Li Qingxian leisurely took Zhou Chunfeng’s token—that of the Director of the Imperial Prison Department—from his Qiankun Bracelet and asked, "Can I use this to interrogate you?"
"You..." Yue Feng’s face paled slightly.
Li Qingxian turned to Han Anbo. "Brother Han, do you think these three have a lot of dirt on them?"
"Plenty, I’m sure," said Han Anbo.
"Lord Fann, I’ll trouble you to find three veteran interrogators. Have them question these three simultaneously. The first to confess gets leniency. As for anyone who refuses to talk... their life or death is of no consequence. If anything happens, just consider it Zhangg Fugui repaying me a favor."
Everyone looked completely baffled. ’Is he addicted to cashing in Zhangg Fugui’s favors?’
"Li Qingxian!" Yue Feng roared. "How dare you torture people from Prince Yuann’s Mansion!"
Li Qingxian sneered. "I’m not even afraid to die, you think I’m afraid to torture you? Fann Xing, can you handle it?"
Fann Xing glanced at the brand-new Senior Ninth-Grade Official Uniform on Li Qingxian, then gritted his teeth. "Don’t you worry. I guarantee I’ll make these three spill their guts about everything they’ve ever done. If they don’t talk, then either they’re not walking out of this Imperial Prison, or I’m not."
"Very good! I’ll be waiting in the Prisoner’s Room."
Li Qingxian smiled, turned, and returned to the Prisoner’s Room. He sat sipping tea and making small talk, occasionally catching the faint sound of agonized screams.
Han Anbo sighed and said in a low voice, "By doing this, you’re forcing Tang Enxuan to act."
"My only fear is that he won’t," Li Qingxian said.
"Are you really that confident?"
"Who in this world only acts with absolute certainty? If the odds are better than fifty-fifty, you go for it. That’s always better than dying of regret or having people call you a spineless coward."
"I understand you young people less and less," Han Anbo said, shaking his head.
By afternoon, pages of testimony, each marked with a bloody thumbprint, were delivered to Li Qingxian. The two bodyguards had confessed, but Yue Feng had passed out from the pain without saying a word.
Li Qingxian flipped through the statements. It was all just shady business within the Royal Mansion, none of it implicating Prince Yuann himself. However, it did mention his three sons, other relatives, the Grand Steward, several lesser Stewards, and various rumors.
Li Qingxian handed the statements to Han Anbo. "Brother Han, I need you to do something. Pick out a minor but solid case, find one of Tang Enxuan’s relatives on his mother’s side, and arrest them. Send them straight to the Imperial Prison!"
"This means it’s a fight to the death," Han Anbo said.
"Even if I didn’t, it’s already a fight to the death!" Li Qingxian said with a faint smile. "In a little while, come with me to find Uncle Xiaozhou."
"Why?"
"Uncle Zhou ordered him to protect me from the shadows. Now that I’ve offended Tang Enxuan, of course he has to tag along."
Han Anbo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "And here I thought you were fearless."
"One can never be too careful," Li Qingxian said.
"So, all this is to provoke Tang Enxuan into making a move?"
"Correct. I’m giving him the opportunity. I hope he doesn’t disappoint me."
After selecting a case, Li Qingxian first went to the Chunfeng Inn and grabbed the two remaining Golden Tokens from the Command Token Barrel. He then found Zhou Henn, who reluctantly agreed to help.
With Zhou Henn in tow, Li Qingxian went to the Divine Capital Bureau and found the Director in charge of arrests. Under the stunned gazes of Zhou Henn, Han Anbo, and Yur Ping, he presented one of Zhou Chunfeng’s Golden Tokens. The Director promptly issued the arrest warrant and assigned Night Guards to the case.
Li Qingxian, along with Zhou Henn, went straight to the home of Tang Enxuan’s third maternal uncle and arrested Tang Enxuan’s cousin. The charges included assaulting a bystander in the street, illegally seizing land, and causing grievous injury. He also dispatched men to the victims’ homes to collect statements and evidence.
With a veteran Old Night Guard like Han Anbo on hand, the entire process was conducted perfectly by the book. There wasn’t a single flaw; no one could find fault with it.
Unless, of course, Zhou Chunfeng were to claim he never gave him the Golden Token.
They were busy until late into the evening. Since it was too late to go home, Li Qingxian and Han Anbo got a Night Guard plaque from Hex Lei. Li Qingxian planned to place it at his aunt’s home the next day as a deterrent to anyone who might try to harm his family.
After a hectic day, silence fell over the Street Patrol Room.
Li Qingxian and Yur Ping were fast asleep, snoring softly. Han Anbo, however, lay wide awake.
’What on earth is Li Qingxian trying to do?’
「On a pleasure barge floating down the Grand Canal at night.」
Tang Enxuan, dressed in a brocade robe, reclined on a chaise longue. He swirled the wine in a glass goblet, gently sniffing its aroma. A faint smile played on his lips. "Lord Wei, what do you suppose Li Qingxian is trying to accomplish?"
Wei Yong considered this for a moment before offering his analysis. "There are two possibilities. One, he’s trying to anger you in order to find an opening. The second is that he’s simply making a declaration: that he, Li Qingxian, is not someone to be trifled with. He’s a young man, after all. What youth isn’t prone to fits of pride?"
"And which do you believe it is?"
Wei Yong mulled it over for a long while. "The latter is more likely. If he truly wanted to provoke you, he would have at least waited for Zhou Chunfeng to return, or he would have planned it out far more carefully. You sent an invitation, and he retaliated on the spot. That was certainly not premeditated; it was an impulse. It seems less like an attack and more like a preemptive defense born of fear—fear for his winery shares and his Qiankun Ring."
"Oh?" Tang Enxuan was noncommittal. He turned to gaze out the window. "Why hasn’t Ye Han been released yet?"
Wei Yong frowned. "The whole matter is very strange. I had someone make inquiries before I left. The official word is that Songg Yanxue gave the order, but I suspect Li Qingxian is pulling strings behind the scenes. He detains your Steward, and in the next breath, Ye Han is confined. The timing is too convenient."
Tang Enxuan suddenly let out a strange laugh. "Do you know what pretext he used to arrest Yue Feng?"
"I truly don’t," said Wei Yong.
The smile vanished from Tang Enxuan’s face. A shadow flickered in his eyes as he said slowly, "He said that Prince Yuann’s Mansion has no Crown Prince, only a ruined Assistant General."
A tremor ran through Wei Yong’s right hand. He stole a glance at Tang Enxuan, only to see a savage cruelty, like that of a Demon Beast, twist his features.
"After I was confined, not only did my own kinsmen abandon me, not only did my father’s old allies forsake me, but even my own uncles and cousins on my mother’s side gave me the cold shoulder! They wouldn’t even lend me ten thousand and eight hundred taels of silver, leaving me to be humiliated at the Yuhua Building! And now... now a piddling Ninth-Grade Night Guard dares to arrest my mother’s family. You tell me: if I swallow this, how can I ever show my face in the Divine Capital again!" Tang Enxuan’s face twitched, as if swaying with the boat, but his voice was unnervingly calm.
Wei Yong kept his head down, not daring to speak.
"My old man stripped me of my title, and now my brothers are trying to sever my path to reclaiming it. An outsider would think the surname that rules this Divine Capital is Li!"
Wei Yong remained silent.
"Do you know why, after my cousin was arrested, Prince Yuann’s Mansion has done nothing?"
"I do not."
"My two ’dear’ brothers are watching to see if I’m truly finished," Tang Enxuan’s voice was utterly flat, as if spoken by a Puppet Cultivator.
Wei Yong lowered his head even further. ’They say there are no true fathers and sons in the Celestial Family. A prince’s family is no different. Over the years, how many brothers have fought to the death over a title?’
’At that moment, Wei Yong felt a profound pang of regret. He had only wanted to use Tang Enxuan to curry favor with Prince Yuann; instead, he had become hopelessly entangled in their mess.’
’But then, a flicker of hope sparked within him. The real reason Tang Enxuan had lost his title as Crown Prince was that he had taken the fall for Prince Yuann. If the Prince had even a shred of conscience, he would have to help this son. This was one of the main reasons Wei Yong had been willing to align himself with Tang Enxuan.’
"I accept Li Qingxian’s challenge!" Tang Enxuan rose and walked to the window. He lifted his chin high, gazing out at the stars and the lights of the city below.