Chapter Thirty-One: The Returning Strike

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The princess stood where she was, her gaze passing through the swirling dust as she watched that retreating figure for a long, long time.

“Princess, please mount your horse.” Xiao Zhi had already vanished from sight. The Hundred-Household Commander had no choice but to remind her and urge her on. They had to escort the princess back; they were still under military orders.

Outside the northern city gate, Tong Yuan was leaning against a small sedan chair, dozing.

At the sudden sound of hoofbeats, she looked over and immediately widened her eyes.

“Lord Xiao, how did you…”

Xiao Zhi galloped past at full speed, merely giving Tong Yuan a smile.

About the time it takes to burn a stick of incense later, the princess came riding slowly toward them.

“Your Highness.” Tong Yuan hurried forward and helped the princess dismount.

“Your Highness, what did the two of you say?” Tong Yuan lifted the sedan curtain for her, her large eyes gleaming with impatience as she waited for the gossip.

“We did not say anything.”

The princess smiled with pursed lips, as though she had said everything after all.

“I just saw Lord Xiao enter the city again. Could he have gone to see His Majesty?”

The princess shook her head. “I would not allow him to seek out Imperial Brother.”

“Why not?”

“I…” The princess’s expression darkened. After a long silence, she sighed.

“I am an ill-fated person.”

“You are not. They were simply unlucky,” Tong Yuan said with puffed cheeks.

Princess Changping only smiled and shook her head, though there was something desolate in that smile.

Once inside the sedan chair, the princess drew a note from her sash.

He had feared he would be unable to say the words aloud, so he had written them down instead.

The note read:

Your heart is like mine; I shall not betray this love we share.

Princess Changping tore the note to pieces. He understood everything she wanted to say.

On horseback, the two of them had said more than a thousand words could express.

A single clear tear slipped silently down her cheek.

East Article Lane.

Xiao Zhi sat astride his horse at the entrance to the lane, rocking his head as he hummed a tune.

“With golden spears and iron steeds, I’ll ride to war; for you, I’ll guard the frontier all my life. I’ve mastered the skill of turning back with a sudden spear…”

Beside him, the Thousand-Household Commander asked curiously, “My lord, what song is that? It is quite pleasant.”

“Turning Back with a Sudden Spear,” Xiao Zhi replied.

The Thousand-Household Commander nodded. “A fitting title.”

“Shi Weigong never imagined I would turn back and strike. And Senior Secretary Ye Yinian of the Ministry of Revenue certainly never imagined that his pride would be the death of him.”

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Ye Yinian was that victorious rooster.

Xiao Zhi curled his lip. “What kind of standing does he have, pretending to be impressive in front of me?”

Half a month earlier, Xiao Zhi had already assigned men to collect evidence of Ye Yinian’s various crimes.

They could not afford to spend too long on this counterstrike. The matter had to be resolved swiftly and decisively.

Ye Yinian could never have imagined that the Imperial City Office’s forces, despite having clearly left the capital, would suddenly return.

The men of the Imperial City Office stormed into Ye Yinian’s residence and began confiscating the household without a word.

All the family members and servants were gathered in one place. Then the search for money and valuables began, while prepared seals were pasted everywhere.

Ye Yinian’s face was ashen. With Bai Yan’s fate before him, he knew that falling into Xiao Zhi’s hands would bring him no good end.

A tall, fine horse slowly came to a stop before Ye Yinian. From his elevated position, Xiao Zhi looked down at him coldly.

“I need a human head to consecrate my banner before this journey. Lord Ye, I think yours would be quite suitable.”

“Xiao Zhi, I am a Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue. By what right have you barged into my residence?”

The Thousand-Household Commander behind him said, “I seem to recall Bai Yan saying something similar.”

Xiao Zhi smiled and added, “Shi Weigong said it too. He was merely repeating Bai Yan’s words.”

“You… You have no regard for the law! You are making enemies of every civil and military official at court. You are—”

“Just shut up.” Xiao Zhi scratched his ear. “That line sounds familiar too. Can’t you try a different one? Something like, ‘Even after eighteen years, I’ll still be a hero,’ perhaps.”

The capital of Great Chu had no execution ground at the vegetable market, so Xiao Zhi chose an open stretch of land outside the Eastern Market for Ye Yinian.

Several long ropes were used to bind Ye Yinian’s entire family together. A few horses dragged them along Vermilion Bird Avenue in a public procession.

It seemed as though the capital’s people had sprung from the ground. The streets filled with crowds, and rotten vegetables and stones came flying at Ye Yinian and his family.

They did not know Ye Yinian, nor did they know what office he held. That did not lessen their delight in hurling things at a corrupt official.

Several colonels were caught in the chaos as well, struck a few times for no reason at all.

Those who came to watch a spectacle never minded making it bigger. As the procession moved forward, people followed all around it until they reached the entrance to the Eastern Market.

At the Thousand-Household Commander’s instruction, Ye Yinian’s crimes were written down and pasted across an entire wall. Every character was as large as a human head; when one sheet of paper was not enough, they joined several together.

Many commoners were illiterate, so learned men recited the charges aloud for everyone to hear.

Ye Yinian and his entire family were bound hand and foot, wooden placards stuck into the backs of their collars. They were arranged in several rows and forced to kneel at the street entrance. Anyone who dared refuse was rewarded with a beating from a colonel’s whip.

It was already past noon, and the blazing sun hung directly overhead. The third quarter of the Horse Hour was an auspicious time for an execution.

Yet Xiao Zhi was in no hurry. He was waiting for Shi Weigong.

At that moment, Shi Weigong was surrounded by a group of officials from the Ministry of Revenue.

“Minister, Ye Yinian is your protégé and one of our colleagues at the Ministry of Revenue. What Xiao Zhi is doing is simply an insult to all of us.”

“That’s right, my lord. We must save Lord Ye.”

Shi Weigong’s face was dark, and he said nothing.

Did he not want to save him? He wanted it more than anyone.

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In the official world, raising a capable and obedient protégé was no easy task.

But he could not save him. Bai Yan was proof enough, and Xiao Chan had given further evidence with his life.

Rather than going to save Ye Yinian himself, he might as well go to the palace and plead with the emperor.

But pleading with the emperor would be useless. Shi Weigong knew all too well what a shameless man Xiao Zhi was.

Even if the emperor issued an edict, even if that imperial decree reached the entrance to the Eastern Market, what they would receive would likely be nothing more than the heads of Ye Yinian and his entire family.

No one had ever truly been rescued at an execution ground. “Stay your hand” was merely a line in a theatrical script.

“Xiao Zhi, you shameless whelp.” Shi Weigong slammed his palm onto the table, his teeth clenched with hatred.

He looked at the officials of the Ministry of Revenue at every rank, then finally let out a helpless sigh.

“If you want to save him, go ahead and try. That bastard Xiao Zhi is waiting for you to rescue him. The third quarter of the Horse Hour has already passed, so why has Ye Yinian’s head not yet fallen? Xiao Zhi is waiting for you to come save him. Xiao Chan’s fate should serve as a warning.”

Shi Weigong wanted nothing more than to tear Xiao Zhi apart with his bare hands.

Had Xiao Zhi not already left the capital and headed north to guard the frontier?

And besides…

It seemed Song Qi’s plan had failed as well.

At that very moment, Song Qi was equally shocked.

Xiao Zhi should have appeared at Ten-Mile Station to meet his death. How had he suddenly turned back?

Had Tang Sanjian failed?

Judging by the timing, Xiao Zhi had never gone to Ten-Mile Station at all.

Had the two women, Jiang Zhu and her companion, been exposed? Or had Xiao Zhi simply changed his mind on a whim?

Even Song Qi, whose schemes had always been exceptional, was bewildered. He could not make sense of Xiao Zhi’s movements at all.

He had clearly planted a mole beside Xiao Zhi. Why, then, was he still being led around by the nose?

Still, there was one consolation: Xiao Zhi was keeping his eyes fixed on Shi Weigong and was intent on dealing with the people of the Ministry of Revenue.

As far as he and Xiao Zhi were concerned, at least on the surface, they remained perfectly cordial.

There was plenty of time ahead. Xiao Zhi’s journey to the frontier city would be a long one, and who could say what accidents might occur along the way?

Before long, Shi Weigong came to see him and asked bluntly, “Lord Song, does our agreement still stand?”

“Of course it does.”

“If that is so, then why is that scoundrel Xiao Zhi still raising such a storm?”

Song Qi replied, “Xiao Zhi changed his route at the last moment. Who could have known he would suddenly turn back? As for you, keep a closer eye on those protégés of yours. If they lack the ability, they should stop provoking that madman.”

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