The carriage rolled slowly forward.

Xu Zhaonan sat on the right-hand seat, dressed in robes trimmed with bright yellow and deep crimson, his gaze calm and mild, carrying an unspoken air of authority.

“…Back in the fifth month, I had Huang Quan taken care of… you remember him, don’t you? I rather liked the man. It was he who brokered our very first meeting — always smiling, a heavyset fellow, the sort who seemed to get along with everyone…”

“…Why did I kill him? For your sake… By this year, the man had changed. His territory had grown too large, his following too numerous, and with a crowd of shameless flatterers whispering in his ear, he’d started looking down on you. He came to me and said, ‘Master Xu, that skinny fellow He Wen — these days his own following can’t hold a candle to ours. What’s he got left besides a big reputation?’ He looked down on you, so I took care of him for your sake…”

“…The fat bastard knew I meant to kill him, and he had the nerve to resist.”

“…You know how it went. Chen Juefang wiped out all thirty-six members of his household, and he didn’t resist at all. Fewer people would have had to die, otherwise.”

“…Why did I kill him? The fat bastard, always smiling, always so smooth-talking… But on my own turf, whoever fails to respect the King of Fairness fails to respect me — Xu Zhaonan.”

Xu Zhaonan’s fingers drummed lightly against the seat as he looked at the man across from him.

“…Since the start of this year, the dead fat man wasn’t the first one to suggest killing you. Especially at that conference — those scholars under you were saying your reputation had grown too large, that you absolutely had to be the first one taken out, or there’d be trouble down the line — and I treated you like one of my own! I, Xu Zhaonan, treated you like family!”

“…What is Xu Zhaonan, in the end? Xu Zhaonan is a believer in the Great Radiance faith, He Wen. Believers are honest men at heart. The scriptures of the Great Radiance teach us that a man must act with integrity, live with a clear conscience — revering heaven and one’s ancestors above, and never betraying one’s fellow believers and the common people below. Why have I been able to rally so many people behind me all these years? Because in all this time, I’ve never once let down a single one of my own brothers!”

“…But now, you’ve let me down. You’ve reached your hand right into my own territory. Do you honestly want a fight?”

The carriage rolled onward with a steady rumble, autumn wind stirring through the gaps in the curtain, occasionally revealing glimpses of the streets and sky beyond. Xu Zhaonan fixed his gaze on He Wen across from him, and after a long moment, He Wen finally let out a sigh.

“On the matter of the Reading Society — you people really have overstepped.”

“There’s no such thing as overstepping. In two years of the Fair Party, how many men have you and I killed between us? That madman Zhou Shang, how many has he killed? You issuing orders straight into my own territory — that’s what overstepping actually means!”

“The Reading Society’s people have some genuinely good ideas…”

“Don’t try that vague nonsense on me, Brother He. Let’s speak plainly here, just the two of us, behind closed doors. Don’t play the fool with me. Issuing your own King of Fairness orders straight into my territory, forbidding the wanton killing of Reading Society members — you’re trying to win their hearts over, but I promise you, going forward, not a single one of them will be able to escape into your territory. If we can’t come to terms this afternoon, I’ll start moving the Wusheng Army toward Lake Tai tonight — and I won’t be the only one doing it!”

He Wen sat there, watching him with a calm gaze. Xu Zhaonan’s eyes blazed with fury, and he leaned back slightly. After a moment, he pointed at He Wen.

“This time, it’s you who won’t listen to reason.”

He Wen leaned forward, his gaze lowering, then rising again.

“Master Xu. Find your resolve, and join me in this?”

“What?”

“From beginning to end, I’ve never once been joking. Everything I’ve said, I’ve laid out plainly on the table — but none of you believed me. You all thought I was joking, thought I was scheming something behind the scenes, trying to eliminate someone or other… No. Master Xu, the Fair Party is in genuine peril. Set aside jianghu loyalty for a moment, and join me in this reform. Gao Chang has already decided to join me. Together, the two of us have nothing to fear from Shi Baofeng and Zhou Shang.”

“…You think I’m a fool?” Xu Zhaonan tilted his head, looking at him. “Why does anything need to change? Abandon jianghu loyalty? If there’s no more loyalty left, what’s the point of even being human? All that Reading Society nonsense is just something the southwest cooked up to fool idiots! You actually believe it?”

“Master Xu, do you truly not believe it?” He Wen looked at him, a faint smile on his face, then raised a hand. “You had Huang Quan killed because he made a move on your concubine — was that really necessary? Brothers are like one’s own limbs; wives are like clothing, easily replaced. Setting aside for the moment that plenty of people think that whole case was unjust, even if it were true — if he wanted her, you could simply have given her to him. As far as getting things done goes, Huang Quan was more capable than Chen Juefang.”

The two men’s eyes met.

“…Heh heh heh heh… heh heh heh hahahaha.” Xu Zhaonan couldn’t help but laugh, baring his teeth. “Hahahahahaha… Huang Quan, hah… that concubine was someone I’d only just taken a fancy to myself, newly favored — everyone knew that. And he, the head of the Deathless Guard no less, let word of it get out. What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t move against him, wouldn’t people say he’d grown so important I couldn’t touch him anymore? He was testing me! As for the concubine, what does she matter to me? Not that he’d even laid eyes on her — but even if he had, if he’d simply come to me privately and asked, we could have shared her between us. We’re brothers, after all — why enjoy something alone when you could enjoy it together, right?”

“Master Xu… what magnanimity.” He Wen’s gaze paused a moment, then he laughed. “Now this really does feel like the kind of talk we can only have behind closed doors.”

“Doesn’t it?” Xu Zhaonan laughed. “The bastard — in your shoes, you’d have killed him too… Though, come to think of it, the girl really was something. A proper, respectable young woman. If I hadn’t happened to kill her along with him when I dealt with Huang Quan, the two of us could be appreciating her together today.”

“Next time, for sure.”

He Wen’s expression eased into a smile, but Xu Zhaonan’s gaze had already turned savage, one finger frozen in midair, pointed at him, unmoving for a long while. The smile on He Wen’s face gradually faded into something calm, and after a moment, even something cold.

“A boat sinking beside the shore still sees a thousand sails pass it by; before a withered tree, ten thousand more still bloom. The Fair Party can no longer turn back, Master Xu.”

“The Fair Party was never going to turn back to begin with — there was no need to. Either you’ve had some evil scheme against us all along, or you’ve been taken in by that Reading Society crowd, chasing some pipe dream.” Xu Zhaonan paused. “No — the Reading Society couldn’t have fooled you… Has Ning Yi of the southwest deceived you, then?”

“…The Fair Party conference, if it just keeps compromising layer upon layer, means nothing in the end — the best we’d ever amount to is a slightly more capable version of Fang La. And besides, Master Xu, all these problems ultimately come down to a single issue: organizational discipline…”

“Listen to yourself, spouting nothing but that southwestern heresy…”

“Whether there’s really a problem or not — in the end, it always comes down to the battlefield. Master Xu, in the battle between the Jurchen western army and the Huaxia Army, Zonghan and Xiyin led the Jurchen troops, and every general beneath them was a master of formation and tactics… none of it mattered in the end. Throw one grenade, and every last one of your formations turns to nothing. The southwest simply lets its troops scatter and fight on their own, and the orders still get carried out, because every single one of their men can think for himself. Try scattering your own Wusheng Army like that and see what happens.” He Wen said. “…This is a shift the likes of which the world hasn’t seen in thousands of years.”

“The southwest is bound to break, sooner or later. Mister He, you needn’t even bother considering them at all.”

“Master Xu, do you also believe in that ‘too rigid, too brittle’ nonsense?”

“What I believe in is the middle way you scholars are always going on about. Mister He, since ancient times, in matters of this magnitude, both the very best and the very worst always end up cast aside in the end… Everyone in the realm keeps talking about ‘inner demons,’ ‘heart demons’ — but He Wen, the Great Radiance faith is the true heart demon here. Have you ever seen what’s really going on in the hearts of our followers? You’ve spent your whole life reading books — do you actually understand what’s in the hearts of the lowest people in this world? You want reform? You want organizational discipline? You want everyone reading books? Self-discipline? Out of a thousand men, only a handful could ever manage it!”

Xu Zhaonan leaned forward, his expression grave. “You could use certain methods to force everyone into that shape, sure! Ning Yi has managed it, and he’s still holding it together even now — that’s genuinely impressive of him. But I understand something even more clearly: it’s bound to burst open eventually. Heart demons, inner demons — I’ve spent my whole life studying the hearts of men in this world too! Ning Yi goes against the grain of it, exhausts every method he has, and he’s formidable for it. But there will be an end to it… The southwest talks about natural principles, about the laws that govern things. Well, I’m the one actually talking about the true law here — you people are the ones going against it!”

He Wen laughed. “Master Xu really does understand the southwest quite well, it seems.”

Xu Zhaonan glanced aside and waved a hand. “He Wen, don’t try to steer the conversation this way. I’ve already told you — the odds are very high that you’re planning to move against someone here… We rose up together in this age of chaos, worked alongside each other for over a year now, and if you ask me, I’ve never once let you down. If you won’t tell me the truth, I can only assume the one you mean to move against is me… As for having been stirred up by the southwest — if you truly meant to throw everything away and turn against us, the way you’ve gone about it has been far too clumsy.”

He Wen sighed, thought for a moment, then leaned forward again. “The road tests a horse’s strength; time reveals a person’s true heart. Here’s how it is: if I truly did harbor evil intent, if I really meant to move against you, Master Xu, then you striking back at me would be entirely justified. But if… after some time passes, Master Xu, you come to see that I have genuinely thrown everything on the line, that I truly mean to reform, to establish real order, to use this Reading Society fire to gather together those genuinely willing to walk the right path… Master Xu, you’re a man who’s read the southwest’s theories yourself. When that time comes, ask yourself honestly — will you join me, or not?”

Xu Zhaonan stared at him. He opened his mouth, his eyes clouded with confusion, but said nothing.

He Wen lowered his voice. “People from the southwest really have come. They sought me out, asked me to explain my thinking clearly, and confirmed they support me. Master Xu, nothing in this world comes easily. Do you want to end up like Fang La — grabbing a few concubines and enjoying a few good years before it all falls apart? Or do you want to genuinely accomplish something in this world, and perhaps even meet a good end because of it? Master Xu, think it over. Even if you can’t make up your mind right now, it won’t be too late later. As long as you’re willing to reform, willing to establish real order, our door will always be open to you.”

“…That’s not what the southwest’s man told me, when they came to see me.”

“The one who came from the southwest was Chen Fan.”

He Wen said this quietly, and within the carriage, Xu Zhaonan’s breathing grew visibly heavier.

“…Master Xu, coming here, issuing orders straight into your own territory in the middle of this very conference, provoking you outright, taking on four sides at once as you put it — yes, it’s been a clumsy way to go about things. If I had no cards to play at all, how would I dare do something like this? Besides, having read the southwest’s own writings yourself, you ought to know — once one has truly committed to reform on this scale, there’s no room for dragging one’s feet, for gradual half-measures. Even if it means cutting away one’s own flesh, making one’s position unmistakably clear is what matters most. Just like Ning Yi — if he meant to rebel, he had to kill the emperor outright, severing the two sides with a single stroke…”

“…I don’t expect you to simply believe me outright, Master Xu. If you think this is all some scheme, then go ahead and treat it as one. But here, behind closed doors, just the two of us — from the very moment I chose to rebel, I already considered myself a dead man. This is a difficult road, one you find utterly bewildering, I know. But I’m not afraid of any of you — even if not a single soul follows me, I’ll take on all four of you alone today, just the same! Either you kill me, or I kill you! Because if we don’t do this, the Fair Party is finished — and all of you are finished along with it!”

He Wen’s voice rose sharply for an instant, then dropped again.

“…I believe this difficult road is the only road left to us. If you truly don’t believe me, Master Xu, there’s nothing to be done about that. But if, after thinking it over carefully, you find some sense in what I’m saying — I ask for nothing more than this: leave a little room to maneuver. As you say, my orders have already reached your territory, and those Reading Society members won’t be able to escape from it either way — but before you’ve fully made up your mind, if you happen to catch any of them, could you hold off on killing them, just for now? If it comes to war between us, this is the only thing I ask — call it… a small, private understanding between the two of us.”

Xu Zhaonan looked at him.

The carriage continued rolling forward at its steady pace. At some point, Xu Zhaonan rose and stepped down from it, tapping his finger against the bench in front of He Wen.

“Everything you’ve said — if it’s true…” He shook his head. “Zhou Shang is far saner than you are, and you two are supposed to be like brothers… Madman!”

He lifted the curtain and stepped down from the carriage. He Wen smiled, turning to look at Xu Zhaonan’s retreating figure, and said, “Zhou Shang says he’s with me. Think it over, Master Xu.”

“Go to hell—”

Xu Zhaonan gave his sleeve a sharp flourish and strode off.

The curtain fell back into place, shutting out the bleak, dwindling light of deep autumn beyond. He Wen sat within the carriage, his expression turning grave, and then, gradually, something almost lost…

He returned to the small courtyard where he was staying and received several more visitors. When night fell, Shi Baofeng arrived by carriage, and He Wen received him in his study.

Compared to Xu Zhaonan’s manner that afternoon, Shi Baofeng’s attitude was far more ferocious, carrying himself with the air of a man come to demand an accounting. His own son had lost a hand to someone from the southwest, and now, wherever he went, that fact alone was enough to give him leverage over others — he laid into He Wen with accusations the moment he arrived.

He Wen, for his part, didn’t seem particularly bothered. He didn’t even bother pouring tea for his guest.

“Lord Shi, every other word out of your mouth is ‘the Black Banner did this’ — who actually saw it happen?”

“The Monkey King of Tongshan, Li Yanfeng, was there at the time…”

“That Li Yanfeng of Tongshan is a two-bit con artist. His own father was trampled to death by Lüliang cavalry at Zhuxian Town years ago — of course a man like that would be capable of framing someone with a made-up story! Even Xu Zhaonan said this afternoon the man’s a scoundrel!”

“So what Mister He is saying is that Li Yanfeng deceived people — and that I, Shi Baofeng, am deceiving people too? My own son has lost a hand—”

“Ever since that business at the Five Lakes Inn, it was you, Shi Baofeng, who first flew off the handle at me. And then, conveniently, your Second Young Master’s incident happens, and you go tying the Reading Society and the Black Banner together with my own name — who knows what you’re really scheming!?”

With a crash, Shi Baofeng overturned the table and chairs in the room.

“You have no son to lose…”

“My son died while I was sitting in prison!”

Voices rose, the two figures squared off against each other within the room, Shi Baofeng’s finger trembling as he pointed. “He Wen, we’ve known each other all these years — and today, you’re telling me it’s I who mean to move against you…”

“Isn’t it? Those pamphlets from the Five Lakes Inn — your own son put those out, and you didn’t know? Along with that so-called ‘Farmers’ Sage,’ Zhao Jingci, no less… If you’re not coming after me, what exactly are you doing? Do you want to say the Black Banner did it… are you trying to say I ordered the Black Banner to cut off Weiyang’s hand!? Say it, if you dare!”

“…I… I only used those pamphlets to push you into taking a clear stance on the Reading Society!” Shi Baofeng’s words caught in his throat. “The Reading Society was bound to cause trouble sooner or later, bound to become a real threat — how many times have I told you this…”

“And how many times have I told you my own thinking on the Reading Society — when have you ever once actually listened!?”

The two of them had known each other a long while now, and though they couldn’t quite be called old friends of many years, ever since the Fair Party first rose up, they had, at the very least, been close partners — arguably the two great kings with the deepest bond of friendship among them all. Shi Baofeng, trembling, sank into a nearby chair; He Wen stood with one hand on his hip. Both men fumed in silence for a while before He Wen finally turned around.

“I’m the one who founded the Reading Society.” he said.

Shi Baofeng, reaching for the teacup beside his chair meaning to pour himself some tea, instead swept his sleeve across the table, sending everything on it crashing to the floor in pieces. “He Wen — you deceived even me?”

“Brother Shi, I’ve told you this many times before, and you always treated it as some kind of joke, but regardless, the decision had to be made eventually.” He Wen turned and brought over a fresh tea set from nearby. “The Fair Party is nearly at its end. From the outside it looks like flowers in full bloom, fire roaring under oil — but that’s precisely the moment when its underlying sickness is about to surface. I have to carry out this reform. Join me in it.”

“…Can’t you at least… wait until after this conference is finished, and find some other way?”

“The moment this conference concludes, the word ‘compromise’ will have burrowed itself straight into the very bones of the Fair Party, and after that, no one will ever be able to root out this sickness again.”

“—So you’re going to stage this whole spectacle in front of the entire realm!”

“I intend to set the whole Fair Party ablaze, and let the entire realm watch it burn! I want the whole world to see, with perfect clarity, exactly what it is that I, He Wen, want — and only then can a phoenix rise reborn from those flames!”

“You lunatic…”

“I’ve been mad for years now, Brother Shi.” He Wen said, pausing, then lowering his voice. “The Black Banner really has sent people here, but Weiyang’s injury wasn’t their doing. They’ve said they support me — General Gao and Master Xu have both been moved by it as well. Brother Shi, find your resolve, and join me. Without a thorough overhaul, without scraping the poison from the bone, there’s no saving the Fair Party.”

“You… so you really have allied with the Black Banner…”

“The one who came from the Black Banner was Chen Fan. If he’d been the one to strike, Weiyang would already be dead — would Li Yanfeng even still be able to talk? I’ve told you already, that man’s nothing but a two-bit con artist playing tricks.”

“…”

Silence fell over the room for a moment.

What followed was several more rounds of earnest persuasion and heated argument.

In truth, this day’s arguments produced no clear resolution at all. Across the thousand-li expanse of Jiangnan, within the territories of the Fair Party’s five branches, vast numbers of troops had already begun mobilizing under all manner of orders.

Over these past two years, the Fair Party’s five branches had all grown up in a wild, untamed fashion, and in many places their territories overlapped and interlocked like jagged teeth, with countless smaller factions of uncertain allegiance caught up in the mix as well. Should real confrontation break out, it would, in the foreseeable future, inevitably become a vast, sprawling chaos.

But the King of Fairness had shown his hostility openly now, and the other four houses had no choice but to respond in kind.

The following morning, Zhou Shang, too, came to see He Wen. His attitude was blunt enough. “I’ve come to see a dead man.”

He Wen looked at him for a moment. “…Let’s do this together.”

Within the city, the Fair Party’s conference continued as scheduled. After that afternoon’s session concluded, Xu Zhaonan, Shi Baofeng, Zhou Shang, and Gao Chang met privately among themselves to compare notes.

“He Wen’s gone mad. He says he wants to build a whole new Fair Party.”

“Mister He told me you’d joined him.”

“That’s exactly what he told me about you…”

“Mister He says the people from the southwest are standing with him.”

“Either he’s bluffing us…”

“Or else — Ning Yi really is that skilled, resolving the whole King of Fairness situation from thousands of li away with nothing but a few words… staging his own rebellion for him…”

“So what do we do now?”

“What else is there to do? Join forces and finish him off.”

“Are we all of one mind on this?”

The four of them looked at one another, and Zhou Shang couldn’t help bursting into laughter. He was just about to say something more when, from not far outside, the sound of commotion drifted in, followed almost immediately by a warning firework flare.

Within Jiangning at this time, disturbances tied to the Reading Society had become common enough not to raise much alarm on their own — but this particular flare was of an extremely high grade. A moment later, someone arrived to report: on Jingwen Street, which the King of Fairness had to pass through on his way from the conference, an assassination attempt had been made against him. The fighting was, even now, still ongoing.

“That’s no small scale of attack.” Zhou Shang said, listening to the sounds carrying from afar, with a laugh.

“Who did it?” Shi Baofeng’s brow furrowed.

“I haven’t made my move yet.” Xu Zhaonan said. “Shall we go take a look?”

Gao Chang, who had remained relatively silent all along, sat by the table sipping his tea.

“Once he’s dead, we’ll go take a look.”

he said.

On the evening of the thirteenth of the ninth month, on Jingwen Street in Jiangning.

Not long after “the King of Fairness,” He Wen, left the conference and his carriage entered this street, a great number of assassins appeared from every direction at once, unleashing a concentrated barrage of crossbow bolts and even clay-pot hand-thrown bombs upon his procession.

The sound of explosions spread.

The iron-plated carriage was blasted, tumbling across the street, and savage, brutal fighting erupted across the entire length of the road. Both sides in this clash were made up of the most elite fighters available, and within moments, the intensity of the slaughter had already surpassed every single one of the countless clashes that had broken out across this city over the past several months.

The first true confrontation had now, formally, begun…