When several Jizhou garrison soldiers who had been robbed of their horses caught up, they saw a man wearing an azure ghost mask standing by the official road, hands clasped behind him around a long spear, gazing toward the rolling river below.

When Mu Shi fell from his horse, one of his legs was injured. He lay sprawled among the rubble beside the road, crying out toward the river with tears streaming down his face: “Heir Apparent!”

The Jizhou soldiers did not understand what was happening. Weapons raised, they looked at the masked man with some trepidation. Suddenly, the man turned, gave them a faint glance, and said calmly, “The bandit has fled into the river. There’s a wound at his waist—he won’t swim far. You can follow downstream to search.”

After saying this, he swung onto his horse and galloped away. The soldiers dared not stop him.

Only one young soldier, sharp-eyed, recognized the horse beneath the man—it was Captain Xu’s warhorse.

Captain Xu was the junior officer from whom Xie Zheng had stolen a mount earlier.

The soldiers looked at one another, no one daring to speak. After a moment, their leader ordered that the injured Mu Shi be bound, sending some men downstream to search for Sui Yuanqing, while the rest escorted Mu Shi back to make their report.

· ─ ·✶· ─ · 

At the gates of Qingping County, the rioting townspeople had been subdued.

When He Jingyuan led his troops into the city, the county magistrate smeared two handfuls of blood over his own face, then came wailing miserably to greet him.

“Lord He, thank heavens you have come! Otherwise, even if this lowly official filled the city tower with his bones, I could not have stopped the rebels from storming the city…”

He Jingyuan, seated on horseback, saw the magistrate covered head to toe in blood. Though he had not held much regard for the man before, his expression softened slightly, and he said, “That the people within Qingping County have been spared calamity—Lord Liu’s merit is considerable.”

Hearing this, Magistrate Liu instantly felt the hope of promotion stir within him and wept even harder.

“This humble official has served in Qingping County for three years, with little to show for it. On the eve of my transfer, the army’s grain levies stirred unrest among the villagers. I was truly terrified. Before the mobs could break into the city, I gathered the constables of the yamen to block the gates, and even defied superiors to seize the officers who came to supervise the grain collection—only to pacify the people. Thus I was able to hold out until my lord’s arrival. I beg your lordship’s forgiveness.”

He Jingyuan had earlier heard from the man in the azure ghost mask that the turmoil had been instigated by the Heir of Prince Changxin. Now, upon hearing Magistrate Liu mention the officers sent to collect grain, he realized there was more to the matter than appeared. 

Casting the magistrate a look, he asked, “Those officers collecting grain, what of them? Tell me in detail.”

Magistrate Liu then truthfully recounted how, days earlier, a group of officers had arrived in the county demanding grain at the rate of one shi per person.

He Jingyuan shouted, “Foolishness! Since when would Jizhou Prefecture order a levy of one shi per head?”

Cold sweat streamed down Liu’s face.

“They claimed to be acting under the command of Lord Wei, the Military Commissioner. This lowly one… how would I dare oppose them? Later, I was even confined by those men. When I learned that the villagers had been driven to revolt, fearing a great disaster, I ordered my men to seize those officers.”

Afraid his credit would be diminished, Magistrate Liu made no mention of Head Constable Wang or Fan Changyu, and only summarized the events vaguely.

He Jingyuan’s expression grew grim, and Magistrate Liu’s heart rose into his throat once again.

From the magistrate’s account, He Jingyuan had already pieced together most of the truth.

The Heir of Prince Changxin had ambushed the officers sent to collect grain in Qingping County, impersonated the prefectural troops with a forged levy order, and the massacre at Ma Family Village was likely another part of their plan—all meant to incite rebellion among the county’s people.

But if the magistrate still did not know those “officers’” true identities…how had the masked man recognized Sui Yuanqing?

Could it be that the masked man had known Sui Yuanqing beforehand?

As He Jingyuan recalled his earlier suspicions, his gaze deepened with growing complexity.

He asked the magistrate, “I saw earlier upon the city wall a black-clad man wearing an azure ghost mask—he fought with great valor. Do you know who he is?”

Magistrate Liu, who had waited anxiously only to be met with this question, grew even more uneasy and shook his head.

“This… this lowly official does not know. Perhaps he was a righteous man of the city.”

Just then, the soldiers who had pursued Sui Yuanqing and his companions returned to the city.

As soon as the leader of the soldiers entered the city gates, he dismounted and clasped his fists toward He Jingyuan, saying, “My lord, the head of the bandits has fled into the river. This humble officer has already sent men to continue searching downstream, and brought back this captive first to report to you.”

He Jingyuan cast a glance at Mu Shi, who was tightly bound with ropes, and asked, “Did you see a man wearing an azure ghost mask?”

The junior officer clasped his fists and bowed his head. “That man was the one who captured this criminal. When we arrived, he told us that the bandit leader had fled into the river, then went downstream himself. It looked as though he was also pursuing the bandit leader.”

The young officer who had lost his horse couldn’t help muttering, “Then what about my horse?”

He Jingyuan shot him a sharp look, and he immediately shut his mouth.

He Jingyuan turned to Mu Shi and said, “Lock him up first. Keep a strict watch—do not let him take his own life.”

The junior officer acknowledged the order.

He Jingyuan then pointed at the same young officer who had spoken earlier. “Captain Xu, take a squad of men and search along the river. Try to capture the bandit alive.”

The young captain straightened at once, clasped his fists, and said, “At your command, my lord!”

· ─ ·✶· ─ · 

After escorting Head Constable Wang to the physician, Fan Changyu saw that the sky was growing dark yet Xie Zheng had not returned. She couldn’t help but feel anxious. After saying a few words to Head Constable Wang, she prepared to leave the city to look for Xie Zheng.

By this time, the guards at the gate had been replaced by Jizhou prefectural soldiers. They were armored and armed, looking extremely imposing, and ordinary townsfolk kept well away from them.

Fearing that accomplices of the bandits might still be hiding in the city, entry and exit were being strictly controlled. Some villagers who often came to trade had even been temporarily detained.

Fan Changyu hesitated for a moment, then decided to step forward and explain her situation, perhaps also to ask whether they had seen Yan Zheng while pursuing the enemy—after all, with the azure ghost mask on his face, he should be easy to recognize.

Just as she was about to approach, the slow rhythm of hoofbeats sounded from outside the gate. One of the guards craned his neck to look and saw a lone chestnut-red horse returning on its own.

Before Fan Changyu could react, a large hand suddenly reached from the side, seizing her wrist and pulling her several steps back.

The guards surrounding them looked out toward the road, puzzled to see no rider. “Captain Xu’s horse has returned by itself?” one of them said in confusion.

A few steps away, Fan Changyu saw a man in black robes standing before her, the azure ghost mask already removed from his face. Startled at first, she was then overcome with joy. 

Having been led along by him, she completely forgot he was still holding her hand, and spoke in a rush: “Why were you gone so long? The soldiers have already come back with their prisoners, I thought something had happened to you…”

Xie Zheng listened to her muttering without releasing his grip on her wrist. His tone was calm: “I went to chase the bandit. I followed him quite far.”

Fan Changyu immediately guessed he must be referring to that particularly cunning officer and quickly asked, “Did you catch him?”

Xie Zheng shook his head.

He had searched along the river for more than ten li, yet saw no trace of Sui Yuanqing. The man had plunged into the river wearing armor and with a wound at his waist—no matter how skilled a swimmer he was, his chances were slim.

If Sui Yuanqing truly managed to survive, then it could only be said that fate refused to take him.

Hearing that Sui Yuanqing had not been caught, Fan Changyu felt a little disappointed, then added, “They say ‘a thousand-year turtle, a ten-thousand-year softshell.’ That little bastard not dying would only prove the saying true.”

At her words, Xie Zheng’s expression darkened slightly. Remembering Sui Yuanqing’s taunting words before his escape, he asked, “You bear a grudge against him?”

Fan Changyu replied, “Originally, I didn’t. But when I heard you say the magistrate had been taken hostage, I thought to drag the magistrate out myself—so we could restore Uncle Wang’s post as constable, to make things easier for him. Who would’ve thought that little bastard was living right in the magistrate’s residence? I could only seize the turtle along the way and that’s how we became enemies.”

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes, concealing the emotion within them. “He fights well. How did you manage to capture him?”

At this, Fan Changyu felt a little embarrassed—she thought her victory somewhat dishonorable. But she was an honest person at heart, so she told the truth word for word: “There were too many of them, and I was afraid I couldn’t win in a direct fight. I wanted to use knockout powder on them, but there wasn’t any in the magistrate’s residence. So I disguised myself as one of the maids and brought that little bastard a bowl of white fungus soup mixed with ginseng and croton.”

She was still wearing that maid’s outfit, and the fair wrist half-exposed from her sleeve was being held in Xie Zheng’s grasp.

Lowering his eyes to look at her, Xie Zheng thought of how she had gone to deliver the soup to Sui Yuanqing dressed like this. Without realizing it, the pressure of his hand on her wrist tightened slightly.