Deep into the night, a slightly tipsy Bi Yunfei emerged from the Brilliant Pavilion. He looked up at the bright moon and exhaled a long breath heavy with wine, immensely pleased with himself. These days, he was like a fish in water at the Ministry of Justice, his authority growing by the day. He had also gained something of a reputation throughout the court and beyond. Lesser officials would spot him from afar and hurry over to greet him, and he found their bowing, scraping flattery deeply gratifying.
Power was like fine wine: once tasted, it intoxicated and enthralled!
The wind tore at the lantern hanging at the alley entrance, making its light flicker. The shadows of four armed men slanted across the brick wall. Brass studs on their scabbards scraped against the gray bricks with a teeth-grating sound.
Bi Yunfei's heart tightened. He clenched the sweat-dampened handkerchief inside his sleeve, listening to the distant watchman's calls from the Imperial City. They sounded like spells summoning his death.
"Lord Bi... come with us."
Three men surrounded Bi Yunfei in a triangular formation, while the fourth stood in the shadows with his hands behind his back and spoke in a sinister voice.
"Who might you gentlemen be...?" Bi Yunfei was uneasy. As the Ministry of Justice's renowned Director of Criminal Justice, he had devised schemes for Chancellor Cui Yizhong to seize land in the Capital and had offended no shortage of people. He had concocted pretexts and fabricated charges, even driving some wealthy gentry to ruin and their families to their deaths.
Seeing that the visitors meant him no good, Bi Yunfei secretly circulated his true qi and touched his belt. One press of the mechanism would release his flexible sword. Yet when he glanced down and saw the court boots