Yin Pingzhi

But Miss Yin could not very well cry in the street. She could only press her lips together, step forward, and hand the clothes to Li Yunxin. "Brother Xin, the undershirt you wanted is finished. Are you going to wear it... to the hearing?"

Li Yunxin took it and examined it carefully. Miss Yin had put her heart into the work—it was exactly what he wanted. The gray scale-patterned satin gleamed faintly; in the dim room, at first glance, it truly resembled fish scales.

Only then did he look up and tease her. "What? Fluff flew into your eyes?"

Miss Yin forced out an "Mm." "Do you know? Uncle said... they're going to bring you in for a hearing this afternoon."

At last, she raised a hand to wipe the corners of her eyes. "But it's good that it's only a hearing..."

"Hm? Is there another name for a hearing?" From what he remembered, a hearing meant being dragged to the yamen, where someone would slam the table and shout for you to kneel—confess and sign your statement, or refuse and be tortured. Yet from Miss Yin's tone, the "hearing" here did not seem terribly frightening.

"According to procedure, they'll first summon you for questioning. This time, they'll question you politely and won't use torture. But in truth, they'll be putting you under surveillance. Once you return, they'll send yamen runners to watch you, to keep you from escaping."

"Twelve hours later, they'll summon you again. That time, it won't be called a hearing. It'll be called 'detention.' They may... they may throw you into prison..."

"Oh. So that's how it is." Miss Yin heard Li Yunxin say softly. Then she discovered that this young man she loved actually showed a trace of relieved delight—as though he had learned what a "hearing" really was and found it wonderful.

But... he would still be detained.

She could not fathom Brother Xin's thoughts. She only felt that he was trying to put on a brave face for her sake, and her heart hurt even more. It felt as though all the sorrow and grief in the world had gathered upon her, making even the sunlight seep with desolation.

Only then did she turn and look into the shop.

A man in dark uniform stepped out. The constables and chief constables of Great Qing all wore dark uniforms, but a chief constable wore a peacock feather tucked into the left side of his official cap.

This was a chief constable.

The newcomer walked quickly, but with the habitual briskness of a man always in motion. He had a figure-eight mustache and a pale face. Neither fat nor thin, with long, slender limbs, he looked skilled. He stopped beside Miss Yin and narrowed his eyes slightly as he sized up Li Yunxin—he was nearsighted.

Miss Yin was about to introduce them when Li Yunxin smiled first and cupped his hands in greeting. "Mr. Yin? You must be Mr. Yin. Miss Yin's... uncle? Greetings."

A flicker of surprise appeared in the chief constable's eyes. When he first saw Li Yunxin, he had thought that aside from being handsome and carrying himself with some poise, the youth possessed nothing remarkable—he was the chief constable of an entire prefecture and had seen far more people than his niece. Yet he had not expected the boy to remain so calm and composed even after learning who he was.

That was rare.

This youth seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders as well. With the matter having dragged on for so many days, he could not possibly be unaware of what awaited him. Upon seeing him, the boy must have panicked inside—yet he had not shown it, and instead behaved like this... He was a young man capable of accomplishing great things.

As long as he received a little more tempering and could cross the hurdle ahead.

As the most prominent figure of the Yin family's generation, Yin Pingzhi truly cared about his niece. He was also one of the rare open-minded people of this age. He had no great ambitions in officialdom and understood that the tree that rose above the forest would be broken by the wind. Thus, he only wished for this branch of the Yin family to remain prosperous and secure. Being a clerk chief who could get things done in this city was enough for him.

Having seen many wastrel sons of wealthy families, he had no intention of letting his niece marry above her station. He hoped instead that her husband would be a clever man who understood reason and could do things for the Yin family.

He knew that his niece had become infatuated with that little Daoist boy from the temple these past days. After hearing all her praise and understanding the inside story of the case, he knew that both the youth and the old Daoist were innocent.

And since he had often heard his niece praise the boy—his niece was proud and aloof, and did not praise people easily—he had been moved to come take a look.

In his view, if a Daoist boy was quick-witted and decent-looking, and he himself gave the boy some guidance and helped him weather this calamity, then the boy would surely repay the favor with gratitude.

Now that he had truly met the youth, he realized that his niece's eye was indeed good.

Though his interest was piqued, he still maintained the bearing of an official and an elder. He merely nodded slightly in return, gave Li Yunxin an expressionless look, and walked forward. "I dare not call myself 'sir.' Come along. We'll talk as we walk."

Li Yunxin glanced at Miss Yin. Seeing her wink and make faces at him, he understood what was going on.

This girl... sigh. She really had fallen for him, and had begged her uncle to "guide" him.

He gave Miss Yin a faint smile and followed.

He stayed half a step behind.

Yin Pingzhi smiled to himself and clasped his hands behind his back. "I've already sent someone to fetch Liu Laodao. Lord Prefect is not in a very good mood today, so he intends to hold the hearing today. Do you know why he is in a bad mood?"

Li Yunxin thought for a moment. "Because Meng E won't open his mouth?"

"Xue Ruo was not wrong about you. You are a clever child." Yin Pingzhi allowed a faint smile to appear on his face—enough to show goodwill and approval, but not enough to make the other party lose his awe of him.

"Because of Xue Ruo, I'll offer you a few words of guidance."

"You and I both understand this matter, so there is no need to say more. But to live in this world, you must understand how to follow the current and borrow its force. You are still young; perhaps you will not understand what I say now. But remember it first. It will benefit you. In this case, no matter what you think, things have already become what they are. Perhaps you feel wronged, but this is precisely why you must know how to follow the current."

After saying this, he looked at Li Yunxin. The youth followed at his side step for step, his expression still neither warm nor cold, with the faintest trace of disappointment.

This youth... had not understood?

Forget it. He was still just a child.

So he continued, "You know Meng E will not loosen his lips, and that puts Lord Li in a difficult position. But no matter how difficult it is, he is still the prefectural governor. He will certainly have a solution. The only difference is whether it looks good or not. Since Xue Ruo is fond of you and asked me to come, I'll point out a path for you. When you appear in court, confess your crime and shift the blame onto that old Daoist. Say that you were coerced."

"You are still a youth. If you handle this well, Lord Prefect will understand your intentions. With me mediating for you as well, you may avoid punishment. If you have nowhere to go afterward, come work under me. A fine young man like you, following an old Daoist and learning all those tricks of smoke and mirrors—what kind of thing is that?"

When he looked at Li Yunxin again, he found a look of "so that's how it is" on the boy's face. Yin Pingzhi let out a breath inwardly. Saying these things to him was also for Lord Li's sake. If he got this matter settled and only let one youth slip through, who would care?

Seeing that the youth knew what was good for him, he felt better and said, "When you work under me in the future, remember what happened today. Follow the current, borrow its force. Since Xue Ruo favors you, and I see that you are a promising piece of timber, I will at least see that you live a life of full food and warm clothes. But remember Xue Ruo's feelings. You must not betray her, or if I find out, I have plenty of ways—"

At this point, Li Yunxin interrupted him.

"Mr. Yin." He was just about to say that the boy need not call him sir, since he was merely a martial man, when the youth continued, "Mr. Yin, your logic is wrong. Think about it—if I can shift this matter onto that old man, then my character must not be very good. If my character is already bad, how can you guarantee that I will not betray Miss Yin in the future?"

By then, they had walked some distance. Ahead, they could faintly see the upturned eaves of the prefectural yamen against the blue sky.

Because they were nearing the yamen, there were few pedestrians nearby. Li Yunxin stopped beside a thick weeping willow.

Surprised by the attitude he was showing now, which was completely opposite to everything Yin Pingzhi had expected, Yin Pingzhi unconsciously stopped with him.

Then he watched Li Yunxin begin unfastening the buttons of his outer robe. As he did so, he said, "Mr. Yin, no matter what, I should thank you. Whether you truly acted from Miss Yin's perspective and did this for her sake, or thought I really was a talented person—or even, perhaps, stood on Lord Prefect Li's side and wanted to save him some trouble while earning yourself some credit."

"I understand everything you told me. If it were an ordinary person, he would probably follow the path you laid out."

He took off his outer robe, hung it over a willow branch, and began unfastening his undershirt.

A few passersby saw the youth undressing in the street and cast curious looks his way. But Yin Pingzhi pulled a long face and shot them a gloomy glance. They hurried away at once.

Yin Pingzhi already felt that something was wrong. He felt as though his "kindness" had just been spurned. This youth...

Was not what he had imagined.

"What are you doing?" he asked darkly. "And what do you mean by saying all this?"

"I don't mean anything else. I'm just making my thoughts clear, so nobody has to feel awkward. I have no other thoughts about Miss Yin. Her liking me is her business. It doesn't mean that just because she likes me, I must become some live-in son-in-law or something—what you're doing will make things difficult for the girl too."

"One more thing. You see, I was living perfectly well in that temple. Then someone suddenly came and told me I had to move out or be killed, because he wanted the temple. That doesn't sit well with me. If it were someone else, even if he had a way to solve the matter himself, he would probably first accept your kindness and say yes, yes, right, right, then continue doing what he wanted."

"But I'm a rather strange person. I'm tsundere." Li Yunxin had already taken off his undershirt and was left in only short garments. He put on the newly made bluish-gray scale-patterned undershirt and began fastening it. "If I ran into some great demon and had no way to deal with it, I would immediately chicken out and play the grandson to stay alive. But when I face other matters that I think I might be able to solve, playing the grandson makes me unhappy. Like today, right now—if I nodded and agreed, I would feel uncomfortable. So I don't want to do that."

Under Yin Pingzhi's increasingly gloomy gaze, he put his outer robe back on and said, "So, Mr. Yin, I'm unwilling to do it that way. Liu Laodao is a good man, and he never colluded with any bandits. That is all I can say."

Yin Pingzhi stared at him for a while, then suddenly gave a cold laugh. "You think I don't know what kind of person you are? 'Might be able to solve it'?"

"You, Li Yunxin, were originally named Li Xiao, from the Ye Kingdom. Your parents died when you were young. From the age of seven, you served as a Daoist boy and painted talismans. You know a few petty tricks—I had people investigate you long ago. You think that with those little tricks of yours, you can 'might be able to solve' this matter?" Yin Pingzhi snorted coldly. "Do you not understand the situation? Masters of the Dao Tradition and Sword Sect have already set up restrictions within the prefectural yamen. Not to mention you—even if those crooked-path masters of yours from before entered the yamen gates, they would not be able to use the slightest scrap of their methods!"

"You refuse to listen when spoken to kindly... Heh heh. Xue Ruo? Do you truly think I would let her marry you? Hmph. I want to see what methods a brat who cannot tell good from bad can possibly have!"

Li Yunxin froze.

Li Xiao?

Ye Kingdom?

What the hell?

He could understand someone investigating him. But to get such a result from the investigation, and for a public official to be utterly convinced of it... what was going on?

But in Yin Pingzhi's eyes, his stunned pause became the look of someone whose identity had been exposed.

Yin Pingzhi sneered again. "Playing tricks of smoke and mirrors. Did Xue Ruo make these clothes for you? I don't know what you are planning, but once you enter the prefectural yamen this time, don't even think of coming back out—save that undershirt for burial! Move!"

Li Yunxin said nothing. He walked ahead of Yin Pingzhi as though being escorted under guard.

At the moment, he had no mind to care about anything else. All he could think about was—what was that "background" about?

Was someone... helping him?

Who?

But after pondering it for a while, he temporarily put the thought aside.

No matter what, he first had to sort out what came next.

A quarter of an hour later, they turned onto the long street leading to the prefectural yamen. It was broad daylight, with the blazing sun high overhead. The Faceless Ghosts looked somewhat listless, but they were still there. He passed through them... and there was no reaction at all. It was as though he did not exist.

Li Yunxin did not know whether it was because his soul was rather special. Ninth Young Master had read his fate that night and called him "interesting," while Bai Yunxin had called him "fragrant." Perhaps... it was because of that unusual identity of his.

But he truly sensed the restrictions. Restrictions laid down by disciples of the Dao Tradition and Sword Sect, restrictions that had nearly cost Lord Prefect Li his entire fortune. Compared to these, the restriction inside his own body was like a little skiff beside an aircraft carrier.

Yin Pingzhi was a layman and did not understand. He had only heard that once the masters cast their spells, evil spirits and demons would be unable to cast spells or cause mischief—on that point, he was right.

However, he had not come today to show off any spells.

He had come to show off his skills.