Breaking the Deadlock

Li Huowang’s words landed like a stone in still water, and the faces around him shifted with varying shades of unease.

They were willing to help the Chief Recorder deal with the man who had stolen from him, sure—but that didn’t mean they wanted to wade into the swamp of a succession war.

“You!” Fo Yulu was so furious she could have spat blood, but she couldn’t make a move. The Supervisory Heavenly Office’s most sacred rule was to avoid entangling itself with the imperial court.

It wasn’t that touching the court would bring immediate doom. But once you did, your future within the Office was finished. A very troublesome thing.

She kept throwing threats, but the moment Li Huowang saw she really was hamstrung by that prohibition, the initiative began to swing back into his hands.

Half an hour later, the encirclement dispersed on its own.

“Kid! Don’t think you can run! I’ll be watching you. The day the new emperor takes the throne is the day you die. Let’s go!”

The woman spun on her heel and stalked off in a fury, her people trailing behind.

Hong Da was about to leave as well, but Li Huowang stepped directly into his path.

“Brother Hong, we haven’t seen each other in ages. Surely you’re not leaving so soon? Let me be the host—we’ll have a proper drink!”

Li Huowang understood that forcing a temporary retreat wasn’t enough. To truly bury this problem, he needed more.

One incense stick later, in the number-one private room of Yangquan Tavern, Li Huowang glanced at the exquisite dishes and Hong Da’s silent face, then picked up his own flask and filled his cup.

“Come. I’ll drink three to you, Brother Hong.”

As the cup reached his lips, Li Huowang stared into the strong liquor and silently chanted, This is water. This is water.

Three cups down, Li Huowang smiled, picked up his chopsticks, and took a bite of vegetables to settle his stomach.

“Brother Hong, don’t just sit there. Eat! Why be so polite with me? Back then, if you hadn’t recommended me, I’d never have gotten into the Supervisory Heavenly Office.”

Hong Da let out a long sigh. He wasn’t a fool. The man had invited him to a meal for no reason, and he was caught in the most awkward position of all—stuck in the middle. He, too, wanted the conflict resolved.

“Fine. I’ll give you some face and play mediator, since we know each other. Return the Taixu Sword to her. I’ll say a few good words on your behalf, and this whole thing will be over.”

“Return it to her?” Li Huowang glanced at the spine-sword resting against the stool beside him and immediately shook his head.

A weapon this good—how could he give it back? Besides, he couldn’t tolerate the idea of Zhuge Yuan’s corpse being desecrated.

“Brother Hong, please take a message to that young lady. We’re all colleagues in the Supervisory Heavenly Office. I don’t want to make this ugly. I’m not returning the sword, but I can trade something of equal value to settle the debt.”

Hearing this, Hong Da’s brow furrowed. He set down his chopsticks.

“How are you going to do that? This Taixu Sword was forged from a Heart-Pan! Do you know how much that costs in the Inner Repository? Fo Yulu only borrowed it!”

“At this rate, don’t blame me for not remembering old ties. The Office already knows the full story of what happened. Even if you run to the ends of the earth, you won’t escape.”

Li Huowang raised his cup again, holding it between himself and Hong Da. “A tool forged from a Heart-Pan? Well, what if I trade a Heart-Element for it?”

“A Heart-Element?” Hong Da’s body leaned back slightly. He paused for a few breaths, then his expression calmed. He took a sip of wine and asked, in a deliberately offhand tone, “A whole Heart-Element? Alive or dead?”

The moment he heard that, Li Huowang’s heart settled. The deadlock, he knew, had finally been broken.

“Heh. Come, eat first. The food will get cold.” The seller never chases the buyer. Now that Hong Da had loosened up, Li Huowang was in no hurry.

Over the clinking of cups and a dance of mutual probing, Hong Da eventually agreed to go back and ask.

After all, this was between Li Huowang and Fo Yulu. He was only a go-between; he couldn’t decide the outcome.

But from Hong Da’s attitude, Li Huowang felt the odds were good. If it didn’t work, he could just toss in a second Heart-Element.

With business settled, the two turned to small talk.

They weren’t particularly close—just men who had worked together once. But under the influence of the strong liquor, they began to sling arms around each other’s shoulders.

“Erjiu, how did you end up tying yourself to the imperial family? You should have asked me first before jumping into something like that. Let me tell you, that road is no good. If it were an easy path, do you think there’d be any left for you?”

“Serving the emperor is like sleeping beside a tiger—and worse, today he’s the emperor, but tomorrow he might not be. No matter how good the promises sound, they’re all empty. The Office is a steadier berth. You’ve painted yourself into a corner, my friend.”

Li Huowang smiled but said nothing. Hong Da had no idea he had been forced into this by the Dice. If not for that pressure, he would never have come to the capital in this lifetime.

“Well, the bets are all placed now. Let’s not talk about me, Brother Hong. What about you? How have you been these days?”

“Ha. What do you think? A mountain of bullshit. The Teaching of Law sect is rising up every single day—it’s driving me mad. At least the pay is decent. I’ve been running all over the place these past few months. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be out there chasing the Law sect’s tail.”

“Has the Teaching of Law spread that badly through Great Liang? Can the Office still handle it?” Li Huowang glanced at Qiu Chibao and asked, a note of worry creeping into his voice.

Hong Da used his ivory chopsticks to pick up a slippery piece of chicken-and-mushroom and popped it into his mouth, speaking a little drunkenly. “We’re managing. Now that the Four Qi Supervisory Heavenly Office has been merged into Great Liang, we have a bit more breathing room on manpower.”

“Why did the Four Qi Supervisory Heavenly Office suddenly merge into Great Liang?” Li Huowang was genuinely startled by this news.

“Heh. You haven’t heard, Brother Er? Four Qi has fallen.”

The alcohol-induced haze cleared from Li Huowang’s mind in an instant. He had come from Four Qi. True, it was a small state, but for it to just suddenly collapse was too abrupt.

He thought of the abbess he had met there, and Zhengde Temple. He couldn’t stop himself from asking, “How did it just suddenly lose the war like that?”

“What do you mean ‘just suddenly’? It’s been fighting for ages. Great Liang is the only stable place. Everywhere else, they’ve been bashing each other’s brains out. We just didn’t feel it because it was far away.”

“Then why didn’t the new court keep the Supervisory Heavenly Office? Isn’t it said that every dynasty—no matter who holds power—must have a Supervisory Heaven?”

The Supervisory Heavenly Office existed precisely to deal with Heavenly Calamities. Only a complete fool would move against it. If the Heavenly Calamities went unmanaged, even the most solid dynasty would be as fragile as paper.

Hong Da shook his head and took another sip. “How would I know that? If I knew that much, I’d be the Bureau Director myself. Anyway, times are hard everywhere these days. It’s all war.”

For some reason, when he learned that Four Qi had fallen and its new court had abolished the Supervisory Heavenly Office, Li Huowang felt a strange, gnawing unease. It did not feel like a good omen.

He glanced again at Qiu Chibao, who was mechanically chewing on a piece of chicken, over and over. Is there a connection? he wondered silently. Please don’t let everything from Great Qi repeat itself here...