Xie Feiyu led his Tingwei squad rapidly toward the shop. Smoke was already billowing out through the windows, yet there was no sign of flame.

So Xie Feiyu did not charge straight in. Judging the situation: the people inside might be using the smoke as cover to flee — or the smoke might be concealing an ambush.

In other words, they had already sensed the Tingwei net closing in and, rather than setting a true fire, had deliberately smothered wet material to generate thick smoke.

“Ready.”

Xie Feiyu called out in a low voice to his men. Everyone, following Xie Feiyu’s lead, simultaneously drew a black cloth, soaked it from their water flasks, and pressed it over their mouths and noses.

Tingwei agents had trained for countless scenarios, and had experience dealing with any number of situations.

Cloths secured, Xie Feiyu kicked the shop door open with one foot. His left hand held a crossbow at the ready, his right hand gripped his sword hilt, and he entered cautiously.

In the center of the room a pile of grass had been heaped up — wet grass, by the look of it — over a brazier of coals. That was the source of all this smoke.

“Fall back!”

Xie Feiyu suddenly shouted.

The Tingwei who had followed him inside immediately retreated. As Xie Feiyu made it back to the doorway, he stumbled.

Even with his mouth and nose covered, one breath of that peculiar smell sent his head reeling with dizziness.

Worried they had walked into a trap, Xie Feiyu ordered a swift withdrawal — and collapsed as he cleared the door.

Gao Xining saw this and immediately moved to go forward. Han Shanji blocked her again.

Gao Xining said, “Go provide support.”

But Han Shanji still did not move — he simply stood at Gao Xining’s side.

Other Tingwei agents rushed forward to pull Xie Feiyu and the others back. Then, suddenly, dark-clad figures appeared on the rooftops above and opened fire with crossbows at the Tingwei below.

Several Tingwei fell with bolts in them. For the third time, Gao Xining tried to move forward to help. This time Han Shanji drew his sword, stepped in front of her.

“Can’t go.”

Three words.

In the darkness, several black-clad figures had been watching Gao Xining’s position the whole time. The moment Han Shanji moved away from her, they would strike instantly.

This had been their plan from the start: use Yao Huancheng’s entry into Yu Wenli’s home to put the Tingwei Office on alert.

They knew perfectly well that a Tingwei Office of this caliber would pick up on the anomaly of those servants going out to buy rough cloth in short order.

Yu Wenli was not the target. Yang Jing was. The moment something went wrong, the Tingwei would report up to Gao Xining, and Gao Xining, for the sake of certainty, would leave Yibin Garden and come personally to observe the situation near Yu Wenli’s home.

These black-clad figures had prepared two contingency plans, one of which was to seize an opportunity to act here near this shop.

The goal: capture Gao Xining, then use her as a bargaining chip for Yang Jing.

From the very beginning, they had never intended to sneak Yang Jing out — because they knew perfectly well that sneaking him out was impossible.

Gao Xining was the woman Prince Ning Li Chi held dearest. As long as she was in their hands, Prince Ning Li Chi could not help but be constrained.

Of course they had not come unprepared regarding Gao Xining’s escort. Han Shanji was their greatest obstacle.

Based on the intelligence they had, Han Shanji was not a Qianban — his sole function was to protect Gao Xining. The full extent of his abilities was unknown; they had no detailed intelligence on him, and did not dare act rashly.

“Trouble.”

One of the black-clad figures muttered to himself, then raised a hand. “Withdraw.”

The men at his side retreated immediately — fast, skilled, vanishing without a sound.

These were all people of Shu Province Military Commissioner Pei Qi, who had spent so many years building his operation in Shu Province that the scale of the forces he commanded was beyond reckoning.

To the world he appeared a loyal second-in-command — always in someone else’s shadow. When Yang Xuanji was present, Pei Qi appeared as his utterly devoted subordinate, scheming everything on his behalf. When Han Feibao came along, he again appeared to be supporting him with everything he had — while remaining behind the curtain.

Now their last remaining hope was the very man they had once planned to eliminate: the Chu Emperor Yang Jing. So this time, it was Pei Qi himself who had stepped forward to plan the operation — outside of all the usual frameworks, with Pei Qi in direct command.

The black-clad figures withdrew quickly into a small courtyard. Once through the gate, they removed their face coverings.

The leader sat down and poured himself a cup of cold tea.

“That man is a problem.”

A subordinate who looked about twenty said, “I’m half-convinced the one surnamed Han has already spotted us.”

The leader was named Mo Lili — one of the commanders of a unit under Pei Qi’s command known as the Screen Camp.

The Screen Camp’s purpose was to provide covert protection and control to the puppet figures Pei Qi had cultivated. The majority of Yang Xuanji’s personal guards — and even a portion of his advisors — had been Screen Camp personnel.

Figures from the jianghu world including the seventh-ranked swordsman in the land appeared on the surface to have been recruited by Yang Xuanji himself from across the martial world. In reality, they were all Pei Qi’s arrangements. For a puppet to be useful, it naturally had to be kept under close control.

Mo Lili, as one of the Screen Camp’s three senior commanders, was formidable in his own right.

The young man speaking to him just now was a minor captain within the Screen Camp, with the rank of Banner Officer.

In the Screen Camp, a Banner Officer commanded a unit of one hundred — already a position of some standing.

Above Banner Officers were Six Senior Banner Officers. Above those were three Mid-Rank Commanders.

Mo Lili was one of the Mid-Rank Commanders, responsible for intelligence, abduction, and assassination.

The fighters within the Screen Camp were called the Outer Camp. There were also a considerable number of advisors known as the Inner Camp.

The Outer Camp handled matters of force; the Inner Camp consisted of the advisors placed beside the various puppets.

Pei Qi harbored a vast ambition. Every last one of his puppets — Yang Xuanji, Han Feibao, and even the Marquis of Guanting who had broken free — was ultimately destined to die.

Pei Qi himself was the one who intended to climb to the throne in the end.

What made him genuinely furious was the appearance of Prince Ning Li Chi, who had thrown every part of his plan into disarray.

Had things gone smoothly, not long after Yang Xuanji defeated the Chu Army and entered Daxing to proclaim himself Emperor, Pei Qi would have executed the second phase.

Yang Xuanji would have been made to die slowly, by some means invisible to the world. His heirs would naturally have met with accidents as well. And in that moment, Yang Xuanji — for the good of the realm — would have abdicated in favor of Pei Qi, his greatest meritorious subject. All perfectly logical.

If it had gone that smoothly, there would have been no need for anyone like Han Feibao or the Marquis of Guanting at all.

They were only backup pieces — substitutes for after Yang Xuanji’s failure.

Earlier, Li Chi and his people had speculated based on available intelligence that Yang Xuanji was a puppet and that the one ultimately seeking the throne was likely the Marquis of Guanting.

That wasn’t a failure of reasoning on Li Chi’s part — Pei Qi was simply too low-profile. Extraordinarily so.

If Li Chi’s people had known the full picture, they would have understood why the Marquis of Guanting made so many apparently irrational moves.

The Marquis of Guanting had seen through Pei Qi’s intentions — and realized that the moment he entered Daxing, his death was certain. So it was better to use the army still in his hands to leave this place of strife and go somewhere remote to bide his time with his own plans.

The Marquis of Guanting’s flight had finally exhausted Pei Qi’s patience.

His only remaining option now was Yang Jing alone. As long as Yang Jing reached Shu Province, Pei Qi could repeat his old tricks.

Pei Qi was a man who held a firm belief: those who move first die first. And so he always remained behind the curtain, and would not emerge until the plan reached its successful conclusion.

Banner Officer Zhou Xiaoxin said to Mo Lili, “If we can’t capture Gao Xining, the plan can’t move forward. Unless… we use the backup?”

Mo Lili shook his head. “Not the backup. At least not yet.”

He looked at the other Banner Officer, You Beidou. “Take your people and keep watching Gao Xining’s side for an opening. I’ll think of another way to split their attention.”

Mo Lili rose. “Everyone rest up. Keep your mind sharp — our opponents aren’t just the Tingwei Office. They’re Prince Ning Li Chi himself.”

He walked to the door and looked out, then continued, “He already holds the greater part of the national vessel in his grasp. Do you know what the national vessel is? That is… the authority of Heaven itself.”

Back on Gao Xining’s side, the squad withdrew and waited for the smoke inside the shop to clear.

When they entered, of course they found no clues — the shop had only ever been bait.

By now the sky was nearly brightening. Li Chi had long since arrived as well.

In fact, when those people had been preparing to make their move, Li Chi had already been on his way here.

He had returned to Yibin Garden and immediately learned something was wrong at Yu Wenli’s home — and set off at once.

He didn’t particularly care about Yu Wenli. He didn’t even particularly care about Yang Jing.

He simply had a strong feeling that something was off, and what he was worried about was Gao Xining and the Tingwei personnel.

“Let’s go to Yu Wenli’s place.”

Li Chi turned. “We’ll cadge an early breakfast.”

Gao Xining acknowledged, and the Tingwei force followed.

The sky was just barely brightening when Li Chi’s group arrived outside Yu Wenli’s gate. Baiwei Xie Feiyu stepped up and knocked.

It was quite a while before someone came to open it. Seeing it was a Tingwei Baiwei, the servant nearly jumped out of his skin and hastily swung the gate wide.

“Prince Ning has arrived. Please inform your master.”

Xie Feiyu said this politely and did not immediately step in.

If the outsider who had entered Yu Wenli’s home was still inside, he would certainly panic in some way upon learning Prince Ning Li Chi had come personally.

And if he tried to flee by some other route — with Tingwei standing three rings deep outside, how would he get away?

Moments later, Yang Jing and Yu Wenli both came hurrying to the gate and bowed together.

Li Chi first looked at Yu Wenli’s face. This man was learned and upright in character — but absolutely not cunning. The alarm on his face was not something he could hide.

Li Chi didn’t ask anything. He just smiled. “We’ve been busy all night and just happened to be walking past Master Yu’s door, and we truly couldn’t bear the hunger any longer — so we’ve come to beg a breakfast.”

With that he walked inside. Yu Wenli hurriedly offered courtesies and followed, bent slightly at the waist, trailing Li Chi back into the courtyard.

Li Chi looked at Yang Jing and asked with a smile, “Are you comfortable staying at Master Yu’s home?”

Yang Jing kept his back slightly bent and replied, “Many thanks for Prince Ning’s concern — I am quite comfortable.”

Li Chi smiled and said pleasantly, “I’d imagine you’re not, actually.”

Yang Jing’s shoulders gave the faintest visible tremor.

—