Gui Yuanshu watched Li Chi sitting there, watching the opera with obvious enjoyment, and his puzzlement deepened.

As he saw it, while this man’s way of doing things matched everything he had heard about Cao Du in every detail, he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was about to be played by the man somehow.

As for where the trap lay, he hadn’t figured it out yet — though a vague direction was already forming at the back of his mind.

“Chief Justice.”

Li Chi noticed Gui Yuanshu had arrived and, with a smile, gestured to the seat beside him. “Come, sit and enjoy a tune?”

Gui Yuanshu shook his head. “I’ll pass. I still have pressing business, so I won’t disturb the Young Lord’s leisure.”

Li Chi smiled. “What pressing business can the Chief Justice have? Isn’t your pressing business me?”

Gui Yuanshu paused at those words.

Yu Jiuling, standing nearby, had to fight to keep the corner of his mouth from twitching. Li Chi glanced at him, and he immediately lowered his head in what was clearly a repentant smirk.

Li Chi said, “Last night I had dinner with Deputy Minister of Personnel Liu, and Minister Liu mentioned that Chief Justice Gui has been assigned to watch me — by His Majesty’s orders.”

He patted the armrest of the chair beside him. “Come, sit closer. Better to keep a thorough watch.”

Gui Yuanshu was silent for a moment, then sat down beside Li Chi.

Li Chi said, “Bring tea for Chief Justice Gui.”

An attendant stepped forward and brewed a cup for Gui Yuanshu.

Li Chi said, “Chief Justice, try this tea. They call it Mother Plant Grand Red Robe — the name Grand Red Robe isn’t bad, but why add ‘Mother Plant’? It makes the name rather inelegant.”

Gui Yuanshu’s hand, reaching for the teacup, trembled slightly — he could have sworn Cao Du had said “mother pig” rather than “mother plant.”

Cao Du. Cao Du. Ne’er-do-well, unlettered. Aside from being rich, good for nothing.

Li Chi said, “They all say this tea is precious — can only produce three jin and two liang in a year, yet somehow the market sells over three thousand jin of it every year… What I bought is probably fake, but expensive, so I bought it.”

He glanced at Gui Yuanshu. “By the calculation, this one cup of tea is roughly worth twenty or thirty taels.”

Gui Yuanshu set the teacup back down.

He smiled and said, “The Young Lord has refined tastes, but I am a crude and uncultivated man — such fine and costly tea truly would be wasted on me.”

Li Chi said, “I’m wasting it too. No matter how expensive the tea leaves, what you brew becomes water, and what goes into the body doesn’t take long to become something that flows out again — does urine come in different grades?”

Gui Yuanshu said nothing.

Li Chi said, “Jiuling, pack up some for Chief Justice Gui to take back.”

Gui Yuanshu quickly said, “Young Lord, that’s unnecessary.”

Li Chi said, “What do you mean unnecessary? Giving you a gift is my way of showing generosity. Besides, didn’t I just say — this tea only produces three jin and two liang per year, yet I bought over twenty jin of it yesterday while I had nothing else to do. Every shop swore that their three jin and two liang was the genuine article. I can’t very well play favorites… Jiuling, give Chief Justice Gui about seven or eight jin.”

Seven or eight jin of tea leaves would fill a large chest.

“And by the way.”

Li Chi said, “Yesterday I showed up at the Grand Court of Revision without notice, and thinking it over afterward, I was indeed lacking in respect — both toward Chief Justice Gui and toward the Grand Court of Revision. Perhaps I should make it up to you with some silver.”

He produced a bank draft from his sleeve and held it out to Gui Yuanshu. “Blank. Fill in whatever amount you like.”

Gui Yuanshu immediately rose, clasped his hands, and said, “I do still have official duties to attend to. I won’t keep the Young Lord company — farewell.”

Li Chi said, “Take the tea. Otherwise I’ll have someone deliver it to your residence.”

Gui Yuanshu led his men back to the Grand Court of Revision, where craftsmen were already repairing and restoring the buildings — though calling it repair was generous; it was closer to a full reconstruction.

The peeling paint was being stripped off, ready to be repainted; the broken windows and rotted door panels had been dismantled, measured, and were reportedly already being replaced with new ones.

Gui Yuanshu thought to himself: this man truly is mad with money. All this ostentation, and he doesn’t fear that His Majesty will issue a decree confiscating every last coin of it?

His Majesty was himself chronically short of funds — his treasury was barely better than the Grand Court of Revision’s.

Holding the Heroes’ Assembly — all manner of rewards had been promised, yet not a word about silver prizes. And that was simply because His Majesty had no money.

If this Cao Du kept up this show of extravagance, His Majesty might well reach his limit.

And yet — was that man’s foolishness genuine or feigned?

Just then, two large carts pulled up outside the Grand Court of Revision’s gate. From one of them descended four or five chefs. From the other, people began unloading provisions.

Zheng Shunshun hurried over to ask what was going on, and the answer astonished him.

Young Lord Cao Du had engaged the head chefs from three establishments — the Jade Fragrance Pavilion, the Terrace Tower, and the Jade Mist Pavilion — and had sent them along with premium ingredients to prepare the Grand Court of Revision’s midday meal, as an expression of the Young Lord’s apology for his intrusion the previous day.

Gui Yuanshu came briskly over when he heard and looked over the chefs.

“You may all go. I have no need for you here. Return as you came.”

Gui Yuanshu waved his hand dismissively.

One of the chefs said unhappily, “My lord, if we go back without delivering, we’ll have no way to explain ourselves — and likely lose our livelihoods in the bargain.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “You were only hired by him. If I say I don’t need you, you can go back and report that. What can he do to you?”

The chef replied, “The Terrace Tower was just bought by the Young Lord this morning. He’s our proprietor now — if we don’t follow the proprietor’s orders, I’ll be turned out for certain.”

Another chef said, “The Jade Fragrance Pavilion too — it was bought by the Young Lord. Same story.”

“And the Jade Mist Pavilion as well. The same. The Young Lord offered such an outrageous price our proprietor had no choice but to sell.”

Gui Yuanshu listened to all three finish, inhaled deeply, then turned and walked back in.

“Then cook away. Show everything you know. I haven’t set foot in a proper establishment in years — today, we eat our fill!”

Ding Man asked, “My lord, what does that man really want?”

Gui Yuanshu spoke as he walked. “There are only two things at play. First, he already knows that His Majesty has set us to watch him, so he’s deliberately making nuisances of himself to irritate us… Second, he’s digging a pit for us — we’ve taken his silver, had our yamen renovated at his expense, and now he’s sent all these people to cook for us. He’ll have someone report to His Majesty that the Grand Court of Revision accepted Cao Du’s bribes. That’s the more obnoxious move, and it’s one I didn’t see at first, but now I do…”

Zheng Shunshun asked, “So — are we eating, or not eating?”

“Eating!”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Why in blazes would we not eat? They’ve delivered it right to our door. Not eating would be stupidity.”

Two shichen later. Shiyuan Palace. The imperial study.

Prime Minister Yao Wuhen bowed and said, “Your Majesty, this Cao Du has been far too brazen — the outrageous things he has done in the past two days are beyond counting!”

Emperor Yang Jing glanced at him. “Shouldn’t you, as the realm’s Prime Minister, be a little more composed?”

Yao Wuhen said, “Your Majesty, setting aside the matter of distributing official silver to the commoners, this business of him renovating Chief Justice Gui Yuanshu’s premises alone ought to be prosecuted.”

“Humiliation?”

The Emperor looked at the Imperial Guard commander Hui Chunqiu. “From what I heard Hui Chunqiu describe, it doesn’t sound like humiliation at all.”

He rose and began pacing around the imperial study as he spoke. “Renovating the Grand Court of Revision’s buildings, sending chefs to cook for them, delivering seven or eight jin of Grand Red Robe to Gui Yuanshu…”

At this, the Emperor could not suppress a laugh — though he made no sound.

Seven or eight jin of Grand Red Robe.

Annual yield: three jin and two liang. Daily sales to Cao Du alone: over twenty jin.

Yao Wuhen said, “Your Majesty, you must not be taken in by this man’s outward appearances. This minister suspects his visit to the capital is to serve as a spy for the rebel Li Chi…”

The Emperor smiled. “A spy? That rebel Li Chi has quite an investment to make.”

He turned and pointed to a box on the table. “Yesterday, Deputy Minister of Personnel Liu Shixun dined with Cao Du — on my orders. Cao Du went to extraordinary lengths to have people arrange for him to see me. Do you know why?”

Yao Wuhen did not dare answer rashly. He shook his head. “This minister does not know.”

The Emperor said, “The Cao family is frightened. Li Chi’s rebel forces have broken through Yuzhou. The Cao family had no choice but to relocate to Qiuzhou, but they didn’t dare openly resist the rebel troops and offered up a large sum of silver. Cao Zilu is worried that the Emperor will find out what the Cao family has done and fly into a rage, so she arranged for someone like Cao Du to come to the capital and try at all costs to arrange an audience with me. Do you know how much silver he distributed in a single day? Among the various ministries’ officials, twenty-two received gifts from Cao Du — twenty-one of them received precious pearls, each worth hundreds of gold taels.”

The Emperor glanced at Yao Wuhen. “Do you know what gift he sent to Deputy Minister of Personnel Liu Shixun?”

Yao Wuhen shook his head again. “This minister truly does not know.”

The Emperor pointed toward the table. “It’s right there. Minister Liu didn’t dare keep it and turned it in to me. Go and have a look yourself.”

Yao Wuhen thought: what business do I have looking at that — but he didn’t dare refuse. So he went over and picked it up.

His expression shifted at once. “This is… a genuine work by Master Songming?”

The Emperor nodded, letting out a slow breath. “I’ve already examined it. It is indeed an authentic piece by Master Songming, and I won’t be wrong on that — so saying this single piece of calligraphy is worth ten thousand gold taels is no exaggeration.”

Yao Wuhen hurried to answer, “No exaggeration at all. Not in the slightest.”

The Emperor said, “The value of all the gifts Cao Du has given out combined amounts to roughly tens of thousands of taels…”

He walked over to the desk and sat down, looking at the piece of calligraphy.

“I had Minister Liu probe carefully, and Liu Shixun reported that while Cao Du appears brash and uneducated, it is a facade — a way of concealing the fact that the Cao family is already in crisis. Cao Du’s visit is to offer the Cao family’s near-entirety of wealth, with the aim of petitioning me to permit the Cao family to relocate into Daxing.”

The Emperor said quietly, “I didn’t believe it at first, but then Cao Du had Minister Liu bring me that object.”

He pointed to a small wooden box on the table.

Yao Wuhen instinctively opened the wooden box. Inside was only a single sheet of paper.

The Emperor said, “Have a look.”

Yao Wuhen took it out and read it, and the more he read, the more his heart grew cold.

The Emperor spoke slowly. “The rebel Li Chi harbors the deepest antipathy toward the great established families — nearly everywhere he goes, he purges them. He has carried out no shortage of estate seizures. You are all well acquainted with this.”

“Cao Zilu fears that Li Chi will swallow the family’s assets and then refuse to stop there — that he will drive them out, or simply eliminate them.”

“This letter records the locations of Cao family silver caches in Qiuzhou and Luling. In Qiuzhou, the hidden silver runs to ten million; in Luling, at minimum several million taels…”

The Emperor exhaled heavily. “With this much silver, I could equip a million troops!”

He looked at Yao Wuhen. “I’ve already sent people to Luling at all speed to verify this matter, so Cao Du cannot be touched for now. When my people come back with confirmation, I will make my decision.”

Yao Wuhen swallowed with some difficulty, thinking to himself: can money really give a man license to do anything at all?

Even His Majesty the Emperor was prepared to give the Cao family lenient treatment?

Which meant this Cao Du, in the capital in the days ahead, was going to carry on strutting and domineering?

The Emperor looked at him, as if reading a great many question marks on his face.

Yao Wuhen did the arithmetic: from the capital to Luling and back was at least two and a half months’ travel. In those two and a half months…

Yao Wuhen inwardly cursed.

*Damn him. He sent gifts to so many people and not to me.*

*Even if you sent them, do you think I’d give you face?*

*That Princess of Wu nearly ended my career. I am not going to let you live comfortably in Daxing today.*