Map of the Capital City's Demons

Imperial City, Jingren Palace.

Late autumn had arrived, and the chill was growing noticeable. With Demon-Quelling Day approaching as well, Yin Balefulness lay heavy. The weather had grown much colder over the past few days, and the underfloor heating in Jingren Palace had been lit, warming the golden floor tiles from the imperial kilns.

"Matron, look. He has sealed off Jade Elegance Estate."

The Empress Dowager set an urgent dispatch from the Directorate of Ceremonial on the table and pushed it toward the Nameless Old Matron.

The Nameless Old Matron took the dispatch but did not open it. By the rules, she had no right to break its seal.

"Your Majesty, I have already heard of this from the Magpie spies. Estate Master Feng, who carved out his little patch of territory with the Sixteen Wumen Spears, is dead, and Feng Luo has been crippled. I have no particular feelings about the former, but the latter is something of a pity. He is my godson, after all, and counts as half a genius."

The Nameless Old Matron spoke gently, with neither pleasure nor anger discernible in her voice.

"Then how would you have this half-genius dealt with, Matron?"

The Empress Dowager asked.

The Nameless Old Matron said slowly:

"As Your Majesty commands, so long as he lives. I am over seventy now. I may not have much else, but I have plenty of godsons and goddaughters. When there are so many children and grandchildren, some are favored and some are not. He... is not one of the favored ones. So long as he lives and the others' hearts are not chilled, anything is acceptable."

Empress An nodded slightly at that.

The Nameless Old Matron had originally been her personal maidservant. As a child, she had been an orphan abandoned outside the An residence's gates. No one knew who her parents were or where they came from, so she had neither a given name nor a surname. She had been an obscure servant in the An household, but no one had expected her to encounter an extraordinary opportunity after forty. Once she stepped onto the Martial Dao, she advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the fourth grade at fifty-two, the third grade at sixty, and becoming a Grandmaster at seventy-three, standing guard over one quarter of the Capital City.

If the Nameless Old Matron wanted to exonerate Feng Luo, Empress An would not turn a blind eye. Many at court and beyond privately criticized her as cold and faithless, but she did care somewhat about the affection built over the years.

"This Chen Yi's progress in the Martial Dao... has certainly been swift. He has something of your flair back then, Matron."

"You flatter me, Your Majesty."

"Does he now... count as a fifth-grade expert?"

"Perhaps. By the rules, his name ought to be entered into the Directorate of Celestial Observations' register."

The old matron replied.

After a little thought, Empress An said:

"Only a thin line separates the sixth and fifth grades. Who can truly say for certain? There is no hurry. For now, let him act as he sees fit."

The old matron nodded slightly. Then, remembering something, she asked:

"Your Majesty, shall we send someone to test this blade of yours? See its quality, and whether its edge is sharp?"

Empress An considered for a moment before uttering:

"Yes."

"Then I will send someone skilled with a saber to test his mettle."

The old matron assented.

Her alluring, regal figure rose slowly, and Empress An began pacing through Jingren Palace.

"He has gall as big as a bushel, daring to investigate even Jade Elegance Estate. It seems he has torn away all pretense with Prince Jing's Manor."

Empress An paused, her eyes shifting thoughtfully.

"Just as well, just as well... wiping out a household calls for someone bold. Only..."

Hearing this, the Nameless Old Matron supplied:

"Only Your Majesty still... has doubts? You suspect that he acted at the Lin faction's direction?"

"Precisely. This young man became a Hundred Household through Grand Secretary Lin's recommendation, then went on to become a Thousand Household. Tell me, Matron, is he loyal to Grand Secretary Lin, or to this Jingren Palace?"

The Nameless Old Matron said slowly:

"By rights, to Grand Secretary Lin. But... did Wu Qingsheng not report to the throne that this young man was unwilling to blend his light with the Lin faction's dust, and repeatedly declined the position of Acting Depot Lord?"

Empress An said coolly:

"Refusals can be an act. How many instances of thrice declining and thrice yielding fill the history books, and how many were genuine?

"But Grand Secretary Lin's mind is drifting further and further from affairs of state. He wants to become an immortal. The Lin faction is going to fall. This young man has already torn away all pretense with Prince Jing. If he does not want to die, he must lean on the imperial family."

"Your Majesty means...?"

"If we want him to risk his life for us in the future, first push him into danger. Have him investigate the Chancellor Case and uncover the cause of the Grand Empress Dowager's death."

Even the Nameless Old Matron felt her hands and feet turn cold at those words.

The Chancellor Case had far-reaching implications. If it involved only Chief Grand Secretary Zhang, now that he was gone and his tea had cooled, it would not warrant such apprehension.

But very few people in the Capital City knew that the Chancellor Case concerned not only the Chief Grand Secretary, but also the Previous Emperor and the Grand Empress Dowager's mysterious demise!

Empress An's tone remained calm.

"Besides these matters, it is time he received some rewards. Let us do this. I see that Consort Dong, deep in the palace, is forever composing poems of a secluded woman's longing, unwilling to remain a proper widow for the Previous Emperor. She is indeed a beauty of mature charm. Matron, make the... arrangements beforehand."

With neither sorrow nor joy in her voice, Empress An arranged Chen Yi's fate in an utterly matter-of-fact tone.

The Nameless Old Matron acknowledged the command. She understood that this would be both a reward and a hold over him. From this point onward, Chen Yi would become ever more deeply entangled with the imperial family.

The investigation of Jade Elegance Estate uncovered a large quantity of Five-Stone Powder. Whatever happened, everyone at the estate, along with the various officials connected to it, would face a purge of bloody rain and reeking winds.

After such a major undertaking, the people of both the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot gained a stronger impression of Chen Yi, this Thousand Household, as a man of thunderous action and harsh punishment. After all, almost everyone knew that behind Jade Elegance Estate stood Prince Jing's Manor and the Ding'an faction.

That day, Director Wu summoned Chen Yi to the Western Depot.

"The memorials impeaching you truly are sprouting like bamboo shoots after rain. They have nearly filled the Directorate of Ceremonial."

Director Wu sighed as he looked at the Western Depot Thousand Household before him.

"This matter... you made it far too big. Why did you not discuss it with me?"

At that, Chen Yi cupped his fist.

"Director Wu, it was not that I did not trust you. I was simply afraid the walls might have ears. If word got out, we would not have been able to catch them with the contraband."

Director Wu nodded at this, accepting the explanation.

After a long while, he rose, turned, and looked out into the distance through the window.

"Did you know that this time, it was not only the Ding'an faction impeaching you? The Lin family's eldest son also submitted a memorial against you."

When it came to scholars and men of letters, whether from the Ding'an faction or the Lin faction, Jade Elegance Estate turned no one away.

Chen Yi nodded slightly.

"Of course I knew. I did not seal off Jade Elegance Estate at Grand Secretary Lin's direction."

Director Wu nodded slightly, understanding that he was drawing a clear line between himself and the Lin faction.

The atmosphere eased, and he joked:

"You killed Feng Ying in public. You must have entered the sixth grade long ago. I used to think you practiced favoritism and fraud, a wastrel like mud that could never be plastered onto a wall. Now I see I was utterly mistaken. These eyes of mine are little better than a blind man's."

Chen Yi merely said, "You flatter me."

Director Wu turned around, patted Chen Yi's shoulder, and said:

"For now, investigate Demon-Quelling Day thoroughly. According to the perfected masters of Shangqing Dao on Yinjian Mountain, it is because of... Extraterrestrial Demons, was it? Investigate it properly. Uncover the truth and render a great service, and who will dare impeach you again?

"Oh, yes. Here is a 'Map of the Capital City's Demons' sent by Yinjian Mountain. It marks all the places where Yin Balefulness is especially heavy. Take it with you for your investigation."

As he spoke, Director Wu handed Chen Yi the Map of the Capital City's Demons sent by Yinjian Mountain. After taking it, Chen Yi only glanced at it once before looking no further.

Chen Yi had committed this map to memory long ago.

On Demon-Quelling Day, evil thoughts proliferated, Yin Balefulness grew exceedingly heavy, and demons wreaked havoc. Three great demons held sway in three directions. Ghost General Deng Ai outside the city was one, and the weakest. In the eastern city was the Donkey-Headed Crown Prince, said to be a son of Wu Zhao of the Tang dynasty, abandoned at birth and transformed into a demonic ghost. The Baleful Flood Dragon by the northern city's waterfront was another, a descendant of the Sāgara Dragon King, guardian of Thousand-Armed Guanyin. He sought to set out from the Capital City's waterways and surge forth in a mighty flood, completing the flood dragon's passage to become a true dragon.

In fact, apart from these three, there was another demon at the Prayer Daoist Grounds.

Even the origins of the first three combined could not compare to hers...

She was a fox demon, and moreover, the Tushan Ancestor of Fox Demons, wife of Yu the Great and mother of Qi of Xia-the Tushan Clan.

It was she...

Who had entangled the Chancellor Case with the Prayer Daoist Grounds.