By the time Li Chi returned to the East Warm Hall, it was already the latter half of the night. The moment he stepped inside, he saw Cao Lie sprawled in a chair, snoring soundly.

He had given instructions beforehand — if Cao Lie fell asleep here, he was not to be disturbed when Li Chi returned.

Cao Lie had come all the way back from Shuzhou, thousands of li. The journey must have been grueling, and Li Chi wanted to let him rest as long as possible.

Besides, he still needed to ask the man for money, didn’t he…

So when Li Chi entered and sat down, and let out a long, heavy breath from sheer exhaustion, Cao Lie did not stir.

Li Chi understood the feeling well. He too had once been like that — only in a place of complete ease and complete trust could a person sleep so deeply.

A man like Cao Lie, who had spent his time in Shuzhou setting the jianghu in order for Li Chi, had not done so lightly. The jianghu of Shuzhou had always been tangled and complicated — nothing like Yuzhou, where a single word from Cao Lie would make the entire jianghu go quiet. In Shuzhou, Cao Lie was an outsider. To silence a jianghu that complex required more than just killing.

Looking at the sleeping figure, Li Chi felt a faint pang of something, because he knew that what awaited Cao Lie upon his return was a jianghu even more complicated than Shuzhou’s — the jianghu of the Capital Circuit.

Li Chi had just completed the redrawing of the Central Plains territories. Most of Ji Prefecture had been reorganized into the Capital Circuit. In terms of area, the Capital Circuit was somewhat smaller than the old Ji Prefecture — You Prefecture and most of the Northern Frontier had been carved into the Military Bulwark Circuit, which also took a small slice of Ji Prefecture.

But a reduction in size did not make the Capital Circuit any simpler. With the capital established at Chang’an, massive numbers of factions had poured into the Capital Circuit from across the Central Plains.

A great many of them did not dare enter Chang’an outright, but were racing to establish footholds in the Capital Circuit.

This period was complex and treacherous precisely because Li Chi, even during his campaign to unify the realm, had already been steadily dismantling the influence that the great aristocratic houses of the Chu dynasty had held over the Central Plains. Now, every major power that wished to re-enter the structure of authority had to start from nothing.

They would dispatch droves of operatives into the Capital Circuit and try every means to win over Da Ning’s officials. At this stage they were desperate and undiscerning — where once they would have looked down on officials below the fourth or fifth rank, now they would court whoever they could, control whoever they could. Even a sixth- or seventh-rank official was a coveted prize. Use the low-ranking officials as stepping stones; from there, gradually work up toward those with real power and influence.

In recent days, within the Capital Circuit, numerous factions had gathered together to deliberate on an important matter — namely, how the great houses could return to the center of power as swiftly as possible.

They knew full well Li Chi’s attitude toward them, so they dared not show their faces directly. Working through jianghu channels was their best option — using merchant or wanderer identities to cultivate ties with officials, then drawing those officials in step by step until they had control.

They could no longer afford to wait. And so they were utterly unsparing with gold and silver.

It was at one of these gatherings of the great houses in the Capital Circuit that someone had said: *The Emperor of Da Ning does not like us, and so his officials appear not to like us either — but that does not matter. What matters is that we have enough money. How many people in this world do not like money?*

They also said: Look at the ministers and generals under Da Ning’s emperor. Nearly all of them are mud-sooted commoners, bandit chiefs, and mountain brigands, with no pedigree whatsoever. Powerful as they may be now, what have they ever known? They were born in poverty and have never experienced what it means to truly live well. And this present moment — this is the perfect time to teach them.

In their desperate scramble to take root in this new empire — to hollow it out as termites had hollowed out the Chu dynasty’s great tree — they would use any method available. Especially those generals who had campaigned across the land: when had they ever seen a true beauty? When had they ever tasted true luxury? If offering money outright didn’t work, bring them pleasure — let it seep in like water through a solid wall, corroding a man inch by inch.

This was why Li Chi had urgently summoned Cao Lie back from Shuzhou — to deal with exactly this.

Because Li Chi understood clearly: human desires are not always something that harsh law can hold back.

The sheer number of officials Xu Ji had turned up minor infractions on was itself proof of the larger problem. The very men who had bled and suffered alongside him to win the realm now felt that since they had staked their lives and eaten enough bitterness, the time had come to enjoy themselves. Quite a few, upon taking up posts in the regions, had undergone dramatic changes in character — cases of extravagance and corruption were everywhere.

The Capital Circuit was the most critical of all. How could Li Chi afford to be careless?

Truly, winning the realm was hard enough — but keeping it from being destroyed was harder still.

The nation had barely been founded, and already so many officials had lost their original hearts.

His use of Xu Ji was not merely about implementing the cabinet system — that was the outcome, not the process. It was because Xu Ji was the most useful man for this particular period. Xu Ji craved power. He would not tolerate anyone taking court authority from his hands. He could allow every official at court to flatter him, but he could not allow every official to go flatter someone else.

Throughout thousands of years of recorded history, every stroke of the brush had written the same truth about the darkness of the human heart.

As Li Chi sat there turning all of this over in his mind, Cao Lie suddenly woke as if he had heard something. Seeing Li Chi, he moved to rise and bow, but Li Chi cut him off.

“Getting up too fast will give you a headache. Stay seated.”

Li Chi stood, brewed a pot of tea, and called out toward the door: “Ding Qing’an, go find something to eat — I’m hungry.”

The little eunuch who had welcomed Cao Lie into the palace replied at once and ran off.

Cao Lie glanced at the departing eunuch and smiled. “Where does Your Majesty find these people, one after another…”

“One after another what?” Li Chi asked.

“One after another,” Cao Lie said with a grin, “they all seem like Your Majesty’s personally trained disciples. Every single one of them has that same… energy.”

“Describe it more precisely,” Li Chi said. “What energy?”

“This minister will not say,” Cao Lie replied. “If I say it, it would be insulting Your Majesty, an offense against the imperial dignity. I refuse to give Your Majesty grounds to have my family exterminated.”

“Extermination is out of the question,” Li Chi said with a laugh. “But having your household assets seized — now that’s something I’ve contemplated more than once or twice.”

Cao Lie: “…”

Li Chi had the other attendants bring a basin of water so Cao Lie could wash his face and wake himself up properly.

Seeing all this preparation, Cao Lie knew there would be no more sleep this second half of the night. That Li Chi had told him to wait inside the East Warm Hall rather than somewhere else was enough to tell him that something major was afoot — something that brooked no delay.

On the road here, Cao Lie had been thinking it over, and he had a rough sense of what the Emperor might want from him.

Before long, the little eunuch Ding Qing’an returned with several people carrying food boxes, and arranged dish after dish on the low table inside the East Warm Hall.

Li Chi was genuinely hungry. From rushing to High Honing’s side through to coaxing her to sleep, he had not had a sip of water or a bite of food.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty,” Cao Lie began.

Li Chi waved his hand while eating. “You can spare me the verbal congratulations.”

He extended his hand.

Cao Lie sighed faintly and reached inside his robe, feeling around for a moment before producing a folded piece of paper — something he had written down after arriving at the East Warm Hall, before eating and resting.

Li Chi looked at it. “This isn’t a banknote?”

Cao Lie: “…”

Seeing that expression, Li Chi burst out laughing. He took the paper, looked it over, then asked: “What is this list?”

“Your Majesty has many trustworthy people around you,” Cao Lie said. “In the army, in the Censor Bureau — loyal ministers willing to walk through fire on your behalf are everywhere. But Your Majesty also knows that they are all too conspicuous. Even the Censor Bureau’s people are too conspicuous.”

He pointed to the list. “Your Majesty, every person on this list is someone both utterly trustworthy and possessed of exceptional martial skill.”

Li Chi understood. “You’re worried someone will move against the imperial princes?”

“They may not dare to,” Cao Lie said, “but precaution is necessary. Everyone on this list can serve as a shadow guard for the imperial princes — where the open guards cannot reach, they can watch from the dark. I have never assumed the best about men with ambitions. The villains of the jianghu may have their own bottom lines. These people do not.”

Li Chi heard something deeper in those words, and smiled. He handed Cao Lie a pastry. “Do you know why I never wanted you inside the court?”

“Because,” Cao Lie replied, “if I were in the court, I would be a great disaster.”

Li Chi laughed heartily.

“I accept the gift on behalf of your nephew,” Li Chi said between bites. “As for repayment…”

The moment Cao Lie heard “repayment,” he immediately began shaking his head like a rattle-drum. “No no no, I don’t want it, I don’t want it, I don’t want it—”

“People outside will hear you,” Li Chi said with a grin, “and think I’ve done something to you.”

“Your Majesty’s repayments are exhausting…” Cao Lie said.

“This time, no long-distance travel.”

“I’d honestly rather travel far away to get away from Your Majesty.”

Li Chi laughed again. “Dream on. I have two things to assign. First — there are demons and monsters all through the Capital Circuit right now. Go give them a scare; make them feel some proper fear. Second — get me some money from the Capital Circuit as fast as you can. I really am living poorly.”

Cao Lie let out a heavy sigh. “Your Majesty does not suffer. *I* am the one who suffers…”

—