Character Index
Hu Qing/Liang Hongfei: Kayla's retainer and the rightful heir to the Liang clan.
Zhao Chao: One of Kayla's employees who often serves as a bodyguard.
Li Que: A Senior Imperial Investigator who has worked with and helped Kayla in the past.
Chen Jian: Protege of Li Que and older brother of Chen Caichun, a young Imperial Investigator with unusually sharp instincts.
Sun Zhong'e: A woman who works for Kayla, she uses unorthodox healing methods to surprisingly effective results.
Wei Guang: The Imperial Edict Bearer and Kayla's godfather, he submitted evidence to the palace that led to Kayla's arrest at the end of Book 1.
Zhou Kuang: The Third Prince, he was revealed to have a secret alliance with Wei Guang at the end of Book 1.
Zhou Xianchun: The Seventh Prince, his mother was killed by the Grand Duke. Kayla used that as an excuse to gain his trust and support in killing the Grand Duke.
Qu Boyong/Xiang Daozong: The son of General Xiang and the Princess of Chu, maternal cousin of the princes and Wenyuan. He was often at odds with Kayla due to his vendetta against the Grand Duke, but they formed a temporary alliance at the end of Book 1.
Ke Yongqian: One of Kayla's employees, he worked with Hu Qing on surveillance measures in preparation for the coup against the Grand Duke.
Li You: One of Kayla's employees, he mainly works as a bodyguard.
Sun Ruhui: The Left Secretariat of Justice and Kayla's supporter. He was recruited by Kayla upon the re-establishment of the Court of Judicial Review.
Chen Caichun: A Chamberlain of the Court of Judicial Review, a young woman who was recruited by Kayla to become an official and one of Kayla's supporters. Younger sister of Chen Jian.
Tao Qian: One of Kayla's employees, personally recommended by Hu Qing. He often serves as a bodyguard or in whatever capacity needed.
Yan'er: A young prostitute who helped save Hu Qing in exchange for a hefty sum of money when he was being pursued by the Grand Duke's assassins, Kayla had ordered for her to be bought out from the brothel in order to ensure Yan'er's safety and silence.
Feng Yi: A businessman who was roped into Kayla's various plots, he was sent to sell communication devices for dirt cheap in the provinces in order to rile up the local elites so that Kayla had an excuse to build up her power base at the local level.
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A man with a receding hairline ruefully ran one hand over his head, glancing at the pouch of money in his other hand. He was several miles outside of the capital city, in a quiet clearing surrounded by gnarly trees. Around him, several other men milled about, saying their goodbyes.
“It’s certainly good money, isn’t it?” One of the younger men quipped, nodding at the pouch in the balding man’s hand.
“Definitely, those guys gave us all this money just to not fight?” The man said, rubbing at the bald spot on his head. “I could barely believe my luck! It’s just too bad we have to leave the capital now.”
“Don’t be too picky, uncle. It’s not as though we can stay here after walking away from the Grand Duke’s service without even giving notice,” the young man said. “Whoever paid us all this wasn’t someone to make light of either. Word has it that it was the grandson, the one who’s been stirring up all kinds of trouble lately. Isn’t it better to get a head start heading out?”
“Yes, but I just don’t like being out of work,” the balding man replied. “It makes me feel uneasy not to have a job lined up.”
“I could not understand,” the younger man said blithely. “I won’t be missing this life. I’m going to go home and get married with this money, and I’ll probably quit this trade too. It’s rough to be a family man and still work as an assassin.”
“Ha! Youngsters don’t understand how hard it is to quit this trade for good!” One of the other men jumped in, clapping the young man on his back. “You think you’ll still be saying that when this money runs out? You’re so–”
He cut off with a choked gurgle as an arrow lodged into his lungs from behind. The assassins leaped to attention, dashing out of the way. They weren’t fast enough. A rain of arrows fell from the sky, forming a curtain that blanketed the ground. By the time all of them had landed, only the balding man was left alive, skewered to the young man’s corpse by an arrow through his arm.
He tried to dislodge himself, his jostling giving away his position as coins clattered from the ripped money pouch. Another arrow shot through the air and buried itself into his neck. Twitching and choking on blood, the assassin joined his former coworkers in death.
A distance away, a masked man waved his hand, and his subordinates went forward to gather up the corpses and arrows, tossing them into a wagon.
“Was that the last of them?” The masked man asked.
“Yes, sir. The rest of the Grand Duke’s hires have already been cleaned up by the other teams,” one of his subordinates replied.
“Good, I’ll go back and report to the lord. You guys go get rid of these,” the masked man said, gesturing at the wagon with a backhanded wave. He turned his horse around and headed off into the night.
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Squatting on the rooftop of a building in the Zhao household, Hu Qing watched the flickering flames in the courtyard below, propping his chin on his hand.
“Hu Qing!” An urgent shout shook him out of his mild fascination.
Hu Qing got up, frowning as he saw Zhao Chao sprint towards him over the rooftops.
“What is it?” Hu Qing demanded.
“The Minister! The Imperial Investigation Bureau suddenly showed up and arrested the Minister!” Zhao Chao hissed, lowering his voice as he spoke. Hu Qing shot to his feet.
“What?!” Hu Qing looked at him in disbelief. “The Bureau? Are you sure?! What about the prince?”
“They suddenly showed up right after the Seventh Prince left and grabbed him!” Zhao Chao said. “There was a full team, but they didn’t even try to come inside. They just slapped a pair of shackles on him and put him in the carriage, and then they left.”
“Fuck!” Hu Qing felt panic bubbling up in his stomach. “Do you know which Investigator was in charge?”
“The Minister called him Investigator Li,” Zhao Chao replied. “He seemed to be a Senior Investigator from his clothes.”
“Li Que,” Hu Qing hissed. “That’s Chen Jian’s superior–damn it, what the fuck is going on?!”
“I thought this was planned carefully enough,” Zhao Chao said, unease creeping into his voice.
“Send someone to follow the carriage and make sure it goes to the Bureau, and clean up the blood. Have Sun Zhong’e do something about the Grand Duke’s wounds or whatever, we don’t know if they’ll end up changing their minds about searching the place,” Hu Qing ordered.
Zhao Chao nodded hesitantly. “Do I tell the others?”
“Did anyone else see it happen?” Hu Qing asked.
“The guys watching the gates would’ve seen,” Zhao Chao replied.
“Then tell them, there’s no point in trying to cover fire with paper,” Hu Qing said. “We’re shutting this thing down–come on, get moving.”
Zhao Chao nodded and leaped off the roof.
“What’s going on?” One of the men asked, approaching Hu Qing nervously.
“The Imperial Investigation Bureau is stirring up trouble, we’re shutting this operation down,” Hu Qing said grimly. The man visibly balked.
Hu Qing continued, his voice darkening. “You know the rules and procedures, waggle your tongue and I’ll cut it off.”
“Understood,” the man said, bowing his head slightly before scurrying away. Cursing under his breath, Hu Qing went to threaten the men at the side gate who had witnessed Wenyuan’s arrest. He headed back towards the main hall, readying himself to threaten the Zhao clan members as well. To his relief, Zhao Chao was one step ahead, standing menacingly at the entrance of the hall with Ke Yongqian and Li You in tow. Seeing Hu Qing approach, Zhao Chao and the others crowded over.
“Hu Qing, what the hell do we do?!” Ke Yongqian hissed the second he was within earshot. “They seriously arrested the Minister?! He’s the Emperor’s nephew!”
“I know what I saw,” Zhao Chao said in annoyance.
“Shouldn’t we do something about that?” Li You asked uneasily.
“Like what?” Zhao Chao snapped. “Did you want me to fight the Investigators?”
“We need to contact his godfather! He’s the highest-ranking member of the faction, surely he can do something!” Ke Yongqian urged.
Hu Qing hesitated. “No, we can’t,” he said after a moment of pause.
“What? Why?! Are we supposed to just sit around and wait to be killed?!” Ke Yongqian demanded.
“Have you even considered that he might not be trustworthy?!” Hu Qing snapped. “The palace thought the Minister was still too sick to move, and no one from the Zhao clan made a move. The Seventh Prince and Qu Boyong also wouldn’t do something so risky. We were also careful enough that the Bureau wouldn’t have reacted so quickly, then who?”
Zhao Chao gave him a look of disbelief. “The Imperial Edict Bearer? But why?! The Minister is his godson!”
Hu Qing let out a harsh sigh, rage curling up in his stomach at the thought. Why indeed? He couldn’t make sense of it. He almost hoped that his instincts were wrong.
“That doesn’t matter right now. We need to act before it’s too late.”
“You mean to extract the Minister from the Bureau?” Li You asked.
Zhao Chao gave him an incredulous look. “Are you kidding me? That’s the Bureau we speak of! And should we all become fugitives?”
“Then are we meant to silence the Imperial Edict Bearer instead?” Li You asked.
“Shut up and don’t speak unless I ask you to,” Hu Qing snapped. “As if we can do such a thing! It would only put the nails into the boards of the Minister’s coffin! Nobody makes a move for now.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“But–” Ke Yongqian began.
Hu Qing held up a hand to cut him off.
“None of us know enough about politics to intervene at such a time,” he said sternly. “One wrong move and a ten-thousand-foot abyss await us. I’m contacting Left Secretariat Sun and Chamberlain Chen. If they think I’m wrong about the Imperial Edict Bearer, we’ll change our approach. But if not, then we’ll follow their orders until further notice.”
None of them were strangers to burying unfavorable evidence and discrediting witnesses–but Hu Qing was only experienced in the act itself, not in the design. He felt a flash of regret at his previous ambivalence towards politics that left him befuddled now.
“Secure the perimeters while I make the call,” he ordered.
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Kayla sat as tense as a coiled spring inside the carriage as it rolled towards the Imperial Investigator’s Bureau. There were Investigators on either side of her, and a third one across from her. Li Que was upfront with the horseman, and two others were following the carriage from the treetops.
This is fucking insane, they don’t do all this unless they’re serious. Did I go through all that trouble just to end up in chains? Kayla thought with growing dread. The shackles around her wrists were bound together by long and heavy chains that were tightly gripped in the hands of the Investigators sitting beside her.
What is this? How much evidence do they have? Did Wei Guang completely sell me out? But then that also implicates him! Or was it someone else? Who else?
She forcibly stopped the stream of questions that clambered through her mind like a pack of rampaging beasts.
Stop, don’t panic. Calm down and think. Whoever benefits from this the most is the most likely culprit.
That still left an incredibly long list of people, with the Third Prince at the top. Come to think of it, Kuang hadn’t made a move for a while now. Had he really just chosen to back off because of Kayla’s ambiguous hints? Or had he simply taken a path she hadn’t considered before?
Kayla closed her eyes, silently gritting her nails into the palm of her hands.
Damn it, did he turn around and team up with Wei Guang after I left? Fuck.
In this accursed cesspool of a capital, someone was only quiet if they were dead. She should’ve expected the prince’s unusual silence to mean nothing good.
But is Wei Guang really getting rid of me?
If Hu Qing was also arrested–something she desperately hoped would not happen–that would cement it.
The possibility that she would not even arrive at the Bureau flitted across her mind. It wasn’t impossible that the carriage would simply go on past the city gates and dump her corpse into a ditch or a river.
I didn’t survive Xianchun’s wrath only to fall face-first into another ditch full of spikes, did I?
The carriage slowed slightly, and Kayla’s heart jolted in fear. The door opened on the moving carriage. Li Que entered and the Investigator opposite Kayla exited, the two switching places seamlessly.
Li Que sidled into the seat across from Kayla. She opened her eyes, glancing at him placidly.
“Are the shackles too tight, Your Grace?” Li Que asked.
“No, thank you for asking,” Kayla replied. Unbidden panic once again stirred up in her stomach. Was Li Que only acting considerate as an act of final compassion? Or did he not want to offend her, knowing she would be let off soon? Or was it simply the strength of his character to act with courtesy at all times? Kayla strained to cut off her train of thought.
“May I ask what all this is about, Investigator?” Kayla asked, forcing her voice to remain calm.
Li Que lowered his head slightly. “I’m afraid I can’t divulge any details at this point, Minister.”
“I see,” Kayla replied. The carriage fell into silence again. A feeling of dread crept over her as Kayla stared at the chains on her hands.
There’s not much room for me to maneuver here, is there? My life is entirely in the hands of the palace now. She gulped, trying to quash the sinking feeling in her stomach. Without Wei Guang’s support, the rest of the neutral faction would surely choose to sit this one out, which left only a small handful of people whose fates were tied to her own.
Damn it, Kayla slowly breathed out, trying to keep her fraying nerves together as the carriage trundled onwards. Hu Qing, it’s up to you to get rid of the evidence.
So long as they didn’t have concrete evidence, she could avoid execution no matter what. Her fate was in his hands.
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Hu Qing paced back and forth in the small storage closet, his communication device showing the tightly drawn faces of Sun Ruhui and Chen Caichun.
“The Imperial Edict Bearer isn’t responding to me either,” Caichun said tersely. “Perhaps we should try again later.”
“There’s no way he’s sleeping! He’s the one who pushed us to act tonight instead of tomorrow!” Hu Qing snapped. “Isn’t he just cutting us off now that he’s done?”
Sun Ruhui let out a heavy sigh. “The fact that none of us can contact him says enough about his role in the matter. But do not despair just yet, Hu Qing. The situation is not good, certainly, but it’s far from unsalvageable. Neither myself nor Chamberlain Chen has been idling around for the last few days. We may still be able to fix this.”
“Then you have a plan?” Hu Qing asked.
“We have several. The problem is which to use,” Chen Caichun cut in. “We need to figure out exactly what we are facing right now.”
“This is the Imperial Edict Bearer’s doing,” Hu Qing pointed out. “If it’s evidence against the Minister, then he has plenty!”
“Yes, but it’s not as though he can use all of it. Plenty of our actions implicate him as well, he’ll have to comb through any evidence he has to avoid dragging himself down as well,” Caichun replied. “In any case, the Minister already warned us not to fully trust the Imperial Edict Bearer, so we did prepare for this possibility. But that man’s depths are impossible to read–we don’t understand why he did this, or exactly what he did, which makes responding to the situation that much harder.”
“I’ll go ask him,” Hu Qing snarled.
“You cannot,” Sun Ruhui objected. “You of all people should be laying low right now! So long as they don’t have your testimony, we still have a chance.”
“If the Imperial Edict Bearer has already decided to completely crush the Minister, it won’t matter either way,” Hu Qing said firmly. “In any case, they wouldn’t be able to get anything out of me. I might as well go seek out what I can.”
“That’s much too reckless,” Sun Ruhui protested.
“I think it may not be a bad idea,” Chen Caichun cut in. “We need to know what the Imperial Edict Bearer has in mind if we are to minimize the damage. Hu Qing may just be the best test of his intentions if you are up to the task.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Sun Ruhui said.
“I’ll do it,” Hu Qing said firmly.
Seeing the mulish expression on Hu Qing’s face, Sun Ruhui let out a soft sigh and gave in.
“Since you’re not an official, there’s no need to go in circles, just open the door to the mountain right away,” Sun Ruhui said. “Try to remember everything he says–what he says and what he doesn’t say all tell us a lot about his intentions.”
It would be easier to simply record the conversation, but most high-ranking officials had preventative spells in their residences.
Hu Qing nodded. “Any specific questions you want me to ask?”
“You’re very good at reading people, aren’t you? If he refuses to give you any answers, then run through a list of potential outcomes and see which one he’s aiming for,” Caichun replied. “And if you have enough time, go through this list of names–we need to know if he’s teamed up with anyone, and if so, who. Most likely, it would be the Third Prince, since he’s the one who would benefit most from this situation, but we need confirmation.”
Caichun held up a list to the device. Hu Qing glanced it over, committing it to memory.
“Keep us updated,” Sun Ruhui reminded him.
“I will,” Hu Qing assured them. “Then I’ll head off now.”
He ended the call, exiting back into the courtyard where Ke Yongqian was tensely awaiting him.
“What’s the situation with the Minister?” Hu Qing asked.
“The carriage is heading towards the Bureau right now,” Ke Yongqian replied. “We’re still awaiting news of when they get there–our men can’t follow too closely, the Bureau’s got some serious security on the Minister.”
“Continue keeping an eye on the Bureau’s movements. Figure out who they’re questioning and where they’re searching,” he said to Ke Yongqian.
Ke Yongqian nodded slowly, hesitantly stepping closer and lowering his voice.
“Most of the guys want to leave,” he said cautiously. “They don’t want to get dragged into palace intrigue, so they want to bow out while they still can.”
“Fuck, this is the worst time to be short-handed!” Hu Qing snarled. “Well, fine. I should’ve expected this. But they all better keep their mouths shut and stay low until all this blows over. If I find anyone’s been eating from the bowl while pawing about outside, I’ll rip their jaw off.”
Ke Yongqian winced slightly at the threat. “Duly noted. I’ll pass the message along.”
By the time the night was over, most of those who wanted out would be gone. They had already been paid in advance, in accordance with industry standards, and no one had the guts to approach Hu Qing for extra hush money.
“So who’s leaving?” Hu Qing asked, evaluating Ke Yongqian’s expression.
Ke Yongqian gave him an awkward grin.
“Might be better to ask who’s staying on,” he admitted. “Most of them only felt comfortable getting involved with the Grand Duke’s death because they thought the throne had the Minister’s back. They don’t want to get dragged into the in-fighting, especially when the palace’s involved. You won’t hold it against them, will you?”
Hu Qing tersely shook his head. “It’s only human nature. What about you, are you leaving?”
“I’ll stay,” Ke Yongqian said. ‘I’m willing to bet on the Minister’s chances a little longer, but it’s about time all of us came up with a proper exit plan.”
Hu Qing decided to ignore the last part of Ke Yongqian’s statement. “Who else is staying?”
“Tao Qian, Li You, Zhao Chao, Sun Zhong’e, and the guys with Feng Yi are all staying, the others are either leaving or still trying to make up their minds,” Ke Yongqian said.
Hu Qing grimly glanced around, assessing the situation.
This is a fucking disaster, he concluded. A thought occurred to him, and Hu Qing let out a sharp bark of laughter.
No, this may be exactly what we need. I only hired so many people because we needed them for the coup–but now all the monitoring wards are up, and we’ll need to move with the utmost discretion. Not having a bunch of deadweights obstructing my hands and feet at every turn might actually be a good thing.
“If they’re indecisive, we’d be better off without them,” Hu Qing said. “We don’t need someone constantly worrying over the future and glancing back over their shoulders right now. I have to go see Wei Guang, so I’ll leave this place in your hands.”
“You’re going to see Wei Guang?” Ke Yongqian said in alarm. “If you get arrested, I’m also leaving. If you don’t walk out of the Wei household a free man, this is over.”
“That prostitute, Yan’er, where is she right now?” Hu Qing asked, ignoring Ke Yongqian’s warning.
“One of the guys went to buy out her contract earlier, she should be at the safe house in the Southwest district right now,” Ke Yongqian replied.
“Good, have Sun Zhong’e transfer her to the main safehouse and shut down all the other ones,” Hu Qing said. “Be sure to destroy anything that can be used as evidence.”
“Got it,” Ke Yongqian replied. “Be careful.”
Hu Qing gave him a reassuring pat on the back before leaping onto the roof and sprinting off.
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Cultural Notes
嚼舌根/Chew on the base of your tongue: A Chinese saying meaning to waggle your tongue, to go around talking about others, especially your own family/clan/place of employment.
万丈深渊/Ten-thousand foot abyss: An Ancient Chinese proverb often referring to a path of no return or serious consequences, but can also be used to refer to a physical abyss/cliff/chasm.
深不可测/Deep beyond evaluation: An Ancient Chinese proverb used to describe someone's true abilities as unfathomable, meaning they are very good at being hard to read. Can also be used to refer to a physical depth of water.
开门见山/Open the door to the mountain: An Ancient Chinese proverb that means to get straight to the point, it remains common in daily life even today. As a proverb that was used many times in Book 1, it once again appears in Book 2.
吃里扒外/Eat inside and paw about outside: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning to be a two-timer, double-agent, or a traitorous bastard. Usually refers to a situation in which you betray your master to someone else.
撕烂他的嘴/Rip their mouth apart: A Chinese insult that has been in use for quite a while now, likely since the late Qing dynasty. It's often seen in harem intrigue dramas to refer to an incoming storm of face-slapping and so on so forth, but has made its way into popular usage. Hu Qing takes the "rip apart" a bit more literally than most.
纸包不住火/Fire can't be wrapped by paper: A Chinese saying meaning that you can't cover up a mistake with paltry excuses, especially when it has far-reaching consequences or spirals out of control. Even if you manage to hide the problem for a time, it won't last and may even become worse.
撑腰/Support [your] waist: A Chinese phrase meaning to have backing, to have the support of a powerful person (a relative, mentor, employer, or patron). Often used in situations when someone takes on a risky task with the promise of having their backer's support.
人之常情/Common sentiments of man: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning "It's only human nature", often used to express understanding for someone's actions.
瞻前顾后/Look forward and watch [over your] back: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning to be cautious. It can be used as a precaution or advice, such as "you should look forward and watch over your back while you make a move". However, it can also be derogatory, as in to be overly cautious and thus unable to act decisively. Notably, it can also be derogatory in its negative form 瞻前不顾后/Looking forward without watching your back, which means to be overly careless.