On the official road outside Luo City, Cloud Goat sat on horseback and waited. It would take the Trouble-Resolving Guard only two hours to reach him from the Meng Ford Grand Camp. Bright Rabbit carried the royal command token, so no one should dare disobey.
More than a dozen intelligence agents sat silently on horseback behind him.
Dressed in black, the agents stood like steadfast rocks in a river. The crowds on the road flowed like water, parting to pass around them.
The Secret Intelligence Directorate and the Bureau of Punishments had fearsome reputations that ordinary people dared not provoke.
Hoofbeats sounded in the distance, drawing closer with a rumble like rolling thunder.
Bright Rabbit came into view, dressed in black and riding at the head of five hundred Trouble-Resolving Guards. They kicked up dust that filled the sky.
The Trouble-Resolving Guard wore straw rain capes and conical hats, with long sabers strapped across their saddles behind their waists and black cloth tied over their noses and mouths. They were as deadly and imposing as a dragon.
"Good, good, good! You brought the whole camp!" Cloud Goat chuckled and rode out to meet them, his laughter full of delight at the victory he was certain lay ahead.
But when the two sides met, Cloud Goat's face darkened.
He frowned at Lin Chaoqing among the riders. "Commander Lin, why have you come too?"
Lin Chaoqing said gravely, "I am the commander of the Bureau of Punishments. You mobilized the Trouble-Resolving Guard without cause, so naturally I came to ask why. I need to know what you intend to do with them. The royal command token may be useful, but if you misuse it, the consequences will be severe."
Cloud Goat rode up to Lin Chaoqing until they were only two feet apart, confronting him point for point. "This matter has already been reported to the Inner Chancellor. With the royal command token in hand, I have no need to tell you. Besides, I must guard against someone among you colluding with outside enemies. If word gets out, you won't be able to bear the consequences."
Lin Chaoqing looked around, his gaze beneath his conical hat cutting across the agents like a blade. "Where's that masked brat? Was this his decision?"
"What do you mean?" Cloud Goat frowned. "Why would the Secret Intelligence Directorate need a mere falcon to make its decisions?"
Lin Chaoqing gave a soft, contemptuous laugh. "If you bring a calamity down on your heads this time, no one will be there to turn the tide for you. Let's go. I'll see what you intend to do."
"Haha, Lin Chaoqing, just wait until Bright Rabbit and I have earned great merit. Then you can envy us!" Cloud Goat squeezed his horse's flanks and led the five hundred riders straight toward Northern Mang Mountain.
Along the way, Lin Chaoqing grew more alarmed the longer he watched the direction they were riding. When he finally glimpsed the burial grounds on the distant mountain, he could not help asking, "You're going to the Liu Family's ancestral graves?!"
Cloud Goat burst into loud laughter. "Bright Rabbit and I discovered that there's nothing but an empty coffin in Old Master Liu's tomb. The Liu Family recently petitioned His Majesty to grant Old Master Liu a posthumous title. They've committed the crime of deceiving the sovereign! Now, no one is to leave. Anyone who does will be treated as having leaked the news!"
The five hundred riders charged up Northern Mang Mountain. More than a hundred guards at the Liu Family's ancestral graves blocked their path, with a long row of wooden barricades set across the entrance.
Someone shouted angrily at Cloud Goat, "These are the Liu Family's ancestral graves! Generations of grand secretaries rest here, and there are twelve imperially bestowed memorial arches honoring their loyalty and filial piety. How dare you trespass here?"
Cloud Goat paid him no heed and roared, "Follow me and trample Northern Mang Mountain beneath our horses! Now is the time to earn merit! Kill anyone who stands in our way!"
He charged out first, urging his horse into a leap that carried it over the wooden barricade.
One of the Liu Family's defenders sprang into the air and swung his saber down.
But behind Cloud Goat, Lin Chaoqing drew his long saber and casually flung its sheath. It shot through the air like a shuttle, swift as lightning, and knocked the Liu Family's hired martial artist out of the air.
The Trouble-Resolving Guards leaped their horses over the barricade one after another. The cavalry charged back and forth, leaving the Liu Family's men and horses sprawled in all directions.
Before the Trouble-Resolving Guard, the defensive line was like a sheet of paper, easily pierced.
In the blink of an eye, Cloud Goat had fought his way to Old Master Liu's tomb. He pointed at the stone door before him. "Trouble-Resolving Guard, break open the tomb, open the coffin, and inspect the corpse!"
But just then, a familiar voice came from a distance. "Lord Cloud Goat, do you know what consequences you'll face if you do this?"
Cloud Goat looked over and saw Liu Mingxian, still wearing sackcloth and mourning clothes, slowly pushing his way out of the crowd.
More than a dozen people followed behind him, watching like tigers eyeing their prey, ready to kill at a single command.
Bright Rabbit said under her breath, "They're Xing officials hired by the Liu Family."
"No matter how formidable a Xing official is, one man can't break a military formation-not unless those few come!" Cloud Goat paid them no further mind. "Liu Mingxian, your old master clearly isn't dead. You can take off those mourning clothes! Men, break open the tomb!"
Liu Mingxian shouted furiously, "I'd like to see who dares?!"
"It's not up to you!"
The Trouble-Resolving Guards were the inner court's elite. They knew only to obey orders; whether someone was an assistant prefect of Luo City or the capital made no difference to them.
The next moment, the Trouble-Resolving Guard leaped from their horses and charged in with sabers raised, scattering the Liu Family's people completely and reaching Old Master Liu's tomb!
Bright Rabbit snatched a long saber from an agent of the Secret Intelligence Directorate beside her and said coldly, "Make way!"
The ranks of the Trouble-Resolving Guard moved in unison, opening a path for her. She dragged the saber behind her as she advanced to the tomb, then struck!
Boom.
With that single blow, the stone tomb split in two and collapsed, revealing the coffin inside.
Cloud Goat strode forward and stood before the coffin, sneering. "Liu Mingxian, let's see how you keep denying it now!"
With that, he heaved the coffin lid open!
The world fell silent. Everyone who had been fighting stopped what they were doing and stared over in a daze... They had really opened the coffin!
Everyone said that once a person had been placed in a coffin, they must not see the sky or touch the ground, or their soul would wander between heaven and earth, never to be reborn!
Yet Old Master Liu, who had governed from the Grand Secretariat for more than a decade, had his coffin lid torn off after his death!
Cloud Goat said, "Liu Mingxian, what do you have to say now?"
Bright Rabbit looked into the coffin beside him, then cried out in shock, "What's going on?!"
Cloud Goat turned to look and froze. There lay Old Master Liu, perfectly still inside the coffin.
Liu Mingxian burst into tears and collapsed to the ground. "Grandfather, your grandson has failed in his filial duty! I let the Eunuch Faction commit such an atrocity! I've failed you! I deserve to die!"
Cloud Goat stared at Bright Rabbit. "Didn't you say..."
Bright Rabbit was also stunned. "When I checked that day, there really was no one inside!"
Cloud Goat took a step back.
How could this be?
The coffin should have been empty. Old Master Liu should have been alive. How had he ended up inside it?!
How could this be?!
Eyes red from crying, Liu Mingxian looked at Lin Chaoqing and said with a ferocious expression, "Lin Chaoqing, is this how your Bureau of Punishments does things? You let the Secret Intelligence Directorate persecute a meritorious official?!"
Lin Chaoqing's face was ashen as he looked at Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit. "This is what you came to do? Men, seize the two of them and escort them to the capital to await judgment!"
Cloud Goat suddenly raised a hand. "Wait!"
As he spoke, he reached for Old Master Liu's body. But before he could touch it, someone behind Liu Mingxian sprang forward and kicked him away. "You still want to disturb the old master's rest? You're courting death!"
This person was far stronger than he had shown himself to be earlier!
Seeing Cloud Goat suffer, Bright Rabbit charged in with her saber.
Another person behind Liu Mingxian stepped forward to meet her. They clashed before the coffin and immediately parted; this time, Bright Rabbit was sent flying backward, landing heavily on the ground.
When Bright Rabbit got back up, she furiously raised a hand, ready to cut open the center of her brow and unleash a massacre.
But Cloud Goat shouted, "Bright Rabbit, don't! You mustn't expose your cultivation path!"
Bright Rabbit looked at Cloud Goat coldly. "We might not lose. We can fight our way out and live under false names."
"There are five hundred mounted Trouble-Resolving Guards here. We can't beat them." Cloud Goat shook his head and said dejectedly, "Even if we live under false names, where could we find shelter? Let's go back to the capital and see the Inner Chancellor."
Lin Chaoqing swung himself onto his horse. "Take them away!"
Eyes red, Liu Mingxian gnashed his teeth. "You're just leaving like that? I want those two buried with my grandfather!"
Lin Chaoqing gave a cold, contemptuous laugh. "Since when is it your place to decide matters within the Directorate of Ceremonial? The Inner Chancellor will see that you get justice, but until he speaks, no one can touch them."
With that, Lin Chaoqing took Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit away under guard.
On the mountain road down Northern Mang Mountain, Cloud Goat gazed blankly toward Luo City. On their way here, they had carried the royal command token, glorious members of the Secret Intelligence Directorate's Twelve Zodiac Animals. On their way back, they were prisoners.
The trouble they had caused was too great. Even the Inner Chancellor probably could not cover it up.
Cloud Goat looked at the Trouble-Resolving Guards beside him and said impatiently, "You don't have to keep holding me. I can't run away. Step aside and let the two of us talk."
The Trouble-Resolving Guard glanced at him. In the end, intimidated by his fearsome reputation, they silently stepped a few paces away, continuing down the mountain with guards ahead of and behind the pair.
Seeing this, Bright Rabbit moved close to Cloud Goat and asked quietly, "What exactly happened? Did the Liu Family get word in advance and know we were going to open the coffin and inspect the corpse? But Old Master Liu couldn't just die on command, could he? Did I see wrong that day... Wait, could Chen Ji have passed the news to the Liu Family?"
Cloud Goat suddenly frowned and instinctively looked around, trying to see whether Chen Ji was there.
He could not shake the feeling that the young apprentice was watching him from the shadows.
Cloud Goat knew he would not die; the Inner Chancellor still needed him to kill people. But if Chen Ji really was responsible, then by the time Cloud Goat returned to the Secret Intelligence Directorate, he would probably have Chen Ji riding on his head.
He hesitated. "Chen Ji didn't know we were going to open the coffin and inspect the corpse today. If he could even guess that, he'd be a little too formidable."
"He really is formidable," Bright Rabbit said frankly.
Cloud Goat was unwilling to admit that he had not only failed to kill with a borrowed knife, but had instead been tricked into landing in prison by the other party. "He should have his own troubles to deal with right now. After losing her son, Consort Jing also lost the nephew she'd watched grow up. She's already lost some of her reason and is bound to take revenge on him."
Though Bright Rabbit was being escorted under guard, her tone grew light again. She lowered her voice. "Never mind who leaked the news for now. We need to find someone to go to Chen Ji and have him figure out a way to save us! Give him money!"
Cloud Goat fell silent for a moment. "But Lin Chaoqing is watching us. Where are we supposed to find someone?!"
"True..."
Cloud Goat suddenly said, "I planted an informant in the Liu Family. Perhaps I'll soon know who passed them the news."
After the Trouble-Resolving Guards had escorted the two down the mountain, Liu Mingxian stopped crying. He rose from beside the coffin with a calm expression, wiped his tears dry, and said evenly, "Find out who passed us the news."
"They say a letter suddenly appeared in the room. None of the guards noticed who put it there."
Liu Mingxian frowned. "Someone managed to enter the inner residence without a sound? What use are all those experts I keep? When are you going to recruit some real experts for me?"
The people around him were utterly silent. No one dared answer.
Liu Mingxian took a deep breath. "A great Xing official is hiding somewhere we don't know about, and can even sneak into my inner residence. Difficult or not, we have to investigate!"
Chen Ji walked leisurely along the long street, keeping to the shadows beneath the eaves. Crowds streamed past him without end, and he seemed to have nothing to do with this world.
Fallen autumn leaves carpeted the street, a scene of desolation.
This was not the Luo City Chen Ji had imagined. It was crueler than he had expected: if you did not kill others, they would kill you.
When he had first arrived, he had taken care with everything he did, afraid of doing something wrong or saying the wrong thing.
Now, he had learned how to deal with this world.
He did not have a glamorous life, but that was all right.
Dark Cloud poked a furry head out from inside his clothes. "Chen Ji, there's roast chicken over there. Buy me one."
Chen Ji smiled. "All right. You've done a great service again today. You can eat whatever you want, and it's only reasonable for you to sleep on my head too."
Just then, the sound of merriment came from behind them. Chen Ji turned and saw dozens of people riding tall horses toward him through the sunlight, all in high spirits.
Someone called out, "The heir is back! The heir and the two commandery princesses are back from Eastern Grove Academy!"
A young man in a white marten-fur cloak sat on horseback. Liang Gou'er, who had once sliced through Lin Chaoqing's conical hat at night, led his horse by the reins with a fawning expression. Liang Mao'er followed behind, carrying the long saber and looking thoroughly miserable.
Five or six women followed on white horses, whispering among themselves and laughing from time to time.
As the party drew closer, Chen Ji suddenly saw two people riding behind the crowd. They were his two di-born elder brothers from the Chen Family.
The two rode alongside the heir. One of them teased with a smile, "Heir, my younger brother and I returned to Luo City a few days ago. You left the academy before we did, so why have you only just come back? Where did you go to amuse yourself this time?"
The heir laughed. "Once I get back to Luo City, the old master will keep me under watch. Of course it's better to come back later!"
From inside his clothes, Dark Cloud quietly asked, "Chen Ji, who are they?"
"They're not important."
As they spoke, the party passed the eaves where he stood. No one gave him a second glance.
The brilliant midday light shone on their white horses and brocade robes. They were full of spirit, and the sunshine was just right.
Chen Ji stood in the shadow beneath the eaves. In the shadow, there was only the youth and the cat.
Volume One, Prologue (End)