Qiu Qing had been with the Xie family for many years and knew a great deal of its inner workings — including that Xie Huaiyuan’s air of distinction was nothing more than a surface impression. In truth, his mind was nowhere near as capable as Xie Huainan’s.

After the old patriarch of the Xie family passed away, following custom, the position of family head had been passed to the eldest son, Xie Huaiyuan — the simplest way to forestall internal conflict.

Yet in reality, Xie Huaiyuan’s abilities were far inferior to Xie Huainan’s.

Hence the dying patriarch’s parting instructions to Xie Huainan. Yet were those words entirely sincere?

Even Qiu Qing, who did not consider himself particularly sharp, understood that the old patriarch’s words had been intended to make Xie Huainan understand one thing: *you must serve and support your elder brother faithfully.*

All these years, it had appeared that Xie Huaiyuan deferred to Xie Huainan in everything. Yet in truth, how could this elder brother have ever truly yielded to his younger sibling?

What he felt, far more, was envy — and he had always managed to keep that envy suppressed.

*Why is it that we were born of the same parents, yet you are the one who appears so much more clever?*

Rather than saying that Xie Huainan’s departure from the Xie family this time was because Xie Huaiyuan did not see promise in Prince Ning, it would be more accurate to say that Xie Huaiyuan’s long-suppressed envy had at last erupted.

“May all that you hope for become all that you wished.”

Qiu Qing looked at the teacup before him. “At a moment like this, one really ought to switch this out for a cup of wine.”

Xie Huainan said, “Wait a little. I’ll drink with you later.”

Qiu Qing knew Xie Huainan’s habits. Xie Huainan liked the occasional drink — but when he was in the midst of a matter, especially an important one, he did not touch a drop.

In Xie Huainan’s own words, wine had two uses: in small measure, it added joy; in great measure, it was fit for celebration.

In Xie Huainan’s thinking, wine and sorrow had never had any connection.

What he most disliked was hearing people speak of drowning sorrows in wine. In his view, a person who behaved this way was usually not suited to become an important partner or close ally.

“And if Prince Ning is ultimately still unsatisfied?”

Qiu Qing asked.

He was genuinely worried. After all, Xie Huaiyuan was the head of the family. With a single word he could seal off nearly all of the Xie family’s resources that Xie Huainan could draw upon.

Xie Huainan had gone to Shen Ruzhan and proposed opening a remittance house — the three hundred thousand taels he had offered as initial capital represented nearly the entirety of his personal wealth.

As for the Sichuan horse gangs, Xie Huaiyuan had no way to shut that avenue off. The dealings with the horse gangs had always been Xie Huainan’s doing.

That gang leader — magnanimous and sweeping in temperament, but something of a reclusive character — had only one person from the Xie family he acknowledged: Xie Huainan.

If Xie Huaiyuan tried to go to Sichuan and give orders to the horse gang, the horse gang giving him even a shred of face would count as a loss on the gang’s part.

Send someone who dared to be even slightly discourteous, and making it out of Sichuan with all four limbs intact would also count as a loss on the gang’s part.

The horse gang spent their years dealing with the fierce mountain bandits of the ten thousand mountains — if they were not themselves fierce, would the bandits have feared them?

So Xie Huainan was also confident about the salt. After all, he still had the horse gang.

And so these three gestures of sincerity that Xie Huainan had prepared, impressive as they appeared, represented the full extent of what he could manage in the near term.

Now Qiu Qing was asking: what if Prince Ning still was not satisfied?

Xie Huainan shrugged slightly. The smile at the corners of his mouth had grown faintly bitter.

“Then come clean.”

He held the teacup in his palms to warm them.

Those three words were his final option.

—

The Plum Garden, Tingwei Office.

After settling the military affairs, Li Chi began to think over the many things Xie Huainan had done.

If he were honest, Li Chi had no great fondness for the Xie family.

Then again, it was not only the Xie family — Li Chi had no fondness for the ways of any of these great clans.

Yet Li Chi was beginning to find himself rather fond of Xie Huainan as a person.

Gao Xining brewed tea for Li Chi, set it before him, then walked around behind him and began kneading his shoulders.

Li Chi smiled and asked, “Not going out today?”

Gao Xining pouted. “Mmm… if a certain someone doesn’t spend more time with me, a certain someone’s small temper is going to get harder and harder to hold down.”

Li Chi said, “Drag that person out and chop his head off.”

Gao Xining laughed, raised her hand, and knocked him on the head.

“I’m just a little unsettled. The homicide in the south of the city — I keep feeling it’s connected to spies operating elsewhere.”

Gao Xining said, “All the suspects are locked up in the holding room right now. Zhang Tang is already conducting the questioning. As for matters of order within the city, leave those to the others — they need to start handling things independently soon enough.”

Nobody on the outside could ever have imagined that the core of the Tingwei Office was made up of a group of young women.

She asked Li Chi, “Are you still suspicious of Xie Huainan?”

Li Chi shook his head. “Not of him — of the Xie family.”

Li Chi said, “The contrast between before and after is too stark. When a person is running and their footwork is agile, turning left or right suddenly is no problem. But if they’re running at full speed and try to spin completely around, they’re going to stumble.”

Gao Xining understood. “A great vessel like the Xie family — they wouldn’t lightly make a decision that might cause them to suddenly stumble.”

Li Chi said, “Looking at Xie Huainan’s sincerity, there is no need for suspicion — just take him at his word. But reasoning from the whole of the Xie family’s interests — they had been charging forward at full speed alongside Yang Xuanji, and this abrupt reversal will not only make the Xie family stumble, it will also create ripples for Yang Xuanji.”

Gao Xining said, “That’s why you moved the troops.”

Li Chi said, “If Yang Xuanji doesn’t strike back at the Xie family, what reason would the other clans have to still hold him in awe? As it stands, they could come and go as they pleased — Yang Xuanji cannot allow that.”

With that thought, Li Chi rose. “I won’t wait until tomorrow. I’m going to the Xie residence now.”

Gao Xining said, “That doesn’t seem quite right — given your position now, going out of your way to seek him out is somewhat…”

Li Chi had already reached the doorway. “A status that can’t set aside its own dignity — what good is it?”

Li Chi’s decision to go see Xie Huainan in person had nothing to do with any interest in the Xie family’s wealth or resources.

He simply had his eye on Xie Huainan as a person.

—

Meanwhile, Jingzhou, Tingyang.

The Xie family’s ancestral estate lay on the shore of Tingyang Lake — a vast compound.

Some said the Xie family’s centuries of unbroken prosperity owed to the extraordinary geomantic qualities of this land. The configuration of the mountain ridges and the lake formed a pattern where stars gathered around the moon, and the Xie family, dwelling at the foot of the mountain beside the lake, was nourished by the full fortune of the land.

At the lake’s edge, several walkways extended out over the water. Nearby fishermen’s boats were moored along the sides of these walkways.

One walkway, however, was off-limits to fishermen — it was reserved for the Xie family’s own vessels.

At this moment, Xie Huaiyuan was seated right at the very end of that walkway, perched on a folding stool, a fishing rod in hand.

Second brother Xie Huaide stood nearby watching him, growing so anxious he could barely contain himself. Elder Brother said not a word — yet he was already at his wit’s end.

Of the three main-line sons of the Xie family, the eldest, Xie Huaiyuan, appeared the most grim and measured, and was regarded as quite composed. The second, Xie Huaide, was different — he had been impulsive and hot-tempered since childhood, and not a trace of that had changed with age.

“Elder Brother!”

At last, Xie Huaide could hold it in no longer and called out.

Xie Huaiyuan turned to look at him. “If you can’t settle that temperament of yours, go back inside. Don’t disturb my fishing.”

Xie Huaide said, “Third Brother has gone, and you’re not worried in the slightest? The three of us brothers — when have we ever had a falling out? Honestly, Third Brother just needs a way to back down gracefully. Elder Brother, if you just give him that, he’ll come back.”

Xie Huaiyuan shook his head. “You still don’t know Third Brother. Once he has made a choice, when has he ever gone back on it?”

Xie Huaide said, “I know Elder Brother is also hoping Third Brother doesn’t go — so like this: you can’t bring yourself to act, but I will. I’ll go to Yuzhou and drag Third Brother back.”

Xie Huaiyuan said, “Drag him back? And then what? Subject him to family law?”

Xie Huaide was taken aback.

Then he said, somewhat baffled, “Elder Brother, you’re the head of the family — whether there’s family law or not, isn’t that your call?”

“It’s not the same.”

Xie Huaiyuan said, “As family head, I must uphold fairness and principle. I cannot make exceptions because he is my own brother. When he comes back, family law cannot be avoided.”

Xie Huaide said, “But how severe is this family law you have in mind? Do you actually intend to beat Third Brother to death?”

Xie Huaiyuan immediately said, “What nonsense are you talking!”

Xie Huaide laughed. “Then since Elder Brother isn’t planning to beat Third Brother to death, stop trying to manage me. I’ll take people and drag him back myself. Once he’s back, I guarantee I’ll have him kneeling before you and admitting his fault.”

Xie Huaiyuan shook his head. “That’s Yuzhou — Prince Ning Li Chi’s territory. The Xie family stirred up trouble in Fengzhou and Dengzhou. Prince Ning Li Chi may harbor deep resentment toward our family. If you go, you may be in danger.”

Xie Huaide gave a dismissive wave. “Does Elder Brother still not trust me? In terms of cleverness, I’m no match for Elder Brother and certainly no match for Third Brother — but I’m not a complete fool either. I’ll bring people along, and if there’s an opening, I’ll grab Third Brother and bring him back. If there’s no opening, I won’t act rashly.”

In truth, Xie Huaiyuan felt some regret. With Third Brother gone, everyone in the household was talking, and unity had suddenly fractured.

Moreover, Yang Xuanji’s side had likely already received word that Third Brother had come to Yuzhou.

If Third Brother could be brought back, then when Yang Xuanji’s people came to question them, there would be far less to worry about.

He should not have been soft-hearted at the time — he should have locked Third Brother up and dealt with it from there.

“Choose whoever you want from the family. All of them.”

Xie Huaiyuan said, “The skilled fighters at my side — take whoever you want.”

Xie Huaide broke into a smile, his face instantly bright and open as sunlight.

His thinking was simple — he simply felt that the three brothers being together was what made a family whole. A family with brothers separated was something he could not accept.

“Leave it to me, Elder Brother!”

Xie Huaide laughed and ran off like a child.

Xie Huaiyuan, on the other hand, exhaled a long, heavy breath and muttered to himself, “Third Brother — you’ve nearly gotten the whole family killed with this. I hope that when you come back, you can understand my heart… and understand that you were the one who was wrong.”

Xie Huaide assembled his men with all possible speed. With an enterprise as vast as the Xie family’s, pulling together a group of skilled fighters was no difficulty at all.

He was burning with impatience right now, wishing he could sprout wings and fly straight to Yuzhou City — and then fly back with Third Brother strapped to his side.

—

Yuzhou City. The Xie Residence.

Li Chi came alone, on foot.

The city had been so lively these past few days that walking was faster than taking a carriage. Every street was shoulder-to-shoulder, elbow-to-elbow — carriages wanting to pass through were entirely at the mercy of fate.

The front gate was closed. The side gate stood slightly ajar. No one was on guard outside.

Li Chi stepped up the front steps and knocked on the gate ring.

A small attendant peered out from around the side gate. “May I help you?”

Li Chi answered, “I’m here to see Xie Huainan.”

The attendant thought: *this person speaks so bluntly* — but he had no choice but to respond with equal politeness. “The side gate is open. If you would kindly wait there a moment, I’ll go in and announce you.”

Li Chi shook his head. “I’ll use the front gate.”

The attendant found this strange — and felt a twinge of irritation.

But he still spoke courteously. “I must trouble you to wait here for a moment.”

Li Chi stepped down from the front steps and stood there, saying politely in return, “I’ll wait here for your master to come out — and open the front gate.”

The attendant thought: *is this person out of his mind?*

Yet he dared not delay things — what if the person truly was someone important? He turned and ran inside to make the announcement.

In the study, Xie Huainan and Qiu Qing were talking. A servant came to report and described this peculiar visitor who demanded the front gate.

Xie Huainan did not even hear the servant out to the end before he was already rushing out — without having properly put on his shoes.