After Yang Liulin killed Pei Shujian and stepped out of the study, he raised his head, took in the brightening sky above, and let out a long, slow breath.

A Shu Province military officer came striding in from outside, saw Yang Liulin, and bowed. “Banner Officer, the troops are assembled and ready.”

Yang Liulin nodded with satisfaction and looked the officer over. “What is your name?”

The officer answered, head lowered respectfully: “This subordinate is called Gao Naixin.”

Yang Liulin nodded. “From now on, you will serve as my deputy. Your commander was killed by an assassin sent by the Court of Justice. I am taking temporary command. Do you understand?”

The officer immediately said, “Understood. This subordinate thanks the Banner Officer for the advancement.”

Yang Liulin smiled faintly. “Lead the way.”

Before long, Gao Naixin brought Yang Liulin to the Shu Province garrison grounds. Three thousand soldiers were already assembled on the parade ground.

Yang Liulin mounted the platform, swept his gaze across them all — his expression the picture of one savoring his own triumph.

“Your commander has been assassinated by a spy from Prince Ning’s Court of Justice. Effective this moment, I am assuming command. Our first order of business is to hunt down the assassins and avenge your fallen commander.”

The Shu Province soldiers immediately raised their arms and roared: “Avenge him! Avenge him! Avenge him!”

Yang Liulin said, “Our brave Mu Camp fighters have already located these assassins’ hiding place. Now I will personally lead you to surround and destroy them, leaving not one alive.”

He paused, then continued: “Remember these three things. First — no one leaves the formation, and no one breathes a single word of this to the outside. Second — follow me to annihilate the enemy. Make certain not one survives. You should understand: if anyone is captured alive, they will be sent to Mei City, and there will be no avenging your commander. Third — if the enemy is completely wiped out, every one of you will receive six months of extra pay.”

The soldiers immediately surged with energy, cracking their knuckles and readying themselves.

Not long after, Yang Liulin led the three thousand Shu Province troops marching in force out of the city, heading north.

As he departed, a smile played at the corners of Yang Liulin’s mouth. With Qingmian County under his sole authority, annihilating the Court of Justice operatives in one sweep would be no small achievement.

Meanwhile, out on the Shu Province official road.

The convoy bound for Mei City was still moving. As the procession passed through, dust billowed from the road and pedestrians scattered aside — some grumbling under their breath. Seeing that these were government troops, no one dared curse out loud. Most simply ran through curses in their hearts, sending entire generations of the soldiers’ ancestors through a thorough mental inventory.

Inside the carriage, Master Ye sat with his eyes closed, resting. Everyone had been awake all night, and sleep was needed for the road ahead.

Someone called out from beside the carriage — the Liao Officer’s invitation for Master Ye to come discuss matters.

Master Ye straightened his clothes and climbed out. He looked around. On both sides of the road, green mountains and clear water stretched away in every direction, a landscape without a single flaw.

This scenery of Shu Province — to call it unrivaled in the realm would not be an overstatement.

By the roadside, a small stream ran so clear that from several yards away you could see the fish drifting lazily through it.

Master Ye breathed deeply, thinking: a place this magnificent — if it were not gathered into His Highness’s hands, that truly would be the greatest pity under heaven.

To gain the fertile plains of Shu Province was to gain the realm’s granary. And from here troops could strike outward, coordinating with forces marching south from Ji Province to deliver a pincer blow against Yong Province from north and south alike.

In other words, once Shu Province was taken, the remnant enemy forces in Yong Province might not even dare to fight — and if they did, it would be easily finished.

Arriving at Jiang Wei’s carriage and taking a seat, Jiang Wei poured Master Ye a cup of tea with his own hands.

“You’ve worked hard, Master Ye.”

Jiang Wei offered the cup with both hands. Master Ye thanked him and took it.

He set down the cup and asked, “Did the Liao Officer summon me for something urgent?”

“Not exactly urgent — something just occurred to me, and I wanted to ask Master Ye’s help in thinking it through.”

Master Ye said, “Please speak freely, Liao Officer.”

Jiang Wei drank a sip of tea, then said, with a hint of worry in his expression: “I am by nature cold and difficult to get along with. I find most people hard to tolerate, so I have very few true friends — only Mo Lili and Fang Biehan, when all is counted.”

Master Ye said nothing, only listened quietly.

Jiang Wei continued: “Mo Lili’s death — I don’t blame your side for it. In a conflict between enemies, it is either you who dies or I. There is no enmity in that.”

“But Fang Biehan — his temperament is stubborn, even extreme, one might say. I’ve been thinking about this. That nature of his — if he ends up in the Court of Justice, how would he find his footing?”

Master Ye smiled gently. “Why not speak directly, Liao Officer?”

Jiang Wei said, “I only want to ask one thing on his behalf. If we kill Dou Qusheng, and take Kao Shan Pass — can you arrange for him not to serve in the Court of Justice?”

Master Ye nodded. “You’re worried that he’ll remember Mo Lili’s death, and that something will eat at him, leave him unsettled?”

“Yes,” Jiang Wei said. “It would be best to reassign him elsewhere — somewhere he can serve as a local official, anywhere at all. That would suit him well.”

Master Ye said, “Once the great matter is accomplished, I will raise it with Prince Ning.”

“Many thanks!” Jiang Wei clasped his hands. “He is my only remaining brother, the one I’m most reluctant to let go of.”

Master Ye said, “To have even one true friend in this life — that is good fortune.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and the conversation turned naturally to Dou Qusheng.

Even as he answered Jiang Wei’s words, Master Ye was still turning something over in his mind: what did Jiang Wei mean by suddenly asking him to look after Fang Biehan?

“Dou Qusheng’s martial arts are formidable — acknowledged as the Mu Camp’s supreme fighter,” Jiang Wei said. “And this man’s guard is always up. Few people can earn his trust. Killing him is genuinely difficult. If we fail to act decisively, Master Ye, please do everything you can to protect Fang Biehan and get him out safely.”

Master Ye said, “To be willing to give everything for a brother — you have my deep admiration, Liao Officer.”

Jiang Wei said, “I am the eldest among the three of us, so the decision must be mine, and the risk must be mine as well…”

He let out a slow breath and continued: “To kill Dou Qusheng inside Mei City is clearly a poor prospect. So I’ve been thinking — perhaps there’s another way.”

Previously he had told Master Ye that Dou Qusheng had three concubines, each in a separate private residence. To move against him, they would have to act in one of those three locations.

“Think about it — a man as paranoid as Dou Qusheng will have those three residences under heavy guard. Even if your martial arts are extraordinary, Master Ye, killing him cleanly will be difficult, let alone escaping afterward.”

Jiang Wei said, “I’ve come up with a scheme. When we’re close to Mei City, I’ll deliberately have someone leak word that I’ve captured a high-ranking official from the Court of Justice and am secretly returning to the city — a great achievement I dare not let anyone know about, rushing to present it to the Governor.”

Master Ye said, “You mean: upon hearing this, Dou Qusheng will certainly move to intercept and steal the credit for himself.”

“Exactly,” Jiang Wei said. “A man that arrogant — how could he let such a triumph be taken from him by someone else?”

Master Ye said, “But once he leaves Mei City, even if he doesn’t bring a large army, any opportunity to strike will still be difficult to find.”

Jiang Wei shook his head. “Master Ye doesn’t know the Mu Camp well enough. Factionalism runs deep — he wouldn’t dare bring too many people outside. He’d only take his personal guard, and he wouldn’t dare make a big show of it. So the numbers won’t be large.”

He looked at Master Ye. “He’s stealing a march on me to grab my credit. He doesn’t need numbers for that. He knows I don’t dare cross him.”

Master Ye’s brow furrowed as he turned this over in silence. For a moment the carriage was quiet.

Jiang Wei seemed to sense that Master Ye’s resistance was beginning to soften, and pressed on.

“Striking outside Mei City has two major advantages,” he said. “First, the terrain is open. Once it’s done, you and your people have far more ways to retreat. Second, reinforcements from inside Mei City won’t be able to reach him in time.”

Master Ye said, “I know nothing about Mei City’s situation — you’ve spent years there, and everything is in your hands. You can make the decisions.”

Jiang Wei clasped his hands. “Thank you, Master Ye.”

Master Ye said, “Work out the details and let me know when you’re ready. For now, I’ll go back and rest — I need to recover my strength for whatever may come.”

With that, Master Ye excused himself, returned to his own carriage, and settled in to rest.

After Master Ye left, Jiang Wei sent for Fang Biehan.

Fang Biehan climbed in and immediately asked, “You just had that Master Ye over here — what did you talk about?”

Jiang Wei smiled. “Afraid I was conspiring with him to harm you?”

Fang Biehan gave him a look. “I’m worried you and your restless mind will end up confusing everyone and making it impossible to get anything done.”

Jiang Wei passed him a cup of tea. “Have you ever seen me bungle something important?”

He handed Fang Biehan a cup. “I just thought of something…” He dropped his voice and murmured a few words close to Fang Biehan’s ear.

Fang Biehan listened, and his eyes went wide.

“You’re taking such a reckless approach — if Dou Qusheng turns it back on you, you won’t get a second chance.”

Jiang Wei smiled. “To kill someone like Dou Qusheng, you have to take risks. The more dangerous it looks, the less he’ll suspect.”

He patted Fang Biehan on the shoulder. “Just focus on doing your part well. Leave this to me and Master Ye.”

Fang Biehan wanted to argue further, but Jiang Wei stopped him.

“I’m the eldest,” Jiang Wei said, smiling. “So the decisions are mine, and the risks are mine. Of the three of us, you were always the youngest. Erli always used to say that your nature isn’t solitary — it’s pure. The purer a person is, the more they struggle to tolerate others, the harder they find it to get along. That’s just who you are.”

“People like you can’t take on the heavy things — you’d only make a mess of it. It has to be me.”

He patted Fang Biehan’s shoulder again. “Do as I say. And if something happens to us — live on, for me and for Erli.”

Fang Biehan lowered his head, and for a long moment found nothing to say.

Three days later, the convoy halted at a small town along the road. Jiang Wei called Master Ye and the others together to confer.

“We’re close to Mei City now. From here on, the road is full of the Mu Camp’s eyes and ears everywhere. So if we’re going to do this, we need to make it convincing.”

He turned to Fang Biehan. “Dispatch men to go out and cut down some timber, and build a few prisoner cages.”

Then he looked at Master Ye. “From here on, I’m afraid you and yours will have to endure some discomfort. It will not be pleasant.”

Master Ye nodded. “Do as you say.”

Jiang Wei said, “I’ll have the carts fitted out as prisoner wagons. We’ll have the cage walls sawn partially through in advance, so a single kick will break them open — if danger arises, you’ll be able to get free immediately.”

He said very seriously: “If all of you are willing to trust me — please hand over your weapons as well.”

Yu Hongyi and the others looked to Master Ye. Master Ye considered for a moment, then nodded.

“Give them over.”

—