Even though the gentry and wealthy households within the city had colluded with the authorities for many years, they were, after all, nothing more than merchants. When the stage collapses, the supporting props are the first to be buried with it. Even if the odds were slim, there was no telling whether they might lash out like cornered beasts when captured.

Upon entering the city, Fang Linyuan immediately ordered all city gates to be blocked.

The junior officer guarding the gate held a low rank—little more than a minor functionary on the outskirts of Yan Prefecture.

With the prefect and garrison commander already in trouble, he had no reason to go down with them. So when Fang Linyuan gave the order, he promptly led his men to shut the city gates and even offered to lend Fang Linyuan some soldiers.

Fang Linyuan briefly assessed the size of Yan Prefecture and its garrison forces, then shook his head.

“You needn’t concern yourself with anything else,” he said. “But if even one person escapes, I will hold you personally accountable.”

“Yes, sir!” the officer replied at once.

Fang Linyuan nodded and led his men, along with Zhao Chu, into the city.

The drills in the main camp had only begun that morning, and by now it was merely afternoon—the news hadn’t spread too widely yet, so the arrests were proceeding smoothly.

However, there were five merchant households listed for arrest, and beyond escorting the suspects, they also needed to search warehouses, ledgers, and correspondence.

With only fifty men under his command, Fang Linyuan began to feel stretched after apprehending two of the families.

If he left people behind to conduct searches, the remaining households might catch wind and destroy evidence or flee. But if he prioritized arresting them first, he feared complications might arise with the earlier targets.

It was then that Zhao Chu stepped up beside him.

“If you're worried,” Zhao Chu said, “then take the men and continue the searches. Leave these two families to me.”

Fang Linyuan turned to look at him.

Compared to the capital, Yan Prefecture was not large; the streets housing the powerful and wealthy merchants were only a few in number.

These two families lived in the most prosperous part of the city, on the same street, very close to each other.

“Are you sure about this?” Fang Linyuan asked.

Zhao Chu nodded.

“These two are the biggest grain merchants in Yan Prefecture. From what I’ve learned, they had the closest dealings with Jiang Huaqing,” he said. “The evidence here is bound to be the most crucial. As long as we secure it, the remaining merchants—little more than a disorderly mob—need only be captured and have their residences sealed.”

Fang Linyuan paused, then nodded. “These two households are large, with many retainers and staff. I’ll leave you thirty men,” he said.

But Zhao Chu shook his head. “Ten will suffice. You take the rest.”

Fang Linyuan was about to protest when Zhao lowered his voice and said, “I have people under me who can hold this street.”

Fang Linyuan knew exactly what kind of people he meant.

He had full trust in the people Zhao Chu kept in his service. Besides, he had already witnessed this “demon’s” capabilities first-hand.

So, after urging Zhao Chu to take every precaution, Fang Linyuan took the remaining soldiers and moved on to the other three merchant residences.

Just as Zhao Chu had predicted, the arrests of these three went much more smoothly. At one of the homes, the merchant opened the door of his own accord, confessed his crimes, and surrendered all correspondence and account books, begging Fang Linyuan for leniency.

After flipping through the records, Fang Linyuan had a clearer picture.

Much of the grain they had purchased came from unknown sources, and it was the Zheng family—the top grain merchants in Yan Prefecture—who set the prices. The others would then purchase the grain through the Zheng family, without knowing its true origin.

Even the resale prices were arranged by the Zheng family.

All they had to do was follow Zheng family orders—buy low, sell high—and they’d profit alongside them. Any grain business in the city that refused to comply would disappear from Yan Prefecture in less than two months.

Thus, the five surviving grain merchants all followed the lead of the Zheng family.

These merchants were certainly guilty, though not to the extent of warranting execution or extermination of their households. Therefore, they had little reason to risk the capital crime of attacking a royal envoy.

The rest of the arrests went without a problem.

After taking the main culprits from the three firms into custody, Fang Linyuan sealed the estates and posted guards. The other two merchants, seeing one of their peers confess and cooperate, followed suit—recorded fully by the scribe—with hopes of earning lighter sentences.

*

As night began to fall, Fang Linyuan escorted the three arrested merchants and their surrendered evidence back toward the street where Zhao Chu was stationed.

The northern sky darkened early as always. With the gates sealed and soldiers making arrests, the city streets were especially desolate. The lights, too, were far dimmer than usual.

Fang Linyuan was not afraid of the dark. Leading his horse along the way, he was still mulling over the confessions and evidence he had just obtained.

As of today, he had more or less uncovered the case in its entirety—every thread of collusion between officials and merchants in Yan Prefecture, and all the profiteering schemes within the provincial military camp had been thoroughly investigated and evidenced.

And this was only what he had gained. The evidence Zhao Chu confiscated from the two merchant households must surely be even more substantial.

Furrowing his brows, Fang Linyuan began to contemplate how best to deploy his troops next, when to continue searching the remaining three households…

Just then, a faint sound of something slicing through the air interrupted his thoughts.

Fang Linyuan reacted instinctively, faster than conscious thought. He snapped his head up, hand already drawing the sabre at his waist. With a single slash through the air, a crisp snapping sound rang out just three feet in front of him.

An ambush!

The arrow aimed at him shattered and dropped to the ground, and he immediately shouted in a sharp, urgent voice: “Immediate lockdown! Protect the witnesses and evidence!”

Before the words had even fully left his mouth, dark figures had already emerged from all directions—swift and silent—charging at his soldiers.

In an instant, Fang Linyuan was surrounded by dozens of black-clad, blade-wielding assailants.

After only a few exchanges, he realized just how well-trained they were.

Every move they made was a killing strike—fast, precise, ruthless. Even Fang Linyuan found himself slightly strained defending against them.

And he still had to split his focus to guard the soldiers carrying the ledgers and the captured merchants. These people had yet to be interrogated. If they were silenced now, Jiang Huaqing’s crimes could be buried forever.

But—

Fang Linyuan parried three blades aimed straight at his face with one arm, then spun around and slashed behind him, slicing cleanly across the neck of a black-clad attacker who had silently crept up from the rear.

Jiang Huaqing and Tan Ji were both in prison. All five merchant households were already in custody. Where had these people come from?

But now wasn’t the time to think it through.

His long sabre danced around him in an impenetrable web—any who entered a three-foot radius were either killed or crippled. In mere moments, ten or so of the assailants lay at his feet, and the rest began to falter and retreat.

Just then, a sharp whistle echoed from afar.

The attackers around him immediately scattered—not toward him, but lunging instead at the surrounding soldiers and prisoners.

There was someone commanding them from the shadows!

Fang Linyuan didn’t have time to think. As his eyes swept toward the darkness where the whistle had come from, he rushed forward with his blade to shield the key witnesses. Several black-clad men charged at the lead merchant. Fang Linyuan leapt after them, slashing down one of them on the spot.

The other two were already within arm’s reach of the merchant.

Fang Linyuan vaulted forward again.

But just then, another arrow whistled through the air—this time from behind.

A hidden arrow!

Fang Linyuan, caught slightly off guard, had no time to evade. Gritting his teeth, he braced to take the shot in his shoulder—far from a vital area—just so he could reach the merchant in time to save him.

But at that moment, a flash of snow-white passed behind him.

Fang Linyuan struck down two more attackers, then turned—only to see bright red blood soaking into a snow-white brocade robe embroidered with gold.

It was Zhao Chu.

The arrow had buried itself in his shoulder socket. With his back to Fang Linyuan, he stood just five feet away, shielding him.

*

Zhao Chu had taken the arrow with his own body, then flung a dart in return, striking down the archer instantly.

He turned his head slightly and caught sight of Fang Linyuan, frozen in place.

Fang Linyuan was staring at him, eyes rimmed red and glistening—looking terribly pitiful.

Zhao Chu clenched his jaw—not to bear the pain, but to restrain the overwhelming urge to go over and comfort him.

Because he knew—there were more archers hiding in the shadows.

Zhao Chu turned back around, stepped lightly across the blue-brick path, and sprang upward. The moment his feet touched the tiles, two throwing darts shot into the darkness.

As the darts sliced through the air, screams and the thud of bodies hitting the ground followed at once.

Though clothed in white, he had always been the demon most skilled at moving through the night.

In just a few heartbeats, all the archers stationed at higher points around them had been struck down. With a tap of his toes, he landed silently atop the highest rooftop.

The bright moonlight cast a faint gleam on the tiles. He raised his eyes impassively to face the black-clad figure retreating step by step before him.

This was the leader—the very one who had blown the whistle moments ago, ordering his men to fire arrows at Fang Linyuan.

The man tried to run but, intimidated by Zhao Chu’s presence, stepped on a loose tile and snapped it underfoot.

Crash—

His eyes widened in fear as he stared at Zhao Chu.

Zhao Chu had no idea how terrifying he looked at this moment.

The golden beast mask covering his face shimmered like a living monster under the moonlight. The tall man in white robes stood poised, though his entire shoulder was drenched in fresh blood—yet he seemed utterly unaware, like a wrathful demon from the underworld, wrapped in a half-torn human skin.

Expressionless, he walked forward step by step, then reached up and yanked the arrow from his shoulder.

Not even a tremble.

What kind of monster was this?

The assassin leader turned to flee—but in the very next instant, the arrow he had just pulled out came whistling back, hurled barehanded, and embedded itself straight into the back of the man’s knee.

The assassin toppled forward.

Before he could bite down on the poison hidden in his mouth, Zhao Chu leapt forward and dislocated his jaw in one swift motion.

The moonlight shone like silver behind him, but under that golden glow, he seemed to radiate no warmth at all. Blood flowed from his shoulder, yet he looked as if he felt no pain.

And truly—Zhao Chu wasn’t afraid of pain.

Raised and tempered in the palace from a young age, his sensitivity to pain was far less than most, and his tolerance far greater. He had honed this ability too early, until it became ingrained into his very bones, indistinguishable from his flesh and blood.

So an arrow wound like this made him seem like a lunatic who didn’t fear death—an unfeeling monster.

But within his cold, grim eyes, there was a smouldering fury.

Because he knew—if that arrow had struck Fang Linyuan, it would have hurt.

He’d seen Fang Linyuan’s body before—wounds from knives, swords, one atop another, like no one had ever cared enough to spare him pain.

What kind of beast could bring themselves to harm someone so radiant, like a god bathed in light?

And over there, the assassin, now denied even the release of death, trembled under Zhao Chu’s frigid gaze. As if crushed by some unseen terror, he muttered in a haze, pleading, “I was acting on orders… I was told, if anything happened to the lord, I was to kill Fang Linyuan. I was just following—"

His words were cut off by a scream forced out from his throat.

He stared, eyes wide, as the man before him pulled a dagger from his robes and drove it brutally into his shoulder socket.

Blood spurted out—but the assassin knew this wasn’t a fatal blow. He wouldn’t die from it.

He stared at the man—no, the beast—whose eyes behind that golden mask grew colder still. The man’s voice was hoarse as he asked: “You dare mention his name?”

The assassin didn’t even know which name must not be spoken.

He only saw the man falter slightly after delivering the stab, as if suddenly realizing what he had done. His gaze drifted aside, falling on the dagger.

The dagger was old, its gemstone inlay crude and unremarkable—not any kind of precious artifact.

Yet the man’s eyes… looked upon it as if it were the one wounded. His expression softened, with a cold and tender sorrow—so deep, it felt like he was gazing at a beloved.

But he had taken an arrow that deep without even blinking!

The next moment, the assassin heard him speak again.

His voice was calm, detached—but so cold that it made one tremble involuntarily. It felt as though something demonic had grasped one’s very soul, slowly pulling it from the body, tearing it apart inch by inch.

Under the moonlight, the blood soaking his shoulder seemed to run cold. Only the way he looked at that dagger held any trace of warmth—like a faint glimmer flickering deep within the ice.

“You even dared… to dirty my blade.”

The man’s voice was cold, light, and slow—yet each word cut like frostbite.

--

The author has something to say:

Prize quiz: Where did this dagger come from?
Correct answers will earn the quest item: [Fifth Princess’ Approval]

 

Translator : DarNan