Gui Yuanshu looked at Li Chi — looked at him carefully and seriously, because he felt that Li Chi’s words were serious too.

He asked: “What kind of thief are you?”

Li Chi swayed the meat pastry in his hand: “The kind who steals food from the common people… and it’s not just me — the entire Cao family, top to bottom, are all thieves.”

He walked to one side and sat down, tilting his head back to gaze at the bright moon in the sky.

“My great-uncle Cao Ziluo is the greatest thief in the Cao family. My father Cao Dengke is second only to my great-uncle.”

Saying this, Li Chi looked toward Gui Yuanshu: “Every single one of them has risked life and limb to plunder things out of Dachu and make them their own, and so the Cao family became the wealthiest household in Yuzhou. Ah — right.”

He took a bite of the meat pastry and spoke while chewing: “My aunt — the consort of Prince Wu — is also a thief. She stole Prince Wu’s name and prestige and used it to help the Cao family climb, step by step, to the heights we stand at today.”

Gui Yuanshu was stunned to hear all this. He could never have imagined that Cao Du would say such things.

Li Chi said: “Did you really think I was a good-for-nothing? If I were, why would my great-uncle have sent me to Daxing?”

He ate bite after bite, speaking sentence after sentence.

“With my background, with my station — if I didn’t act like the person everyone expects me to be…”

He looked at Gui Yuanshu again: “Everyone would be disappointed.”

Gui Yuanshu sighed: “So even someone like you doesn’t live freely.”

Li Chi curled his lip: “Nonsense. What’s there to be unhappy about for someone like me? I have more money than I can spend…”

As he said this, Tang Pidi’s face rose in his mind — smiling warmly, looking at him, asking… *what are you saying?*

So he let out a sigh: “Of course, it can all be spent. It just depends on how.”

He continued: “Let me put it another way. I have more wealth than I can count. I have a status that almost no one dares cross. You’re saying I’m unhappy? People like you are far too easily swayed by that sentimental, self-pitying nonsense.”

Gui Yuanshu shot him a glare.

He sat down beside Li Chi and looked at him: “What you mean is — someone in your position actually has no choice. You can only be the person who appears to be a good-for-nothing.”

Li Chi turned the question back: “And what about you? Do you have a choice?”

Gui Yuanshu shook his head: “I was enfeoffed by His Majesty, and I received grace from Prince Wu. I have no choice.”

Li Chi gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment, and a flash of sadness crossed his eyes.

A man like Gui Yuanshu — who on the surface seemed just as much a good-for-nothing — was in truth one of the most loyal men Dachu had.

When the day truly came that rebel armies surrounded Daxing, the entire court might find every conceivable way to secure their own escape routes.

But not Gui Yuanshu. He would stand on the city walls and bleed out to the last drop.

So Li Chi decided not to press him further. A man’s will cannot be taken from him. What *can* be taken is not will — only helplessness.

“Tired.”

Li Chi rose: “I’m going to sleep.”

Gui Yuanshu watched him and asked: “Someone like you — living in such luxury, so refined in your habits — you don’t seem picky about where you sleep. I heard that all along the road here you refused to stay at inns. Said they were dirty.”

Li Chi said: “And did you also hear that I’ve stayed at every brothel along the way?”

Gui Yuanshu gave a small laugh.

Li Chi walked into the room without looking back, and before long the faint sound of his snoring drifted out.

Gui Yuanshu couldn’t sleep. Only because of that one question Li Chi had asked him — *someone like you, do you have a choice?*

—

The next day at noon, a piece of news suddenly spread through the Hero Assembly with unsettling speed — so fast that it caught everyone off guard.

The source of this news appeared to be connected to an underground money house.

Someone had received word that an underground money house operating in Daxing had relocated overnight — the place was cleared out, everyone gone.

It was also rumored that the sudden disappearance of this underground money house was connected to the newly impeached Minister of Finance, Zheng Tuohai.

The story went that Zheng Tuohai had embezzled all of the funds the court had allocated for the Hero Assembly and deposited them into this underground money house. When Zheng Tuohai was investigated, the operators of the money house, fearing they would be implicated, had fled overnight.

Once this story spread, nearly every person who had come to Daxing for the Hero Assembly erupted in outrage.

—

**The Shiyuan Palace. The Imperial Study.**

Emperor Yang Jing’s expression was as dark as a sky thick with storm clouds. He said nothing — yet everyone in the Imperial Study felt the full weight of his thunderous fury.

At any moment, that lightning could strike down on any one of them.

“Gui Yuanshu.”

The Emperor held his voice down as he looked toward Gui Yuanshu, who immediately bowed: “Your servant is present.”

The deliberate suppression of the Emperor’s rage was something everyone could sense — and they all knew that this kind of restraint was precisely the harbinger of an eruption.

“I ask you — have you found the one who spread this rumor?”

Gui Yuanshu bowed his head and answered: “Your Majesty, the moment I received the order, I immediately led men to the Hero Assembly’s encampment. I was unable to locate where the one who first spread the rumor was hiding, but the general sequence of events has been established.”

The Emperor suddenly turned to face Gui Yuanshu: “You are the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review. I ask you to find and arrest one person — why can you not do it?!”

Gui Yuanshu dropped to his knees: “Your Majesty, your servant is guilty.”

The Chief Eunuch Zhen Xiaodao watched Gui Yuanshu, who could offer no defense at all, and felt his heart ache for the man.

So he leaned close to the Emperor and quietly reminded him: “Your Majesty, the Chief Justice only has four men with him — the rest were reassigned to the Thirteen Gates Superintendent…”

Before he could finish, the Emperor turned on him with a shout: “Does the Emperor need *your* reminders?!”

Zhen Xiaodao also dropped to his knees with a thud.

Chief Minister Yao Zhidong had only recently made his own error, but with his petty and vindictive nature, he was never one to pass up an opportunity to strike at Gui Yuanshu.

Yao Zhidong cleared his throat and said: “Even with just a few men, a Chief Justice executing an imperial command should still be able to direct his own people. That he cannot is difficult to justify. Moreover — yesterday, when Minister Gui was overseeing the search of the Ministry of Finance’s residence, these rumors appeared today. It may not be unrelated.”

The Emperor frowned and turned to Yao Zhidong: “What is the Chief Minister trying to tell me? That Gui Yuanshu deliberately leaked the information? Then tell me — why would Gui Yuanshu deliberately say such things?”

Yao Zhidong bowed: “Your Majesty, Minister Gui may not have leaked it intentionally — it is also possible that his subordinates let something slip inadvertently…”

The Emperor said: “His people haven’t left Zheng Tuohai’s household for a full day and night. Who would they have told? You?”

Yao Zhidong was taken aback.

The Emperor walked up to Yao Zhidong, and the sound of his deliberately suppressed fury became even more pronounced.

“Every matter concerning the Hero Assembly was entrusted to you and Zheng Tuohai. Every transfer of funds passed through your hands. Chief Minister — I find I should be asking *you* rather than Gui Yuanshu.”

Yao Zhidong immediately replied: “Your Majesty, your servant has been wronged! All the funds were indeed approved by my hand, but I did not personally handle a single tael of silver — it was all Zheng Tuohai who…”

“**Enough!**”

The Emperor’s roar cut him off.

The sudden outburst made Yao Zhidong flinch visibly.

“Setting the matter of the silver aside — the Hero Assembly was under your administration, and the Thirteen Gates Superintendent Zhou Changci was also under your direction…”

The Emperor paused at this point, then called toward the door: “Tell Zhou Changci to drag himself in here.”

The moment the words fell, the Thirteen Gates Superintendent Zhou Changci entered looking as though he had literally crawled his way in — he knelt on the ground and kept striking his head against the floor, repeating *your servant is guilty* over and over.

The Emperor asked: “When Zheng Tuohai’s household was being searched, I understand that Gui Yuanshu sent men to request personnel from you — why did you refuse? Then when I sent him to investigate who was spreading this rumor, he went to you again for men — why did you still refuse?”

Zhou Changci instinctively looked up toward Chief Minister Yao Zhidong, his eyes filled with desperation, pleading for help.

Seeing that Yao Zhidong paid him no attention whatsoever, Zhou Changci lowered his head again and said: “Your Majesty, your servant had to manage over eighty thousand men from the jianghu and the wandering sects — there was truly no way to spare anyone. If we were stretched too thin, it could have caused serious disorder…”

The Emperor raised a hand and pointed outward: “And so now, with those eighty thousand people jammed into the streets demanding an explanation from the Emperor — *that* is the achievement you maintained the order for?!”

Zhou Changci opened his mouth, but what more was there he could possibly say.

“**Hui Chunqiu!**”

The Emperor called out.

The Commander of the Imperial Guard, Hui Chunqiu, entered immediately: “Your servant is present.”

The Emperor pointed at Zhou Changci: “Strip him of his official robes, remove his official hat, and drag him directly out to face those eighty thousand people on the street. Tell them — *he* and Zheng Tuohai conspired together. He is the Emperor’s answer to those eighty thousand righteous men!”

Hearing this, Zhou Changci jerked his head up sharply: “Your Majesty! You cannot do this to me!”

Then he turned to Yao Zhidong: “Chief Minister! It was you who told me not to give Gui Yuanshu any men — you sent someone to tell me that, it was your order!”

Yao Zhidong, his face slightly pale, replied: “Don’t slander me with baseless accusations. Matters of patrol and public security I have always left to you — when have I ever interfered?”

The Emperor glanced at Hui Chunqiu, who understood immediately and reached out to remove Zhou Changci’s jaw.

Imperial guards entered, stripped Zhou Changci of his official robes, removed his official hat, and dragged him away.

The Emperor turned to look at Yao Zhidong, who also immediately fell to his knees: “Your servant has erred. Your servant was negligent.”

The Emperor had no desire to look at his face. He turned to Gui Yuanshu: “Explain everything.”

Gui Yuanshu, still kneeling, said: “Your servant has established the following: the one who first spread the rumor is a ruffian and scoundrel who lives in Daxing — someone who appears to have been acquainted with Zheng Tuohai’s son, Zheng Le. Upon learning that Zheng Le had gotten into trouble, he immediately went to the underground money house to withdraw his deposit there, wanting funds for his escape. But when he arrived at the money house, he found the place completely vacated…”

Gui Yuanshu looked up at the Emperor: “He then told a fellow townsman — who happened to be someone participating in the Hero Assembly — and that person spread it to more people. From there, it spread to ten and then a hundred… and before long the public sentiment was beyond control.”

The Emperor was silent for a moment, then looked toward Jiang Qianneng.

“Jiang Qianneng — I am entrusting all matters concerning the Hero Assembly to you now. Tell me — how should this be handled?”

Jiang Qianneng bowed: “Your Majesty, first — stop investigating Minister Zheng’s case. Immediately bring Zheng Tuohai and his family, the Thirteen Gates Superintendent Zhou Changci and his subordinates, and those who first spread the rumors — bring all of them before the tens of thousands of people at once.”

After a brief pause, he continued: “Second — if the treasury still has silver, distribute five taels to every person immediately. By a count of eighty thousand, that comes to no more than four hundred thousand taels. This will settle the people’s hearts.”

“Third — announce that this was Zheng Tuohai’s conspiracy. Because he was investigated and refused to accept it, he attempted to sabotage the Hero Assembly by having someone spread rumors — intending to incite a mass uprising and foment rebellion…”

At this point, he raised his head and looked at the Emperor: “As I said, Your Majesty — Zheng Tuohai and the others are to be brought before the tens of thousands… then… they need not be formally executed by the court according to law. Remove their jaws. Throw them into the crowd.”

The moment he finished speaking, every person in the Imperial Study froze.

Gui Yuanshu instinctively looked at this Minister Jiang who had just been elevated to Deputy Minister of War — and felt a wave of cold dread wash through him.

The Emperor’s expression also shifted.

A long silence fell.

Then the Emperor waved his hand: “Go and handle it.”

Jiang Qianneng immediately bowed: “Your servant obeys. Your servant requests that the Chief Justice accompany your servant in executing this matter.”

The Emperor nodded: “Granted!”

—