All of Fan Changyu’s attention was fixed on the man pinned beneath her hand. This man was far too cunning—on the way here, he had deliberately struck up conversation with her, attempting to divert her attention. Once, he had nearly tripped her and snatched the knife from her hand.

After that, Fan Changyu grew wary. Whatever he said, she ignored completely. When he angered her, she would slice a small wound on him as a warning.

Now that they had reached the city tower, Fan Changyu only had time to hastily sweep her eyes over the scene before her, and for a moment she failed to recognize that the one wearing the Azure Ghost mask was Xie Zheng.

Head Constable Wang, upon seeing that they had bound a whole group of people together like stringed rice dumplings, was somewhat dumbfounded. He asked the county magistrate, “My lord, this is…?”

The county magistrate, seeing the resentful commoners glaring up at him below, felt some fear in his heart. Yet when he thought that Qingping County could now be defended, that the people would have someone to vent their anger on, and that later, in Jizhou Prefecture, he could claim the merit of pacifying the Qingping County riot, perhaps even earn a promotion—his fat flesh ceased trembling at once.

He adopted the inscrutable demeanor of an old hand in officialdom. “The matter of grain collection supervised by the generals from Jizhou Prefecture has drawn the people’s wrath,” he said. “The commoners must be given an explanation. Hence, this official, though overstepping my station, has ordered these military officers bound.”

As he spoke, he glanced once at Fan Changyu, confirming that she would not take the initiative to reveal that he was actually the one who had been imprisoned. Seeing that, his expression grew even more confident.

The servants of the county yamen each wore a different look, but they were long accustomed to being the magistrate’s lackeys. If the magistrate called white black, they would shut their eyes and agree. How could they expose him at such a time?

Fan Changyu truly showed not the slightest trace of emotion on her face. To those who looked upon her, she appeared an honest, sensible girl—one who knew her place and did not compete for credit.

Those like Head Constable Wang, who had no idea what had really transpired, simply regarded Fan Changyu as background decoration. All his attention was focused on the magistrate. Though he still harbored a few doubts, the facts were before him: the magistrate had dared to bind these soldiers of his own accord. That took some nerve. He praised, “My lord is righteous indeed.”

The magistrate thought: this city gate was guarded by Wang the constable and his men; even the capture of the leading general was done by his hand. When the matter is settled, and Jizhou Prefecture rewards merit, Wang should be first in line for credit. If I wish to later steal that credit for myself, I must first flatter him a bit. 

Thus, he said aloud, “It is also thanks to you, Head Constable Wang, for having already stationed men here. Were it not for that, the rebels would have entered the city by now. To lull the officials and soldiers from Jizhou into letting down their guard, I pretended to dismiss you from your post. As expected, you did not disappoint me.”

Head Constable Wang felt guilty at heart and quickly said, “Wang Chuanxian feels deeply ashamed…”

He was about to say that it had been Fan Changyu’s idea, but when he looked up, he saw her desperately winking at him.

Fan Changyu was only too eager for the magistrate to take all the credit.

She wasn’t stupid. The man she had tied up was an official from Jizhou Prefecture. If he were to die, that so-called General Wei Xuan above him would surely hold a grudge against her once he heard her name.

She was just a common girl. If she were pushed to the forefront, at best she’d receive some gold and silver rewards and become famous across Qingping County—but the price would be the hatred of a man whose single finger could crush her. Whether she would even live long enough to spend those rewards was another matter entirely.

Besides, if this man under her hand were dragged out for the people to vent their anger upon and somehow survived, he would definitely resent her. Although she had already hinted—somewhat unscrupulously—that she was acting on behalf of the magistrate, that cowardly and fearful magistrate hardly looked like the sort of man with enough scheming to have orchestrated all this.

Now that the magistrate, eager for merit, had spun his tale with such convincing detail, successfully diverting all hatred toward himself, Fan Changyu was secretly delighted.

Head Constable Wang, however, was utterly confused. Seeing Fan Changyu signaling him not to speak, the words he had been about to say stuck in his throat.

Just then, the commoners below the city tower saw the magistrate arriving and immediately putting on his official airs again. Countless people felt indignant and began to shout curses:

“Dog official! How will you answer for those ten-odd lives from Ma Family Village? Will you pay with the lives of your entire family?”

The magistrate had never in his life heard such crude words. His mind was still full of thoughts of how, once promoted, he would rise smoothly through the ranks. Hearing the shouting, his mustache trembled with rage. “Insolent rabble! How dare you curse an official of the imperial court!”

The fragile calm that Head Constable Wang and Xie Zheng had painstakingly restored through both threat and persuasion was shattered again by that single outburst.

Taking advantage of the uproar, the agitators hidden among the crowd began fanning the flames:

“You all saw it! This dog official still doesn’t see us as human and never intended to give us an explanation!”

“If we really let them trick us back home, then tomorrow it’ll be the yamen’s lackeys with their batons coming to beat us to death!”

“Kill the magistrate! Seek justice!”

The farmers’ fury surged once more. Waving their farm tools, they shouted in unison. The small city gate tower, under that roar of voices, seemed like a lone boat on a raging sea—one crashing wave could shatter it into splinters.

Seeing this momentum, the magistrate panicked. He hurriedly ordered his household guards to drag Sui Yuanqing and his men forward. “I am but a small county magistrate, I have no authority over the grain levy! The entire matter was overseen by the officials from Jizhou Prefecture. As for the tragedy at Ma Family Village, this official knew nothing of it. Since you all seek justice, I can only defy heaven’s law and bind them to give you an explanation!”

As he spoke, he gave a command: “Open the city gates—send them out!”

Xie Zheng’s gaze had all this time been fixed coldly on Sui Yuanqing. When he saw Sui Yuanqing’s lips curl faintly at those words, and noticed several agitators in the crowd glancing toward Sui Yuanqing as well, his voice rang out, icy and commanding: “This man cannot be allowed to leave the city.”

Head Constable Wang hastily added, “My lord, the gates must not be opened! If they are, the rebels outside will swarm in like bees, and the commoners within the city will suffer greatly!”

It was at that moment that Fan Changyu, hearing Xie Zheng’s voice, finally realized that the masked man was him. She looked up in astonishment toward him.

Sui Yuanqing, hearing his voice as well, frowned slightly and began to study the man standing not far away.

While the magistrate and Head Constable Wang were still arguing, a sharp “whoosh” split the air—several sleeve arrows shot up from the crowd below, aimed straight at the magistrate and Fan Changyu.

Along with the arrows came the sound of grappling hooks striking the earthen parapet of the wall. A group of men dressed as farmers—death warriors in disguise—climbed swiftly up the ropes, stepping on heads as they scrambled toward the top of the city tower.

Head Constable Wang cried out in alarm, drawing his blade. “Protect the lord magistrate!”

Fan Changyu saw one of the arrows flying directly toward her face. She instinctively turned her head aside to dodge—but the man she had pinned beneath her suddenly lunged forward, meeting the edge of the boning knife in her hand. Avoiding his neck, he dragged his shoulder hard along the blade, tearing a bloody gash through his flesh—and slicing through the rope that bound him.

By the time Fan Changyu reacted, she saw blood welling from a new wound on his shoulder. The man, bleeding freely, turned toward her with a sinister, malicious grin.

Her heart sank—something was wrong. Reflexively she leapt backward, but Sui Yuanqing was even faster. Breaking free of the ropes, he seized the saber from a nearby yamen officer and swung it straight at Fan Changyu.

The killing technique honed on the battlefield through countless heads was ruthless and unimaginably swift.

The boning knife in Fan Changyu’s hand was far too short; against the long blade in Sui Yuanqing’s grasp, she held no advantage. When she raised her knife to block, the force that came down on it was so fierce that her tiger’s mouth went numb from the shock.

After catching the sleeve arrow that had been shot toward Fan Changyu, Xie Zheng saw Sui Yuanqing break free and turn his blade upon her. His expression changed instantly—he was just about to rush over to help when the death warriors scaling the tower by their grappling hooks seemed to perceive his intent. While continuing to fire hidden darts at Fan Changyu, they split several men off to entangle him.