Zheng Hui raised his head, just as he was about to speak.
HIIISSSS...
A piercing sound erupted from around Zheng Hui. His clothes suddenly swelled, covered in a dense web of cracks. An instant later, his garments exploded, sending tattered shreds of cloth flying.
Zheng Hui was completely unharmed, but his clothes, now reduced to tattered strips, hung from his body, trembling in the wind and failing to cover his dark skin.
The crowd was stunned into silence.
Nearby pedestrians and shopkeepers pointed, and waves of derisive laughter could be heard.
A crimson blush spread across Zheng Hui’s dark face, flushing all the way down his neck.
Li Qingxian clenched his jaw tightly.
"You, or him?" Pang Mingjing asked.
Zheng Hui bowed with his back arched, clasping his fists. "Li Qingxian is the son of Lord Li Gangfeng and is also under the special care of Lord Zhou Chunfeng. He is gravely ill and it is inconvenient for him to go, but I am willing to serve you with utmost loyalty, my lord."
Li Qingxian looked at the normally garrulous Zheng Hei, a warm current surging through his heart.
Pang Mingjing seemed taken aback for a moment. Then, his right hand tossed out an object.
THUD. The object landed at Zheng Hui’s feet.
Li Qingxian looked over, his entire body stiffening.
Wooden texture, token-shaped, a black background... a Golden Token.
’No, that’s not right!’
’A clear memory surfaced in Li Qingxian’s mind. This was a Night Guard Token. Defying it meant the holder could execute anyone below the Ninth Grade on the spot.’
’No one would use a Golden Token for an ordinary soldier.’
’Pang Mingjing came prepared!’
Zheng Hui stared down at the Golden Token, his mouth agape. He clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead, but couldn’t force out a single word.
Suddenly, a piercing whistle shrieked.
Li Qingxian whipped his head around to see Yur Ping with a Bamboo Whistle in his mouth, blowing alternating long and short blasts—the Night Guard’s call for help.
"Disarm them!"
At Pang Mingjing’s command, four burly Night Guards rushed out from behind the carriage. They snatched Yur Ping’s whistle and proceeded to relieve Li Qingxian and Han Anbo of the whistles at their waists.
Li Qingxian looked at Yur Ping, who grinned and said, "When you get rich, remember to treat me to some lamb soup. Don’t be a cheapskate like Captain Zheng."
Inside the carriage, Pang Mingjing slowly took out a bronze whistle. He blew it three times, each time with three long blasts and one short one.
The all-clear signal.
The smile on Yur Ping’s face froze.
Pang Mingjing turned his head to look at Li Qingxian, a smile on his face. "You, or the three of them?"
"The three of us!" By the carriage, Zheng Hui’s head snapped up. He stared directly at Pang Mingjing and took half a step forward.
Han Anbo and Yur Ping stepped forward in unison.
Pang Mingjing frowned slightly. Zheng Hui’s dark face was a bit of an eyesore.
Li Qingxian looked at his three teammates and sighed. "I will go with you, my lord. It’s just that I haven’t fully recovered from my illness, so I may walk a bit slowly."
"No matter. Sit beside me."
Li Qingxian’s expression grew colder. "Since you are so insistent, my lord, it would be disrespectful of me to refuse. Captain Zheng, Vice Captain Han, Yur Ping, you all go back. I will go with Lord Pang."
"Qingxian!" Zheng Hui growled.
As if he hadn’t heard, Li Qingxian picked up the Golden Token and walked toward the carriage.
He stopped at the carriage door, waved to the three men with his back to them, and climbed inside.
The window curtain fell.
"To the Ministry of Revenue Street."
The carriage rumbled forward.
Suddenly, Han Anbo shouted, "When you get to the Ministry of Revenue, etiquette is paramount! Don’t be careless!"
"Bastard!" Zheng Hui seethed through clenched teeth.
Yur Ping’s right hand was clenched so tightly it crushed the osmanthus cake he was holding.
Han Anbo took a deep breath. "This is no time to stand around stunned! That Pang Mingjing is the Treasury Room Leader of the Finance Department—high-ranking and powerful. What’s more, he’s a confidant of the Disciplinary Officer of the Finance Department. This matter is already beyond our ability to handle. Captain Zheng, you and Yur Ping must return to the Night Guard Office immediately and find Lord Zhou. He’s an upright man; he can’t possibly stand by and watch Lord Li Gangfeng’s son die a wrongful death. If you can’t find him, look for Lord Zhou Henn. He’s sure to know where Lord Zhou is. Right now, besides Lord Zhou, no one can save Xiaoli. If it comes to the worst, strike the Night Guard alarm drum."
"I’ll strike it!" Yur Ping said.
"And you?" Zheng Hui asked.
Han Anbo sighed, gazing at the receding carriage. "I’ll follow from a distance and adapt as the situation develops."
Zheng Hui’s throat bobbed. He took a deep breath and said, "You’ve always been sharp. This time... be careful."
"I am a Night Guard, and so is Xiaoli." Han Anbo smiled and began to follow Pang Mingjing’s carriage from a distance.
Zheng Hui gave the black carriage one last deep look, then circulated his True Essence. With his left hand on his saber, he crouched slightly and leaped onto a building. He sprinted across the rooftops, the tiles clattering under his feet as he bounded from one building to the next, heading straight for the Night Guard Office.
Yur Ping glanced down at his round belly, popped the crushed osmanthus cake stuck to his right hand into his mouth, and tossed all the snacks he was carrying onto the counter of Zhao’s Clothing Shop.
"They’re a gift." With that, Yur Ping broke into a run toward the Night Guard Office.
The wheels rumbled on, but inside the carriage, it was silent.
Pang Mingjing’s voice broke the silence.
"That year the Nanjiang levees broke, Mr. Gangfeng went to the embankment to fight the flood. With a single Righteous Sword, he cut down wave after wave of floodwater, not resting for ten days. After the waters receded, he slept for three days before waking. Afterward, he submitted forty-six memorials impeaching officials from the two river provinces, bringing down two Third Grade officials, fourteen Middle-Third Grade officials, and countless from the Lower Three Grades. The world came to know him as the Flood-Cutting Sword. When the Ti Qi were dispatched for the Nanjiang case, I was among them."
Li Qingxian stared silently ahead, as if he hadn’t heard a word.
"I once saw Lord Li in person. You bear a slight resemblance to him."
Li Qingxian still did not say a word.
"Who would have known that after so many years, things would turn out like this." Pang Mingjing lowered his head slightly, his gaze fixed on something unseen.
After a long moment, Pang Mingjing said slowly, "Before I came, I did not know you were Lord Li’s son."
"And what if you had known? What if you hadn’t?" Li Qingxian let out a soft laugh.
"Some people joke that the Imperial Censorate offended the entire Imperial Court, and Lord Li was responsible for half of it. Yes, so what if he was? And so what if he wasn’t? Lord Li is gone, and you won’t get far, in the end."