Li Diudiu naturally had no way of knowing that from that day forward, his name had been placed on the Yiji Hall’s list of targets.

It must be said: if Dachu were still in its days of prosperity, the Yiji Hall’s business would have been considerably easier — after all, they were the largest such establishment in the northern frontier.

Ever since the Jizhou rebellion had grown increasingly severe, Jizhou City had become a massive isolated island. The island was sturdy and powerful enough that the people within it could still dream their dreams of unbroken splendor. But with no business from outside the city walls, the Yiji Hall was nearly on the verge of collapse.

Jizhou City was very large, but who goes around hiring assassins for no reason? Ninety-five percent of its residents were ordinary commoners — ninety-five percent of the population had no idea the Yiji Hall was actually an assassin organization.

Among the remaining five percent, the current period was actually quite stable. With the death of Lian Gongming, the confrontation between the two great powers in Jizhou City had effectively been declared over.

Everyone now nominally served under the Jiedushi, and who would be foolish enough to spend money killing someone on the same side for amusement?

To say nothing of the assassin business growing cold — even the legitimate chess parlor business had declined enormously compared to before.

In circumstances like these, the ladies and young misses of the great families were more or less unaffected — they still went to listen to music when they pleased, and went strolling through the streets when they pleased.

But men were different. They had all begun to face enormous pressure. When that small fraction within the top five percent of Jizhou’s men started to sense that Prince Yu perhaps had greater ambitions, they were forced to make more careful considerations.

They were busy forging connections, busy socializing, busy planning for the future. Those who still had the leisure to sit in a chess parlor and play a game could be counted on one hand.

The Yiji Hall’s leadership consisted of three principal masters and two patron advisors — five people in total forming the inner circle.

The three principal masters were Master Yu, Master Song, and Master Zheng. As for their true given names, only a handful of people knew.

Master Song was the Yiji Hall’s chief principal. He rarely appeared at the hall itself, instead residing in the Fengming Mountain Daoist Temple within Jizhou City, cultivating the Way. Master Zheng handled relations with government officials, and for the most part was not home either — he had gone to the capital a year ago and had yet to return, which was presumably difficult to do now.

Master Yu oversaw the Yiji Hall’s day-to-day affairs — the busiest and most exhausted of the three.

Beyond those three, the two patron advisors were grandmasters of chess, and it was their presence that lent the Yiji Hall its outward reputation.

The Yiji Hall had a clear division of responsibilities, divided into roughly three departments, whose internal names were known only to those within.

One department was called the Chess Arts Hall, overseen by the two patron advisors and responsible for receiving high-level visitors.

One department was called the Dispatch Hall, handling all matters related to assassination targets, selection of assassins, investigation of target intelligence — all falling under the Dispatch Hall’s purview. The Dispatch Hall’s chief steward was Master Yu’s disciple, named Liu Qifeng.

The last department was called the Execution Hall. The Execution Hall contained a large number of assassins arranged in a strict hierarchy. The highest rank was called Grade A, First Class, and only five individuals held this distinction.

Below that were Grade A Second Class, Grade A Third Class, Grade B First Class, Grade B Second Class, and so on down the line.

Within the Execution Hall, the lowest rank was Grade C Third Class — but this did not mean that every Grade C Third Class member was weak in martial arts. Experience and practical seasoning also factored heavily; a newcomer with exceptional martial skill who had just entered the Yiji Hall might still begin at Grade C Third Class.

When Yao Wuhen had been in the Execution Hall, he held the rank of Grade C First Class, as he was still relatively new to the trade. Later, after killing one of the Blue Garment Formation’s gate masters, his assassin rank was elevated directly to Grade A Second Class. After subsequently killing three more gate masters of the Blue Garment Formation along with dozens of its disciples, his rank was raised again to Grade A First Class.

Then he resigned and left the Yiji Hall.

But even those who left the Yiji Hall did not dare lightly reveal whose assassinations the Hall had carried out. Once such information was leaked, one would face the relentless pursuit of every assassin within the Yiji Hall.

Yao Wuhen sought fame and fortune — he had no desire to court death.

Though he had already left the Yiji Hall, his name remained on the Execution Hall’s Grade A First Class roster — he was one of the Five Grade-A’s.

At this moment, within the Yiji Hall.

Master Yu was growing increasingly vexed. For more than half a year now, the Yiji Hall had received no substantial business. Ever since the conclusion of the Lian Gongming affair, the Yiji Hall’s business had abruptly entered a slow season — a very slow season.

Speaking plainly, yesterday when Wang Deng came with four hundred taels of silver saying the target was a Four Pages Academy student, that was already the Yiji Hall’s biggest job in six months — and their only one.

“An utter disgrace!”

Master Yu surveyed those assembled beneath him, his face as sour as if he’d swallowed a fly.

“Business at the hall has fallen to this state, and yet you all still idle about day after day as if nothing concerns you.”

Master Yu’s gaze swept across those present. Liu Qifeng, the Dispatch Hall’s chief steward, lowered his head in shame — though inwardly he thought: without any business walking through the door, what am I supposed to do?

The Execution Hall’s chief steward was Master Song’s disciple, named Song Dongzhu. He also lowered his head in shame, but thought inwardly: the Dispatch Hall isn’t sending any business our way — what am I supposed to do?

The two elder patron advisors of the Chess Arts Hall gazed at their own noses and let their minds drift, thinking: what does any of this have to do with us?

“This cannot go on.”

Master Yu said, “The assassins receive no monthly stipend, but the hall agreed from the start to cover their meals, clothing, and lodging. The Execution Hall houses three to four hundred people. With no income for over half a year, and three to four hundred people, three to four hundred mouths to feed — each day’s food and drink alone is a substantial sum.”

Hearing Master Yu say this, everyone felt somewhat dazed.

Was this still the Yiji Hall, which once dominated all assassin business across the entire northern frontier? How had things come to feel so lean and difficult so suddenly? The character just didn’t fit…

“Master.”

The Execution Hall’s chief steward, Song Dongzhu, asked, “Over all these years, the hall should have accumulated considerable savings. Surely it hasn’t come to the point of rationing food and drink?”

“You don’t worry about the household, so you don’t know the price of firewood and rice.”

Master Yu said, “When business was good, the annual surplus looked substantial enough. But maintaining relations with the government required considerable annual payments to Lian Gongming, and the annual payments to the Jiedushi were even more considerable. And then the annual payments sent to the capital for Liu Chongxin were more considerable still.”

“Our people were also accustomed to spending lavishly. After six months of running on reserves, the hall’s savings have been nearly exhausted.”

Master Yu said, “None of you ever thought about any of this. You all assumed the hall had mountains of gold and silver — an inexhaustible supply. After six months of sitting and eating through savings, the hall’s reserves are nearly spent.”

Song Dongzhu was startled. “It has already… become this dire?”

Master Yu said, “You don’t worry about it, but I must. That is why I have been thinking lately about how to keep the hall going. I have arrived at three approaches.”

He surveyed those gathered and said, “First: dispatch personnel out of Jizhou City to make contact with the leaders of the various rebel armies, and find out whether they have anyone they want killed. In the past, our business was conducted with officials and nobles. Now we must change our thinking — we must go and do business with the rebel forces. Reach down into the market…”

Everyone nodded, finding this reasonable.

“The second matter.”

Master Yu paused, then continued, “Looking things over, the Yiji Hall occupies considerable ground — roughly one third of the buildings sit empty. Along the main street, there are twelve storefronts. We only need to keep one as an entrance to the Yiji Hall’s front courtyard. The rest should be rented out. Furthermore, we need to reduce staff.”

He looked at Song Dongzhu of the Execution Hall and said, “The entire Grade C division of assassins — let them all go. These people have little skill, and yet they eat more than anyone else. Dismiss them, let them fend for themselves.”

Execution Hall chief Song Dongzhu said, “Why start with my Execution Hall? The Dispatch Hall over there has over a hundred people — seven tenths of them are freeloaders.”

Dispatch Hall chief Liu Qifeng burst out angrily, “How much work do we handle on our end — with fewer people we couldn’t possibly manage!”

Song Dongzhu said, “What are you possibly busy with? Sweeping the courtyard doesn’t even require your people — the Chess Arts Hall’s attendants do that. Your Dispatch Hall people have no business coming in, so they eat and sleep and sleep and eat every day. Like pigs.”

“Are you looking for a fight!”

Liu Qifeng shot to his feet: “If you have a problem with me, let’s step outside and settle it — life and death, heaven’s will!”

Song Dongzhu stood up as well: “You think I’m afraid of you?”

Master Yu erupted: “Both of you, sit down!”

The two glared at each other fiercely, but both sat down obediently.

Master Yu said, “I’ve thought it over. From the Execution Hall, the entire Grade C division can be let go — they’re the ones we need for reaching out to the various rebel forces anyway. Send the Grade C members to handle that.”

He looked at Liu Qifeng and said, “As for your Dispatch Hall — cut it in half as well. It really is all eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating. Every last one of you has gotten noticeably fatter than you were half a year ago.”

Liu Qifeng’s face went red with embarrassment.

Well, with no business coming in, what were the Dispatch Hall people supposed to do? Eat and sleep, sleep and eat — that was all there was.

“The matter of cuts is decided.”

Master Yu continued, “But this alone is still not enough to ease the crisis the hall now faces. I’ll be frank with you: the hall’s current cash reserves amount to less than two thousand taels of silver, and four hundred of that came in only yesterday.”

He swept his gaze across those present and said, “The chief principal controls the treasury, but if this situation were reported to him, you all know what kind of dressing-down we’d receive. So we must find our own way out…”

He exhaled, somewhat helplessly. “Whatever legitimate business there is to do, let’s do it properly. The Dispatch Hall — handle that job you took in yesterday as quickly as possible. That’s the only job in six months. If you bungle it, the Yiji Hall’s reputation will be finished.”

Liu Qifeng and Song Dongzhu stood up simultaneously: “It’s already been arranged.”

They had assigned one Grade A Second Class assassin and four Grade B Second Class assassins. In the hall’s best days, a Grade B Second Class assassin would charge one hundred taels per job. But with business so slow, they had no choice but to accept fifty taels apiece — and even at that price there had nearly been a brawl over who got the work.

Master Yu continued, “I was just mentioning the matter of the storefronts. Along the main street, twelve units — keep one as a passage into the Yiji Hall’s front courtyard, and as for the front courtyard itself, with its main hall and side rooms, I’ve been thinking for a while about what business we could run there…”

The Chess Arts Hall was in the back courtyard, so its leadership said nothing — as long as their space wasn’t being touched.

Master Yu asked, “Has anyone any thoughts on this?”

No one had thought about it at all. Brought up so suddenly, they stared blankly at one another, all thinking: the Yiji Hall is going through a transformation — what on earth could we do?

As the northern frontier’s largest assassin organization…

They hadn’t yet thought of anything, but Master Yu was already continuing.

“It’s winter — hot pot is popular. Let’s convert the front courtyard into a hot pot restaurant. When summer comes next year, if the assassin business is still slow, we’ll switch the hot pot restaurant to a barbecue. I’ve already investigated the market — both hot pot and barbecue have quite respectable profit margins.”

Master Yu said, “If there is nothing else, let it be settled thus. The Execution Hall’s Grade B division members, along with whatever remains of the Dispatch Hall, are to be converted into wait staff starting tomorrow.”

He stood, gave a wave of his hand: “Make the arrangements accordingly.”

That entire assembly of formidable figures sat there utterly stupefied.

—