Hua Zhi had never known that the profound emotion of a man could be so deeply saddening to witness. Yet watching Zhu Ling — a man nearing his forties — tremble from head to toe, his voice catching in his throat, as he bent the spine he had kept straight even as a prisoner, she could not bring herself to receive this bow with any ease.

She rose and returned it with a half-bow of her own. She had tutored a prince. She had established the Salt Distribution Bureau with her own hands, broken the Chaoli tribe’s hold over Jinyang, and accomplished a great deal besides — enough, in the aggregate, to claim a modest contribution. She did not seek any great benefit for herself; the greater part of whatever she stood to gain she intended for the Hua Family. To use the smaller portion to win these people a place where they could settle and live in dignity — surely that could not be refused. Moreover, people who had managed to conceal themselves so deeply for so long were hardly without any value. In the past they had worked for the Chaoli tribe because they had had no choice, but now they would be fighting for their own lives — how could they not give it everything they had?

“What would you like to know?” With his state of mind transformed, Zhu Ling became immediately eager.

Hua Zhi gathered her thoughts and asked the question that weighed on her most at that moment. “How many people does the Chaoli tribe have in Jinyang?”

“Not counting those already captured, thirty-seven remain, including myself.”

Hua Zhi let out a quiet breath of relief. No one had slipped through. “And what is Qi Qiu’s role?”

“Qi Qiu is the same as us — his maternal people are from Daqing. But he and I are not of the same kind.” Zhu Ling rubbed his wrists where the ropes had chafed. “Among people like us, there are two factions. One is like me — not particularly close to the Chaoli tribe, and some who even harbor hatred for them. I was luckier than most in that I managed to keep my maternal family alive. Others were not so fortunate; their families died off one by one as they grew up, for all manner of reasons. Those who lived their lives in ignorance may have fared well enough, but those who, through greater exposure to the outside world, came to understand the truth — how could they not be filled with rage?”

Zhu Ling’s expression was distant, as though he were recounting a story about someone else entirely. “The other faction is like Qi Qiu — people who have given their hearts and minds to the Chaoli tribe, who think of themselves entirely as Chaoli people. Some are even more extreme than the Chaoli tribe itself, all the more fervent in their desire to restore Chaoli to its former glory. From what information I have gathered, Qi Qiu was personally selected by the Sage to come to Jinyang. Had you not rooted things out entirely, he would have used my connections and the Zeng Family’s ties to enter the Suozheng Examination in April, thereby entering the capital through entirely legitimate means.”

Hua Zhi immediately seized on the most important detail. “Qi Qiu has met the Sage? Do you have any further information about this Sage?”

“Whether Qi Qiu has truly met him, I cannot say with certainty. I only know that he is highly valued on that side. My own understanding of the Sage is limited — I have heard him mentioned only a handful of times through the Chaoli tribe. In their telling, the Sage’s name is Ao. He is said to know all things beneath heaven and beyond the sky, and nothing is beyond his reach. The Chaoli tribe had once fractured into three factions, and it was under his hand that they were unified again.”

Zhu Ling paused, then continued, “One might say the Sage is their god. If he ordered them to die, they would obey without a moment’s hesitation.”

A spiritual leader, then — a figure of absolute authority. Hua Zhi’s brow furrowed deeply. A tribe whose martial strength already exceeded all bounds, now possessed of such a figure — this was nothing but bad news for Daqing.

Yet bad news was still better than no news at all. Hua Zhi set the matter aside for the moment and asked instead, “Do you know where the silver the Chaoli tribe moved out of Jinyang was sent?”

“On the surface, it was sent to Pengkou in Yanzhou. But Pengkou is a decoy — there is no silver there, only Chaoli tribespeople lying in wait. The silver was actually sent to Songzhu.”

Hua Zhi shot to her feet and took two quick steps forward. “Are you certain?”

“Certain.” Zhu Ling, realizing something was very wrong, also stood, his expression turning grave. “People like us must always find ways to learn more, to gather as much information as possible for use in moments of self-preservation. This is something I spent two years confirming.”

“I believe you.” Hua Zhi held his gaze for a steady moment, then turned away. “Yu Mu — is there any way to catch up with Yanxi?”

“This subordinate will ride with all haste at once. At every stop along the way, this subordinate will change horses at the Qisu Division’s posts and ride day and night — it should be possible to catch up.”

“You must catch up. You must — do you understand?”

“Yes. This subordinate will depart immediately!” Yu Mu turned to leave. Hua Zhi called out to stop him — but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. What was there to say? Stay safe? Watch your life? Words like those were not ones that could be spoken. When two forces meet on a narrow road, the brave one prevails. She could be Yanxi’s weakness, but she must not be the thing that softened his resolve.

She closed her eyes for a moment, pressing down everything she wanted to say. Then, in a low and steady voice, Hua Zhi said, “Everyone comes back alive.”

Yu Mu bent in a deep bow, then walked away swiftly without looking back.

Hua Zhi followed involuntarily as far as the doorway, only then noticing that the sky had gone completely dark. The moon was hazy and obscured, and her heart felt as though a layer of grey had been drawn over it. No matter what she did, she could not feel at ease.

But there was no room now to let her thoughts wander too far. She turned back and continued. “How many people like you, Magistrate Zhu, are there?”

“To my knowledge, twenty-seven — though this is not the full number in Daqing. Of those twenty-seven, nineteen share my convictions. The other eight belong to Qi Qiu’s faction.”

“Do you have any contact with one another in the ordinary course of things?”

“The Chaoli tribe allows us to know of each other’s existence for the sake of mutual assistance in certain situations, but they do not ordinarily permit us to have dealings with one another. Yet once we knew that so many others shared our fate, how could we do nothing?” A faint smile, barely visible, crossed Hua Zhi’s face. “It took me several years of careful probing to determine who could be trusted and who was not of the same mind. After that, I spent many more years building trust through correspondence. Occasionally we would also exchange information, though on the whole our contact has been limited — we feared the Chaoli people finding out.”

“Which faction was Yuan Shifang originally from?”

“Him.” Zhu Ling gave a derisive laugh. “He was originally from Qi Qiu’s faction, but as he gradually rose in power and rank, his thinking shifted. A regional administrator — Daqing has only nine of them in total. Quite the distinguished position.”

Hua Zhi sat down again. “Can they be made useful to me?”

“I will contact them as soon as possible. With a promise made in the name of the Qisu Division behind it, I believe they too would be willing to take the chance.”

“Then I leave it in Magistrate Zhu’s hands. This matter must proceed quickly, and must not alert the Chaoli tribe. You have always been hidden pieces — remain hidden pieces. Only your allegiance has changed.”

Zhu Ling readily agreed. He was, in truth, somewhat surprised. He had expected Hua Zhi to ask for a list of names — whether to contact the others herself or to handle matters in some other way, that would have been the most secure approach. Yet she had not. Just as when he had told her that Pengkou was a trap, she had believed him at once and immediately settled on a countermeasure.

That kind of trust meant little when extended to one of your own. The trouble was, he was not yet one of her own.

“Are you not afraid I am only feigning surrender?”

Hua Zhi seemed to smile faintly. “I trust my own eyes. Magistrate Zhu may not have much fondness for Daqing, but I also believe that if a person can live openly in the light, there is no one who would choose to be a rat skulking in the gutter, forever unseen. And besides — a person with children of their own… how could they have no hopes for the future?”