To ensure that order in Jizhou would not collapse entirely, Li Chi had been relatively lenient with the officials inside Jizhou City from the very beginning.

He had left them largely untouched — Li Chi still wanted to observe how things stood in the city, though of course he never intended to leave them alone indefinitely.

These men knew full well what they now faced. In the current climate, out in the provinces, high birth no longer guaranteed that you had any say in matters.

In their hearts, they looked down on Li Chi — once a wandering orphan, later a Yanshan bandit, now transformed overnight into the master of Jizhou. For men of noble birth, this was difficult to stomach. Yet on the surface, they were humble and compliant.

They could scheme against you at every moment behind closed doors, but the moment they stood before you, they were the very picture of loyal and trustworthy men.

And they had far superior family backgrounds, far more refined bearing, far broader learning.

So when they presented themselves with humility, people genuinely believed them to be sincere.

And men of their sort — their manners were immeasurably better than those rebel leaders who had crawled up from the mud.

Which made them all the more dangerous.

In years past, it was before men like these that Yu Chaozong had gradually lost his way.

On one side stood rough-and-tumble blunt fellows; on the other, gallant scions of great houses. One side knew only drinking, eating meat, and cursing their mothers; the other quoted the classics and gave elegant speeches at the drop of a hat.

Yet this was not the most bitter part. The more bitter part was that common people harbored an innate awe of anyone wearing fine silk. Unless they reached the breaking point — at which moment that awe curdled into hatred.

In the world of Great Chu, in this era, so long as there was any order at all, fine silk meant authority.

So when these officials conferred in private, they concluded that Li Chi ought not to be especially difficult to manage.

They had managed to wait upon someone like Pan Nuo — could they really not wait upon someone like Li Chi?

In their view, the Military Governor Pan Nuo had seen the world and stood high — deceiving him was no easy thing, and yet they had deceived him. Compared to Pan Nuo, surely Li Chi was easier to fool by a wide margin.

Just as they had always done before — drawing a man into a world of soft pleasures, into a paradise of wine and debauchery. Their learning was more than sufficient; the fine words they spoke could weave beautiful dreams.

At the Military Governor’s residence, Zhang Yuxu left Li Chi’s room to find Peng Shiqi and discuss how to spread teachings and guide the people.

Before long, one of Li Chi’s men came to report that the former Jizhou Prefecture Magistrate, His Excellency Qu Cheng, and the Vice Magistrate, His Excellency Li Yaozhi, along with several others, were requesting an audience.

Li Chi glanced at the eggs in his hand, then suddenly smiled. What was so great about eggs?

Shortly afterward, the group of magistrates from the former Jizhou Prefecture entered the reception hall with deferential bearing. Not daring to take their seats, they stood and waited for Li Chi.

When Li Chi stepped through the door, the magistrates surged forward at once — some bowing, others exchanging pleasantries and warm greetings.

Li Chi smiled and gestured for tea to be served to the gentlemen.

Guest and host took their seats. Magistrate Qu Cheng bowed and said, “General’s return to Jizhou is truly a blessing for the people of Jizhou. The people have longed for the General’s return like parched earth longing for rain.”

Li Chi smiled and did not reply.

The words were too formulaic — Li Chi couldn’t even muster the desire to respond.

How to address Li Chi had given these officials quite a headache. Call him “Chief”? That seemed rather inappropriate. “Chief” — the kind of chief bandits had — the title wasn’t disrespectful to Li Chi as such, but it would make them feel they had lowered their own standing. Men of their sort, bowing and scraping before a “Chief” — that they could not quite accept.

They could present themselves as being of one heart and mind with Li Chi, but they could not appear to be adopting a bandit as their father.

Address him as “Great King”? Or “Young Master Li”?

Neither seemed quite right, so after much deliberation, the only title that felt appropriate was “General.”

Qu Cheng made a few more polite remarks, and seeing that Li Chi’s demeanor remained neither warm nor cold, he hesitated briefly before deciding that the time had come to make his position clear.

He smiled and said, “In truth, we came today to ask the General’s guidance. We are willing to relieve the General of his burdens, willing to do a little more for the people of Jizhou…”

Before he had finished speaking, Li Chi laughed.

Li Chi said, “That is excellent news. The gentlemen here enjoy great prestige and reputation in Jizhou City. If the gentlemen take the lead, the common people will have something to rally around.”

“The General is what the common people of Jizhou rally around,” Qu Cheng hastily replied. His mood eased slightly — from the tone of Li Chi’s words, it seemed he was not going to be as forceful as expected.

Qu Cheng rose and said, “The few of us have discussed it. The General has returned to Jizhou this time to deliver the people from their suffering. We too are people of Jizhou, we too are part of Jizhou — it is only right that we exert ourselves on the General’s behalf, that we offer our full support to the General.”

His tone shifted, carrying a note of grieved suffering: “Jizhou has suffered disaster after disaster. Although we have done our utmost to protect the people, our abilities were limited, and we could not stand against that villain Pan Nuo.”

“In recent days, Pan Nuo has treated us with great cruelty, seizing the property of many households. We dared not speak our fury.”

Li Chi thought to himself: the next line ought to be — although we have nothing left now, we will offer every last bit in support of you.

Qu Cheng’s tone shifted once more, solemn and sincere: “But — the General has a heart set on saving the people. No matter how difficult, we will spare nothing to assist the General. We therefore voluntarily offer up our family assets to fill the treasury and provide for the people’s livelihood.”

Li Chi rose, clasped his hands, and said with an expression of deep shock and equal sincerity: “I never imagined the gentlemen harbored such devotion to the people. Compared to the gentlemen, I am truly ashamed.”

He turned to look at Qu Cheng: “Magistrate Qu’s wholehearted sincerity moves heaven and earth. If I were to refuse the Magistrate’s generous intention, Heaven and Earth themselves would call down judgment on me.”

Qu Cheng stiffened slightly upon hearing this — something about those words didn’t sit right.

Li Chi looked toward the door and called out: “Jia Ruan, Zhen Gen.”

The senior disciple Jia Ruan and junior disciple Zhen Gen of the Hanging Blade Sect promptly entered, bowing: “Chief, what is your instruction?”

Li Chi pointed to Qu Cheng and said, “I shall let you witness today what a man of lofty integrity looks like. Magistrate Qu says that for the sake of Jizhou’s people, he is willing to offer up his family assets.”

Jia Ruan and Zhen Gen looked at Qu Cheng simultaneously and said in unison: “A man of genuine lofty integrity.”

Li Chi smiled and gave his instructions: “The Magistrate is kind-hearted, so we must put in the effort — we cannot still make the Magistrate do it himself. Take five hundred men and go to the Magistrate’s home right now. Remember — no roughness, don’t frighten anyone, be polite, do everything carefully and meticulously. All items must be catalogued and recorded. Make sure to write out a receipt for the Magistrate.”

Qu Cheng stiffened. Listening to this, it sounded an awful lot like a raid on his home.

Li Chi waved a hand: “Go.”

Then he immediately called out: “Wait a moment.”

He looked at the other officials and asked: “If I heard correctly just now, Magistrate Qu was speaking on behalf of all the gentlemen present — meaning all the gentlemen are willing to offer up their family assets?”

The man had said “offer up family assets” as a pleasantry and nothing more.

What he meant was: I will give you some money, you let us keep our posts — surely you understand?

Vice Magistrate Li Yaozhi hastily said: “General… there must be some misunderstanding here, surely there must.”

Li Chi’s face fell: “The gentlemen could not possibly have been speaking in jest.”

He looked at Jia Ruan: “I told you to take five hundred men just now. Since the gentlemen have not yet made up their minds, take those five hundred men and wait outside the door. Once the gentlemen have thought it through, we’ll proceed.”

He turned to Qu Cheng: “I happen to have some matters to attend to outside. The gentlemen may rest here. I shall return shortly.”

With that, he strode out the door.

Left behind was a room full of officials, all exchanging bewildered glances.

They were already beginning to regret it — why had they come today?

Previously they had assumed Li Chi would make his move. But Li Chi had not made his move. So they had deliberated among themselves: should they take the initiative and come express their loyalty? And so they had come. And now they regretted having come.

As Li Chi walked out, he immediately spotted Tang Pidi leaning casually against the wall not far from the door, grinning at him. He smiled back and walked over.

Tang Pidi handed Li Chi an apple and bit into another himself.

“These men think you’re the same sort as all the others they’ve managed before — give you a little something, and you’ll let them keep their posts.”

Tang Pidi spoke as they walked: “Little did they expect that you are Li the Skinner. Even before they came to your door, you were already thinking about how to strip them down to their last copper.”

Li Chi said, “Nonsense. If they hadn’t taken the initiative to come, would I really have gone and raided their homes for no reason at all?”

Having said this, he suddenly burst out laughing: “Yes, I would.”

Tang Pidi curled his lip.

He asked Li Chi: “What are you planning — leave them sitting there?”

Li Chi said: “Let them have their tea. We’ll split up and handle things separately — you take soldiers to the gentlemen’s homes and help pack up their belongings. I’ll go to Phoenix Cry Mountain.”

Tang Pidi asked: “What are you going to Phoenix Cry Mountain for?”

Li Chi recounted what Zhang Yuxu had just told him, then said: “The fake Daoists up on Phoenix Cry Mountain pass as real Daoists in the eyes of Jizhou’s people. They’ve ruined the reputation of the Daoist faith. I’ll go take that place for Zhang Yuxu — make room for the real Daoist and evict the fakes.”

Tang Pidi said: “I’ll go to the granaries instead. Raiding homes isn’t something I’m good at. I’ll go relieve Yu Jiuling.”

Li Chi said: “You’re ruthless…”

If Tang Pidi went, he would at most clear the place out. If Yu Jiuling went, he would scrape the ground three layers deep.

Tang Pidi laughed heartily: “Someone has to play the villain — might as well be Jiuling, he’s perfectly suited for it.”

Before long, Li Chi summoned Zhang Yuxu and Peng Shiqi to accompany him to the Daoist temple on Phoenix Cry Mountain. On their way out the door, they ran into Gao Xining and her companions, who insisted on coming along for the outing.

Two carriages stopped at the foot of Phoenix Cry Mountain a little over half an hour later. Li Chi had very unpleasant memories of this place.

His first visit had been with Xiahou Zuo. Here, Li Chi had seen firsthand what it meant for people to be so utterly unequal.

Ordinary people who wished to enter Phoenix Cry Mountain had to pay a fee at the mountain path entrance — three fees in total, reportedly, before they could reach the main temple hall. Those who wanted to offer incense also had to make a donation, and if the donation was too small, the incense wouldn’t even be given to you — you would be laughed at besides.

And the most important reason Li Chi disliked this place: the Daoist temple here and a temple inside the city were one and the same institution. Not long after he first arrived in Jizhou, his master Changmei the Daoist had tried to find shelter at that city temple, only to be driven away and subjected to mockery and humiliation.

Turning someone away was one thing. Humiliating them was unnecessary.

The Fengming Temple branch inside the city had been built purely for high officials and noble families, because those people sometimes found climbing the mountain tiring and Phoenix Cry Mountain was far away.

When it was originally constructed as a gimmick, a long, long staircase of stone steps had been built on Phoenix Cry Mountain — the idea being that climbing these steps demonstrated one’s sincerity.

Meanwhile, for the convenience of officials and nobles, the city branch temple had a small pebbled path of perhaps three to five zhang in length.

And they had solemnly declared that walking this pebbled path was equivalent in merit to climbing all the stone steps on the mountain.

Li Chi had thought: given the current state of affairs, now that Jizhou had changed hands, these fake Daoists of the Fengming Temple ought naturally to be on their best behavior.

But Li Chi was wrong.

Their carriages had only just reached the foot of the mountain when several fake Daoists at the entrance blocked their way.

That manner, that look on their faces — it was a familiar feeling with a familiar flavor indeed.

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