The sky was darkening — dusk, as the sun went down.

The Grand Court of Revision remained as quiet and desolate as ever. Gui Yuanshu returned with two of his men, glanced around the courtyard, and felt a faint unease settle over him.

He grabbed a broom and began sweeping the courtyard. The other two men exchanged a glance and came over as well, picking up tools and working in silence.

“My earliest dream was to serve in the Grand Court of Revision.”

Gui Yuanshu swept and talked. “When I was still young, my father explained to me the duties of every yamen in the court…”

He stopped sweeping at this point.

The corners of his mouth curved into a smile, though the expression was complex.

“When my father came to the Grand Court of Revision, I remember it clearly… He said the Grand Court’s authority was the closest thing to sacred among all the yamen of the court.”

“I asked why. He said, because it concerns justice and fairness… Cases from every part of Dachu were forwarded to the Grand Court of Revision for review. Whether a wrongdoer would go free, whether an innocent person would be wrongfully punished — all of it lay within the Grand Court’s hands.”

Gui Yuanshu slowly exhaled.

He still wore that same expression — and still the same complexity behind it.

“Back then, I thought: how extraordinary.”

Gui Yuanshu looked around at the crumbling buildings, wild grass sprouting from rooftops, tiles fallen away, walls mottled and peeling.

“Let’s get to work.”

He told himself not to dwell on such things, and forced himself to stop.

Just then, Zheng Shunshun and Ding Man returned, and from the look of dejection on their faces, it was clear they had lost the trail.

So Gui Yuanshu grew even more curious — even something close to astonishment.

Banter and jest aside, Zheng Shunshun and Ding Man were capable men through and through — Gui Yuanshu knew their abilities better than anyone. That two men they could not track were ordinary was not possible.

“We could follow them at first — though I suspect they were letting us follow them on purpose.”

Zheng Shunshun said, “Then they kept twisting and turning until we reached a deserted spot, and they simply vanished.”

Ding Man said, “Those two men’s technique, their ability — it seemed even more professional than the two of us…”

Zheng Shunshun said, “If it were just losing the trail, that wouldn’t be so embarrassing. The problem is… when we followed them into an empty area, those two came back out.”

Ding Man said, “One of them even took my hand and said, you people from the Grand Court of Revision have it hard — we feel bad watching. And then pressed a pouch of silver into it.”

He raised his head and looked at Gui Yuanshu. “My lord, silver given as this kind of humiliation — can we keep it?”

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “We can.”

Ding Man said solemnly, “So I took it.”

He produced the silver and passed it to Gui Yuanshu. “Consider this public funds. At least the Grand Court of Revision’s books will finally have a little money.”

Zheng Shunshun asked, “My lord, what is your read on these two?”

Gui Yuanshu said, “My read… did either of you think to ask the two gentlemen their names?”

This sent all four of them into a laugh.

“What an interesting set of opponents…”

Gui Yuanshu murmured, almost to himself. “They wouldn’t follow us without reason. They wouldn’t appear without reason. Which means this is probably connected to Cao Du — and by the look of things, that so-called unlettered wastrel of the Cao family, the Young Lord, does indeed have something worth investigating.”

He weighed the pouch in his hand — heavy, and by rough estimation must contain over a hundred taels.

The Grand Court of Revision had not seen this much spare money in its treasury in a very, very long time.

Gui Yuanshu opened the pouch and found that inside, it was not silver — it was gold. A hundred taels of gold and a hundred taels of silver were entirely different propositions.

So this gave Gui Yuanshu quite a shock…

At Dachu’s current state, the exchange rate between gold and silver was considerably higher than in the dynasty’s prosperous years. At Dachu’s height, one tael of gold was roughly worth ten taels of silver. Now it was at minimum fifteen taels or more.

In other words, someone had casually sent over what amounted to fifteen hundred taels of silver or more.

Under Dachu’s law, any official who accepted gifts valued at more than ten taels of silver could be summarily dismissed.

“Too much…”

Zheng Shunshun peered into the pouch. “If someone were to use this as a handle against us, the five of us combined don’t have enough official robes for everyone to strip off.”

Just then, Gui Yuanshu noticed a small slip of paper at the very bottom.

He retrieved it and read it — and nearly went cross-eyed with irritation.

What was written on the slip was…

*To the esteemed gentlemen of the Grand Court of Revision — please do not misunderstand. This is neither charity nor a bribe, but rather advance medical expenses set aside on your behalf. By our estimate, there will be no shortage of future encounters with these gentlemen, and confrontations are inevitable, which may result in injuries on both sides. Please keep the money — you may need it. If you find you don’t need it, we will endeavor to ensure that you do.*

“The unmitigated gall!”

Zheng Shunshun fumed. “My lord, this gold is evidence of their unconscionable audacity — evidence of a threat against Grand Court of Revision officials!”

Gui Yuanshu’s eyes lit up. “Well said! Smart thinking… Then go ahead and log this as official evidence…”

He paused. “Actually, never mind the log — who’s going to write it up? All our clerks were reassigned to help with the Heroes’ Assembly on the other side. They’re too busy registering names to spare a thought for our Grand Court of Revision’s trifles. Take this evidence into safekeeping, and when the clerks come back, we’ll log it then.”

“On it!”

Zheng Shunshun immediately answered and ran off to their quarters with the money, bouncing with each step, thoroughly pleased with himself.

The moment he ran off, Gui Yuanshu turned and looked toward the gate.

A carriage had just pulled up outside the Grand Court of Revision’s entrance.

What a carriage it was…

The entire vehicle was inlaid with gold and set with jade, its design utterly extravagant — the sort of thing that wasn’t merely about having money, but also required a disordered mind.

No sane person could produce something this ostentatious.

So when Gui Yuanshu saw this carriage, he inwardly sighed. Rumor had it this man was extravagant beyond all reason — and indeed, here he was, bold enough to come directly to the Grand Court of Revision.

The person who descended from the carriage was, of course, Li Chi — or in Gui Yuanshu’s eyes, Cao Du.

Li Chi walked up to the entrance and examined it carefully, thinking to himself that the Grand Court of Revision’s offices were every bit as dilapidated as he’d heard.

Gui Yuanshu led his people out to the doorway and stopped there.

“Young Lord.”

Gui Yuanshu clasped his hands.

Li Chi smiled. “You recognized me, as expected.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “In this capital today, those who don’t yet recognize the Young Lord are few in number — and he’s only been here a day.”

Li Chi nodded. “That’s good.”

He moved to enter, but Gui Yuanshu smiled and said, “Young Lord, this is official Grand Court of Revision premises. One cannot simply come and go as one pleases.”

“Ah…”

Li Chi nodded without pressing the matter and stepped back.

“Then we’ll talk here.”

After Li Chi stepped back, attendants immediately descended from the carriage and brought down a chair, placing it by the entrance.

The chair and the carriage were absolutely a matched set — equally outlandish.

The central panel of the chair’s backrest bore a large red character for “fortune.”

Once Li Chi sat down, he said with great seriousness, “A person like me is probably going to attract quite a bit of hostility in the capital.”

Gui Yuanshu thought to himself: a person like you would attract hostility anywhere.

Li Chi said, “So I’ve come, specifically to ask Chief Justice Gui for a favor.”

Gui Yuanshu smiled. “So the Young Lord knows me as well.”

Li Chi said, “I knew you from the moment you were at the city gate. The way you grabbed for the silver was different from how ordinary commoners grabbed — so I took special note of you. Having someone find out your identity afterward was no great difficulty.”

At this point, a phrase of somewhat colorful character was pushing at Gui Yuanshu’s lips from the inside.

Li Chi said, “I’ll speak plainly. I won’t be in the capital for very long, but I may end up offending people — so I’d like to ask you to serve as my bodyguard.”

Zheng Shunshun flared up at once. “Has the Young Lord had too much to drink? We are Grand Court of Revision officials — serve as your bodyguard?!”

Li Chi smiled. “Everyone says I’m a wastrel who can’t read or write, but they don’t understand that a person like me is simply living in the most natural way possible… You think I’ve gone mad, or I’m drunk, or I’m arrogant beyond reason. I’m not mad, I’m not drunk — though I will admit to being somewhat arrogant.”

Gui Yuanshu understood. Cao Du had come to provoke them.

His people had found out that the Grand Court of Revision was watching him, and he hadn’t liked it — so he had come directly to their door to humiliate them.

And in this moment, Gui Yuanshu actually felt a settling calm come over him.

Li Chi said, “Since you’re watching me anyway, you might as well serve as my bodyguards. I’ll pay each of you a hundred taels of silver per day. And for Chief Justice Gui — Senior Third Rank, naturally you can’t be priced the same — I’ll offer five hundred taels a day.”

Gui Yuanshu did not get angry. He smiled.

He nodded. “That’s not entirely out of the question — however, the Young Lord will need to wait for my reply. After all, we are court officials, eating the Emperor’s salary. So this matter must be reported to His Majesty. If His Majesty approves, I will bring my people to the Young Lord’s side immediately.”

Li Chi said, “Is that so, all this procedure? That seems rather complicated. Never mind, then.”

Gui Yuanshu was just about to say: it seems the Young Lord also finds going through His Majesty’s judgment rather troublesome.

But then he saw Li Chi look as though he were genuinely turning something over in his mind, and say, “I’ve already requested an audience with His Majesty. If His Majesty agrees, I’ll bring it up with him directly.”

A second colorful phrase pushed toward Gui Yuanshu’s lips.

This kind of person truly had no sense of the heights of heaven and the depths of the earth.

Requesting an audience with His Majesty?

Li Chi said, “I’ve come here because of the Heroes’ Assembly — bearing my father’s orders to see what assistance I might offer His Majesty, whether that means money or manpower… I believe His Majesty will see me.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Then congratulations are in order for the Young Lord. If you have nothing else pressing, you should return and await His Majesty’s summons.”

Li Chi shook his head. “The place I’m staying isn’t comfortable.”

He asked Gui Yuanshu, “This Grand Court of Revision looks like it has a decent-sized courtyard. Would you rent it out, Chief Justice? I’d be happy to rent it — or buy it outright.”

“Outrageous!”

Zheng Shunshun could no longer hold himself in check. He looked at Li Chi furiously. “You’ve gone too far! You’re absolutely out of line!”

Li Chi smiled. “Why are you all getting angry? If you won’t have it, just say so directly — there’s no need to intimidate me.”

He stood up. “I’ll look around for somewhere else to stay. I heard the Yuwen family’s compound is still empty… perhaps I’ll go ask about that.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Young Lord, let me offer you a word of advice: now that you’re in the capital, follow the capital’s rules. Stay quietly at the official post station.”

Li Chi said, “I’ve already seen your premises, and even yours is like this — the official post station is worse than yours.”

Suddenly he seemed to hit upon something, and brightened at once.

“I know what to do.”

He muttered this to himself, then turned to Gui Yuanshu with a smile. “I’ll help you out while I’m at it.”

And he turned and walked away.

This left Gui Yuanshu and the others thoroughly baffled.

Sure enough, the very next day, a large contingent of craftsmen appeared outside the Grand Court of Revision. They said they had been hired to renovate and repair the premises, and the client had already paid in full.

Gui Yuanshu immediately led his people to the official post station.

There they found that in the open ground outside the post station, a number of tents had been erected, and that Young Lord was sitting there watching a theatrical troupe he had hired perform.

Meanwhile, a crew of craftsmen was busy renovating the post station itself.

In this moment, Gui Yuanshu felt that something was off. What was this Cao Du really after?

Renovating the Grand Court of Revision?

There was no way it was without purpose — unless he was truly a madman.

But was he?

—