Following the sound, Xie Zi’an wove his way through the bolts of fabric. Parting a length of dark red cloth before him, he saw a wooden door directly ahead that stood half-open, shaken violently by the cold wind as though its hinges might snap at any second.
Several Jinyiwei stepped briskly out from the room with grim expressions.
Lowering his head, Xie Zi’an pulled his hood down to shroud most of his face, quickened his pace, and brushed past them.
Standing at the doorway, he glanced inside. The room was small, likely used previously as a resting area for the dyehouse workers, and contained only a dilapidated wooden bed.
Someone appeared to be sitting on the bed.
The light was far too dim for Xie Zi’an to make out the details clearly. He had no desire to enter, knowing that doing so would inevitably bring him face-to-face with Li Hanchi and Lu Bingqiu, and he wished to avoid drawing their attention. Yet he needed to know the situation specifically, whether Lu Bingqiu had managed to secure the ledgers.
Inhaling a breath of cold air, he crossed the threshold and stepped softly inside.
Only after entering did Xie Zi’an catch the sound of low, muffled sobs. Shifting his hood up slightly, he took in the scene.
A delicate, youthful boy with disheveled raven hair sat on the wooden bed, his face buried deep. His crow-feather-like eyelashes trembled incessantly with fear, and crystalline teardrops fell one by one from his delicate face.
He was trying his best to use his garments to cover his exposed body, but the silk fabric was too slick, leaving his fair shoulders still bare.
This child must be Zhao Chengxiao, Xie Zi’an thought.
He had to admit, this delicate appearance was remarkably effective at stirring a man’s protective instincts.
“Is Lord Lu satisfied now?” Li Hanchi stepped in front of Zhao Chengxiao, stripping off his own outer robe to drape over the boy’s shoulders as he coldly interrogated the man.
Lu Bingqiu remained silent, the air plunging into a terrifying stillness.
His expression appeared calm, devoid of embarrassment, as he silently turned his back, refusing to gaze upon that licentious scene any longer.
Countless times, he had pondered the reasons behind the gradual decline of the Great Jin dynasty. Why had a former superpower capable of dominating the four directions now been forced to cede territory to barbarian tribes like the Guifang and Eastern Hu?
Not until he arrived in Yecheng did he find his answer.
A woman controlled the court affairs of Great Jin; maternal relatives and eunuchs ran amok in the imperial administration, throwing the state apparatus into chaos, bleeding the common people dry, and driving the legitimate royal family into a state of twilight decline.
Worse still, the aristocratic youths in Yecheng, stuffed with sagely books and classics, lacked all enterprise, immersing themselves day in and day out in pleasure quarters. Their eyes held no higher aspiration than physical gratification.
How could the national strength of Great Jin not decline?!
Regrettably, he was merely a military man and a brute; he could change nothing.
The disgust and revulsion in Lu Bingqiu’s heart reached its zenith. Forcing himself to suppress any outward display of emotion, he uttered not a single word and strode rapidly away.
Hastily lowering his head, Xie Zi’an pressed himself against the adjacent wall, clearing a pathway for Lu Bingqiu to pass.
As he bowed his head, his gaze accidentally locked onto a pair of tear-stained eyes. Those wide, watery eyes stared unblinkingly at Lu Bingqiu’s retreating back, entirely devoid of shame or sorrow.
Xie Zi’an was struck by a sudden flash of insight: Zhao Chengxiao in the original book had likely deceived Lu Bingqiu using this very act.
This little white lotus is truly formidable.
Outside, the night remained gloomy and torrential rain poured down without pause. The half-man-sized dye vats in the courtyard were filled nearly to the brim with rainwater, their water levels steadily climbing and one vat was filling faster than all the rest.
Blowing his secret whistle, Lu Bingqiu prepared to gather his subordinates and leave. Xie Zi’an and the ledgers clearly were not here, and he had no time to waste in this place.
He needed to rush off and search elsewhere.
Mud splattered beneath Lu Bingqiu’s stride, his long black cloth boots soaked through and caked in sludge.
He failed to notice that the water in one of the dye vats had overflowed, tinged with a dark red hue until a single feather washed out along with the water, landing squarely on top of Lu Bingqiu’s boot.
That was when the anomaly caught his eye.
Picking up the feather from the ground, he stared at the dye vat still bubbling with water, a terror unlike anything he had ever felt gripping his heart.
“Li Hanchi, I’m going to kill you!” An enraged roar exploded through the cold, damp air.
Kicking open the half-swinging door, Lu Bingqiu strode angrily toward Li Hanchi, his Xiuchun saber drawn and ready.
Every heavy step he slammed into the ground struck like a hammer against Xie Zi’an’s heart, his pupils contracting violently.
Lu Bingqiu’s furious demeanor mirrored the terrifying moments his alcoholic father used to go on drunken rampages.
Xie Zi’an shrank back further. Very few things could drive a man like Lu Bingqiu who detested showing his emotions into such a towering rage. He must have discovered the carcass of his falcon, Qingyi.
What Xie Zi’an guessed, Li Hanchi had also anticipated.
Rather than dodging, Li Hanchi stood his ground, allowing Lu Bingqiu to press the icy edge of the Xiuchun saber straight against his throat.
Catching sight of the broken arrow shaft clenched in Lu Bingqiu’s left hand upon which a small seal-script character for “Li” was clearly carved Li Hanchi grew even more certain of his deduction: Lu Bingqiu had discovered the bird’s corpse.
Caught red-handed, Li Hanchi showed not a shred of panic or fear. He knew Lu Bingqiu wouldn’t actually kill him unless. Lu Bingqiu had grown tired of living!
Reaching out a finger, he tapped against the snow-gleaming blade of the saber, laughing with unrestrained arrogance: “Do you dare kill me?”
Fury danced in Lu Bingqiu’s eyes, screaming for him to hack Li Hanchi into a thousand pieces. Driven to his absolute limit, the sharp edge of the blade pressed infinitely closer to that slender neck, leaving behind a thin line of blood.
He truly wanted to kill Li Er. Qingyi’s wings had only been rendered flightless by the arrow, yet Li Hanchi had gone so far as to snap both wings and neck completely, shoving the remains into that rotting urn. How could he not be furious?!
Yet reason ultimately conquered rage. Sacrificing his life and family for a mere hotheaded youth simply wasn’t worth it!
Confronted with Li Hanchi’s nonchalant expression, Lu Bingqiu hurled the Xiuchun saber aside in deep resentment. With a sharp shwip!, the white blade sheared through the air. Whether intentional or accidental on Lu Bingqiu’s part, the saber flew straight toward Xie Zi’an!
Caught entirely off guard, Xie Zi’an’s heart skipped a beat, bracing for the worst. Miraculously, the blade missed his body entirely; but while it spared him injury, it sliced clean through the brim of his cloak’s hood!
A pale, frail face was instantly exposed to everyone present.
“Zi’an!” Zhao Chengxiao, who had been cowering for ages, recognized Xie Zi’an at a glance and cried out in shock.
Just then, Zhu Yue and her maidservant hurried over, guided by Lu Bingqiu’s voice. Standing at the threshold, they witnessed the entire scene.
Hearing the cry, Lu Bingqiu shot a dark, baleful glare at Zhao Chengxiao. The look was so terrifying that Zhao Chengxiao hastily lowered his head.
Whirling around, Lu Bingqiu marched straight toward Xie Zi’an with terrifying momentum. Seizing him by the collar with startling strength, he hauled the youth right up before him, his voice venomous: “Speak! Where are the ledgers?!”
In the shadows, perhaps terrified that Xie Zi’an might reveal the whereabouts of the ledgers and leave him unsecured, Zhao Chengxiao timidly tugged at the hem of Li Hanchi’s robe. Li Hanchi pulled him gently into an embrace, soothing him in a low murmur: “Don’t be afraid. I am here for everything.”
Xie Zi’an took in every detail of this exchange.
Slowly pulling his gaze away, he met the icy, piercing gaze fixed upon him with quiet calm.
It was as if spilling the secret of the ledgers would grant him life.
On the contrary, it would only speed up his death. He had to hold on until the Empress Dowager’s imperial decree arrived.
“I don’t know.” He uttered the three words lightly and evenly, as if the matter carried no weight whatsoever.
Grabbing Xie Zi’an by the collar, Lu Bingqiu slammed him violently against the wall with a resounding thud!. Old plaster showered down in clumps, much of it settling over the youth’s battered frame.
The impact left Xie Zi’an dizzy and disoriented, his bones feeling as though they had fractured. The pain was so intense he dared not breathe deeply, a coppery taste rising in his throat. Coughing up a mouthful of blood clots, his lungs burned with agony.
Suddenly, a heavy boot pressed down ruthlessly onto the back of Xie Zi’an’s delicate hand.
“Do you think you have a three-generation veteran statesman for a grandfather? The Xie family has been executed down to the last member today, and you’re nothing more than a surviving fugitive of the Xie clan. Stop playing tough with me, dammit! Hand over the ledgers, and if I’m in a good mood, I’ll give you a quick death.”
Lu Bingqiu pressed down harder with his boot, grinding the tender skin against the rough ground and shoe soles until crimson blood seeped out. Xie Zi’an clamped his jaw shut, paralyzed by agony and soaked in cold sweat, unable to move a muscle.
Standing at the doorway, Zhu Yue watched with her heart in her throat. She was genuinely terrified that Xie Zi’an might break under the torture and reveal the ledgers’ location, at which point he would truly lose every chance at survival.
Thank goodness… thank goodness he was holding on.
Lifting his head, Xie Zi’an repeated his answer: “I don’t know!”
Rage surged back to the forefront of Lu Bingqiu’s mind. He couldn’t touch Li Hanchi, but a mere whelp of the Xie family dared to defy him!
Raising his leg, Lu Bingqiu delivered a brutal kick straight to Xie Zi’an’s abdomen. The force was so immense that Xie Zi’an was sent skidding across the floor until his head smashed heavily against the base of the wall with a sickening bam!—a sound that made anyone listening wince in sympathy.
Nearby, Zhao Chengxiao burrowed deeper into Li Hanchi’s arms, not even daring to open his eyes.
If that kick had landed on him, how much it would hurt!
Li Hanchi pressed his lips into a thin line, his pitch-black eyes locked immovably onto Xie Zi’an.
The beating Lu Bingqiu had just inflicted would cripple, if not kill, an ordinary person. Why on earth was this boy’s mouth still so stubborn?
The atmosphere was saturated with a murderous, deathly aura.
The frail youth on the floor wore an expression of extreme agony, both hands clutching his stomach as though a raging fire burned within. The bone-deep torment wrung a sharp hiss from his lips.
Lu Bingqiu never imagined that a pampered sixteen-year-old child would possess a will of steel surpassing nearly anyone he had ever encountered. Crouching down, he gripped Xie Zi’an’s scattered hair in his fist, his expression ferocious and terrifying: “Where are the ledgers?”
“I… don’t… know.” Staring straight into Lu Bingqiu’s eyes, Xie Zi’an ground out the words syllable by syllable through clenched teeth.
“No matter,” Lu Bingqiu said coldly. “I have plenty of methods. I’ll dismantle your limbs one by one until you finally speak. Let’s see whether your mouth is harder or my blade is.”
Releasing Xie Zi’an, he turned to retrieve the Xiuchun saber still embedded in the wall.
Raindrops hammered the ground, their roar growing steadily louder until it nearly drowned out the sounds within the room.
Zhu Yue’s face turned deathly pale, her heart strung upon a thread pulled taut to its breaking point. Her fingers clenched tightly into the fabric of her sleeves.
Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw that still no one had arrived.
She could wait no longer. Xie Zi’an was at his absolute limit.
Just as Lu Bingqiu pressed the blade against Xie Zi’an’s arm, she ripped off her cloak: “Lu Bingqiu!”
Halting his movements, Lu Bingqiu looked toward the source of the voice to see a gorgeous woman striding rapidly toward him.
“You have quite the audacity, Lu Bingqiu! How dare you lay a hand on someone the Empress Dowager intends to protect?!”
In truth, the moment Lu Bingqiu spotted Xie Zi’an, he had already deduced that Zhu Yue was here. He had half-expected her to remain hidden in the shadows indefinitely, but she had finally stepped out.
Withdrawing his blade, Lu Bingqiu offered a formal bow: “Lu Bingqiu of the Northern Administrative Office pays respects to the Grand Princess.”
Li Hanchi and Zhao Chengxiao chorused: “Greetings, Your Highness.”
Unlike the unruffled Li Hanchi, Zhao Chengxiao looked thoroughly astounded; he had no idea why the Grand Princess had turned up in this place.
Rainwater dripped continuously from the hem of the woman’s dress, forming small puddles on the floor.
Lu Bingqiu knew Zhu Yue was bluffing him much like he had tried to bluff her earlier. If this were genuinely someone the Empress Dowager wanted protected, she would have marched out with an imperial decree from the start rather than hiding until now.
Glancing sideways at the shivering maidservant standing beside Zhu Yue, he calculated that Zhu Yue had failed to bring along her high-martial-arts-skilled personal maid and shadow guards.
Coming here armed with nothing more than empty words to stop him.
What a joke!
That being the case, matters suddenly became much simpler.
Without missing a beat, Lu Bingqiu stated: “The Princess claims Xie Zi’an is under the Empress Dowager’s protection, but I see no imperial decree. May I ask if Your Highness is carrying the Empress Dowager’s edict?”
Zhu Yue’s voice wavered with a hint of strain: “The decree is on its way.”
A faint smile touched Lu Bingqiu’s lips as he brazenly pressed his blade back into the flesh of Xie Zi’an’s arm, replying: “Then I must ask the Princess to forgive me for being unable to comply. I recognize only imperial edicts. Please step aside, Your Highness; things are about to get a bit unseemly here.”
Two Jinyiwei stepped quietly into the room from outside, planting themselves silently behind Zhu Yue, their towering shadows boxing in her petite figure.
“Lu Bingqiu! Don’t push your luck!” Trembling with fury, Zhu Yue found herself entirely powerless.
Lu Bingqiu ignored her, fixing his complete focus upon his blade.
The razor-sharp edge slowly carved deeper into Xie Zi’an’s flesh. Excruciating agony rapidly consumed his entire body, making the back teeth he clamped together go numb.
He realized he was no different from the young marquis in the book after all; no matter how he struggled, he was destined not to survive past three chapters.
The blade was on the verge of hitting bone when Xie Zi’an finally let out a piercing cry of torment: “Agh!” a sharp, despairing scream that startled the sparrows hiding beneath the eaves into chaotic flight.
The art of interrogation lay in the principle of “grinding” wearing a person down until their consciousness fractured was ideal. Lu Bingqiu had no intention of instantly severing Xie Zi’an’s limbs; what if he bled to death too quickly? He intended to grind his blade back and forth against Xie Zi’an’s bone until the boy broke.
Just as Xie Zi’an teetered on the brink of fainting from pain, a remarkably clear voice rang out from outside, cutting cleanly through the roar of the torrential rain and thunder.
Clutching at a straw in a sea of despair, Xie Zi’an’s eyes which had been nearly clamped shut from agony snapped wide open!
The Empress Dowager’s imperial decree had finally arrived!