Lu County. The County Office.

Zhang Tang sat in the main hall of the county office. The desk before him was piled with an enormous stack of ledgers and records.

These documents had come not only from the county office itself, but also from the local money houses, gambling dens, pleasure houses, taverns, and so on and so forth…

Combing through these records for clues, then connecting the key points among them — one could always find traces of money passing through the hands of officials, so long as one was sufficiently thorough.

As Zhang Tang himself put it, there was no wall in this world with no cracks, and no account book that was perfectly made.

Every fabrication that held up only managed to do so because the person checking it was lazy.

In the main hall, the county magistrate Hu Nansheng and his subordinate officials stood trembling with anxiety, not one of them daring to speak.

The entire hall seemed to contain no sound except that of Zhang Tang turning pages of ledgers. No one else dared even to breathe audibly.

Long before Zhang Tang had arrived in Lu County, word of him had already gotten there first.

A man like this — who would not fear him? Especially someone like Hu Nansheng, a local official with cause for concern.

By now, within Jizhou, over the course of two months, almost everyone knew of this formidable figure called Zhang Tang.

Before coming to Lu County, Zhang Tang had killed more than thirty people in a single fit of anger in Qinghe County, nearly wiping out the entire county office staff.

That had been the day before yesterday. Everyone had assumed he would need to stay there at least a while to handle the aftermath — to wait at minimum until newly appointed officials from Jizhou arrived to take over before he departed.

Yet here he was: two hundred li apart, killing people in Qinghe County the day before yesterday, and today already sitting in the main hall of Lu County’s county office.

And in truth, the Tingwei Army soldiers had arrived in Lu County at least four or five days before Zhang Tang.

Four days ago, the county office’s account books went missing.

On the same day, the account books of the money house in town went missing — and the accounts of the largest pleasure house and tavern in town vanished overnight.

Magistrate Hu Nansheng dispatched people to investigate thoroughly. Four days of searching yielded no results.

Four days later, all the missing account books appeared stacked on the main hall desk.

Hu Nansheng walked in that morning and found several piles of ledgers on the desk, startling him badly.

Then he noticed a person seated on the steps, wearing a black brocade robe, his outer robe wrapped fairly snug around him — perhaps because of the cold.

A brazier sat before him, with two steamed buns warming over the fire. The man sat there with his eyes closed, resting in peace.

Hu Nansheng had been about to shout at this person for trespassing in the county office main hall — but when he got a closer look at the brocade robe the man was wearing, he dropped to his knees with a thud.

Strictly speaking, there was no need to kneel — and yet somehow he did so quite naturally.

Zhang Tang paid no attention to this soft-kneed magistrate, and only opened his eyes once he sensed the steamed buns were done.

A flask of water, two steamed buns — that was his breakfast.

After eating, he still said nothing, taking his seat in the presiding chair and beginning to review the ledgers.

By now roughly two hours had passed. Zhang Tang read through the accounts at a rapid pace, and so Hu Nansheng and the others grew ever more tense — some of them were already drenched in sweat.

“Magistrate Hu.”

Zhang Tang spoke suddenly, giving Hu Nansheng such a start that he twitched.

“Chief Investigator, sir — this official is present.”

Zhang Tang tossed out three compiled booklets. They landed at Hu Nansheng’s feet.

“One is for the money house, one is for Yunsheng Hall, one is for Fengde Hall.”

He asked: “Do you still need to offer an explanation?”

Hu Nansheng dropped to his knees again with a thud, and said hastily: “In response to the Chief Investigator, sir, this official can offer an explanation… an explanation is possible.”

Zhang Tang asked: “Do your best to explain yourself into a verdict of a serious offense but not a capital one. Don’t explain your way into a death sentence that cannot be reduced.”

Hu Nansheng prostrated himself and said: “Regarding the money house’s share of the accounts — it is true that this official had a portion. About two years ago, the money house proprietor Zhou approached this official and said he wished to grant me a share in the business as a gift… but this official did not dare accept it, so I instead invested a full ten thousand taels of silver as an actual stake.”

Zhang Tang glanced at him: “Continue.”

Hu Nansheng said: “Yunsheng Hall and Fengde Hall — those are indeed this official’s establishments, but I did not dare register them in my own name and have kept them under other people’s names. That all began after I took office. At the time, the local townspeople and village gentry nominated me as the county magistrate, and this official truly could not decline. Before that… those were family properties. To avoid any conflict of interest, this official was already quite careful…”

Before he could finish, Zhang Tang let out a sharp sound.

“If they were your family’s properties to begin with, what are you afraid of? That ten thousand taels of silver was moved over from your family’s business as well.”

He rose and walked to stand before Hu Nansheng: “What you already possessed — does doing the right thing mean abandoning it all once you take office? There is no such logic in this world. So stand up, and have no fear.”

He looked toward the assembled officials: “I have always said — I investigate what I investigate, and investigation is my duty. But as long as one has nothing troubling one’s conscience, anyone may stand before me with their head held high.”

As he said this, his tone shifted abruptly: “That proprietor Zhou — he came to you two years ago and wanted to grant you a stake in his business, into which you invested ten thousand taels of silver. Have you ever calculated what your annual dividends should be?”

Hu Nansheng immediately said: “This official never inquired into that money house’s accounts. Each year’s dividends were personally delivered by Proprietor Zhou, who said they were apportioned according to the agreed ratio — no irregularities of any kind.”

Zhang Tang said: “Magistrate Hu, remember — the reason I am not acting against you today is precisely because of those ten thousand taels of silver.”

“I have reviewed the money house’s accounts over these past two years. Your dividends did slightly exceed the house’s stated profits, but not by a great margin.”

He looked at Hu Nansheng: “Have someone go and invite Proprietor Zhou here, and your own matter will be considered settled.”

“Yes, yes, yes…”

Hu Nansheng bowed at once: “This official will send someone to summon him immediately.”

Zhang Tang waved a hand: “No need to bring him to the county office. My arrival in Lu County is still unknown to anyone outside the office. Send someone to see him privately and invite him to your home.”

Hu Nansheng froze: “To this official’s own home?”

“Yes.”

Zhang Tang said: “Send someone to tell Proprietor Zhou that word has come that Zhang Tang is about to arrive, and that the missing account books may be connected to Zhang Tang. Ask him to come over and discuss the money house’s affairs with you in more detail.”

Hu Nansheng said, trembling: “Yes… yes, sir.”

Half an hour later. Magistrate Hu Nansheng’s residence.

In the sitting room, Zhang Tang sat in a chair waiting, holding a small booklet with one hand to read.

This booklet had been given to him by Prince Ning, said to be written by someone called Master Li — a work on the methods of criminal investigation.

Zhang Tang had gained a great deal from this booklet.

Around him, the county magistrate Hu Nansheng, his wife and family members, and several servants all stood there, none of them daring to speak.

Just then, the courtyard gate opened, and money house Proprietor Zhou slipped inside — and immediately got a shock upon entering.

Coming through the gate, he saw more than a dozen Tingwei Army soldiers in black armor standing in the courtyard. At that sight, Proprietor Zhou’s knees nearly gave way.

“Bring him in.”

Tingwei Army Senior Officer Zao Yunjian made a beckoning gesture, and a Tingwei soldier immediately stepped forward to escort Proprietor Zhou inside.

The moment he laid eyes on Zhang Tang, Proprietor Zhou seemed to understand everything — the same reaction as the magistrate before him. He dropped to his knees with a thud.

Zhang Tang set down the booklet he’d been holding. On its cover was a line of characters.

*Case Investigation Records…*

This book had not been written by Master Li with any deliberate intent to instruct officials in criminal investigation methods. Rather, it was something he had compiled in his idle hours, drawing on stories he recalled from the past and organizing them into a booklet.

Back when he was in the capital of Great Chu, this booklet had sold for several hundred taels in a single month.

But before long, the booklet was declared a forbidden text by the authorities. Anyone found in possession of it who failed to surrender it for disposal would be thrown in prison.

Shortly afterward, the booklet was confiscated wholesale and burned.

Then the authorities began pursuing the person who had written it. The book bore the author’s name: the Golden Scale Scholar.

Investigations went on and on, yet the Golden Scale Scholar turned out to be like a ghost — nothing could be found.

Later, tracing the style and brushwork, it was discovered that several other booklets previously popular in the capital might all have been written by the same hand.

Only this booklet bore the name of the Golden Scale Scholar, while another bore the name of the Seed Scholar, and another was attributed to a certain Banner Scholar…

The trail went cold, and the matter was eventually dropped.

Before Proprietor Zhou, who was now kneeling before Zhang Tang, less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense passed before he had laid out the whole affair from start to finish with complete clarity.

It seemed someone had advised him that if he wanted his business to remain stable, he naturally needed powerful backing.

And so everything that followed had come about from that. But the person who had given him that advice had long since left Lu County.

Proprietor Zhou said this person’s name was Mu Fengliu — also a businessman.

He had maintained business ties with the money house for a number of years prior, with frequent transactions on the books.

Later, when Proprietor Zhou’s business ran into difficulty, it was Mu Fengliu who had put up a large sum of money to save the money house.

And so, as things stood, the reason Proprietor Zhou was only the proprietor and not the true master of the house was that his stake had already fallen below a small half share — the one who truly called the shots was Mu Fengliu.

Yet ever since drawing Hu Nansheng in as a backer two years ago, Mu Fengliu had never returned to Lu County.

Letters arrived every few months, placing him sometimes in Jizhou, sometimes in Youzhou, but generally within Jizhou’s territory.

Proprietor Zhou appeared to be around forty years of age, and from his face alone, he looked like exactly the sort who was timid and averse to trouble.

But that was only the surface, and Zhang Tang understood it well — among those who ran money house businesses, which of them was truly timid and averse to trouble?

“Chief Investigator, sir, this humble man is indeed guilty. I beg the Chief Investigator to mete out punishment.”

Proprietor Zhou kept knocking his head against the floor, seemingly frightened out of his wits.

Magistrate Hu Nansheng stepped carefully to Zhang Tang’s side and bowed: “Proprietor Zhou has run the money house business in this county as a hereditary trade — it has been decades, going back generations.”

Zhang Tang gave a sound of acknowledgment.

The Mountain-River Seal would not maintain their own money houses indefinitely in some location — it was far simpler to gradually take control of existing ones through such methods than to run their own.

Without anyone noticing, they had the money house in their grasp. Through the money house, they could then make large flows of actual silver appear legitimate.

The methods these people used in business were impossible to guard against.

“Where is Mu Fengliu from?”

Zhang Tang asked.

Proprietor Zhou lowered his head and said: “He himself said he was from Luling in Jingzhou.”

Zhang Tang asked again: “Over these past two years, sizable sums have been transferred into your money house at roughly half-year intervals. Did you never ask about it?”

Proprietor Zhou replied immediately: “I did not dare ask. He was our god of wealth.”

This man appeared thin and slight, kneeling there with his shoulders trembling faintly, seemingly frightened to the core.

He did not dare raise his head and kept his eyes down as he spoke.

“Chief Investigator, sir — without this person, the money house would have collapsed long ago. So in any matter involving gold and silver, this humble man truly did not dare to ask.”

Proprietor Zhou raised his head to look at Zhang Tang for the first time: “Chief Investigator, sir — has this Mu Fengliu done something that violates the law?”

Magistrate Hu Nansheng immediately reprimanded him sharply: “Don’t ask what you haven’t been asked about.”

Proprietor Zhou hurriedly nodded: “Yes, yes, yes — this humble man should not have asked.”

At that very moment, Senior Officer Zao Yunjian, standing not far away, suddenly drew his sword.

A cold gleam flashed through the air like lightning illuminating the room.

With a clang, a short blade that had already been plunging toward Zhang Tang was knocked aside by a single sword stroke from Zao Yunjian.

In the next instant, Zao Yunjian’s sword thrust toward Proprietor Zhou’s throat.

……

……

—