“Tongzhi, Tongzhi…” Prince Gong held his forehead with one hand, his brow furrowed tightly, murmuring the reign name of the new emperor that he had just received from the palace according to the Empress Dowager’s decree. After a long while, he finally let out a long sigh and raised his eyes to look around.

“You all tell me, what profound meaning does the Western Palace have in setting these two characters ‘Tongzhi’ as the reign name?”

Those who could enter the small flower hall of Prince Gong’s mansion to discuss secrets with him were naturally all Prince Gong’s trusted confidants and direct subordinates.

The first person on the left was an elderly man with white hair and beard and a gaunt appearance – Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion Gui Liang. He was Prince Gong’s father-in-law and had always coordinated with Prince Gong in court affairs. For twenty years, everyone knew he was his son-in-law’s most trusted advisor, but in recent years, illness and old age had taken their toll, and he no longer possessed his former vigor.

The first person on the right was Wen Xiang, Minister of Public Works and Minister of the Imperial Household Department. In the past five or six years, he had gradually replaced Gui Liang as Prince Gong’s most relied-upon right-hand man. This person had a virtuous reputation in court and was a talent selected by the late emperor from among the minor clerks in the Ministry of Public Works.

Wen Xiang’s rise to prominence was quite legendary. When the Taiping Rebellion first arose, the court’s military expenditures were enormous and difficult to manage. Emperor Xianfeng, to inspire the hearts of the military and civilians to unite against the enemy, sent a golden bell from the inner palace to the Ministry of Public Works, ordering it to be melted down to fund military expenses. This golden bell was cast from a portion of the golden vessels from the Ming palace when Emperor Shizu entered the pass. It was extremely thick and heavy, and to melt it into liquid gold would take three days and three nights. On the third night, Emperor Xianfeng sent the Sixth Prince to check on the furnace. When the Sixth Prince arrived, he saw that it was late at night and everyone was asleep, except for one person sitting properly dressed beside the furnace. It was midsummer and beside the fire furnace, so hot that sweat poured down his back, yet he refused to move away. The Sixth Prince asked who he was and why he was there so late at night. The man replied: “I am Wen Xiang, a sixth-rank Manchu secretary of the Ministry of Public Works. Because the golden bell must be melted by the third watch tonight, I fear the craftsmen might steal and replace it, so I watch over it through the night.” The Sixth Prince reported this truthfully, and Emperor Xianfeng sighed: “This is truly a bannerman who serves the country with complete dedication!” The next day he issued an edict promoting Wen Xiang to the fifth-rank position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of Public Works, and continued to promote him repeatedly. Within a few years, he had risen to a first-rank high official. However, he was also Sushun’s primary opponent in court besides Prince Gong. Sushun tried several times to buy off Wen Xiang, and when he couldn’t achieve his goal, he wanted to eliminate him quickly, forcing Wen Xiang to ally himself with Prince Gong for self-protection.

The second seat on the left was empty, and sitting opposite was Cao Yuying, who had just been promoted to Minister of War. He had rendered first-class merit in eliminating Sushun. If he hadn’t used his position as Grand Council Secretary to gather intelligence and coordinate from within, Prince Gong and Empress Dowager Cixi would never have been able to know their enemy so well and seize the initiative in everything against Sushun’s faction. So after the new emperor ascended the throne, Cao Yuying was the first Han official to receive rewards and rise to prominence.

Prince Gong first cast an inquiring glance at Gui Liang. Gui Liang frowned and was about to speak when his throat produced a violent cough. The maids on both sides quickly rushed over to pat his back and serve tea. Gui Liang closed his eyes and waved his hands repeatedly while seated.

Prince Gong frowned and looked at Wen Xiang. Wen Xiang sat upright with his hands on his knees, pondering for a long time before saying: “Your Highness, in my view, the so-called ‘Tongzhi’ is naturally because the new emperor is young, so it seeks for all officials under heaven to work together with one heart to jointly assist the new ruler.”

Before Wen Xiang had finished speaking, Cao Yuying was already shaking his head. As soon as he finished, he called Wen Xiang by his courtesy name: “Brother Bochuan, you are truly a loyal and honest gentleman. This clearly means ‘rule together by both palaces.’ The Western Palace has always been dissatisfied that she wasn’t carried into the Qing palace gates as the legitimate empress. This reign name is merely her way of elevating her own status. What’s difficult to guess about her intentions? She simply wants to equate her status with that of the Eastern Palace on paper.”

“This…” Wen Xiang was already dissatisfied with the regent system that violated ancestral law, but this was a deal struck between Prince Gong and Empress Dowager Cixi – trading regent rule for Prince Gong’s entry into the Grand Council to control state affairs. So he couldn’t express his belly full of words. Now hearing that the “Western Palace” had such intentions, he felt even more that this was not a blessing for the country. He sighed and shook his head without speaking.

“You say it’s rule by both palaces, but just now both Empress Dowagers summoned me to the palace to confer upon me the title of ‘Prince Regent,’ with double the salary of a Prince. And according to my suggestion, they established the Zongli Yamen to handle all foreign affairs with full authority.” Prince Gong suddenly made this abrupt statement. Though he spoke of good news, there was no smile on his face.

As soon as these words were spoken, naturally everyone was shocked. Cao Yuying immediately congratulated him: “Congratulations, Your Highness. Since our Qing dynasty entered the pass, those who have received such royal titles…” He had only spoken half the sentence when he realized something was wrong and swallowed the rest.

“Only Dorgon, and my current status and situation are almost identical to his – both supporting a young ruler, and both having a shrewd Empress Dowager pressing down from above. Heh heh, it’s a crystal-clear precedent – the outcome is truly worrying.” Prince Gong completed the sentence for him. Today when he returned from the palace, he had been depressed all day, precisely because he secretly feared repeating Dorgon’s fate. Hearing these words, no one dared to respond, and the hall immediately fell silent.

“No, this title of ‘Prince Regent’ must be declined by Your Highness!” Gui Liang pondered for a long time, then suddenly said with firm determination.

Prince Gong thought his old father-in-law had also thought of Dorgon’s fate and wanted him to firmly decline this royal title. Unexpectedly, when Gui Liang spoke, he talked about events from the Kangxi era.

That was an incident from the forty-second year of Kangxi’s reign. Emperor Kangxi visited Xi’an to inspect the great northwest, and brought along a group of censors to examine the performance of local officials.

These censors were all fierce characters who didn’t even buy the accounts of Beijing officials, let alone local ones. Within half a month, they had impeached over seventy officials, large and small. Emperor Kangxi himself was most diligent in government and sympathetic to his subjects’ conditions. He read every memorial word by word clearly, and soon discovered something strange. Almost all the civil and military officials in Xi’an had visited a fortune-teller named Yan Xian’er to ask about their fortunes and misfortunes. Some went for every major matter, visiting more than ten times a year. Even the Governor-General of Shaanxi-Gansu, E Hai, was no exception – he was a regular customer of this fortune-telling stall.

Emperor Kangxi understood Western learning, astronomy, geography, and mathematics, and almost never believed in “strange powers and confused spirits.” This time, seeing so many officials not asking about the people’s livelihood but consulting ghosts and spirits, he was naturally displeased. So he summoned E Hai to question him. If that Yan Xian’er was spreading heretical words and confusing officials, he would certainly eliminate this menace. Unexpectedly, after E Hai entered the traveling palace according to the edict and had an audience, he somehow managed to persuade Emperor Kangxi to make a private visit in disguise to that fortune-telling stall to have his fortune told.

As the Son of Heaven, Kangxi wouldn’t ask about wealth and prospects – he naturally asked about the dynasty’s fate. What character he drew and how it was interpreted were kept strictly secret by both the questioner and the interpreter, never known to others. But it’s said that after Emperor Kangxi returned to the palace, he once confided to Crown Prince Yinreng that the Qing dynasty rose through “orphan child, widowed mother, and regent prince,” and would also fall through “orphan child, widowed mother, and regent prince.”

“With Emperor Kangxi’s wisdom, that he would actually relay a fortune-teller’s words to the Crown Prince shows that this Yan Xian’er truly had extraordinary abilities. This matter involves mysterious and profound principles – it cannot be entirely believed, but it also cannot be entirely disbelieved.” Gui Liang spoke to this point in one breath, then had another fit of coughing. He forced himself to catch his breath and sit steady, then continued with difficulty: “This rise through ‘orphan child, widowed mother, and regent prince’ naturally refers to Emperor Shunzhi, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and Dorgon. When Emperor Taizong passed away, he left such a situation, and the result was indeed that the Eight Banners entered Shanhaiguan and gained this vast territory. However, this fall through ‘orphan child, widowed mother, and regent prince’ – right now…”

Without Gui Liang making it explicit, everyone drew in a sharp breath. Right now the young emperor was sitting on the Dragon Throne in the Forbidden City, his widowed mother Empress Dowager Cixi had extreme desire for power, and if they added a Prince Regent… Thinking of the current chaotic situation in the southeastern half of the country, several people simultaneously shivered.

Prince Gong was also listening intently and was about to ask follow-up questions when he saw the curtain of the flower hall lift, and a person in light fur and slow belt walked in with light steps. Upon entering, he laughed loudly: “Ho, well now, there are six Grand Council ministers in total, and now five are here. Your Highness’s small flower hall might as well change its sign to ‘Grand Council’ – that would be more fitting.”

The newcomer was Baojun, Minister of Revenue. He was the only person in the entire court who could enter Prince Gong’s mansion without announcement. He was always informal with Prince Gong and was also Prince Gong’s most relied-upon confidant. Seeing him arrive, Prince Gong’s worries disappeared, and he also laughed: “Coming late and still daring to speak nonsense – you’ll definitely be fined several cups later.”

“Fine by me, fine by me.” Baojun sat down nonchalantly, holding a blue-seeded snuff bottle in his hand, admiring the inside painting while saying: “That old Zhao from the Imperial Household Department came to compete with me just now, saying that several pavilions and garden scenes in the Imperial Garden need repair, and it can’t be done for less than two or three hundred thousand taels. I said bullshit – repairing pavilions isn’t rebuilding them. If the calligraphy and paintings are faded, find craftsmen to touch them up. You don’t even need to replace a single beam or pillar, yet you dare ask for two or three hundred thousand? I’ll only give you five thousand taels.”

“What did he say?” Cao Yuying asked with interest.

“What could he say?” Baojun looked completely disdainful. “Nothing but complaining that palace affairs are difficult to handle, and there are too many people reaching out for money – five thousand taels isn’t even enough to fill the gaps between teeth. After haggling back and forth, I gave him ten thousand taels to send him away.”

“How come I don’t know about this?” Wen Xiang frowned deeply – he managed the Imperial Household Department.

“Need I say? You’re famous for being an iron gate latch. You even sift through the pebbles for paving roads at the traveling palace. If I had discussed this with you, this matter wouldn’t even have made it out the door of the Imperial Household Department.” Baojun was a clever person full of mechanisms – he explained everything clearly in just a few words.

Prince Gong couldn’t help but darken his expression: “So you mean they bypassed the Minister in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the order came directly from the palace?”

“According to old Zhao, it was the Western Palace who sent little Anzi to relay the message.”

“Outrageous!” Gui Liang caught his breath and lightly slapped the table. “The hundred-day mourning period for the late emperor hasn’t even passed, yet they’re thinking of repairing playthings, and not following proper procedures – what kind of conduct is this? If outside officials learn that even the palace doesn’t observe mourning properly, what can be used to restrain the propriety of all officials?”

Prince Gong nodded slightly after hearing this. These were the words he was about to blurt out, but his father-in-law hurried to say them for him. Actually, he feared Prince Gong might say too much and bring trouble – this kind intention was truly rare.

“This might be tolerable, but now the southern war situation is urgent. The Grand Council just received a report that the false loyal chief Li Xiucheng has joined forces with Wang Haiyang from Shi Dakai’s subordinates and has already taken Hangzhou. There’s also intelligence from the northwest that the false heroic chief Chen Yucheng has sent his uncle Chen Decai into Shaanxi to contact the Nian rebels. The Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps are also under pressure everywhere, with memorials requesting reinforcements and provisions flying in daily like snowflakes. The Grand Council is stretched thin, yet you’re doing well – generously giving out ten thousand taels.” Wen Xiang was angered and somewhat vented his anger on Baojun.

Baojun had the thickest skin and pretended not to hear, instead saying to Prince Gong: “Your Highness, speaking of money, I’ve brought someone to see you.”

Prince Gong was startled. When he held private meetings, apart from those present, he never saw outsiders. Baojun was not unaware of this – how could he violate this taboo? Thinking this, he couldn’t help asking: “Which department is he from?”

Baojun grinned: “He’s not from any department. Don’t let the official robes fool you – he’s actually a good hand at making money.”

This statement confused Prince Gong. “What medicine are you selling?”

“Medicine that specifically treats poverty,” Baojun said with a straight face. “How about it? Would Your Highness like to meet him?”

“Since he’s here, let him in.” Prince Gong felt a trace of curiosity.

When the Prince said to receive him, soon the curtain lifted and a person wearing a blue gemstone hat button and a fourth-rank snow goose supplementary robe entered. After coming in, he walked a few steps to the center of the hall, knelt down and kowtowed: “Zhili Expectant Prefect Li Wantang pays respects to Your Highness and greets all the gentlemen.”

The Qing dynasty system held princes in supreme honor, known as “ritually separated from all officials.” Therefore, Prince Gong merely raised his hand slightly while seated: “Honorable Prefect, please rise. Please be seated.”

After Li Wantang sat down and the maids served fragrant tea, Prince Gong looked at him carefully again. He saw that Li Wantang was in his early forties, with a fair complexion and light whiskers, and bright, piercing eyes – he could indeed be considered distinguished in bearing. Especially with the hall full of first and second-rank red-buttoned high officials, he sat among them as a fourth-rank official without showing the slightest awkwardness. This composed and neither servile nor arrogant demeanor greatly won Prince Gong’s favor.

“Your Highness needn’t look further – his official position was bought with money. If we’re being honest, he’s actually the leader of Beijing merchants. Nearly half the shops in front of the gates are his family’s properties.” Baojun revealed the visitor’s identity in one sentence.

Prince Gong rarely dealt with common people, but everyone else present was shocked to hear this. Cao Yuying asked first: “Could you be from the Li family known as ‘Li Half-City’?”

“I wouldn’t dare. Beijing is at the foot of the Son of Heaven – what person would dare accept such a nickname? Those are all random calls by market common folk. If you say I’ve opened a few more shops, that’s not false, but it’s all thanks to the Son of Heaven’s wisdom and the protection of all you gentlemen that Beijing is peaceful and the people live and work in contentment, so business can continue. My colleagues give me face by letting me manage the Beijing merchant guild hall, but that’s just taking on more worries – it doesn’t warrant the word ‘leader.'” Li Wantang bowed in his seat as he answered.

“You’re very sensible, and your words are also appropriate.” Prince Gong nodded imperceptibly. He just didn’t know why Baojun had brought a merchant here.

But Baojun said: “Old Li, don’t be too modest. The Beijing merchants truly look to you as their leader.”

Baojun paused, then continued: “Your Highness, no one sees the overall situation of the world more clearly than you do. Foreigners plus the Taipings – it’s actually a situation of great chaos under heaven. To clean up this mess, how can it be done without money? Your Highness’s current position requires certain expenditures that are unavoidable, but they can’t be put out in the open. For example, last month the two Empress Dowagers complained that the bell tower of the foreign church outside the palace walls was too tall, and asked Your Highness to find a way to relocate the church. According to what I know, the foreigners are asking for a hundred thousand taels with their mouths wide open. If the Ministry of Revenue were to provide this money, then watch – the censors and moralistic teachers wouldn’t dare criticize the two Empress Dowagers, but Your Highness, as the one carrying out the edict, would become like a teetotaler with a red nose – ‘wrongly bearing a bad reputation.'”

Prince Gong knew that although Baojun appeared dissolute and unrestrained, unlike the steady and dignified Wen Xiang and others, he was never careless where he should be careful. Since he brought Li Wantang here and discussed secrets in front of him, there was naturally some reasoning behind it. So he smiled faintly: “People say ‘the head of household is like a slop bucket’ – now I’m beginning to understand, but since I’ve taken on this burden, I have no choice but to reluctantly bear it.”

“You are, after all, of royal blood and the backbone of the Grand Council. If some censor who doesn’t know better were to submit a memorial impeaching you, you couldn’t afford to lose that face. Don’t forget about that one Grand Council member who didn’t come tonight…” Baojun left half a sentence hanging, but everyone knew what he meant. This last Grand Council minister was Left Censor-in-Chief Li Tangjie, an upright and uncompromising person. When Sushun was in power, he didn’t flatter Sushun; when Prince Gong was in power, he didn’t attach himself to Prince Gong’s mansion either. The Censorate was solemn, and everyone was proud, but they all submitted to this man – he was the undisputed, dignified leader of the censors. If he caught any evidence of wrongdoing, even a prince would certainly face impeachment without mercy.

“But things must be done, and I can’t conjure money out of thin air. If I don’t find a way through the Ministry of Revenue, what else can I do?”

“That’s not necessary.” Baojun said this while leisurely stretching, then changed the subject: “I remember last time Your Highness and I had an unfinished chess game. I wonder what Your Highness’s mood is like tonight?”

Prince Gong was startled. This was a code between him and Baojun – whenever this was mentioned, it meant there were confidential matters that couldn’t be shared with a third party, and others must be dismissed.

However, tonight was different. After Prince Gong dismissed everyone on the pretext, Baojun indicated with his eyes that what he wanted to discuss required Li Wantang’s presence, so Li Wantang remained.

Baojun was in no hurry. He first discussed court affairs with Prince Gong for a while, the main theme being the views throughout the court and country regarding the execution of Sushun, Zaiyuan, and Duanhua – these “three villains.” This was also what Prince Gong and his confidants were most concerned about at present.

A Co-Grand Secretary and two hereditary princes – they were all trusted confidants relied upon by the late emperor. Unexpectedly, less than a hundred days after the late emperor’s death, they all lost their lives. Among the remaining eight Regent Ministers, five were either dismissed or exiled, with the lightest punishment going to the Sixth Prince Consort Jingshou. Whether from cleverness or honesty, he hadn’t dared to get too involved with Sushun’s faction, so Cixi and Prince Gong spared him – his position was stripped but his title preserved.

“Speaking of it, since Emperor Jiaqing dealt with Heshen, Beijing hasn’t seen this much blood in sixty years. At the time, everyone was somewhat dazzled by this killing spree. Once they came to their senses…”

Baojun liked to keep people in suspense while speaking. Prince Gong was long accustomed to this and asked with a smile: “How so?”

“Some say it was too harsh, and others are beginning to remember Sushun’s good points, saying that although he was arrogant and domineering, he was still a capable minister. Hu Linyi, Zeng Guofan, and Zuo Zongtang were all officials that Sushun strongly supported and promoted. They say he had good judgment in recognizing talent…”

Before Baojun could finish, Prince Gong raised his eyebrows and hurriedly interrupted: “How could it be too harsh? Sushun clearly had disloyal intentions. Quite a bit of evidence was found when his mansion was searched, but to avoid disturbing the court situation and affecting the southern war, we had no choice but to burn those treasonous letters to appease officials’ emotions. If we really examined everything, we don’t know how many people would have been implicated! Like that Chen Fu’en – clearly a wolf with wild ambitions, aligned with Sushun wanting to help him usurp the throne, but in the end he was merely exiled. To think there are still such idle rumors – truly, petty people are hard to deal with!”

“Your Highness, you yourself said these are petty people’s nature – it’s not worth getting angry with them. But we can see that there are still many people in court who belonged to Sushun’s faction. If they’re not won over soon, trouble will surely arise in time.”

“What do you think should be done?”

“Bannermen are the foundation of our Manchu regime. No matter what, we must bind the Eight Banners with kindness and righteousness – only then can we establish firm roots. With this foundation, no matter how strong the wind, Your Highness’s tree will at most sway but won’t topple over. Why did no one save Sushun when he caused trouble? It’s because he looked down too much on those bannermen. If all the nobles in court had submitted memorials pleading for him, Your Highness probably couldn’t have executed him either.”

This was the truth, and Prince Gong nodded slowly after hearing it.

“So although the bannermen are currently disappointing, they can’t accomplish anything but are more than capable of ruining things – they absolutely cannot be neglected. For instance, since Your Highness took control of the military commission, there must be many coming to you seeking positions and asking for help.”

“More than many – it’s like a busy marketplace. In previous years when I was idle and dismissed, they never came.”

Baojun laughed: “This is human nature. They come to your door because they’re after the power and money in Your Highness’s hands. These bannermen are mostly impoverished and unsuccessful distant branches of the imperial clan or old Manchu families. They have nothing to do but carry birdcages and wander around all nine districts of the city. Technically speaking, they’re not distant relatives of the imperial family, and when they speak, people listen and believe them – they cannot be offended.”

“According to you, when they want positions and money, should I give them positions and money?”

Baojun said slowly: “Positions are conferred by the court and cannot be granted lightly. But money can be spread more generously to stop their mouths.”

Seeing Prince Gong about to speak, Baojun spoke first: “I know Your Highness finds this difficult – it’s a bottomless pit, but as long as Your Highness governs for one day, this dog hole must be filled for one day. There are also palace messengers and officials from other places coming to Beijing. Anyone who comes to Your Highness’s mansion must be generously rewarded to build widespread connections. Then there are matters like what I mentioned earlier – to handle them well without being criticized from both sides, you must have large sums of silver in hand. Not to mention distant matters, next month the civil and military officials in Beijing will voluntarily contribute to supplement the national treasury for military expenses. Your Highness must naturally lead with a large donation so other officials will follow suit. I’ve calculated this sum for Your Highness – it cannot be less than a hundred thousand taels!”

He spoke as if it were easy, as if Prince Gong’s mansion had mountains of gold and silver. Prince Gong was about to smile bitterly when suddenly he had a thought. Baojun was a clever person who usually appeared to joke and scold, but actually everything had deep meaning. Today everything he said related to money, and he brought the leader of Beijing merchants – could it be… Prince Gong understood, leaned back in his chair, and instead of looking at Baojun, cast his gaze toward Li Wantang.

Baojun knew him too well. Seeing that Prince Gong had guessed Li Wantang’s purpose, there was no need to beat around the bush anymore. So he gave Li Wantang a meaningful look and said: “In today’s world, if we still imitate Emperor Wen of Han considering a hundred gold pieces too expensive for a terrace, nothing can be accomplished. Old Li, His Highness toils daily over state affairs – we can’t let him worry about this matter too.”

Li Wantang had been waiting for this cue. He took out a purple walnut-patterned document tube from his sleeve, stepped forward two paces to place it on the table beside Prince Gong, then stepped back.

Prince Gong frowned slightly. He had already guessed what was inside, but when he opened it and looked, his heart still jumped. They were indeed bank notes, but the amount was astounding – ten dragon-head bank notes issued by Lao Hengxing, one of the “Big Four Banks,” each worth twenty thousand taels!

Prince Gong was inwardly shocked. A first-rank Beijing official’s annual salary was only a hundred and eighty taels. Although this was only nominal salary, and there were privately other gifts like “ice money” and “charcoal money” from provincial officials, even accumulating for a lifetime, one couldn’t expect to save this much silver. This person called “Li Half-City” was indeed generous beyond belief.

“Your Highness, don’t worry about it. Old Li’s family has plenty of money. This is his sincere tribute to you, and besides, this is just the beginning. You can rest assured…” Seeing Prince Gong’s expression turn serious, Baojun stopped talking.

“Let me ask you.” Prince Gong’s voice was low and already carried a questioning tone as he addressed Li Wantang: “Do you know what crime bribery of officials carries under Qing law?”

Hearing this, even Baojun got a fright. But Li Wantang remained calm and stood up to answer: “No crime.”

“Nonsense! How can bribery be without crime?”

“Bribery naturally has crime, but Your Highness is asking me about the bank notes in this envelope, which is not bribery, so there’s no crime.”

Prince Gong said nothing, only looked at Li Wantang with his bright, piercing eyes that carried natural authority, listening to him continue.

“So-called bribery, according to law, is ‘privately giving wealth with requests.’ This word ‘privately’ means both privately without witnesses and giving to private individuals. But these bank notes are not given for Your Highness’s private use, but are funds from Beijing merchants hoping Your Highness will use them for public affairs, such as contributing to the national treasury. Moreover, I have no requests to make of Your Highness, so this is not bribery and certainly not criminal.” Li Wantang spoke eloquently, concluding at this point.

Prince Gong heard this and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Baojun also breathed a sigh of relief.

“Before you and Minister Bao entered, I was just discussing the new emperor’s reign name with the gentlemen in the flower hall.” Prince Gong suddenly changed the subject, recounting what Wen Xiang and Cao Yuying had said, then asked: “What are your thoughts on these two characters ‘Tongzhi’?”

Baojun’s heart, which had just relaxed, tensed up again. He brought Li Wantang to the Prince’s mansion tonight hoping the Prince would open this financial source, so that he could serve as a bridge between the Beijing merchants and the Prince’s mansion. Even the losses when transporting gold could gild him into a golden bridge.

But he understood Prince Gong too well. Those without talent couldn’t get on the Prince’s boat. After testing Li Wantang’s quick wit, the Prince was now testing his insight. If the Prince was dissatisfied or if Li Wantang simply couldn’t answer, then tonight’s affair would be ruined.

After hearing the Prince’s question, Li Wantang thought for a moment and asked in return: “The Empress Dowager has been ruling from behind the curtain for several months now. What kind of people does Your Highness think the two Empress Dowagers are?”

Prince Gong nodded inwardly. With Li Wantang’s low rank as merely an expectant official, if he hadn’t asked this question, he truly would have had no way to answer. But he only said flatly: “Empress Dowager Ci’an has no ideas about handling state affairs and leaves all major matters to Empress Dowager Cixi’s disposal.”

Li Wantang thought again and said: “Minister Wen and Minister Cao’s explanations are both correct, but not entirely correct.”

“What do you mean by this?”

“Minister Wen’s words are completely public-spirited, while Minister Cao’s explanation is completely private-spirited. Both meanings are actually present, but they underestimate this Western Empress Dowager.”

Prince Gong’s eyes flashed once, but he showed no emotion, picked up his tea to sip lightly then put it down, waiting calmly to listen.

“This Western Empress Dowager is a formidable character. She probably models herself after the Empress Dowager Xuanren of the Northern Song Dynasty, considering herself a ‘female Yao and Shun.’ Having often attended to the late emperor and heard about state affairs, she probably already anticipated today’s situation. Therefore, although the ‘Tongzhi’ characters she set were announced to the world, they were actually meant for only one person to see.”

“Who?” Prince Gong asked without thinking.

Li Wantang remained silent, only raising his eyes to look at Prince Gong without speaking.

“Me? This ‘Tongzhi’ reign name was set for me to see?” Prince Gong was greatly surprised.

“Exactly. If I may ask, with Sushun gone, who among all the court officials has the most power? And who is the person the Empress Dowager most fears might develop rebellious intentions? Only Your Highness. This reign name actually tells Your Highness that the joint rule structure of Your Highness governing and the Empress Dowager ruling from behind the curtain will not easily change, asking Your Highness not to have concerns and to serve loyally.”

“That makes sense.” Baojun couldn’t help but applaud.

“I predict that besides promulgating this reign name to settle Your Highness’s mind, the Western Empress Dowager will soon bestow a tremendous favor upon Your Highness to win you over.” Li Wantang said with great confidence.

Prince Gong couldn’t help but look at Li Wantang with new respect: “This favor has already been bestowed.” He then repeated what he had told Gui Liang and others earlier.

With the Western Empress Dowager’s extreme desire for power, future conflicts with the “Prince Regent” were foreseeable. The flower hall fell silent for a moment, and even the blue-robed maids sensed the heavy atmosphere, glancing at each other with their eyes, unsure whether they should step forward to serve.

After a while, the moon’s shadow slanted westward. Probably dazzled by the light, a pond duck suddenly flew up from the pool in the garden with a flapping sound, startling the three men who were lost in thought.

Li Wantang was the first to speak: “In my humble opinion, Your Highness may be overthinking this.”

“How so?”

“Your Highness’s talents are evident to all. No matter what happens in the future, at least until the Emperor assumes personal rule, the two Empress Dowagers will still need to rely on Your Highness to handle state affairs. As for after he assumes personal rule, the current situation is quite different from Emperor Shunzhi’s time. Today’s Qing dynasty not only has the Emperor, princes, civil and military officials, and countless common people, but also has one more element – the foreigners!”

Prince Gong listened to this point, and his eyes gradually began to shine. Without realizing it, he leaned forward slightly: “Continue.”

“Yes. The foreigners are powerful – they even drove the late Emperor from Beijing to Rehe. The court’s fear of foreigners is an undeniable fact. Add to this what Minister Bao mentioned about the Eight Banners imperial clan and provincial governors. If Your Highness can weave these people into a network, even if the Empress Dowager and Emperor take unfavorable action against Your Highness in the future, as long as the foreigners, Eight Banners, and governors all stand with Your Highness, it would truly be as solid as metal and stone – no one could touch Your Highness in the slightest.”

Prince Gong pondered: “Weaving such a large network would be not only time-consuming but also laborious. Foreigners are extremely greedy for profit. To get foreigners to work for you would be quite expensive.”

“Your Highness, please rest assured. As long as it concerns Your Highness’s affairs, with just one word from you, we Beijing merchants will certainly spare no effort.” This was where the thousand-mile dragon finally found its resting place – only now had the conversation reached its true destination. Li Wantang no longer hesitated and answered with firm determination.

Prince Gong stared at him for a long time, then slowly withdrew his gaze. Prince Gong was naturally intelligent and didn’t believe Li Wantang’s claim of having “no requests whatsoever.” But this deal was truly tempting – even knowing it was like retrieving chestnuts from fire, he couldn’t help but reach out. Moreover, after Prince Gong’s repeated questioning, he knew that this man becoming the leader of Beijing merchants in his early forties was no coincidence. Not only was he thoroughly versed in human nature and worldly affairs, but he also analyzed matters with penetrating insight. Without realizing it, even his own mental barriers had been mostly resolved. If used well, he would truly be an excellent assistant.

“But I’m afraid I cannot accept this title of ‘Prince Regent.’ That phrase about perishing through ‘orphan child, widowed mother, and regent prince’ is truly heart-stopping. Once news spreads, wouldn’t I be placed over a fire to roast?” Prince Gong also felt his father-in-law made sense – this title must be firmly declined.

“How about changing the title?” Li Wantang knew this deal was settled. The greater Prince Gong’s authority, the more beneficial it would be for himself. Naturally, he didn’t want him to lose such a large piece of meat. After thinking it over, he suddenly had an inspiration.

“How would you change it?”

“Change ‘regent’ to ‘deliberating’ – make it Prince of Deliberation. All matters can be deliberated – wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Li Wantang smiled slightly.

“Excellent!” Baojun immediately praised, and Prince Gong also smiled, about to clap his hands together when he restrained his smile.

He turned to Baojun and said: “Since this is the case, from now on you and Prefect Li should become closer. Whatever he discusses with you, I’ll naturally know about it too.”

Baojun was startled, then immediately understood this was Prince Gong’s way of showing he wouldn’t “keep the profit private” – which also suited his own intentions perfectly. He immediately nodded with a smile.

Steward Ding Er became more and more restless the more he thought about it. Suddenly he slapped the table and stood up, startling his six-months-pregnant wife, who complained: “You man, scaring me doesn’t matter, but this belly carries your flesh and blood! If you frighten the child, it’ll surely become a night-crying baby when born.”

“Ai!” Steward Ding Er had been married to his wife for over ten years with deep affection between them. Their only regret was having no son. Last year after the Mid-Autumn Festival, his wife quietly told him she had missed her monthly flow for two months. Steward Ding Er was so happy he immediately ran to the paper and candle shop to buy incense, candles, and offerings to place before the ancestral tablets. For several consecutive months, he could wake up laughing from dreams at night. His wife, Madam Ding Ning, hadn’t seen him so agitated in a long time.

“What’s wrong?” She stood beside her husband, asking gently.

“I’m truly a coward afraid of death. The more I think about it now, the more I regret it.” Steward Ding Er slapped his thigh. “Chief Steward Zhu has always looked after our family these past ten-odd years. Two years ago when you fell seriously ill, if Chief Steward hadn’t sent for a famous doctor from the provincial capital overnight, I’m afraid… If that had happened, how would we two have had this later blessing? My old Ding family line would probably have been cut off. Chief Steward Zhu’s great kindness to us – even if I repaid it by becoming grass or holding a ring in my mouth after death, it would be difficult to repay. This time, seeing there was danger going to Evil Tiger Ravine, I was greedy for life and afraid of death, not daring to go. Instead, that newly arrived fellow surnamed Gu went with Chief Steward. You tell me how heartbroken Chief Steward must be. If I put myself in his shoes, I really handled this matter poorly.”

Seeing her husband’s face flushed red with constant self-reproach, Madam Ding Ning said nothing, brought over a cup of fragrant tea and placed it in her husband’s hands, gently grasping his arm to console him: “You’re not greedy for life and afraid of death. It’s just that your heart is concerned with me and our unborn child, which made you hesitate. Otherwise, you would certainly have followed Chief Steward Zhu. Now that Chief Steward Zhu has already departed, it’s useless for you to worry. A good person like him will surely have heaven’s protection and nothing will happen. In the future, there will be many opportunities for us to repay him – it’s not urgent to do so right now.” As she spoke, she took her husband’s hand and slowly placed it on her slightly bulging abdomen. “If we two can’t repay him, don’t we still have the child? Don’t worry – if you make yourself ill with anxiety, who will take care of us mother and child?”

Steward Ding Er looked gratefully at his wife’s gentle face and nodded deeply: “Right, our family must repay Chief Steward Zhu’s great kindness.”

Gu Pingyuan and Zhu Sheng rode together in a large cart toward Evil Tiger Ravine. Gu Pingyuan held the reins while Zhu Sheng sat behind. The two men barely spoke a word throughout the journey. Zhu Sheng kept his eyes closed in meditation, while Gu Pingyuan, not skilled in horse handling, concentrated entirely on driving and had no time for conversation. They finally reached Evil Tiger Ravine before sunset.

“Two mountains flanking a ridge produce emperors for generations. Two mountains flanking a ravine produce thieves for generations.” This Evil Tiger Ravine had rocky mountains on both sides. Named Evil Tiger Ravine, it was actually a large canyon that produced not small thieves but great bandits. As Gu Pingyuan drove the cart into the canyon mountain road, he kept looking around. During his time beyond the Great Wall, because he could read and write, he had worked as a copyist for several camp officers, sometimes helping them write military strategy essays to handle examinations and inspections by the Ministry of Personnel, so he had inadvertently read quite a few military books. Now seeing this terrain, he knew it was a one-in-ten-thousand easily defended and hard-to-attack position. No wonder, despite being not far from the provincial capital, this gang of great bandits could brazenly occupy this place for so many years.

“Halt! Password!” Gu Pingyuan was absorbed in his thoughts when suddenly a sharp shout came from a jagged strange rock.

“What password? It’s fat sheep – shoot an arrow to chase them away,” someone urgently ordered.

At this point Zhu Sheng had already gotten off the cart and cupped his hands toward the source of the voice: “Mountain friends, I was invited by Chief Lu. Please announce my arrival – tell them the steward who comes to collect things has arrived.”

“Oh, it’s you.” Several people emerged from behind the strange rocks, led by a minor leader dressed in short clothes. He looked at Zhu Sheng, then at Gu Pingyuan, his eyes rolling around. Suddenly he grinned strangely at Zhu Sheng and cursed: “You fat turtle, you actually came – what damn bad luck.”

Zhu Sheng didn’t understand why he was cursing him, but these people were all the type to draw knives at the slightest disagreement. Losing his temper was absolutely unacceptable, so he could only force a smile at the corners of his mouth, considering it a greeting.

“Quite brave. Our brothers were betting whether you’d dare come this year – you made me lose five taels of silver.” The minor leader spat on the ground.

Only then did Zhu Sheng understand: “Oh, I’m truly sorry about that. Never mind, I’ll pay this money – we can’t let you lose money no matter what.”

Only then did a trace of smile appear on the minor leader’s face. He waved his hand: “Forget it. You know our chief is easy-going about everything except gambling – he’s most serious about that. If he knew I lost a bet but let someone else pay, my little life wouldn’t be safe.”

“Yes, yes.” Zhu Sheng didn’t dare say more. “Then please trouble yourself to take us up the mountain.”

“Wait, you don’t need to go up the mountain. The stronghold currently has business, and the chief just issued orders – no trade will be conducted, and no outsiders may go up the mountain.”

Zhu Sheng was greatly surprised: “But we received a letter sent by the chief three days ago and came immediately.”

“I know. But the stronghold’s business just came up today, and this order was just issued. Later orders supersede earlier ones, so you’d better leave quickly.” The minor leader waved his hand, impatient to say more, and was about to chase Zhu Sheng away.

Gu Pingyuan had driven all day, and just when they reached their destination, they were refused entry. He could tolerate this, but the minor leader’s arrogant and unreasonable attitude was truly unbearable to watch. He stepped forward half a pace and said politely: “Brother, we’ve come such a long way. Even if business can’t be done, benevolence remains. You should at least give us a reason. Driving people away like this without cause – aren’t you just toying with people?”

Though his tone was polite, the minor leader exploded upon hearing this. He glared with triangular eyes, twisted his mouth and cursed: “Bastard, what kind of son of a bitch are you to reason with me? This is Evil Tiger Ravine – a place that never reasons. Believe it or not, I’ll chop you with one stroke!”

Zhu Sheng, having learned from past experience, hurriedly mediated: “This is his first year coming here – he doesn’t understand your stronghold’s rules. You’re a big person who doesn’t hold grudges against small people – don’t stoop to his level.” He then turned back to repeatedly scold Gu Pingyuan: “Why are you talking so much? Turn the horse around and go back, quickly.”

A perfectly good business deal – they came with high hopes and returned in disappointment. Gu Pingyuan cracked the whip several times, driving the horse back the way they came. After traveling about two li, Zhu Sheng said in a low voice: “We definitely can’t make it back to Taigu tonight. There are no markets or villages near Evil Tiger Ravine – only Zhai Family Bridge ten li to the south has a few households where we can stay.”

“Yes.” Gu Pingyuan agreed and was about to turn south when they heard the sound of hoofbeats behind them. The two men looked intently and saw a fast horse running out of the canyon with the minor leader mounted on it.

“Terrible, terrible! Gu Pingyuan, why did you talk so much just now! These people kill without blinking – they must be coming for revenge after you contradicted them. What can we do?” Zhu Sheng stamped his feet and sighed heavily.

Gu Pingyuan also felt his heart leap to his throat. He hadn’t expected these Evil Tiger Ravine bandits would really kill at the slightest disagreement. What to do? He unconsciously gripped the whip in his hand tightly. Before he could think of a response, the fast horse had already reached them. Zhu Sheng quickly took out a twenty-tael bank note, planning to apologize and speak nicely, but unexpectedly the minor leader didn’t dismount. He pointed at the two men with his riding whip: “You two come back – follow me up the mountain.”

Zhu Sheng was both surprised and delighted. He didn’t know how things had suddenly changed one hundred eighty degrees, but he didn’t dare ask. He followed the minor leader back to the strange rocks. It turned out there was a small mountain path behind these rocks, winding and twisting with broken stones everywhere. Zhu Sheng handed the large cart to the bandit soldiers at the foot of the mountain and, bringing Gu Pingyuan, followed the minor leader up the mountain.

The mountain path was fairly walkable at first, but became increasingly treacherous. The narrowest parts could barely accommodate two people passing each other, and several places required rope ladders to climb up and down. Zhu Sheng was fat and weak, relying entirely on Gu Pingyuan’s assistance to climb the mountain. Even so, he was exhausted, panting like an ox and sweating like rain.

“Let me rest before continuing – this old man really can’t walk anymore.” After climbing over a mountain ridge, Zhu Sheng’s legs went weak and he nearly collapsed on the ground. Gu Pingyuan quickly supported him.

“What rest? After crossing the suspension bridge ahead is Flat Slope, and the road after that will be much easier.”

Zhu Sheng waved his hand, gasping for breath. Seeing he truly couldn’t move, the minor leader had no choice but to wait impatiently with another bandit.

Having been toughened in the frontier, Gu Pingyuan wasn’t tired at all. He simply stood at the cliff edge watching the sunset’s afterglow. He could see green emerald embedded in the cliff face, growing from the rocks. On the opposite cliff protruded a ten-zhang square platform with a naturally formed shallow pool. Spring water cascaded down with tinkling sounds, stirring up ripples of red hues – truly a magnificent wonderland. Looking further into the distance, he could faintly see the cliff inscription “Misty Peak” carved in stone, with roof ridges and cooking smoke hidden among trees – this must be the stronghold of the Evil Tiger Ravine bandits.

“This is an immortal’s cave dwelling, yet it’s become a bandit’s den – what a waste of such a place,” Gu Pingyuan thought to himself.

When they continued forward after crossing the suspension bridge, the rules changed again. Both Gu Pingyuan and Zhu Sheng had their eyes tightly blindfolded with red cloth, with people supporting them as they continued forward. Without needing to ask, Gu Pingyuan knew this was certainly because the stronghold feared revealing the defensive secrets of rolling logs, stones, arrows, and archers, so they blindfolded both men to prevent them from seeing.

Unable to see with his eyes, his ears became particularly sharp. Gu Pingyuan heard the minor leader exchanging questions and answers with someone who had come down from the mountain to relay orders.

“Didn’t the chief say to be on strict alert and not allow outsiders up the mountain? How did he allow these two up?”

“I heard the chief has made up his mind to take those two who came this morning as tribute. Now that officials are corrupt, if you want to get a decent position, offering just those two people probably won’t be enough – you need to prepare plenty of silver too.”

“Is the chief really going to accept amnesty?”

“I heard it’s the third chief’s idea. He says if our stronghold’s over a thousand men join the government army, the chief could at least get a fourth-rank commander position, and he himself wants to catch a garrison commander position.”

“It’s not that easy – those are fourth and fifth-rank military official buttons, quite valuable.”

“That’s why these two need to come up the mountain to collect pawned goods for silver. I heard quite a few officials need to be bribed.”

Gu Pingyuan heard this clearly and understood completely. Only then did he realize why this gang of bandits had changed their orders so quickly and were willing to let people up the mountain. But from the sound of it, they seemed to have captured two valuable hostages they wanted to offer to the officials. Who could they be?

“Remove them.” At the command, Gu Pingyuan’s blindfold was removed. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, finding himself in a rectangular large plaza on the mountaintop. This plaza was formed by artificially excavating and developing the slightly gentler rocky soil slope at the mountain top, filled and leveled with stone blocks – apparently used for assembly and training. At one end of the plaza was a large mountain gate with watchtowers on both sides, and a team of bandits was patrolling in front of the gate.

Gu Pingyuan looked toward Zhu Sheng and saw him standing motionless. Thinking it was due to excessive fatigue, he went forward to help, but found Zhu Sheng’s body rigid and his gaze fixed straight ahead at something.

Following Zhu Sheng’s gaze, Gu Pingyuan saw an iron flagpole erected at the edge of the plaza with a black tiger flag fluttering in the wind. Under the torchlight, the flag rope gleamed – it wasn’t hemp rope but iron chains.

“Chief Steward Zhu, what’s wrong?” Gu Pingyuan asked in confusion.

After asking three times, Zhu Sheng finally squeezed out a few words from his lips: “Little Seven.”

Gu Pingyuan was startled, then felt a chill like cold wind blow across his back. Looking intently, he indeed saw burn marks from fierce fire on the flagpole.

“You mean…” Gu Pingyuan guessed at the tragic scene from a year ago that had occurred right here in this plaza.

“Stop dawdling! Over here.” The minor leader impatiently shouted, pointing to a side room.

Zhu Sheng didn’t dare delay and quickly walked over. Gu Pingyuan followed closely, walking while looking back, his heart filled with mixed feelings – shock mingled with even more sorrow. A promising businessman had been destroyed in this bandit den, while these bloodthirsty bandit leaders were about to become officials. Gu Pingyuan felt anger quietly surging in his heart and had to take deep breaths to barely suppress this fire.

When they reached the side room, three large chests had already been opened and arranged, with a large table placed beside them. A short fat man wearing riding pants with a cowhide belt, bare-chested with a tuft of black hair on his chest, was directing several small bandits to take things from the chests and arrange them on the table.

“Damn it, all of you be careful – if you break anything, I’ll chop off your dog paws for compensation.” The short fat man cursed continuously. Seeing Zhu Sheng enter, he immediately called out: “Fat Zhu, this time we brothers have brought out all the good stuff from the stronghold. If you dare bargain down the price, I’ll burn down your pawn shop later.”

“Third Chief, where are you going with this talk? In doing business with your stronghold, how would I dare play tricks – do I not want my head?” Zhu Sheng bowed at the waist with an apologetic smile.

Hearing this, Gu Pingyuan realized this short fat man was the instigator of that incident a year ago – the Third Chief. His brow immediately furrowed as he looked him up and down.

Seeing Zhu Sheng had brought an assistant who didn’t look like a businessman – standing there neither servile nor arrogant, not even bowing to him – the Third Chief immediately glared with murderous intent: “What’s this kid for?”

“Third Chief, this is my assistant, surnamed Gu, called Gu Pingyuan. This is his first year coming up the mountain for business. Please take care of him, Third Chief.” As he spoke, Zhu Sheng coughed heavily. Gu Pingyuan had no choice but to bow reluctantly.

“Last year it was also a first-time assistant who didn’t know better. This year you’d better keep your assistant in line – the mountain is short of candles right now.” Probably finding his own words amusing, the Third Chief threw back his head and laughed heartily.

Hearing him joke about human life, Gu Pingyuan secretly gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“Third Chief is joking.” Zhu Sheng didn’t want to continue this topic, pointing to the jewels and treasures arranged on the table: “Allow this old man to examine the goods first.”

“Hurry up – the stronghold has business now and no time to waste with you.” The Third Chief waved his hand impatiently.

Zhu Sheng signaled to Gu Pingyuan and brought him to the long table. Gu Pingyuan held a ledger and asked for writing materials. For each item Zhu Sheng identified, he would state its name and pawn value, and Gu Pingyuan would immediately record it in the ledger. Despite the Third Chief’s constant urging, with three large chests full of dazzling goods, the time required was naturally considerable. After half an hour, they had only examined one chest. The Third Chief got impatient and left, leaving two bandits to guard.

They continued examining items one by one – fine silk embroidery, precious gemstones, rare antique calligraphy and paintings all passed before their eyes. When they reached the third chest, Zhu Sheng picked up a blackish object and suddenly fell silent.

Gu Pingyuan waited for him to speak but heard nothing for a long time. Looking up, he saw Zhu Sheng holding an inkstone, lost in contemplation.

“Chief Steward Zhu…” Throughout examining these chests, no matter how valuable the pawned items, Zhu Sheng could calmly and carefully examine them without his expression changing. Why was he so moved by encountering a small inkstone?

Zhu Sheng closed his eyes, his voice extremely soft – unclear whether he was speaking to Gu Pingyuan or reminiscing about the past: “This inkstone belonged to Mr. Zhang Gongwang of Pingyao. When he went to Mount Tai and crossed the Wen River, he saw strange light in the water and fished out what turned out to be a remarkable stone. The back resembled a silkworm, while the belly seemed like hundreds of bats flying together. If you looked long enough, those bats seemed ready to fly out, as if thousands were hidden in the stone. The silkworm’s mouth had a small hole that could hold water, and the silkworm’s body coiled in a circle, perfectly forming an inkstone. Using this inkstone to grind ink, even ordinary ink would produce a wonderful fragrance. Zhang Gongwang called it the ‘Ten Thousand Blessings Inkstone.’ Later, when the Zhang family faced a lawsuit in Tianjin, they pawned this inkstone.”

Gu Pingyuan listened intently. Seeing faint characters on the edge of the inkstone, he gently took it to examine closely and indeed found an inscription.

“Blessed by Mount Tai, bathed by Wen River, firm as iron, warm as jade. Transformed into bats, generating hundreds of clans – an auspicious sign for literature, seeking manifold blessings.” The calligraphy was meticulous, clearly showing the owner’s care for this inkstone.

“What happened to this inkstone afterward?” Gu Pingyuan couldn’t help asking.

“I don’t know. That was the last transaction I saw when I was an apprentice in Tianjin. Then I heard of trouble at home and rushed back. It’s been over thirty years since I’ve seen this inkstone.” Zhu Sheng looked up with a light sigh, deeply moved.

Gu Pingyuan remained silent. Those who love inkstones must be scholars, yet this inkstone had ended up here – naturally some scholar had suffered persecution from Evil Tiger Ravine.

“How is it? Finished examining?” The Third Chief pushed through the door reeking of alcohol – apparently he had gone drinking.

“Almost done.” Zhu Sheng ordered Gu Pingyuan to put down the inkstone and turned to answer.

The Third Chief saw it and said irritably: “What’s so interesting about that broken stone? I could give it to you. I have good stuff here – price this together.”

With that, he had a bandit bring over a dozen sticks and dump them on the ground: “Look, this stuff is worth more than stones.”

Zhu Sheng looked and was startled: “Third Chief, these can’t be pawned.”

“Why can’t they be pawned?” The Third Chief pressed forward breathing alcohol, his nose and eyes askew as he questioned.

“We agreed from the beginning that military weapons can’t be pawned – it violates regulations and my small shop truly cannot bear the responsibility.”

Gu Pingyuan also saw clearly – scattered on the ground were over a dozen gleaming foreign rifles, fine quality and well-maintained. But Chief Steward Zhu was right – foreign rifles and cannons were items the court explicitly forbade from entering civilian hands. Once discovered, one could face treason charges – this was no joke.

“Don’t worry – though these are foreign rifles, they’re all broken and won’t fire. Look.” The Third Chief picked one up and pulled the trigger at Zhu Sheng, scaring him so much his face tensed, but the gun indeed didn’t fire.

“Even broken ones can’t be pawned.” Zhu Sheng shook his head, thinking this batch of weapons was probably stolen from somewhere – if they came from government troops, even with a mouth full of tongues he couldn’t explain clearly.

Sure enough, the Third Chief cursed: “Don’t you dare refuse everything. Let me tell you, these guns have no problems. A few months ago a cavalry unit passed through and we brothers robbed them. With one pit trap and some sharp wooden stakes, these grandsons didn’t understand what happened before meeting the King of Hell. We threw the bodies to the back mountain to feed wolves – no one will ever know. We just don’t know why they all carried broken guns. These guns look strange – nobody’s seen their like, and there’s no place to load gunpowder. Pure waste.”

They had never seen this type of gun, but Gu Pingyuan had! He had seen this kind of rifle at the Fengtian military camp. There was a Russian deserter who had crossed into the frontier to rob and kill, but was beaten to death with clubs by local people while he slept. The foreign rifle seized was turned over to the military camp. At first, no one knew how to use it, but later some among the people had seen that Russian fire the gun from afar, and after imitating his actions several times, they indeed got it to shoot. This incident was reported as a military achievement, and Gu Pingyuan had drafted the victory dispatch. To clearly explain this captured firearm, Gu Pingyuan had really racked his brains. Because the most distinctive feature of the gun was its golden color, Gu Pingyuan gave it the name “Golden Hook Contraption Rifle.” Later, news came from military headquarters that this was Russia’s newest manufactured gun, quite valuable, and Beijing had only purchased a batch to equip the “Divine Engine Battalion.” That cavalry unit must have been soldiers from the Divine Engine Battalion. The Divine Engine Battalion had always been arrogant and domineering in Beijing, but unexpectedly they died in confusion at Evil Tiger Ravine.

Seeing Zhu Sheng only shake his head in refusal, the Third Chief angrily slammed a rifle on the table with a “bang”: “Look here, these bumps and triggers on the side are all gold – just pawn them as gold.”

“That’s foreign copper, not gold!” Gu Pingyuan couldn’t help but blurt out.

“You damn bastard dare to contradict me!” The Third Chief had already found him unpleasant. Glaring fiercely, he pulled a dagger from his boot and charged straight at Gu Pingyuan.

Gu Pingyuan hadn’t expected that a casual remark would bring mortal danger. This was their territory – to kill or butcher him would be hard to escape. His heart couldn’t help but turn cold.

At this critical moment, a minor leader pushed through the door: “Third Chief, the Chief is looking for you. The people have been brought to the plaza, ready to be sent to Taiyuan Prefecture overnight.”

“Mm, good, I’m coming.” The Third Chief took this matter very seriously. He glared viciously at Gu Pingyuan, put away his dagger, and left.

Zhu Sheng was so frightened his legs went weak, and he also glared hard at Gu Pingyuan: “Why do you talk so much? Don’t you think enough people have died in the shop?”

Gu Pingyuan was about to respond when he heard an extremely rough voice outside shouting loudly: “Bastards, bullying people like this won’t do! I just won’t agree – what can you do about it!”

Hearing this voice, Gu Pingyuan nearly jumped up.

Liu Heita!

Liu Heita had been missing for many days without a trace, always a knot in Gu Pingyuan’s heart. Now suddenly hearing his familiar voice, in wild joy he didn’t even greet Zhu Sheng, pushed through the door, and rushed outside in two strides instead of three.

The sky had completely darkened. Misty Peak was the highest point of the surrounding mountains, with no shelter on all sides. The Milky Way shone brilliantly in the sky, but its light was stolen by the lanterns and torches in the plaza. Under the firelight, two people were bound with ropes in the center of the plaza, wrapped like dumplings but standing rather than kneeling. One had a small but lean and powerful build. Though his whole body was tied, his neck kept twisting, and a pair of red ape eyes blinked and looked around on his sharp-featured face, looking exactly like the Monkey King Sun Wukong reborn. The other was tall and large, wearing a blue robe, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, distinguished bearing, not yet thirty years old. Though trapped in danger, he remained calm and composed, showing no signs of panic.

Gu Pingyuan didn’t recognize either of these two people, but he immediately recognized the person standing beside them shouting loudly – it was definitely Liu Heita. He saw him spreading his arms and calling out: “I don’t know them – I’m just speaking fairly. When people come to your door with gifts, they’re guests. You’ve already done wrong by turning on them and capturing them, but now you want to light sky lanterns and send them to the authorities – you’re bullying them to the extreme. I just won’t agree!”

“Liu, what are you being so arrogant about! If not for one word from the Chief, I would have chopped you long ago. You dare meddle in today’s affairs – believe it or not, I’ll light you up as a sky lantern too?” The Third Chief’s eyes were blood red. He threw off his clothes, revealing his bare muscular body, holding a ghost-head saber in his hand.

“Boy, if your grandfather were afraid of you, I’d write the character ‘Liu’ backwards from now on!” Liu Heita stood in front of the two bound men, straightening his body fearlessly without showing weakness.

The Third Chief whistled, about to call for people to swarm forward, when a loud shout came from the main hall: “Hold on!”

Everyone parted left and right as a middle-aged man of imposing stature walked in. This man had a purple face, side whiskers, leopard head and round eyes. He strode to the middle between Liu Heita and the Third Chief.

“Big Brother, tell me how to handle this. If we let this kid off lightly, how can the brothers be convinced?” The Third Chief said angrily to this man.

The newcomer was naturally the Chief “Purple-Faced Tiger” Lü Zheng. He frowned tightly with an uncertain expression, looked at Liu Heita once, and said in a deep voice: “Brother Liu, you’ve been in the stronghold for many days, and I’ve always treated you well. This is a major stronghold matter – don’t interfere.”

“Chief!” Liu Heita cupped his hands: “I, Liu Heita, am a rough man, but I still understand reason. These people came to discuss uprising matters with you, always polite and courteous, without any coercion. Whether you’re willing or not, if business doesn’t work out, benevolence remains. You shouldn’t have listened to this Third Chief and tied them up to send to the authorities in exchange for official hats.” He pointed to the small thin man: “Just because he cursed a few words, you want to light him as a sky lantern – that’s adding wrong to wrong. If I hadn’t seen it, that would be one thing, but having seen it, I can’t ignore it. I have one more thing to say – these past months you’ve been trying to persuade me to join the stronghold, but seeing today’s events, we’re not on the same path. Please forgive Liu for disappointing the Chief’s kind intentions.”

“Big Brother, did you hear? This kid is just a white-eyed wolf. These past months we’ve provided him with good food and drink, but when it comes to the crunch, he turns against us to help outsiders. Can we keep such a person?” The Third Chief shouted angrily.

“Bah! You’re the ungrateful one.” Liu Heita’s anger flared as he pointed: “Don’t forget, if not for me, you’d all be wearing your pants inside out by now. A few months of food and drink is worth at most a few dozen taels, yet you dare settle this account with me!”

Hearing the Third Chief and Liu Heita quarrel, Lü Zheng’s mind raced. He cherished Liu Heita as a brave hero and intended to have him join the stronghold. Now hearing his meaning, this was completely impossible, but these two people he was protecting were extremely important – his future wealth and honor all depended on them. After thinking for a while, his mind was made up. His face darkened and he shouted: “Liu Heita, what do you take my Evil Tiger Ravine for? Here, only I bully others – no one has ever dared bully me. Come, seize him!”

The Third Chief had been waiting for these words. With a “wa-ya” shout, he rushed forward swinging his ghost-head saber straight at Liu Heita’s head. Liu Heita’s chain whip had been lost at the county office, but now he somehow had an iron chain in his hand, swinging it with a “whoosh” sound in the wind as he fought with the Third Chief.

Bandits don’t believe in single combat. Seeing after more than ten exchanges that the Third Chief couldn’t win, those minions each took knives and spears and swarmed forward. With an unwieldy weapon in his hand and having to protect those two people, Liu Heita immediately found himself in mortal danger. If not for Lü Zheng’s order to capture him alive, he would probably have been cut down already.

In desperation, Liu Heita reached back with a “bang” and grabbed the black iron flagpole. Exerting force with both arms and giving a great shout, he forcibly pulled out the flagpole that was buried five feet deep in the ground. Swinging it left and right, he knocked those minions down in all directions, keeping them from getting close. Liu Heita was delighted and laughed heartily, but this infuriated the Third Chief, who ordered: “Archers, shoot! Turn that Liu into a hornet’s nest!”

Liu Heita was stunned. To say he could wield such a long flagpole so tightly it wouldn’t let arrows through would require Li Yuanba reborn – he didn’t have such ability. Never mind ten thousand arrows – even one arrow would end everything.

“Brother, I appreciate your rescue attempt, but you should worry about yourself and escape the stronghold quickly. Don’t worry about us anymore.” The thick-browed, big-eyed young man behind him had been silent until now, but seeing the dire situation, he finally spoke.

“Hmph! I’ve experienced Mongol arrow storms – what’s this little bit to me!” Liu Heita was also being stubborn: “If I can’t save you, we’ll die together. At least we’ll have drinking companions on the road to the underworld.”

“Good hero!” the sharp-featured man cried out: “Who would have thought that I, ‘Ghost Hard-to-Catch,’ would meet such a hero before dying? It’s a pity I didn’t know you earlier, or we could have enjoyed drinking several jars together – what a pleasure that would have been.”

“‘Ghost Hard-to-Catch’?” The Third Chief smiled wickedly: “I’ll make you into a ghost right now. Listen up – except for the one in the blue robe, shoot Liu and this ‘Ghost Hard-to-Catch’ to death!”

Seeing the archers draw their bows and nock arrows, and with the plaza open and unprotected, when this wave of arrows came, several people would certainly have no chance of survival. Liu Heita didn’t want to wait for death. Thinking he’d profit by killing one, he gripped the flagpole and roared, about to charge at the Third Chief.

At this critical moment, there was a loud “bang” that echoed through the mountain valley in the night. Everyone in the plaza was startled by this sudden sound. Looking toward the source, they saw a young man holding a foreign rifle behind a puff of blue smoke, the muzzle pointed skyward – he had fired a blank shot.

“Gu… Gu Pingyuan?” Liu Heita almost cried out “Big Brother Gu” but swallowed it halfway: “You… how are you here?”

Gu Pingyuan didn’t answer. After firing this shot, he was also nervous. Though he had heard people explain how to use this “Golden Hook Contraption Rifle,” this was his first time actually firing it. If it hadn’t worked, Liu Heita’s life would already be lost.

“Release them from the stronghold!” Gu Pingyuan shouted toward the plaza.

“What did you say?” The Third Chief hadn’t expected this surprise intervention. Looking carefully, he realized it was the pawnshop assistant from earlier, and his wariness decreased considerably: “Good little assistant, I just spared your life, but you really know how to seek death!”

After Chief Lü Zheng learned the situation, he called to Zhu Sheng behind Gu Pingyuan: “Steward Zhu, this is someone you brought? What game are you playing? Did you bring a spy up the mountain?”

Zhu Sheng’s face turned green with fright, his guts turning blue with regret. He thought: What kind of bad luck have I had these past two years, or which temple’s deity have I offended? Last year, young Seven wanted to elope with someone from the stronghold, and I had to exhaust all my good words just to save my old life going down the mountain. This year’s even better – I only brought one Gu Pingyuan, but he’s firing guns in the stronghold and wants to rescue those three people. It looks like I’ll definitely leave my life in Evil Tiger Ravine this year.

“Cut the nonsense. I’m telling you to open the stronghold gates and let us out.” Gu Pingyuan knew the situation was urgent – almost a life-or-death scenario – but he couldn’t watch Liu Heita die at the bandits’ hands, so he had to take the risk.

“You must be talking in your sleep.” The Third Chief mocked: “Even if you accidentally fired one shot, do you think you have time to reload gunpowder and bullets? That gun is now useless. You’re holding a fire poker and dare to speak so boldly – you’re really tired of living.”

“Even if I’m tired of living, do you dare come chop off my head? With your fierce appearance but cowardly heart, I bet you’ve never killed anyone. Have you always hidden behind the Chief pretending to be a grandson?”

Gu Pingyuan’s words were vicious enough. Zhu Sheng had originally planned to explain and mediate, thinking he could say this assistant had a throat condition and was delirious from an old illness flaring up. But before he could speak, he heard Gu Pingyuan curse such a long string, and immediately his vision went black, nearly collapsing to the ground. He thought: It’s over, it’s over! Gu Pingyuan, so you didn’t come up the mountain to do business – you came to drag me along to meet the King of Hell. If I had known this, I should have thrown myself off the mountain when climbing up – at least I’d have kept a whole corpse. Instead, I climbed up half-dead just to take this blade. What did I do to deserve this?

Hearing these words, the Third Chief was so angry his three souls jumped: “I’ll first chop off your hands and feet, then cut off your head!” He raised his ghost-head saber and strode toward Gu Pingyuan.

Though Liu Heita was dissatisfied with Gu Pingyuan, he couldn’t watch him die without helping. But wanting to stop this, there was a row of archers blocking the way. By the time he charged through, he’d be a pincushion too. His palms immediately broke out in cold sweat.

When the Third Chief walked to about four or five steps from Gu Pingyuan, he gripped the knife handle with both hands and raised the big saber high, poised to strike down. Gu Pingyuan calmly raised his rifle muzzle, gripped the golden knob on the side of the gun barrel, pulled it back and clicked it, then pulled the trigger with his index finger. With a gunshot, the Third Chief fell to the ground with a “thud,” clutching his thigh and screaming in pain.

No one had ever seen such a foreign gun! After firing one shot, it could fire another without reloading gunpowder, and from the looks of it, there were more than one shot left. No one knew how many bullets Gu Pingyuan’s gun could fire, so they all stood dumbfounded. Actually, Gu Pingyuan knew in his heart that this foreign rifle had only three bullets total, with just the last one remaining. He could only bluff people – if the bandits rushed forward en masse, he’d be helpless immediately. Fortunately, his provocation strategy worked perfectly, getting the Third Chief as a hostage. Whether they could leave Evil Tiger Ravine today all depended on the Third Chief.

Gu Pingyuan repeated the action, pulling the bolt again, then pressed the gun muzzle against the Third Chief’s head and shouted: “Bring the people over!”

This sudden turn of events dramatically reversed the situation. This Third Chief was Chief Lü Zheng’s cousin, and fearing for his cousin’s life, he could only watch as Liu Heita brought those two people to join with Gu Pingyuan. Gu Pingyuan had no time to catch up with Liu Heita and demanded Lü Zheng open the stronghold gates to let them down the mountain. Lü Zheng was about to agree when unexpectedly the Third Chief proved quite stubborn, sternly refusing and only agreeing to let Zhu Sheng, Gu Pingyuan, and Liu Heita down the mountain, but absolutely insisting on keeping those two bound men. Zhu Sheng naturally couldn’t ask for more, but Liu Heita firmly disagreed, and Gu Pingyuan also felt that saving people should be thorough – leaving like this wouldn’t be a gentleman’s conduct.

Thus they reached a stalemate. Seeing the many arrows outside, Gu Pingyuan retreated with Liu Heita and the others, taking the wounded Third Chief into the room where they had been examining treasures. They tightly closed the doors and windows, finally breathing a bit easier.

“Gu Pingyuan, Gu Pingyuan, you’ve really ruined me.” Zhu Sheng’s first words were complaints.

“Chief Steward, I’m truly sorry. But this brother is an old friend of mine – I couldn’t watch him die without helping.”

“Sigh!” Zhu Sheng shook his head without speaking.

Gu Pingyuan turned around: “Brother Liu, how did you end up at Evil Tiger Ravine?”

“I came to gamble… Bah! Who are you calling Brother Liu?” Liu Heita had untied the ropes for those two men and unconsciously answered Gu Pingyuan’s question, then suddenly became alert and hardened his expression.

“Brother Liu, listen to me – I have my difficulties in this matter.”

“Cut that crap with me. Let me ask you – is he the fat Zhu from Wanyuan Pawnshop?”

“Yes.”

“Are you working as his assistant?”

“Yes.”

“Is Wanyuan Pawnshop Wang Tiangui’s business?”

“…Yes.”

“Then what’s there to say? You’re just an ungrateful bastard who recognizes a thief as his father!” Liu Heita glared and cursed.

Liu Heita’s words were too harsh. Gu Pingyuan had lost his father in childhood, and this phrase “recognizing a thief as his father” was more painful than needle pricks. His face reddened, and after holding back repeatedly, he said: “Brother Liu, you’re speaking roughly in anger – I don’t blame you. Even if you don’t forgive me, don’t you want to know about the old man and Miss Yu’er?”

“I…” Liu Heita naturally cared. He had also asked people in the stronghold to inquire and learned that the old man was still in prison and the Chang family compound had changed owners, but he had never learned Chang Yu’er’s whereabouts. He wanted to maintain his stubborn pride but was truly concerned about this matter. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to ask, leaving the black-faced man flushed with suppressed emotion.

Gu Pingyuan found it both irritating and amusing, pulling Liu Heita to a corner: “Miss Yu’er is now working as a maid in the Wang residence.”

“How could she become someone’s maid? Wait – the Wang residence? Which Wang residence?” Liu Heita asked urgently.

“Wang Tiangui’s residence, which is the former Chang family compound.”

“What!” Liu Heita jumped three feet high: “You’re saying my sister is working as Wang Tiangui’s maid?”

“That’s correct. I tried to persuade her, but she stubbornly refused to listen, insisting on staying at the Chang family compound, even if just as a maid.”

“My sister’s not crazy or stupid – why would she do this? I know – did you offer my sister to curry favor and sell yourself to Wang Tiangui?” Liu Heita grabbed Gu Pingyuan’s collar.

Gu Pingyuan was furious: “Brother Liu, you must be reasonable – am I that kind of person?”

“Who knows? I saw your performance at the county office clear as day.” Liu Heita said through gritted teeth.

Gu Pingyuan suddenly felt tired and waved his hand: “Fine, since you don’t trust me, I won’t say more. I’ll relay Miss Yu’er’s exact words to you.”

With that, Gu Pingyuan repeated word for word what Chang Yu’er had said to him at the Chang family compound entrance. When he got to “Heaven’s way favors justice – sooner or later someone will come to drive Wang Tiangui out and restore justice to my family,” Liu Heita’s tiger eyes widened, clenching his teeth. After a long moment, he swore with the finality of cutting gold and jade: “Right, someone will certainly punish evil and eliminate wickedness, rooting out that villainous Wang Tiangui.”

Fearing he might think wrongly and rashly seek revenge, Gu Pingyuan quickly changed the subject: “Brother Liu, you mentioned coming to the stronghold to gamble earlier – what’s that about?”

Liu Heita glanced at him sideways and said in a muffled voice: “Mind your own business!” Though his tone was hard, his face showed a trace of pride. Gu Pingyuan observed his expression and couldn’t help but be surprised.

This was indeed Liu Heita’s most outstanding and face-saving achievement in his life. That day, after burying Sister-in-law Cheng on the road outside the city, he happened to meet Boss Gu Qingcheng from the gambling house. Boss Gu said he was going to a gambling house outside the city and asked if Liu Heita wanted to go have a look. With nowhere else to go, Liu Heita simply got on Boss Gu’s cart.

The cart went all the way to Evil Tiger Ravine. It turned out that Chief Lü Zheng loved gambling most of all, and gambled quite boldly. If anyone cheated at his place, he would melt their ill-gotten silver into liquid silver and pour it down their throat, burning through their stomach and intestines to death. So no one at Evil Tiger Ravine’s gambling den ever dared play tricks. Lü Zheng had good gambling ethics too – he gambled with ready money and never on credit, but there weren’t many people qualified to gamble against him who had the courage to win his money. Boss Gu was Lü Zheng’s gambling friend, coming up the mountain once per season to run a big gambling session. All the bandit chiefs and minions could place bets with no upper limit and accepting even scattered silver pieces – Gu Qingcheng welcomed all comers.

Gu Qingcheng had spent his whole life in gambling dens. When it came to tricks, he could truly be said to have a hundred varieties, but he didn’t dare cheat at Evil Tiger Ravine – in fact, there was no way to cheat because they played odd-even and twelve-point dice, throwing dice into a big bowl full of water. The dice were thrown upward, fell into the water, rolled several times in the water, and settled at the bottom of the bowl to see the points. This method was invented by Lü Zheng, called “Heaven Throws the Dice,” and was most fair and honest.

But Gu Qingcheng had another skill – he could calculate. Having held dice in his hands for decades, in his words, “dice have their own paths to follow.” After twenty-some rounds, he could see that day’s pattern. Though not infallible, he lost little and won much. By mid-session, everyone at Evil Tiger Ravine had lost until their faces turned green. Looking at the silver on the table, Gu Qingcheng had already pocketed over a hundred thousand taels.

Fearing Evil Tiger Ravine would get red-eyed from losing and not let him leave, Gu Qingcheng had an early agreement with Lü Zheng: each time he came, they would gamble from dusk of the first watch until cockcrow of the fourth watch, then leave immediately without staying a moment longer. This gambling session had reached the third watch, and except for the Chief who had thick capital, everyone else had nearly emptied their pockets. This was also Gu Qingcheng’s first time having such smooth luck in serious gambling. Feeling proud, he couldn’t help showing it on his face, and his tone became somewhat arrogant. The stronghold people were all from the jianghu world – already fired up from losing, seeing his attitude made them glare at him crossly. But “money is a person’s courage” – in the gambling den, money talks and without money you have no voice, so they could only grit their teeth in secret.

Liu Heita usually went to gambling houses for small games but never gambled big. Today he hadn’t entered the game, just watching from the side. He was most inclined to help the underdog, and seeing these stronghold people constantly losing money, all looking unlucky, he felt moved to help. Liu Heita still had Gu Pingyuan’s 2,500 taels in banknotes in his chest. Unlike Chang Yu’er’s thinking, in his view, since Gu Pingyuan had changed his heart, why should he return this money? Might as well put it in the gambling den – if he won, it was found money; if he lost, it wouldn’t hurt. With this thought, he pulled out all the banknotes from his chest, slammed them on the table with a “slap,” and shouted: “All in!”

2,500 taels! This was quite a large bet, and everyone at Evil Tiger Ravine turned to look. Strangely enough, Liu Heita had no intention of winning money, but from the moment he joined the gambling table, the house became “unlucky” and lost tens of thousands of taels to Liu Heita in one breath. The nearby leaders and minions all saw that Liu Heita was a “bright lamp” and wanted to follow his bets against the house, but having no capital, they could only watch enviously from the sidelines. Liu Heita, getting excited from winning, felt that enjoying alone wasn’t as good as enjoying together. Being generous by nature, he actively lent out his winnings, keeping only the original 2,500 taels as his stake. The rest of the silver was lent out as soon as he won it. Before long, he raised a great banner, and like beating drums to boost morale, charged against the house repeatedly, with even Lü Zheng following behind to place bets.

At first, Gu Qingcheng didn’t care much, but later his luck became increasingly bad. Every time bets were placed, the Evil Tiger Ravine crowd gathered behind Liu Heita with cheers, while Gu Qingcheng wiped sweat from his forehead and paid out silver. The Dividing Gold and Gathering Righteousness Hall thundered with jubilation, and by the end Gu Qingcheng’s hands were trembling. He barely endured until the fourth watch, and when accounts were settled, from the moment Liu Heita joined the game, Gu Qingcheng had lost over three hundred thousand taels total. He was secretly horrified – fortunately there was a time limit. If they had gambled day and night, he would have lost even his gambling house in the city. Thinking that he himself had brought this “bright lamp” up the mountain, he could only accept his bad luck.

When people came to return Liu Heita’s silver, he magnanimously waved his big hand: “Don’t want it!” Immediately, the Evil Tiger Ravine bandits looked at Liu Heita completely differently, as if viewing a gambling god or bodhisattva. Actually, Liu Heita wasn’t being carelessly generous – he felt these silver pieces were all won using Gu Pingyuan’s banknotes, and holding them made him uncomfortable, so he simply gave them all to the stronghold people.

Lü Zheng also loved this big fellow and kept him in the stronghold for several days. After seeing Liu Heita’s martial skills, he was even more delighted and wanted to invite Liu Heita to join, promising to give him the second chief’s golden chair. But Liu Heita was concerned about old Chang Si’s family teaching forbidding criminal activities, so he delayed agreeing. Lü Zheng hoped he would change his mind, so he wouldn’t let him leave. Having nowhere else to go, Liu Heita remained in the stronghold. The Third Chief hated Liu Heita to the bone for this, and along with his subordinates, always wanted to eliminate him. Today they finally found their opportunity.

Liu Heita naturally wouldn’t tell Gu Pingyuan this history in detail. After hearing Chang Yu’er’s words, he turned back to the two rescued men. These two had long wanted to come thank him, and seeing him approach, they quickly cupped their hands in salute.

The tall young man said: “Brother, today we owe our lives to your righteous rescue. Otherwise, we brothers wouldn’t have survived.”

“Skip the polite words. Let me ask you – I heard you’re Nian rebels. Is that true?” Liu Heita asked directly.

The two men looked at each other, and the young man smiled: “Not false at all. I’m the Liang King of the Nian Army, named Zhang Zongyu. He’s an army vanguard commander, called ‘Ghost Hard-to-Catch,’ named Huang Yiding. We came up the mountain today planning to persuade Evil Tiger Ravine to join hands with us against the Qing demons, but unexpectedly they harbor thoughts of surrendering to the authorities.”

The small thin man grinned: “If not for your help, this ‘Ghost Hard-to-Catch’ would really have become a ghost today.”

Liu Heita thought with his head down and asked: “I heard the Nian rebels rob the rich to help the poor – is this true?”

Zhang Zongyu nodded: “There’s a folk song our old Wo King composed that’s sung everywhere we go. I don’t know if you’ve heard it: ‘Many stars in heaven above, many Nian rebels below, kill all Qing demon heads, build up a poor people’s nation.'”

“Then, if someone colludes with officials, imprisons people, and seizes family property – do you kill such people?”

“Wherever our great army passes, all who are wealthy but unkind and oppress good people are killed!” Zhang Zongyu waved his hand with such momentum as if thousands of troops were before him awaiting his command.

“Good! I want to join the Nian rebels – will you accept me?” Liu Heita raised his head and looked directly into Zhang Zongyu’s eyes.

“Of course we’ll accept you! We need heroes like you.” Zhang Zongyu smiled and nodded: “All Nian rebels are brothers, united in fighting the Qing, with no hierarchy or distinction. Once you join the Nian rebels, we’ll be one family.”

“Wait.” Gu Pingyuan hurried over, slightly cupped his hands to Zhang Zongyu, pulled Liu Heita aside, and scolded: “Brother Liu, are you mad? The Nian rebels are in rebellion – those guilty of treason, regardless of whether they’re leaders or followers, are all subject to death by slow slicing if caught. How can you do such a foolish thing!”

“Hmph!” Liu Heita sneered: “No matter how bad the Nian rebels are, they’re a hundred times better than that Wang Tiangui you’re serving! That bastard’s heart is more poisonous than a five-colored snake on Mount Taihang. Following him, you’ll be bitten sooner or later.”

Gu Pingyuan wanted to continue persuading, but Liu Heita cut him off and told him about the great tragedy he’d heard from the beggar: “Tell me, flooding and drowning over thirty beggars, including children – is this something a human could do? And another thing – fearing karmic retribution from too many evil deeds, every time he kills someone, he lights a lotus lamp at Wubian Temple. Have you ever seen such a hypocritical false gentleman?”

Gu Pingyuan also felt his hair stand on end, sighing after a long while: “This is indeed shocking to hear, but you can also see how powerful Wang Tiangui is. Having done such unconscionable things, no one can do anything about him. So to save old Chang Si, we can only plan slowly and must not act rashly.”

“No need!” Liu Heita shouted: “Once I join the Nian rebels, I’ll lead troops back to Taigu in the future. Why worry about not being able to chop off Wang Tiangui’s head or break down the county jail’s gates?”

“Brother Liu, you must think carefully. Rebellion is no game…” Gu Pingyuan was still trying to persuade when suddenly there was great commotion outside, with someone beating gongs and shouting: “Nian rebels attacking the mountain! Nian rebels attacking the mountain!”

“Ghost Hard-to-Catch” Huang Yiding jumped high: “Liang King, it must be Commander Luo unable to wait for us to come down and sending troops to rescue!”

“Right, they’ve come at the perfect time!” Zhang Zongyu remained calm throughout. Gu Pingyuan felt this man had extraordinary bearing – if not for such circumstances and his identity, he’d really like to befriend him.

“Then we’ll coordinate from inside and outside to break out.” Huang Yiding searched the Third Chief’s leg bindings for the dagger and took it, handing the ghost-head saber to Zhang Zongyu.

“There are several foreign rifles here – aren’t they better than swords? I wonder if this brother would teach us to use them?” Zhang Zongyu smiled at Gu Pingyuan.

Gu Pingyuan didn’t want any connection with him and spoke honestly: “This gun only has three bullets. There are over a thousand bandits outside, and in close combat, foreign rifles probably aren’t much use.”

“True. They’re now heavily defending the stronghold gates. With our small numbers, if we charge out directly and get captured, wouldn’t that add trouble for Commander Luo?” Though in danger, Zhang Zongyu analyzed the situation methodically.

“I have a way.” Liu Heita stepped forward: “I’ve been in the stronghold for over a month and know there’s a rope pulley system on the back mountain that can lower people down.”

“Then we’ll retreat through the back mountain and rendezvous with Commander Luo.”

The plan was set, but the Third Chief’s leg was wounded. Though he was an excellent hostage, they couldn’t take him along. Huang Yiding came before the Third Chief with his dagger, grinning: “I came to pay respects today without bringing gifts – let me give you something refreshingly cool.” He was about to strike.

Gu Pingyuan, having a gentleman’s benevolent heart, saw the Third Chief had no power to resist and stepped forward to block: “Heaven values life. He’s already wounded and won’t hinder our affairs – let’s spare his life.”

Huang Yiding looked Gu Pingyuan over and smiled: “If not for you, we’d all have died together just now. I must give you this face. But this kid has a wolf’s appearance – if you don’t kill him, beware he might kill you later.” He bent down, muttering: “Let me fix your appearance!” The Third Chief screamed as blood spurted – what had been a pair of ears was now like a golden rooster standing on one leg.

The main forces were all defending the front mountain, leaving only a few guards outside. Liu Heita alone could handle them, not to mention Zhang Zongyu and Huang Yiding were both skilled martial artists. Taking advantage of the chaos, they burst from the side room, catching the guards completely by surprise. Liu Heita led the way as everyone followed him running toward the large cluster of houses where bandits lived on the back mountain.

The mountaintop was limited in space after all. Housing so many people, the buildings were packed house against house with only narrow paths between. There were also patrol guards on the roads. Seeing them coming, they immediately whistled and waved weapons to intercept. Gu Pingyuan and Zhu Sheng knew no martial arts and could only watch them fight ahead, taking side paths to escape when they encountered forks. With all the dodging and weaving, the shouting and killing gradually faded, but the two had lost their way. When they tried to go back and find Liu Heita, it was pitch black and they couldn’t find the path.

Gu Pingyuan grew anxious. While it was manageable in the dark, if dawn broke and he and Zhu Sheng were seen by anyone, they’d surely die. As the two were spinning around like headless flies, hurried footsteps suddenly came from ahead. “Patrol bandits!” Gu Pingyuan’s heart tightened as he gripped a wooden stick he’d picked up from the roadside, planning to fight desperately if necessary.

With a “creak,” the door of a small courtyard beside them suddenly opened, and a hand reached out to beckon the two men. At this moment, Gu Pingyuan would have squeezed through not just a door crack but even a mountain crevice. He immediately pushed Zhu Sheng, and both entered the courtyard, closing the door behind them.

“Who are you?” Gu Pingyuan immediately looked at the person who had led them in. To his great surprise, it was a pregnant young woman. Though not beautiful, she was above average.

“Steward Zhu, don’t you recognize me?” The young woman ignored Gu Pingyuan but supported her waist with her hand and, despite her big belly, still curtsied to Zhu Sheng.

“You are…” There was no lamp in the courtyard, but fortunately the moonlight was bright. Zhu Sheng stared at her for a moment, then suddenly cried out: “You… aren’t you Little Seven’s cousin?”

“Yes.” The young woman answered simply.

“This child…” Zhu Sheng said half a sentence then swallowed the rest. This was naturally the Third Chief’s evil doing.

“Steward Zhu, I imagine you’ve gotten into trouble on the mountain and want to escape down. Am I right?”

“Correct. I heard there’s a rope pulley on the back mountain that can lower people down – we’re looking for it.” Seeing Zhu Sheng somewhat dazed, Gu Pingyuan took over the conversation.

“That place is heavily guarded. I can see neither of you are martial artists – wouldn’t going there be walking into a trap?”

Gu Pingyuan was momentarily speechless: “Then what can we do? We can’t stay on the mountain waiting to die.”

The young woman nodded: “Follow me.”

Gu and Zhu followed this woman, crouching low and moving quickly. Soon they came to the edge of a row of connected houses. Between two of the buildings was a wooden fence with a copper wire gate secured by an iron clasp. Getting close, they could only smell a foul stench.

“This is where the mountain dumps slop buckets and chamber pots – it’s never guarded,” the young woman pointed out.

“Can we get down from here?” Gu Pingyuan asked urgently.

“Outside is a cliff. There is indeed a path left by herb gatherers above, but it’s extremely dangerous. I heard even monkeys can fall off if they’re not careful. But right now, this is probably your only way to survive.”

Gu Pingyuan undid the iron clasp and poked his head out to look. The mountain wind was fierce, making him sway precariously. He gritted his teeth and turned back to Zhu Sheng: “Chief Steward, we have no choice but to take this risk. Even if we fall to our deaths, it’s better than being made into sky lanterns.”

He spoke casually, but Little Seven’s cousin swayed upon hearing this and nearly collapsed. Gu Pingyuan couldn’t worry about much and quickly stepped forward to support her.

“Come with us,” Gu Pingyuan pitied this woman and planned to help her escape no matter how difficult.

Little Seven’s cousin smiled bitterly and looked deeply at Gu Pingyuan: “You’re kind-hearted, not afraid that a pregnant woman like me would burden you.”

Gu Pingyuan was about to speak when she continued: “This path is one that even agile strong men wouldn’t dare attempt – how could I manage it? I appreciate your kindness. I have something I’d like to trouble you to deliver to someone.”

With that, not avoiding the two men’s gaze, she unbuttoned her clothes and took out a neatly folded paper from her undergarment. Gu Pingyuan had already looked away, and only reached out to take it when she called.

“You might as well look at it.”

Gu Pingyuan opened it as instructed and saw it was a map with dense annotations.

“This is the stronghold’s defense layout. For this past year I’ve done nothing but carefully observe and draw this map. I finally completed it a few days ago. Young master, please help me deliver it to the General at Taiyuan Prefecture.”

“You mean…” Gu Pingyuan asked hesitantly.

Little Seven’s cousin suddenly showed a venomous expression: “My seventh brother and I had sworn to be mandarin ducks sharing the same fate. He died so miserably – I can only avenge him. I want everyone in this stronghold to pay with their lives!”

This resolute tone was like a sinister wind blowing from hell. Gu Pingyuan felt his hair stand on end and stiffly nodded, refolding the map and placing it in his chest.

The woman glanced at Zhu Sheng, who stood silently to the side: “I’m already a broken person. The chief culprit who harmed me is that Third Chief. This past year I’ve endured his humiliation without wanting to die, all to plot his murder. But he’s wary of me – every time, every time…” Her face reddened, “he ties me up, so I have no chance to strike. Now seeing you and delivering this map, I no longer need to endure shame to survive.”

Gu Pingyuan was startled: “You…”

“But one life for one life – even dying, I must kill someone from his family, so I’ll have something to say when I meet Seventh Brother underground.” The woman gently touched her bulging belly. This should have been a gesture full of maternal love, but Gu Pingyuan watched with horror, already knowing what she intended to do. The woman spoke extremely quickly, and before the two men could react, she had somehow produced a sharp ox-ear knife in her hand.

“No!” Gu Pingyuan quickly reached out to stop her, but was a step too late. With a scream, the sharp knife had stabbed straight into the woman’s abdomen, right to the hilt.

Zhu Sheng was scared senseless. Gu Pingyuan supported the woman’s body, feeling his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Little Seven’s cousin showed a peaceful smile: “Throw me down from there.” She pointed to the wooden fence. “Seventh Brother was thrown down from there – I… I want to be with him…”

Gu Pingyuan closed his eyes and nodded in agreement, hot tears rolling down his face as he felt the woman’s body temperature gradually disappearing from his arms.

“Let’s go – we can’t delay any longer,” Zhu Sheng sighed deeply.

Gu Pingyuan slowly stood up, and he and Zhu Sheng together threw the woman’s body over the cliff. After a long while, they heard a dull sound from below the mountain.

Gu Pingyuan helped Zhu Sheng carefully step onto this escape path down the mountain. The most dangerous part of the front mountain path couldn’t accommodate two people passing each other, but the most dangerous part of this back mountain path couldn’t accommodate both feet side by side. In several places, they could only press against the cliff face and inch forward on tiptoes. A slight bend forward would send them into the ten-thousand-zhang abyss – truly like the line from “The Difficulty of Shu Roads”: “Even apes and gibbons worry about climbing across.” The two men repeatedly escaped death on this journey. Especially Zhu Sheng, with his trembling fat body – he could barely see his toes walking on flat ground, let alone on such a dangerous mountain path in pitch darkness. If not for Gu Pingyuan repeatedly pulling him at critical moments, he would have fallen to his death long ago. Gu Pingyuan himself was nearly pulled off balance several times, breaking out in cold sweats.

The two men escaped death and reached the mountain base as dawn broke. In their panic, they chose any path, finally found a market town, hired a sedan chair, and returned to Taigu. This business trip was unsuccessful, and Zhu Sheng, severely shocked and having caught cold in the mountains, fell ill upon returning. Worried about Liu Heita’s safety, Gu Pingyuan immediately had people inquire around Evil Tiger Ravine. All said the Nian rebels’ mountain attack was just a show of force – after half a day they retreated. Gu Pingyuan thought that if the Liang King had been trapped in the stronghold or lost his life, the Nian rebels certainly wouldn’t let it go. Since they withdrew, the three men must have joined with the Nian army, which put his mind at ease.

The shop people, including Steward Ding Er, all wanted to know the inside story. Gu Pingyuan worried that telling the truth might expose Liu Heita’s joining the Nian rebels, bringing unknown disasters to the Chang family, so he was vague and unclear, only saying the bandits wanted to settle old scores, so the two barely escaped with their lives.

“Damn it! If not for that old bastard Wang Tiangui, Steward Zhu wouldn’t have to take such risks!” Steward Ding Er, usually prudent and rarely speaking harsh words, was also angered this time.

Angry as he was, Zhu Sheng’s illness couldn’t be cured quickly. So the pawnshop redistributed work – actually, the remaining three stewards each advanced one level. Steward Ding Er temporarily assumed the head steward position, while Gu Pingyuan was promoted to third counter.

The third counter’s responsibilities were quite different from the dispensable fourth counter. Gu Pingyuan now stood at the counter from morning to night, always wanting to find time to see Chang Yu’er but never finding the opportunity.

In a blink, it was nearly the third day of the third month – “Shangsi Day.” Legend said this was the birthday of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan. Gu Pingyuan was busy at the counter when Zhu Sheng suddenly sent someone to call him to his home.

“Gu Pingyuan, tomorrow go to the Yellow Emperor Shrine in the eastern suburbs outside the city to pay respects.”

Gu Pingyuan thought Zhu Sheng, feeling slightly better, wanted to investigate his reckless behavior at the stronghold that ruined the business. Unexpectedly, he opened with this topic, leaving him stunned.

“Is this yours?” Zhu Sheng, leaning against the bed, took a white notebook from beside his pillow and handed it over.

Gu Pingyuan took it and flipped through, finding it was notes he’d copied from various classics about rare treasures and antique calligraphy and paintings by previous scholars when locked in the warehouse. He’d searched everywhere for it – it had been in Zhu Sheng’s hands all along.

“Nowadays, assistants who are as dedicated as you are increasingly rare,” Zhu Sheng looked very weak. “When you weren’t at the shop yet for the fifth day worship of the God of Wealth, according to rules, you must make up worship to the Yellow Emperor on Shangsi Day to truly be considered a pawnshop person.”

Gu Pingyuan was first stunned, then spoke frankly: “Chief Steward, don’t forget – I was sent by Manager Wang.”

“After this experience, I trust that you’re not Wang Tiangui’s man. If you were like him, you absolutely wouldn’t have fired that shot at Evil Tiger Ravine.”

“Go ahead and do your work well,” Zhu Sheng waved his hand.

Gu Pingyuan left Zhu Sheng’s bedroom, took a deep breath, and while looking around to calm his emotions, discovered that Zhu Sheng’s home was indeed as Steward Ding Er had said. Though not destitute, it was merely a modest household. All furnishings were worn and old, and the several rooms hadn’t been repaired in years, with wind-leaking cracks everywhere, barely maintained with cattle hide paper pasted on walls. Without being told, no one would think this was a pawnshop head steward’s home – it seemed more like some impoverished household’s dwelling.

As Gu Pingyuan looked around, he suddenly smelled a strange fragrance from a tightly closed side room, from which coughing sounds occasionally came.

“Isn’t this the smell of opium? Does someone in the household have this habit?” Gu Pingyuan asked the household’s only old servant.

“Yes.” The old servant shook his head with a bitter smile. “It’s the Zhu family’s misfortune. Three generations of single heirs, but Master Zhu’s son and grandson both crave the longevity paste, with terrible addictions. They don’t leave the house all day, the grandfather and grandson lying in the room facing opium trays, starting from noon puffing clouds and breathing fog day and night like madmen, wasting money. If not for the master still earning some silver, this household would have been ruined long ago.”

“Oh.” Gu Pingyuan also sighed. Opium truly harms people – an ordinary household with one person addicted is enough to ruin the family, let alone two people smoking together. Smelling such rich fragrance, it was probably premium foreign opium – the annual cost must be staggering. No wonder Steward Zhu’s home was so shabby – presumably a year’s hard earnings all went to two opium pipes.

Naturally, Gu Pingyuan couldn’t comment on others’ family affairs. He returned to the pawnshop and told Steward Ding Er about Zhu Sheng’s words. The next day he took leave and walked leisurely out of Taigu County’s east gate toward the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor’s shrine.

This day was not only Shangsi Day but also the day for spring outings. Only on this day could young men and women avoid suspicion and come to the countryside together for spring excursions. The road was crowded with visitors, not only pedestrians but also various small merchants – selling incense and candles, sugar figures, tea stalls, wine jars, and occasionally barbers, martial artists, and performers, creating a dazzling spectacle.