When Yu Wenli saw Li Chi again, his expression was different from anything before. The old man looked as though he had aged beyond his years — he appeared more ancient and worn than he actually was — though only a few days had passed since their last meeting, when his complexion had still been fairly healthy and his spirits reasonably good.

“Young Lord,” Yu Wenli said. “I will be direct… The purpose for which His Majesty sent me to see the Young Lord is to discuss the matter of the King of Ning entering Daxing City.”

Li Chi nodded. “If His Majesty has any conditions to put forward, please speak freely, Lord Yu.”

“His Majesty’s wish is to understand how the King of Ning can offer His Majesty protection,” said Yu Wenli.

“Before I came,” said Li Chi, “the King of Ning made clear: if the Emperor of Chu is willing to surrender, a duke title and a fief can be offered. Within the Central Plains, the Emperor of Chu may choose any location he wishes.”

Yu Wenli let out a long, heavy breath in his heart.

What am I doing here…

He nodded. “A verbal assurance, His Majesty can accept — but as a subject of Chu, I cannot accept it entirely at face value. So I must trouble the Young Lord to send word back and request the King of Ning to permit His Majesty to retain a guard force.”

“No,” said Li Chi.

Yu Wenli was taken aback. “The Young Lord can decide this himself?”

“The King of Ning has said I may represent him with full authority,” Li Chi replied. “Everything I say and do within Daxing City carries the King of Ning’s meaning.”

“A fief without troops — how then can His Majesty’s safety be guaranteed?” asked Yu Wenli.

“Guaranteeing the Emperor of Chu’s safety is the duty of the Ning army,” said Li Chi. “What is within your power is to trust.”

Yu Wenli’s expression shifted again. From Xiahou Zhuo’s attitude, it was clear there was nothing further to negotiate on this point.

“Then… at least a modest personal guard must surely be permitted?” Yu Wenli tried once more.

“The Emperor of Chu trusts me,” said Li Chi. “Lord Yu does not. So rather than having Lord Yu negotiate, it would be better to invite the Emperor of Chu to come speak with me himself.”

Yu Wenli’s mouth moved, but no words came — only sorrow. The weaker party, even on their own ground, had no leverage to speak of. Xiahou Zhuo had silenced him in a single sentence.

This is a negotiation of surrender. How could His Majesty come in person to discuss something so humiliating? That disgrace is left to those of us who are his subjects.

“No troops are to be kept.” Li Chi’s voice was firm. “Do not test this any further. This condition is not open for negotiation.”

“I will report back to His Majesty exactly as you have said,” replied Yu Wenli. “There is also another matter — if His Majesty is to be granted the title of Duke, what title would that be?”

“Is that matter urgent?” Li Chi asked.

“This matter reflects the King of Ning’s attitude toward His Majesty…”

“Lord Yu,” said Li Chi, “dwelling on this serves no purpose.”

Yu Wenli frowned and fell silent, at a loss for what more to say. What else was there to negotiate? All he could do was try, by whatever means he had left, to preserve some last shred of the Emperor’s dignity.

“If the Emperor of Chu has nothing further to discuss beyond title and fief,” said Li Chi, “I can leave Daxing City first thing tomorrow morning. Another official will be sent to liaise with you.”

Yu Wenli was silent for a moment, then rose. “Very well. I will report back to His Majesty.”

Li Chi made a sound of agreement. “I would also ask Lord Yu to inform the Emperor of Chu that we will be departing tomorrow. Before long, someone will be dispatched to assume command of the Chu army, and a dedicated official will be appointed to coordinate with Lord Yu.”

Yu Wenli bowed. “Then I will take my leave.”

After Yu Wenli had gone, Li Chi turned to Yu Jiuling. “Go find Gui Yuan Shu and bring him back. I have instructions for him.”

Yu Jiuling didn’t dare dawdle; he hurried out to find the man. By now, Yibin Garden had no more Chu soldiers standing guard — they could come and go as they pleased.

Before long, Yu Jiuling returned with Gui Yuan Shu, accompanied by the stalk of straw Gui Yuan Shu had taken a particular interest in these past two days.

Li Chi gave Gui Yuan Shu his instructions. “Tomorrow we will head back first. You stay behind in the capital for now. Living here in Yibin Garden will actually attract less suspicion. Before long, I’ll send Tantai here to take command of the Chu army — and I may ask Master Yan to come and coordinate the official proceedings for the Emperor’s surrender of the city. You’ll be alone with your men in Daxing City; take care of yourself.”

Gui Yuan Shu understood well enough what Li Chi meant by leaving him behind. The situation in the city was still not fully settled — no one could say what might change. Gui Yuan Shu knew the city well. Having him stay behind, and now with the straw network at his disposal, he could keep a closer watch on things from the shadows.

Li Chi then looked at Straw and said, “You serve under Lord Gui. He has already spoken to me — going forward, so long as your men no longer engage in unlawful activities, there will be no further pursuit of past matters. Settle into legitimate work; let Lord Gui arrange something for you.”

Straw bowed quickly. “Many thanks, Young Lord.”

Gui Yuan Shu naturally would not reveal to him that the man he was looking at was none other than the King of Ning himself.

After giving his instructions, Li Chi set out the very next morning with Gao Xining and the others, leaving Daxing City.

The moment they passed through the gate, the scouts stationed outside spotted them and immediately dispatched riders to report back.

Li Chi and his party knew the road home might not be entirely safe. His own people were waiting outside the city, but so were Han Feibao’s — and Han Feibao would not let them pass easily.

Fortunately, Tang Pi Di had arranged everything well in advance. He had posted scouts at intervals of thirty li; when those nearest Daxing City lit the signal, those thirty li further saw it and lit their own in turn. Like a chain of beacon fires passing a message, news that the King of Ning had left the city reached the Ning army camp very quickly.

The moment the message arrived, Tang Pi Di personally led the army south — at its head, the Nalán cavalry that had only recently arrived in Jingzhou.

With fifty thousand cavalry on the move, there was nothing to fear from any action on Han Feibao’s side. And at the sight of those fifty thousand elite horsemen, Han Feibao’s forces could do nothing at all.

Han Feibao had no idea, in any case, that the man who had entered Daxing City was the King of Ning, Li Chi himself. Had he known, he might have gambled and thrown everything he had at stopping him.

Back at the main camp, Li Chi convened all his commanders for a council.

Tang Pi Di, upon hearing that the Emperor of Chu had agreed to surrender, could not help but smile. “This battle has no uncertain outcome left.”

He looked at Tantai Ya Jing. “Are you confident?”

Tantai Ya Jing nodded. “I am the most fitting choice to go. At the very least, those men will likely have heard of my father’s name — it will be easier for them to accept.”

Tang Pi Di made a sound of agreement, then looked at Gao Xining. “Draw two battalions of the Censor Guard. I’ll assign three thousand cavalry — that should be more than enough to keep Master Yan and Tantai safe.”

Gao Xining nodded. “No problem.”

Once the arrangements were in order, Tantai Ya Jing set out with thirty thousand light cavalry, skirting around Han Feibao’s encampment and heading south.

Han Feibao moved to intercept with a detachment — but the moment he split his forces, Tang Pi Di’s cavalry appeared on his flank.

The two sides held each other in a standoff for a time, and Han Feibao was forced to order a withdrawal.

In that moment, Han Feibao understood well enough what choice Emperor Yang Jing had made.

He immediately sent men racing through the night toward Yangzhou, hoping to secure the support of the Marquis of Guanting.

But even riding day and night without rest, those messengers would arrive in Yangzhou to find that nothing there could be of any use to him.

Because not long before, something remarkable had happened in Yangzhou.

It had been the Marquis of Guanting’s birthday. He threw a lavish banquet in Yangzhou, inviting every general and advisor in his army, as well as many prominent figures from the city.

The drinking went on until heaven and earth seemed to blur. The Marquis was clearly in very high spirits — going from table to table, drinking with everyone. How much he consumed in total was beyond counting. Those drinking with him were left in utter ruin; by the second half of the night, the Marquis himself had drunk himself into unconsciousness.

Not long after he passed out, his personal guard commander and several of his advisors — for reasons no one could say — came to blows.

Perhaps it was the drink stripping away their reason. Whatever the cause, the personal guard commander flew into a rage and ordered his troops to massacre the entire banquet.

Someone rushed to wake the Marquis, but he was so thoroughly drunk that no amount of calling could rouse him.

That night, the personal guard killed at least several hundred people — the advisors in particular, nearly to a man. A number of local gentry were caught up in it as well, purely by misfortune.

The Marquis didn’t wake until past noon the following day. On learning what had happened, he was furious and ordered a full investigation. His personal guard commander was placed under arrest, to be publicly executed in the city once the facts were confirmed.

Then he went door to door, apologizing and making amends — and ultimately concluded that the entire affair was too great a disgrace to be borne. He could no longer face the people of Yangzhou who had supported him, and announced he was leaving.

No amount of pleading could change his mind. He insisted he no longer had the face to remain.

The personal guard commander who had caused the disaster was reportedly beheaded — though no one actually saw it.

And with that, the Marquis of Guanting broke free of all constraints, took his several hundred thousand soldiers, left Yangzhou, and marched south, back toward Yuezhou — where he did not linger long either.

For the moment, what mattered was Jingzhou: Han Feibao still did not know the Marquis had gone south, because every person who could have sent him word from that direction had been killed.

The Marquis of Guanting had used the cover of drunkenness to execute every last spy watching him, and walked away cleanly, withdrawing himself entirely from the contest for the Central Plains.

He was gone — but Han Feibao still needed to count on him, because at this moment, the true decisive battle was almost upon him. He could only defeat the King of Ning Li Chi, fighting in alliance with the Chu forces, if he fought in alliance with the Marquis of Guanting.

Shortly after the Marquis’s army marched south, in Yangzhou — in the garden where the Marquis had once lived — several figures in long robes stood in silence for a good while. They wore black cloth across their faces, yet one could still sense that their expressions must have been deeply unsettled.

“It looks like we’re going to lose?” said one of them at last.

Another nodded. “It would seem so. Apparently not everyone in this world is so easily managed.”

“I didn’t expect the Marquis to bolt like that either. With only Han Feibao alone, there’s likely no coming back from this.”

The one who stood foremost made a low sound of agreement. He raised his head and looked at the sky for a long moment, then said, “The King of Ning’s momentum is now unstoppable. Rather than placing all our bets on Han Feibao alone, we had better start planning ahead.”

“So long as that person is still alive, we will be hunted indefinitely — and the King of Ning will support that hunt.”

“Then let us go settle the matter between ourselves first.”

The leader looked at the man standing beside him. “He’s at Mount Tai?”

“Yes,” the man replied. “He’s been there for some time.”

The leader let out a slow breath. “Then let’s go to Mount Tai first.”

—