The enmity and hatred in this world is complex and often makes no sense. The animosity between one person and another sometimes requires no grudge at all — it may simply be that you are doing better than they are, or simply that they cannot stand the sight of you.

The enmity between two individuals, and the enmity between two powers — these have never been the same thing.

Li Diudiu’s first attempt at nocturnal hunting came to nothing just like that. Ye Zhangzhu’s words sat like a boulder in his chest. His mind was full of Wang Heita — the powerfully built man, the liquor, the great basin of meat, the way he had clasped his hands in that bow.

He pulled open the drawer. Inside lay banknotes worth over a thousand taels. Wang Heita had said they were his payment for services rendered — but if Li Diudiu had truly considered that money his own, he would have already sent it to his master Changmei long ago.

Before he had accepted the banknotes from Wang Heita’s hands, he already knew what he would do with them. Otherwise, he would not have reached out to take them at all.

If one were to say Li Diudiu was a complicated person, that would not be wrong. He could go to the Yunzhai Teahouse and earn money in a way that drew the contempt of other academy disciples — and yet he could not bring himself to pocket these thousand-plus taels.

And this sum, which he might not earn in five years of diligent work at the Yunzhai Teahouse, held not even the smallest temptation for Li Diudiu.

If one were to say he was simple, he was simple enough that seven words sufficed to describe him.

He had things he would do, and things he would not.

And if one needed eight more words on top of those seven, they would be: a gentleman loves wealth, but obtains it through righteous means.

He sat in his room staring at the banknotes in a daze, his mind turning over the words Wang Heita had said that day. After a long silence, Li Diudiu murmured three words to himself.

“Don’t mention it.”

Then he let out a long breath, put the banknotes back in the drawer, and patted it gently. It didn’t feel like a few sheets of paper. It felt like several mountains.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Li Diudiu looked back.

“Who is it?”

“Me.”

What a dull and empty exchange — and yet Li Diudiu’s mood lifted slightly. He went and opened the door. Xiahou Zuo stood outside, his face tense. When he saw Li Diudiu, he gave a tremendous start and stepped back a full pace.

“What in the world?!”

He had half a mind to punch Li Diudiu in the face.

Li Diudiu only then realized — he had come home and forgotten entirely to change his clothes and take off his mask.

“What are you doing with that on?” Xiahou Zuo couldn’t help asking.

“Considering a career change,” Li Diudiu said. “Seeing if tailoring might be more lucrative. Just practicing. What you see before you is this year’s newest design for the market — the Diudiu-style Night-Stalking Outfit.”

Xiahou Zuo looked the outfit over, brow furrowed: “Cropped night-stalking trousers?”

“Professional Assassin Xiahou Ironpillar,” Li Diudiu said.

Xiahou Zuo glared: “What kind of nonsense is that?”

“Does it rhyme or not, that’s all I want to know.”

Xiahou Zuo asked: “Don’t tell me you went out.”

Li Diudiu stepped back into the room and sat down. He let out a sigh and said: “I was going to go out. But the moment I stepped out the door I ran into Teacher Ye, so I came back. He said there was a big disturbance in Jizhou City tonight.”

Xiahou Zuo also let out a long breath. He came inside and said: “Good that you didn’t go. Tonight really was chaotic.”

He sat down across from Li Diudiu and said: “I just received word — the magistrate Zheng Chun died in prison. They’re saying he couldn’t bear it and killed himself by slamming his head against the wall. And then…”

Li Diudiu said: “And then Wang Heita decided to avenge Zheng Chun.”

“Yes.” Xiahou Zuo said: “It was sudden, but someone had been planning it for a long time. Lian Gongming assigned killing Wang Heita to the Qingyi Formation. You accepted the portrait and haven’t acted, and Lian Gongming must have decided he couldn’t wait any longer — so he moved himself.”

“First he had Zheng Chun killed — along with his entire family — and had it called suicide to avoid punishment. Then he made sure word reached Wang Heita. Then someone tipped Wang Heita off that Lian Gongming might be inspecting one of his shadow businesses tonight. Wang Heita naturally wouldn’t pass up that chance.”

“Lian Gongming could never actually go out tonight,” Li Diudiu said. “There are likely any number of formidable people waiting in his residence. He used Wang Heita to strike at the Qingyi Formation, and used the Qingyi Formation to kill Wang Heita.”

Xiahou Zuo nodded: “Stay off the streets tonight. The Jizhou Prefecture’s people are patrolling every alley, claiming to be hunting rebel soldiers who have infiltrated the city.”

Li Diudiu thought about it. No wonder he had run straight into patrol officers the moment he left the academy — though those officers had clearly not been particularly courageous.

“Understood.”

Li Diudiu nodded: “I won’t go out tonight. But tomorrow morning I want to leave Jizhou. Don’t tell my master.”

Xiahou Zuo’s expression shifted: “Where are you going?!”

“To deliver money.”

Li Diudiu laid out everything Wang Heita had entrusted to him, from beginning to end. Xiahou Zuo was silent for a long time, not saying a word. He knew that trying to talk Li Diudiu out of something like this would be useless — though he truly didn’t want Li Diudiu to go.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Don’t. If you leave Jizhou right now, who knows how many people would love to get their hands on you.”

“My profile is lower,” Li Diudiu said. “Nobody pays attention to me leaving Jizhou. I’ve worked it out — first go to Gucheng County to collect the silver, then head to Laihu County. Moving quickly, I can be back in about seven or eight days. Tell Teacher Yan for me.”

Xiahou Zuo said: “Leaving the academy like this — the Dean will likely make trouble for you. You know he’s been looking for an excuse. Because of you, I hear Gao Xining hasn’t eaten for three days…”

He caught himself immediately after saying that and shut his mouth, but he knew it was too late.

He laughed sheepishly: “Young girls argue with their grandfathers — happens all the time, nothing unusual…”

Li Diudiu was quiet for a moment, then stood up: “I’ll see you out.”

Xiahou Zuo: “So heartless?”

Li Diudiu gave a nod: “I’m going to find some food. See if I can get it to her. She’s already thin — three days without eating and she’ll be nothing but skin and bone.”

The corners of Xiahou Zuo’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Li Diudiu thought that expression was rather irritating.

“Don’t go sneaking around the cafeteria. I’ve got food in my room — braised meat, cakes and pastries both. Come with me to get it. Just make sure the Dean doesn’t catch you, or he’ll expel you for certain.”

Xiahou Zuo got up and said: “Young as he is, already entangled in affairs of the heart. Pitiable.”

Li Diudiu scoffed: “Nonsense. She and I are like brothers. She agreed to help me find a wife.”

Xiahou Zuo froze — then also let out a scoff: “Children really are children. Utterly baffling.”

Two quarter-hours later, outside the wall of the Dean’s compound, Li Diudiu had a rough idea of where Gao Xining’s room was. When he had come to cut bamboo here before, Gao Xining had mentioned she slept in the room on the right side of the main building.

The Dean slept on the left side of the main building. It was a row of five rooms in blue-brick-and-tile construction — the middle two connected as a sitting room, one room on the right, two on the left: the Dean’s study and his bedchamber.

Usually there were two or three servants who came to clean, and one maidservant who looked after Gao Xining and handled cooking. Li Diudiu was, to be honest, rather intimidated by that maidservant — she was more ironclad than Xiahou Ironpillar. The other two were manservants who didn’t stay overnight, so Li Diudiu didn’t think getting in would be very difficult.

He scaled the wall nimbly and crouched at the top, looking around — the courtyard was still and quiet. He dropped down inside, then crept toward the room on the right. It had no street-facing door; to get in or out, one would have to go through the sitting room. But no door didn’t mean no window.

Li Diudiu made his way to the window, about to tap softly and test, when he saw a dark shape coming from the east side room. He thought to himself — what excellent timing, he had actually stumbled upon a real thief.

He crouched beneath the window and waited. The dark shape was heading straight for Gao Xining’s room, also bypassing the front door and making for the window.

When the figure came close enough, Li Diudiu shot upright and delivered a quick chop to the person’s neck. The person let out a gurgled sound and crumpled. Li Diudiu was afraid of any noise, so he caught the person as they fell, slung them over his shoulder, vaulted back over the wall, and thought to himself — how dare you come thieving in my Ning-ge’s home. That’s practically suicidal.

Only it was a bit strange. The thief was faintly fragrant, and the texture against his hand was… rather pleasant. That seemed odd.

He carried the person to the small grove — it rarely saw visitors even during the day, let alone at night. He pulled away the black cloth covering the person’s face, looked in the moonlight, and stood there in a daze.

He had nearly taken out his own Ning-ge with that chop.

Li Diudiu reached out with trembling fingers and pressed on Gao Xining’s acupressure point below the nose, not daring to use too much force. Fortunately, Gao Xining came to quickly. The moment her eyes opened, she drew breath to scream. Li Diudiu clapped a hand over her mouth. Gao Xining drove her fist into his abdomen. Li Diudiu almost bit off his own tongue from the pain.

“I… cough cough — Li Chi.”

Gao Xining froze, then immediately began rubbing his stomach: “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it was you! What are you doing at my house — and why did you hit me?!”

Remembering that Li Diudiu had given her a chop, she suddenly felt she had gotten the worse deal. Her light, gentle hand stiffened, and she gave him another punch with her little fist.

“About that…”

Li Diudiu held up the parcel of food he’d brought and showed her: “I heard from Xiahou that you haven’t eaten in three days, so…”

Gao Xining immediately understood — Li Diudiu had come to her house to bring her food, and she had run right into him.

“I… actually I haven’t gone three whole days without eating. I just…”

Her face flushed: “I was just going to the kitchen back there.”

Li Diudiu was dumbfounded.

“Brave warrior, you went to your own kitchen to find something to eat — and you changed into dark clothes, and put on a black mask — was it for the ceremonial gravity of the occasion? Or because you were afraid your grandfather would catch you and thrash you within an inch of your life?”

“Face,” Gao Xining said earnestly. “Grandfather won’t let me go find you, so I’ve been staging a hunger strike to make a point. But hunger strikes are so hungry… yet I couldn’t lose face. So even if I got caught, I couldn’t admit it.”

Li Diudiu laughed: “Are you daft? You sneak food from your own family’s kitchen — did you really think your grandfather wouldn’t figure it out?”

Gao Xining sighed: “I have no other options.”

Li Diudiu laughed: “Stop the hunger strikes. Finding me a wife isn’t urgent.”

“That won’t do,” Gao Xining said. “What if you go and find one yourself?”

“Fine by me!” Li Diudiu stood up, raised his hand to the sky and took a solemn vow: “I, Li Chi, entrust the matter of my wife entirely to Gao Xining. If my wife is found by anyone other than her, may I be struck by heaven’s thunder. If I go and recklessly find one myself, may I be struck by heaven’s thunder twice.”

Gao Xining giggled: “What did you bring to eat?”

—