Fang Xidao had not once stopped considering whether to make his move while walking behind Lü Wuman — he was confident that if he acted, he would succeed. Yet he genuinely, desperately wanted to know what Lü Wuman intended to show him, and to understand the true source of the man’s confidence.

The two of them left the small courtyard and continued walking deeper, passing through three more rows of similarly arranged courtyards until they reached a single, separate enclosure at the rear.

As they walked, Lü Wuman said, “Just now the Thousand-Commander asked me — if we have existed for a thousand years, why are our methods of intimidation still so crude? In asking that, you both underestimate us and underestimate the able and worthy men you mentioned.”

Lü Wuman glanced back at Fang Xidao and smiled. “Throughout history — how many men of true governing talent were there? Do you really think they could be threatened into submission?”

“Ministers willing to dash their heads against the steps in remonstrance, high officials who worked themselves to exhaustion and died in service — threaten men like that? That would be to vastly underestimate them.”

He pushed open the gate of the separate courtyard. The first thing that met the eye was a peach tree in full bloom at the center of the yard.

The pink blossoms seemed strangely out of place with the setting.

“Please, come in.”

Lü Wuman stepped back to let him through. Fang Xidao walked in. Lü Wuman followed, turning to close the gate behind them.

“When the Thousand-Commander was walking behind me just now, why didn’t you make a move?”

“Now that Master Lü is walking behind me, why haven’t you made a move?”

Lü Wuman laughed at that.

“Thousand-Commander, you’ve truly given me a new appreciation of you — which is precisely why I want to persuade you all the more.”

Lü Wuman moved to the front again and pushed open the door of the building.

“The Thousand-Commander didn’t act because you wanted to see what I’m capable of — whether I was bluffing, and because you also wanted to gather more intelligence for Prince Ning.”

Lü Wuman said, “And I haven’t acted because men like the Thousand-Commander, with courage and loyalty like yours, have moved me.”

He entered and pointed to the floor. “It’s just below… And it’s the same with Jinzhou Prefect Zhou Qixi — I could have killed him, but I didn’t. Because without him, a good official would be gone, and one less person doing right by the common people.”

Fang Xidao smiled. “For a man like you, Master Lü, to still think about doing right by the common people — that’s no small thing.”

Lü Wuman said, “You underestimate me. And you underestimate us.”

He stamped once on the floor. The floorboards trembled — and then a hidden trapdoor swung open.

It was a passage. Where it led remained to be seen.

Lü Wuman seemed entirely unconcerned about Fang Xidao making a move against him from behind. He descended the wooden ladder first.

The two of them went down one after the other and walked a passage of some twenty-odd paces before reaching a heavy sealed door.

Lü Wuman took out a key and unlocked it. The door appeared extraordinarily heavy.

“I have only been here a year and a half, Thousand-Commander — do you think a place like this could be built in a year and a half?”

He asked.

Fang Xidao shook his head. “A construction project like this — impossible without years of work.”

Lü Wuman said, “This took twelve years to build.”

Fang Xidao paused.

Lü Wuman smiled. “And yet this place has already been here for hundreds of years. It was built before the founding of Dachu.”

He stepped forward. Fang Xidao followed close behind.

As they passed through the door, a dry, dusty smell surged into Fang Xidao’s nostrils. He couldn’t help but cough a few times.

Lü Wuman entered and gestured at the space around them. “Thousand-Commander — look for yourself.”

Fang Xidao quickened his pace and scanned the chamber in all directions — and his eyes went wide immediately.

It was an enormous underground vault. On every side, stone platforms rose densely, one after the next. On each stone platform, massive silver bricks were stacked high. The fifty-tael ingots from outside were nothing compared to these.

Every silver brick was the same size as the great city-wall bricks used in fortress construction — from which one could imagine the weight of each one.

Lü Wuman said, “What is stored here is but a fraction of a fraction of what we hold.”

He gestured ahead. “Thousand-Commander, please follow me.”

Fang Xidao followed instinctively as Lü Wuman moved forward. The two of them passed through platform after platform — and in so doing, passed through mountain after mountain of silver.

Fang Xidao lost track of how far they had walked before he spotted another door ahead. Lü Wuman opened it, and the two stepped into a second vault.

This one held gold. Compared to the silver outside, the quantity was naturally less — and yet the impact it had was even greater than the silver mountains beyond.

“Please look.”

Lü Wuman pointed toward the far wall.

Fang Xidao crossed the vault quickly and stood there, looking up.

The wall was lined with portraits — seven rows in all, running from top to bottom, with dozens of likenesses in each row. Some were very old, faded and worn. Others appeared to be from more recent years.

Lü Wuman pointed upward. “Yang Chungang, the first Chancellor of the Zhou dynasty — one of ours. The second Chancellor, the third — every one of them thereafter, ours as well.”

“And over here — the chancellors of Dachu, its generals, its commanders-in-chief… Thousand-Commander, take a look for yourself. How many of those names do you recognize?”

Lü Wuman walked to one end of the wall and pointed to the final portrait. “This man — the Thousand-Commander should know him.”

Fang Xidao walked over quickly. He looked at the name written on the portrait — and his eyes flew open. The face in the portrait was that of Dachu’s powerful palace eunuch, Liu Chongxin.

Even a man trained as he was could not fully contain his reaction.

“He was one of yours as well?”

“Yes.”

Lü Wuman said, “Earlier I told the Thousand-Commander that the current Emperor Yang Jing is an anomaly. To be more precise — the anomaly was him. Liu Chongxin.”

“His entry into the palace was arranged by us. His closeness with the late emperor was arranged by us as well. What we did not foresee was that he would come to regard the late emperor as his truest friend.”

“What we foresee even less was this — he deceived us.”

Lü Wuman found a place to sit, a trace of regret on his face.

He let out a quiet sigh. “According to our original plan, the Crown Prince was to kill the old emperor, and then Liu Chongxin would kill the Crown Prince. With that, Dachu would fall — and we would immediately move to place Yang Xuanji on the throne, swiftly restore order across the realm, and return the Central Plains to stability.”

Lü Wuman paused. His tone carried helplessness, regret — and a thread of admiration.

“Liu Chongxin sent word that after leading his army back to the capital, he had already arranged an inside response and would find killing Crown Prince Yang Jing a simple matter.”

“With the roots Liu Chongxin had put down in the capital over decades, saying he could kill the Crown Prince without difficulty was entirely believable.”

“But he deceived us. After he went back, he had no intention of acting at all. He went back to die.”

“If not for that unexpected turn, Dachu would by now already be in Yang Xuanji’s hands — and none of this mess would exist.”

Lü Wuman said, “Liu Chongxin violated the will of the organization and made the wrong choice. And yet personally, I admire him greatly. He was a loyal friend, and a loyal guardian.”

He glanced back at Fang Xidao and said, “The Thousand-Commander understands the human heart — so you know, in truth, there are very few people who, in a moment like that, would choose to walk toward their own death.”

Fang Xidao let out a long, heavy breath. “What is it, in the end, that you want?”

“Wealth and power, naturally.”

Lü Wuman’s answer was direct.

He smiled a little. “But that is only the surface. Wealth and power are the means, not the goal. Thousand-Commander — our organization is called the Mountain and River Seal. We call ourselves Seal Gate inheritors among one another.”

“A thousand years ago, we began laying the groundwork to control the situation — starting with commerce, then moving into court authority.”

Lü Wuman said, “Do you think we want to seize the throne? Do you think we take pleasure in manipulating the times?”

“Neither. Every one of us is a person of the Central Plains. We have lived through countless catastrophes. We have watched with our own eyes as incompetent and corrupt men destroyed the Central Plains for generations.”

“The Mountain and River Seal exists to ensure the inheritance of the Central Plains endures — to place the right person in the right position.”

He rose and walked to stand before Fang Xidao, holding his gaze, speaking with utter sincerity: “So I have come — and I have come to help Prince Ning.”

He gestured outward. “Once my arrangements begin to take effect, Prince Ning will have inexhaustible wealth and unlimited talent at his command.”

“My fellow members of the organization — some are with Li Xionghu, some are with Yang Xuanji. But I believe neither of them is a sage and worthy ruler. Prince Ning is.”

Lü Wuman raised his voice, and something like urgency entered it as he said, “Of everyone, only Prince Ning can rebuild the glory of a Central Plains empire — only he can reforge its dominance.”

“Li Xionghu? Nothing but a coarse man. No vision, no bearing. If he got the realm, the realm would only fall into greater chaos.”

“Yang Xuanji? Nothing but a petty schemer. No convictions of his own, yet full of suspicion and wariness — a man like that, if he got the realm, would not hold it long.”

“Thousand-Commander!”

Lü Wuman cried out. “You serve Prince Ning — you know as well as I do that Prince Ning is the right man!”

His voice seemed to tremble slightly.

“What Prince Ning has built in Jizhou has already shown me what a sage ruler looks like. It has shown me the possibility of the Central Plains rising again.”

He began to pace among the gold in the vault.

“Do you see this? All of it — this is what Prince Ning needs to fulfill his great ambition!”

Lü Wuman said, “Do you understand why, throughout history, so many men of true talent and ability were willing to serve the Mountain and River Seal? Because they knew that the Seal exists to protect the Central Plains!”

Fang Xidao, hearing all of this, let out another long, heavy breath.

In this moment, the shock within him was beyond measure.

The silver outside — how could it be less than a million taels?

The gold here — also no less than a million taels?

If Prince Ning could lay hands on all of this wealth, he could assemble an even vaster army in a far shorter time. He would never need to worry about military funds, never need to fret over provisions and supplies at the rear. Prince Ning’s confidence in fighting for the realm would grow stronger still.

He knew Lü Wuman was not wrong. Prince Ning was the right man — the future of the Central Plains realm.

Fang Xidao looked at the gold and silver around him, and in his mind’s eye, he seemed to see a million-strong army.

“Thousand-Commander — this is not betraying Prince Ning. You would only be withholding certain things from him. And is that truly a fault?”

Lü Wuman stepped forward to stand before Fang Xidao and pointed outward. “You can see for yourself: I did not kill officials like Zhou Qixi, because I knew he was a good man who could bring benefit to the people of his region.”

“I killed officials like Wang Xueguan because, apart from greed, he had nothing to offer. I used him — no more than that. Even if Prince Ning were to employ men like him, the Mountain and River Seal would refuse.”

“Thousand-Commander — we would not harm Prince Ning. On the contrary, we would spare no effort to assist Prince Ning in becoming the ruler of all under heaven.”

“Dachu has broken apart. The Central Plains realm is without a state, the people without livelihood. The only path forward is for a great ruler to rise as swiftly as possible and bring stability to everything.”

“Thousand-Commander — think of all the sages throughout history who gave their heart’s blood for the realm. Would they have considered themselves betrayers?”

“No!”

Lü Wuman said, “It was precisely because they held the homeland in their hearts that they understood: the Mountain and River Seal is here to stabilize the realm — not to destroy it.”

Lü Wuman spread his arms wide and called out, “Thousand-Commander — do we need to buy you to have Prince Ning assassinated? Do we need you to lead Prince Ning into error?”

He met Fang Xidao’s eyes directly. “We would never interfere with a single thing you do at Prince Ning’s side. The only way I want to use you is this: to know when Prince Ning is about to make a mistake — and when he is, we can tell you, and you can find a different way to counsel him. Think of it differently: everything you would do is not for the Mountain and River Seal. It is so that Prince Ning takes every single step correctly!”

Fang Xidao stared at Lü Wuman.

In Fang Xidao’s eyes, something had appeared — a flicker of uncertainty.

What Lü Wuman had said seemed… to make a kind of sense.

Lü Wuman spoke with force: “With the aid of the Mountain and River Seal, Prince Ning can save ten years of effort.”