Chapter 63: The Situation in the Capital

While Jiang Mingyu was exhausting himself for Shangmu County, he had no idea that the capital was already in turmoil.

In the capital.

One morning, Master Zhang, dressed in a simple blue cotton robe, hurried to the Crane Chancellor’s residence.

He had intended to report progress on the search for the Invisible Master and collect funds for the next steps.

But upon arriving at the Crane Chancellor’s residence, he was blocked at the gate by Embroidered Uniform Guards and denied entry!

Master Zhang furrowed his brow and stepped forward to ask: “May I ask which general you serve? I have urgent matters to report to the Chancellor—please grant me passage.” The officer replied bluntly: “Since the new Emperor’s ascension, we’ve been ordered to guard this place. No one enters without a royal decree!”

Hearing this, Master Zhang was stunned—he realized the court had changed, and the Chancellor was under house arrest, cut off from outsiders.

After careful inquiry, he learned these Embroidered Uniform Guards had originally been soldiers of the Left Guard Metropolitan Command, reassigned to the inner city after the new Emperor’s ascension.

Since these troops had long been stationed in the eastern suburbs, Master Zhang had no connections among them and could not secure any favor in the short term; helplessly, he lingered in front of the Chancellor’s residence for nearly half an hour.

Just as Master Zhang was about to leave and seek another solution, the Chancellor’s steward, Ximen Jiajun, emerged from inside!

Seeing Ximen Jiajun finally appear, Master Zhang beamed and rushed forward to greet him.

He paid no mind to the two Embroidered Uniform Guards trailing behind Ximen Jiajun—later he learned Ximen Jiajun had been permitted to leave the detained residence for half a day under the pretense of procuring medicine for the Chancellor.

At first, Master Zhang didn’t grasp the situation and invited Ximen Jiajun to lunch at Zui Baxian later, but was politely refused. Ximen Jiajun’s eyes darted left and right twice; Master Zhang immediately understood—the situation was too grave to go anywhere.

“Zui Baxian is too expensive—I simply can’t afford it…” Ximen Jiajun added meaningfully: “But having tea at Yinxi Tea House is still possible.”

“Then I’ll head to Yinxi Tea House and wait for you,” Master Zhang said, bidding farewell before heading off on his own.

Master Zhang arrived at Yinxi Tea House in southern Cheng, greeted by the refreshing scent of tea.

He glanced around—the interior was elegantly decorated, tastefully arranged.

He deliberately chose a window seat on the second floor, overlooking the street outside.

The server soon came to take the order: “One pot of Longjing tea, and some pastries, fried dough, and sesame rice balls.”

Master Zhang savored his tea, eyes fixed anxiously on the street below, afraid he’d miss Ximen Jiajun’s arrival.

He sat there all morning, and simply ate lunch there.

After a full morning, at the third watch of the afternoon, Ximen Jiajun finally appeared at the tea house entrance.

Two Embroidered Uniform Guards still followed him—clearly monitoring his every move.

Master Zhang immediately stepped forward to greet him, then led him into a private room.

Since the guards stood nearby, they couldn’t speak of serious matters, so they chatted aimlessly—spending long minutes discussing the weather alone.

“Some stray cats appeared behind the Chancellor’s residence and gave birth to a litter—every night at midnight, they yowl nonstop, disturbing sleep…” Ximen Jiajun complained, then cast a meaningful glance at Master Zhang.

Master Zhang understood and asked: “Oh? Where exactly behind the residence?”

Ximen Jiajun feigned casualness: “Down the Inkstone Alley, beneath the big archway.”

Master Zhang instantly grasped the meaning and asked: “I see. When exactly do they yowl?”

“Every night at Zi Shi, without fail,” Ximen Jiajun replied calmly.

The hidden meaning was clear to both.

After obtaining the time and location, they soon finished their tea, bid farewell, and went their separate ways.

That night, Master Zhang arrived at the archway of Inkstone Alley as agreed. At Zi Shi, Ximen Jiajun’s figure emerged from the alley’s shadows!

He had slipped out through a doghole secretly dug by the Chancellor’s servants!

The Chancellor, through Ximen Jiajun, passed two messages to Master Zhang.

First: stop searching for the Invisible Master, lest the Emperor trace the origin of the One-Night-Seven-Times Pill through him.

Second: to avoid drawing trouble upon himself, the Chancellor ordered Master Zhang to use every means possible to prevent the Joyful Daoist from coming to the capital.

“Just those two?” Master Zhang pressed for confirmation.

“Yes, only these two matters,” Ximen Jiajun affirmed.

With that, he pulled two hundred-ounce silver notes from his sleeve and handed them to Master Zhang for future expenses.

“The first one’s manageable…” Master Zhang took the notes, frowning: “But the second… it’s nearly impossible. I doubt I can stop the Joyful Daoist from coming.”

Hearing Master Zhang’s concerns, Ximen Jiajun sighed: “The Chancellor can’t concern himself with details—I’m only the messenger. How you handle the specifics? That’s your problem.” With that, Ximen Jiajun turned and vanished into the dark night.

Master Zhang returned home alone, ruminating all night, unable to sleep.

Late at night, Master Zhang sat before his desk, a dim oil lamp flickering before him.

His face weary, he gripped a brush tightly; the desk was littered with crumpled drafts.

The intermittent wind outside and the rustling of the paper windows seemed to whisper that the answer he sought lay just within reach.

Yet he felt trapped in a labyrinth, unable to find an exit, scribbling aimlessly on the paper.

He pondered all night how to prevent the Joyful Daoist from reaching the capital.

At dawn, Master Zhang rose in tattered clothes, uncombed and unwashed, and went straight to Lu Family Escort Agency.

He found Lu Xiongying and asked her the price for hiring assassins.

Lu Xiongying was overseeing the loading of escort silver onto carts; she turned, saw Master Zhang’s haggard expression, and sensed he was in trouble.

“Our agency employs legitimate escort guards—not assassins. This matter… we can’t handle it!” Lu Xiongying refused outright.

Master Zhang: “Aren’t all your escort guards highly skilled? A single Daoist shouldn’t be hard to deal with.”

“We operate on connections, not brute force or violence!” Lu Xiongying snapped: “If we relied on fighting, how many guards would survive? We’d all be dead within two years!”

Seeing Lu Xiongying refused to help, Master Zhang had no choice but to resort to a small trick.

“That won’t do…” Master Zhang pulled out a hundred-ounce silver note and handed it to her.

He added meaningfully: “Look at the chaos sweeping the city—doesn’t it all stem from that night your escort was ambushed?”

…Lu Xiongying held the silver note, silent for a long while.

Seeing it worked, Master Zhang pressed further, soft but threatening: “The One-Night-Seven-Times Pill ended up in Mei Chancellor’s hands—and accidentally poisoned the late Emperor! The Crane Chancellor hasn’t settled that account with you yet!”

Lu Xiongying: “What are you suggesting?”

“Make amends for your mistake…” Master Zhang, sensing her attitude shifting, pressed on: “If you handle the Joyful Daoist well, perhaps the Chancellor will overlook everything.”

In the end, though deeply reluctant, Lu Xiongying accepted Master Zhang’s commission—and the unpleasant task inevitably fell to the escort guard originally ambushed by the Invisible Master: Dashabian!

Dashabian was training in the courtyard, his training robe soaked with sweat. His wooden sword slashed the air, stroke after stroke, his gaze focused, utterly absorbed.

Then Lu Xiongying’s voice cut in like a hammer blow—Dashabian froze, his wooden sword clattering to the ground.

Dashabian stared, incredulous: “You want me to kill the Joyful Daoist?”

Lu Xiongying quickly clarified: “Who said kill? I said… stop him from coming to the capital.”

Dashabian frowned: “Isn’t that the same as silencing him?”

“Why are you so stubborn?!” Lu Xiongying snapped: “You can find him, give him money, and convince him to leave Da Feng—go beyond the frontier, or to the southern seas, it doesn’t matter.”

“Money?” Dashabian asked: “Who pays? You?”

Lu Xiongying scoffed impatiently: “You caused this mess—you figure it out yourself!”

…Dashabian stared at Lu Xiongying, silent.

“Here’s fifty ounces from the agency for expenses—do what you must,” Lu Xiongying dropped the silver note, then turned and fled before he could bargain.

Dashabian stood still, watching Lu Xiongying’s back vanish beyond the agency gate. He looked down at the fifty-ounce silver note in his hand, lost in thought.

He stared at the fifty-ounce silver note in his hand, deep in thought: I can’t handle this alone—I need my senior brother’s help.

That afternoon, Dashabian packed light, took his signature weapons—a pair of two-foot-long “Judge’s Pens”—and led a jet-black steed from the stable, then rode off.

Dashabian rode day and night, covering a full day and night’s journey, first arriving at Xiangqiu County to find his senior brother, Guicai.

Dust-covered, he reached Guicai’s residence just before nightfall.

“Senior brother, I’ve hit a wall—I need your help,” Dashabian explained briefly. Guicai was reluctant, but out of brotherly loyalty, he reluctantly agreed.

At dawn the next day, the two set out southward, continuing their journey toward Yuzeshan to find the Joyful Daoist.

Dashabian was anxious; Guicai was distracted.

They took turns whipping their mounts, driving them to gallop at full speed.

Dashabian gripped his whip tightly; Guicai pressed his legs against his horse’s flanks to urge it forward.

Along the winding mountain path, only the sound of hooves broke the morning silence.

To reach their destination before the Ministry of Justice’s officials arrived, they pressed on relentlessly, day and night.

When passing villages, they paused briefly to eat dried rations.

After each short rest, they immediately resumed their journey, afraid to lose even a moment.

Hooves clattered, kicking up clouds of dust, racing toward Yuzeshan.

Midway, they suddenly spotted figures and horses hidden in the roadside bushes—immediately on guard, fearing an ambush.

Fortunately, nothing happened as they passed—relief washed over them, and they sped on.