Chapter 199: Don't Let a Single Li Zicheng Slip Away!

South of Mizhi county town.

Fortune and Prosperity Tower, one of the town's better-known restaurants, was behaving oddly today — its main gate was shut tight, a sign reading "Closed for the Day" hung out, and it had turned away customers early.

Yet inside, far from the quiet of a day off, the place was a scene of roaring, heated commotion.

"Six-six-six, ah!"

"Eight horses, ah! Drink!"

The spacious main hall was packed with broad-shouldered, thick-waisted men.

They sat with robes flung open, dark chests bared, faces flushed red as they played finger-guessing games and wagered drinks, their shouts shaking the rafters.

The waiters darted like shuttling butterflies, feet swift as the wind, bearing steaming platters of hearty dishes that streamed in like flowing water.

Roast chicken, braised pork, river fish — every dish was piled so high it nearly spilled over.

Empty wine jars were stacked waist-high in the corner, a sight that made the manager behind the counter bloom with delight.

Big business, hahaha!

At the very center of the feast sat Gao Yingxiang and the menfolk of Li Hongji's household.

"Uncle! Delicious! Too delicious!"

A broad-shouldered, thick-waisted youth, his mouth crammed full of glistening five-spice meat, shouted indistinctly — this was Li Hongji's nephew, Li Guo.

Beside him, Li Hongye, Li Hongji's third brother, was bent over a large pork hock, devouring it at a pace no slower than Li Guo's.

A half-grown lad can eat his old man out of house and home.

The Li parents had died early; only Li Hongji, the eldest brother, had managed to get a job as a post-station groom, and he had to support two other males — Li Guo and Li Hongye.

Their days were naturally pinched and tight, and they rarely saw a trace of meat or fat.

"Hahahaha!" Gao Yingxiang, seated in the host's position, drained his cup in one gulp and let out a hearty laugh. "If it's good, eat more! Follow your uncle from now on, and you'll have meat at every meal!"

His face was glowing, his spirits high — clearly a man elated by good fortune.

Seated below him, Li Hongji, whose face was usually dark and brooding, wore a rare smile as well.

He reached out, seized the roast chicken before him, and with a powerful tear ripped off two plump drumsticks.

One he handed to his younger brother Li Hongye, the other to his nephew Li Guo.

Once the two youngsters were settled, Li Hongji picked up the wine pot, filled Gao Yingxiang's cup to the brim, and asked, "Uncle, such extravagance today — did that business deal beyond the frontier come through?"

"It came through! Smooth as could be!"

Gao Yingxiang slapped his thigh, his pride written all over his face.

"Last time, after listening to your advice, I got together with the brothers and scraped up over a hundred iron pots to take beyond the frontier."

"Hey, guess what? It wasn't any Jurchens — it was the Tiger Khan of the eastern Chahar tribe who'd come raiding."

"Our delivery arrived just at the perfect moment! The pots that cost us one tael of silver apiece here — over on the Tumed side, we named our price at five taels!"

He lowered his voice and asked mysteriously, "Guess how much your uncle cleared on this trip?"

Li Hongji silently calculated for a moment, then held out an open palm and asked in a low voice, "This much?"

Five hundred taels?

The smug grin on Gao Yingxiang's face instantly froze, and then his palm came down smack on the back of Li Hongji's head.

"You dumb ox!" he cursed, exasperated. "You think silver coins just get blown in by the wind?"

"The mandarins have two mouths — one eats grain, the other eats men. You think you can pick food from a mandarin's mouth without stuffing it full first?"

"The border troop checkpoints — I didn't have to grease those palms? The taiji on the Mongol side who took the goods — I didn't have to pay my respects? You think the Nine Frontiers are run by old Gao's family?"

Li Hongji had been smacked by this uncle since childhood and took no offense. "Your nephew was thinking too simply. So — how much did you actually clear?"

Gao Yingxiang snorted, but his expression softened.

He extended two thick fingers, flipped them in front of Li Hongji, and dropped his voice even lower. "This much!"

Two hundred taels!

Even though the sum had shrunk by more than half, Li Hongji was still stunned.

Here on the frontier, the most elite household retainers, who wore their heads on their belts all year long, earned no more than thirty or forty taels in annual pay and rations.

Yet these two hundred taels were pure profit that Gao Yingxiang had brought back in under a month!

Gao Yingxiang, watching his shocked expression, felt even more pleased with himself. He fished a heavy coin pouch from his bosom and tossed it into Li Hongji's arms.

"Here's twenty taels. You didn't go beyond the frontier, but the whole deal came from your idea, so you deserve a share of this venture."

"A man with no silver in his pocket can't stiffen his spine."

At these words, Li Hongji's dark face flushed involuntarily — he realized his uncle had seen right through the sour looks his wife, Han Jin'er, had been giving him at home.

He squeezed the coin pouch and thought to himself, That woman — tonight when I get back, I'll have to show her who's boss all over again!

Gao Yingxiang downed another large cup of wine and, three parts drunk, clapped Li Hongji on the shoulder. "Hongji, your uncle's trade is now officially open for business."

"On this horse run, I even made a connection with a taiji under the Prince of Shunyi."

"While they're busy fighting, we'll run a few more loads of iron pots. Once we've built up the connections and smoothed the path, we can move on to cloth, to silk! Now that's a business where one penny yields ten thousand!"

His eyes gleamed, full of hope for the future, and he extended the invitation. "So? Want to come work with your uncle? As the saying goes, father and son in battle, blood brothers against the tiger. If your uncle's going to make this operation big, what I lack is reliable family like you!"

Li Hongji's heart gave one fierce, violent thump.

Running horses beyond the frontier — eating meat by the mouthful, drinking wine by the bowl, dividing silver by the scale!

Pure profit of a hundred taels in a single trip — what would that add up to over a year?!

But this surge of hot blood only rushed upward for a moment before it came to a halt in a strange place.

Running horses beyond the frontier — the money was good, but how many months of the year could you stay at home?

Li Hongji, twenty-one years old, was fierce as a tiger in his prime and had only tasted a woman's bed a few months ago — he was now at the stage where the flavor was still maddeningly fresh.

The mere thought of Han Jin'er's fair body and those soft, pliant, pleading sounds made a faint heat stir in his lower belly. No rush, no rush — at least get the wife-money fully squared away before bringing this up.

The thought flickered through his mind, but what came out of his mouth was a different excuse. "Uncle, a matter this big — how about letting me think it over a bit more?"

"Leaving the post station job is no small matter after all. How about I give you an answer once spring comes?"

Gao Yingxiang had spoken on the courage of drink just now, and the moment the words left his mouth, he already felt a twinge of regret.

This nephew of his had lost his father early, and his second younger brother had died of illness. Now, of the Li family line, only the two brothers Hongji and Zijing remained, and in the next generation there was only Li Guo, a single shoot.

If he really dragged Li Hongji out there and something went wrong beyond the frontier, how could he face his own sister when he went to the grave a hundred years hence?

Seeing Li Hongji decline, far from being displeased, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

A post station groom was fine too — though the pickings were slim, it was still a steady job after all.

"Good, good, good! We'll talk about this next year." He immediately laughed heartily and brushed the topic aside. "No rush, no rush! Come, drink up, drink up!"

The group resumed passing cups and exchanging toasts, and the atmosphere grew lively once more.

After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, men can never resist setting the world to rights.

The talk gradually shifted from personal livelihoods to the great affairs of the realm.

"Come to think of it, this new emperor of ours looks to be a wise one after all." A fellow tossed back a cup of wine and smacked his lips. "The moment he took the throne, he remitted past land taxes, and what's more, he actually paid out the enthronement bounty."

"My brother on the border garrison told me — that Lord Ma they sent over is a truly formidable character."

The other men clearly had no such border connections and pressed him eagerly: "Just how formidable? Don't keep us in suspense — out with it, out with it!"

The man from the border garrison gave a hearty laugh. "How do you think? In the past, when military pay passed through, the officers always skimmed a few shares, and the civil officials skimmed a few shares too."

"This Lord Ma, now — first he took the customary fees as usual, but then he announced he had an imperial decree to inspect the troops."

"The generals in the garrison figured he'd been well fed and could be fobbed off with a bit of show, so naturally they cooperated with a parade-ground review."

At this point, he pushed his wine cup aside, his face full of smug satisfaction, and said nothing.

The others knew exactly what he was after and hurriedly refilled his cup, urging him on once more.

The border-garrison man tossed back the wine and only then continued with relish: "So this Lord Ma, when he reached the parade ground, he straightaway displayed all the gold and silver he'd received, declaring it was gifts from the officers — leaving every one of those generals utterly unable to save face."

"Then he called the roll right there on the parade ground, had the Company Commanders step forward to receive the bounty, and distributed it handful by handful on the spot, saying that if anyone withheld a single coin, they were to report it then and there."

"He was Ma — Ma something — damn!"

The man suddenly slapped his own forehead, deeply chagrined, and sighed: "I've actually forgotten the name of that upright lord — truly unforgivable."

He sighed and went on: "In any case, this Lord Ma said he would stand right there that day, and whoever dared withhold pay, he would record it, and an impeachment memorial would be sent up of its own accord!"

"And so this whole pay distribution went on from the hour of Mao all the way to midnight."

"After all the pay silver was handed out — guess what happened?"

The other men could not stand this fellow's repeated teasing, yet they were at the most gripping part of the tale and simply could not contain themselves. They had no choice but to ply him — some pouring wine, some pounding his back — until at last they coaxed him into continuing.

Only then did the man from the border garrison say: "It turned out Lord Ma had already arranged for meat and wine in advance, and the moment the pay distribution was done, he bestowed it all upon the troops — and the cost of that wine and meat came precisely from the silver those very officers had offered as tribute!"

"Excellent!" The tale finished, every man present boiled over with excitement.

The border-garrison man gave a long sigh and said, "Good officials are hard to find. Gentlemen, let us raise a cup together to Lord Ma! May Lord Ma rise step by step, ascend to the Grand Secretariat, and become a minister of state!"

The men all raised their cups in unison: "May Lord Ma rise step by step, ascend to the Grand Secretariat, and become a minister of state!"

But for all that this Lord Ma was an honest official, the story still did not quite scratch everyone's itch.

As soon as the cups were lowered, someone spoke up indignantly: "If that Lord Ma could have called for the imperial sword on the spot and lopped off a few Regional Commanders and Assistant Regional Commanders — now that would have been satisfying!"

Others chimed in one after another: "Exactly, exactly! The parade-ground pay distribution was stirring, but in the end, it still wasn't enough!"

Gao Yingxiang had been listening carefully off to the side, turning his wine cup in his fingers. Only now did he let out a scoff: "You lot can't read a single character and never so much as glance at the Capital Gazette. You don't even know that the ones distributing the bounty to the Nine Frontiers are merely gentlemen from the Messenger Office — not Governors-General or Governors. Where would they get an imperial sword?"

At this, emboldened by drink, he added with a dark chuckle: "And besides, if you're going to cut someone down, you ought to cut down that —"

Before Gao Yingxiang could finish his sentence —

With a thunderous "Bang!", the two heavy wooden doors of the Fortune Gathering Tower were kicked open from outside by tremendous force!

The October wind howled in like a wild beast, instantly scattering the hall's drunken warmth and leaving only a bone-chilling cold.

The clamor that had filled the hall came to an abrupt halt.

"Which blind dog dares disturb his lordships' drinking pleasure!"

A drunken man slammed the table and shot to his feet, snatching up a wine bowl and making to hurl it at the doorway.

But his wrist was seized by a stronger hand.

It was Gao Yingxiang.

He had risen to his feet at some point, his face grim as he stared at the door, while unobtrusively pulling Li Hongji, Li Guo, and the others behind him.

He glanced instinctively at the manager behind the counter, only to find the manager equally dumbstruck — clearly this had nothing to do with him.

Not the restaurant's enemies?

Gao Yingxiang's thoughts raced.

Could the horse-smuggling have been exposed?

He had barely set foot back in Mizhi, and someone was already at his door?

Which power had he failed to grease? Garrison Commander Li of Yulin Guard? Or Assistant Regional Commander Wang of Yansui Garrison?

Damn it all — this is way too fast!

Before Gao Yingxiang could think it through —

From outside, a great swarm of bailiffs wielding water-and-fire staves surged in like a tide, instantly surrounding the entire hall in an impenetrable cordon.

The men who had been boisterous and swaggering moments before now all fell silent. They had seen official displays of force before, but a scene of this magnitude was a first.

They looked at one another, and in the end, every gaze turned to Gao Yingxiang.

Numerous as the bailiffs were, they could not yet intimidate these men who had roamed far and wide across the land.

But whether to fight or flee, and what this whole affair was even about — the lead men had to speak first.

Gao Yingxiang swept his eyes over the crowd and spotted a familiar figure: it was none other than Head Constable Wang of the Mizhi county yamen.

His heart settled a little. As long as it was the county yamen, there was always room to maneuver.

He immediately pushed through the crowd, stepped forward, and cupped his hands toward Head Constable Wang, forcing a smile onto his face: "Head Constable Wang, what wind has blown you here? We brothers were just having a drink — I wonder what has prompted you to go to such trouble. Could there be... some misunderstanding here?"

As he spoke, a small piece of broken silver had already slipped silently from his sleeve, extended toward Constable Wang's hand.

Constable Wang, sharp-eyed and quick-handed, snatched the silver into his palm, the fleshy folds of his face twitching with satisfaction. He leaned close to Gao Yingxiang's ear and lowered his voice: "Third Brother Gao, don't panic. It's no bad thing. A great fortune is coming to your family!"

What sort of great fortune gets delivered like this?

Gao Yingxiang was utterly baffled and was about to press for more details.

But then he saw the group of runners suddenly part to either side, clearing a path.

A small squad of men with Embroidered Spring Sabers at their waists strode into the restaurant.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard!

The atmosphere in the main hall, which had been relatively composed moments before, instantly turned deathly silent — even the sound of breathing was clearly audible.

But deep down, Gao Yingxiang actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Whatever the case, his little side deal smuggling a hundred or so iron pots could never possibly draw the attention of such a lofty presence as the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

As long as they weren't here for him, it was fine.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard man at the front entered, his hawk-like gaze slowly sweeping the hall, until finally it landed with pinpoint precision on Li Hongji, who stood behind Gao Yingxiang.

That single glance made Li Hongji's hair stand on end, as if he had plunged into an ice pit.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard man did not even bother to announce his own name or office. He spoke directly: "Li Hongji, why did you not report for duty at the post station today? Instead you come here to drink?"

"You've given this official quite a search. Come — Eunuch Gao of the Directorate of Ceremonial wishes to see you."

Every gaze in the room swiveled in unison toward Li Hongji.

Li Hongji's face drained of all color, turning deathly pale.

He trembled all over, his mind a complete blank, utterly unable to grasp the situation.

Was missing a day's duty really enough to bring the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

No — it was something about the Directorate of Ceremonial!

But that made even less sense!

He was a mere stable hand at the Yinchuan Post Station. His direct superior, the postmaster, was only an unranked minor official of the lower ninth grade.

How could he possibly have any connection to the fabled Directorate of Ceremonial, whose power was said to overshadow the entire court?

Was he — was he even worthy?

"Sir, surely there must be some — "

Seeing his nephew scared out of his wits, Gao Yingxiang forced a smile and stepped forward to speak.

He had not finished his sentence.

Crack!

A dark shadow flashed. An Embroidered Uniform Guard captain, without a single word, lashed out directly with his whip!

The whip strike was fierce and swift, clearly the product of years of practiced skill. The tip snapped out and struck Gao Yingxiang precisely across the face.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is conducting business. Who gave you leave to babble? Get lost if you value your life!" the captain barked.

As his words fell, several Embroidered Uniform Guards surged forward like wolves and tigers.

They did not seize him, nor did they draw their blades. They simply extended a hand toward Li Hongji in a beckoning gesture.

Li Hongji felt an invisible pressure bear down upon him from above. His legs went weak, and involuntarily — thud —

he dropped to his knees right there on the floor.

One captain curled his lip, but still stepped forward and hauled him up with one hand, a smile on his face: "This is a great fortune arriving at your door — what's there to panic about!"

With that, half-dragging, half-pulling, he hustled Li Hongji toward the door.

The more the man spoke in such vague terms, the more panic rose in Li Hongji's heart.

What great fortune? What Directorate of Ceremonial? Was this — were they dragging him into the palace to make him a eunuch?!

His neck was as stiff as rusted iron. With great difficulty, he turned his head to look at his uncle.

But all he saw was his uncle prostrated flat on the ground, not daring to raise his head.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards had come quickly, and they left just as quickly.

In the blink of an eye, they had swept the dazed and despondent Li Hongji out the door and vanished, leaving behind only a mess and a few county runners keeping order.

Only then did Constable Wang of the county office let out an "Aiyo" and step forward to help Gao Yingxiang up. "Third Brother Gao, why put yourself through that? What was the point of sticking your neck out? You took that lash for nothing."

Supported by the constable, Gao Yingxiang found a bench and sat down. Only then did he dare raise a hand to wipe the blood from his face.

Hearing this, he gave a bitter smile. "I've roamed these parts of Shaanxi for many years, but I've never laid eyes on an imperial commissioner from the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the capital. Who knew they'd be so overbearing — I hadn't even finished asking a single question before that whip came down on my head."

He turned to Constable Wang and asked urgently, "Brother Wang, do you have any idea what this is all about? That Eunuch Gao — from what the Capital Gazette says, isn't he the newly appointed seal-holder of the Directorate of Ceremonial after His Majesty ascended the throne? What would bring him to this tiny Mizhi County to look for my nephew?"

Constable Wang's face creased into a chrysanthemum of a smile. "Why fret over the reason? We've watched that Huang boy grow up since he was small — could he possibly have committed some heaven-shaking crime? The minds of such great figures from the capital are beyond our guessing."

Gao Yingxiang had been wiping for a long while and had finally managed to staunch the bleeding somewhat, but the terror in his heart had not lessened in the slightest.

He asked again, "Could it be — that he's being taken into the palace?" As he spoke, he made a scissors gesture with his hand.

Constable Wang let out a hearty laugh. "That I wouldn't dare say. But why do you care so much? To forge a connection with the seal-holder of the Directorate of Ceremonial — what kind of great fortune is that? How many men beg for that snip and never get it! It's just, ah — "

He shifted his tone, putting on an air of mystery.

"Whether this fortune of yours actually lands on Hongji's head — that's really hard to say. Who knows, maybe when the time comes, he'll want the cut and won't even get it!"

Gao Yingxiang was stunned. "What do you mean by that?"

Constable Wang lowered his voice. "Today the Embroidered Uniform Guard came to Mizhi. They went first to the Yinchuan Post Station, gathered everyone there, and demanded by name to find someone called Li Zicheng. And as you know, is there anyone by that name at our post station?"

"That Official Zheng was direct about it — he rounded up every man at the post station surnamed Li. Li Ziqian, Li Wanyou, Li Chengye — swept them all up and took them away together!"

"Only after questioning them did they discover that Hongji had taken leave today and hadn't reported for duty. That's when they sent us to find the Huang boy."

He shook his head in wonder. "So, the one Eunuch Gao is looking for is Li Zicheng."

"But among the four of you who've been taken away, which one is the right one, and which isn't — who can say?"

"Anyway, Official Zheng has already given the order for the county office to sift through every Li in the entire county. Anyone whose name is Li Zicheng — take them all away first and ask questions later!"

Gao Yingxiang listened, utterly dumbfounded.

So behind all this lay such a reason?

Traveling a thousand li to find some "Li Zicheng"?

Had Eunuch Gao lost his mind?

What was this supposed to be? Not exactly fortune, not exactly calamity — just what sort of farce was being played out here?

The affair was too bizarre, completely beyond Gao Yingxiang's comprehension.

He thought it over for a long while but could make no sense of it.

He opened his mouth to press for more details, but Constable Wang had no desire to waste further words on him.

After all, a one-in-four chance at prosperity was not worth investing that much effort.

Constable Wang cupped his hands in salute and said, "Third Brother Gao, I'll take my leave for now. The yamen is still short-handed, and I must hurry back to report. If anything comes up later, just send word!"

With that, he led his constables and swept off in a whirlwind.

All that remained was a drafty front door plank and a roomful of big men staring at one another, their drunkenness completely gone.

— along with the innkeeper and the waiters, who had just now poked their heads up from behind the counter.

"Uncle — Big Brother — is he — is he coming back?"

In the end, it was Li Hongye who broke the silence. He walked shakily to Gao Yingxiang's side and asked, his voice thick with tears.

Gao Yingxiang forced a smile, but inadvertently pulled at the whip marks on his face, and the pain made him wince and grimace.

He stood up, looked at Li Hongye, whose height now nearly reached his shoulder, and patted him on the head.

After a moment of hesitation, he let out a heavy sigh and said, "You're no longer a child. It's about time — you ought to be getting a wife."

Gao Yingxiang gazed out the door, his expression complicated.

"As for your brother — let's wait for news. Constable Wang did say it's not certain he'll actually enter the palace."

"If he really does enter the palace — then your brother's ancestral line will depend on you having a few more sons, so you can pass one to him as his heir."

Mizhi County, the county yamen's main hall.

The presiding magistrate's seat, normally occupied only when the county magistrate held court, was now taken by an outsider.

Zheng Shiyi, Squad Leader of the Eastern Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, sat there with an air of absolute authority, but instead of case files, he held a copy of the Great Ming Times and was reading it intently.

Below the dais, two white-bearded old men in fine silk robes stood with bowed bodies, not daring to so much as breathe loudly.

The magistrate of Mizhi County stood to the side, back bent, his face plastered with an obsequious smile.

"Sir Zheng," the magistrate said with extreme caution, "the major Li clans of Mizhi County are principally the Second-Jia Li clan of Tai'an Hamlet and the Yonghe Shilou Li clan. Both clan heads and their genealogies are here."

"As you instructed, the genealogies have been examined. Two individuals named Li Zicheng were found. One passed away ten years ago. For the other, runners have already been dispatched with banner officers to summon him; he should be brought here shortly."

Zheng Shiyi did not even raise his head, his eyes still fixed on the newspaper. He merely waved a hand impatiently. "Noted. You are all dismissed."

"Yes, yes."

The magistrate and the two clan heads, as if granted a great reprieve, bowed and carefully backed their way out of the hall.

By law, the official gazettes of the Great Ming were relayed station by station via the express courier posts, traveling one hundred and fifty li per day.

From the capital to this remote Mizhi County, routine official dispatches took nearly twenty days.

Thus, the newspaper in Zheng Shiyi's hand was naturally twenty-day-old news.

The front page carried the contents of the second Daily Lecture, in which the new sovereign, His Eternal Majesty, posed the soul-searching question: "What is the problem with the Great Ming today?"

But that was not what concerned Zheng Shiyi.

His fingers repeatedly traced the "Personnel Appointments and Dismissals" column, and he read the names and posts listed there over and over, his brow furrowing ever tighter.

How utterly strange!

What kind of game was this new sovereign playing? His methods were completely inscrutable.

He had moved with thunderous speed to seize Wei Zhongxian and the entire eunuch faction. Just when it seemed he would tear them out root and branch, at the critical moment he had set things down lightly — and had even handed the Minister of Personnel, the very official who controlled all the official caps in the realm, to Yang Jingchen, a universally acknowledged member of the eunuch faction.

What trick was this? Which way was the wind blowing now?

Zheng Shiyi set down the newspaper and rubbed his temples, his mind a tangled mess.

A trusted aide attending at his side saw that his superior had a free moment and hastily stepped forward. In a low voice, he said, "Sir, we've used every method available. We've rounded up six men surnamed Li, all told. That should be enough to pass muster, shouldn't it?"

"Could we — return to the capital and report now?"

Shaanxi was a wretched place, poor and unruly, nothing like Jiangnan, that blessed land so rich you could wring oil from it.

No one wanted to linger in such a miserable place. They all just wanted to hurry back to the capital, report the assignment done, and avoid missing out on other lucrative postings.

At these words, Zheng Shiyi's eyes bulged. He slammed the table and roared, "Idiots!"

"What Eunuch Gao specifically asked for was Li Zicheng, the groom from Yinchuan Post Station! Since no such man has been found, it is very likely that Eunuch Gao remembered the name wrong, or that the man changed his name along the way!"

"This is the first imperial assignment we have received since the new sovereign ascended the throne. It must be carried out thoroughly and solidly — not the slightest negligence is permitted! If it is botched, can you bear the consequences?"

He jabbed a finger at the aide's nose and cursed, "Put those shortcut schemes out of your mind! Get back down there and search again, at once!"

"Not just the major Li clans — those insignificant little Li clans tucked away in every corner must also be visited, door to door!"

"We absolutely must not let any possible Li Zicheng slip through!"

The aide, thoroughly dressed down, saw his fond dream of an early return to the capital dissolve into thin air. He could only mumble his obedience and bow his way out.

Zheng Shiyi watched his aide's fearful, retreating figure, and the anger on his face gradually faded, replaced by an almost imperceptible cold smile.

Return to the capital?

Return to the capital for what? To court death?

A mere Li Zicheng — what did it matter if they found him or not?

A groundless whim of Eunuch Gao's was not worth all this trouble.

Tian Ergeng had tossed this baffling errand to him precisely to use the opportunity to kick him out of the capital and prevent him from stirring up trouble.

But this arrangement happened to suit Zheng Shiyi's own wishes perfectly.

Just in time to get far away from the capital, where a storm is about to break with the new sovereign's enthronement.

The wise do not stand beneath a wall that is about to collapse.

The capital today is precisely such a wall — invisible, yet ready to fall.

The eunuch faction seems to have scattered, yet it has not; the Donglin are said to be returning to office, but that does not mean they will gain power.

When the wind's direction is unclear, why place your bet?

Let others go first; I shall quietly watch the changes unfold. Only thus can one stand on ground that cannot be defeated.

This is what is meant by appearing slow yet being swift in truth!

In any case, Eunuch Gao's matter does not look particularly urgent.

True — what is there to be urgent about in finding a post-station runner?

Zheng Shiyi thought to this point and could not help shaking his head with a laugh.

He picked up that newspaper again, let his gaze fall upon the remaining sections, and read word by word with the utmost care, striving to fathom the thoughts and intentions of this Eternal Prosperity Sovereign.

Outside the county office, the entire Li clan of Mizhi County had been turned upside down over some inexplicable Li Zicheng, yet inside the county office all was perfectly quiet.

Behind the desk, there was only one man, and one newspaper.