Rear courtyard of the Commander’s Estate.

The surviving members of the Maoli delegation had been brought here. After a thorough beating in their cells, they now looked bedraggled and wretched to a man.

These men stood with heads bowed, faces showing nothing but fear and despair — because they knew very well what their fate would be.

Their leader Sanding had made the decision to assassinate Dantai Qi, and they had had no power to stop it. Even those who had disagreed could do nothing.

Moreover, all the officials who had come on this diplomatic mission were men loyal to Maoli’s new emperor Qihuali — and they were the more hardline faction.

But they also knew clearly: their emperor had never ordered them to assassinate Dantai Qi. They had come to kill a different target.

Now, these hard-liners — after a severe beating, and knowing they were not far from death — looked like men who had lost their souls.

Li Chi and Dantai Yajing walked in at an unhurried pace. The Maoli officials heard the footsteps and raised their heads to look, but quickly dropped their gazes again.

“Which of you holds the highest rank?”

Dantai Yajing asked as he entered.

All of them kept their heads down and said nothing — perhaps because they believed death was certain and saw no point in answering.

“It seems none of you are truly afraid of death.”

Dantai Yajing glanced at Li Chi. Li Chi’s tone was calm. “I’ll give you a chance to live. Among you, there must be those who were Sanding’s confidants. Whoever can identify Sanding’s inner circle will be spared.”

At those words, some heads rose; others dropped even lower. Expressions varied.

Li Chi paced slowly through the room as he spoke. “The General has already confirmed that everything was Sanding’s doing alone. The reason I am asking who his confidants were is simply because I don’t want to implicate those who had no part in this.”

Each step he took seemed unhurried, yet every footfall seemed to carry the weight of a thousand pounds, pressing down on the chests of the assembled Maoli officials.

“The General has said: no enemy will be allowed to escape. But no innocent will be wrongfully punished either.”

Li Chi’s tone softened slightly, taking on a note of something almost like pity as he continued, “In truth, none of you had much choice. Sanding decided your lives — yet in fact, it is General Dantai who decides them.”

He looked at one official whose eyes had regained a flicker of hope, and said, “You dared to resist what Sanding decided?”

The man instinctively shook his head.

Li Chi said, “Sanding was bought by the Yuezhi. Did you know about that?”

The man hurriedly shook his head again.

In truth they all knew perfectly well that Sanding had not been bought by the Yuezhi at all — but the Chu people were saying this now, and they couldn’t entirely grasp the situation.

Li Chi continued, “You are also men to be pitied. I believe not many among you knew of Sanding’s scheme. Those who did — the General will not let them go. Those who did not — the General will not punish them, and will see the innocent returned to Maoli.”

Suddenly one of the Maoli officials leapt to his feet. “I knew nothing! I truly knew nothing!”

Li Chi nodded. “I believe you. Point out who is Sanding’s confidant, who knew in advance — and I will release you. My word is my bond.”

The man seemed to deliberate at length, then finally looked toward another Maoli official, his trembling hand pointing. “He is Sanding’s personal attendant. The rest of us are civil officials.”

“Good!”

Li Chi raised a hand and pointed to the man who had been identified. “Take him out and kill him.”

Soldiers moved in at once — swift and savage — and dragged the man out without a word. Moments later a scream rang out from outside.

The footsteps returned, and the soldiers came back in. One of them had fresh blood dripping from his long saber.

Li Chi pointed to the official who had spoken. “You’re free.”

He then gave an order: “Take him outside, prepare food and drink, have his wounds treated, and find him fresh clothes to change into.”

The man stared at Li Chi as if he could barely believe it. From the moment they had been seized yesterday, they had been beaten half the day and through the night — hurting, exhausted, half-asleep, and in constant dread.

Yet the soldiers came and led him outside, where a table was set up in the courtyard — wine and food laid out.

The door was left open. The remaining Maoli officials inside could see clearly.

Li Chi asked, “Are there others willing to come forward?”

Someone stood up immediately, pointing to the man kneeling beside him. “He was Sanding’s military attaché — he certainly knew!”

Li Chi waved his hand. “Take him out and cut him down.”

The soldiers moved in regardless of the man’s wailing and struggling, dragged him to the courtyard, and a blade fell — another head rolled.

Li Chi said, “You can go out and eat as well.”

The man hurried to give his thanks, bowing repeatedly as he stepped outside. Once there, seeing the food on the table, he evidently decided there was no longer any point in hesitation — he sat down and ate voraciously. In his desperate hunger he stuffed both cheeks full and nearly choked, then hastily poured himself a cup of wine to wash it down.

Seeing this, others in the room stood up to identify more, and so it went — after four or five more executions, roughly a dozen people remained.

Li Chi looked at Dantai Yajing. Dantai Yajing felt that was probably enough, and gave the order: “Sanding’s people should all be accounted for. The rest of you — come out and eat.”

The remaining men were led into the courtyard, where more tables and food were set out.

Li Chi smiled and said, “Once you’ve eaten and rested, you’ll be escorted out of Liangzhou tomorrow at first light. When you return to Maoli and face your Emperor, tell him everything as it happened. Understood?”

All of them nodded vigorously.

Some distance away, Zhang Yuxu leaned close and murmured to Mister Yan, “What is the young master planning by doing all this? Every last one of the Maoli people could have been killed — not one of them is innocent.”

Mister Yan smiled. “These men informed on their own companions. Will they dare tell Maoli’s emperor the truth when they return?”

Zhang Yuxu shook his head. “Of course not. On the road home they’ll agree on a story, and they’ll never admit to their emperor that they themselves were the ones who condemned their companions.”

Mister Yan smiled. “So these men, by necessity, will follow the version we’ve set out. When they return, they’ll put everything on Sanding — and go along with our account, placing all blame on the Yuezhi.”

“This way,” Mister Yan continued, “all nations of the Western Realm will understand that the General is determined to destroy the Yuezhi. And the rulers of those smaller nations — including Maoli’s emperor — will act on their own, without anyone needing to mobilize a single soldier from Liangzhou. Dozens of nations will besiege the Yuezhi, and the Yuezhi’s destruction is certain.”

Zhang Yuxu’s eyes lit up. “The General’s strategy — truly terrifying.”

Mister Yan said, “The General has held the Western Realm in check for so many years, keeping those wolves tame — his civil and military capabilities are first among equals.”

He smiled. “Let’s go — there is nothing left to see here. Barring the unexpected, within two months at most, armies will march from every direction.”

—

That afternoon, in the guest room.

Li Chi accepted the cup of tea Gao Xining handed him and took a sip — he had been talking for much of the day, and his throat was genuinely parched.

Gao Xining asked, “Are we still going to stay in Liangzhou for a while?”

Li Chi said, “Two months at minimum, three at most.”

Gao Xining asked, “And Jizhou?”

Li Chi said, “I’ve just spoken with old Tang. He’ll stay here a few more days, then head back home to coordinate with Luo Jing in taking Jizhou.”

Gao Xining nodded, then in a lower voice said, “In a little while I’ll take Ruoling out for a walk — she was badly frightened.”

Li Chi said, “You want me to mention it to Mister Yan so he comes over this afternoon? Then you can slip away and let Mister Yan accompany Miss Ruoling to walk around and do some shopping — that might help her more.”

Gao Xining sighed. “You make it sound so plain, which makes me look like the villain.”

Li Chi said, “How is that being a villain? You’re a matchmaker — have you forgotten? It’s your calling…”

Gao Xining raised her chin slightly, eyes narrowing.

Li Chi smiled. “You see, you once said you’d play matchmaker for me, and in the end you failed — you matched yourself to me instead. So if you want to do this matchmaking thing properly, you can only practice on others now.”

He leaned toward Gao Xining’s ear. “I’ve noticed that princess seems to have feelings for Yu Jiuling. Why don’t you go give it a nudge?”

Gao Xining flew a kick at him. “You really do think of me as a matchmaker?!”

Then she broke into a grin. “But… thinking about it, there is a tiny bit of appeal… I’ll give it a try!”

And she was out the door.

Li Chi thought to himself — women — are they all this fond of playing cupid?

—

Meanwhile, in a lodging house in Liangzhou City.

Kuokedi Xiulu stood at the window, watching the coming and going of people on the street below, a faint smugness on his face.

As far as he was concerned — as far as Black Wu was concerned — this had been a heaven-sent opportunity, a heaven-sent arrangement.

This assassination attempt at Dantai Qi’s birthday banquet would certainly ignite a great war across the Western Realm. Once Chu’s western frontier fell into crisis, the Black Wu armies could sweep south to take advantage of the upheaval.

“General.”

Kanluoshi came hurrying in from outside, his expression rather sour.

“Just found out — Dantai Qi apparently released the vast majority of the Western Realm envoys. Quite a number of them left the city today. Word is that aside from the Yuezhi and Maoli delegations, the others have all been permitted to return home.”

Hearing this, Xiulu’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Impressive bearing. Impressive methods.”

After a brief silence, Xiulu said, “Dantai Qi truly is a remarkable man — he intends to keep the Western Realm situation under control as much as possible. This fire cannot be allowed to be extinguished by him. Make your preparations — tomorrow we leave the city and head to the Western Realm.”

Kanluoshi nodded. “I’ll arrange it at once. I also need to go out and purchase some supplies — we need quite a few things.”

“Go ahead. No ostentation. Don’t cause trouble.”

Xiulu gave the instruction.

Kanluoshi acknowledged and went downstairs to tell the others to pack and prepare for the next day’s departure, then led seven or eight men out to buy provisions.

They had come all the way from the grasslands, and their dried rations were long exhausted. Whatever else they needed had to be bought today.

Kanluoshi and his men made their way along the street, walking and looking. After perhaps a quarter of an hour, he suddenly noticed a street vendor selling something he’d never seen before, and went over for a look.

It was a stall selling sugar figurines.

In front of the stall were a young man and woman. The young man had the look of a scholar and was asking the girl softly which one she would like.

Kanluoshi hadn’t said anything yet when one of his men behind him called out, “You two — move aside!”

The scholar frowned slightly and turned to look at them.

These men had long been accustomed to throwing their weight around in Black Wu. Among them were also disciples of the Sword Gate — in Black Wu, they were used to no one daring to cross them.

Now, seeing the scholar turn and look at them with something like distaste in his eyes, one of the men stepped forward and shoved him.

“What are you looking at?! Move aside!”

The scholar stumbled back, his frown deepening.

But he made no move. Instead he saw the girl beside him — tall, with a graceful figure and fine, striking features — her gaze go cold and sharp.

The girl stepped forward. “You shoved him?”

—