightened and flustered — they were also bewildered.

Why had Prince Ning suddenly come? What had brought him here?

Without understanding that, they had no way to find an angle, no way to explain themselves.

If some piece of evidence had already been seized by Prince Ning, then any reason, any explanation, seemed meaningless.

If it was simply coincidence — the Prince had come in disguise to this teahouse as a covert inspection — then there might still be room to maneuver.

Just then, Prefectural Governor Zhou Qixi came rushing over. From a distance he could already see the tilting teahouse.

Seeing the people kneeling on the ground, Zhou Qixi’s footsteps faltered for a moment, and then he let out a long, heavy breath.

He walked quickly to Li Chi and bowed down before him.

“This official Zhou Qixi respectfully greets Your Highness.”

“Rise.”

Li Chi glanced at Zhou Qixi, and in Zhou Qixi’s eyes he saw no trace of fear.

Back at the yamen, when Zhou Qixi had knelt and declared himself guilty, what Li Chi had seen in his eyes was resolute determination.

Here and now, what Li Chi saw in Zhou Qixi’s eyes was not only determination but also a kind of relief — not the relief of having made peace with something, but the quiet relief of someone thinking: so be it, let it end this way.

“You have no more explanations?”

Li Chi asked.

Zhou Qixi bowed and touched his forehead to the ground: “This official confesses guilt.”

Li Chi said: “If you’re going to confess guilt, at least state the charges clearly.”

Li Chi held out his hand: “Give me the dossiers.”

Senior Censorate Officer Fang Xidao handed the dossiers to Li Chi. Li Chi opened the first one and read: “This anonymous letter states that last summer, during the flood disaster, you were absent from the yamen and failed to conduct official business for at least seven or eight days. Do you admit to this?”

Zhou Qixi looked up at Li Chi for a moment, paused, then nodded: “I admit it.”

Li Chi turned to the second: “This anonymous letter claims that you accepted bribes from local residents, and that the gifts piled up outside your home were considerable in quantity. Do you admit to this?”

Zhou Qixi didn’t even raise his head this time, simply kneeling there: “This official confesses guilt.”

“This one claims you are arrogant and self-opinionated, that Jinzhou’s yamen is your personal domain where your word is law. Do you admit to this?”

“This official confesses guilt.”

Li Chi didn’t read the rest. He handed them to Fang Xidao and walked over to stand before Zhou Qixi: “I’m asking you once more — do you truly have no explanation?”

Zhou Qixi answered: “This official has committed wrongs. I dare not offer explanations.”

Li Chi gave a quiet sigh, then let out a short laugh: “What the hell are you confessing to.”

He walked back and sat down: “Fang Xidao, you explain.”

Censorate senior officer Fang Xidao stepped forward, opened another dossier, and read aloud standing before Zhou Qixi: “Upon investigation: concerning the matter of Jinzhou Prefectural Governor Zhou Qixi being absent from official duties for seven or eight days — it was established that last summer, during heavy rains in Jinzhou, Zhou Qixi worked through the rain for four consecutive days rescuing flood victims and coordinating emergency repairs to damaged dwellings. By the fourth day he fell gravely ill, suffering acute fever and lapsing into unconsciousness, from which he did not recover for many days.”

“Upon investigation: concerning the matter of Zhou Qixi accepting bribes from local residents — it was established that during his illness, townspeople came spontaneously to call on him. He ordered his household to close the doors and refuse all visitors. The residents left the things they had brought at the gate, the most valuable of which was a basket of eggs. Afterward Zhou Qixi had all these items distributed among the laborers who had assisted with the emergency repairs.”

“Upon investigation…”

Before Fang Xidao had finished, Li Chi said: “That’s enough.”

He looked at Zhou Qixi: “Before I came here, when someone brought up your name, I said — I hope Zhou Qixi does not disappoint me…”

“Do you know what I meant by ‘disappoint’?”

Li Chi rose and walked over to Zhou Qixi, reaching down to help him to his feet.

“Covert investigations are dispatched not to target anyone in particular — nor of course to target you. The Censorate’s purpose is to ensure that not a single official who exploits and abuses the people goes unpunished — and equally, that not a single genuinely dedicated official suffers slander or mistreatment!”

“Officials in my service who are corrupt, I will deal with myself. Officials in my service who are good, I will protect myself!”

Li Chi held Zhou Qixi by the arm: “You knew who was slandering you, and you confessed to their charges to protect them — didn’t you?”

Zhou Qixi opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His eyes had grown faintly red.

“If you won’t say it, then I will.”

Li Chi said: “You have served as an official in Jinzhou for three years. The common people here do not wish to see you leave. And should you receive Excellent ratings three years in a row, you would be transferred to serve in Jizhou.”

He looked at Guo Hui: “Were you involved in all this?”

He pointed to Yuan Xi Liu: “And you?”

Guo Hui knocked his head against the ground heavily: “This commoner Guo Hui confesses guilt.”

“We all confess guilt.”

Li Chi waved a hand: “Censorate!”

Fang Xidao and the others immediately stepped forward: “Present!”

Li Chi pointed at Guo Hui and the others: “Take them all into custody. Conduct thorough investigations. Whatever the motive behind the offenses — an offense is still an offense.”

Fang Xidao strode forward, and the Censorate troops moved immediately, binding Guo Hui and his group.

“Your Highness.”

Zhou Qixi suddenly fell to his knees once more: “Your Highness, I implore Your Highness for mercy. They had no malicious intent — please hold me responsible and spare them. They too have genuinely served Jinzhou well.”

Li Chi frowned: “They have served Jinzhou well? Just on the charge of arbitrarily driving out outside merchants alone…”

Zhou Qixi suddenly raised his head: “Your Highness — there was a reason for it!”

Li Chi: “Oh?”

Guo Hui and the others knelt there, faces drained of color.

Half an hour later. The prefectural yamen.

Outside the yamen, a crowd of townspeople were kneeling, and more were arriving by the minute.

Word had spread through Jinzhou that Prince Ning had come to deal with Prefectural Governor Zhou Qixi, so residents had come flooding in from all directions.

Zhou Qixi stood at the gate calling loudly for people to disperse.

The residents learned that Prince Ning had come to stand up for the prefectural governor — that set them at ease — yet still they were reluctant to leave, and remained waiting outside the yamen for news.

Another half hour later. The study.

Li Chi sat with his eyes closed, listening as Zhou Qixi and the others explained.

Zhou Qixi said: “Your Highness, the reason Guo Hui and the others were wary and hostile toward outside merchants — even going so far as to speak rudely — was because something had happened.”

He looked at Li Chi and said: “Around the beginning of this year, an outside merchant came to town. To secure a meeting with me, he first made a show of goodwill by funding repairs to a local school.”

“After that, this man and I met, and at first there was nothing particularly amiss. I actually thought him straightforward and generous, and we grew more acquainted over time.”

“Later, he told me he could provide the funds to advance my career — to place me in service beside Prince Ning — and that should Prince Ning one day unify the realm and ascend the throne, he could help me become a powerful minister who would hold sway over the court.”

At those words, Li Chi’s expression changed — his eyes came open.

Li Chi asked: “What was his name?”

Zhou Qixi said: “He called himself Lü Wuman — said he was from Gan County in Jizhou, which is less than a hundred li south of Yanshan.”

Li Chi nodded. On their route to Yanshan Camp, they would necessarily pass through Gan County.

Li Chi asked: “What ability did he claim that would allow him to place you at my side — to see you trusted and used — and eventually to hold sway over the court?”

Zhou Qixi raised his head to look at Li Chi and answered: “Enormous wealth.”

Li Chi’s brow furrowed again: “Enormous wealth?”

Zhou Qixi said: “Lü Wuman claimed he had enough financial resources to grease the right channels and ensure I became a close confidant of Prince Ning.”

“I told Lü Wuman there was no need for that — I only wanted to serve as an official and do right by the people. As for career advancement, I had no strong ambitions.”

“Lü Wuman then asked whether I doubted his wealth. I said I did not. He said he wished to demonstrate.”

Zhou Qixi’s expression turned distant for a moment, as though still haunted by the memory.

“Before he left, this man said to me — Prefectural Governor Zhou, within a few days you will come to find me yourself. I will be waiting at the Qingke Mountain Villa outside the city.”

“And indeed, within a few days, three of the city’s grain storehouses had been bought up — at twice the market price, which made them impossible to refuse.”

“Not only the grain storehouses — the chicken coops, the pig yards, the tea shops, every business connected to the people’s daily lives, all of it was bought up within a matter of days, at prices two to three times above market.”

Zhou Qixi said: “In the first two days, no one brought this news to me, so I had no warning at all. By the third day…”

He looked at Guo Hui: “Guo Hui came to me in great haste to say that something grave had happened — that Jinzhou’s daily necessities might be falling under someone’s control.”

Li Chi looked at Guo Hui.

Guo Hui promptly bowed his head: “This commoner’s family has been in the textile trade in Jinzhou for generations — a business of no great size, but well-connected among Jinzhou’s merchants.”

Li Chi gave a nod. The Jinzhou merchants had organized the General Assembly, and this man served as its presiding head — a sign of how much standing he had.

Looking at it now, the General Assembly had clearly been organized because of the very crisis that had arisen.

“Because it was the textile trade, I received word of what was happening two or three days later, with no one coming to inform me initially.”

Guo Hui said: “It was a few days afterward, while chatting with others at the teahouse, that I heard someone mention it. I felt something was deeply wrong, and quickly sent people to ask around in every direction. Only then did I learn that all the businesses in the city connected to daily life, except for silk and cloth, had all been bought up.”

Li Chi asked: “Lü Wuman bought up all these businesses, then drove up prices and used that to coerce the local government?”

He thought about it — but that didn’t quite add up. If that were the case, as Jinzhou’s prefectural governor, Zhou Qixi would have had the authority to investigate and deal with Lü Wuman.

But clearly that hadn’t happened — which meant Lü Wuman hadn’t done things that way.

In an instant Li Chi’s mind grasped what Lü Wuman had actually done, and his expression shifted.

Li Chi murmured to himself: “No… he shut all the shops down. He simply refused to do business?”

“Yes!”

Zhou Qixi said: “This man closed every business he had purchased, and I sent people to Qingke Mountain Villa to find him. He said he wasn’t refusing to do business — only that the shops needed renovations before reopening, so there would be a wait.”

Zhou Qixi said: “At the time, this official did indeed underestimate the situation. I also assumed he was going to jack up the prices on daily necessities, and I told myself — when the moment comes, I’ll have the authority to deal with him.”

“But the wait went on for more than ten days. After ten days, there were many households in the city with no grain, no rice, no vegetables, no meat… Last year’s flood had already left things scarce.”

He looked at Li Chi and said: “This official rushed to Qingke Mountain Villa to see Lü Wuman, but the man wasn’t there — they said he’d gone out to enjoy himself somewhere and didn’t know when he’d return.”

“This official realized a catastrophe was coming. I ordered that the people at Qingke Mountain Villa be arrested, but they were all inconsequential figures. Detaining them served no purpose whatsoever. Lü Wuman wouldn’t have cared about them — and besides, Lü Wuman knew this official had no legal grounds to charge them. They were simply servants.”

Zhou Qixi said: “So this official found Guo Hui and the others to discuss what could be done.”

He looked at Guo Hui: “Tell His Highness what you came up with.”

Guo Hui said: “By this point, the merchants of the city were all aware of how serious the situation had become. I gathered them to discuss it, and we reached a decision — each family would contribute funds to purchase daily necessities from other places.”

“But because supplies were scarce locally, prices in the surrounding areas had risen as well. We were unwilling to profit from the people’s hardship, so we kept prices at what they had been before — no increases.”

“We held on like that for two or three months, but by the end we could barely continue. Every family was nearly out of money to spare.”

“At that point, Lü Wuman reappeared. He said he hadn’t expected the people of Jinzhou to be so united — it seemed he had miscalculated. So he said he would sell all the businesses back to us.”

Guo Hui continued: “But on top of the price he had originally paid — which was already double the market rate — he added a few additional portions more.”

“At the time this commoner thought: if we didn’t buy them back, this man would know Jinzhou’s merchants were already out of money, and that meant he had won. As long as he kept refusing to open for business, Jinzhou would immediately fall back into crisis.”

“So this commoner gathered all the merchants again to discuss it, and we agreed: even if it meant emptying every family’s coffers, we would buy back what was ours.”

“Seeing that we could still produce the silver to buy everything back, Lü Wuman pocketed his profit and left.”

After hearing all of this, Li Chi looked at Zhou Qixi: “Why was this matter never reported?”

Zhou Qixi said: “It was…”

Guo Hui and the others kept touching their heads to the ground repeatedly: “It was we who urged the Governor not to report it. Because if it were reported, the Governor might be implicated. He is a good official, Jinzhou’s guardian and parent — we couldn’t bear to see him promoted away, nor could we bear to see him punished.”

Li Chi quietly let out a long breath.

The Censorate couldn’t possibly keep surveillance over every city — there was simply no capacity for that, especially in the past year.

The main army had swept south, and more than half the Censorate troops had been divided out to accompany Tang Pidi on the campaign, leaving even fewer hands than before.

So this Lü Wuman had a thorough understanding of Jizhou’s affairs.

“Lü Wuman… Gan County…”

Li Chi looked at Fang Xidao.

Fang Xidao immediately bowed: “This subordinate will begin investigating at once.”