Gui Yuanshu was no fool, and neither was Old Sun. The reason they had come at all was confidence — yet the unexpected development now before them was that the Fenglin Inn possessed an entire army.

This made no sense. Pei Bancheng had no authority to mobilize forces of this number, and so in all likelihood the only possible answer was the mysterious power behind the Fenglin Inn.

Gui Yuanshu had once investigated this place, yet with all his authority, he had found absolutely nothing. He had traced a thread to Liu Chongxin but was certain it was not Liu Chongxin’s.

When Gui Yuanshu had been at the Court of Judicial Review, he had gone through a vast number of case records and found not a single character about the Fenglin Inn.

Out of curiosity, he had arranged to obtain the Ministry of Finance’s registration records — and when he opened them, he was startled. The registration was a stack of blank paper, not a word on any page.

What sort of power could erase the Fenglin Inn’s existence from every official record — making it real yet simultaneously unreal?

Later, Gui Yuanshu also found out that Liu Chongxin himself had at one point told his subordinates: unless absolutely necessary, do not go looking for trouble with the people of the Fenglin Inn.

Think about that — at the height of the Bureau of Investigation’s power, what place did they not dare to go?

The main hall of the Ministry of War had been forcibly entered by Bureau of Investigation agents more than once. The Hongyan Tower in the Chongwen Academy — a place designated off-limits by successive Dachu Emperors — was somewhere Bureau of Investigation agents walked in and out of freely.

Liu Chongxin’s seven senior eunuchs — how utterly arrogant and unrestrained they had been — yet there was no trace anywhere of them ever having any dealings with the Fenglin Inn.

It was precisely because of all this that Gui Yuanshu had dared to come. Because he did not believe Pei Bancheng had the ability to influence the owner of the Fenglin Inn.

The sort of person whom even Liu Chongxin could not move — could a small-time operator like Pei Bancheng direct them?

Yet Gui Yuanshu had miscalculated. Pei Bancheng’s reach was larger than anyone could have imagined.

He could not help but think back to what Cao Lie had told him before he left Yuzhou. Cao Lie had said: Pei Bancheng is a man you should approach last. Though I placed him first on the list, he is trouble — even I would rather not have too much to do with him.

But Gui Yuanshu had not listened. He had reasoned that if the man was listed last, he must be the most formidable — and he was in a hurry to get things done and leave Daxing City, so he had taken the gamble of approaching this most formidable one first.

Now, in this moment: Old Sun said, go do what you need to do. I will hold things here for a while.

If Old Sun were confident, he would not have told Gui Yuanshu to settle the remaining balance first.

He had no confidence. No one alive today, no matter how formidable a martial artist, could hold off an entire army. Not Old Sun alone. Not all four of them together.

But Old Sun would not leave, would not retreat, and would not go back on his word.

Gui Yuanshu swept toward the main pavilion. “Hold on a little longer. I’ll be quick.”

Old Sun laughed. “Men being too quick is generally not a good thing — but in this case, I hope you’ll be faster.”

Yun Xiazhao had said she was going to the back to take a bath. With hindsight, it was clear she was making her exit.

Having successfully lured Gui Yuanshu and the others to the Fenglin Inn, what reason did she have to stay?

So Gui Yuanshu also did not know whether, by charging into the main pavilion, he would even catch up to anyone.

He broke through the door. The main hall of the pavilion was completely empty.

The defensive posture he had prepared was rendered entirely meaningless. He had expected to find a great many people inside, all of them with longbows drawn and aimed.

The hall was empty. After a brief pause, Gui Yuanshu charged toward the rear door, passed through a long corridor, and entered the back courtyard — only to find the elegant and exquisite garden also completely devoid of people.

It appeared that she had left long ago. This place had simply been a grave dug in advance for Gui Yuanshu and Old Sun.

In that moment, Gui Yuanshu’s one thought was… a waste. He should have taken advantage of his time in Yun Su Tower back that night. He really should have.

At least he might have gotten a red envelope out of it.

He rushed to the row of delicately crafted wooden chambers at the back of the courtyard and kicked open the first one he chose at random.

From inside came a startled cry.

Yun Xiazhao was actually there. She was actually bathing.

Now it was Gui Yuanshu who was flustered — though he could not quite say why he should be. His first instinct should have been to rush in and seize her.

Inside the room, only Yun Xiazhao was present. She had been lying with her eyes closed in a large wooden tub, resting, when someone kicked her door open. How could she not be startled?

Yet she quickly began to smile, looking at Gui Yuanshu with a look of not entirely innocent amusement. “I thought you were a man of upright character.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Come out right now!”

Yun Xiazhao said, “Really?”

Gui Yuanshu said, “If you don’t come out yourself, I’ll drag you out.”

Yun Xiazhao said, “Mm… then I’ll come out myself. I’m afraid you’d hurt me.”

Gui Yuanshu: “…”

She made a show of rising from the tub. Gui Yuanshu immediately spun around — purely on instinct.

And so Yun Xiazhao laughed — a genuinely pleased, delighted laugh.

She had only pretended to rise; she had not actually done so, for she truly had no clothing on.

In the moment of her feigned movement, a pale flash of snow-white skin had broken the surface of the water — but regrettably, Gui Yuanshu had seen none of it.

“Close the door. I’ll dress and come out on my own.”

Yun Xiazhao spoke with a smile.

Gui Yuanshu actually closed the door — but he did not leave.

He said, “I’m worried you’ll run. I’m not looking at you. Hurry and get dressed.”

Yun Xiazhao said, “Mm… if it’s like this, then what am I to do going forward? Even if you haven’t seen anything — once something like this has happened, I have no choice, and neither do you.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “On what grounds?!”

Yun Xiazhao said, “Since I already have no choice, why should I let you have one?”

She rose. That flawless silhouette emerged fully. Gui Yuanshu heard the sound of water and truly did not dare to turn around.

Yun Xiazhao dried herself and changed into a snow-white gauze inner robe, then dressed over it in an exquisitely beautiful floor-length skirt.

Her hair was still damp, trailing loose behind her. The phrase “lotus risen from water” — whoever coined those words — had invented them for precisely a woman like her.

“Let’s go.”

Yun Xiazhao walked past Gui Yuanshu and tapped him on the shoulder. “Honestly, I did want to play a little longer with someone as foolish as you — but you really are too much of a fool. If you mess things up, even I won’t know how to clean it up.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “What on earth are you talking about? What do you mean? And who exactly are you?”

Yun Xiazhao let out a soft sigh. Those red lips grazed close to Gui Yuanshu’s earlobe and she said in a quiet voice, “Things have already come to this — who else could I be? I can only be your woman.”

Gui Yuanshu could not suppress an involuntary shudder, which set Yun Xiazhao off into a peal of gleeful laughter.

Gui Yuanshu feared she might flee — after all, Old Sun’s life or death depended on this woman. Bring her back, and he and Old Sun could walk out of here.

He opened the door, and his eyes went wide.

When he had entered, the back courtyard had been completely empty — not a soul in sight. Now it was thick with soldiers, and at least five hundred longbows had been drawn and nocked, aimed directly at Gui Yuanshu.

Yun Xiazhao walked past him with a smile, speaking as she went. “You’re in trouble now. So many people as witnesses — you won’t be able to hide from this, and you won’t be able to run. Gui Yuanshu. Commissioner Gui.”

Gui Yuanshu stood frozen.

What shook him even more was this: when those soldiers saw Yun Xiazhao emerge, they immediately lowered every single bow. The formation parted, opening a path through it.

“Someone specifically told me to keep close watch over you, because you are a formidable person. Looking at you now, I don’t see the formidable — the foolish is very apparent though.”

Gui Yuanshu was genuinely at a loss. He could not begin to understand why what was happening was happening.

Yun Xiazhao walked at an easy pace to the front courtyard. Old Sun was still standing there, motionless, still holding his position in front of the path to the main pavilion — but it appeared to have become rather beside the point.

Before him, ranks of Dachu prefecture soldiers stood in disciplined formation with their bows trained on him, along with repeating crossbows. Should Old Sun make any move whatsoever, he would be reduced to a pincushion — or perhaps something even less intact.

Old Sun looked back and, seeing Gui Yuanshu following behind Yun Xiazhao, said to him, “You came back at just the right moment. I’ve held them in check and have the situation under control.”

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “I can see that.”

Yun Xiazhao waved her hand, and the arrow formation withdrew slowly — like a receding tide.

She entered the main pavilion. Two young women brought a chair and set it down, and Yun Xiazhao seated herself in it, at the center of the main hall.

Gui Yuanshu and Old Sun entered. Old Sun lowered his voice. “From where I stand, it doesn’t look like you got what you went for. It looks more like you’ve defected to the enemy.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Can I have my silver back? It seems neither of us is making it out of here.”

Old Sun said, “Ha…”

Yun Xiazhao pointed at the spot beside her. “Come here.”

Gui Yuanshu looked around, and seeing clearly enough that Yun Xiazhao was not calling for Old Sun, he had no choice but to steel himself and walk to her side.

Old Sun said, “Defected already — and so quickly. I genuinely did not see that coming.”

Yun Xiazhao pointed at Old Sun. Old Sun immediately tightened his grip on the staff.

“Bring a chair for this elder gentleman.”

Yun Xiazhao issued the instruction.

Two people immediately came and placed a chair behind Old Sun. Old Sun was thrown entirely off balance — and then he asked, “Do I genuinely look that old?”

Yun Xiazhao laughed. Sunshine filled the room.

She turned to look at Gui Yuanshu from the side. “Are you certain you know him?”

She meant Old Sun.

Gui Yuanshu thought: truthfully, they were not close. He did not actually know Old Sun’s background.

“Sun Guiyin, from Xingling. One of the four top-ranked masters on the Cloud Mist Chart. Because people addressed him respectfully as the Northern Black Tortoise, somehow, over time, ‘Guiyin’ — ‘hidden return’ — ended up sounding like ‘Guiyin’ — ‘turtle in hiding.'”

Yun Xiazhao asked Old Sun, “Master Xuanwu — is that right?”

Old Sun fell silent. His expression shifted unpleasantly, and he was already calculating how quickly he could seize this woman and fight his way out.

In this instant, Old Sun returned fully to his Northern Xuanwu state.

“No need to think about it. You can’t take me down — because we’re on the same side.”

Yun Xiazhao smiled again. That pure, clear face paired with so radiant a smile was truly, utterly disarming.

“Xuanwu does not leave Vermilion Bird. But the Vermilion Bird’s affections lie with the Azure Dragon.”

Yun Xiazhao’s smile faded. She spoke in complete earnest. “So I am not fond of the Azure Dragon, nor of the Vermilion Bird. Of the four cardinal positions on the Cloud Mist Chart, you are the only one I feel deserves respect.”

She continued, with equal gravity. “The Vermilion Bird does not care for you — and should keep her distance from you, rather than maintaining that ambiguous closeness, keeping you in suspense. I dislike that.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Who are you, exactly?”

Yun Xiazhao turned to look at him. “House rule number one: when I am speaking, you may not interrupt. When you speak, I will not interrupt you either. I will hear you out to the end. Do you understand?”

Gui Yuanshu: “????”

Yun Xiazhao said, “Are you both wondering how I know all of this?”

She exhaled softly. “Because I have nothing better to do… When I am bored, I read the relationship networks of organizations like your Shanhe Seal, or the Cloud Mist Chart, as if they were novels. The affairs between the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird, and the Xuanwu made me so upset I could not eat. I even wrote out my own continuation story for you all.”

Just then, a commotion rose from outside. She glanced toward it, and seeing a group of armored soldiers escorting a number of captives forward, she rose to her feet. “Let’s set this aside for now — we’ll have plenty of time to gossip later.”

She stepped to the entrance of the main pavilion and looked at the group of people standing bound outside. She lifted her hand and pressed it downward.

At that, the entire group was kicked to their knees.

Yun Xiazhao walked up to the person kneeling at the very front, crouched down, and looked into his eyes. “Is this fun?”

That person was… Pei Bancheng.

—