Yunbao Zhai.

Li Chi and Xiahou Yili stepped down from their carriage outside the shop entrance, where they were greeted by a new young shop assistant — a young man who appeared to be around twenty years of age.

He evidently recognized Li Chi. The moment he saw Li Chi arrive, he hurried forward with a cheerful smile.

“Young Master Li, we knew you would come. Master Han has been waiting for you.”

Li Chi looked him over and asked in passing: “Where’s the shop assistant who was out front before?”

The young man replied with a smile: “The one Young Master Li is asking about went out on an errand today and hasn’t returned yet. It should be a little while longer.”

Li Chi made a sound of acknowledgment. The reply seemed to have no apparent flaw, but something in Li Chi’s mind sharpened into alertness.

That seemingly unremarkable young shop assistant — it had been him who went to Xingchen Lou, and the moment he stepped outside, Cao Lie’s men had had eyes on him.

Today he went out on an errand, yet Cao Lie’s men had no information, and the Tingwei Army had not tracked him either.

This proved that the young shop assistant could be seen whenever he wanted to be seen, and disappear completely — even from Cao Lie’s people and the Tingwei Army — whenever he did not.

The assistant asked: “Is Young Master Li looking for him about something? When he returns, I can pass along a message.”

Li Chi waved a hand with a smile: “No, nothing. I just found his face familiar and friendly.”

Not long after they entered, Han Huamei came hurrying out from the inner hall. He looked somewhat haggard in complexion but his spirits were extraordinarily animated — his eyes were red and yet bright and sharp.

Having gone without sleep all night, this old gentleman was burning with excitement over what were, in fact, Li Chi’s forged pieces.

Looking at the state he was in, Li Chi felt something almost like sympathy — and a twinge of guilt.

For just a moment, Li Chi even thought: perhaps I shouldn’t push this too far. There must be limits. So let’s just sell him the seal and leave it at that.

Li Chi really was such a good person.

Han Huamei came straight to the point the moment he saw Li Chi: “I haven’t slept all night. I’ve arrived at roughly the following conclusion: Songming Xiansheng’s piece appears to be a genuine work. As for the others — forgive my bluntness, and forgive my limited eye — I truly cannot bring myself to make a definitive judgment. So I recalculated the sum I had offered Young Master Li as an advance payment. Though those other pieces cannot be confirmed, I am still willing to purchase them at the price already agreed upon. And for Songming Xiansheng’s piece, I am willing to add a further fifty thousand taels — I cannot let Young Master Li go away at a loss.”

There were times when Li Chi genuinely could not understand people like Han Huamei. One piece of calligraphy, and someone was willing to pay a hundred thousand taels for it — what state of mind was that?

He didn’t understand it, but that didn’t stop him from taking the money.

“Master Han,” Li Chi said, “I am indeed in urgent need of funds, so I am willing to accept this price. But it still falls short of what I require…”

Han Huamei looked puzzled: “If I add another fifty thousand taels to Young Master Li’s sum, the total will have already exceeded two hundred thousand taels. What could Young Master Li possibly need such a vast sum for?”

Li Chi said: “To buy Yunbao Zhai.”

Han Huamei was struck speechless.

Li Chi burst out laughing: “A joke. The large sum I need is to travel far away and start fresh elsewhere.”

Han Huamei nodded: “The Central Plains are in turmoil — going far away is perhaps the wiser path.”

Even as he said so, there was a faint envy between his brows.

He had originally come to Yuzhou City because he had been coerced by Liu Chongxin. Had he refused to come, his family members still in Daxing City would likely not have survived. But having come, his heart was burdened with guilt.

When he learned of Liu Chongxin’s death sentence, Han Huamei had been overjoyed. That joy, however, had not lasted long before cold water was poured over him.

Even with Liu Chongxin dead, the Inspector’s Office agents in Yuzhou City would not withdraw.

Where could any of them go? The new emperor had ascended the throne and was sweeping up Liu Chongxin’s former associates. Returning to Daxing City was nothing but a path to death.

Staying in Yuzhou actually meant a decent life — why gamble on certain loss?

Han Huamei was the golden name behind Yunbao Zhai. As long as he remained, Yunbao Zhai would never lack for business — wealth would flow freely.

And even without any other source of income, Han Huamei’s own calligraphy was worth a great deal. Living by selling his brushwork, his income was considerable.

So naturally the Inspector’s Office people would never let him leave. A goose that laid golden eggs had to be kept firmly in hand.

Li Chi glanced around the room. There was no one else present, so Li Chi thought he might as well test the waters a little.

He smiled and said: “I recall that Master Han is originally from Daxing — why have you settled in Yuzhou? Did your family come along as well?”

Han Huamei opened his mouth, but could only let out a long sigh.

He rose and said: “I’ll send someone to bring the silver to Young Master Li. I won’t keep you further. If you’re setting off on a long journey, we may not meet again — so I wish Young Master Li peace and happiness for the rest of your days.”

Li Chi said: “Master Han, I actually have one more item of Songming Xiansheng’s — and it is the only one of its kind in the world. I suspect it may be even more precious than those calligraphic pieces.”

He looked toward Xiahou Yili. Xiahou Yili produced a brocade pouch from her sleeve, opened it, and placed the seal on the table.

Han Huamei immediately bent forward to examine it. Before long, his face flushed red and his breathing quickened noticeably.

He wanted to reach out and pick the seal up, but quickly turned away first, fetched a pair of gloves, put them on, and only then carefully lifted it.

First he examined the engraving on the base, and then his eyes went glassy.

“The characters are correct — the characters are correct!”

He then gently tried pressing the top of the seal downward. It would not move. His brow furrowed.

He tried several more times, then let out a long, slow sigh: “Anyone who did not know the secret of this seal would surely believe it to be the genuine article. On the surface, not a single flaw. Whoever made this seal is a remarkable individual.”

Li Chi thought to himself: thank you for the compliment — yet he was also intensely curious.

Han Huamei looked at him: “How did Young Master Li come by this object?”

In that moment Li Chi’s mind had gone slightly blank — why had Han Huamei been able to tell at once that the seal was a fake?

He answered: “My father happened upon it during his wanderings and bought it at great expense.”

Han Huamei asked: “How much did he pay?”

Li Chi held up three fingers.

Han Huamei said: “If this were the real seal, never mind three hundred thousand taels — I would bankrupt myself to buy it even at five hundred thousand. But Young Master Li, I am sorry to say: your father was deceived. This seal is a forgery.”

Li Chi had held up three fingers intending to say thirty liang — and found himself entirely steamrolled by Han Huamei’s three hundred thousand taels.

Li Chi asked: “How did you know, Xiansheng?”

Han Huamei said: “Songming Xiansheng’s seal is not a simple seal. If you press the top downward, a mechanism is triggered that causes an exquisitely crafted stone case to spring open.”

The seal itself was already small; for it to contain an internal mechanism on top of that was remarkable indeed — and furthermore it was made of jade, a brittle material. How extraordinarily difficult would it be to work to such a miraculous level of craftsmanship?

Han Huamei sighed: “My master once said that inside Songming Xiansheng’s seal was hidden an enormous secret — a secret known only to Songming Xiansheng himself, which he never revealed to anyone.”

Li Chi thought to himself: as soon as I get back, I’m going to take it apart and see.

This seal had originally been given to him by Yuming Xiansheng. When Yuming Xiansheng was being taken to Daxing City, with his life uncertain, he had given the item to Li Chi before departing, as thanks for Li Chi’s efforts in rescuing him.

But Yuming Xiansheng had not told Li Chi that the seal concealed a great secret within it — and come to think of it, perhaps Yuming Xiansheng himself had not known.

Han Huamei said: “Songming Xiansheng’s true identity is… rather mysterious.”

He looked at Li Chi: “Do you know where Songming Xiansheng was from? Where his ancestral home was? You do not know, I do not know — even Songming Xiansheng’s own most devoted disciples did not know.”

He paused to catch his breath, then continued: “What is hidden in this seal is precisely that secret.”

He leaned closer to Li Chi and lowered his voice: “My master, on his deathbed, told me that Songming Xiansheng was, in all likelihood… not human.”

Li Chi was left completely stupefied by this.

Songming Xiansheng — not human?

Han Huamei seemed to sense that Li Chi shared his tastes and convictions, and treating him as a kindred spirit, his words began to flow more freely.

He said to Li Chi: “Master told me that Songming Xiansheng… may have been some kind of spirit in human form.”

Li Chi barely managed to hold back a laugh.

If spirits truly existed in this world, Li Chi felt he himself was the best candidate — a tremendously fortunate and lucky spirit.

Han Huamei said: “Have you ever heard the story behind Songming Xiansheng’s Pachuangtai piece?”

Li Chi shook his head.

Han Huamei said: “Whatever people may say publicly — no matter how lavishly they praise the Pachuangtai piece on the surface — in their hearts, they all find the events it describes vulgar and somewhat… beyond the pale of common propriety.”

Han Huamei exhaled a long breath, leaned back slightly, and continued: “Within the Pachuangtai, the language is plain and the narrative straightforward — and yet there are several lines of verse embedded within it that stand out as particularly jarring.”

Li Chi carefully recalled them: “Ten thousand li of mountains and passes, yet no bright moon; the vast nine provinces, with wicked winds blowing fierce. If ever there comes a day when heaven and earth are rent asunder, I would return to the realm of the Rainbow.”

Han Huamei nodded: “Don’t you find those lines somewhat strange?”

Li Chi thought carefully about it. There did seem to be something slightly off.

Han Huamei said: “That is precisely why I have been so desperate to obtain Songming Xiansheng’s seal. I find it difficult to believe that any human being could be so supremely gifted — encompassing astronomy, all things in the world, with nothing beyond their knowledge. Such a thing is beyond what human effort alone can achieve.”

He looked at Li Chi: “Ten thousand li of mountains and passes — why is there no bright moon? What then, is the thing hanging above our heads at night?”

Li Chi frowned.

Han Huamei said: “If only this seal were the genuine article.”

Li Chi reflected quietly for a moment, then smiled: “If one day I find that thing, I’ll come back and we can examine it together.”

He rose: “Have the fifty thousand taels sent to the inn. I’ll take my leave now.”

Han Huamei didn’t think much of it, and rose to see Li Chi out of Yunbao Zhai.

At the crossroads, a small vendor selling dried goods sat with his back against the wall, straw hat pulled down, appearing to be asleep — but his eyes never left the direction of Li Chi and his companion.

Watching Li Chi leave and board the carriage, the vendor’s lips curled into a slow, sinister smile.

By now the sky was nearly dark. The vendor rose, packed up his things, shouldered his carrying pole, and left.

He returned to a small, simple courtyard, took off his straw hat, sat down on the front steps, and waited for the time to pass. After midnight, he had somewhere to be — Auntie Mei’s place.

What no one knew was that the person personally selected by Inspector’s Office Chief Liu Chongxin to keep watch over Yanbei City and the Cao family had turned out to be a woman — and she had been barely twenty-something when she came to Yuzhou.

She was not Auntie Mei. She was Liu Gumei, the one person in this world that Liu Chongxin had trusted without reservation.

She was not Liu Chongxin’s blood kin, but she was the child he had raised from infancy.

Whatever kindness Liu Chongxin may have possessed toward children — all of it had been given to her, and her alone.

And the purpose Liu Chongxin had sent her to Yuzhou for was far greater than merely watching over Yanbei City. What she had come to do was significant — her true target was not even the Cao family.

It was only that she had not anticipated her mission being accidentally derailed by the Ning Army.

—