Yun Xi arrived at the Ministry of Justice, where Tian Ze was already waiting for her in the outer hall.
It was past mid-afternoon, and most of the officials had already left for the day; there were only a few people left in the offices.
When Tian Ze saw Yun Xi, he came forward. “General.”
Yun Xi asked, “Do you have news about the thief who stole the defense map?”
The two of them knew each other well, and in private they dispensed with most formalities. As Tian Ze led Yun Xi toward the duty room, he said, “We found something. It’s near Sui Palace — a lead from the shopkeeper at Wanshou Hall.”
Though the thief who had stolen the defense map was formidably skilled, he had been outnumbered while making his escape and had taken a blade straight to the chest, leaving him wounded.
Tian Ze had used this fact to his advantage. Since the beginning of the second month, he had ordered men to quietly check the major medical halls across Jinling, telling them to take note of anyone who came in for treatment of wounds or to buy medicine for injuries. Nine medical halls — Wanshou Hall, Baohe Hall, Huichun Hall, and others — all reported having seen suspicious people buying medicine.
“Since the person who came to Wanshou Hall to buy medicine at the start of the month was a woman, I didn’t pay her much mind. But just in case, I still gave the shopkeeper there a jar of safflower ointment and told him to sell it to anyone who came in afterward looking for medicine for wounds. I didn’t expect that about six or seven days ago, another suspicious person came to Wanshou Hall to buy medicine for an injury.”
The safflower ointment Tian Ze spoke of was specially prepared by the Imperial Medical Academy. Its scent was unremarkable to people, but to the palace hounds it was extremely pungent — so that whoever had used the ointment could be tracked by scent alone.
“I’ve already brought the shopkeeper from Wanshou Hall to the ministry. General, you can question him yourself.”
As Tian Ze spoke, he pushed open the door of the duty room, and there, sure enough, waited a short, stout man in a brocade robe.
The moment the man saw Yun Xi, he hurried forward and bowed. “My lord.”
Yun Xi waved off the formality and asked, “Wanshou Hall is a large medical establishment — countless people come to you every day for treatment of wounds. How did you know that the person who came to your shop the other day buying medicine was the very thief we’re looking for?”
“In answer to my lord — this humble one isn’t certain that person is the thief. But at the start of the month, when Master Tian was making his inquiries about the thief, a suspicious woman came to my shop and bought up nearly all the notoginseng and hemostatic mineral I had in stock. This humble one thought — to need that much medicine, someone must have been gravely wounded — so I kept it in mind. Then, about six or seven days ago, another person, a man this time, came to my shop with a prescription nearly identical to hers, wanting medicine for a wound. Since the handwriting on the two prescriptions matched, this humble one suspected they came from the same hand, and so I thought of a way to test it — I sold him the jar of safflower ointment Master Tian had left with me.”
Yun Xi asked, “Do you remember what this person looked like?”
“Couldn’t see his face clearly — he wore a wide hat pulled low,” the shopkeeper said. Then, after a moment’s thought, he added, “Oh — his right arm may have been injured. This humble one noticed he used his left hand for everything, taking the medicine, paying the silver.”
His right arm injured?
Hearing this, Yun Xi fell into thought. Suddenly, a memory surfaced — the day she and Cheng Chang had rushed back to Jinling, when Zhou Caiying had said: “When he fought with them, he only used his left hand. His right sleeve — it looked, it looked empty.”
Whoever had stolen the defense map and escaped from right under the noses of thousands of imperial guards was clearly no ordinary talent — and the mysterious figure who had saved Zhou Caiying that day had displayed the same extraordinary skill.
Such a person would be exceedingly rare to find anywhere in the entire city of Jinling. This was surely no coincidence.
“Was his right arm injured, or does he have no right hand at all?” Yun Xi asked.
“That… when that person came to buy the medicine, his upper body was wrapped in a brown overcoat. It’s possible… it’s possible he has no right hand at all.”
Just as she’d suspected.
Yun Xi turned to Tian Ze. “Wang’an, does the Ministry of Justice have a portrait artist on hand?”
“Whose likeness does the General want?” Tian Ze asked. “I can draw it myself.”
Yun Xi blinked, surprised. “You can draw? Why have I never heard you mention this before?”
Tian Ze walked to the desk, picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and said with lowered eyes, “My late mother was quite skilled in painting. As a child, I studied a little under her.”
Yun Xi was startled again. She and Tian Ze — and Tian Si — had known each other for years, and yet this was the first time she’d ever heard him speak of his mother.
But she didn’t dwell on it. “Draw A’Jiu,” she said.
“Guard Qin?”
“Yes.” Yun Xi nodded. “I want her likeness.”
Earlier, A’Jiu had stolen the deathbed letter left by Registrar Li, and Yun Xi had already suspected that the theft of the Ministry of War’s defense map was connected to A’Jiu and her two friends. Now, hearing from the shopkeeper at Wanshou Hall that a woman had come to buy medicine for wounds at the start of the month, her suspicions deepened further.
In a moment, a portrait of A’Jiu took shape on the paper.
Yun Xi picked it up and handed it to the shopkeeper. “Shopkeeper Zheng, take a look — is this the woman who came to your shop to buy medicine at the start of the month?”
Shopkeeper Zheng studied it carefully, then nodded. “Yes — yes, that’s her. Tall, she was.”
Yun Xi asked, “Do you remember which day, and at what hour, she came to buy the medicine?”
“The fourth day of the second month… no, wait, the third day. Just past the hour of Wei, in the early afternoon.”
That was it, then.
On the second day of the second month, the Ministry of War’s defense map had been stolen.
That night, Yun Xi had received word at the Western Hills Camp and had rushed back to the Privy Council with A’Jiu and Tian Si.
The very next morning — the third day of the second month — A’Jiu had suddenly said she had a private matter to attend to, asked Yun Xi for leave, and disappeared for seven or eight days. It wasn’t until seven or eight days later, when she reached Yangzhou to steal the deathbed letter left by Registrar Li, that she reappeared.
So that “private matter” A’Jiu had spoken of had been this — hearing that the thief who’d stolen the defense map was wounded, and going to buy him medicine.
According to Shopkeeper Zheng, besides A’Jiu, there had also been a one-armed man who bought the very same medicine for wounds in recent days.
Which meant this thief who had stolen the defense map was certainly connected to both A’Jiu and this one-armed man.
Yun Xi asked, “If this one-armed man only came to Wanshou Hall to buy medicine six or seven days ago, why didn’t you report it to the Ministry sooner, instead of waiting until today?”
At this, Shopkeeper Zheng hesitated.
It was Tian Ze who answered instead. “General, there’s something you should know. Selling the safflower ointment to suspicious buyers was an arrangement I made privately. No one else at the Ministry of Justice, nor anyone else among the Three Judicial Offices, was informed of it. I had also spoken beforehand to the shopkeepers of each medical hall, telling them to report to me personally the moment they noticed anyone suspicious. Shopkeeper Zheng did in fact come to the Ministry earlier, but I happened to be away those two days, which is why the matter was delayed until today.”
Hearing this, Yun Xi was somewhat taken aback, not quite understanding why Tian Ze hadn’t told his other colleagues about his method for tracking the thief.
But she didn’t dwell on it further. With the Third Young Master and Prince Ling locked in such fierce contention within the palace these days, every official had their own way of surviving, and the theft from the palace was a major case — who knew how deep the currents ran. It was only sensible for Tian Ze to proceed with caution.
And fortunate, too, that he had kept things so discreet — she hadn’t expected the trail would ultimately lead back to A’Jiu herself.
Yun Xi said to Shopkeeper Zheng, “I must trouble you — once you return, do not speak to anyone of what you’ve told the Ministry today.”
“This lowly one understands completely. My lord need not worry.”
With that, Shopkeeper Zheng was led away by one of Tian Ze’s clerks and left the Ministry of Justice.
Yun Xi turned back to Tian Ze. “Have you already sent men to track the thief by the scent of the safflower ointment?”
“I have. They found an abandoned house,” Tian Ze said.
Yun Xi said at once, “Let’s go take a look.”
Dusk was approaching. The abandoned house Tian Ze’s men had found was near Wanshou Hall, not far from Sui Palace.
It was clear someone had lived in the house recently — thick dust had settled over every room, yet the bamboo couch and table in the main room were clean.
However, whoever had been staying there seemed to have sensed something was wrong and had already left several days earlier, abandoning even the jar of safflower ointment.
Yun Xi instructed the guards accompanying her, “Search the place.”
The guards acknowledged the order and began searching every corner of the abandoned house.
Tian Ze and Yun Xi remained in the main room to look for clues. Before long, Tian Ze said, “General, come look at this.”
Yun Xi followed the sound of his voice, walked to a pillar in the corner, and found two lines of writing near the very bottom of the post.
This was… a code that only officers of captain rank and above among the former Marquis Zhongyong’s subordinates would understand?!
But of the former subordinates of Marquis Zhongyong who had returned from the northern frontier last year, only seven held the rank of captain or above — and aside from A’Jiu, all of them were safely stationed at the Western Hills Camp.
A’Jiu had been in Yangzhou. This coded message must have been written for her to see. So who had written it?
Could it be that the two friends who had returned from the frontier with A’Jiu were, in fact, also former subordinates of Marquis Zhongyong?
Tian Ze asked, “General, can you read this code?”
Yun Xi studied it carefully for a moment. “This code has been modified — it seems the former subordinates have refined it over the years. I can only make out the general meaning for now. It says to hold position and not move, and that they… have gone west into the city.”
Tian Ze made a low sound of acknowledgment and sent for paper and brush, intending to copy down the coded message.
Just as he was in the middle of transcribing it, a guard outside came to report to Yun Xi. “General, Guard Cui is here.”
Cui Yu seemed to have urgent news. He strode straight into the main room. “General, something’s wrong — the young mistress —”
Before he could finish, he suddenly noticed Tian Ze was also present and immediately stopped himself, cupping his hands in a bow toward him. “Master Tian.”
Tian Ze, understanding that Cui Yu had private matters to report, finished copying the code, gave Yun Xi a nod, and left the main room to search for clues elsewhere.
Yun Xi asked, “What is it? What’s happened to Sister-in-law?”
“Not long after the General left the Marquis’s residence, Guard Qin also left the residence. After that, a servant from Hechun Hall seemed to arrive at the residence with some urgent matter, looking for the young mistress, and the young mistress left the residence as well. This subordinate observed the direction the young mistress went — it appeared to be… in pursuit of Guard Qin.”
Hearing this, a deeply unsettling thought rose in Yun Xi’s mind.
In all these years, Fang Furan had never once left the Marquis’s residence so abruptly and without warning. And now, with night already falling, to be rushing off after A’Jiu like this — why?
Yun Xi had long suspected — no, by now she was certain — that Fang Furan was Prince Ling’s inside collaborator.
Prince Ling was ruthless and merciless; he had dared to kill even his own heir. What was the life of a single guard to him?
“There is one more matter, General — please don’t be angry with me for it,” Cui Yu hesitated, then continued.
“Speak.”
“This abandoned house… Guard Qin came here before.”
“She came here?” Yun Xi asked. “Why haven’t I heard you mention this before?”
“General, please understand — it was three days ago. Guard Qin returned to Jinling from Yangzhou together with the Young Prince and Captain Tian. After the three of them parted ways, Guard Qin came to this abandoned house and walked through it — she wasn’t even here for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea before she returned to the Marquis’s residence. At the time, this subordinate’s men searched the house and found nothing suspicious, and assumed Guard Qin had simply stopped to rest here because her wounds had left her too weak to go on, so it wasn’t reported. It wasn’t until just now, when this subordinate noticed the young mistress’s strange behavior and went into the palace to the Ministry of Justice to find the General, that the Ministry’s men said the General and Master Tian had come to this abandoned house — only then did my men think to mention it.”
Hearing this, Yun Xi was stunned for a moment.
She’d known it — knowing A’Jiu’s temperament, how could she possibly have stayed obediently within the walls of the Marquis’s residence these past few days without once venturing out?
So she had come to this abandoned house early on, discovered the instruction to “hold position and not move,” and only then had gone back to the residence and stayed put.
Today… she must have heard or discovered something, which was why she had rushed out of the residence in such a hurry, to find her two friends.
Yun Xi asked, “Has A’Jiu gone west into the city?”
“Yes, General. Guard Qin seemed to have grown wary — she led this subordinate’s men in circles around the city, and before long they lost her trail. But the young mistress did indeed head west into the city.”
Back then, Chai Ping had merely learned that A’Jiu had stolen the deathbed letter left by Registrar Li, and yet he had brought two hundred men from the Patrol Bureau all the way to Yangzhou to hunt her down, determined to have her life.
Now, if Prince Ling learned that it was A’Jiu and her two friends who had stolen the Ministry of War’s defense map — would he show any mercy at all?
Yun Xi’s heart began to race. “How many troops can we gather right now?”
“General wishes to gather troops?” Cui Yu said, startled. “But without an imperial decree, privately mustering troops is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations. The General does have men at the Western Hills Camp, but they can only be deployed for campaigns to put down rebellion, not for anything else.”
“Then we’ll do it in the name of pursuing thieves,” Yun Xi said. She unfastened the token at her waist and tossed it to Cui Yu. “Take men and muster the personnel of the Privy Council’s Guangxi Bureau at once. Come with me — we’re heading west into the city!”