AT CUI BUQU'S REQUEST, Commandery Governor Yang Yun was escorted in. Aside from the listlessness of his gaze, he looked much the same as he always had. He even still wore the same clothes, though they were now rumpled and worn. But in everyone else's eyes, he was already a man fallen from grace.
Gone was the confidence of a leader who had everything under control. The court had yet to issue any official decree, so he remained commandery governor in name—but in truth, he was nothing more than a prisoner, the lowest of the low.
Yang Yun paid no mind to the many gazes upon him. He didn't even glance at Cui Buqu.
Pei Jingzhe placed a ledger in front of him.
Li Yan, the deputy magistrate, had concealed Yang Yun and the local bigwigs' dealings within a series of erotic paintings, which he used as an encoded ledger. It was a decently clever move: The paintings had provided him with both leverage over Yang Yun and insurance in case of emergency. Unfortunately, he'd crossed paths with the demon known as Feng Xiao. The deputy chief of the Jiejian Bureau had turned the house Li Yan gifted his mistress upside down, and the paintings had thus fallen into Cui Buqu's hands.
At the time, Cui Buqu had deemed dealing with Yang Yun the most urgent task; he hadn't had time to ponder the specifics of what was hidden in the paintings. But after Governor Yang Yun and County Lieutenant Wu Yi's capture, Li Yan no longer had any reason to hold out. Hoping to lighten his own sentence, he happily copied out the accounts concealed within the paintings for Cui Buqu.
Only then did Cui Buqu and the others discover Li Yan's second layer of deception. Each painting contained two sets of accounts: one for Yang Yun and the wealthy landlords, and another that only Li Yan, Wu Yi, and the other county officials knew about. It seemed even Yang Yun's co-conspirators had deceived him and pocketed a portion of the embezzled grain for themselves.
If only Li Yan had applied his smarts to state matters. Had he used such clever methods of concealment to contribute to the court's secret communications with Goguryeo or the Khaganate, he could have actually been useful. Tragically, the deputy magistrate possessed skill but no insight into how to use it, which was why he'd been stuck as a mere county official his entire life. Soon he wouldn't even be that.
"This ledger lists the profits the Li and Ding families received from the grain donation policy and its tax exemptions. Is this correct?"
Cui Buqu's fair and slender fingers pushed the ledger closer to Yang Yun, who instinctively edged away. Those beautiful, harmless fingers were monstrous to him; his heart shuddered.
"It is correct," he said, voice hoarse.
"Governor." Li Geng, the patriarch of the Li family, spoke in tones of displeasure. "You haven't even opened it to check. How would you know if it's correct or not? You may be from the imperial court, but you can't distort the facts!"
Yang Yun's previous arrogance had vanished without a trace. When he heard Li Geng's words, he confessed everything, as if possessed. "Although I bear the surname Yang, my parents passed when I was young. I was never close to His Majesty. I was left destitute; I wanted to take advantage of my time in office to amass what wealth I could. When the floods came to Guangqian Commandery, I planned to keep some grain in the government stores to prevent the situation from worsening. It was Li Geng who urged me to take it all—during a disaster, he said, grain is more precious than gold. Those who hoard it can double their profits. The court wouldn't just stand by and leave the commandery without any grain. When the imperial censor came, we could persuade him to petition the court for aid on our behalf. The court would allocate more grain, and that could be used to feed the victims of the—"
"That decision was yours alone!" Li Geng, no longer able to remain still, had leapt to his feet. "What does it have to do with us?!"
Yang Yun stared at him coldly and said nothing.
Li Geng took a deep breath and turned to Rong Qing and Cui Buqu. "My lords, Yang Yun is the commandery governor. He wielded incredible power here. If he hadn't taken the lead, would we have dared such a thing? All we did was flatter him a bit to earn his favor; at the end of the day, Yang Yun was the one who made the calls!"
He had quickly realized that between Cui Buqu and Rong Qing, it was Cui Buqu who had the greater authority. His gaze remained fixed on Cui Buqu as he spoke, hoping to gauge his reaction.
But he was soon disappointed. Cui Buqu was calm and unperturbed. His posture had remained unchanged from the moment he sat down; even his eyebrows never twitched. Ignoring Li Geng's protestations, he glanced at him and offered, "It's not too late to hand over the grain you've been hoarding and reduce your sentence."
Li Geng's face spasmed. Bitterly, he said, "My family truly has no grain left. If you don't believe me, send someone to investigate!"
"None?" Cui Buqu asked. "Truly?"
His voice was so soft it would have been inaudible if Li Geng had been just a bit farther away. Had Feng Xiao been present, he'd have been first to warn Li Geng that this gentle tone was an omen of impending misfortune.
Unfortunately, Feng Xiao was not on the scene. Li Geng nodded, earnest and fawning. "We really don't! If we did, I'd hand it over right away! It's all thanks to Cui-xiansheng and Censor Rong that our city has remained so peaceful throughout all this. It would have been much worse if those disaster victims were allowed to create mayhem."
Cui Buqu chuckled, as if pleased by Li Geng's flattery. He turned to Pei Jingzhe. "Go fetch them."
Pei Jingzhe returned with five people. Or, more precisely, five bodies.
Li Yan, Wu Yi, and three others whose names Li Geng could not recall had all been reduced to cold corpses. Blood both fresh and dried stained their clothes, attesting to the torture they'd suffered. Not even their faces had been spared: One corpse had an eye gouged out, leaving a dark, bloody hole. Despite their disfigurement, the appearance and clothing of the deceased were recognizable to anyone who had frequent dealings with them.
The stench of blood permeated the hall, overpowering even the incense. No one present had ever witnessed such a gruesome sight, and the room echoed with the sound of retching. Rong Qing's face turned green as he covered his mouth and nose and averted his eyes.
Li Geng stared at Wu Yi's mangled corpse long enough for the bloody gash on Wu Yi's forehead to etch itself vividly into his mind. As the sound of vomiting filled his ears, nausea clawed its way up his throat until he, too, couldn't stop himself from emptying his stomach of his most recent meal.
Blood, decay, and the sickly smell of bile. Just one was enough to suffocate a person. Assaulted by all three together, everyone was certain the stench would kill them. A few rose to flee the stifling room, only to freeze in the face of the gleaming blades of the Zuoyue guards at the door.
Yang Yun trembled. He looked at Cui Buqu as if he was a demon. "Wu Yi and Li Yan were both court officials. You may be the chief of the Zuoyue Bureau, but you have no right to kill them—"
"But I've already done so," said Cui Buqu gently.
Yang Yun stared in shock. He suddenly felt the beating he'd received within the secret chamber wasn't so bad after all. At least he'd escaped with his life.
Cui Buqu turned to Li Geng and the rest of Guangqian Commandery's wealthy families. "Wu Yi and Li Yan were accomplices in the embezzlement of relief grain. As you can see, they have been dealt with. Yang Yun is the mastermind; he will be escorted to the capital to stand trial. I won't touch him. But your lives are even less significant than Li Yan's."
Li Geng had lost what remained of his composure with his lunch. He glared balefully at Cui Buqu. "I'll have you know, I'm related to the current Duke of Tang—"
He was a clever man; rationally, he knew threatening someone with his connections would only enrage them. But this current turn of events had him in completely over his head. He'd lost his confidence and was grasping at straws.
Cui Buqu calmly interrupted him. "I've just arrested the emperor's nephew. You are merely a distant relative of the Duke of Tang, and many times removed at that. Whether he would even acknowledge your connection is an open question. Let me ask you one last time: Will you hand over the grain?"
The two locked eyes. Li Geng's chest heaved; he knew the wise choice was to obediently give up his spoils. But he'd been in Guangqian County too long. Though he held no official position, the Li family name was synonymous with authority here. Even Huang Lüe and the other officials under Yang Yun's command had shown them the utmost respect.
To submit to this outsider was too hard a pill to swallow.
Cui Buqu could see Li Geng's hesitation. After a few moments he said, "Very well."
Very well? Very well what?
Li Geng was still staring at Cui Buqu in bewilderment as he said, "Invite Deputy Chief Feng inside."
In no time, Feng Xiao appeared.
Although Li Geng didn't recognize this man, he was instantly captivated by his handsome appearance. Judging by the hush that fell over the hall, he was not alone; the moment Feng Xiao entered the hall, even the nauseating stench seemed to lessen.
"This is Feng Xiao, the deputy chief of the Jiejian Bureau," said Cui Buqu.
Many, not recognizing the name, looked around in puzzlement—but the officials sat up at once. Li Geng, too, had heard of this bureau.
Feng Xiao acknowledged neither the introduction nor the onlookers. He strode straight up to Li Geng and scrutinized him with a haughty gaze. "You are the head of the Li family?"
"Yes," Li Geng replied instinctively. It was the last thing he said before Feng Xiao's sword plunged into his chest.
He had yet to even cup his hands in greeting—he never imagined that single yes would be his final word.
A shriek as shrill as a woman's went up as blood sprayed the man beside him—such a sound from the mouth of a grown man was enough to make any listener wrinkle their brow. Li Geng's eldest son shouted and lunged toward his father. A kick from Pei Jingzhe sent him crashing to the ground. Feng Xiao withdrew his sword from Li Geng's chest, and the Li family patriarch collapsed woodenly backward.
A sword through the heart sent a powerful message.
Before chaos could erupt in the hall, Cui Buqu coughed. "Everyone shut up, or you'll be next."
The crowd fought to keep their voices and expressions under control. A few slapped terrified hands over their own mouths.
"I've already ordered Li Geng executed. I don't mind sending a few more heads rolling." Cui Buqu scanned the room. Almost everyone ducked their heads, too afraid to meet his eyes.
The head of the Ding family was first to come to his senses. Ignoring Li Geng's son on the ground, he crashed to his knees. "I'll hand it over! I'll hand it over!" he cried. "My family has surplus grain stored just a street away. I'll take you there right now!"
Cui Buqu sighed regretfully. "If only you had done this earlier, no one would have had to die."
Everyone else surged forward to pledge allegiance. They shivered as they knelt, fearing their lives would be forfeit if they spoke too late.
Pei Jingzhe shot a puzzled look at Feng Xiao, who was standing dutifully behind Cui Buqu like a background prop. Suddenly he realized: His lord was still in seclusion. This must once again be Qin Miaoyu in disguise. No wonder his behavior had been so off. The real Feng Xiao would never be this quiet; at minimum, he'd brag about his own swordsmanship, which was flawless and unerring.
As if he'd heard Pei Jingzhe's thoughts, the false Feng Xiao turned and threw him a playful wink, completely out of character.
Pei Jingzhe's lips twitched.