A shaded path ran between rows of pines and cypresses. Two riders came galloping down it.
The clamor fell silent in an instant. Only the rapid clatter of hooves sounded all the more jarring.
The arrival of Hong Ji, the Northern Yamen's notorious King of Hell, still carried considerable force.
The officials' wives instantly lost their bluster.
Hong Ji sat astride his horse, casting a sidelong glance at those pampered women.
Commandant Cao Guangzhou rubbed his chin. They were pretending to be calm, all fierce looks and hollow courage. Hardly any dared meet Hong Ji's eyes, and they no longer looked at Cao as arrogantly as before. Was this what it meant to borrow a tiger's might?
Situ Dianwu laughed softly. "Boss Hong, don't forget I grew up on these streets. I know what's at stake."
The National Teacher had meant well, of course. By making an exception and allowing Situ Dianwu to attend the meeting, he was letting him escape this nest of trouble and handing him a shield against petty traps and deliberate humiliations in officialdom.
Situ Dianwu grinned. "I can't run away before the battle."
There had once been an old squad leader who was mocked for the rest of his life just because he had a saber scar across his back.
The squad leader had not really been old, only in his early thirties. People called him that because he had spent more than a decade in the post. And the "rest of his life" had ended while he was still in his thirties.
Hong Ji snapped, "Do me a favor. Be my father and give it a rest, will you? Get your ass to the National Teacher's Manor!"
Situ Dianwu shook his head. "If I leave now, I won't dare step across its threshold."
Seeing