Cao Lie let out a long, slow breath. He suddenly felt that Li Chi and he existed in entirely different worlds.

“Your Highness may rest assured — in seven days’ time, I will personally rally the local gentry and elders in the name of the Cao family for a deliberation at the Commissioner’s residence. The silver needed to resettle the displaced people will be raised.”

Cao Lie made a welcoming gesture. “Please, Your Highness, let’s go and eat.”

Li Chi nodded. “Thank you for your generosity, young Marquis.”

After saying this, he glanced once more at that jade-green decorative piece, then turned and left.

Something barely perceptible flickered in Cao Lie’s gaze — and was gone just as quickly. He quickened his pace to follow.

Two hours later.

Cao Lie looked at his third uncle, Cao Dengke. “Third Uncle, Li Chi may have noticed something unusual about certain parts of the Cao Garden. For the next couple of nights, we should post extra guards on patrol.”

Cao Dengke asked: “Li Chi came once — how could he have noticed anything?”

Cao Lie replied: “You think he was after the treasures and curiosities in the garden? He walked every inch of it with careful attention, and paused multiple times before the jade toad — he may have spotted something irregular.”

Cao Dengke said: “Even if he suspects something, would he really tear things apart openly?”

“Third Uncle… the volume of silver concealed beneath the Cao Garden…”

Cao Lie asked Cao Dengke: “If you were the Prince of Ning, and you saw silver in the tens of millions — would you tear things apart openly?”

Cao Dengke let out a long sigh. “That man has greed in his bones — and his appetite is bottomless… yes, he would.”

Cao Lie said: “He’s already shown us the path to survival. Let’s follow what he says. The greater matter is what’s at stake.”

Cao Lie rose and began pacing back and forth across the room.

“My father has not yet returned — nothing can be left to chance.”

He turned to look at Cao Dengke. “Li Chi’s meaning is clear: if the Cao family does as he says, the family will be preserved. If there is any lack of cooperation, the first thing he’ll investigate is the Cao Garden.”

Cao Lie walked to the table and absently picked up the folding fan lying there. The weather in Yuzhou had been growing hotter of late.

“Understood.”

Cao Dengke said: “We’ll give whatever needs to be given. Until Elder Brother returns, I’ll defer to you in everything.”

Cao Lie made a sound of agreement and then said: “The medicinal trade has been handed entirely over to Shen Ruzhan to manage. That woman is critical — she must not come to any harm. If anything happens to her, Li Chi may use it as a pretext to purge Yuzhou in blood.”

Cao Dengke looked at Cao Lie. “So that’s why… you couldn’t stop yourself from moving against her?”

With a sharp snap, Cao Lie opened his folding fan.

Four characters were written across the fan’s face: *I want your life.*

Cao Lie said: “I had no intention of tangling with that woman originally. She’s already unhinged — I was content to let her make noise. She could never cause any real waves on her own. But then she tried to lay the blame on the Cao family…”

“Even then, I was too lazy to bother. Her cheap tricks couldn’t fool Li Chi. But if she actually moved against Shen Ruzhan — the Cao family would be finished.”

Cao Dengke asked: “Then why not simply kill her?”

“A death should have its use. Her death must be worth something.”

Cao Lie smiled and said: “I don’t believe for a moment that her father won’t try to save her. Father’s thinking is: even though the Gongsun family has made their stance known, the Gongsun family has no place remaining within the Mountain and River Seal.”

Cao Dengke said: “Elder Brother’s intention is to use this opportunity to erase the Gongsun family?”

“The Gongsun family is in Jingzhou — I can’t reach them now, and Father won’t go either.”

Cao Lie said: “But the Gongsun family is a serious threat. They cannot be left in place.”

He passed the folding fan to Cao Dengke: “Go and speak with that man called Chu Xu. He’s a useful piece.”

Cao Dengke nodded. “I’ll go now.”

He left the room, returned to his own quarters, changed his clothing, put on a mask, took the folding fan, and departed.

An hour later — the Guihua Mountain Villa, outside the city.

Cao Dengke stepped down from his carriage at the gate. Inside the courtyard, several men in blue robes came out to meet him.

“Has the person returned?”

Cao Dengke asked.

“Came back last night. Still sleeping.”

Cao Dengke felt a flicker of surprise at that. This Chu Xu truly had nerves of steel.

In a situation like this, still able to sleep soundly.

“Bring him to me.”

Cao Dengke gave the order, then strode quickly toward the main hall.

A short while later, Chu Xu arrived at the main hall still bleary-eyed from sleep. Seeing the finely dressed young man seated there, he straightened himself.

“What did you find out?”

Cao Dengke asked.

Chu Xu replied: “Just as you anticipated — behind the rear courtyard, the Gongsun family had indeed arranged a reception party for that Gongsun Wuyou.”

“Where did they go?”

“Still here in Yuzhou City.”

Chu Xu said: “I don’t think you’ll have expected this — Gongsun Wuyou is currently hiding in an inn just one street away from the Cao Garden.”

Cao Dengke’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “So she has some ability after all. Now I have another task for you.”

He flicked his wrist, and a rolled document flew out — Chu Xu caught it in one hand.

Chu Xu unrolled and examined it. It was a bundle of banknotes.

Cao Dengke said: “These are negotiable drafts from the Cao family’s Yuzhou exchange house — twenty thousand taels in total. I know you have ways to make Li Chi’s people believe the Gongsun family was behind this, while ensuring the Gongsun family can never reveal anything else.”

Chu Xu clicked his tongue. “Difficult.”

Cao Dengke said: “When you came to the Cao family, if it weren’t for your connection with the Shen Medical Hall, you’d never have been given any real use.”

Chu Xu smiled with a hint of disdain. “Planting me beside Gongsun Wuyou — and that passes for being put to real use?”

Cao Dengke let out a cold snort. “If you hadn’t arrived late, the Gongsun family’s ambush of the Prince of Ning along the road needn’t have happened at all.”

“Besides, a man like you doesn’t care about being ‘put to use.’ You only care about silver. Once the job is done, I’ll give you a hundred thousand taels.”

Cao Dengke asked: “Does that move you?”

Chu Xu smiled. “A hundred thousand taels — how could it not?”

He turned and walked out. “I had no intention of going back over there — but for a hundred thousand taels, going back doesn’t seem so bad after all… a hundred thousand taels. So very, very much silver.”

Two days later.

At Shen Ruzhan’s residence.

Chu Xu stood at the doorway, breathing slowly and deliberately several times. He had just been earnestly deliberating over which foot to step through the door with first.

Just as he moved to cross the threshold, a crossbow bolt came flying — and struck the ground directly in front of him with a sharp crack.

“You don’t deserve to come back. Get out!”

Someone called out.

“Qi.”

Chu Xu said: “I’m back because there’s something urgent I need to report to the master. It concerns her life and death. You know my character — if it weren’t truly important, how could I possibly come back?”

A moment later, the door creaked open.

The young girl Qi glared at Chu Xu. “Seeing you makes me sick.”

Chu Xu shrugged. “Where is the master?”

“In the sitting room.”

Qi held out her hand. “Hand over every weapon you’re carrying.”

Chu Xu spread his arms wide. “I came to see the master — why would I bring weapons?”

Qi didn’t believe him. She stepped forward and searched him — and found, to her surprise, that Chu Xu really wasn’t carrying any weapons.

Chu Xu sighed: “You should trust me.”

Qi shook her head. “Since the day you walked out — I don’t.”

Another hour later — at the Commissioner’s residence.

Shen Ruzhan stepped down from her carriage and entered the Commissioner’s residence with quick strides.

Two quarters of an hour later, a unit of Tingwei soldiers emerged from the residence and departed swiftly. Leading them was Tingwei Squad Leader Fang Xidao.

A second Tingwei unit left through the rear gate, led by the recently recovered Zaoyun Jian.

Half an hour later — the Hehe Inn.

Zaoyun Jian, keeping watch in the outer perimeter, spotted Fang Xidao coming out and hurried to meet him.

“That fast?”

Zaoyun Jian asked.

“All dead.”

Fang Xidao breathed out slowly. “Every one of them killed with a single cut — no survivors. We turned up some useful items inside the room. It seems we now know who is behind the Mountain and River Seal.”

Half an hour later — at the Commissioner’s residence.

Li Chi looked toward Fang Xidao. “Gongsun Wuyou?”

Fang Xidao nodded. “After investigation, the woman who was killed was Yuwen Shangyun’s wife — the woman who accompanied him when he traveled to Jizhou in the guise of Gongsun Wuyou, the one who customarily dressed as a page boy.”

Li Chi asked: “What else was found?”

“Based on items recovered from the bodies, one of the deceased was Gongsun Wuyou, along with several attendants. There were also signs of recent contact with members of the Gongsun family.”

He recounted the scene in detail, without omitting a single particular.

Gao Xining looked toward Li Chi and said: “By the sound of it, this is an internal purge within the Mountain and River Seal — an elimination of witnesses?”

Li Chi gave a slow nod.

Fang Xidao added: “I asked the inn staff — they said they heard an argument. They didn’t catch it all clearly, but it sounded roughly like a father and daughter quarreling. Afterward, the father stormed out.”

Li Chi smiled, looking toward Gao Xining.

Gao Xining said: “The evidence is so complete it’s almost as if they were afraid we’d fail to piece it together.”

Just as she said this, a voice came from outside the door: “Cao Lie requests an audience.”

Li Chi made a sound of assent. “Keep investigating this matter — I’ll go and see him.”

In the sitting room, Cao Lie was studying the potted garden arrangement, fan in hand, giving himself a leisurely breeze. He cut quite a fine figure.

As Li Chi approached, he caught sight of the four characters on the fan’s face.

*Preserving one’s life matters most.*

So Li Chi smiled. “Did you write that yourself?”

Cao Lie turned to look at Li Chi, and smiled back: “Just something I wrote for amusement.”

Li Chi said: “The calligraphy is excellent — write something on a fan for me sometime.”

Cao Lie asked: “What would Your Highness like written? How many characters?”

Li Chi replied: “Just three will do… *The Broke One.*”

Cao Lie burst out laughing. “Your Highness won’t be broke for much longer. The reason I’ve come today is to report — I’ve already contacted the gentry and elders throughout the city. They’ll all be present on the day to support Your Highness. The silver needed to resettle the displaced people will be raised in full.”

He smiled. “When I return, I’ll write two fan faces for Your Highness — when meeting those people, one that reads *The Broke One*; after the meeting, one that reads *The Rich One.*”

Li Chi said with a laugh: “You’ve done me a great service — I don’t know how to thank you.”

Cao Lie replied: “Your Highness has preserved the Cao family. I am simply repaying that kindness.”

Li Chi smiled and said: “Will you stay for dinner this evening?”

Cao Lie shook his head. “Stay for dinner… I absolutely won’t believe that’s how it goes. More likely I’ll end up taking you all out to eat instead.”

Li Chi said: “I’ll cook you a meal myself — one of my specialties.”

Cao Lie’s eyes curved with delight. “Truly?”

Li Chi replied: “Truly.”

He walked toward the door as he spoke: “You’ve never had it before — you have no idea how good my cooking is. Oh, right—”

He turned to look at Cao Lie, who had fallen into step behind him: “How well do you know the Gongsun family?”

Cao Lie answered without any change in manner: “Reasonably well — a prominent Jingzhou family. In terms of power, they’re likely not far behind the Cao family.”

Li Chi gave a slow nod. “Then that fits.”

Meanwhile, outside the city — Guihua Mountain Villa.

Cao Dengke looked down at the man kneeling before him and slowly shook his head. “Who is there to blame? The Mountain and River Seal allows no betrayal. You’ve held high standing within the Seal for years — you’ve personally dealt with no small number of traitors. You should understand: you must die.”

Gongsun Wuyou’s father smiled — a smile of resignation.

“I know. From the day my daughter returned to the Gongsun family — I knew I would die.”

He looked at Cao Dengke with a smile. “Do you take me for a fool?”

Cao Dengke startled — and in that instant, felt a creeping dread.

Before he could look again, the man had bitten down on the fabric of his own collar. Moments later, a thin stream of black blood welled from the corners of his mouth.

In that moment, a deep fear took hold of Cao Dengke’s heart.

—