Lin Hao had discovered a pattern—Jinlin Guard Commander Cheng Maoming drank tea at a teahouse near the yamen every day at noon. The private room where he took his tea was also fixed, located in the easternmost room on the second floor facing the street.

Directly across the road from the teahouse stood a wine shop. Business was good there, and it was often packed full of customers at midday.

This made things somewhat inconvenient for Lin Hao’s plans.

What had caught her eye was the large tree beside the wine shop.

It was a towering banyan tree with a massive, lush canopy whose shade covered almost half of the wine shop. If someone hid in the tree, those with good eyesight could see through the open window of the teahouse’s private room and make out roughly what was happening inside.

On this particular day, the weather was fine and sunny. Lin Hao carefully avoided people as she circled around to the back of the large tree, then nimbly climbed up.

The branches and leaves were dense, concealing her figure completely.

A shadowy figure moved in the window of the private room. She could vaguely make out a middle-aged man in brocade robes taking his seat, leisurely sipping from a cup of clear tea. Since he sat by the window, from Lin Hao’s angle she could see his profile, though she couldn’t make out how many guards were in the private room.

According to Cheng Maoming’s habit, he would while away more than half a shichen at the teahouse before returning to the yamen to work.

This half shichen was the opportunity Lin Hao had been waiting for.

She opened the bundle she’d brought with her and took out a bracket, fixing it onto a thick branch. Then she secured the crossbow into it. Since this wasn’t her first time doing this, the crossbow was quickly adjusted to the proper angle. The feathered arrow with its bowstring drawn taut pointed directly at the window of the private room. The tightened bowstring was tied to another branch with thin cord, and the arrowhead was cleverly inserted into a pre-set mechanism, replacing the function of a finger.

The bowstring was fully drawn. If she released the thin cord binding it, there would still be enough force to send the feathered arrow into that window.

Over these past days, Lin Hao had tested this countless times in her family’s garden. She knew precisely the angle of the crossbow, the stability of the mechanism, the distance the feathered arrow would fly, and the time it would take for the thin cord to burn down to the bowstring.

Having completed these preparations, she nimbly slid down from the tree, lit the dangling thin cord, and quietly left the street.

As the Jinlin Guard Commander, and with this location near the Jinlin Guard yamen, the protection the Jinlin Guards provided Cheng Maoming was absolutely thorough. Lin Hao had no confidence she could escape unscathed after shooting that arrow, so she could only use the mechanism to delay the timing of when the arrow would be shot, allowing her to be far from this place when the incident occurred.

In the private room, Cheng Maoming sat with his eyes slightly closed, enjoying this rare moment of daily relaxation.

Though the position of Jinlin Guard Commander seemed glorious, the pressure was actually considerable. Over three generations of Great Zhou emperors, counting himself there had been six Jinlin Guard Commanders in total, and not one of the previous five had met a good end.

In earlier years, Cheng Maoming’s sense of crisis hadn’t been this strong, but ever since offending Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince Qin Yunchuan, he’d felt somewhat uneasy about the future.

To speak of it, it really wasn’t any major matter—one of his subordinates had mistakenly arrested Qin Yunchuan’s nephew during an investigation, causing the young man to suffer a little.

He had punished his subordinate and personally gone to apologize. Qin Yunchuan had also indicated that he wouldn’t hold a grudge over a simple misunderstanding.

But occasionally thinking back on this matter still made his heart uneasy.

Who knew whether Qin Yunchuan truly bore no grudge, or was waiting for a future opportunity to settle accounts with him?

Qin Yunchuan’s influence over the Crown Prince could not be underestimated. With each new emperor came new ministers—even if his relationship with Qin Yunchuan were good, once the Crown Prince ascended the throne he would need to conduct himself with extreme caution. How much more so, having actually offended him?

The sound of something cutting through air rang out. Cheng Maoming’s eyes snapped open and he dodged to the side with extreme speed.

The feathered arrow struck the table surface and fell over weakly.

“Grand Commander!” The two Jinlin Guards who had been silently standing watch in the private room turned deathly pale and immediately rushed forward.

Cheng Maoming stared at the arrow with its slightly trembling feathers, his expression livid.

With that level of force, even if he hadn’t dodged it wouldn’t have injured him, but the very fact that this arrow had reached him was infuriating and alarming enough.

“Investigate immediately!” Cheng Maoming ground out through clenched teeth, pulling out a chair to sit against the wall.

Soon a squad of Jinlin Guards appeared on the street. Passersby were stopped, and shop exits were blocked.

The Jinlin Guard who had been stationed in the private room stood in the street looking up at the window, recalling the direction and angle from which that feathered arrow had come. He turned toward the wine shop side and slowly raised his head.

The tall, lush banyan tree came into view, causing him to fall into thought.

After a while, he strode to the base of the tree. Wiping his hands on his clothes, he embraced the trunk and climbed up.

The mechanism that had been set up was still in the tree and was quickly discovered by the Jinlin Guard. Besides this, a gently fluttering red silk ribbon caught his attention.

The red silk ribbon was tied to a branch, and tied along with it was an oiled paper package.

The Jinlin Guard took down the oiled paper package and opened it. Inside were several letters and a note with the words “For Grand Commander Cheng’s Personal Attention” written on it.

He rewrapped the letters, then carefully examined the rest of the tree before returning to the private room to make his report.

“Grand Commander, we discovered a mechanism for securing a crossbow in the tree beside the wine shop.”

Examining what the Jinlin Guard had brought back, Cheng Maoming’s expression was dark as water. “So you’re saying that when the feathered arrow was shot, that person was already gone?”

“This subordinate believes so. There was some black ash near the bowstring, along with incompletely burned thin cord. It should have been through this setup that they bought time to escape.” As the Jinlin Guard spoke, he presented the oiled paper package. “This subordinate also discovered this.”

When he opened the oiled paper package, several letters were revealed before Cheng Maoming.

Cheng Maoming was a cautious man. Worried the letters might be coated with poison, he signaled for his subordinate to unfold the topmost letter.

The Jinlin Guard held up the letter with both hands, not looking at its contents.

But Cheng Maoming’s expression changed after reading just the opening. By the end, he was staring fixedly at the signature, unmoving.

No one knew how long passed before his voice actually trembled slightly: “Open the next one.”

After viewing several letters, Cheng Maoming remained silent for a long while, though internally a storm of shock raged within him.

These were actually correspondence between Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince Qin Yunchuan and the National Preceptor, Daoist Master Mingxin!

Qin Yunchuan actually harbored intentions of pledging allegiance to his former master!

His gaze fell once more on the feathered arrow lying quietly on the table surface.

No wonder this arrow had no lethal power—its purpose wasn’t to injure anyone, but to deliver these letters before him.

Did the person who shot the arrow want to use his hand to deal with Qin Yunchuan?

Cheng Maoming’s expression grew complex—there was fury at his life being threatened, irritation at being used as someone’s blade, and also a trace of… secret delight.

Yes, secret delight.

No matter who had sent the letters or what grievance they had with Qin Yunchuan, he himself had a conflict with Qin Yunchuan. He absolutely would not entrust his life and fortune to Qin Yunchuan’s magnanimity. It was just that previously he couldn’t casually fabricate charges against Qin Yunchuan the way he could with ordinary officials, so he’d had to endure.

Cheng Maoming clutched those letters, then suddenly started.

This meant the person who sent the letters knew he had a conflict with Qin Yunchuan!

This discovery made Cheng Maoming even more alarmed and enraged.

“Find them for me! Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but bring this person before me!”

Over the next several days, the streets were filled with groups of Jinlin Guards, and what had been a lively thoroughfare became cold and deserted.

After two days of repeated deliberation, Cheng Maoming made his decision: he would use these letters to bring down Qin Yunchuan.