Pei Bancheng drank a sip of tea, then leaned back in his seat — a posture that no one under two hundred catties of weight had any business adopting.

Other men might grow a full beard because their face was wide, and a ring of stubble would add shadow to make it look smaller. Not him. He grew it for the opposite reason — his face was too narrow, too long, too gaunt, and drooped besides. And curved.

There was an old saying: *don’t fear the short, the plump, or the simple-faced — fear the thin, the long, the drooping, and the crooked.* His face was genuinely all four.

“The men in this court who can still change the Emperor’s mind are few.”

Pei Bancheng said, “As far as I know, there is one man — if he could be bought — who would serve. I don’t know him personally, and he has never come to my establishment. But I do know his household steward, and as the old saying goes: the Emperor’s favorite eunuchs and the Prime Minister’s household stewards — neither type should be lightly offended, but both can be profitably cultivated.”

Gui Yuanshu asked, “Who is it?”

Pei Bancheng said, “The most favored Shangshu at present — Minister Li Shang.”

Gui Yuanshu let out a quiet sigh. “Find someone else.”

Pei Bancheng glanced at him, unable to understand why he would say *find someone else* — but since the man had said it, he moved on.

“The other Shangshu, Huang Wei’an. I’m also acquainted with his steward.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Try someone else.”

Pei Bancheng asked, “Why?”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Check the court announcements tomorrow and you’ll understand.”

Pei Bancheng said, “You had them killed?”

Gui Yuanshu ignored this.

Pei Bancheng said, “If both of those men are unavailable, I can’t think offhand of anyone else with enough influence over the Emperor. Unless we try to buy off Prince Wu — tell him: *take our silver, and go die for us.*”

Gui Yuanshu shot him a look.

Old Sun asked curiously, “Why is it that you know the household stewards of both those Shangshu ministers?”

Pei Bancheng said, “It’s not just those two. I’m acquainted with the stewards of every person of standing. That’s precisely why nothing in this court escapes my notice.”

Old Sun said, “Then you were bragging just now. Those two Shangshu ministers’ households just had something happen, and you had no idea.”

Just then, someone entered and murmured something close to Pei Bancheng’s ear. Pei Bancheng sat bolt upright and looked at Gui Yuanshu and Old Sun. “You really did something to those two Shangshu ministers?”

Gui Yuanshu shook his head. Then, suddenly, something came to him.

“You just said there are few people left who can change the Emperor’s mind. Aside from those two ministers, can you reach the people closest to the Emperor? Or if not them directly — can you reach someone close to someone close to the Emperor?”

That tongue-twisting phrasing nearly left Pei Bancheng confused. He asked, “Who exactly do you mean?”

Gui Yuanshu said, “The Chief Eunuch Steward Zhen Xiaodao. Or the Commander of the Imperial Guard Hui Chunqiu.”

Hearing that, Pei Bancheng’s eyes immediately narrowed as he studied Gui Yuanshu. “Your boldness is really quite something.”

He was silent for a moment, then rose. “Let me check my records.”

With that, he left the room. The girl who looked like a pure summer blossom — Yun Xiaozhao — followed him out. For a moment, the room held only Gui Yuanshu and Old Sun.

Gui Yuanshu asked curiously, “My impression has always been that people in the assassin’s trade tend toward cold indifference. You seem rather different.”

Old Sun said, “Do you know what kind of person feels the need to perform coldness and indifference?”

Gui Yuanshu answered, “Someone who isn’t particularly capable, who tries to compensate by making others think he’s formidable?”

Old Sun nodded. “You’ve got it. People who need to use performance to make themselves seem remarkable aren’t actually frightening.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “When we get back to Yuzhou, I’ll introduce you to the Grand General Tang Pidi.”

That was just a casual remark — Gui Yuanshu naturally understood perfectly well that Tang Pidi’s refined manner and way of speaking wasn’t performance. It was simply how he lived.

Tang Pidi was the kind of man whose particular style couldn’t be imitated by anyone else.

Old Tang — there was no one else like him anywhere in the world.

—

The two of them chatted for a while before Pei Bancheng returned and sat down. He said, “I’ve checked. Among the junior eunuchs serving directly under Chief Eunuch Steward Zhen Xiaodao, there are indeed a few I have dealings with.”

Old Sun asked curiously, “Eunuchs come to pleasure houses?”

Pei Bancheng said, “Your experience of the world is genuinely limited.”

Gui Yuanshu actually did know — he smiled and explained to Old Sun, “Eunuchs not only frequent pleasure houses, they come quite regularly.”

Old Sun narrowed his eyes. “What do eunuchs do in a pleasure house?”

Gui Yuanshu said, “Play mahjong.”

Old Sun said, “Get out of here…”

Pei Bancheng said, “And finger-guessing.”

Gui Yuanshu: “…”

Shortly afterward, Yun Xiaozhao came back in from outside carrying a bound ledger, which she presented to Gui Yuanshu with both hands. “Sir, this is our Tower’s register of the palace eunuchs — with their backgrounds and histories noted as well.”

Gui Yuanshu accepted the ledger and looked at Pei Bancheng. “You’re really just going to stand aside and watch?”

Pei Bancheng leaned back again into that sprawling posture, reclaiming his rough, easygoing manner. “I’ve said as much — I’m living so well and so freely right now. Why would I take risks alongside you? Besides, I’ve already provided you with this much assistance — that’s hardly standing aside, by any measure. Frankly, by rights, I should be charging you for this.”

Old Sun sighed. “You want to charge him? You’ve got quite the imagination.”

Yun Xiaozhao suddenly spoke up. “Proprietor — let me go with Young Master Gui and see what we can do.”

Pei Bancheng’s expression shifted slightly. He looked at Yun Xiaozhao. She looked back at him. After a moment, Pei Bancheng sighed. “Your choice to make.”

He gave a wave of his hand. “See our guests out.”

Yun Xiaozhao turned to Gui Yuanshu. “Sir, please wait in the main hall — I’ll go change.”

Gui Yuanshu and Old Sun came out from the First Courtyard suite and waited out front in the main hall of the Yunsu Tower. Old Sun asked him, “That girl — isn’t she sweet on you? I’m not entirely convinced all you two did in there was play finger-guessing.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “But I’m fully prepared to believe you really did play mahjong for half the night.”

Old Sun said, “Hmph…”

They didn’t have to wait long before Yun Xiaozhao came through from the back. She had changed into a set of men’s clothing. That delicate, clean beauty of hers, paired with that male attire, created a rather particular effect — something that stirred a different kind of feeling entirely.

“Where are we going?”

Yun Xiaozhao asked.

Gui Yuanshu said, “Since you want to come, it means you have a plan. You lead the way.”

Yun Xiaozhao made a sound of agreement. “Then we’ll go to the Feiyun Xiaozhu.”

Gui Yuanshu asked, “What’s that?”

Yun Xiaozhao said, “A place… that once you’ve been to, you won’t want to go back.”

—

By the time dawn broke over Daxing, in the western part of the city.

When Yun Xiaozhao brought them here, Gui Yuanshu was rather surprised.

He had grown up in Daxing and had worked as an official at the Tingwei office. Though his post had carried no real duties, he liked to move about the city, and so he knew Daxing fairly well. He recognized this place — it was the livestock market in the western district.

Not only large livestock, either. Sheep, horses, donkeys, mules, but also chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, and even the occasional ox.

According to Dachu’s statutes, privately slaughtering and selling oxen was a serious crime — yet in times like these, what was anyone still afraid to do?

Oxen were scarce goods, and of course ordinary people couldn’t butcher them and sell them freely. But from the tables of the powerful, such things had never been absent.

They passed through the livestock market with its sharp, pungent smells, all the way to a row of buildings in the far corner. These housed the market’s administrative staff. Because this was no ordinary market, its management did not fall under the Daxing prefecture’s jurisdiction — it answered directly to the Ministry of Revenue.

The moment the group was spotted, the men playing cards inside looked up, and several pairs of eyes turned hard with a faint, threatening edge.

Yun Xiaozhao took out a token and held it up. One of the men came over to check, and his manner immediately turned obsequious and ingratiating.

“People from Proprietor Pei — what can I do for you?”

Yun Xiaozhao said, “Proprietor Pei has asked us to bring some small gifts to Eunuch Xu. Take us to him.”

“Of course. This way, please.”

The man didn’t doubt them for a moment. He led them into the building — but didn’t pause there, walking straight out through a back door, through a stretch of storage yards, and into a large warehouse.

At least, from the outside, it looked like a warehouse.

But once inside, Gui Yuanshu’s eyes immediately narrowed.

Thick with smoke and a stale, suffocating air.

The first thing you saw inside the warehouse door was a large folding screen. On the screen were embroidered four characters: *Feiyun Xiaozhu.*

Stepping around the screen revealed something Gui Yuanshu hadn’t expected: a great number of eunuchs — well over a hundred at a rough count.

Some were gathered in clusters gambling. Some were stretched out on pallets making low, moaning sounds — not from drink, though they might have seemed it from the outside. Gui Yuanshu recognized what it actually was. The evidence sat right there on the tables: ghost-craving paste, smuggled in from beyond the southern seas.

There was no good end for anyone who used that substance.

But these eunuchs didn’t seem to care. Their lives had already turned out the way they had. What was left to care about?

Gui Yuanshu hadn’t known there was a place like this in Daxing. A flash of rage surged up inside him.

The Internal Affairs Bureau had fallen so long ago, and yet these eunuchs were still behaving so brazenly out among the people.

Look at them — those spectral faces, those ruined expressions, neither quite human nor quite ghost. This was their paradise.

To their credit, they retained at least some sense of shame — the more sordid transactions were conducted in small partitioned cubicles off to the side.

Gui Yuanshu instinctively glanced over at Yun Xiaozhao. She, however, showed no change of expression whatsoever, as though none of this touched her at all.

Shortly afterward, the man who had led them in went over to the group of eunuchs playing cards and murmured something to one of them. That eunuch looked immediately toward where Gui Yuanshu and the others were standing.

This eunuch looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five. From his clothing alone, it was clear he had already risen to a position of some standing.

“People from Proprietor Pei?”

Eunuch Xu came over. He seemed to be drawn first to Yun Xiaozhao’s appearance — she was the first thing his eyes went to.

“Nice to see you. What small gifts is Proprietor Pei sending my way?”

Yun Xiaozhao took an envelope from her sleeve and handed it to Eunuch Xu. He took it with a grin, even contriving to brush her hand as he did so.

From the pallor of his complexion, it was clear enough he had used plenty of the ghost-craving paste himself. His skin had faded to near bloodlessness, and his teeth had gone dark — some already decaying.

He opened the envelope and looked inside for a few moments — then his expression turned sharply hostile.

“How dare you!”

That single exclamation brought every eye in the room swinging toward them.

Yun Xiaozhao smiled and said, “Everything noted in that document should be accurate, I believe. If this ledger were to fall into the hands of Chief Eunuch Zhen Xiaodao, he would probably greet Eunuch Xu with those same words.”

Eunuch Xu’s expression shifted rapidly through several changes, then settled back into a smile. “This is Proprietor Pei playing a joke on me, surely? We’re all old friends — this kind of joke can damage the friendship.”

Yun Xiaozhao said, “How could it damage anything? Proprietor Pei holds Eunuch Xu in the highest regard.”

She produced a second envelope and held it out. “Inside this envelope are bank drafts for five thousand taels of silver and one property deed.”

She asked Eunuch Xu, “Would you prefer this one, or the first one?”

Eunuch Xu smiled. “And what if I want both?”

Yun Xiaozhao said, “Then shouldn’t Eunuch Xu offer something in return? The first ledger — it was actually prepared by another eunuch within the palace, intending to present it to Chief Eunuch Zhen. That eunuch is resting at our Yunsu Tower right now and will be heading back to the palace after midday. Eunuch Xu, your window of time is narrow.”

Eunuch Xu drew a slow, measured breath and asked, “What does Proprietor Pei want me to do?”