When Zhu Dachang, the Cheng County Registrar, saw the corpse of Qiu Wen, he felt as though he had been struck over the head — his eyes went dark.

Members of the Qiu clan chattered and argued noisily all around him. Their words formed curse-like characters that floated through the air, darting this way and that. Zhu Dachang only caught a few scattered fragments — “possessed,” “weasel spirit,” “murder,” “revenge” — and then, suddenly, Qiu Hong’s voice came down like a cleaver, slicing every word to shreds.

“The one who killed Old Estate Master Qiu was Fang’an from Fang Family Clinic!”

Zhu Dachang’s head rang sharply, and he snapped to alertness.

Qiu Hong stood across from him, his gaze fierce and pressing.

Zhu Dachang took a slow, deep breath. “How does the Qiu family head confirm that Fang’an is the murderer? Did the Qiu family head witness Fang’an commit the act with his own eyes?”

Qiu Wen narrowed his eyes. “I did not personally witness it — but after Old Estate Master Qiu died, I immediately sealed off Xian De Manor. Everyone inside the estate is accounted for. Only Fang’an is nowhere to be found.”

Zhu Dachang said nothing. He clasped his hands behind his back and quietly surveyed the scene of the crime.

Qiu Wen’s corpse lay plainly on the ground, his body bathed in blood, eyes tightly shut, his features contorted with a grotesque expression. The blood was especially heavy beneath the chin, along the neck, and across the chest. He was barefoot, and both the soles of his feet and his palms were smeared with blood. The room was in complete disarray, as if some beast had been fighting here. The ground was covered in startling bloody handprints and footprints — and even the walls bore them. Zhu Dachang made a swift mental comparison and was inwardly shaken. Could it be that Qiu Wen was capable of scaling walls?

“Is there any other evidence?” Zhu Dachang asked.

Qiu Wen laughed coldly. “Mu Tang from Four Sides Manor and the people from Fang Family Clinic have all fled. Does that not count as evidence of fleeing to escape punishment?”

The fourth young master of the Hua Family and his entire party had all disappeared?

Zhu Dachang’s heart pounded with a thump. His instincts told him this case was anything but simple. He raised his voice and said, “Bring the coroner in to examine the body.”

Li Nili led the coroner through the door. The coroner was an old hand in the county, nearly sixty years old, with dim, failing eyesight and unusually slow movements. Fortunately, his professional skills were still adequate. He examined the body for the full length of time it takes to burn a stick of incense, then stepped back and clasped his hands together to deliver his report:

“The deceased, Qiu Wen, was seventy-three years of age, six chi and three cun in height, weighing one hundred and ten—”

“Enough of the nonsense — state the cause of death!” Qiu Hong cut him off.

The coroner gave Qiu Hong a measured look. “The deceased shows a thin and emaciated physique, with sallow, withered flesh, a sunken abdomen, eyes closed and mouth agape, the body stiff and rigid, the hands and feet fully extended, and patches of thin, flaking, scale-like skin on the surface. Upon thorough examination of the entire body, there is no external injury of any kind. The manner of death was natural causes.”

“Absolute nonsense!” Qiu Hong bellowed. “The floor is covered in blood, and the corpse has been reduced to this state — this was clearly a murder. Are you blind?!”

The coroner clasped his hands. “This subordinate’s skills are imperfect, and there may be oversights. If the Qiu family head has doubts, Registrar Zhu may perform an autopsy for a secondary examination.”

“Absurd beyond all reason! The cause of death is perfectly plain and clear — and now you want to dissect the Old Estate Master’s body? What are your intentions?!”

Zhu Dachang quickly stepped in to mediate. “Qiu Clan Head, please calm yourself. How the deceased came to die is not for you or me to say — the coroner’s formal examination report is the only thing that matters. Allow me to first bring Old Clan Master Qiu’s remains back to the county office, where a thorough examination can be conducted, and I will then give the Qiu family a proper account!”

“That won’t be necessary!” Qiu Hong said coldly. “Registrar Zhu has a rather close relationship with that Fangke. I’m worried that if the body is transported to the county office, the cause of death will become rather… unclear.”

“What does the Qiu Clan Head mean by that? As Cheng County’s Registrar, it is naturally my duty to uphold justice for the people — I would never bend the law out of personal favoritism—”

“I will report this case to County Magistrate Qiu myself and ask His Honor to see justice done. Registrar Zhu may leave!”

Qiu Hong issued his order to dismiss without allowing for any further argument. The Xian De Manor guards closed in silently from all sides, their eyes vicious as hungry wolves encircling prey. Li Nili quickly tugged at Zhu Dachang’s sleeve. The other yamen clerks also threw desperate glances his way. Resentment churned in Zhu Dachang’s chest, but there was nothing he could do. He could only withdraw from Xian De Manor in dejection.

All the way back, the constables and yamen clerks sighed and groaned, deeply aggrieved by the humiliation. Zhu Dachang could only pretend not to hear them. Xian De Manor was too powerful, with the Dragon God Temple as its backer. He, a ridiculous excuse for a Registrar, was nothing but a clay idol on a temple shelf — he didn’t dare confront them head-on.

Li Nili caught up with a few quick steps and lowered his voice. “Does the Registrar believe Miss Lin is the murderer?”

Zhu Dachang shook his head.

He did not believe Lin Sui’an was the killer. First of all, Qiu Wen’s manner of death was bizarre, and Qiu Hong’s refusal to allow an autopsy meant Qiu Wen’s cause of death definitely had something to hide.

Second, Lin Sui’an served under the fourth young master of the Hua Family. The fourth young master of the Hua Family was the Cheng County Commissioner appointed by the imperial court — he would never, without reason, go around killing innocent people.

Third, given Lin Sui’an’s abilities, if she had wanted to kill a frail and aging Qiu Wen, why create such a dramatic scene? She would only need to crook a finger, pinch his neck, and it would be done without anyone the wiser—

A dead memory suddenly launched an attack. Zhu Dachang shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his own neck.

Li Nili: “County Magistrate Qiu has been on sick leave for over half a year. Is he really in any position to handle this case?”

Zhu Dachang shook his head again.

This time, he genuinely didn’t know.

He had only seen County Magistrate Qiu Liang from a distance on the day he took office, and had never laid eyes on him since. Every subsequent attempt he made to call on the Magistrate had been turned away by members of the Qiu clan.

He had even suspected at one point that Qiu Liang had long since died of his illness — but judging from Qiu Hong’s tone today, the County Magistrate appeared to still be alive.

Seeing Zhu Dachang’s face creased with worry, Li Nili scratched his head and told all the yamen clerks and constables not to disturb the Registrar.

Zhu Dachang’s head was in a complete mess. He walked with his head down into the county office, through the rear courtyard, and pushed open the door to his room. At that very moment, a cold gleam of light flashed — a blade swept across his neck.

Zhu Dachang barely managed to hold onto his last breath. His eyeballs rolled along the length of the blade at his neck — two chi long, three fingers wide, and the color… wait. Why wasn’t it green?

His gaze slowly traveled up the length of the blade. Zhu Dachang found himself looking at a face — oval-shaped, with large eyes and a warm wheat complexion. It was the young man from Fang Family Clinic who went by the name Jin Ruo. Not Lin Sui’an.

In that single instant, Zhu Dachang felt as if he had been stabbed with several needles at once, and all the air rushed out of him.

“Registrar Zhu — my respects.” A voice like dead wood on a winter’s night pierced his eardrums. Only then did Zhu Dachang see that his own bedroom had been completely taken over.

The golden-haired, blue-eyed Ita was at the tea table, the teakettle bubbling away. Mu Xia stood nearby with a pleasant smile to attend. Fangke sat cross-legged, teacup raised to blow off the steam. His dark, pitch-black pupils slid over. “Have a seat.”

Zhu Dachang was stunned by the sheer brazenness of this uninvited takeover, as if it were perfectly natural. He stood frozen for a moment before stiffly lowering himself into a seat. Jin Ruo withdrew his blade and stationed himself half a step away. Zhu Dachang was certain that at the slightest move, that blade — so very similar to Qian Jing — would be drawn across his throat.

Zhu Dachang took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “Have you all lost your minds? How could you come to the county office?!”

Fangke kept his eyes lowered. “In all of Cheng County, Registrar Zhu’s residence is the safest place.”

“Where is Lin Sui’an? Where is Commissioner Hua?!”

“Registrar Zhu need not worry. They are both quite safe.”

With those words, the tension Zhu Dachang had carried all day finally released. He patted his chest, picked up the teacup, and drank it down in one go — only to be seized with a violent shudder at the bitterness.

Ita’s bright face broke into a luminous smile, and he ladled another cup for Zhu Dachang.

“What on earth has happened?! How did Miss Lin become a murder suspect?” Zhu Dachang demanded.

You’re asking me — who the hell am I supposed to ask?!

Fangke silently complained to himself, keeping his expression perfectly neutral. “It seems Registrar Zhu does not believe Miss Lin is the murderer.”

Zhu Dachang was momentarily at a loss. “It is only that I find the manner of Old Estate Master Qiu’s death rather strange.”

Fangke’s eyes lit up. “What did the corpse look like?”

Zhu Dachang felt his entire body prickle under Fangke’s stare, and hurriedly recounted everything he had witnessed and heard that day, including the coroner’s preliminary findings.

Fangke said nothing, silently turning the teacup’s rim between his fingers. A thick fragrant steam enveloped him, obscuring his expression, leaving only two points of pupil light flickering in and out, like embers. Zhu Dachang didn’t dare to breathe. Something radiating from Fangke made every hair on his body stand on end — even more terrifying, somehow, than the murderous aura he’d sensed from Lin Sui’an.

“If my deduction is correct, Old Estate Master Qiu likely died of an exploded heart.” Fangke dropped this bombshell casually.

Zhu Dachang: “What?!”

Fangke dropped a chain of bombshells. “Old Estate Master Qiu was poisoned by the Dragon God Temple’s talisman water.”

Zhu Dachang was left speechless, slumped limp in his seat. Then, as if jolted by a sudden realization, he leapt to his feet. “You can’t stay here — leave at once! Go, go, go!”

Fangke unhurriedly took a measured sip of tea. “Things have already come to this point. Why should Registrar Zhu go on deceiving himself?”

Zhu Dachang spun around in circles, his head shaking like a rattle-drum — as if trying to convince himself, or perhaps trying to persuade Fangke. “The talisman water of the Dragon God Temple cannot possibly be poisonous! The Dragon God legend of Cheng County goes back a thousand years! The Dragon God is Cheng County’s faith — the very root of Cheng County. If the Dragon God is taken away, where will the people turn?!”

Fangke suddenly raised his eyes. “Preposterous! All under heaven is the sovereign’s domain. From what Registrar Zhu implies, is Cheng County to become a kingdom unto itself?!”

Zhu Dachang spun abruptly and stared at Fangke, his eyes crimson as he shouted, “What can I do? What on earth can I do! My kinsmen and family are all in Cheng County. I — I am only a Registrar, nothing but a powerless, solitary Registrar…”

The room fell into dead silence. Jin Ruo, Mu Xia, and Ita exchanged glances.

Fangke watched Zhu Dachang in quiet stillness for a long moment, then lowered his eyes without expression. He poured out Zhu Dachang’s cold tea and ladled a fresh, hot cup. “I imagine Registrar Zhu has long believed that Cheng County is merely a stepping stone for Fourth Young Master Hua’s climb in rank. That Fourth Young Master Hua came to Cheng County only to go through the motions — to build a record of experience. When the time was right, he would be promoted and return to the Eastern Capital, and from that point on, whether Cheng County lived or died would be no concern of his whatsoever.”

Zhu Dachang’s entire body deflated. His heart said: Is that not exactly so?

Fangke’s lips curved into a cold smile, and a low laugh escaped him. “He is the fourth young master of the Hua Family — the only younger brother of the Hua Family head of Yangdu, the first-ranked Presented Scholar personally selected in the Imperial Examination by the sovereign himself. Does a man like that need to come to some impoverished backwater to build experience as a lowly county commissioner?”

Zhu Dachang found he had nothing to say.

Indeed, given the family background and birth of the Hua Family’s fourth young master, he would be more than qualified to serve as a trusted attendant near the throne. At the very least, he could take up a prestigious, cultured post as a Library Collator and remain in the Eastern Capital for a few years — his ascent would follow naturally.

Fourth Young Master Hua had no need to gild himself. From the moment of his birth, he had already been gold.

Then why had he come to Cheng County as a county commissioner? Could it be that there was some particular reason?

“Two consecutive county commissioners dispatched by the imperial court to Cheng County died under murky circumstances.” Fangke pointed a finger upward. “Those above are not at all pleased.”

“Those above — those above, who exactly—” Zhu Dachang finally caught on. He swallowed. “The Court of Judicial Review? The Ministry of Personnel? Or the Ministry of Justice?”

“Would a mere Court of Judicial Review be capable of summoning the fourth young master of the Hua Family?” Fangke said with disdain.

A loud ringing filled Zhu Dachang’s head: Could — could it truly be that what has happened in Cheng County has reached the ears of the sovereign himself?!

Fangke watched the shifting expressions playing across Zhu Dachang’s face, and gradually let his voice soften.

“Miss Lin once said that when she and Registrar Zhu joined hands to solve a case in South Ford County, the Suzhou Su Clan — on behalf of the five great clans and seven noble houses — had used their combined standing to pressure Registrar Zhu into clearing Su Chengxian of any suspicion of murder, without a shred of evidence. And Registrar Zhu refused them outright. At the time, Registrar Zhu said: ‘I am the parent official of South Ford County. If I trample upon the laws of the nation for my own private gain, I will have no face to meet my people.'”

Fangke’s voice was by nature dry and hollow as a withered branch, but in this moment it unexpectedly carried a softness — three parts warmth, as if dead wood had met the spring, and green shoots were pressing through the earth, breathing out the hope of new life. It was strangely, deeply moving.

Zhu Dachang slowly sank back into his seat, something dawning on him.

So it was — he had once said such a thing…

He never imagined Miss Lin had remembered it so clearly…

Fangke drew a slow breath, straightened himself into a formal, upright posture, and brought both fists together in a solemn salute. “Just as Registrar Zhu once said — your kinsmen and family are in Cheng County. Cheng County is not only your home; it is their home, and the home of every last one of its people. As this county’s Registrar, you are the parent official of Cheng County’s people. The future of Cheng County, the wellbeing of its people — all of it rests on a single decision of yours.”

Zhu Dachang sat motionless, as if in a trance. Behind the expressionless Fangke, he seemed to glimpse a vision — the heroic young woman, and the resplendent, brilliant fourth young master of the Hua Family, radiant as a flower in bloom.

Then, abruptly, Fangke seemed to sense something. He turned his gaze toward the window. Mu Xia rose and pushed the window panels open. A slender thread of sunlight slipped out from the depths of a vast, dark rain cloud and fell into the courtyard. That small, humble courtyard was bathed all at once in a fresh, clean brightness. Every branch, every leaf, every pebble of the path shone as if lit from within.

Fangke said quietly, “Look. The rain is finally stopping.”

Zhu Dachang stared blankly at that long-missed light, feeling his heart surge and stir. He closed his eyes for a moment, then rose and offered a proper bow.

“If Commissioner Hua and Miss Lin have need of anything, Zhu will give everything he has — no matter what it takes, no matter the cost. I will hold nothing back.”

Skit:

Jin Ruo: Blimey — has Master Fang unlocked some kind of cheat mode? Even that master of talking-people-into-things, that fancy young master, might find himself out of a job.

Ita: Master Fang is mighty!

Mu Xia: Ha — before Si’lang and Miss Lin left, they gave Master Fang a little sachet of helpful advice.

Jin Ruo: What sachet? What advice? Why didn’t I know about this?! What did it say?

Mu Xia: The heavens’ secrets must not be revealed.

Fangke let out a long, slow exhale and quietly stuffed the crumpled, nearly sweat-soaked cheat sheet back up his sleeve.

On the cheat sheet were two columns of writing. The first was in Lin Sui’an’s hand:

[Zhu Dachang — timid and cowardly, but with an upright heart.]

The second column was Hua Yitang’s annotation:

[Timid and cowardly — frighten him. Upright heart — paint him a grand vision. Master Fang, we believe in you!]