Chapter 322: Schemes (Part 1)

Chapter 322: Schemes (Part 1)

While Le Wuya sighed over one set of women's clothing after another, Xiang Zhijie praised him sincerely from the side: "Big Brother's a really good guy."

He'd have been better off keeping quiet—the second he spoke, Le Wuya narrowed his eyes slightly. "...Big Brother?"

Xiang Zhijie vaguely sensed something off in his tone, but before he could dodge, he was pinched hard.

The crow refused to let him off, pecking at him relentlessly: "So you call him Big Brother, huh? Then what do I call your dad?! Huh?!"

"You don't have to call him that," Xiang Zhijie explained through the pain. "But you can call me Little Qi, like a younger brother."

The vivid image of Xiang Zhijie gritting his teeth flashed through Le Wuya's mind, and his mood suddenly lifted. "...That's right."

Xiang Zhijie lowered his head, rubbing his arm.

Le Wuya's temper flared up quickly but faded just as fast. He leaned in and rubbed the spot where he'd pinched him. "You mad?"

Xiang Zhijie kept his head down, subtly edging away from him.

Le Wuya was thick-skinned and paid it no mind, pressing his forehead against Xiang Zhijie's.

The next moment, Xiang Zhijie suddenly pulled him into an embrace, rolled them over, and lifted Le Wuya onto his chest. Trying to suppress a smile, his eyes and brows brimming with undisguised joy: "Teacher, punish me more, get mad at me more. I'm really happy."

"Hey." Le Wuya patted his chest. "Is that even a thing?"

Xiang Zhijie lifted him up a little higher, his gaze burning with intensity. "Teacher is the rule."

Le Wuya glanced at his wound. "Guess it really doesn't hurt anymore."

Only then did Xiang Zhijie feel embarrassed, a wave of it hitting him late. He gently lowered Le Wuya back down onto him and buried his face in the crook of Le Wuya's neck, letting the warmth of his cheek press against him.

...

As the Dansui matter drew to a close, Le Wuya took all the secret letters Wang Su had written to Zhou Wenhuan and went to meet Zhou Wenchang.

Le Wuya got straight to the point: "If you don't want to die, pick out everything in there that mentions 'imperial orders' or 'royal decrees' and get rid of it."

Since his rebirth, Le Wuya had grown all too familiar with situations like this.

He didn't mince words—his rise had been built on sending one person after another to prison, steadily and surely.

There were those who wept bitterly like Chen the Good, those who bashed their heads against the wall in shame like Shao Hongzhen, those scared out of their wits like Hou Peng, and those who conceded gracefully like Wei Yixian...

Among these defeated men, Zhou Wenchang stood out.

After a few days in prison, not bothering with anything, he had actually put on some weight.

It seemed the past decade hadn't been kind to him.

Hearing Le Wuya's words, he lowered his head and obediently began sorting through the letters.

Through years of grinding hardship, Zhou Wenchang had long since figured out many things.

Surveillance Commissioner Wenren was saving his life.

If this case tried to drag Wang Su down, the only way to topple him was to spin it as Wang Su "overstepping his authority," not "acting on imperial decree."

There was no way to avoid the emperor's wrath entirely.

Since the emperor would lose face either way, it was better to choose a lighter approach that wouldn't drive him to fury.

After picking out a few letters, Zhou Wenchang sneaked a look at Le Wuya outside the prison.

The man sat calmly in a grand tutor's chair, pulling a thin copy of *Book to Sons* out of his sleeve and reading it with quiet focus.

Why would Surveillance Commissioner Wenren read such a kids' primer in front of him?

Zhou Wenchang looked away, sighing inwardly:

This commissioner was truly well-connected—who knew where he'd learned of this?

It seemed he already knew what the source text for the Changmen Guard's coded communications was. Reading it openly in front of him was simply a reminder: don't try any tricks, don't get smart.

While Zhou Wenchang marveled, Le Wuya quietly peeked out with one purple eye from behind the page, watching him without blinking for a moment before returning his gaze to the book.

Le Wuya liked clever people.

Especially those who thought they were clever, like Zhou Wenchang.

Look—he hadn't even asked, and he'd already filled in the whole story of why Le Wuya had brought the book.

He never realized that Le Wuya had brought *Book to Sons* for two reasons: first, to bluff, and second, to fish for information. He was waiting for this clever man, with a guilty conscience, to dare not pull any more tricks and silently confirm that the master text for their cipher was indeed *Book to Sons*.

As he sorted, Zhou Wenchang suddenly chuckled.

Le Wuya set down the book. "What's so funny?"

Zhou Wenchang sighed. "Truly a clever man."

"These letters—only upon rereading them did I see what was really going on," Zhou Wenchang said with a note of admiration. "...Lord Wang is truly shrewd. He brings up the emperor in every line."

...Wang Su was indeed an old fox.

Even if Zhou Wenchang or Zhou Wenhuan turned traitor and tried to bite him at the last moment, handing over the master text and all the letters, few would dare actually present these letters to the emperor.

Because any official who cared even slightly about their career and life, seeing how blatantly Wang Su used the emperor's name to authorize the Zhou brothers' misdeeds, would have to weigh their options carefully.

Use them as evidence and expose him publicly?

If the emperor had truly sanctioned it, even if he toppled Wang Su to save face, there would be countless pairs of tight shoes to wear afterward.

Submit them secretly to show loyalty?

That was equally perilous.

It was tantamount to telling the emperor, "I know all of this."

One misstep could invite suspicion—a loss outweighing any gain.

From that perspective, playing dumb and burning the whole lot to ashes was the best choice.

Unfortunately, he'd run into Le Wuya.

Le Wuya loved stirring trouble and wasn't afraid of it.

Seeing that Zhou Wenchang indeed dared not play tricks anymore, Le Wuya tucked *Book to Sons* away. "Then pick out a few letters where he ordered you to do dirty work, written clearly."

After a moment of eye contact with Le Wuya, Zhou Wenchang was certain—this lord before him didn't take the matter to heart at all.

He had clearly long since seen through Wang Su's trick of name-dropping to bluff his way in his letters.

He couldn't help asking, "Surveillance Commissioner Wenren, if you don't mind my asking, what grievance does Lord Wang hold against you?"

"Grievance?" Le Wuya raised an eyebrow. "He shipped me off to this post and told your brother to find a chance to do me in. Why don't you write him a letter and ask him yourself what grievance he has with me?"

"Then let me, a sinner, rephrase the question. What grievance do you hold against Lord Wang?"

"I can't stand the sight of him." Le Wuya gave the most straightforward and easily believable reason. "Once he's out of the way, his spot opens up, and I move up."

Zhou Wenchang frowned.

Zhou Wenchang, who had wasted his entire life on that mysterious thing called "imperial favor," couldn't wrap his head around Le Wuya's thinking.

Had it been him, he would never have taken that gamble.

He asked, "You've incurred the emperor's wrath—how could there still be a chance of promotion?"

"Worth a try, isn't it?"

Zhou Wenchang let out a sigh. "So I've gone and become your pawn again, one way or another."

Le Wuya said without the slightest politeness, "Spare me the self-pitying act. In Dansui, you called the shots, but did you ever think twice about using lives as pawns? You don't have what it takes for the big leagues—stick to playing chess master in the back alleys. Don't go thinking you're some once-in-a-generation genius."

Zhou Wenchang shook his head, frustrated and resigned, his expression appearing relaxed, yet his eyes stayed fixed on Le Wuya. "My lord, there's still one thing I don't understand."

Le Wuya looked at him.

"My lord..." Zhou Wenchang's eyes gleamed with an unusual intensity. "May I ask how Captain Guan and his men really died?"

If those four hadn't died on the road, which stirred up suspicion among the officers and soldiers in the mine and tanked morale, he wouldn't have suffered such a crushing defeat and ended up in this mess.

Le Wuya didn't bat an eye, not a hint of guilt on his face. "Since Lord Zhou has already ruled it the work of mountain bandits and issued the wanted posters, then bandits it is."

A sharp glint flashed in Zhou Wenchang's eyes.

But quickly, he wisely reined in his sharpness, and his face settled back into that dull, defeated calm.

Yes.

Whether this man had ordered the killings and muddied the waters no longer mattered.

Even if he made it back to the capital and later accused him of murder, for one thing, there was no evidence; for another, he'd examined the bodies himself—the killer was ruthless, every strike was lethal. Those men didn't stand a chance of fighting back, hadn't even managed to tear off a piece of the killer's clothing.

Before leaving, the killer had even taken the arrows with him, leaving not a trace of identifying information behind.

There was simply no way to investigate.

Zhou Wenchang stopped mulling it over, handing over the selected letters with both hands, saying nothing more.

...

Le Wuya took the letters and strolled out of the cell.

Though autumn had arrived, the sun remained scorching.

Le Wuya drew the *Book to Sons* from his sleeve, holding it up to block the harsh glare, and pretended not to notice Ji Zhun, who was sneaking peeks from the side, dying to spy on him.

...

After his brief bout of "heroics," Ji Zhun felt great for barely two days before gradually getting a nagging feeling that something was off.

...Wait, what had he come to Dansui for again?

Right—Lord Wang had ordered him to keep a close watch on Wen Renyue and find dirt on him.

But now, Wen Renyue was cracking cases left and right, and the Zhou brothers had been caught. Far from obstructing him, Ji Zhun had actually helped him in more ways than one, in both open and sneaky ways—wasn't that the exact opposite of what Lord Wang wanted?

Realizing he'd completely botched his actual job, Ji Zhun was so worried he couldn't even eat.

To make up for his failures, Ji Zhun had no choice but to screw up his courage and tail Le Wuya for a long time.

Today, he finally hit the jackpot.

He saw it with his own eyes—Le Wuya walked out of the Dansui county lockup holding a copy of the *Book to Sons*!

Ji Zhun felt as if he'd been struck by lightning, his entire body went stiff.

How could he not know that the *Book to Sons* was the master cipher text exclusively used by Changmen Guards stationed outside the capital?

Incompetent as Ji Zhun was, before being dispatched from the capital to tail a key figure, he knew he had to thoroughly understand his target's background.

Wen Renyue was definitely not a member of the Changmen Guard, yet he was remarkably familiar with their affairs.

Back at the first meeting on the big meadow, Wen Renyue had openly threatened him, even pointing out that he was Ji Tianyang's adopted son and hinting that he was somebody's pawn...

Who the hell had leaked these secrets to him?

No, that wasn't the most critical issue.

That *Book to Sons* in his hand, combined with the fact that he'd come out of the heavily guarded Dansui county jail...

Which left only one possibility.

The Zhou brothers were also Changmen Guards!

They'd fallen into Wen Renyue's hands and, to save their own skins, sold out the Changmen Guard's secrets! Maybe they'd even sold out Lord Wang too!

Ji Zhun finally understood what Lord Wang Su meant by "When you reach Dansui, find a post station—someone will be there to receive you. No need to worry."

Had he not, upon arriving in Dansui, been assigned by Qiu Sinian to follow Zhong Piaoping, then been knocked out by the suspicious Zhong Piaoping and tied up for a full day and night, then severely threatened by Wen Renyue and forced onto his boat—he would likely have made contact with Zhou Wenhuan or Zhou Wenchang long ago!

...No, wait. If that were the case, given the Surveillance Commissioner's abilities, wouldn't he himself be in serious trouble right now?

Ji Zhun broke out in a cold sweat, utterly panicked.

...He—he had actually helped an outsider screw over his own people?

If he went back, would he even survive?

At that thought, his soul nearly fled his body. His legs gave way, then he jolted awake and spun around, sprinting back the way he came!

He had to find Qiu Sinian—no, beg his adoptive brother to save his sorry hide!

He had to find a way to survive!

...

With his back to that scrambling, fleeing figure, Le Wuya revealed a sly smile.

Use everything to its fullest, employ everyone to their best.

Since Wang Su had sent him an informant, wouldn't it be a waste not to return the favor?

The chain of evidence for "the *Book to Sons* being the Changmen Guard's standard master cipher text" wasn't quite solid enough based on the Zhou brothers' word alone.

It would only be complete with another Changmen Guard's corroboration.