Liao Feijiang was dead.

But nothing was finished.

He had been the thread connecting everything — yet in truth, by this point, no one cared whether Liao Feijiang lived or died. Not even Gao Jinhong, Shu Province’s representative, because Liao Feijiang simply wasn’t important enough.

If Luo Jiuhong truly stepped down as chief and was succeeded by Sun Zuoyi — who had been agreed upon in advance — that would be the ideal outcome.

Not even Mo Xiyan, despite his family’s official connections, was the preferred choice.

So when Gao Jinhong watched Liao Feijiang hoisted into the air, he felt no anger at all. He thought of it as one small problem neatly resolved.

Liao Feijiang had always been reckless. The day he barged into the Shu Army camp demanding an audience with Yan Yusheng, he had submitted a list of conditions: in exchange for turning the Horse Gang against the Ning forces, he demanded an ennoblement, a military commission, and the position of Horse Gang Chief.

Yan Yusheng had asked him: Luo Jiuhong has treated you well. How do you propose to remove him?

Liao Feijiang’s exact answer: *If he refuses, he dies.*

Even Yan Yusheng — who had intended to use him — thought Liao Feijiang beneath contempt. As did Gao Jinhong, sent in his stead.

The right candidate had never been him.

Sun Zuoyi was the chief of the Horse Gang’s second-largest faction, and his cousin was the second chief of its largest. If Sun Zuoyi took over, the other factions in the Gang would have no real choice in the matter.

As for Mo Xiyan — the third-ranked figure — Yan Yusheng hadn’t even considered him, precisely because Mo Xiyan’s father was the Governor of Meicheng. It was expected that Mo Xiyan would naturally cooperate. And Mo Xiyan’s personal prestige wasn’t strong enough to hold the whole Horse Gang together. With the Sun cousins’ combined power, Mo Xiyan alone couldn’t manage them.

And so the plan had been made.

Gao Jinhong had returned to the county town with Liao Feijiang, the two of them arriving first to reconnoiter. Liao Feijiang had been planning to head back to the Horse Gang’s mountain stronghold the following day.

Then, unexpectedly, they spotted Fourth Chief You Yuren.

Liao Feijiang had panicked. You Yuren was firmly committed to the Prince of Ning. His presence in the county town meant almost certainly that he had come to secretly meet with the emissary from Ning.

You Yuren wasn’t the kind of man who acted on his own initiative. Liao Feijiang had known him well enough to be sure: Luo Jiuhong must have sent him to meet Cao Lie.

For all the heated arguments they’d had, Luo Jiuhong had never clearly stated his position — and Liao Feijiang had thought that meant the Chief didn’t dare go against the majority. But seeing You Yuren here made it clear: Luo Jiuhong had been deceiving him all along. The Chief had already decided to side with the Prince of Ning.

Liao Feijiang conferred quickly with Gao Jinhong. How to handle it?

Gao Jinhong said: if this man returned to the stronghold and succeeded in persuading Luo Jiuhong to join Ning — that would be a disaster.

Liao Feijiang, fearing the loss of everything Yan Yusheng had promised him, made up his mind.

He went personally to find You Yuren.

You Yuren had been careful enough. After his carriage stopped in front of the tavern, he and Cao Lie went inside, then switched to a different vehicle bound for the county yamén.

That first carriage waited at the yamén’s rear gate. Liao Feijiang calculated that You Yuren, for safety’s sake, would return to the tavern and leave in it. So Liao Feijiang went ahead, arrived first, and got into the carriage. The driver was a Tiger Gang man who recognized him and didn’t question it.

So Cao Lie’s earlier deduction hadn’t been wrong — there really had been four people in that carriage.

When You Yuren and his two bodyguards climbed in and found Liao Feijiang sitting there, You Yuren paused.

He asked why Liao Feijiang was there. Liao Feijiang said he’d just come back from home, spotted the Tiger Gang driver outside, learned Fourth Brother was in town, and thought he’d ride back to the stronghold with him.

You Yuren knew Liao Feijiang was never without an ulterior motive — but he had truly never imagined his sworn brother would actually raise a hand against him.

Inside the carriage, Liao Feijiang pretended he wanted to buy some snacks for the road and had Yang Sixi and Geng Niu step out to purchase them.

The moment the two men were gone, Liao Feijiang stabbed You Yuren to death.

When they returned with the food and climbed back in, Liao Feijiang struck before either had a chance to react — one knife, one each.

He forced the driver out of the city. Once outside, he killed him too and left the body in the wilderness.

Gao Jinhong was waiting outside the walls. They loaded the three corpses into another carriage and brought them back into the city.

Now, in this yamén hall, Liao Feijiang’s body swayed gently in the air — much like the way he had lived his life. Always swaying.

Luo Jiuhong exhaled a long breath. The man who had killed his sworn brother had been another sworn brother. Fourth Brother was avenged — and yet there was no relief in it.

“I keep my word,” Luo Jiuhong said. “Fourth Brother is avenged. I will step down.”

He rose from the seat of honor and walked slowly to the center of the hall, then looked at Cao Lie. “Milord, the Horse Gang’s business is concluded.”

Cao Lie gave a quiet “mm” and said nothing.

Luo Jiuhong turned to Gao Jinhong. “General, the Horse Gang’s business is concluded.”

Gao Jinhong smiled. “Not quite, I think.”

He crossed to where Sun Zuoyi stood. “You are now the Horse Gang’s chief. Since we agreed beforehand that you would take over — now is the time to make a statement.”

Sun Zuoyi cupped his fists. “Please, General, speak plainly.”

Gao Jinhong turned and pointed at Cao Lie. “The enemy is standing right in front of us. If we let him walk out of here alive, then even if you bring tens of thousands of Horse Gang fighters against the Ning Army — our General will have a hard time accepting that.”

Sun Zuoyi asked: “Are you saying I must kill the man from Ning before I can be given the Horse Gang leadership?”

Gao Jinhong nodded. “Naturally.”

Sun Zuoyi sighed. “I’ve always been a coward, I won’t deny it. A coward with two things I’m terrified of. Number one: killing people. Number two: being insulted.”

Gao Jinhong frowned. “What are you saying?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Sun Zuoyi said. “Horse Gang Chief — I’m not interested.”

He pointed at Mo Xiyan. “Ask him. He might be keener.”

“Sun Zuoyi,” Gao Jinhong said, his voice hardening. “This is not what you told me when we made our agreement.”

“That was before I realized what a bother it would be,” Sun Zuoyi said. “You’re asking a law-abiding man who runs a legitimate business to kill someone on your behalf. Since when does the government force respectable merchants to do its dirty work?”

Gao Jinhong’s temper flared.

Mo Xiyan let out a loud laugh. “Look at that — you played Liao Feijiang, and now someone’s played you. At this point, the only one who can save you from looking completely pathetic is me.”

Gao Jinhong looked at Sun Jinjia.

Sun Jinjia said, “You never talked to me. You talked to my cousin. What are you looking at me for?”

“Cowards,” Gao Jinhong spat. “Every last one of you.”

He turned to Mo Xiyan. “You are now the Horse Gang’s chief.”

“I was, before you had no other choice,” Mo Xiyan said. “I just forgot to mention it.”

Gao Jinhong’s expression shifted. “What do you mean by that?”

Mo Xiyan said, “The others embarrassed you. I won’t. I’ll just — kill you.”

*Pffft.*

A dagger appeared in Mo Xiyan’s hand and drove straight into Gao Jinhong’s heart.

The moment the blade entered his chest, Qin Ke was already moving. He produced a second rope, looped it around Gao Jinhong’s throat, threw the other end over the ceiling beam, and with both hands, heaved.

Gao Jinhong was hauled up beside Liao Feijiang.

Luo Jiuhong looked up at the two swaying bodies and exhaled heavily.

“Now,” he murmured to himself, “Fourth Brother is truly avenged.”

He turned and walked to Cao Lie, cupping his fists. “Milord, I’m sorry you had to witness all of this.”

“No matter,” Cao Lie said. “Though I’m quite curious — how did it come to this?”

Luo Jiuhong gestured to Mo Xiyan. Mo Xiyan stepped forward and bowed to Cao Lie. “Milord.”

Sun Jinjia and Sun Zuoyi came forward too, both bowing.

Sun Zuoyi laughed. “Milord, please — no more insults. That mouth of yours is truly something.”

Mo Xiyan said, “I can attest to that.”

“Actually,” Luo Jiuhong began, “before Fourth Brother died, it was Mo Xiyan who came quietly to our Tiger Gang stronghold.”

“He told me: think of the tens of thousands of Horse Gang brothers. We cannot side with Pei Qi — that would get them all killed.”

“Though Mo Xiyan’s father serves under Pei Qi, Mo Xiyan himself truly treats the Horse Gang as his own family — the brothers as his own blood.”

“It was because Mo Xiyan came to me personally that I made the decision to pledge loyalty to the Prince of Ning, and arranged for Fourth Brother to come meet Milord Cao.”

Cao Lie nodded, understanding now.

“But we never expected Liao Feijiang to be so ruthless — that he would even kill his own Fourth Brother. And at the time, none of us knew who had done it.”

Luo Jiuhong looked at Mo Xiyan. Mo Xiyan took over: “I said: if you want to find the killer, you have to make the Horse Gang look like it has no options, no way out. Then the one responsible will expose himself. So I went and brought in Sun Zuoyi.”

Sun Zuoyi raised a hand in acknowledgment.

Cao Lie sighed. “So you were all in on it together — putting on a play for Liao Feijiang.”

“That was only the beginning,” Luo Jiuhong said. “I’ve already decided to hand the chief’s position to Mo Xiyan.”

Mo Xiyan continued: “With my connections to Shu Province’s official class, leading the Horse Gang’s tens of thousands of fighters into battle won’t raise Yan Yusheng’s suspicions. When we link up with Great General Tantai’s forces, defeating Yan Yusheng won’t be a problem.”

He turned to Cao Lie, his voice serious. “There is one thing I would ask of Milord.”

“Please speak.”

“My father has served under Pei Qi, but he has been an honest official all his life. The one selfish act he ever committed was arranging help for me. He has never wronged the people, never enriched himself. So I ask that—”

Cao Lie understood at once and nodded. “When Meicheng falls, I will personally guarantee your father and his household are unharmed.”

Mo Xiyan dropped to his knees. “Thank you for your generosity, Milord!”

—