It was past midnight.
In May, the daytime heat of the capital was enough to make dogs pant, but once night fell, the sweltering heat dissipated.
The wind blew from the north.
It swept through the corridors of the Chengyi Count Manor's back courtyard, bent around the pillars, and rolled toward the center of the courtyard, rustling the locust tree leaves along the way.
The branches scraped against the dark-tiled eaves, making a soft, faint sound.
Xu Youde stood right in the middle of the courtyard.
He wore no outer robe, only a thin inner garment draped over him. In his right hand, he clutched a pair of walnuts he had been rolling for over a decade.
Normally, holding these gave him more peace of mind than holding the official seal of the Ministry of Revenue.
But tonight, he didn't roll them at all. The two walnuts were simply gripped tightly in his palm.
His eyes looked toward the north, but he could see nothing. Dark clouds completely smothered the moon, leaving the horizon pitch black.
He couldn't distinguish where the sky ended and the city walls began.
Yet, he kept staring.
It was as if, as long as he didn't blink, his gaze could pierce through thousands of miles of official roads and the gate tunnel of Juyong Pass.
Through the canyons of the Yan Mountains and the wind and sand of the northern lands, all the way into the city of Zhenbei.
A light appeared in the moon gate behind him.
Xu Wuyou walked over from the end of the corridor, carrying a lantern.
Over his arm hung a deerskin cloak, the one Xu Youde often wore when winter set in.
"Father."
Xu Wuyou stepped close and unfolded the cloak, draping it over Xu Youde's shoulders.
"It's past midnight and the dew is heavy. Standing in the wind in just thin clothes, your bones will ache for half the day tomorrow."
Xu Youde did not look back.
After the cloak was placed on his shoulders, he didn't reach up to pull it tight, letting the wind flap the hem loudly.
"It's mid-May."
"But smell this wind."
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"It blows with a wicked chill."
Xu Wuyou didn't reply.
He set the lantern on the Taihu stone by his feet, stood at his father's left side, and also looked up toward the north.
Nothing could be seen.
Black.
"I still remember, when your second brother left years ago, it was also this hour."
Xu Youde suddenly said, his voice quiet, as if talking to himself.
"He went out the city gates before dawn. I stood at the door to see him off. He was riding a date-red horse and wearing ill-fitting leather armor. He turned back and smiled at me."
Xu Wuyou paused, then said.
"I remember back in Taoyuan, that boy said, 'Father, just you wait. Your son is going to earn military glory for the Xu family.'"
The wind picked up again.
The branches of the old locust tree were blown to one side. A few dead leaves spiraled down, landing at Xu Youde's feet, sticking to the damp bluestone slabs.
"That smile was exactly like his mother's when she was young."
He opened his mouth to say something else, but swallowed the words back.
After a long while, Xu Wuyou picked a less heart-wrenching topic.
"Father, Qinghuan has the Emperor's Sword with her. With my sister's mind, those people can't outplay her. Second Brother will be fine."
Xu Youde turned his head.
The lantern was placed far away; its meager light was only enough to illuminate half of his face.
On that half of his face, there was none of the sorrow Xu Wuyou had expected.
There was only a deep weariness, and beneath that weariness lay a fierce ruthlessness ready to ignite at any moment.
"Your sister is smart."
Xu Youde's voice slowed down, grinding out the words one by one.
"But what use is being smart?"
"Those men in the North, whether it's He Minghu or Ma Jin'an, the one standing behind them is the Ministry of War. Sitting above the Ministry of War is Qi Enming, and who is backing Qi Enming?"
He didn't say the name.
He didn't need to; both father and son knew it perfectly well.
The Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Xu Jie.
"The Emperor's Sword in your sister's hand might be able to chop off He Minghu's head, but it cannot sever Xu Jie's hand."
"That old fox has been putting down roots in the imperial court for decades. Pull one out, and there are ten more attached beneath it, and a hundred more beneath those ten."
"Isn't Xu Jie the one standing behind the entire Great Qian Dynasty? His power blots out the sky!"
Xu Youde turned back to continue staring at the north.
"Does holding the Emperor's Sword mean she can just slice through them like melons and vegetables? Having navigated from the merchant world to the officialdom for so many years, the one thing I know best is this."
"In this world, swords aren't the only things that can kill."
"An official dispatch, an allocation of funds, a transfer order stamped with the seals of the Six Ministries—when these kill, they are faster and more ruthless than any blade. Hah! And they do it without shedding a drop of blood."
Xu Wuyou clenched his fists.
"Father, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying."
Xu Youde lowered his voice, dropping it so low that it could only be heard right next to Xu Wuyou's ear.
"The chessboard in the capital cannot stop."
"While Qinghuan is risking her life in the North, we must pave every possible avenue of retreat here in the capital."
"The lines of money, grain, and connections—every handle we can grasp, every throat we can squeeze, not a single one can be broken."
"If, by some chance, she cannot break the deadlock over there, we must have something to catch her fall over here."
"If?"
Xu Wuyou's voice tightened.
"Father, what do you mean 'if'?"
Xu Youde did not answer the question.
The courtyard fell silent for a few breaths.
The sound of the wind, the scratching of dead branches against the tiles, and the distant clatter of the night watchman's clapper layered over one another.
Suddenly, Xu Youde swayed.
Without any warning.
His right hand loosened, and one of the two walnuts he had held for over a decade immediately slipped from his grasp.
The walnut hit the bluestone slab, rolled twice, and wedged itself into a crevice between the stones, unable to roll any further.
Suddenly, Xu Youde clutched his chest with his left hand, his fingers gripping the front of his inner robe.
Half of his body pitched forward.
"Father!"
Xu Wuyou lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Xu Youde's waist to forcefully steady him.
He could feel his father's back heaving, the entire weight of the man pressing down on his arms.
"Father, what's wrong?"
Xu Youde gasped for air with his mouth wide open.
Leaning on his son's arms, he hunched over as cold sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled down his temples.
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
He waved his hand, taking several heavy breaths before the suffocating tightness in his throat finally eased.
"Just now."
Xu Youde raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, leaving the back of his hand covered in moisture.
"An inexplicable pain in my chest."
He pressed his palm against the left side of his chest.
"It's not an illness; it's a sense of dread."
"For just a moment, it felt as if a piece of flesh was being carved right out of my chest."
Xu Wuyou supported his father, moving him to lean against a corridor pillar. He crouched down to look at Xu Youde's face.
The light was too dim for him to make out his father's expression clearly, but he could see a glint flashing in Xu Youde's eyes.
It wasn't tears.
It was a gleam of mingled terror and fury.
"Father, did you have a nightmare?"
"How could I dream when I haven't even slept?"
Xu Youde shook off Xu Wuyou's hand and took three deep breaths.
Using the pillar for support, he straightened his back little by little.
His deerskin cloak slipped from his shoulders and fell to the ground.
"Eldest."
Xu Youde called out, his voice altered.
"Here."
Xu Wuyou replied, subconsciously straightening his posture.
"The Delong Bank's hidden post in the alley outside Xuanwu Gate, how many times have you been there?"
"Three times. The last time was when we delivered the first batch of banknotes."
"Go there again tonight."
Xu Youde picked up the walnut that had rolled into a crevice in the stone floor. He wiped the dirt off it with his thumb and gripped it tightly in his palm once more.
"Tell the people there that the three networks here in the capital are to be reeled in completely."
"Shen Tongji's river channel funds, Yang Bingwen's Court of Imperial Entertainments procurement silver, and the military pay attrition mixed into Qinghuan's total escort expenses—these three channels must be completely cleared within ten days."
"Not a single tael can be missing."
Xu Wuyou froze for a moment.
"Father, wasn't the original plan to move it slowly over three months? Why the sudden change?"
"There is no time."
Xu Youde interrupted him, his eyes darting around in the shadows.
"When Xu Jie learns the news that your sister has gone to Zhenbei City, what will be his first reaction?"
Xu Wuyou's mind raced.
"Check the Ministry of Revenue's accounts."
"Correct."
"If he can't find anything to use against Qinghuan, he will turn his sights on our family. A deficit of three hundred thousand taels of silver—no matter how beautifully I've covered it up, it won't withstand a joint investigation by the Six Ministries."
"If the money isn't in place, Third Prince Xiao won't have the confidence to shield us from the blade."
"And if Third Prince Xiao lacks confidence, Qinghuan will be an isolated force in the Northern Frontier."
"Therefore, ten days."
Xu Youde raised his hand and patted Xu Wuyou's chest, the strike heavy.
"This ten-day errand is even more critical than when you blew up the death squad at Mount Yan."
"Silver is life."
"It is your sister's life, your second brother's life, and the lives of the dozens of people in our Xu family."
Xu Wuyou ground his back teeth.
He bent down, picked up the deerskin cloak from the ground, and draped it back over his father's shoulders, this time pressing his hands firmly on both sides.
"Father."
"I will leave the estate within half an hour, and the message will be delivered before dawn."
Xu Youde patted the back of the hand resting on his shoulder.
"Go."
"Change into inconspicuous clothes and don't take the main gate. Leave through the back alleyway."
Xu Wuyou turned and walked toward the moon gate, but stopped after a few steps.
"Father."
"Hmm?"
"That girl Qinghuan has been full of clever ideas since she was little. She will bring Second Brother back."
Xu Youde, with his back to him, did not reply.
The night wind swept into the courtyard again, making the branches of the old locust tree creak.
The dark clouds parted slightly, allowing a small patch of moonlight to leak through and illuminate the bluestone slab at Xu Youde's feet.
The moonlight was a ghastly, pale white.
Xu Youde looked down at the light, and the remaining walnut in his right hand began to rotate slowly.
One rotation.
Two rotations.
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
Only the leaves of the old locust tree were caught by the wind, swirling above his head before falling to cover the ground.
