Jizhou.

The middle-aged man sat in the interrogation room — not shackled, not subjected to any punishment. He sat quietly on the stool, occasionally glancing around at the walls.

On the walls behind him hung things he had never seen before — implements that he guessed might be some variety of exotic torture devices.

He had been brought to this interrogation room at least half an hour ago, and not a soul had come by since. This was, seemingly, not a good sign.

In this moment, he felt he ought to take the time to think carefully about how to conduct himself.

He thought it over and over, and found there was not much point.

One only had to look at how brutally Zhang Tang dealt with Mountain-River Seal operatives to understand Prince Ning Li Chi’s disposition.

Imagine the resistance Prince Ning must have faced when he appointed Zhang Tang to such a critical role.

All his civil and military officials would have considered it a farce.

To assign a task of such importance to a completely inexperienced young tea house attendant — if that wasn’t a farce, what was?

Yet who could have anticipated the depths of Prince Ning’s resolve in this matter?

Only someone like Zhang Tang could carry things to such an absolute extreme.

Replace him with any other official in Prince Ning’s service — even one of identically humble origins — and none of them would have pursued an investigation with such relentless, bloodsoaked ferocity as Zhang Tang.

While he was turning all this over in his mind, the door creaked open.

The middle-aged man looked up toward the entrance. Sunlight entered his eyes first, leaving him momentarily disoriented.

The person outside seemed to stand there regarding him for a moment before stepping inside.

Once the middle-aged man had adjusted to the light, he found that the one seated across from him was Zhang Tang — his wounds still grave.

And so he could not help but exclaim in admiration: “Chief Investigator Zhang lives up to his name.”

Zhang Tang waved a hand, and the guards outside promptly pulled the door shut.

He was wrapped in bandaging, one arm hanging in a sling — but visibly, he had changed into a fresh set of official robes.

That black brocade robe, its patterns shifting subtly like hidden currents, was strikingly handsome.

“You know who I am, yet I do not know who you are — that seems rather unfair.”

Zhang Tang looked at him: “Perhaps an introduction would be in order.”

The middle-aged man smiled: “Better not to, I think. For you not to know who I am is the best possible outcome, Chief Investigator.”

Zhang Tang gave a small nod: “By rights, that’s quite true. If your identity were known, I would keep digging at you — not knowing who you are, a dead man is just an unnamed nobody.”

The middle-aged man smiled: “Precisely.”

Zhang Tang asked: “Surely a name is permissible? I imagine nothing much can be found from a name alone.”

“True enough — there isn’t much to be found from my name.”

The middle-aged man studied Zhang Tang’s face, which still carried traces of youth, and could not fathom how such a young man had developed such a ruthless heart.

Having said this, he fell silent, apparently having no intention of telling Zhang Tang his name.

Zhang Tang looked at him and said: “You were able to mobilize more than a thousand operatives. An operation of such scale would be impossible for anyone who did not hold an exceptionally high position within the Mountain-River Seal.”

“Mu Fengliu held control of the money house in Lu County. Proprietor Zhou was merely his subordinate. And the collapse of Senior Officer Zao Yunjian’s family business, ten to eight parts out of ten, was also orchestrated from behind the scenes by Mu Fengliu — he moved throughout Jizhou’s territory, which suggests that within Jizhou at the very minimum, Mu Fengliu held considerable standing. Yet from what transpired, you could deploy him at will.”

The middle-aged man smiled faintly and still said nothing.

Zhang Tang continued: “Mu Fengliu died by Zao Yunjian’s sword — one stroke removed his head. Was that not a little too easy?”

The middle-aged man thought for a moment, then replied: “I was watching from a distance. Though I could not hear what was being said, I saw what happened. Under those circumstances, Mu Fengliu being caught off-guard and killed was within the bounds of what might reasonably occur.”

Zhang Tang shook his head: “That doesn’t hold.”

The middle-aged man asked: “Where does it not hold?”

Zhang Tang said: “Lu County is at least nine hundred li from Qinzhou. The money house business in Lu County was something Mu Fengliu took over by his methods. And Zao Yunjian’s family money house in Qinzhou was also brought down by those same methods.”

The middle-aged man asked: “And what is wrong with that?”

Zhang Tang said: “From this, two things can be inferred. First, Mu Fengliu was the driving force behind the money house business throughout Jizhou. Zao Yunjian’s family’s affair was twelve years ago; the Lu County affair was two years ago — maneuvering across a thousand li, turning the tides.”

He leaned slightly forward: “A man who is accustomed to remaining in the shadows and directing others — why would he appear in person so carelessly this time?”

“Over twelve years at the very minimum, he had done much, and every single time he withdrew once the deed was done — he would never expose himself in the open.”

“And yet this time, even if it was to bring me over, even if it was to bring Zao Yunjian over — he should not have appeared in person.”

Zhang Tang leaned forward again, looking directly into the middle-aged man’s eyes: “Twelve years of never once stepping to the front — and then suddenly stepping to the very front, where he was killed with such ease… That doesn’t hold. Does it not. Mu Fengliu.”

The middle-aged man fell silent for a good while.

Then he smiled — freely, with genuine ease.

“Truly remarkable. No wonder Prince Ning holds Chief Investigator Zhang in such regard.”

The middle-aged man smiled and then nodded: “Yes… a man like me — how could I possibly appear carelessly in a dangerous place? Even had Zao Yunjian’s reverse strike been genuinely impossible to anticipate — and no one could have foreseen it — a qualified schemer does not give his opponent an opening for such a fatal blow.”

Zhang Tang slowly exhaled.

“Luling’s Mu Fengliu.”

The middle-aged man clasped his hands in salute: “Greetings, Chief Investigator.”

Zhang Tang asked: “You must have had a means of escape prepared, yes?”

Mu Fengliu shook his head: “None.”

He said this with some regret, and some self-reproach: “It simply never occurred to me to think that I would be caught — much less that I would personally drive the carriage that sent me straight to the Tingwei Army’s offices.”

He gave a self-deprecating smile: “Somewhat humiliating.”

Zhang Tang shook his head: “I don’t believe you. You must certainly have some method of escape prepared.”

Mu Fengliu asked: “Since Chief Investigator is convinced I have a means of escape, why did you not have your men bind me?”

He looked down at himself: “Such generous treatment — I feel almost guilty.”

Zhang Tang asked: “Guilty of what?”

Mu Fengliu said with a smile: “I am a dangerous criminal — I sought to kill Chief Investigator Zhang, and though I did not succeed, I killed at least two hundred Tingwei black armor soldiers. A crime this grave, inside the Tingwei Army’s own offices — I expected to be beaten half to death first, and then subjected to torture.”

“Yet Chief Investigator Zhang did none of this. So I feel guilty. Perhaps it would be better to apply torture after all — that would put my mind at ease.”

Zhang Tang looked at him, lost in thought for a long while.

Mu Fengliu had been waiting for Zhang Tang to continue speaking, but Zhang Tang, after a prolonged silence, suddenly rose.

“Rest well.”

Having said those four words, Zhang Tang turned and left.

Mu Fengliu watched Zhang Tang walk out the door, a faint look of puzzlement in his eyes.

Shortly afterward, in the study of the Chief Tingwei’s office.

Gao Xining sat in the presiding chair. Li Chi stood at the window looking outside — it was unclear what he was looking at.

Zhang Tang had just recounted his meeting with Mu Fengliu.

He looked at Gao Xining: “Chief Tingwei, I suspect this man had intent to be captured deliberately — yet I still cannot determine why he would want to be deliberately captured.”

Gao Xining asked: “Deliberately captured? If our people had not arrived in time, the two of you would both have died in Lu County. That would count as an unexpected development.”

Zhang Tang said: “That is indeed an unexpected development. Mu Fengliu’s primary objective was to compel me to become one of their operatives. When that failed, the secondary objective was executed — kill me. But I suspect there was a third objective: should an unexpected development arise, he would use the opportunity to let us capture him.”

Li Chi turned from the window to look at him: “What is your theory?”

Zhang Tang shook his head: “I have no thread to follow at all. Perhaps… he wished to see Prince Ning?”

Li Chi said: “He wants to persuade me?”

Zhang Tang said: “That is the only explanation this subordinate can currently think of as reasonable.”

Li Chi asked again: “You are certain he was deliberately captured?”

Zhang Tang said: “No evidence. But that is how this subordinate feels.”

Li Chi said: “Then I will go and see this man.”

Zhang Tang shook his head: “Allow this subordinate to think further. Give me three days.”

Li Chi considered for a moment, then nodded: “Fair enough.”

Gao Xining rose: “Let me go see him first.”

Li Chi looked at her. She smiled: “It’s fine. Have him bound up securely first, and I’ll keep my distance.”

Li Chi said: “You question him at the doorway. I’ll be just outside the door.”

Gao Xining made a sound of acknowledgment: “If he truly was deliberately captured, there must be a very significant scheme behind it. Without finding out what it is, the hidden danger is enormous.”

Shortly afterward, the interrogation room.

Mu Fengliu had been resting with his eyes closed when the opening of the door disturbed him. He opened his eyes and looked — several Tingwei soldiers entered, chains in their hands.

Seeing this, Mu Fengliu’s lips curved into a faint smile. He understood: a great personage was about to come and see him.

The Tingwei soldiers bound him thoroughly. Four soldiers drew their blades, and four drawn swords were pressed against his neck.

An arrangement like this, at the very least, confirmed one thing for him — the person coming to see him was someone of great importance.

And so he smiled.

A Tingwei soldier positioned a chair just inside the entrance, then withdrew.

Gao Xining stepped through the door and took a seat.

Seeing her, Mu Fengliu smiled at once.

“That must be the Chief Tingwei. Just as the legends describe.”

He smiled: “Lips unpainted yet red as cinnabar, brows undrawn yet arched like emerald jade. Capable of making fish dive and geese fall, the moon hide and flowers blush.”

Outside the door to one side, Li Chi caught these words and frowned faintly, thinking to himself… damn it, I need to write that down.

Gao Xining smiled: “Flattery will not get you before Prince Ning.”

Mu Fengliu said: “Chief Tingwei — why do you assume I want to see Prince Ning, rather than you?”

Gao Xining’s brow creased faintly.

Mu Fengliu said: “The Tingwei Army was built entirely by the Chief Tingwei’s own hand. Among the heroines of past and present, none has surpassed her… I came to see you, the Chief Tingwei herself.”

Gao Xining said: “Then what is it you wish to say?”

Mu Fengliu said: “Nothing in particular I wished to say. Only to see for myself — why the granddaughter whom the Four-Leaf Academy’s Headmaster Gao treats as the apple of his eye chose Prince Ning.”

Gao Xining’s eyes narrowed slightly as she turned the words over carefully for any hidden meaning.

Mu Fengliu said: “I have long heard that the Chief Tingwei is an exceptionally brilliant woman of this generation — brilliant enough that while still at the Four-Leaf Academy, she saw clearly that Prince Ning was no ordinary man. Not many people could see that at the time.”

He paused to take a breath and continued: “Let me think… who treated Prince Ning well in those days? Xiahou Zuo — yes. Yan Qingzhi, Master Yan — mm. Liu Yingyuan. Who else?”

He paused for a moment, then smiled: “And the Academy’s Headmaster himself — though on the surface he had no patience for Prince Ning, he was always looking after him in secret.”

Mu Fengliu seemed to suddenly recall something, and smiled: “That’s right — when you were still very small, I met you once. You were perhaps two or three years old? I can’t quite remember clearly… But I met Headmaster Gao somewhat earlier than that, around the time he left the capital to return to Jizhou and found the Four-Leaf Academy.”

He shifted slightly forward, apparently unconcerned by the four blades pressed to his neck.

“At the time, Headmaster Gao said he wished to found the Four-Leaf Academy — to cultivate talent for Jizhou, to provide worthy men in reserve for Great Chu. But there was no money, and without money, how could anything be accomplished…”

He smiled with a faint air of quiet satisfaction.

“In that case — perhaps the Chief Tingwei might invite Headmaster Gao to come and see me?”

Mu Fengliu leaned back: “If Headmaster Gao came, he would get quite a shock. If Master Yan came, he would also get quite a shock. Many people from the Four-Leaf Academy who saw me would get quite a shock.”

“So much fine talent cultivated for Prince Ning — many of them now serving Prince Ning in governing his territories. I am glad of it. After all, the founding of the Four-Leaf Academy — I can claim no small credit for it.”

He looked toward the door outside: “Isn’t that right, Prince Ning?”

……

……