In one night, the Tingwei Army struck across Jizhou — every River-Mountain Seal operative within the city caught completely off guard, taken without exception.

By the end of the night, the Tingwei Army headquarters could no longer hold all the captives. They had to be transferred out, moved under guard to the Ning Army’s main encampment within Jizhou for detention.

But at dawn, Zhang Tang — still deep in the urgent work of interrogation — received word that Mu Fengliu was gone.

Vanished from within the tightly guarded Tingwei Army, as if he had simply ceased to exist.

—

Ning Army main encampment.

After Li Chi heard Zhang Tang’s account, he let out a quiet sigh inside.

This Mu Fengliu — he had still succeeded.

Zhang Tang said: “Your Highness — there must be a River-Mountain Seal operative within the Tingwei Army. I beg Your Highness to authorize a full investigation!”

Li Chi looked at Zhang Tang and gave only a slight shake of his head.

He moved to the chair and sat, then mentally walked through the entire sequence of events from the beginning.

“This was the outcome Mu Fengliu wanted all along.”

Li Chi looked at Zhang Tang, his tone subdued: “I underestimated him.”

He had believed Mu Fengliu’s purpose in getting himself captured was to sow discord between Li Chi and those close to him.

After all, many people were implicated — most of them among his closest.

A great many of those now serving in official roles under Li Chi were graduates of the Four-Page Academy.

The point of what Mu Fengliu had said in front of Gao Xining was precisely to plant seeds of doubt in Li Chi’s mind.

Once suspicion took root, Li Chi would grow guarded, and gradually pull away from these people.

This was Mu Fengliu’s scheme to poison the heart and shatter bonds — to destroy the trust within the Ning Army from the inside.

But Li Chi now realized he had been seeing only the surface.

Now Mu Fengliu had abruptly vanished. To claim that this hadn’t been the work of someone inside the Tingwei Army who had freed him — that simply didn’t hold together.

And precisely because of this, Mu Fengliu’s plan to poison and divide had worked.

Everything before had merely been prelude — groundwork. This final blow was the true heart of the scheme.

*You, Prince Ning, use the Tingwei Army to hunt the River-Mountain Seal?*

*Then there is a River-Mountain Seal operative inside your Tingwei Army — one capable of extracting a captive from under tight guard.*

*A fact this obvious — will you investigate, Prince Ning?*

If he didn’t investigate, this person who had freed Mu Fengliu would remain embedded in the Tingwei Army, hidden forever, never known.

If he did investigate, the entire Tingwei Army would be thrown into a state of fear and unease — and the loyalty of every member toward their prince would be shaken.

*What would they think?*

*We fight so desperately for Prince Ning, we give everything in loyalty — and still we face suspicion?*

“Formidable.”

Li Chi exhaled slowly, long and deliberate.

Zhang Tang said: “This subordinate understands it is Mu Fengliu’s scheme — but I still believe we must investigate.”

Li Chi looked at Zhang Tang, gave a small shake of his head. Zhang Tang still wanted to press the point, but Li Chi gave the slightest further shake — and Zhang Tang had no choice but to bow and withdraw from the tent.

Gao Xining looked at Li Chi. His brows were now deeply furrowed.

Li Chi said quietly: “I landed two punches on his face — and he’s returned the blow in kind. And hit just as hard.”

*You use the Tingwei Army to hunt the River-Mountain Seal, and there is a River-Mountain Seal operative in your Tingwei Army — this was Mu Fengliu’s counter-strike against Li Chi.*

Gao Xining: “Investigate or not — either way creates difficulties.”

Li Chi: “Mn. Perhaps at this very moment, Mu Fengliu is somewhere feeling pleased with himself, waiting to see what I’ll do.”

Gao Xining moved behind Li Chi and raised her hands, pressing them gently into his shoulders.

Both of them fell into silence.

—

Meanwhile, fifteen li outside Jizhou, in a small village.

A typical farmyard — walls not particularly high, last year’s dried vines still draped along the top. And below the wall, fresh green shoots were extending new leaves with quiet pride.

In the courtyard, a physician was treating Mu Fengliu’s injuries.

Zhuge Wutu sat to one side. In front of him was a stone table with a carved grid — nineteen lines by nineteen lines.

He was playing a game of weiqi against himself, placing stones slowly.

After a time, the physician finished tending to Mu Fengliu’s wounds, bowed with great deference, and left.

Zhuge Wutu looked at Mu Fengliu. After a moment, he rose and bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Mu Fengliu. You’ve labored greatly.”

Mu Fengliu smiled: “Director, there is no need for such formality. We all serve the Gate Master. We are all on the same side.”

Zhuge Wutu: “Without your willingness to go into danger yourself, this plan could not have succeeded. I had believed… that this time, you were truly at risk.”

Mu Fengliu: “Last night, the Tingwei Army mobilized in force to make arrests. They deployed at least eighty percent of their strength — perhaps more. The Tingwei Army headquarters, for all it appeared tightly guarded, was in truth riddled with gaps — ripe for use.”

The strategy: feed them false intelligence. The Tingwei Army would be compelled to act in strength.

With everyone rushing around making arrests everywhere, the prisoners back at headquarters would end up with far fewer eyes on them.

At that point, with a contact on the inside, changing into a Tingwei uniform and slipping out amid the chaos was no great difficulty.

“The Gate Master wished to clean out every danger within Jizhou — this stratagem of turning the blade against the enemy and letting the prince do the work was brilliantly conceived, Mu Fengliu.”

Zhuge Wutu: “I am utterly in awe of you.”

Mu Fengliu smiled: “It wasn’t my idea. I was only the one who carried it out.”

Zhuge Wutu’s expression shifted: “Then who?”

Mu Fengliu shook his head: “I can’t say.”

He tried moving his arm carefully, testing it. The injury was not as severe as he had feared.

Zhang Tang had still wanted to extract more of the River-Mountain Seal’s secrets from him — so he hadn’t been willing to do real damage.

The two cuts on his arm from the blade were nothing worth dwelling on.

“The people on the Jizhou side can no longer be used.”

Mu Fengliu said: “The Gate Master’s concern was not overblown. Even if Zhang Tang cannot root out every last River-Mountain Seal operative, those who remain hidden won’t continue to serve the Gate Master — they’ll eventually become assets for Lu Wuman and Mei Wujiu.”

“Jizhou’s losses here are severe, yet for the River-Mountain Seal as a whole, they are of no great consequence. We begin again from nothing. It’s simply people we’ve lost.”

“But if all of this falls into Lu Wuman and Mei Wujiu’s hands — we would be feeding our own resources, our people, our material, our silver, to two enemies of our own making.”

Mu Fengliu: “So rather than say we didn’t want this exposed before Prince Ning Li Chi, it would be more accurate to say we didn’t want those two traitors to profit from it.”

“Digging out the whole of Jizhou’s River-Mountain Seal network — this was the Gate Master’s resolve to cut off one’s own arm. The great matter is now accomplished, and losses have been kept to a minimum. What we lost was only people. Director, you can return now and report to the Gate Master.”

Zhuge Wutu let out a heavy breath: “I had thought the Gate Master sent me here to oversee things in Jizhou.”

Mu Fengliu: “Director needn’t feel troubled. The Gate Master does not mistrust you. This matter simply required two fronts to run simultaneously — without your arrangements, even if we had wanted to use Prince Ning’s hand to do this, it could never have been this thorough.”

Zhuge Wutu looked at Mu Fengliu: “Where will you go from here?”

Mu Fengliu: “I still have unfinished business in Jizhou. I cannot leave yet.”

Zhuge Wutu clasped his hands in salute: “Then may Mu Fengliu go in safety.”

“Thank you.”

Mu Fengliu said: “When you return and see the Gate Master, tell him on my behalf — the Jizhou side is starting from nothing again. It will take time. Please ask the Gate Master to give me that time.”

Zhuge Wutu: “I will convey it faithfully.”

With that, he turned and left.

Mu Fengliu settled back into his seat and slowly exhaled.

These past few days had been like walking back and forth through hell itself.

“Zhang Tang — will you investigate, or won’t you?”

He murmured the words to himself.

—

Three days later. Li Chi’s study.

Zhang Tang bowed: “As per Your Highness’s instructions, I conducted a quiet investigation. I have found nothing.”

He raised his head and looked at Li Chi: “On the night in question, nearly nine-tenths of our forces were deployed. Few remained on guard at the Tingwei headquarters.”

“The guards responsible for watching Mu Fengliu were all present and accounted for — no one left their post. The entire watch kept their positions.”

“None of them noticed anyone entering the interrogation room without authorization — though a skilled infiltrator could have gotten past them without being detected.”

Zhang Tang: “In the course of the investigation, it was found that at dawn, a person wearing a Tingwei officer’s uniform left the premises, claiming to be carrying an urgent message outside the city. The gate sentries did not stop him. That was almost certainly Mu Fengliu making his escape.”

Li Chi nodded: “His leaving the city was a deliberate illusion.”

Zhang Tang was taken aback: “He wouldn’t dare stay?”

Li Chi: “A man like this, with a plan like this — it may well be the finest work of his life. He’s not willing to simply leave. And he certainly still has other things to do here. So his departure from Jizhou was staged. He knew we would trace it to exactly this. He’ll almost certainly return to the city.”

Zhang Tang immediately said: “This subordinate will have men posted at every gate checking closely.”

Li Chi: “With his face injured as it is, he won’t be back any time soon… What’s come out of interrogating the other captives?”

Zhang Tang answered: “What we’ve extracted is quite complete. The River-Mountain Seal’s hidden operatives across Jizhou and the surrounding counties are all on record. We’re ready to move in at any time.”

Li Chi nodded: “Then move. Even though this was a deliberate exposure on the River-Mountain Seal’s part — and the bulk of the silver in the underground money houses has probably already been transferred — we still need to take them in.”

Zhang Tang bowed: “As Your Highness commands.”

Li Chi rose and walked to the window, looking out.

This Mu Fengliu — a genuine opponent.

And this plan had not begun with Zhang Tang’s ambush at Lu County.

It had likely been in gestation ever since Lu Wuman and Mei Wujiu fled Jizhou.

*We cannot leave so many years of preparation in the hands of our enemies. Better to destroy it all ourselves.*

Lu Wuman and Mei Wujiu had fled to Yanzhou — but they would certainly return one day.

So this cleansing operation by the River-Mountain Seal served not only the Seal’s own interests, but Li Chi’s as well.

At a minimum, it had cleared out a great many hidden dangers. When Mei Wujiu and Lu Wuman eventually gathered strength in Yanzhou and came back for Jizhou, they would find no one waiting inside to help them.

Zhang Tang raised his head cautiously: “Your Highness… regarding the matter within the Tingwei Army — are we continuing the investigation?”

Li Chi shook his head: “Leave that. I’ll look into it myself.”

For hunting enemies outside — Zhang Tang was the right man.

But using Zhang Tang for an internal inquiry could cause serious damage.

Zhang Tang’s standing within the Tingwei Army was already unstable. His seniority wasn’t yet enough to command full respect.

If the investigation were handed to him now, and Zhang Tang’s methods proved severe, the resentment toward him within the Tingwei forces would deepen — and there might even be mutiny.

Mu Fengliu had presented Li Chi with a formidable dilemma.

His master had said it many times.

To do great things, one must face difficulties countless times harder than those an ordinary person encounters — and every single one may come down to a choice.

Each choice has only two options. Left or right.

The reason most people remain ordinary is that they have a third option: not choosing. Evading. Shrinking back. Pretending not to see.

Push everything off, let time pass — and if the moment slips by, one can act as though nothing ever happened.

—