Four days later. Yuzhou City. The General’s Residence.

Li Chi looked at Yu Jiuling, who came running in from the gate—opened his mouth to call out a warning, but Yu Jiuling had already stepped into the rope snare. So nothing came out.

He walked to the doorway and looked at Yu Jiuling, hanging there upside down, swaying gently.

“You’re the Director-General of the Intelligence Agency,” Li Chi said, somewhat wearily. “How did you miss a wild boar trap right at the door?”

Yu Jiuling swayed and said, “Because why did you put a wild boar trap right at the door…”

Li Chi said, “Because Shendiao has been out of line lately. I plan to catch him and give him a talking-to.”

Yu Jiuling said, “That’s exactly what I came to report—about Shendiao!”

Li Chi let Yu Jiuling down. Yu Jiuling stood up, indignant. “I cannot stand it—he ran off and compromised a respectable family’s sow!”

Li Chi said, “Since I’ve been working on setting up the pig farm at Qishan, I’ve been calling on the people of Yuzhou to sell their sows to us. And then Shendiao, that beast…”

Yu Jiuling said, “We can’t let this stand. As a pig in Prince Ning’s army, Shendiao should of course be bound by the army’s rules. Let’s eat him.”

Li Chi said, “Are you sure?”

Yu Jiuling smiled. “Though I will say—the energy on that animal is truly something…”

Li Chi said, “You’ve got nerve talking about him?”

Yu Jiuling said, “Can you compare us? I paid. He…”

While they were in the middle of this, Gao Xining arrived with several Tingwei Army Lead Officers. Li Chi and Yu Jiuling exchanged a glance and both fell silent immediately.

Gao Xining came before Li Chi and bowed. “Greetings, Your Highness.”

As she bent forward, those eyes crinkled just slightly.

Li Chi coughed a few times and assumed a dignified manner. “The fugitive has been brought back?”

Gao Xining nodded. “Yes. Does Your Highness wish to attend the interrogation?”

Li Chi said, “Very well—I’m not busy with anything else just now. Little Sister, are you coming too?”

Yu Jiuling said, “I came about the pig situation—I don’t have enough people, so I need Old Tang to assign me some troops.”

Li Chi said, “Borrow the Tingwei Army first.”

Gao Xining was puzzled. “Why?”

Li Chi said, “Because the Tingwei Army produced a troublemaker.”

Gao Xining was alarmed by those words—she felt her expression change. *Had something serious gone wrong again?*

Yu Jiuling couldn’t hold back: he burst out laughing. “One currently serving member of Prince Ning’s forces—Shendiao the pig—ran off and compromised someone’s sows…”

Li Chi said, “So the Tingwei Army will be seconded to assist Yu Jiuling. They’ll handle the cleanup—including transporting the pigs to Qishan.”

Gao Xining’s eyes narrowed slightly. Li Chi immediately put some distance between them. “Let’s go interrogate the prisoner first.”

Li Chi walked as he spoke. “This pig situation needs to be handled seriously.”

Gao Xining waved a hand. “Go ahead—we’ll follow shortly.”

The Lead Officers turned and left at once. Yu Jiuling bolted too, as if afraid of getting splattered.

Gao Xining picked up a small stick from the ground and looked at Li Chi. “I somehow have the faint sense that you rather envy Shendiao.”

Li Chi said, “A false accusation deserves no answer.”

Gao Xining said, “Then were you trying to use Shendiao as a pretext to discipline my Tingwei Army?”

Li Chi: “…”

Gao Xining: “Answer me!”

Li Chi: “Yes… the Tingwei Army did have just a tiny bit of a problem. So a tiny bit of discipline is warranted.”

Gao Xining let out a light sigh, then held out the stick to Li Chi. She turned slowly and tilted herself just slightly in a particular direction.

She glanced back at Li Chi, her voice soft. “The Tingwei Army has made its mistakes—but let the punishment not be too severe. I, as Deputy Tingwei, bear the greatest responsibility.”

Li Chi looked at the stick. Then at that particular part of her. Then at the stick again.

His eyes began to glow.

Gao Xining was still in full Deputy Tingwei’s official uniform. This posture, in this outfit, nearly sent blood shooting from Li Chi’s nose.

He held the stick and grinned like an idiot. The absolute most idiotic grin imaginable.

Gao Xining watched him being utterly hopeless and shook her head. “Truly… this one cannot be taught.”

Then she straightened, smoothed her robes, and walked away.

Li Chi stood there still grinning, stick in hand—and only slowly realized she’d gone. *Completely wasted that.* He stood there blank.

Then he came to his senses: *next time an opportunity comes, I absolutely cannot waste it. What was thrown away wasn’t just time—it was that incomparable moment.*

Two quarters of an hour later. The prison.

Inside the temporary interrogation room the Tingwei Army had improvised, Li Chi entered and saw Cao Ziluo sitting in a chair, back to the door.

Cao Ziluo seemed not to have fully adjusted to the identity of prisoner. Whoever came to see him, he refused to speak.

Li Chi sat down, picked up the confession sheet beside him, glanced at it—blank as fresh snow.

“I’ve ransacked your home. I’ve ransacked Cao Garden. I’ve ransacked Qishan.”

Li Chi crumpled the blank confession sheet and dropped it in the waste bin. He saw that at those three sentences, Cao Ziluo’s shoulders trembled with suppressed fury.

“I have no need for your confession. I have no need for your attitude.”

Li Chi said calmly, “I don’t even care what impact all of this will have. Having taken so much of the Cao Family’s wealth, I now have enough silver to equip at least a million troops. In some sense, you could be considered a contributor to the Ning Army.”

He glanced back at Gao Xining. “Draft a decree—the entire Cao household, all of them, sent to Qishan to raise pigs.”

Cao Ziluo spun around. “Li Chi! Don’t push this too far!”

Li Chi said, “They all raise pigs. But you won’t—because you should die. To pay with your life for the regional officials your people killed in Jizhou. To pay with your life for all the people you’ve had killed over all these years.”

“Ha ha ha ha…”

Cao Ziluo’s fury flipped to wild laughter. “You should know what the consequences of moving against the Cao Family are. Never mind wanting to kill me—even if you didn’t want to, from this moment on you’ll never secure your foothold in Yuzhou. The court’s armies will come soon. Do you know how many people will absolutely refuse to allow my death? Kill me? Kill me, and you’ll face not only the court’s reprisal, but also…”

His words weren’t finished. Li Chi replied, with perfect calm:

“Over these past two days, I’ve had people compile everything the Mountain River Seal has ever done into a written record—roughly this thick.”

He indicated the thickness with his hands, and then continued: “Three copies in total. One sent to Prince Wu’s army. One sent to Daxing, the imperial capital. One sent to the ancestral halls of the imperial Yang clan.”

Cao Ziluo’s expression shifted once more.

Li Chi rose, with a trace of impatience: “I have no interest whatsoever in interrogating you. Relatively speaking, I’d rather go have a talk with the person the Tingwei Army caught.”

He turned and walked toward the door.

Cao Ziluo howled: “Li Chi! Everything you have done today—every last thing—my entire Cao Family, every soul in it, will come back as vengeful spirits and find you…”

Still ranting, Cao Ziluo rushed to the doorway—but Li Chi was already in the outer corridor.

Li Chi turned back and looked at Cao Ziluo raging at the threshold—and said something very earnestly.

“When you’ve become vengeful spirits—remember to first ask the other spirits why they dare not come find me. Or you could ask the King of Hell directly—does he dare come find me?”

He turned and walked on, speaking as he went: “Threatening people with ghosts—do you think I’m some little child? Even children these days don’t fall for that.”

Yu Jiuling stood at the rear, leaning in the doorway, looking at Cao Ziluo. “I’ll tell you honestly—vengeful spirits won’t work. If you don’t believe me, when the time comes, bring every spirit the Cao Family has. The men come find Tang Pidi; the women come find me.”

Yu Jiuling reached out and patted Cao Ziluo on the shoulder. “And remember—don’t mix them up.”

“One more thing…”

A few steps out, Yu Jiuling looked back at Cao Ziluo. “You know you’re going to die, so you’re not afraid of death. But are you afraid of the living being found?”

Cao Ziluo’s eyes narrowed—a cold, ominous light.

Yu Jiuling snorted. “Who are you glaring at? I’ve had the nerve to file a complaint against Shendiao—you think I’m scared of your eyes?”

Cao Ziluo was silent for a long time. One thing alone drifted through his mind.

Yu Jiuling’s words circled in his head, drifting, floating.

*You’re not afraid of the living being found?*

—

A quarter-hour later. The next interrogation room.

Li Chi pushed the door open, and what he saw was completely different from what he’d seen just now. Cao Ziluo had not been bound—he had no real martial skill. This person, by contrast, was hung suspended, and the sight was grim.

He bore many wounds—not from after his capture, but from the moment of capture itself.

And in truth, what he had managed was remarkable: one man, fighting three Lead Officers, and holding out for a while.

Li Chi stood silent for a moment, then turned and gave an instruction: “Prepare food and wine—quickly.”

Yu Jiuling acknowledged at once.

Shortly after, the food and wine were ready. Li Chi had Du Yan taken down and indicated the seat across from him.

“Sit.”

Du Yan exhaled slowly, sat down, and clasped his hands. “Thank you, my lord.”

Yu Jiuling snorted. “Your lord is next door.”

Li Chi waved his hand. Yu Jiuling said no more.

Li Chi poured a cup for Du Yan and a cup for himself.

“Over these years, you helped me, helped the Tingwei Army accomplish a great deal. Leaving everything else aside—what you’ve done I still remember. I once said that Du Yan of the Tingwei Army should be put into the battle troops to command—his talent is sufficient to lead an army in his own right.”

Du Yan heard these words. His eyes flickered briefly, and then he sighed. “I have let my lord down.”

Li Chi raised his cup in acknowledgment. Du Yan raised his. They drank together.

Li Chi said, “I won’t ask you anything. I don’t want you to say anything. Do you understand?”

Du Yan considered carefully, then nodded. “I understand.”

Li Chi said, “It ends with you.”

Du Yan nodded. “Agreed.”

He looked at Li Chi. “Can I finish this meal in peace?”

Li Chi replied, “Yes.”

Du Yan asked, “One more—not a condition, a request.”

Li Chi said, “Speak.”

Du Yan asked, “Could you invite Yu Hongyi here? I’d like to share a drink with him. Ideally… hot pot. Red broth hot pot. He said I don’t deserve it, but I want to try it.”

Li Chi rose and walked toward the door. “Go ask Lead Officer Yu for his opinion—don’t pressure him.”

A quarter-hour later, in the interrogation room, Yu Hongyi and Du Yan sat facing each other.

Du Yan rose and poured a cup for Yu Hongyi. “This cup—I’m borrowing Prince Ning’s wine to offer you a toast. I’ve thought it over carefully: if this life were to end here, what would I still have left to say, and to whom? I turned it over and over, and it’s only you.”

Yu Hongyi asked, “What is it you want to say?”

Du Yan sat down. He was silent for a moment, then drained his cup.

“It was never that I disliked you. I was wary of you—because your ability threatened me. But I don’t know why—I still paid close attention to your affairs, and looked into them carefully.”

“Based on what the Tingwei Army knew, you couldn’t have investigated anything clearly. But with the identity of a Mountain River Seal member, many things become easier.”

“The former Jizhou prefect Lian Gongming was a Mountain River Seal operative—otherwise he would never have dared to stand against Commissioner Zeng Ling the way he did.”

Du Yan poured another cup, glanced at the rolling red broth, picked up chopsticks, and took a bite of meat.

He closed his eyes. He tasted it carefully.

Then he slowly let out a breath. “Truly…*goddamn*, it’s numbing and fiery at the same time…”

He looked at Yu Hongyi. “The man behind Lian Gongming was Mu Fengliu. He is the real killer of your father. Go after him… that’s all.”

He finished and closed his eyes, waved a hand. “Leave the hot pot. This meal—I’ll finish alone.”

As he closed his eyes, tears slid slowly down his face.

When Yu Hongyi walked out, he caught what sounded like Du Yan murmuring to himself.

“The Lead Officer’s uniform is the finest of all. What would you know? It’s only me—I’m the one who didn’t deserve to wear it. What if… what a thing that would have been.”

—