Still Want to Test My Blood?

Li Sanshun pinched up a damp scrap of paper from beside the furnace and brought it close to his nose for another sniff.

[Detected residual pine resin odor.]

[Detected traces of burned Grey Feather Talisman Paper.]

[Detected Imperial Cinnabar.]

The pine resin matched, too.

Gu Qinghe used a bamboo sliver to pry open the paper clump. A few fine grey feathers were caught in the pulp. Even after being soaked in water, they hadn't come apart.

"Grey Feather Talisman Paper."

She pressed the damp paper into an evidence box.

"Supplied by the Imperial Paper-Making Institute. It's only used by the Imperial Envoy Group to send messages. Ordinary people can't get their hands on it."

Du Heng leaned against the bed, with no room left to deny anything.

Li Sanshun pulled over a wooden stool.

"How old is Mr. Bai?"

"I couldn't see his face."

"His hands?"

Du Heng thought for a moment.

"There were age spots on the backs of his hands. He held on to the table when he went down the steps. He can't be young. He knows medicine, and he knows the rules of the Law Enforcement Hall. He knew all about the medicine furnace at my house, the accounts Cao An kept, and which corpse cart Sun Erhe drove."

"What about his cultivation?"

"I never saw him fight. There's a formation in the back courtyard of the Hundred Herbs Shop. Every time I went in, my strength was suppressed."

After recording his testimony, Gu Qinghe took out the Hundred Herbs Shop clerk's register.

The three dates when Mr. Bai had appeared all fell after the Imperial Envoy Group entered the city.

The first time, the group arrived at Tai Xuan Sect.

The second time, they submitted the Kin-Seeking Document.

The third time, Zhao Chong broke into the ninth floor of the Scripture Library.

Every date matched.

"How many people are in the Imperial Envoy Group?"

"Thirty-seven on the official roster." Gu Qinghe closed the register. "The chief envoy is Ji Jingyao, with two attendants, eight guards, and the rest are aides and clerks."

"Who's responsible for the Kin-Seeking Seal?"

"That wouldn't be listed in the envoy's records."

Li Sanshun patted Du Heng on the shoulder.

"You'll have to stay here tonight. If you lose even a single hair, I'll settle the score with the guards."

Du Heng was locked in the East Wing Room, while the medicine boy was held separately. A major-case seal was pasted across the courtyard gate, and Gu Qinghe left only the people brought back from North Mountain to guard it.

Cao An, Zhao Chong, and Sun Erhe were also housed separately.

Three sealed copies were made of each confession.

One went into the Major Case Cabinet, one was carried by Gu Qinghe, and the last was handed to the Second Elder of Law Enforcement Peak.

Yan Song didn't receive a whisper of news.

Before daybreak, the two of them hurried to the Archive Room of the Law Enforcement Hall.

The envoy roster was filed in the Guest Reception Archive. Gu Qinghe retrieved the complete records on the pretext of checking the private seal, without mentioning Du Heng's confession.

Li Sanshun flipped through the pages from the beginning.

Ji Jingyao, a collateral member of the imperial family, was in charge of this trip to seek kin.

The first attendant was Zhou Tong, fifty-two, a sword cultivator. On the day he entered the sect, he'd gone to Sword Peak to visit an old friend. Records showed him entering and leaving Sword Peak during each of the recent cases.

The second attendant had only a single page.

Bai Chongshan, sixty-seven, an old retainer of the Ji imperial clan, responsible for protecting the Kin-Seeking Document and the blood-appraisal tools.

He cultivated a Fire Element Cultivation Method.

Ten years ago, he'd been attacked while escorting an imperial clansman and had suffered a burn to his right hand.

Li Sanshun tapped the name with a finger.

"Bai Chongshan."

Mr. Bai.

White Wood Mask.

Half a White Cicada Wing.

All those names circled back to the word "Bai."

Gu Qinghe turned to the envoy group's inventory.

One private Kin-Seeking Seal, kept by Bai Chongshan.

Two hundred sheets of Grey Feather Talisman Paper, issued to Bai Chongshan.

The group had also brought three Blood Appraisal Disks, which he was likewise guarding.

"It all matches."

But Li Sanshun closed the roster.

"Don't arrest him yet."

"Du Heng and Zhao Chong can both identify his features."

"They can identify the White Wood Mask, but they can't prove who's behind it. The private seal and talisman paper belong to the envoy group. Someone else could've used them, too."

The Imperial Envoy Group was staying at Tai Xuan Sect's Reception Courtyard.

Without hard evidence, detaining an imperial attendant would let Ji Jingyao turn the case into an accusation that the sect had imprisoned an envoy.

If that happened, they'd never get anywhere with the Old Infant Case, and Li Sanshun would be charged with falsely claiming imperial blood.

Worse still, Bai Chongshan had the Kin-Seeking Document. If word of an arrest leaked, all he'd have to do was destroy the Blood Appraisal Disks and blame what happened twenty-one years ago on a few dead men. The entire trail would be cut off.

"He doesn't know Du Heng confessed yet."

Li Sanshun returned the roster to its original place.

"We didn't send Cao An to the dungeon, and Du Heng's courtyard is sealed. All anyone knows is that we found a Fake Corpse Compartment. They may not know we found the imperial seal."

Gu Qinghe understood his plan.

"Keep the information gap. Wait for him to make a move."

"That old bastard burned down the Herb Garden and kidnapped Sun Erhe's whole family just to get the fifteenth one. He won't sit by and watch me live long enough to have my blood tested."

As soon as he finished speaking, two disciples arrived outside the Archive Room.

One of them handed over a purple invitation.

"From the Imperial Envoy Group. Ji Jingyao requests that Steward Gu and Li Sanshun visit the Reception Courtyard before noon."

Gu Qinghe opened the invitation.

The group had learned that the Law Enforcement Hall had discovered the imperial Kin-Seeking Seal. They'd also heard that Li Sanshun matched the characteristics of the fifteenth infant from twenty-one years ago.

Ji Jingyao demanded that the group take over the Old Infant Case.

The blood test would take place at noon.

The envoy group would provide the testing equipment.

After the test, whatever the result, Li Sanshun would have to return to the imperial capital with them.

"Word travels fast."

Gu Qinghe turned the invitation over.

At the bottom was the Kin-Seeking Seal, its imprint intact: the very same Black Bird Tail Feather pattern as the one on the scrap of paper from the medicine furnace.

Bai Chongshan was forcing them to hand Li Sanshun over.

Refuse the blood test, and the envoy group could accuse Tai Xuan Sect of concealing someone of imperial blood.

Agree to it, and the equipment and blood samples would all be in Bai Chongshan's hands. He'd be the one deciding what the results said.

After reading the invitation, Li Sanshun only laughed.

Bai Chongshan was in such a hurry to test his blood, which meant the identity of the fifteenth infant could cost him his life.

That old dog was finally losing his nerve.

"We can't go to the Reception Courtyard."

Gu Qinghe put away the invitation.

"And we can't let him handle the Blood Appraisal Disk alone."

Li Sanshun took a sheet of paper and wrote down three lines.

Tai Xuan Sect would provide one set of blood-testing equipment.

The Imperial Envoy Group would provide another.

Then they'd ask the Alchemy Alliance to provide a third.

All three samples would be filmed from the moment the blood was drawn. Two copies of each would be sealed, and six witnesses would countersign them. Anyone who tampered with the process would leave evidence at once.

After reading it, Gu Qinghe added one more condition.

The test would take place at the Questioning Dao Platform of Tai Xuan Sect, with disciples from every peak allowed to watch.

Once the news was public, it wouldn't be so easy for Bai Chongshan to arrange a quiet execution.

But if the results really implicated the imperial family, Ji Jingyao wouldn't let them go without a fight.

The envoy disciple was still waiting outside for an answer.

Li Sanshun folded the conditions and slipped them into the purple invitation.

"Take this to Ji Jingyao."

The envoy disciple took the invitation but didn't leave.

"His Highness also had a message. The imperial blood test allows no interference from outsiders. If Li Sanshun refuses the envoy group's arrangements, it will be treated as a false claim to imperial blood."

Li Sanshun pulled open the Archive Room's door.

"If you want to test my blood, fine."

He pointed toward the Reception Courtyard.

"Tell Ji Jingyao: tomorrow, we'll conduct a threefold blood test. Then have Bai Chongshan personally bring over the Blood Appraisal Disks!"