Pei Ye looked at her in puzzlement.
"Just think of it as a plum assignment." Xu Chuo smiled. "It is for most people, anyway."
Then she drained her tea, paused, and said, "We've untangled seventy or eighty percent of the Taiping Transport Gang's affairs. Much remains unsettled, and some things haven't even been set in motion, but I can tell you their eventual outcomes now."
Pei Ye nodded and sat a little straighter, listening intently.
"First, the prison has been brought to light, and the Taiping Transport Gang's crimes are nailed down. Everyone involved will face justice, and that name will cease to exist in the Divine Capital. Jingzhao Prefect Lu Yugu will be dismissed for dereliction of duty and shielding criminals. In exchange for sparing his life, Di Jiu will take his position and receive Bian's protection. Then we can rebuild the Divine Capital's system of public security around him."
"...Lu Yugu ignored the suffering inflicted on the people for years, and he still gets to go home and enjoy his leisure?"
"Because his surname is Lu." Xu Chuo wrapped herself in her cloak, the night wind streaming the loose strands of her imperfectly pinned hair behind her. "Why not first ask how someone like him became Jingzhao Prefect?"
"..."
"The Jin and Zhang clans inherited their ancestral power; seven generations wore the Han court's sable ornaments," Xu Chuo said softly. "Before the Great Tang was founded, these enormous entities already existed upon the land of the Central Plains, refined by the washing currents of time. Even today, the court still has to rely on their influence."
"But of course." Xu Chuo gazed indifferently into the night sky. "Sooner or later, I'll make them history."
Pei Ye fell silent for a while. "What about Yang Juhu?"
"We haven't moved