Li Chi moved to meet Gao Xining. She said urgently, “The Tingwei Office has sent word — traces of Master Li have been found at Mount Tai.”

Li Chi asked, “Have people already been dispatched?”

Gao Xining nodded. “A force has already been sent. The men I sent out earlier have all reached Mount Tai by now. In a moment I’ll go and pick another battalion of Black Cavalry.”

Li Chi said, “Master Fang should be there as well.”

Gao Xining said, “Yes — but I’m still worried.”

Li Chi thought for a moment, then turned and gave an order. “Jiuling — go find Gui Yuanshu right now and have him pick the very sharpest men to ride over.”

Yu Jiuling quickly acknowledged and ran off — then turned back after a few steps. “My lord — can I go too?”

Li Chi said, “Go. Be careful.”

Yu Jiuling turned and ran, vanishing in moments.

Even before all this, Master Fang had already set out with a full force to go after Master Li. With more people being sent now, by the reckoning of time, they might already be too late.

Xiahou Zhuo asked, “Should we send more forces?”

Li Chi said, “The distance is too great. By the time an army marches there it’ll take too long. For sheer speed, not even Buertechi’s light cavalry can match the Black Cavalry.”

Xiahou Zhuo said with some unease, “This probably marks the end — between Master Li and those people.”

Li Chi said, “Perhaps… the end, between all of those people and everyone here.”

Xiahou Zhuo said, “Master Li was insistent that we not involve ourselves. To this day I don’t understand what his relationship with those people actually is.”

Li Chi shook his head.

Master Li had never said much about his own affairs, and didn’t feel those matters were for Li Chi and the others to intervene in.

“He said every person has something they must see through themselves. My task is to make sure the people of this world can live well.”

Li Chi looked at Xiahou Zhuo. “Master Li also said — if I turned out not to be the right man, dying for me would be for nothing.”

Xiahou Zhuo clapped Li Chi on the shoulder. “You are.”

Li Chi nodded. “I am.”

Gao Xining made arrangements to send more men to Mount Tai, visibly anxious. The distance was simply too great — just getting a message back took months. Who could say whether sending reinforcements now would even be in time?

Just then, Tingwei Office Qianban Yu Hongyi came over quickly and lowered her voice. “The watch posted outside Yu Wenli’s residence has sent word — someone entered through the front gate of Yu Wenli’s home over two hours ago and has yet to come out.”

Gao Xining said, “First have more people ring the area. I’ll finish what I’m doing here and go over.”

Yu Hongyi acknowledged and immediately turned to leave.

Yang Jing was staying at Yu Wenli’s home. If even the vicinity wasn’t watched by Tingwei Office personnel, it would be a dereliction of duty.

Such an important person, such an important location — the watch posts were certainly more than one.

So it was that not long after Yao Huancheng entered Yu Wenli’s home, word reached Qianban Yu Hongyi’s ears.

She had added more watchers. The reports coming back said nothing suspicious had occurred — and the man who had entered still hadn’t come out. Yu Hongyi found that odd, and came to ask Gao Xining’s instructions.

By the time Yu Hongyi arrived outside Yu Wenli’s home, the sky was nearly dark. If the man inside was trouble, he would certainly use the cover of night to make his move.

Worried that the person inside might be a genuine expert, Yu Hongyi also called upon another Qianban, Shang Qingzhu, to come and keep watch alongside her.

“The watchers say the man doesn’t look like a Daxing local. When Yu Wenli’s people opened the gate, they only cracked it a sliver — and the man slipped straight through.”

Yu Hongyi gave a brief summary of the situation. Shang Qingzhu said, “If he came from outside Daxing, it’s entirely possible he’s come to try and spirit Yang Jing away.”

Yu Hongyi said, “Then Yang Jing has lost his mind.”

Shang Qingzhu said, “The man who dared walk straight in through the front gate is extremely confident. We need to be doubly careful.”

Yu Hongyi recalled that the head of the Tingwei Office had once warned them: Shu Province was extraordinarily complex and likely harbored many capable fighters.

Gao Xining had also dispatched a number of Tingwei Office agents to infiltrate Shu Province and gather information — but to this day, nothing useful had come back.

Shu Province’s Military Commissioner Pei Qi was a remarkably opaque figure.

First he had backed Yang Xuanji’s campaign, supplying him with between sixty and seventy thousand troops and vast quantities of materiel, all told.

Yet Pei Qi himself had never followed Yang Xuanji out of Shu Province. When Han Feibao later also marched out of Shu Province, Pei Qi’s identity grew only more mysterious.

A military commissioner who had committed everything he had — naturally what he sought was irreplaceable power and status in the outcome. But this man behaved with extraordinary restraint, to the point of seeming to want nothing at all.

After Han Feibao left Shu Province, reports had indicated that Pei Qi accompanied him for a stretch before turning back into Shu Province.

That alone suggested that even greater secrets lay hidden in Shu Province. Within those ten-thousand-li mountains, things remained unknown to the world.

Pei Qi’s refusal to leave Shu Province could, in a sense, be understood as guarding the base of operations.

Which is to say — a military commissioner who outranked even Yang Xuanji and Han Feibao in the true order of things. He appeared to be supporting those two, letting them earn fame and exposure, but the quiet and unheralded Pei Qi was the one who couldn’t afford to die — otherwise he’d have left Shu Province long ago.

How much more lay hidden in Shu Province, causing anxiety? It was as though a thick tarp had been thrown over everything, and could not be pulled away no matter how one tried.

The Tingwei Office agents dispatched to Shu Province had been carefully selected — every one of them capable — yet to this point, nothing whatsoever had been uncovered.

And some of them had gone silent entirely, possibly already killed.

Gao Xining had already reminded Tingwei Office personnel not to grow careless. The realm was far from settled.

Thinking about all this, Yu Hongyi had to be even more vigilant.

“Have you noticed something?”

Shang Qingzhu said in a low voice. “Among all the enemies we’ve faced on our march south, there hasn’t been a single truly formidable figure.”

Yu Hongyi said, “Master Fang counts.”

“But Master Fang didn’t come from Shu Province. Think about it — from the very beginning, when we were in Jizhou investigating the Mountain River Seal, the enemy’s actual strength was below what we’d estimated.”

Shang Qingzhu said, “By rights that shouldn’t be the case. The Mountain River Seal had fighters the caliber of Su Ruye of the Azure Dragon — Shu Province is the enemy’s stronghold. There ought to have been even stronger people.”

Yu Hongyi said, “Looking back now, not one of Yang Xuanji’s lieutenants reached Su Ruye’s level.”

The two of them kept watch and talked. Before long the sky was fully dark.

In the middle of their conversation, Gao Xining also arrived.

They were currently positioned in an inn diagonally across from Yu Wenli’s home. From the third-floor window, part of the courtyard below was visible.

“No movement yet.”

Yu Hongyi told Gao Xining. “Front gate, rear gate, and the perimeter of the courtyard all have no fewer than a hundred people watching in the shadows. Any movement will be spotted.”

Gao Xining nodded, took the offered spyglass, and trained it on Yu Wenli’s home.

Lamps had been lit inside. The courtyard showed little activity — nothing out of the ordinary.

“Has the area around Yu Wenli’s home been fully surveyed?”

Gao Xining asked.

Yu Hongyi had been personally overseeing Yang Jing’s watch, and Yu Wenli’s property in particular — she was the most thoroughly informed.

“Yu Wenli’s home has three entrances: the front gate, the rear gate, and on the eastern side, a small side gate — very narrow, used by the household servants.”

Gao Xining asked, “Have any servants come and gone? And does the count add up?”

Yu Hongyi said, “Three people went out to purchase goods. They were followed the whole way by our people — nothing suspicious.”

Gao Xining said, “If someone wants to slip out disguised as a servant, that’s the easiest and most effective method. Keep a close eye.”

Yu Hongyi turned and gave a quiet order to summon one of the watchers.

About a quarter of an hour later, a Tingwei Office Baiwei came up quickly and bowed before Gao Xining.

“My lady, three people went out — two men and one woman. All were watched the entire way. They purchased vegetables and meat, some sweets and dried fruit, and one bolt of cloth. Nothing else.”

“Cloth?”

Gao Xining’s brow furrowed slightly.

She looked at Yu Hongyi. “How many servants are in Yu Wenli’s household altogether?”

Yu Hongyi answered, “Thirty-four altogether. After Yang Jing moved in, twenty-four personal guard escorts came with him. We’ve kept close watch on every one of them — all their faces are memorized.”

Gao Xining said, “Of those thirty-four servants, how many are women?”

Yu Hongyi answered, “Six. Yu Wenli’s wife has two young handmaids. The other four handle cleaning, and all stay near Madam Yu.”

Gao Xining: “Was the cloth rough-woven, or fine silk?”

“Rough cloth.”

“Something’s wrong.”

Gao Xining said, “Keep your watch. Xie Feiyu — take me to that fabric shop.”

The Baiwei who had just reported acknowledged at once, “Yes, my lady.”

He led Gao Xining to the shop while Yu Hongyi and Shang Qingzhu continued monitoring Yu Wenli’s home.

The shop was a fair distance from Yu Wenli’s residence — on foot, at least three quarters of an hour.

Arriving outside the shop, Gao Xining felt the unease deepen. She had counted carefully on the walk over — seven shops dealing in silk and cloth along the route. There was no reason to walk all this way to buy a single bolt of rough cloth. Even if they had been running errands and bought the cloth on the way back, the nearest shop would have done perfectly well, since a bolt of cloth is no light thing.

“Surround the shop first.”

Gao Xining said quietly. “Two of you — go back and bring reinforcements.”

Two Tingwei agents immediately turned and headed back toward Yibin Garden.

The cloth purchase was almost certainly a means of passing a message. Whether the bolt itself had anything unusual about it, there was no way to know yet.

Just then, Gao Xining and her group noticed smoke beginning to curl from inside the shop — as though something had caught fire.

At present, Gao Xining had only two Baiwei with her: one was Xie Feiyu, the other her personal bodyguard Han Shanji.

“Go and investigate!”

Gao Xining raised her hand.

Xie Feiyu immediately stepped forward. “This subordinate will lead the men inside. My lady, please stay back.”

Han Shanji also extended an arm in front of Gao Xining. He was a man of few words — if no one spoke to him directly, he could go a whole day without uttering a single syllable.

Han Shanji gave Gao Xining a slight shake of his head. Gao Xining had no choice but to hold her position.

He had been personally selected by Li Chi, with one sole task: to protect Gao Xining’s safety. Nothing else concerned him.

Xie Feiyu signaled, and led a squad of Tingwei toward the shop. The smoke coming from inside was already growing heavier.

—