Inside the carriage, Xu Ji sat as though lost in a daze.

Outside, his escorts remained — those jianghu wanderers he had handpicked himself. Thinking back on it now, these men had only ever been delivered to him by someone else.

At the time, his seemingly careful selection process had been nothing more than picking within a circle someone else had already drawn. No matter how carefully he chose, every choice had been arranged by his opponents.

Jiao Jun rode on horseback alongside the carriage, and at this moment he still looked every bit the loyal and devoted guard.

Besides him, there were eighty soldiers dressed in military uniforms — men who were no longer Luo Geng’s people, but imposters arranged by Xie Xing.

They made their way toward Dengzhou, and nothing about them appeared out of the ordinary.

Back in the small town, the bodies had already been swiftly disposed of, and even the bloodstains had been wiped clean. The town remained as tranquil as ever, as though nothing had happened at all.

Inside the carriage, Xu Ji had been thinking continuously. Given the situation he now found himself in, he had to force himself to stay calm.

The first thing to consider was: how could he save Zhang Tang?

Xu Ji sat in the carriage with both hands and feet bound and his jaw dislocated, making suicide impossible.

*Calm. I must stay calm.*

He had to analyze everything he currently knew and find a thread to pull on. Since the matter concerned Zhang Tang, he would start there.

Roughly seven or eight months ago, Xu Ji had secretly dispatched someone to deliver a letter to Jizhou. At the time, Prince Ning Li Chi was not in Jizhou.

So it was Yan Xiansheng, who was overseeing Jizhou in his absence, who had received Xu Ji’s confidential report — and it was Yan Xiansheng who then sought out Zhang Tang, the Tingwei Army’s centurion-commander.

If Yan Xiansheng had been choosing on his own initiative, he would sooner have gone to Yuzhou himself to investigate than send someone like Zhang Tang.

Yan Xiansheng understood Zhang Tang’s way of doing things all too well — he would never casually assign someone like Zhang Tang to carry out an external mission.

Yet before Li Chi had departed Jizhou, he had said something to Yan Xiansheng that seemed almost as though he had anticipated the situation in Yuzhou all along. He had said: *Should anything arise in Yuzhou, send Zhang Tang.*

And so Zhang Tang had left Jizhou.

It was at the moment of his departure from the city that he had opened the letter Li Chi had left for him before setting out — a letter that had been entrusted to him by Gao Xining. The letter had been given to him even earlier than that, before Li Chi and the others had left for Qingzhou.

Gao Xining had told Zhang Tang not to open the letter until the day he was to depart for Yuzhou.

At the time, Zhang Tang had not understood why he would ever need to go to Yuzhou.

It was only as his carriage rolled out through the city gates that he opened the letter — and found that it contained just eight characters.

*Great things await; do as you will.*

None of this, of course, was known to Xu Ji. At that time, he had still been fantasizing about performing yet another great service.

Xu Ji had served as an official in Fengzhou, but because of his origins, however well he treated the common people, he could never truly befriend them. A man as proud of his talents as he was would naturally keep company with refined scholars — his social circle consisted entirely of learned men, never ordinary folk.

This was his greatest flaw. Treating the people well and delivering them from suffering was, in his view, simply his job — nothing more. When it came to friendship, he would not associate with commoners. He would compose a new lyric poem and share it with the people, only to find they could not understand it. He would paint a piece of calligraphy and display it for the people, only to find they could not appreciate it.

And so the people around him were invariably the local gentry and noble families of Fengzhou.

To prevent himself from being manipulated or deceived, Xu Ji had deliberately kept his social circle small — and yet it had done him no good whatsoever.

Now in Fengzhou, the two men Xu Ji relied on most were the Fengzhou prefectural deputy Xie Nanju and the prefectural office’s chief clerk Wang Kaitai.

And the change in Fengzhou’s fortunes had come about precisely because of that occasion when Xu Ji had listened to Master Jingya’s brilliant stratagem — using the illusion of a hundred thousand troops to rescue Jizhou.

At the time, he had needed to quickly recruit more men to pose as Ning Army soldiers, and this had given many people an opportunity.

As a result, the vast majority of the reinforced garrison troops that had subsequently filled Fengzhou were men who had been planted there by others.

It was only after the incident at the inn that Xu Ji had come to this realization. He understood now that Fengzhou did not need scheming on the scale of the Yin family to fall — all it would take was a word from people within the Xie and Wang families, and the Ning Army’s banner atop Fengzhou’s walls could be replaced.

But they would absolutely not raise their own families’ banners — instead, they would raise: *the Yin family’s.*

At this thought, Xu Ji’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He had finally figured it out — why Zhang Tang had wanted him to go to Dengzhou, and why the Xie family’s people had wanted the same.

Once he arrived in Dengzhou — and once Zhang Tang arrived as well — the Xie family’s people would use the Yin family’s private troops to slaughter the Tingwei Black Riders.

Then they would egg the Yin family into marching on Fengzhou. When the time came, Dengzhou and Fengzhou alike would see the Yin family rebels’ banners raised on their walls — and what would any of that have to do with the Xie family and their allies?

The Yin family were nothing more than a pawn the Xie family and the other great clans were using.

The powerful families of Yuzhou wanted to rebel against Prince Ning but did not wish to expose themselves too early — so the Yin family became their blade.

And Xu Ji would be another blade.

It occurred to Xu Ji that they would not kill him. Instead, they would make a great spectacle of spreading word that Xu Ji had colluded with the Yin family to rebel against Prince Ning, until it was common knowledge throughout the land.

Once that kind of story got out, how devastating would it be to the Ning Army’s morale?

Prince Ning’s most trusted minister, secretly conspiring with a local clan to rebel — seizing both Dengzhou and Fengzhou, and thereby compelling Tang Pidi to withdraw his forces.

If Tang Pidi refused to withdraw, then the Xie family’s people would goad the Yin family into expanding their territory further, attacking and seizing surrounding cities.

Even if they could not take the larger cities, they could still swallow the smaller towns and villages.

So long as Tang Pidi did not withdraw, the Yin family’s rebel forces would keep on expanding.

Tang Pidi could not possibly ignore this. He could not stand by and watch a rebel army grow ever stronger at his back until it became a force he could no longer easily defeat. The sooner he withdrew, the better his chances of crushing the rebellion.

But the moment Tang Pidi withdrew his forces, Yang Xuanji — the King of Heaven’s Mandate, positioned to the south of Yuzhou — would immediately send his armies swarming in.

Xu Ji let out a long inward sigh.

He had been so thoroughly deceived without ever knowing it. Arrogance and self-importance — that was his greatest weakness. And he had mistaken it for his most distinctive quality.

When he had been entrusted with this important post, his brother-in-law had sent a personal letter urging him above all else to maintain discipline and restraint, to never be reckless or careless, and warning that he was young and lacking in experience. At the time, Xu Ji had paid no heed.

Thinking back on it now, how could he not feel the sting of regret?

Xu Ji took a deep breath and steadied himself once more.

Having worked out the scheme of the Xie, Wang, and other such families, he turned his thoughts to how Zhang Tang would respond.

Zhang Tang had directed him toward Dengzhou — yet Zhang Tang had sent no one to follow him along the way, not even someone to keep watch. That was deeply irregular.

If Zhang Tang had had men trailing him, the massacre at the inn in that small town could never have happened.

*He simply hadn’t come…*

At that thought, Xu Ji’s eyes suddenly went wide.

Zhang Tang had never planned to go to Dengzhou at all!

The realization first brought a surge of relief — at least that meant he no longer needed to rack his brain for a plan to save Zhang Tang and his Black Rider unit.

But then he cursed inwardly: *Zhang Tang, you bastard — are you really just sending me to Dengzhou to die? Sacrificing my life so you and your unit can slip away safely?*

After that outburst, Xu Ji quieted himself again. He knew Zhang Tang could not simply be trying to use the enemy’s hand to get rid of him.

Zhang Tang must have had something else in mind.

*Zhang Tang, the Yin family, the Xie family* — these people, these forces, circled through Xu Ji’s mind in an endless, tangled loop, thoughts jumping from one to another until everything grew muddled.

*Zhang Tang must want me to do something once I reach Dengzhou — and whatever it is, it must be crucial.*

He turned his mind back further.

Before Xu Ji had left Mayang County, Zhang Tang’s subordinate officer Gu Qixi had asked Zhang Tang whether he was really not going to send anyone to follow Xu Ji.

Zhang Tang had shaken his head and said: *It is for him to choose. He made a mistake — but a mistake that doesn’t warrant death. I don’t like this man. But I can’t let my personal feelings determine whether he lives or dies.*

Xu Ji had no way of knowing those words, though had he known them, they might have offered some guidance as to what he needed to do now.

At the time, Zhang Tang could not have spoken candidly to him — because given the way Xu Ji’s mind worked, he would have assumed Zhang Tang was trying to manipulate him.

There was one more thing Zhang Tang had wanted to say but held back. He had sent Xu Ji to Dengzhou to save himself — he hoped Xu Ji would find a way to rescue himself, and so whether or not Xu Ji managed to come to his senses was entirely up to Xu Ji.

“Xu Daren.”

Outside the carriage, Jiao Jun spoke with a hint of mockery: “It would seem that centurion-commander Zhang Tang genuinely intended to send you to Dengzhou to die.”

With his jaw dislocated, Xu Ji could not reply, but he forced a cold snort through his nose.

Jiao Jun seemed to be filling the time out of boredom and spoke on as he rode: “I’ve long heard that this Zhang Tang is ruthless enough — toward himself and toward his enemies alike. He’s sent you off to die in Dengzhou, but thinking about it carefully, it’s almost a kindness. If you die at the hands of the Yin family, your death won’t be at Zhang Tang’s order, won’t be by the hand of the law — and Zhang Tang can even report your contributions to Prince Ning’s face. At the very least, you won’t die with your name ruined.”

Jiao Jun laughed. “Seen that way, this Zhang Daren isn’t so terrible after all — not entirely without redeeming qualities. Though Zhang Daren probably never anticipated that we, who are escorting you to Dengzhou, never had any intention of letting you die there.”

At those words, Xu Ji’s eyes brightened again, for the remark confirmed the deduction he had just made.

*Since you don’t want me to die — you want me to take the blame — then let’s see how long I can live and how much I can still do.*

Xu Ji silently murmured to himself: *I am a man of wild talent. I shall have my own moment.*

The moment he had finished cursing Zhang Tang a short while ago, everything had suddenly clicked into place.

—

Meanwhile, on the main road to Fengzhou, the Tingwei Army’s Black Riders were advancing, Zhang Tang’s carriage at the center of their formation.

Inside the carriage, Zhang Tang sat with his eyes closed as though resting, but his mind had not stopped for a single moment.

The Yuzhou case was too vast. Looking at the balance of forces right now, it was impossible for him to win.

One Zhang Tang, plus twelve hundred Tingwei Army Black Riders — that was not enough to tip the scales.

For no clear reason, he found himself thinking again of the letter Prince Ning had left him.

*Great things await; do as you will.*

*Great things await* — that was the Prince’s expectation of him. *Do as you will* — that was the Prince’s command. Do as you will. Whatever you want to do, go and do it.

“Daren, just ahead is Bi County — shall we go around it?”

Outside the carriage, officer Gu Qixi put the question.

Zhang Tang slowly opened his eyes, thought for a moment, then replied: “From this point on, we stop concealing ourselves. Let them see us. Ride straight into the county seat.”

These words left Gu Qixi momentarily stunned. Stop concealing themselves from now on?

In a place like Yuzhou, how many pairs of eyes would be watching? How many people would be plotting how to grind this Black Rider unit to dust?

“What comes next depends on Xu Ji. If he can work out why I sent him to Dengzhou, he’ll be the key.”

Zhang Tang closed his eyes again. “Let people see us. Let people know our aim is Fengzhou. This was never about me using Xu Ji to distract the enemy — this is us drawing the enemy’s attention for Xu Ji’s benefit.”

“Yes, sir!”

Gu Qixi acknowledged the order — though he could not quite grasp the reason behind it. The centurion-commander had said earlier that Fengzhou had probably already been quietly seized by others, and that even the troops in Fengzhou might be under someone else’s control.

If the Tingwei Army’s Black Riders deliberately exposed themselves, the rebel forces in Fengzhou would certainly react.

Just as Gu Qixi was turning this over in his mind, he heard the centurion-commander issue an instruction.

“Have someone look into something.”

At those words, Gu Qixi snapped to attention, waiting for the centurion-commander’s orders.

From inside the carriage, Zhang Tang spoke in an easy tone: “Look into the counties and prefectures along our route and find out what good food there is to eat. We’ll try every last one of them.”

Gu Qixi: *????*

—