Li Qingxian smiled. "When I get an extra Communication Talisman Disc, or one with more capacity, I’ll be sure to add you next time, Lord Duan."
Duan Qing waved his hand. "Ah, it’s no big deal, don’t give it another thought. Come, let me offer you one last toast. Thank you for coming."
Li Qingxian drank the final glass, and the others crowded around as they saw him out the door.
After seeing Li Qingxian off, Duan Qing returned to the room, sat down, and sighed. "We’re all friends here, so don’t think I’ve lost face. This sort of thing is perfectly normal. Who could have imagined it? Half a year ago, he was a nobody, and now, I, the Treasury Room Leader of the Civilian Equipment Department, can’t even get a Talisman Position from him. Xiaoshan, that man... his future is limitless."
Lou Yushan nodded forcefully, his thoughts racing. He was secretly annoyed at himself for being too arrogant at their last meeting, but also relieved that he hadn’t said anything out of line to Li Qingxian; he had only been a bit harsh toward Dai Tiee.
Back in the Mingxuan Room, everyone except for Han Anbo, who hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, was drunk. They all accused Li Qingxian of skipping out on drinks, but he protested his innocence and explained what had happened.
The group fell silent after hearing his story.
Hex Lei sighed. "Your circumstances are truly extraordinary. Still, no matter how you look at it, you slighted him. How about this: let’s have Lord Jingg make an appearance with us. We can all go offer him a toast and smooth things over."
Jingg Guan smiled faintly. "Old Hex is right. We should at least go through the motions. If I were in his shoes, caught in this little drama—let’s call it ’Li Qingxian and the Eight-Slot Talisman Disc’—I’d be fuming for half a month. And the crucial part is, you’ve got no one to complain to. It’s like he said, is he really going to fight his own boss for a Talisman Position?"
Li Qingxian asked, "We’re going now?"
The group rose to go offer the toast. When Duan Qing saw that even Jingg Guan, an eunuch from the Internal Factory, had come openly to give a toast, any ill feelings he had vanished into thin air.
It wasn’t until late that night that everyone returned.
Jingg Guan drunkenly returned to his quarters in the Internal Factory.
He awoke the next day, but before he could even wash his face or eat, an attendant of Yan Shixiao, the Internal Factory’s Right Hand Punishment Envoy, arrived to summon him to the Envoy’s personal office.
Jingg Guan felt apprehensive the entire way, secretly circulating his True Essence to purge the lingering smell of alcohol from his body.
Entering the study, Jingg Guan stood with his head bowed, stealing glances from the corner of his eye at Yan Shixiao, who was writing.
Yan Shixiao had always been fond of wearing rouge and powder. Today was no different; he wore light makeup, his eyes and brows looking remarkably like a woman’s.
Jingg Guan had often heard people say that if Yan Shixiao were to truly dress as a woman, his beauty would outshine every other in an entire city.
After a while, Yan Shixiao finished writing. He pinched the letter with his slender fingers, slid it into an envelope, sealed it with True Essence, and then looked up at Jingg Guan.
Yan Shixiao smiled slightly, his sharp voice piercing the silence. "How are you getting along with Li Qingxian?"
Jingg Guan hurriedly replied, "Li Qingxian is generally informal, but he understands propriety and knows when to press forward and when to fall back. This subordinate gets along with him very well."
"How many years have you been with me?"
"Three years, my Lord. It’s all thanks to you for rescuing me from the Laundry Bureau." Jingg Guan felt apprehensive. ’Why is Yan Shixiao asking this?’
"Yes, three years have passed in a flash." Yan Shixiao gazed at the autumn scene outside the window, where the leaves of the red oak tree grew ever more vibrant.
Jingg Guan kept his head bowed, not even daring to peek at Yan Shixiao from the corner of his eye.
After a moment, Yan Shixiao waved his right hand, and the envelope floated lightly into Jingg Guan’s grasp.
"I have a matter to discuss with Lord Zhou Chunfeng, but it is inconvenient for us to meet at present. Take this letter, give it to Li Qingxian, and have him pass it on to Lord Zhou," Yan Shixiao said.
Jingg Guan breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully tucked the envelope into his sleeve and said, "I will ensure it is done without a hitch."
Yan Shixiao smiled faintly. "Go. Once it is delivered, return by the same route and report back to me."
Jingg Guan backed away and left. Knowing this was no ordinary letter, he didn’t even think about washing up or eating. He rushed straight to the Patrol Bureau and entered Room A9.
"Everyone out. I have something to say to Qingxian," Jingg Guan said.
The other three left. Jingg Guan closed the door securely, walked up to Li Qingxian, took out the envelope, and handed it over, whispering, "Lord Yan Shixiao asked me to have this passed to Lord Zhou Chunfeng. Not a word of this to anyone."
Li Qingxian’s heart dropped. He took the envelope and looked at Jingg Guan.
Jingg Guan’s face was impassive.
Li Qingxian’s mind raced with suspicion. He had a vague feeling that something was wrong with Jingg Guan but knew it wasn’t the place to ask. "I’ll take this to Uncle Zhou right now," he said.
"I will wait here. Once you’ve delivered it into his hands, I can return and report," Jingg Guan said.
Seeing that Jingg Guan wasn’t going to say anything more, Li Qingxian knew not to press the matter. He nodded, got up, and headed for the Chunfeng Inn.
"Uncle Zhou." Li Qingxian entered the room and saw Zhou Chunfeng writing at his desk.
"Mm." Zhou Chunfeng nodded casually.
Li Qingxian walked over to the desk. Looking at Zhou Chunfeng’s handwriting, he clicked his tongue in admiration. "Uncle Zhou, your calligraphy is truly magnificent."
Zhou Chunfeng remained expressionless.
Li Qingxian glanced around before placing the letter from his sleeve on the desk.
"Lord Yan Shixiao had Jingg Guan deliver this," Li Qingxian said in a hushed voice.
Zhou Chunfeng’s gaze sharpened for a moment, then returned to normal. "I see. You may go."
Li Qingxian had wanted to ask more, but seeing that Zhou Chunfeng didn’t want to talk, he had no choice but to leave.
Zhou Chunfeng acted as if he hadn’t even seen the letter and continued to review his documents.
When he finished, his gaze fell on the letter, then flickered away.
After a good while, Zhou Chunfeng pointed with his right hand. Literary Qi permeated the letter. Then, slowly and deliberately, he tore open the edge and pulled out the message.
Zhou Chunfeng read through it slowly, dark clouds gathering in the depths of his eyes.
He read it a full three times. His eyes turned dark, like mountains reflected in a midnight sky.
He slowly rose, his back slightly bent, as if he had aged ten years in an instant. He found a flint, lit the letter, and with a gentle shake, the paper ashes scattered.
Zhou Chunfeng sat back down behind his desk, gazing out the window at the autumn day. He felt that the room was very cold; it was time to light a charcoal fire.
He looked down at the green silk robe he was wearing. It was his daughter’s favorite color.
He then touched his Cow Bone Fan. It was a birthday gift his wife had handmade for him years ago.
Zhou Chunfeng silently got up, walked out of the Night Guard Office, and returned a short while later with a stick of candied hawthorns and a lotus flower.
Walking to the maple tree in the small courtyard, Zhou Chunfeng slowly dug two pits in the ground, one large and one small.
He placed the lotus flower in the large one and the candied hawthorns in the small one, then slowly covered them with soil using his hands.
He sat on the ground, staring blankly into space.
After a long time, Zhou Chunfeng returned to his chair. From his Silver Fish Pouch, he took out a Three-Stringed Zither about a foot long, like a miniature model. He plucked it gently, then put it away.
Before long, Huisun flew in from outside, landed on the ground, and transformed into a man.
"Huisun, Zhou Henn," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"Here."
"These past years, I’ve troubled you both."
The two exchanged a grim look.
Zhou Chunfeng sighed lightly. "Even if I never said it, you both must have guessed that I’ve been working for the Crown Prince all these years."
Both men knew that the Crown Prince Zhou Chunfeng spoke of was the former Guard Commander, the Third Crown Prince.
Zhou Chunfeng continued, "Back then, when the Crown Prince was in charge of the Night Guard, besides the public bureaus, he also established a hidden bureau called the ’Evil-Slaying Bureau.’ All members of the Evil-Slaying Bureau were in contact only with the Crown Prince himself. None of us knew each other. I only vaguely heard him say that he was preparing to gather twelve people."
The two listened quietly.
"Every one of us is bound by a Life-Breaking Sword, including the Crown Prince himself. That day the Crown Prince was framed and later died in the Eastern Palace... I suspect he actually took his own life to protect us. He used the sword to sever his own Life Line, preventing us from being wiped out in one fell swoop. Now, the Demon Sect has tracked me down."
The two men’s heads snapped up, their eyes fixed on Zhou Chunfeng.