“Sir — shall we move?” Zheng Shunshun looked at Gui Yuanshu.

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “Move.”

Dong Dongdong stared blankly at the three people before him, and couldn’t resist asking, “The three of you are going to take on Yin Chang’s people?”

“There are more than three of us,” Gui Yuanshu said.

Qi Qiangqi’s eyes lit up. “You brought a great army?”

He remembered that Gui Yuanshu had just said they were soldiers under Prince Ning’s banner — which meant it was highly possible they had come with military forces.

“No,” Gui Yuanshu said. “And we won’t need one.”

He turned to Zheng Shunshun. “Get into Shang’an County as quickly as you can, find those two men, and have them ready. We’re going to see this through.”

Then he looked at Ding Man. “You’re with me. We go in together. Have the brothers wait at the city gates to cover our retreat.”

Qi Qiangqi grabbed Gui Yuanshu’s arm. “You’re saying… five of you are going to arrest Yin Chang?”

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “That’s right.”

“I just told you,” Qi Qiangqi said, “Yin Chang has over six hundred constables alone. Add in all the ruffians attached to him, and you’re looking at more than a thousand men. Five of you want to take on Yin Chang?”

Gui Yuanshu smiled. “When I’m old someday and my grandson asks me, ‘Grandpa, did you ever do anything remarkable?’ — I’ll be able to lean back and casually, with total dignity, pick out one thing and tell him: ‘Your grandfather once charged into a fight with four brothers — five men against more than a thousand.'”

Qi Qiangqi looked at Dong Dongdong. Dong Dongdong was silent for a moment, then looked at Gui Yuanshu. “When you’re telling that story to your grandson someday — if you said seven men against more than a thousand instead of five, would it change how impressive the story sounds?”

Gui Yuanshu burst out laughing. “It would. But I think that sounds even better.”

Dong Dongdong smiled. “Then take us with you.”

“One more thing,” Qi Qiangqi said. “You don’t have any evidence right now. Only what the two of us have told you — that doesn’t constitute solid proof.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Prince Ning once said: if the absence of evidence means a villain cannot be brought to justice, then we find another way.”

Qi Qiangqi asked, “What way?”

“You’ll see in time,” Gui Yuanshu said.

One hour later, before darkness fell, Gui Yuanshu and his group entered Shang’an County. They hadn’t used the Shen Medical Hall credentials — they had no shortage of identity documents, both genuine and otherwise.

Prince Ning was perhaps the first man in all of history to send his subordinates traveling through his own territory carrying a stack of forged papers.

Once inside the county seat, Gui Yuanshu’s group strolled leisurely along the streets looking for an inn — not one for themselves, but the one where Zhang Youdong and Zhao Shanying were staying. Those two were already under close surveillance by Yin Chang’s people.

The area around that inn was watched from every direction, openly and in secret, with more eyes than anyone could count.

“What do we do now?” Dong Dongdong asked Gui Yuanshu.

“Eat,” Gui Yuanshu said. “A proper, hearty meal.”

They moved away from the inn and found a restaurant that looked to be a decent size. After asking around, they confirmed it was indeed one of Yin Chang’s properties — originally it had belonged to someone else, but because the business had been so good, Yin Chang had used his influence to drive out the original owner and seized it for himself.

Gui Yuanshu had chosen this place deliberately, because they had a plan that sounded outrageous even to themselves.

They didn’t bother with a private room. The five of them sat down wherever they liked in the main hall and ordered an entire table’s worth of dishes — extravagant and lavish. Not only did they order the most expensive food, they ordered the most expensive wine, and had the young waiter brew a pot of the most expensive tea.

The waiter took one look at them and knew these were people of some distinction, so he attended to them with reasonable diligence and courtesy.

Meanwhile, shortly after they had entered the city, before coming here, they had made a deliberate loop past the inn where Zhang Youdong and Zhao Shanying were staying. The cover of dusk was the best concealment.

They had been able to find the right room because of a prearranged signal — the occupants would open their window and hang a garment outside.

While no one was watching, Gui Yuanshu had wrapped a note around a stone and thrown it through the open window.

Then he heard a sharp “Ouch!” — and immediately turned and walked briskly away.

Inside the room, Zhang Youdong rubbed the lump that had sprung up on his head. *The room is this spacious,* he thought, *and it hit me right on the head. There must be some irresistible force in the cosmos guiding things.*

They read Gui Yuanshu’s note and began their preparations.

Back at the restaurant.

The food and wine arrived quickly. The five of them exchanged glances, and Gui Yuanshu gave the order: “Eat.”

These five attacked the meal at remarkable speed, sweeping through dish after dish like a storm. Gui Yuanshu’s group hadn’t eaten in a full day and were famished — and Dong Dongdong and Qi Qiangqi were no different.

The spectacle of five people eating with such ferocity left the other patrons and the waiters thoroughly bewildered.

Watching this display, one waiter had no choice but to wonder whether he had misjudged them — people of any standing really shouldn’t eat like this.

He glanced toward the proprietor, who had already beckoned several of the restaurant’s enforcers over and instructed them to keep an eye on that table — they couldn’t let these people eat and run.

The restaurant’s enforcers all answered to one Liu San — the biggest gang leader in town. He had committed every manner of atrocity on Yin Chang’s behalf, and fancied himself Yin Chang’s adopted son, a man no one in the city dared cross.

“Full?” Gui Yuanshu dabbed his mouth with a handkerchief.

The other four all nodded.

“Two options,” Gui Yuanshu said. “I go alone and the four of you hold the fort here. Or the four of you go, and I hold the fort alone.”

Zheng Shunshun grinned. “You go, sir. The four of us ate too much — better we stay here and let it settle.”

Gui Yuanshu stood up. “One hour. Can you hold?”

Ding Man laughed. “You still don’t trust us, sir? Relax. If we can’t hold, we’ll just run.”

Gui Yuanshu smiled, then turned to the proprietor. “I’ll be stepping out — these four will keep eating for a while.”

The proprietor figured losing one of five wasn’t a great problem, nodded, and said something polite.

And so, roughly two quarters of an hour after Gui Yuanshu left, the proprietor grew increasingly uneasy. The four remaining guests were clearly already full — they were sitting there quite contentedly, sipping tea and chatting, showing no sign whatsoever of intending to leave.

The proprietor shot a look at a waiter. The waiter understood immediately. He went over to Zheng Shunshun’s table, bent at the waist with a smile, and said, “Have you gentlemen enjoyed your meal? Were all the dishes to your liking? If there’s anything you felt wasn’t quite right, please don’t hesitate to tell me — we’ll do our best to improve.”

The unspoken message behind all this was: *time to pay and go.*

Zheng Shunshun set down his teacup and looked at the waiter. “How long has your restaurant been open?”

The question had nothing to do with what the waiter had just said, but he answered it anyway. “This establishment has been open for over thirty years.”

Zheng Shunshun said thoughtfully, “Thirty years — you must have seen every kind of customer by now. The good and the bad, the soft and the hard… Many shameless ones?”

The waiter said, “What does that mean, sir?”

“Just joking,” Zheng Shunshun said. “But there is something I genuinely want to ask — please enlighten me.”

“Go ahead, sir.”

“For everything we’ve eaten today,” Zheng Shunshun said, “roughly how many people washing dishes for how many days would cover the cost?”

The waiter went still for a moment, then realized what was happening. His expression turned cold. “If you gentlemen are here to have a bit of fun, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. This is one of Liu San’s establishments.”

Zheng Shunshun said, “The look on your face — you think we’re going to eat without paying, don’t you?”

The waiter’s expression shifted again. *Have I read this wrong?*

Before he could speak, Zheng Shunshun said with a smile, “You’re right. So you can send someone over to deal with us now.”

The waiter’s fury ignited. “So you really are looking to die!”

The proprietor waved his hand. “Teach them a lesson! Strutting in here to make trouble — in a place like this! Be quick about it. San has said to keep things quiet these two days, so deal with them fast and dump them in the back courtyard.”

The enforcers immediately moved toward Zheng Shunshun’s table, eyes full of menace.

Zheng Shunshun turned to Dong Dongdong. “After you.”

Dong Dongdong said, “You’re our guests from afar — guests go first.”

Before he even finished speaking, one enforcer had already charged in close and launched a kick straight at Dong Dongdong’s face.

Half a quarter-hour later: every other patron in the restaurant had fled. Scattered across the floor of the main hall were over ten bodies — all waiters and enforcers.

Zheng Shunshun looked at the proprietor and said pleasantly, “What are you waiting for? Go get more people.”

The proprietor finally came to his senses, spun around, and bolted.

Not long after, Liu San arrived with dozens of men in tow. The moment he stepped inside and saw the scene, his temper flared.

“Break them!” He pointed at Zheng Shunshun’s group, and his dozens of men all charged forward. These men had done every manner of evil — killing people was nothing to them — so every one of them was brutal and ruthless.

But ruthless as they were, they were still just street thugs.

One more quarter-hour later: dozens more bodies lay on the floor of the main hall, groaning and wailing in a chorus of misery.

Zheng Shunshun looked at Liu San. “Your turn to go get people. Quickly — run.”

Liu San’s face had gone rather pale. He said, “Just you wait,” turned, and ran out of the restaurant.

About two quarters of an hour later, the constable captain Yin Xincheng arrived with over a hundred men in a great clamoring procession. At the restaurant’s entrance, he waved his hand. “Surround the place. Seal both ends of the street — nobody goes in. Everyone else: get inside and hack those troublemakers to pieces and feed them to the pigs!”

A crowd of constables stormed inside, and soon the sounds of fighting erupted again.

Two more quarters of an hour passed. Zheng Shunshun’s four had formed a small circle, standing back-to-back. Up until now they had been bare-handed; now they each held a long blade. Around them lay a ring of fallen men — and among the groaning wounded, there were now also corpses.

All four were breathing hard, soaked through with sweat and blood.

“Dong Dongdong,” Zheng Shunshun said between breaths. “Still holding up?”

Dong Dongdong let out a grunt. “No worse than you!”

—

Rewinding about two quarters of an hour: the inn.

Zhang Youdong and Zhao Shanying set fire to the room they’d been staying in, then shouted “Fire! Fire!” As smoke poured out and flames caught, everyone in the inn scrambled outside at once, and the scene immediately dissolved into chaos.

Before long, a number of constables arrived to help — or so it appeared. Their real concern wasn’t the fire; they were terrified that the distinguished visitors from Jizhou might be burned alive inside.

—

At the county yamen.

Yin Chang received word of the incident at the restaurant. Then someone came running to report the fire at the inn. Yin Chang flew into a rage, dispatched men in every direction, and stayed behind with the remaining county officials to wait for news.

It was at this moment that Gui Yuanshu walked through the front gates of the county yamen from outside. The constables who had been standing guard at the entrance now lay collapsed on the ground.

As Gui Yuanshu walked, he pulled the Yaksha face mask down over his face.

Prince Ning had said: if the absence of evidence means a villain cannot be punished, then find another way.

—