Cheng Shaogong arrived in Copper Bull County under the disdainful gaze of his younger sister. Looking around, he saw a desolate scene with sparse population and a deserted marketplace. He wrinkled his nose in dissatisfaction and remarked, "The governor of Chen Commandery has been rather negligent in his duties. First, a county magistrate under his jurisdiction defected, and now he's failed to properly restore the city after the war."
"Yan Zhong fled only after the governor of Chen Commandery had already died in service," Ling Buyi stated.
Cheng Shaogong was startled.
Shao Shang said, "Third Brother, didn't you even look at the map? I did my homework before coming here. Chen Commandery borders Shouchun. Before the imperial army arrived to suppress the rebellion when Rebel Peng raised his banner, most of the county towns in the commandery had fallen into the hands of the rebels. The governor of Chen Commandery was among the first loyal martyrs who died defending their cities. The reason Copper Bull County held out for so long was because of its sturdy walls and high fortifications, making it difficult to breach." Doing preparatory work before class is a habit of top students, you know.
Cheng Shaogong asked in surprise, "Then what about Uncle Wan's Xu Commandery?"
"Xu Commandery is separated from Shouchun by an entire Qingyang Commandery."
Cheng Shaogong sighed, "Ah, back then I cast Uncle Wan's destiny chart, and it showed an auspicious fate that turns misfortune into fortune. He always encounters great luck amidst misfortune. His birth father died early, but Old Madam Wan was capable. When the world fell into chaos, he met Father and Mother."
Shao Shang retorted, "Third Brother, stop being so mystical all the time. When Uncle Wan swore brotherhood with Father, the Cheng family had only gathered a few hundred soldiers and lacked provisions and weapons. Coming from a poor and remote countryside, no one took us seriously. But Uncle Wan treated Father with sincerity and as an equal, which is why Father and Mother reciprocated with utmost sincerity—being able to trust those who are trustworthy is itself a tremendous ability."
Ling Buyi suddenly turned back and asked, "Then do you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you! I trust you so much that even if the seas run dry and the rocks crumble, I'll never change my mind!"
Ling Buyi suddenly turned stern: "Good. If you ever go back on your word, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"
With that, he spurred his horse forward, followed by Xiao Hou Ban with his head bowed, leaving behind a Cheng Shaogong trembling with suppressed laughter and a dumbfounded Shao Shang.
Cheng Shaogong laughed heartily: "Little sister, let me give you some advice. Sweet words are fine, but you can't just spout them thoughtlessly. Insincere sweet talk is like patting a horse's leg when you meant to flatter it!"
Shao Shang responded by kicking the horse her brother was riding on its hindquarters.
The group was greeted by a deputy county magistrate surnamed Yin, a local who was said to belong to the same clan but a different branch as the Yin Commandery Deputy promoted by Comrade Lao Wan. He was now the only remaining official in Copper Bull County. Deputy Magistrate Yin seemed to have suffered greatly, looking haggard and speaking in a subdued tone. He was extremely deferential to Shao Shang's group, answering almost every question they had.
Copper Bull County was a fortunate survivor in the war-torn times. Initially, its high walls prevented it from being breached. Later, when Magistrate Yan defected, he handed over his official seals and credentials to a General Ma from Rebel Peng's camp. The general pretended to be Magistrate Yan returning with reinforcements and tricked his way into opening the city gates. Then, some of the local officials and soldiers were imprisoned, some were recruited, and the majority who neither wanted to resist to the death nor surrender fled overnight to Qingyang Commandery when they saw the magistrate gone and the enemy entering the city.
In short, the common people of the city suffered little harm—just a few instances of unpaid meals and the looting of some wealthy households' possessions. Lives and women were all preserved.County Magistrate Yin, though timid, stubbornly refused to surrender and was imprisoned until the defending general was persuaded to surrender by Lou Yao's elder brother. Shao Shang immediately regarded him with deep respect, showering him with a string of seventeen or eighteen idioms praising his loyalty that would be remembered for generations, calling him a pillar of the state, a man of noble spirit, and utterly different from those traitors like clouds from mud... and so on.
County Magistrate Yin smiled faintly. "Actually, Magistrate Yan wasn’t a bad person. Though he was somewhat aloof and solitary, rarely speaking much with us in private, he did many good deeds for the people during his tenure. Even when his family faced hardship, he managed on his own. Who would have thought it would come to this..."
Shao Shang smiled—this was the first person so far to speak in Yan Zhong’s defense. She asked, "Why don’t you tell us the full story of Magistrate Yan’s defection?"
County Magistrate Yin sighed deeply and invited everyone to dismount and continue the discussion in detail at the rear courtyard of the county office.
"It feels like a dream now. That morning, Magistrate Yan seemed no different than usual, except for a faint look of shame on his face. He asked me where my wife, children, and elderly parents were staying. I told him my parents and children had been sent to the countryside for safety, but my wife refused to leave. After that, I went about my usual duties—inspecting the city defenses and checking on the garrison troops. But when I returned from having lunch on the city walls, I heard that the magistrate had left the city with his family and those two thousand catties of refined copper, claiming he was going to fetch reinforcements."
"Who told you Magistrate Yan was going for reinforcements?" Shao Shang quietly took out a small bamboo slip and charcoal pencil from her sleeve, carefully recording the details. Ling Buyi glanced at her with an amused smile.
County Magistrate Yin replied, "Assistant Magistrate Li Feng. The magistrate left first, and Li Feng followed afterward. It was Li Feng who left word with the gate guards."
"How many people were in Magistrate Yan’s household?"
"Six in total. The magistrate was a filial son—a few years ago, he brought his elderly parents to live with him so he could care for them. He also had two young children and two concubines."
"All six left together, and no one found it strange enough to question it?" Shao Shang found this unbelievable.
County Magistrate Yin gave a bitter smile. "The magistrate was a stern man, unsmiling and severe. Over the years, he had built up such authority that we subordinates dared not question him too much."
Shao Shang nodded, and County Magistrate Yin continued.
"I was half-convinced, half-doubting. Then, as dusk approached, I saw a dense mass of troops approaching from the city walls. The leading general presented the magistrate’s official seal and command token, and their uniforms..."
Ling Buyi indicated his understanding—since they were local troops, their uniforms would naturally be the same.
"Then the city gates were tricked open. By the time we realized something was wrong, it was too late." County Magistrate Yin lowered his head with a long sigh. "Later, in prison, I met Li Feng. He said the magistrate had abandoned us, taken the refined copper, and sold Copper Bull County to the rebels. Li Feng claimed he didn’t want to follow, so he tried to escape, but was caught anyway. After that, my wife brought me food and told me the news had spread everywhere—that Magistrate Yan had defected to the enemy and taken those two thousand catties of refined copper with him."
Shao Shang frowned. "So, up to now, everything about Magistrate Yan’s defection has been hearsay?"
County Magistrate Yin shook his head in distress and took out a bamboo scroll from his sleeve, presenting it to everyone. On it were eight words:
"Greed clouded my judgment. My heart is full of shame." County Clerk Yin said, "There are about forty or fifty bamboo scrolls like this, and these are just the ones that remain—many of the original ones were burned. These were all written by Magistrate Yan during those days. Having served together in the same county for so many years, I couldn’t mistake the magistrate’s handwriting. Later, some servants also testified that they had personally seen the magistrate shut himself in his study, writing these eight characters over and over..."
Cheng Shao Gong gave a dry laugh. "For a traitor, this Magistrate Yan still had some conscience, knowing he had done wrong."
Xiao Hou Ban, however, remained stern-faced. "So what? Who in this world isn’t afraid of death? As if he’s the only one with greed?!"
Shao Shang knew that one of Ban Jia’s uncles had been executed by enemy troops for refusing to surrender, and she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Ling Buyi suddenly asked, "Where is Li Feng now?"
County Clerk Yin replied, "Dead."
Everyone was shocked.
"Ah, when he was first imprisoned, he was still full of energy, insisting we wouldn’t be locked up for long. I asked him how he knew, and he said the imperial army would soon arrive. I grew even more disheartened, thinking that if the army really did come and cornered the rebels, they might kill us first as a warning. But Li Feng firmly believed otherwise."
County Clerk Yin looked despondent. "Perhaps because he spoke without restraint and kept making reckless remarks, he finally angered the guards. One night, they stormed into the prison and killed him right in front of me. Who would have thought that just a few days later, the rebels guarding the city surrendered, and we were all released? Ah... Old Li..."
As the sun set in the west, everyone couldn’t help but reflect on the unpredictability of life. Shao Shang leaned on her brush, displeased, thinking that yet another lead had been lost.
Ling Buyi suddenly asked, "You mentioned your wife once brought you food. Did Li Feng’s family also bring him meals?"
County Magistrate Yin praised, "Lord Ling, you are truly meticulous. Indeed, while we were imprisoned, Li Feng’s wife also came once. Ah, to think that couple was truly a case of a clever wife paired with a foolish husband. Li Feng was careless and impulsive, never thinking things through, but his wife was extremely cautious and sharp. My old wife once dealt with her and said she was the type to knock three times on a stone bridge to test its stability before crossing. When she came to deliver food and visit, she kept worrying whether Li Feng would be released. Li Feng whispered a few words to her, and she left reassured. Now it seems she was right after all."
"Where is Li Feng’s family now?" Shao Shang caught on immediately and pressed for answers.
County Magistrate Yin was taken aback and sighed. "They probably fled. A woman that timid and cautious wouldn’t dare stay in the county. In any case, I never heard from them again. In the end, it was I who collected Li Feng’s body."
...
For the next two days, Shao Shang stayed obediently in the county office as instructed by Ling Buyi, continuously questioning servants and rummaging through the rooms where the Yan family had once lived. Meanwhile, Ling Buyi led a team to search for the last remaining lead—Li Feng’s wife and children.
Two days later, Shao Shang carried a stack of tightly bound bamboo scrolls to the county office’s main hall to find Ling Buyi. Hesitantly, she asked, "...Do you really think Magistrate Yan defected and fled to the enemy?"
Ling Buyi was holding a small piece of silk, and Liang Qiuqi stood beside him, his expression equally grave.
Hearing her question, Ling Buyi replied gently, "What’s wrong? Did you discover something?"Shao Shang took out a long roll of fine linen and unfolded it for Ling Buyi to see: "Magistrate Yan has been diligent in governance. Over the years, he has encouraged agriculture and sericulture, established village schools, dug three canals, and paved two roads... Look, here are the two slopes he recently planned to cultivate, with every regulation and detail meticulously recorded. If he intended to leave immediately, why would he plan so much?"
"And then?"
"I thought it over and decided we should ask General Ma, who tricked the city gates open, how he managed to obtain Magistrate Yan’s seal and token."
Ling Buyi sighed softly and pulled the girl to sit beside him: "I have two things to tell you, both bad news. First, Shouchun City fell yesterday. Uncle Cui achieved a great victory and captured Peng Zhen alive."
"That’s good news," Shao Shang smiled brightly. "Were the casualties heavy?"
"Not heavy, but unfortunately, General Ma Rong, whom you wanted to question, is dead."
Liang Qiuqi added, "He was reportedly killed by a stray arrow—died on the spot."
Shao Shang’s expression darkened, her heart clouded with unease. The sense of conspiracy was too strong.
Ling Buyi continued, "The second piece of bad news: Li Feng’s family is also dead. It turns out they left Copper Bull County that very night. I had Liang Qiuqi split the troops to investigate along the way, and someone finally reported seeing the woman, her children, and several servants and guards. Later, we found their hastily buried bodies at the foot of a hill outside the city. All their belongings had been looted, likely to make it seem like the work of bandits."
Shao Shang leaned closer to Ling Buyi, tense. "You also think it wasn’t bandits?"
"Too many coincidences—it’s hard not to be suspicious."
"What do we do now?" Shao Shang asked, bewildered. "Have all the leads been cut off? Did you examine the bodies of Li Feng’s wife? Was there anything—"
"Nothing. The bodies, clothes, carts, luggage—nothing. The cleanup was thorough." Ling Buyi wore a self-mocking smile. "I even had people investigate whom Li Feng’s wife met or what she left behind from the time she left the prison visit until she fled Copper Bull County that night. Still, nothing. Li Feng was an outsider who hadn’t been in Copper Bull County long. At the time, Ma Rong had just taken over, and the county was in turmoil. No neighbors dared to speak with her."
"She didn’t go anywhere else?" Shao Shang felt a pang of despair.
Ling Buyi glanced at Liang Qiuqi, who thought for a moment and answered, "She only went to a pawnshop to pawn a jade pendant and had a loud argument with the pawnshop staff."
Shao Shang chuckled. "From what I’ve heard these past two days, everyone says Li Feng’s wife was quiet and even-tempered. Seems she had to abandon her good temper to scrape together travel funds."
Liang Qiuqi said, "Reportedly, the woman kept insisting the jade pendant was left by her father-in-law, who had been a village chief, and demanded at least a thousand coins. But the pawnshop claimed the jade was of poor quality and offered only three hundred coins. So they argued—many in the shop heard it..."
Shao Shang suddenly stood up, radiating intensity.
Liang Qiuqi stopped speaking, and Ling Buyi looked at her, amused. "What have you realized?"
Shao Shang’s eyes sparkled. "Li Feng was a posthumous child. His father died in an accident before reaching adulthood. Li Feng was raised by his clan—his father never served as a village chief!"Ling Buyi reacted instantly: "Liang Qiuqi, send men to search in the direction Yan Zhong left. If there's a pavilion, dig there immediately!"
Liang Qiuqi clasped his fists in acknowledgment and swiftly departed to carry out the order.
Shao Shang's heart pounded wildly, sensing that some truth was finally about to be revealed.
After an agonizing wait that lasted most of the day, as darkness began to fall, a Flying cavalry messenger finally returned with news—they had found it. At Wangfeng Pavilion, eighty li outside Copper Bull County City.
This time, not only did Shao Shang insist on going, but even County Magistrate Yin, Ban Jia, and others joined to witness the discovery.
When they arrived at the mountain-backed Wangfeng Pavilion, the pitch-black, freezing night was pierced by the mournful cries of owls near and far. The surrounding guards and soldiers held aloft tall torches, maintaining complete silence, as if participating in some eerie, wordless ritual.
Before the pavilion, a massive pit had already been excavated. Inside lay twelve charred black-and-red corpses in disarray—clearly murdered before being burned.
Though their faces were unrecognizable, their skeletal remains allowed the coroner to determine: one elderly woman in her sixties, two men around fifty, one woman about forty, two women under thirty, two children under ten, plus two young men and two teenage girls—a perfect match for Yan Zhong's household of six, plus one elderly servant, Mother Fu, two maidservants, and two guards.
Most telling was the elderly woman in her sixties—her left hand had six fingers, matching the distinctive physical trait of Yan Zhong's aged mother.
Feeling a surge of fear, Shao Shang took a slight step back. Glancing sideways, she saw Ling Buyi's face cold as frost, yet his eyes burned brighter than the surrounding torches. She nudged him: "You... have you figured everything out now...?"
Ling Buyi turned slightly and lowered his head: "Do you remember how before we departed the courier station, we carefully questioned the Wan family's old servant about where he'd gone while staying in the Capital City?"
Shao Shang nodded: "The Han family, the Lin family, Wan Songbai's wife's maternal home... Actually, Uncle Wan didn't have many connections among the Capital's nobility and wouldn't casually send A'Fu to deliver gifts."
"You missed one household."
"Which one?"
"Your Cheng household!"
Shao Shang froze, then let out a laugh that sounded strangely hollow: "Our family's gifts had already been delivered by then. A'Fu was very busy during that period and didn't come to our home again."
"Not to deliver gifts—to attend an engagement banquet." Ling Buyi's voice remained utterly flat. "Our engagement banquet."
Shao Shang fell silent, only gripping her robe tightly, an inexplicable dread rising in her heart.
"There is a certain man, one of great reputation—so esteemed that even someone as upright and reclusive as Yan Zhong would willingly befriend him."
"This man is not only socially adept with wide connections, but during his travels he's also cultivated relationships with many martial artists who could secretly carry out murders for him."
"He also has numerous fellow disciples and colleagues who could find intermediaries to persuade Huang Wen to impeach Wan Songbai."
"Most importantly, he too attended our engagement banquet that day. And given the closeness between the Cheng and Wan families, the Wan family's old servant would certainly have personally delivered congratulations."
Shao Shang's pupils contracted as if struck mute, unable to speak a word.
Ling Buyi gently touched her head with pity: "Yes, exactly the person you're thinking of."
Neither spoke further. Ling Buyi immediately ordered Flying cavalry to the courier station to fetch Wan Songbai and his servant, instructing them to take a back route directly to Qingyang Commandery's administrative seat—where Cui Hou's main army was stationed.After a day of swift travel on horseback, Ling Buyi and his party encountered Wan Songbai and his servant outside the city walls of Qingyang County's administrative center. Shao Shang said softly, "Uncle's injuries haven't healed yet. It would have been the same if A'Fu came instead."
Wan Songbai clutched his nearly reopened wound and said with difficulty, "Though I don't know your purpose, it's good to identify people, lest I become a wronged ghost."
Upon entering the city, the group followed Ling Buyi directly to a two-story tavern. The tavern was bustling with activity—armored soldiers and sword-bearing scholars drinking, clinking swords, pounding tables, and singing loudly, exuberantly celebrating the great victory at Shouchun.
Without entering the tavern, Ling Buyi stood beneath a second-floor window and called out loudly, "Is Lou Ben, Lou Ziwei here? Ling Zisheng has come to visit."
The surroundings seemed to quiet slightly, and then the central window on the second floor slowly opened, revealing a young scholar. Though his features were ordinary, his bearing was imposing and dignified, like a leader naturally suited to command from the court.
The Wan family master and servant looked up and gasped in unison.
Wan Songbai exclaimed, "It's him! But... why would he go to see that old traitor Yan Zhong?"
Wan Fu also said, "That's right! This was the man at the Overlapping Water Shrine that day. Though he's changed his clothes, I couldn't possibly be mistaken!"
Shao Shang's last hope vanished. She lowered her head and stood aside, the image of Lou Yao's innocent, sunny smile flashing before her eyes—surely the entire clan wouldn't be executed.
Author's Note: I've already revised Chapter 118. I don't know which genius reported me, but I've changed what needed changing and deleted what needed deleting. If anyone reports me again, I'll have no choice but to remove the entire carriage scene.
Heavens! How could this happen?!
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