The county magistrate of Maoyang County, Yin Xinping, was thrown somewhat off-balance by Gui Yuanshu’s words. When people meet for the first time, there ought to be a few pleasantries exchanged first — yet the man had opened his mouth straight away to ask whether the meal had been prepared.

So Yin Xinping could only smile along and ask: “Does the honored official have any particular dishes in mind? I’ll have people prepare them immediately.”

Gui Yuanshu smiled and replied: “When it comes to eating, in my view, it doesn’t really matter what you eat — what matters is how you eat.”

Yin Xinping had things weighing on his mind and truly had neither the patience nor the interest to bandy words with Gui Yuanshu. What he really wanted was for Gui Yuanshu and his party to hurry inside the city walls, and then they could deal with things.

Once they were inside the city, he could immediately have this party of a hundred-odd men seized, whatever their purpose in coming.

Yet at this moment Gui Yuanshu had stopped right at the gate, and Yin Xinping was already beginning to regret having asked him what he wanted to eat.

But he still had to swallow his impatience and keep smiling as he asked: “What does the honored official mean by ‘how you eat’?”

Gui Yuanshu said: “Eating ought to be a thoroughly enjoyable affair. If even eating cannot be enjoyed, then there is nothing in this world worth enjoying at all — which is why how you eat is more important than what you eat.”

He hopped down from his horse and strolled over to Yin Xinping with a cheerful smile, gesturing with his hand: “Whether the manner of eating is joyful or not — that is what truly matters.”

Yin Xinping said: “Let the honored official please enter the city first. As for how eating might be made enjoyable, once we hold a reception banquet for you at the county office, this humble official will seek your instruction then.”

Gui Yuanshu waved his hand: “No rush — I haven’t finished yet. Just a few words.”

He raised one finger: “The two most enjoyable ways of eating are: the first — eating alone and keeping every last bite to yourself.”

Yin Xinping was briefly stunned by this. What on earth did any of this have to do with anything?

The two of them were meeting for the first time, complete strangers, and yet this Lord Gui spoke without the slightest trace of formality — saying whatever came to his mind.

Meanwhile, Yin Xin’an — who was not in a position to show himself directly — had concealed himself not far away and was watching proceedings, wanting to see clearly just what the Intelligence Guard Army’s sudden arrival was about.

He could faintly make out what Gui Yuanshu was saying, and even he couldn’t quite make sense of the situation.

If he couldn’t make sense of it, then his younger brother Yin Xinping certainly couldn’t either — and so Yin Xinping had no choice but to steel himself and ask: “And the second type, honored official?”

Gui Yuanshu said: “The second type — is dining and dashing.”

This left Yin Xinping stunned all over again. Was that really something a person of standing and status ought to say?

Seeing Yin Xinping’s expression shift, Gui Yuanshu smiled: “Do you know what dining and dashing means?”

Yin Xinping smiled awkwardly: “I have some idea, some idea…”

Gui Yuanshu said: “You don’t.”

Yin Xinping asked: “What does the honored official mean?”

Gui Yuanshu said: “If you knew that there exists a kind in this world who eat and then run, you would never have come out to meet me.”

And with those words, Gui Yuanshu drove his fist straight into Yin Xinping’s temple.

The punch came without the slightest warning — not even the men under Gui Yuanshu’s command had time to react.

Even knowing in advance what Lord Gui intended to do, that punch still startled every last one of them.

A single blow sent Yin Xinping tumbling sideways through the air — but before the man could hit the ground, Gui Yuanshu’s hands shot out, grabbed him by the waist, hoisted him up with a surge of force, and slung him over his shoulder. Then he turned and walked away.

He vaulted onto his warhorse, placed Yin Xinping before him, wheeled the horse around, and spurred it into a charging gallop.

The entire party wheeled with him in the same instant. That force of over a hundred men had arrived abruptly — and departed even more abruptly.

Inside the city, Yin Xin’an had been hiding in the shadows and could never have imagined such a thing happening.

When he saw Gui Yuanshu’s fist connect with Yin Xinping’s temple, he instinctively cried out: “What the—?!”

And in the distant treeline, a brooding, grim-faced figure who had been watching the gate through a far-seer glass witnessed the same scene and couldn’t help but exclaim the same thing.

Gui Yuanshu wasn’t troubled by any of that. His numbers were limited, their capabilities were limited — they’d grabbed someone and run, and that was a considerable victory.

After all, before this trip to Yuzhou, Prince Ning’s instructions to him had amounted to two words: cause trouble.

Cause trouble, stir things up — in any case, they had truly caught everyone off guard.

Dong Dongdong and Qi Qiangqi had also been left watching in bewilderment. What manner of approach was this?

Zheng Shunshun and the other three knew what Gui Yuanshu’s plan was, but those two did not.

Though Gui Yuanshu had agreed to take them along, he couldn’t simply extend them unconditional trust right away.

“This…”

Dong Dongdong’s eyes went wide. A moment later he realized they’d already fallen behind — those hundred-odd Intelligence Guard soldiers ran with a remarkable, wordless coordination.

The two men hurriedly spurred their horses in pursuit. Qi Qiangqi whipped his horse onward and asked: “Is this what you meant when you said before that Lord Gui seemed a bit off?”

Dong Dongdong shook his head: “Back then I only sensed something was off — I never imagined it would be off to this degree.”

Qi Qiangqi asked: “What do we do now?”

“Catch up first. Otherwise the two of us are just going to get shot full of arrows.”

They exchanged a few words and pushed hard after the others. It had to be said — when Intelligence Guard soldiers ran, they ran fast.

Inside the county town, Yin Xin’an could no longer stay in hiding. He rushed out and ordered people to give immediate chase.

The city had been full of ambushes, though not set against Gui Yuanshu’s group — they had been prepared for Xu Ji.

But Yin Xin’an had no room to think about any of that now. If that Intelligence Guard commander’s identity was genuine, then he had come here to make an arrest — which meant the Yin family’s affairs had been exposed.

All of this had been so sudden. So sudden that the Yin family’s plans might be thrown into complete disarray.

“Don’t all of you go running out.”

Yin Xin’an called out loudly: “Most of you stay — we still need to capture Xu Ji!”

At this very moment, roughly ten li or so from the county town, Xu Ji’s procession was making its leisurely way forward.

To use Yin Xin’an’s own words, Xu Ji was indeed a man who always liked to inflate his own status, always wanting to appear as though he occupied some extraordinary position.

The reason he had the procession move so slowly was precisely so that the Yin family’s people would come out of the city to receive him.

Were it not for his recommendation, however talented Yin Xin’an might be, could he have become the Dengzhou prefectural governor?

So in Xu Ji’s view, he was the Yin family’s benefactor — and even if the two of them now held the same rank, Yin Xin’an ought to have come out of the city to welcome him.

Moreover, he was firmly convinced that Prince Ning’s commendation for his own services would arrive very soon, and that he would very quickly surpass Yin Xin’an’s rank by a considerable margin.

He even felt that Yin Xin’an’s failing to come out to meet him at fifteen li or more beyond the city walls was already a serious breach of courtesy.

So even just moments ago, Xu Ji had been thinking that when they met, he must not give Yin Xin’an too much face — he really ought to get in a few pointed remarks.

Yin Xin’an had sent a messenger with a letter asking him to come to Maoyang County, so he had to come.

The reason was that Yin Xin’an’s letter claimed that within Floating Smoke Mountain in Maoyang County, a vein of iron ore had been discovered. Stonecutting laborers had stumbled upon it by chance and, not daring to delay, had immediately reported it to the county office. The county office had then urgently dispatched someone to Dengzhou to inform Yin Xin’an — and Yin Xin’an, feeling that so momentous a matter and so great a merit ought not be enjoyed alone, had sent someone to invite Xu Ji.

Of course Xu Ji would take the bait.

The discovery of an iron ore vein was extraordinary news for the Ning Army.

The military workshops in Fengzhou forged weapons and equipment for General Tang Pidi’s army — they had once been the Cao family’s operation and were now being put to use. The workshops were still there, the craftsmen were still there — but the iron ore was not in Fengzhou, and the previous stockpiles had been nearly exhausted.

And then, at this very moment, something wonderful had fallen from the sky — an iron ore vein suddenly appearing out of nowhere. If that was not a heaven-sent blessing, then what was?

Yin Xin’an had calculated exactly this. There was no deception more irresistible than this one.

How old was Xu Ji?

He had already scored the great merit of saving Jizhou City with a decoy force of one hundred thousand. Adding to that the great merit of discovering an iron ore vein, his career prospects would be like something taking flight — ten thousand men couldn’t rein them in.

If someone in their teens or early twenties were to be enfeoffed as a marquis, then who could set limits on their future prospects?

That was Yin Xin’an’s plan. He understood Xu Ji’s vanity far too well.

Using the lie of a discovered iron ore vein to lure Xu Ji in, controlling Xu Ji, and then dispatching a force of ten thousand men under the pretext of transporting large quantities of iron ore to the military workshops — in order to enter Fengzhou.

Once Fengzhou was taken, a knife would be planted in Tang Pidi’s back. He would have no choice but to withdraw.

Yang Xuanji’s envoy had already promised the Yin family that so long as Tang Pidi turned his forces back to deal with Fengzhou, he would guarantee the Yin family an extremely important position in Yang Xuanji’s future court.

Yang Xuanji had also promised: once things succeeded, after the founding of the new realm, Yin Xin’an would be one of the founding dukes.

In order to defeat Tang Pidi, there was nothing Yang Xuanji would not use. Any means capable of defeating Tang Pidi — he would employ them all: overt and covert, on the battlefield and off the battlefield, every last means at his disposal.

People throughout Yuzhou said that Tang Pidi was undefeatable on the battlefield.

Then let such means as these be used — throw Yuzhou’s rear into chaos. Tang Pidi’s forces were finite. He was no god. What general, stripped of his soldiers, could remain unconquerable?

And in truth, in order to fracture Yuzhou, how many others had Yang Xuanji been in contact with besides Yin Xin’an?

The Ning Army’s hold over Yuzhou was not stable to begin with.

The power of the great clans and noble houses in Yuzhou was beyond imagining. Could the Cao family, with all their enormous influence, truly have submitted to the Ning Army with complete and wholehearted loyalty?

The Cao family dared not openly resist — but a great family of that scale had tendrils extending everywhere, with tangled, far-reaching connections to all manner of other people.

Especially Li Chi’s attitude toward those great clans and noble houses — it made it impossible for any of them to truly submit.

If forced to choose, between Li Chi taking the realm or Yang Xuanji taking the realm, they would naturally choose Yang Xuanji.

No matter how many choices were presented, they would not choose Li Chi.

Yang Xuanji was of the Dachu imperial bloodline, with the support of countless aristocrats behind him — grain and money were no concern of his at all.

And once Yang Xuanji became the new emperor and established a new empire, even if it no longer bore the name of Dachu, the privileges and interests of those aristocratic families would still continue unbroken.

The people in Yuzhou, given their connections to the Cao family and Prince Wu, also had greater expectations that someone of imperial lineage like Yang Xuanji would ultimately prevail.

Jizhou City.

Atop the city walls, Li Chi sat at a height looking out at the distant scenery, and drew a long, deep breath.

Jizhou had already seen its second snowfall. The world appeared draped in silver and white, mountains and rivers all one color.

He breathed in deep, and cold, sharp air rushed into his nostrils — and almost immediately a clarity spread through his chest and abdomen.

“Are you worried about Old Tang?”

Gao Xining asked.

Li Chi nodded: “On the battlefield, no one can defeat Old Tang — not even me. In any direct confrontation, Old Tang is without equal in the world. But it doesn’t mean Old Tang has no weaknesses… His weakness is precisely that his front is too strong, which leaves his back somewhat exposed.”

Gao Xining said: “So when you received Old Tang’s letter — with Old Tang urgently hoping you would go to Yuzhou as soon as possible — you knew the situation there had already grown very serious.”

Li Chi shook his head: “If I had only just learned of it now, that would already be too late… In truth, even if Old Tang hadn’t sent word, I intended to go to Yuzhou after spring came.”

He looked toward Gao Xining: “If not for the Black Martial people, Yuzhou by now would have ten thousand more graves.”

His fingers tapped lightly on the battlements — very lightly.

“While we were fighting the Black Martial people on the northern frontier, there were those who came straight to Jizhou trying to plant a knife in my back — and those who tried to plant a knife in Old Tang’s back.”

Li Chi said slowly: “Those who try to plant a knife in my back, I must kill. Does that mean I would leave the ones who try to plant a knife in Old Tang’s back alone?”

—