Having bathed and changed into clean clothes, Yu Jiuling was indeed a very handsome young man. Even in plain cloth garments, he couldn’t help but draw the involuntary second glances of the ladies and young misses present.

The young woman beside Madam Sun was thoroughly puzzled — she felt that Li Gongzi only ever had that radiant smile when he was with his friends.

“Sister.”

The young woman asked Madam Sun, “I was just saying that every time Young Master Xiahou comes, Li Gongzi smiles so radiantly, and now with this handsome young man arriving, Li Gongzi is smiling radiantly again. I was just thinking…”

Madam Sun waved her hand. “Impossible. How could Li Gongzi possibly be fond of men?”

The young woman stared at Madam Sun in surprise. “Sister, what are you thinking! That’s not what I meant at all. What I meant was… we come here every day, every day we see him smiling, but his smiles are all polite ones.”

Madam Sun paused at this.

“That’s right… polite ones…”

She murmured the words again softly.

The young woman said, “He’s always smiling — and it doesn’t feel false exactly — but the smiles he gives us are too courteous, too polite. He’s not actually happy.”

Madam Sun turned to look in Li Chi’s direction. Li Chi was waving toward Yu Jiuling, and that smile was genuinely happy — the happiness of reuniting with a good friend after a long separation.

“Why put yourself through it?”

Another young woman seated nearby shook her head. “He comes here to earn money, not to be happy. We come here to be happy.”

Madam Sun nodded with a thoughtful, pensive expression.

Li Chi finished his story for the day, rose to bow, offered his apologies, and walked quickly to the entrance of Yunzhai Tea House, where he looked Yu Jiuling up and down.

“Look at you — bright-eyed and sharp again.”

Yu Jiuling grinned. “You’re looking well too, Gongzi.”

Xiahou Zuo sighed. “This kind of polite pleasantry — let’s skip it. It happens to be mealtime. Let’s find somewhere to drink a couple of cups.”

Li Chi said, “My master said I’m still young and shouldn’t drink too much… two cups sounds exactly right.”

Xiahou Zuo: “Ptch!”

The three of them ambled their way to a rather quiet tavern, ordered several dishes, asked for two jugs of wine, and settled in. Xiahou Zuo and Li Diudiu sat quietly listening as Yu Jiuling recounted what he had seen and experienced on his trip to the capital.

“I didn’t go too late.”

Yu Jiuling’s tone took on a low, subdued quality. Thinking of things at home, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sadness. The tavern keeper who had treated him with such kindness — like a teacher and father to him — had gone on to another world.

And he had been powerless to do anything.

“I found the Madam and the others, told them everything, and left the silver I’d brought with me. I also wanted to stay and help them, but the Madam wouldn’t allow it.”

Yu Jiuling said, “The Madam said she couldn’t be that selfish. First — Young Master Xiahou and Li Gongzi had shown such kindness to them, and since she couldn’t come herself to repay it, that debt fell on me, Yu Jiuling, to honor.”

“Second, the Madam said that if she kept me by her side, I’d be doing the same things as before — just an attendant. She said since Young Master Xiahou had already shown me a clear path forward, she couldn’t let Young Master Xiahou’s good intentions go to waste. She said she couldn’t be the one to cut off my future and trap me in daily drudgery.”

Xiahou Zuo nodded. “She has my deepest respect.”

Yu Jiuling said, “The Madam forced me to come back and find you, and told me to bring the silver back with me as well. I secretly hid the silver in the rice jar — she’d see it as soon as she went to cook — and set out with just enough for travel expenses.”

He looked at Xiahou Zuo. “By the way…”

He said those two words and then stopped, needing a moment to steady himself before he could speak smoothly.

“Master Yuming is gone.”

“What?!”

Li Diudiu and Xiahou Zuo both exclaimed at once.

Yu Jiuling said, “When I arrived in the capital, Master Yuming had also arrived in Chang’an, escorted by people from the Record Law Bureau. I saw it when I entered the city gates — quite a few important figures came to receive him at the gates. It looked rather solemn.”

“But just a few days later, word spread that Master Yuming had been thrown in prison, accused of colluding with rebel forces and framing a loyal subject — that loyal subject being, of course, the Grand Eunuch Liu Chongxin. After that, the story that spread among the capital’s people was that Liu Chongxin had paid the Record Law Bureau handsomely and promised that in the future the two sides would stay out of each other’s affairs.”

He paused for a moment — clearly pressing down his fury in order to keep his voice as level as possible.

“I heard that after Master Yuming arrived in the capital, Liu Chongxin met with the Record Law Bureau’s director and some high officials of the Ministry of War. Of course, this was all according to the common people’s accounts — whether any of it was true is hard to say.”

“They said that Liu Chongxin had originally intended to completely destroy the Record Law Bureau, but because of this affair, reached an exchange with them. The Surveillance Bureau handed over to the Record Law Bureau whatever evidence it held against them, and in exchange, the Record Law Bureau cooperated with the Surveillance Bureau to have Master Yuming convicted of framing an innocent man.”

“Master Yuming did not last long in prison before he was said to have died from striking his head against the wall. Supposedly struck a wall — but everyone knew those were wounds left by severe torture. When I saw Master Yuming at the execution ground in the market district, his face was barely recognizable as human. Those kinds of injuries don’t come from striking a wall.”

Yu Jiuling picked up his wine cup and drank, then expelled a long, heavy breath.

“We watched Master Yuming go to the capital with our own eyes. At the time we hoped he might topple Liu Chongxin — that even if he couldn’t single-handedly turn the tide, he might at least restore a measure of clarity to the court. Who could have imagined he would become a bargaining chip in the hands of a pack of vile scoundrels?”

Xiahou Zuo raised his wine cup. “A toast to Master Yuming.”

Li Diudiu and Yu Jiuling lifted their cups and said together, “To Master Yuming!”

Xiahou Zuo sighed. “I had always expected that Master Yuming’s journey would not go smoothly. The darkness in the capital far exceeds what is in Jizhou by ten or a hundred times. Thinking back on it now — Liu Chongxin arranging for Prince Wu to come to the northern frontier at precisely this moment, perhaps he had already received word of something regarding Master Yuming’s situation.”

“Even if not, with Prince Wu having left the capital, there was no one left in court capable of checking Liu Chongxin’s power. Liu Chongxin had long sought to extend his reach into the Ministry of War and seize military authority, but his hand couldn’t get in. The Ministry of War side, along with the Record Law Bureau, had fought him into a state of utter confusion — until that old scoundrel Yuwen became Minister of War.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Old scoundrel Yuwen and the court eunuch Liu conspired together, which eased relations considerably between the Ministry of War and Liu Chongxin. With Master Yuming’s arrival, Liu Chongxin would certainly have secretly plotted with old scoundrel Yuwen, and in the end, because of Master Yuming’s affair, the Surveillance Bureau and the Record Law Bureau resolved their differences and made peace with each other…”

Xiahou Zuo let out a long, slow breath.

Yu Jiuling said, “Master Yuming was beheaded and displayed publicly at the capital’s execution ground. I went to see him off and tried to bring him a jug of wine — but I couldn’t get close enough to hand it to him. Before his death, Master Yuming cried out aloud… ‘With the will to slay the traitors, yet lacking the power to turn back heaven.'”

Li Diudiu gripped his wine cup with a tightening fist. A moment later — crack — the cup shattered in his grasp.

Xiahou Zuo patted Li Diudiu on the shoulder and said, “Don’t keep thinking about all of this. The Emperor’s commands can barely make it out of the capital anymore, yet the people inside the capital are still scheming against one another, still taking innocent lives to serve their private greed and ambition… This Dachu is no longer our Dachu.”

Li Diudiu let out a low sound of agreement, his head lowered. He felt a fire in his chest that was nearly too fierce to contain — burning until he wanted to roar.

But at this moment, all he could do was sit here, and let that fire burn inside him until he nearly split open from it.

Yu Jiuling said, “After this trip to the capital, I finally believe it — our Dachu as it once was is long gone. The Dachu of today belongs to a crowd of treacherous small men. It no longer belongs even to the Emperor.”

He lowered his head. “All along the journey, everything I saw were the ruins left behind after the rebel forces swept through. It was only after reaching the capital that I understood — the capital is just another Jizhou. The people of the capital are still lost in revelry and splendor, as though nothing is amiss.”

“No…”

He shook his head. “The capital is even more absurd than what we have here in Jizhou.”

The three of them fell into silence. The atmosphere grew profoundly heavy.

After a long while, Xiahou Zuo looked at Yu Jiuling and said, “After the new year, I’m going to the northern frontier army — but it will be hard, and there will be constant risk to one’s life. If you feel you’re not yet ready, stay in Jizhou for now and help Li Chi. I’m entrusting my mother’s care to Li Chi, and you staying behind could also help him.”

Yu Jiuling said, “I’m not afraid of death. What I fear is that in the end I’ll never be able to take revenge. Young Master — you know — if I can’t become a man who holds real power, there will be nothing I can ever do about the tavern keeper’s death.”

“Then let’s do it this way.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “I’ll go to the northern frontier first and see what the situation is. There are many things I have no certainty about myself. Once I get there and settle in, and can give you a guarantee, I’ll send word back, and you can come find me in the northern frontier then.”

Yu Jiuling said, “But Young Master, when you first arrive there, won’t you be short of people around you?”

“Listen to me.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Since I’ve promised you, I will certainly help you — but you should still stay in Jizhou for a period first. Once I’m settled, I’ll send someone to bring you over immediately.”

Yu Jiuling nodded. “Then I’ll do as Young Master says.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “You were right just now — if we don’t want those treacherous men controlling our lives and deaths, we must make ourselves strong.”

He looked at Li Chi and said, “That is also one of the reasons I’m going to the frontier army.”

When evening came, Li Diudiu invited Yu Jiuling to stay at his home. There was room to spare, so why spend money on an inn? Besides, how could a roadside inn possibly compare to staying at home?

Xiahou Zuo headed home to visit his mother. Li Diudiu took Yu Jiuling back to his place, the two of them walking along the street. Yu Jiuling felt the atmosphere had been too heavy, so he started sharing some amusing stories from along the road.

He suddenly remembered being stopped at the city gate when he came in. He told Li Diudiu, “Gongzi, when I was entering the city, the Military Preparedness soldiers stopped and searched me. They said something bad had happened in the city recently and their General Jiang was furious. When I heard that, I just started laughing — they had no idea why I was laughing.”

Li Chi said, “I don’t know why you were laughing either.”

Yu Jiuling said, “Don’t you think the name is kind of funny? General Jiang — Jiang-jiangjun, what kind of playful name is that…”

Li Chi laughed. “General Jiang isn’t that playful — now Jiangjun Jun, that would be…”

Just then, Li Diudiu’s footsteps slowed ever so slightly, because he noticed something off about the man who had just walked toward him from the opposite direction and passed by his shoulder.

The man appeared to be around fifty years old, and there was nothing particularly remarkable about him. But in the instant the man brushed past him, Li Diudiu caught something unsettling in the man’s gaze.

“Gongzi, watch yourself.”

Yu Jiuling lowered his voice. “The man who just passed — his eyes weren’t right. He was trying to look like he had no particular interest, but he couldn’t help stealing a glance at you.”

Li Diudiu hadn’t expected Yu Jiuling’s instincts to be this sharp either.

“Yes.”

Li Diudiu said, “Let’s circle around a couple of times before heading home.”

Yu Jiuling said, “Understood, I’ll follow your lead, Gongzi. But there’s no need to worry too much — whether it’s robbery or something else, I’ll put myself in front of you.”

Li Chi: “You’d get in front of me even if they were after me for other reasons?”

Yu Jiuling said, “If it’s a man, I don’t necessarily need to block — but if it’s a woman coming after you, I’ll gladly stand in the way. It’s the least I can do. The reason I’m not blocking for a man isn’t that I’m unwilling — it’s that when Gongzi asked ‘you’d block for that too,’ your tone sounded a little… reluctant.”

Li Diudiu said, “I thank you from the bottom of my heart…”

Yu Jiuling said, “Isn’t circling around a bit slow, though?”

Li Diudiu said, “What’s your suggestion then?”

Yu Jiuling said, “Gongzi, you must have forgotten what I’m best at.”

He bent his knees and crouched down in front of Li Diudiu. “Come on, get on.”

Li Diudiu: “This — this… isn’t quite right, is it.”

Then he climbed on anyway.