In just over an hour, several dozen people had quietly entered through the rear gate of Elder Gao’s estate, one after another.

This Elder Gao had once served at court, holding the position of Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, and was a man of great renown.

When Yang Jing ascended to the throne, Elder Gao had feared that sweeping changes were coming to the court, and promptly retired to return home.

After returning to Anyang, many of the local officials had once been his pupils. The place where disciples paid respects to their teacher naturally became a gathering point for all manner of connections.

Over time, Gao Fenglai — settled in Anyang for his later years — had actually become even more esteemed here than he had ever been at court.

Gao Fenglai studied Yu Jiuling’s face for a moment. He found the man’s appearance to be genuinely unprepossessing — not at all the look of a trustworthy person.

But he dared not show contempt, because Yu Jiuling represented Prince Ning.

“You say the Chu Army has no grain?”

Gao Fenglai asked Yu Jiuling. “How do you prove it?”

Yu Jiuling said, “I cannot. But there is someone who can.”

Gao Fenglai asked, “Who?”

Yu Jiuling smiled. “Yuwen Shangyun.”

At that, every powerful figure in the room froze. A moment later, someone let out a dismissive laugh.

“You are here representing Prince Ning — yet you want Yuwen Shangyun to testify that he has no grain?”

Someone said derisively, “Why don’t we simply invite Yuwen Shangyun here ourselves, or go together to his commander’s residence and ask him directly? That would certainly be more straightforward.”

Yu Jiuling smiled. “Fine by me.”

He reached over and grabbed the speaker by the sleeve. “Come on then, let’s all go right now.”

The man felt as though he had been publicly humiliated. He quickly yanked his sleeve free. “What is wrong with you? You are impossibly crude and utterly without manners!”

Yu Jiuling said, “Did you think I came here to reason with people like you?”

He swept his gaze across the assembled dignitaries in their fine clothes and let out a cold laugh.

“It is true that Prince Ning needs your help. But if you think Prince Ning has no choice but to depend on you — then there is nothing more to discuss today.”

He looked from one face to the next as he spoke. “I was not born into any great family. I have not read many books. There are characters I cannot even recognize.”

“If you think I am here to appeal to your feelings and your reason, you are wrong. I have, in truth, only one thing to say to you.”

Yu Jiuling said, “I will borrow a line from General Luo Jing: it seems there have not yet been enough deaths in Anyang City.”

After that, he gave a token bow. “I’ll take my leave.”

He turned and walked out with long strides.

The others looked at one another. Some were alarmed, some stunned, and some looked on Yu Jiuling with even greater disdain.

But Cui Kuoyuan hurried after him a few steps and caught his arm. “General Yu, people must at least be given a chance to speak. Everyone here simply has questions — they naturally want things made clear.”

Yu Jiuling smiled. “You think I am here to coddle children? Be good, get a sweet. Be difficult, get a smack.”

He made a dismissive sound. “I don’t have the temperament for that. I don’t have the time.”

With that, he shook free of Cui Kuoyuan’s hand and walked further toward the door.

What these men had actually intended was not to drive him away, nor did they truly look down on him — if they had, why would they have come at all?

This was simply their customary tactic: deflate the other party’s confidence, secure better terms for themselves. If you agree to everything right from the start, you appear inferior, and it becomes hard to put forward demands.

Gao Fenglai coughed once and said, “General Yu, please be at ease. The fact that everyone has come is proof enough that they are willing to hear what Prince Ning has to say.”

Yu Jiuling turned and looked at Gao Fenglai. “Elder Gao, allow me to say one thing — it has nothing to do with Prince Ning’s intentions, and yet it can represent Prince Ning’s intentions.”

He spoke each word deliberately. “Master Cui Kuoyuan worked hard to make tonight happen. I regard Master Cui as a friend. When the city falls, the Cui household will be kept whole — not so much as a single head of livestock in his courtyard will be touched.”

“Elder Gao agreed to come forward and gather these people here, so in my view, Elder Gao has already shown his willingness to serve Prince Ning. When the city falls, everyone in Elder Gao’s household, high and low alike, will be safe and secure.”

Yu Jiuling swept his gaze across the room again and let out a low sound. “As for everyone else — we can talk in a few days.”

The man whom Yu Jiuling had grabbed by the sleeve shouted, “You threaten us like this and still expect us to help you!”

Yu Jiuling laughed openly. “Beg you for help?”

He looked directly at the speaker. “What is your name? Do you dare tell me?”

The man startled at Yu Jiuling’s words. He had been steeling himself to say a few more defiant things, but he opened his mouth and found he could not.

Yu Jiuling stepped up in front of him and looked straight into his eyes. “Tell me your name.”

The man stepped back another pace, avoided Yu Jiuling’s gaze, and said nothing.

Yu Jiuling turned to Cui Kuoyuan. “Would Master Cui be willing to tell me this man’s name?”

Cui Kuoyuan was visibly uncomfortable. He looked instinctively toward Gao Fenglai, and saw the elder give him an almost imperceptible nod.

Cui Kuoyuan immediately understood. Someone always had to be made an example of before the others would come to their senses.

So Cui Kuoyuan replied, “This is Lord Liu Maoqian.”

Yu Jiuling cupped his hands in a brief salute. “My thanks.”

Then he turned and looked at Liu Maoqian. “Do you know where I come from? I was a tavern attendant. I have always resented men of wealth like you. I am no upright gentleman, and going to Prince Ning to accuse you — I would exaggerate every detail. I would say you stirred up the crowd against cooperation, that you cursed Prince Ning to his face right in front of me…”

Yu Jiuling said, “You are a refined man. A man of letters. A man of standing. A man of official rank. And I am a genuine scoundrel — make no mistake about it. I am telling you to your face today: when this city falls, if your entire family is not destroyed, it means I have failed.”

The color drained from Liu Maoqian’s face. It first went white, then slowly flushed a deep, suffocated red.

He wanted to say something but did not dare. To say nothing and endure this humiliation was unbearable — but what frightened him more was that someone of such low origins truly might be capable of exactly this.

After a long, stifled silence, he managed only one sentence: “I did not! Everyone present can bear witness — when did I ever curse His Highness Prince Ning?!”

Yu Jiuling swept the room again. “Who here wants to vouch for him?”

He looked at one person — that person immediately dropped their head. He looked at another — that person immediately turned away.

He went around the whole room. Every one of these respectable, dignified people who had so much to say about manners and reason — not one of them dared meet Yu Jiuling’s eyes.

This was a moment Yu Jiuling had never experienced before. As a boy working in a tavern, he had never once imagined that one day, the silk-clad lords who looked down on him would cower like this under his gaze.

Once momentum was established — once you had pressed people down — there was no stopping it.

Yu Jiuling saw that no one dared speak, and turned back to Liu Maoqian. “You are truly pitiable. No one will speak for you before Prince Ning. Not that it would matter even if they did — Prince Ning will trust my word, not yours. You have no way to reach Prince Ning. Any path to Prince Ning runs through me.”

“I will tell Prince Ning that Elder Gao and Master Cui are men of merit, and Prince Ning will know their names. I will tell Prince Ning that Liu Maoqian deserves to have his whole family wiped out, and Prince Ning will wipe out your whole family.”

He turned and headed for the door. “I am a thug. I am a scoundrel. Despise me all you like.”

“General Yu!”

Cui Kuoyuan knew the moment had come. He hurried to catch Yu Jiuling’s arm. “Everyone here meant no such thing. Surely General Yu cannot cut off everyone’s path to survival.”

“Exactly — this is Liu Maoqian’s affair alone. Why should it concern the rest of us? None of us harbor the slightest disrespect for General Yu.”

“General Yu, please do not be angry. Speak and we will listen.”

Gao Fenglai deliberately put on a stern expression and said, “Lord Liu, you were once my pupil. Is this the conduct I taught you? If it is, I cannot acknowledge you as my student any longer.”

Liu Maoqian stared at Gao Fenglai, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“Are you not going to apologize to General Yu?”

Gao Fenglai said, “If one man’s behavior drags everyone else down with him, you are indeed a sinner — not just to these families, but to all of Anyang.”

Cui Kuoyuan walked over and, keeping his back to Yu Jiuling, gave Liu Maoqian a pointed look, then said, “General Yu is a man of great magnanimity — a valued general under Prince Ning’s command. Give him your apology, and General Yu will not hold this against you.”

Liu Maoqian cursed inwardly through the entirety of it.

But there was no way around it. He steeled himself and walked up to Yu Jiuling with a deep bow. “General Yu, I beg your pardon. I was unforgivably rude. I offer you my sincere apology and ask for your generous forbearance…”

Yu Jiuling said, “Forbearance declined.”

Liu Maoqian blinked and looked up, wondering what that meant.

Cui Kuoyuan stepped behind Liu Maoqian and kicked the back of his knees.

Liu Maoqian dropped to his knees before Yu Jiuling. “General Yu, I know I was wrong. I beg General Yu to spare my family.”

Yu Jiuling knew the moment had run its course. He coughed once and said, “Merit and fault can always offset each other — it all comes down to one choice. Lord Liu’s offense can be erased by sufficient merit. If that merit is great enough, I will mention your name before Prince Ning, and you will be rewarded accordingly.”

Liu Maoqian could only bow his head again to the floor. “Thank you, General Yu. Thank you, General Yu!”

“I have a plan.”

Yu Jiuling looked around at the assembled group. “If this plan succeeds, you will all be meritorious subjects who helped Prince Ning retake Anyang. Keeping you safe will be no difficulty at all.”

Gao Fenglai said, “Please speak freely, General Yu.”

Inside, Yu Jiuling was roaring with laughter.

*Ha! I am genuinely something else.*

*Extraordinarily something else.*

—

Meanwhile, at the Chu Army camp.

Yuwen Shangyun looked at Yuwen Dian and said, “When you return, feign agreement with what Yu Jiuling proposed. Place no restrictions on him whatsoever. If he wants to go back, escort him out yourself — that is how you show sincerity.”

Yuwen Dian said, “If Tang Pidi truly enters the city in person, this battle becomes a turning point.”

Yuwen Shangyun said, “Get back quickly. Do not let Yu Jiuling suspect that you came to find me.”

Yuwen Dian bowed. “I will go immediately.”

Yuwen Shangyun nodded. “This battle determines survival or destruction. Win, and we lay the foundation for the great undertaking ahead. Lose—”

He looked at Yuwen Dian. “—and we are both at a dead end.”

Yuwen Dian bowed once more. How could he not understand what this battle meant?

He rushed back to his commander’s residence. Rather than going to see Yu Jiuling, he called his subordinates and asked whether Yu Jiuling had done anything unusual.

They reported that Yu Jiuling had gone back to his room and fallen straight asleep — snoring could be heard.

Yuwen Dian thought to himself: *this man truly has nerves of iron, to sleep so soundly at a time like this.*

Then a sudden suspicion struck him. *Could it be an act? An intentional cover for something else?* Yu Jiuling should not be sleeping this peacefully.

The thought no sooner landed than Yuwen Dian broke into a run. He led his men to Yu Jiuling’s quarters, shouldered past the Ning Army guards blocking the door, and shoved it open.

On the bed, Yu Jiuling lurched upright as though startled. “General Yuwen, what’s the urgency — are you here to get me up to use the latrine?”

Yuwen Dian froze. His expression became deeply awkward.

Yu Jiuling swung his legs off the bed. Barely dressed — just a single pair of shorts.

Yuwen Dian immediately turned around. “I was simply anxious, truly. My apologies for the intrusion, General Yu.”

Yu Jiuling said, “Think nothing of it. I was just about to go anyway. General Yuwen — care to join me?”

—