The prince’s residence.
Li Chi had been in his study reviewing reports from across the territories for nearly two hours without leaving his seat.
Since taking up the title of Prince Ning, time seemed to have quietly shrunk on him — an unavoidable consequence.
When the last of the documents were handled, he looked up at the window. It was already noon.
Li Chi rose and stretched, and was just about to step outside when he saw Gao Xining helping Changmei the Daoist in through the door.
Li Chi quickly went out to meet them, taking Changmei’s arm. “Master, what are you doing here?”
Changmei looked Li Chi up and down, and sighed. “It’s been several days since I’ve seen you.”
A pang went through Li Chi’s chest.
He hadn’t intentionally stayed away from his master — it was simply that when various matters piled up, there was no rest until deep into the night.
Especially recently, after the new year had passed. The lean season had arrived across the territories, and many urgent matters needed to be handled without delay.
Seizing cities was one thing, but holding and governing them was far from simply winning the fight and moving on.
Tang Pidi had swept through Yuzhou like a tide, advancing rapidly on all fronts — but behind his march, the situation remained unsettled in many places.
When news of it had reached Jizhou, Li Chi was still in Youzhou.
So Adviser Yan, who had been holding down Jizhou in his absence, had immediately ridden out to Yuzhou to smooth the path behind Tang Pidi’s army.
When Adviser Yan left Jizhou, he took over a hundred civil and military officials with him — all needed to fill positions in the newly taken territories.
After reaching Anyang City, he had again needed to restructure arrangements from the ground up.
Though Xu Ji had only served as Deputy Prefect of Anyang for less than half a year, the shortage of local administrators in Yuzhou was severe — so Adviser Yan had transferred Xu Ji from Anyang and appointed him directly to govern Fengzhou Prefecture.
Fengzhou was a major city in Yuzhou, presiding over dozens of counties. Yet Xu Ji, still in his teens, managed to keep the local administration running in good order.
Because Adviser Yan had left Jizhou, everything that had been handled through him now came to Li Chi instead.
Matters that would previously have been resolved by Adviser Yan now required Li Chi’s direct attention.
Which meant that sometimes Li Chi could barely leave the government office for three or five days at a stretch.
“I know you’re this busy, and I shouldn’t intrude. But I couldn’t stop worrying.”
Changmei looked at Li Chi, eyes full of tenderness.
“Master, I’ve truly been missing you.”
Li Chi took Changmei’s arm and guided him inside. “I’ve already sent word to Yuzhou — all civil governance matters there will be handled by Administrator Wu Naiyu, so that Adviser Yan can return. Once he’s back, I’ll have more time to spend with you.”
Changmei quickly said, “You mustn’t upend your people’s assignments just to make more time for me.”
Li Chi smiled. “I won’t. Keeping Adviser Yan in Yuzhou long-term would itself be unstable.”
Gao Xining explained to Changmei, “Master, if Adviser Yan remains in Yuzhou for too long, the officials there would think he’s been sent because Diudiu doesn’t trust them.”
“Take Administrator Wu — he’s been long overdue for greater responsibility, but because military affairs took priority, he’s remained attached to the army. Now that winter has come and the campaigns have slowed, civil governance takes precedence. So it’s time to bring him into his proper role.”
Changmei nodded, reassured. “Good, good.”
“By the way.”
Li Chi smiled and said, “There’s also some good news. Zhang Tang passed through the area where I was born on his sweep of the territories. He had people make inquiries in all directions, and sent me a confidential report.”
He looked toward Changmei and said, “He turned up some details about my origins. There are still people who remember, vaguely. He also tracked down the midwife who delivered me — because my parents were kind and well-regarded people in the village, she still remembered. She recalled the exact hour of my birth.”
He took a letter from his desk and handed it to Changmei. “Master, take a look — does it seem about right?”
Changmei took the letter with trembling hands, looked it over — and his eyes filled with tears.
“Could… could Master hold onto this?”
“Of course.”
Li Chi smiled. “It’s not something of great importance — but knowing is better than not knowing.”
Just then, Yu Jiuling and Zhang Yuxu came in from outside, joking and laughing about something as they walked.
Seeing Li Chi and Changmei, both quickened their pace to come over and pay their respects to Changmei.
“What had the two of you laughing like that?”
Li Chi asked, amused.
Yu Jiuling said, “The Intelligence Guard just received word — the largest underground network in Jizhou, a group called the Mist Map, has released its latest rankings.”
Li Chi asked, “What rankings?”
Yu Jiuling explained, “The Intelligence Guard has discovered that a massive underground organization is operating within Jizhou. Strictly speaking, they’re not a sect — they’re brokers. Called the Mist Map. These people deal in all manner of things.”
“For instance — they post contracts for assassins, with bounty amounts listed. And they maintain rankings of the major sects, martial arts masters, and most important figures in Jizhou. All kinds of rankings.”
“People in the underground world pay closest attention to their annual rankings, and in particular to which significant figures appear on the lists.”
He elaborated, “The Mist Map issues two most important rankings. One is called the Cloud List — meaning, essentially, whose head commands the highest price in Jizhou. The other is the Mist List — everyone on the Mist List is one of the most feared assassins operating in Jizhou. In short: the Cloud List ranks people by how much their deaths are worth, and the Mist List ranks people by how much their kills are worth.”
Li Chi smiled and asked, “You were laughing like that, so I’m guessing your own name has made the list?”
Yu Jiuling grinned. “Yes… I never imagined the day would come when I, Yu Jiuling, would be among the ten most valuable names on the Cloud List.”
Li Chi smiled and asked, “Who’s at the top?”
Yu Jiuling glanced at him.
Li Chi sighed quietly. “Of course.”
Yu Jiuling said, “To be fair, the Mist Map is remarkably bold. No one else would dare put those names in writing.”
“Number one is you, my lord. Number two is Old Tang. Number three is Adviser Yan…”
He trailed off, then asked, “My lord, want to guess who’s fourth?”
Li Chi thought for a moment. “Xiahou?”
Yu Jiuling shook his head. “No. Zhang Tang.”
Li Chi paused.
Then he understood. Zhang Tang had been out of Jizhou for two months now. In those two months, he had swept through like a storm of blood and iron.
Word had spread: wherever Zhang Tang went, if the body count was only in the single digits, it was probably because the place was too small to have produced enough people worth killing.
Li Chi looked at Gao Xining. “Arrange some additional men to keep watch over our Qianban Zhang, would you.”
In those two months, Zhang Tang had uncovered a hundred and seventy people with ties to the Shanhe Seal. Half were executed on the spot; the other half sent to Jizhou.
On top of that, he had rooted out thirty-two officials guilty of abusing the people under their care. Not a single one left standing.
In just two short months, the common people had already made up a song about Zhang Tang.
Two lines of it went: *Even the underworld has its ghosts and gods — but Zhang Tang is crueler than any of them.*
Li Chi asked Yu Jiuling, “Zhang Tang reported this?”
“Yes.”
Yu Jiuling said, “The Mist Map apparently has deep ties to the Shanhe Seal. When Zhang Tang discovered it, he didn’t dare delay — he had a messenger bring word to Jizhou at once.”
Li Chi asked, “How many names on each list?”
Yu Jiuling replied, “Two lists — the Cloud List has fifty names and the Mist List has fifty. Of the Cloud List, more than half of the highest-valued names are our own people.”
Li Chi frowned. “Is Xining on it?”
Yu Jiuling replied, “No.”
He smiled. “Which is also part of why Little Zhang-Zhenren and I found it funny when we came in. The people running the Mist Map aren’t entirely stupid — they know that putting your name on the Cloud List shows how bold they are, how daring. But if they put Xining’s name on it…”
He shook his head. “They’d be annihilated. So they didn’t dare.”
Li Chi nodded, smiled faintly. “Since the Mist Map has links to the Shanhe Seal, send word to Zhang Tang — tell him it’s my order: anyone who provides information on the Mist Map will be generously rewarded. In particular, the masters on the Mist List — if they can deliver solid intelligence on the Mist Map, we can offer them more than any contract has ever paid. If anyone actually comes forward… Zhang Tang will know what to do.”
Yu Jiuling bowed. “I’ll have a messenger dispatched to Zhang Tang right away.”
Li Chi smiled. “The Shanhe Seal, the Mist Map… I wonder what sort of elegant character chose those names. No trace of violence in either of them.”
“Oh, right.”
Yu Jiuling said, “Young Lord Cao Lie has been in Jizhou for over two months now, and you still haven’t seen him.”
Li Chi said, “That was intentional… Has it really been two months? Well — it’s about time.”
He thought for a moment and said with a smile, “Send him word — tell Cao Lie I’m coming to his place for lunch. Nine-ling, you’re with me.”
“Understood.”
Yu Jiuling immediately turned to send someone ahead with the message.
Once Li Chi and Yu Jiuling had gone, Changmei quickly took the letter from his robe and handed it to Zhang Yuxu. “Little Zhang-Zhenren — here’s Diudiu’s birth information. Have a look quickly.”
Zhang Yuxu took it and read it with painstaking care, not letting a single character slip past him.
The more his expression darkened, the more Changmei’s anxiety grew.
It was hard to say exactly why he felt such dread about this — but it was utterly beyond his ability to suppress. Gao Xining, watching, was beginning to worry as well.
Gao Xining quickly said, “Master, there’s no need to be afraid. Not knowing his birth hour didn’t bring any misfortune before — knowing it now can only make things better.”
Changmei lowered his voice. “I’m just worried… worried, that’s all.”
After a moment, Zhang Yuxu’s forehead was damp with fine beads of sweat — which showed how tense he was.
He worked through it silently in his head for about a quarter of an hour, but did not dare commit to a conclusion. He asked Changmei and Gao Xining to wait a moment while he ran back to consult his books.
He returned shortly, in his hands the volume his master had passed down to him. As he paged through it, his fingers trembled faintly.
“Well?” Changmei asked, involuntarily.
Zhang Yuxu raised his head. He said nothing — it seemed hard to find the words.
Changmei’s heart clenched at the look on his face. “What is it? Tell me!”
“An emperor’s star!”
Zhang Yuxu’s voice came out hoarse. “Emperor’s star, emperor’s destiny — the one upon whom Heaven’s fortune converges. And moreover — a configuration the likes of which has never been recorded. The totality of the world’s fortune gathering into one.”
Changmei blinked for a moment, then shook his head urgently. “That’s not what I was asking. Of course he has that — I never worried about any of it. What I was asking is: do his and Xining’s birth signs match?”
Zhang Yuxu: “…ah?”
Changmei said, “If there’s any incompatibility, we’ll find a way to address it. We can’t have Xining suffer any disadvantage.”
Gao Xining’s eyes began to shimmer, just slightly.
Zhang Yuxu said, “Let me work through it again.”
It was then that he realized he had never actually thought to ask Gao Xining’s birth hour.
After roughly two quarter-hours had passed, Zhang Yuxu let out a long, slow breath. “They match. Perfectly. There is no more perfect pairing.”
Changmei immediately broke into laughter, tears and all.
“Good, good, good. Nothing could be better. Then we… then let’s go find Administrator Gao and talk about the wedding. We’ve been dragging our feet, the two of us have been going out of our minds, but we didn’t want to keep pressing you — now that we have the birth information and can find an auspicious date…”
“Actually…”
Zhang Yuxu hesitated, reluctant to speak.
“What is it?”
Gao Xining asked.
“Because the match is so perfect — both are at the pinnacle of their fortunes — the grand wedding must be held at the moment of absolute peak fortune.”
Zhang Yuxu said, “They cannot marry yet. To marry now would be to forcibly claim what belongs to the peak moment. After that…”
He shook his head. “So…”
—