It suddenly occurred to Gui Yuanshu that the purpose of this visit was not merely to investigate whether there was anything amiss with the men posing as the Shanhai Army.

That had been his own reason for coming. But it was not Gan Daode’s reason for sending him.

The main reason Gan Daode had dispatched him was to find out exactly what the Shanhai Army’s eldest daughter looked like.

The moment it came to mind, Gui Yuanshu found himself instinctively glancing at Gao Xining — the only woman among those present — with a look of slight incredulity.

He already knew she was Prince Ning’s woman. Could Prince Ning really bear to offer her up?

So he shifted his gaze to Li Chi’s face, looking for an answer in his expression.

Li Chi read the question immediately and smiled. “Are you looking for the future Queen Consort of Qingzhou? That’s what Gan Daode sent you to check on, isn’t it?”

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “If I may ask — where is she? Did she not come?”

Little Zhang Zhenren quietly sighed, then raised her hand with perfect docility. “That would be me.”

Gui Yuanshu looked at Gao Xining, then looked at Little Zhang Zhenren. He could not quite process this.

He sat there in something of a stupor, unable to speak for a long moment, quite genuinely uncertain what there was to say.

The feeling at this particular moment was that of being the only sane person in a room full of lunatics — you could not open your mouth, because the lunatics would find the gap in your reasoning the moment you did.

Then, thinking that he would now be spending the foreseeable future surrounded by these lunatics, Gui Yuanshu was struck by a sudden wave of sorrow.

Li Chi smiled and asked: “What’s wrong? Do you feel that sending Little Zhang Zhenren to deal with Gan Daode is giving him too much face?”

Gui Yuanshu looked at Gao Xining again, sighed, and said: “I had assumed it would be the Princess Consort of Ning going. I thought — what a tremendous sacrifice that would be.”

He looked at Little Zhang Zhenren and shook his head. “I had never imagined the sacrifice could be quite this tremendous.”

Little Zhang Zhenren said: “You understand me.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “No. I do not.”

Yu Jiuling said: “Mostly we just didn’t want to give Gan Daode that much face. Little Zhang Zhenren is the least presentable among us, so the choice was obvious.”

Gui Yuanshu looked at Yu Jiuling, considered for a moment, and said: “Does Jizhou operate on its own independent aesthetic standards? If so, I may reconsider going there — because by your standards, I would be considered unattractive.”

Dantai Qi gave a thumbs-up: “A learned man’s words are something else. Not a single insult in there, yet we all understood perfectly that he was calling Yu Jiuling ugly.”

Yu Jiuling: “…”

Li Chi asked Gui Yuanshu: “Just tell me straight — can you cooperate or not?”

Gui Yuanshu said with firm and unambiguous certainty: “You’ll need to pay me.”

The resolve was absolute, because this was a matter of conscience.

Li Chi asked: “How much?”

Gui Yuanshu said: “If it were someone like the Princess Consort, I would cooperate without charge and do everything in my power to ensure her safety. But if it is…”

He looked at Little Zhang Zhenren. “If it is Little Zhang Zhenren, I would need enough to live out the rest of my years in comfort — because I genuinely cannot imagine the strain of telling Gan Daode that the future consort possesses the beauty to make fish sink and geese fall from the sky. I may not survive the second half of my life.”

Yu Jiuling said: “What if we swapped her out? Drop Little Zhang Zhenren, use me instead.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “If it were you, things would be simpler.”

Yu Jiuling grinned and bumped Little Zhang Zhenren’s shoulder. “You see? Lord Gui’s eyes are sharp — he can tell I’m better-looking than you.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “If it were you, I would offer my entire fortune and beg to be removed from this assignment entirely. At the very worst I could take my own life — and surely once I’m dead you couldn’t trouble me anymore.”

Little Zhang Zhenren bumped Yu Jiuling’s shoulder. “You see? Lord Gui’s eyes are sharp.”

Li Chi said: “Here’s the arrangement. If you cooperate successfully, I’ll send people to Daxing to collect your family and friends, and I won’t deduct that cost from your pay.”

Gui Yuanshu said seriously: “Please see reason.”

Li Chi said: “Fine — an extra hundred taels per person on top of that.”

Gui Yuanshu looked at his subordinates and said: “I cannot decide your futures alone. Let’s discuss it — do we take this job, or go back and throw in our lot with Gan Daode? He hasn’t treated us badly, after all — food and drink provided, silver freely given.”

Zheng Shunshun said: “Let’s just mutiny and go to Gan Daode. At minimum he’s generous — never made us count every coin.”

Ding Man said: “Exactly, exactly. He’s never once made us feel like we had to scrimp.”

Yu Jiuling said: “The benefits there are that good? Take me with you when you defect…”

Li Chi sighed. “When we return to Jizhou, I’ll arrange housing in the city for all of you and your families, and I’ll see to your livelihoods.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “You’ve found my weakness.”

Li Chi said: “I think I’ve found your pressure point, actually.”

Yu Jiuling said: “That’s perhaps not the most flattering way to put it — though it does describe the culture around here.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “When I return, I’ll tell Gan Daode that the Shanhai Army’s eldest daughter is indeed a woman of breathtaking beauty. My conscience is aching even as I say it — but the moment I remember it’s Gan Daode I’m deceiving, the ache disappears.”

Li Chi said: “Then we proceed as agreed. Once you’re back, don’t seek us out unnecessarily. Only make contact when Gan Daode tells you to, so as not to raise suspicion.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “Understood. Then we’ll take our leave.”

He waved a hand. “Let’s go.”

Zheng Shunshun and the others turned to Li Chi and bowed: “Goodbye, boss.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “…So the speed at which you’ve all switched allegiances is also something I never could have anticipated.”

Yu Jiuling said: “You’ll get used to it. Everyone on our side is fast.”

—

Shortly afterward, at the residence of the Prince of Qingzhou.

Gan Daode could barely contain himself. “Lord Gui — did you actually see the young lady herself?”

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “I did.”

Gan Daode pressed even more eagerly: “Well? What is she like?”

Gui Yuanshu carefully organized his wording in his mind, sat up straight, and said with complete seriousness: “Let me put it this way. The future consort’s appearance is… rarely matched. And her figure… is likewise rarely matched.”

“Hahahaha!”

Gan Daode burst into laughter. “Excellent, excellent! Once the coronation ceremony is done, Lord Gui need not rush back to Daxing — stay and help me plan the wedding. What do you say?”

Gui Yuanshu pressed his fists together in salute: “The Prince has shown me great kindness. Naturally I must serve him to the best of my ability. No need for the Prince to even ask — whatever I am capable of, I will do without sparing any effort.”

Gan Daode brightened visibly. “Once these two matters are settled, you have only to name what you want and it shall be yours. And Lord Gui — consider this: when everything is done, perhaps you need not return to court at all. Stay here and serve by my side. I am fond of men like you — clever, capable, and possessed of good judgment. It is rare.”

Gui Yuanshu said: “Once the great affair is concluded, I will give the Prince my answer. If things go well, I will be glad to stay. If they do not, I would be too ashamed to face him.”

Gan Daode laughed. “Men who have served in court are something else — they know how to speak. Very well, go attend to your work. I am leaving the coronation arrangements entirely in your hands.”

Gui Yuanshu thought to himself: many thanks to you, for making me the head of this funeral committee. I will make sure it is spectacular.

—

The next day, Gui Yuanshu brought his people to the open space in the city that would serve as the main venue for the ceremony.

Here, a grand platform would be erected before long, and on it Gan Daode would receive the obeisances of the people.

A considerable number of craftsmen and laborers were already at work — leveling the ground, hauling timber — and progress was moving along quickly. Barring any mishap, everything would be done within ten days.

Gui Yuanshu looked around and sent for the foreman of the work crew, handing him a revised set of plans.

“On reflection, the original design had a few shortcomings. I’ve added some elements in the new plans. Build to these.”

The foreman agreed immediately. Looking it over, the changes were not substantial and would not add more than a couple of days to the schedule.

After issuing this instruction, Gui Yuanshu said he wanted to inspect the timber and stone that had been procured. Having looked things over, he declared that the quantity was likely insufficient, and the quality was also subpar. He would go and select better materials — only the strongest and finest would do for the platform.

The following days passed without incident. Gui Yuanshu and his people were occupied from morning to night with preparations for the ceremony, returning to the Prince’s residence only at night; during the day they ate and slept on-site.

When Gan Daode heard of this, his admiration and fondness for Gui Yuanshu deepened further. He resolved that whatever it took, he had to keep this man.

Those days, Li Chi and the others appeared to have nothing much to do. To avoid raising suspicion among the guards posted outside the compound, they went out in small groups each day to stroll and make purchases.

After a while, the guards grew complacent. When they saw someone leaving, they gave a casual nod and did not bother to ask where they were going.

Yu Jiuling, in short order, had gotten on remarkably well with the Slayer King’s Army soldiers standing watch outside. He would bring them along to a tavern for food and drink, buy them small gifts — and within four or five days, those men were calling him brother.

This naturally meant Yu Jiuling could glean especially valuable intelligence. Before long, he had identified precisely which establishment in Wulai City offered the finest entertainment.

Asking Yu Jiuling to deal with court officials was perhaps asking too much of him. But at dealing with men like these — there were few who could match him.

Another five or six days passed. The platform at the main venue was complete. Gui Yuanshu invited Gan Daode to come inspect it. Gan Daode was hardly eager to make the trip — he trusted Gui Yuanshu implicitly and felt the man was more expert in such matters than anyone. But Xu Ru counseled that he really ought to go see for himself, if only to familiarize himself with the setting so nothing went wrong on the day.

The moment Gan Daode departed the residence with his entourage, Zheng Shunshun returned not long after — leading several unfamiliar faces with him. The residence guards questioned them briefly; Zheng Shunshun said they were craftsmen, called in to help with the moving. That satisfied the guards.

Once inside, Li Chi — his appearance disguised — slipped quietly into Gan Daode’s study. He intended not only to kill Gan Daode, but eventually to destroy the Slayer King’s Army entirely. In that study there were bound to be many military secrets.

Troop deployments. Locations of grain stores and supply depots. Finding out now would be of enormous benefit when the Ning Army clashed with the Slayer King’s Army in the future.

Li Chi dropped in through the rear window and looked around. The room was empty. He moved on light feet toward the writing desk.

Gan Daode had not received much of an education, but he was afraid people would know it — and so he had erected an enormous bookcase in his study, filling it from floor to ceiling with volumes.

In practice, he had never opened a single one. Many of the books still had their pages sealed together with dried ink.

The first thing Li Chi noticed upon entering was a large map hanging on the wall, with various positions marked in charcoal.

He crossed to it immediately and studied it carefully. His memory was exceptional — a few moments of observation would be enough to retain the general picture.

At that precise moment, up on the study’s rafters, a figure in black crouched motionless — like a leopard waiting to spring, eyes glinting with cold light.

He had noticed Li Chi the moment he entered. He had not rushed to act, because this particular intruder struck him as different.

No scrambling for valuables. Instead, going straight to the map.

Beside him on the beam lay an unsheathed broadsword. Its blade had the luster of still autumn water — clearly no ordinary weapon.

—