Li Sheng blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface, taking a slow, deliberate sip of the scalding tea.
Shopkeeper Wu’s originally gloomy, inscrutable face instantly fell.
He casually yanked off the tattered felt hat on his head, grabbed the long-spouted teapot from the table, and obsequiously leaned over to refill Li Sheng’s cup.
“Chief Steward Li, please, have some more. This is this year’s freshly picked Mingqian Longjing tea—I saved it specially for you.”
Li Sheng picked up the cup, took a sip, his expression brightening with satisfaction, then promptly cursed under his breath.
“That bastard really knows how to overact.”
Shopkeeper Wu suppressed a grin and set down the teapot.
“You’re telling me! From East Market Street to here—less than three li in all. First he spent ages picking out sugar-coated hawthorn skewers, then he ran off to Blacksmith Zhang’s shop to haggle over hoe prices, and finally, he lingered by the mutton soup stall, rambling on about grain prices.”
Wu mimicked Old Gou’s shifty-eyed look, hunching his shoulders and craning his neck, waving his hands theatrically in front of him.
“He was afraid of being followed,” Li Sheng snorted coldly. “Isn’t that how spies act in the plays? As if he’s terrified someone won’t notice he has a guilty conscience.”
Shopkeeper Wu chuckled, slapping his thigh.
“He doesn’t even realize that every vegetable-selling auntie, fortune-telling blind man, and even Blacksmith Zhang swinging his hammer at the forge—they’re all undercover agents our headquarters deployed.”
“He walked all the way here, practically begging to have ‘I’m the mole’ tattooed on his forehead. And he still thinks he’s being flawless.”
Li Sheng tapped the table.
“What about the intelligence?”
Shopkeeper Wu quickly pulled a crumpled yellow slip of paper from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands.
“Chief Steward, this is the treasure that bastard just gave up.”
Li Sheng took the paper, unfolded it, and scanned the contents.
Scrawled crookedly on it in charcoal were two lines: the Helian tribe was launching a full-scale southern raid, and He Minghu was to coordinate from inside the city, aiming to topple Zhenbei Pass.
Li Sheng let out a cold laugh. He folded the paper firmly and tucked it into his chest pocket.
“Those sons of bitches sure think big. They’ve even rehearsed the whole ‘coordinate from within and without’ routine.”
Shopkeeper Wu leaned in, lowering his voice.
“That idiot He Minghu could never have guessed that this Wu’s Tea Shop was bought with funds from the Imperial Commissioner’s Headquarters. Even my cover as a die-hard loyalist of the Great Khan was a script you taught me just half a month ago, Chief Steward.”
“This reverse fishing hook—they’ve swallowed it whole and think the bait tastes sweet. The more they scheme, the more they look like a joke to us.”
Li Sheng stood up, brushing the tea dust off his clothes.
“Alright, you stay here and keep watch. If any more fools like that come offering their heads, take them all. Remember, be respectful—make them think the Great Khan can’t do without them. Play them like puppets.”
……
At the same time.
In the back-room dormitory of the Xu Estate’s rear courtyard, the sour, stench of sweat filled the air.
Old Gou kicked off his ragged straw sandals, didn’t even take off his outer coat, and dove straight into the grimy, stained blanket, pulling it over his head.
Under the covers, he clamped his hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking violently to stifle his laughter.
A hundred taels of gold! A marquis with a thousand households!
This overwhelming fortune was about to land smack in his lap.
Just now at the tea shop, that Shopkeeper Wu had treated him with the utmost respect.
That man was the highest-placed spy of the Helian court in Zhenbei City!
Even a big shot like him had to grovel for Old Gou’s help.
To hell with Xu Qinghuan.
Once the Helian army stormed the city, he, Old Gou, would be the first to charge into the headquarters, trampling that little girl under his feet.
And that Li Sheng, with his perpetual glare, would have to kneel and lick the soles of his boots.
Within moments, thunderous snoring echoed through the dormitory.
In his dream, he sat lounging in a wingback chair in a grand, three-courtyard mansion in the capital.
Below him knelt a row of delicate maids, waiting for him to choose his nightly company.
The chief steward knelt beside him, holding a tray of gold ingots, calling him “Marquis” with every breath.
Several bully soldiers who’d once tormented him were tied to wooden posts, as he lashed them with a whip, making them scream and beg for mercy.
Drool trickled down his chin, soaking the yellowed, stiff pillow.
He had no idea that the “top-secret intelligence” he’d risked everything to deliver was now tucked into Li Sheng’s inner pocket, racing toward the Imperial Commissioner’s Headquarters.
Li Sheng sprinted through the back alleys, his feet flying so fast he barely slowed down to jump over mud puddles.
Street vendors were still hawking their wares; the blacksmith’s hammer rang out constantly.
Li Sheng weaved through the crowd, his mind entirely occupied with how to handle this catastrophic threat.
He burst through the headquarters’ main gate, bypassing the protocol for reporting, and made straight for the study.
The study door was shut tight.
Li Sheng knew the weight of this intelligence.
A full-scale southern raid by the Helian tribe—this wasn’t the usual small-scale harassment.
Whether Zhenbei Pass’s few layers of walls could hold was uncertain.
“Miss! The sky is falling!”
His shout was theatrically exaggerated.
Inside the study, near the window at a long desk, Xu Qinghuan was bent over, examining a repeating crossbow mechanism that Huang Zhenni had just delivered.
Hearing Li Sheng’s earth-shaking yell, Xu Qinghuan didn’t even look up.
“Oh.”
The response was utterly dismissive.
Li Sheng stamped his foot in frustration, bounding over to the desk in two steps.
“Miss! I’m not joking! The Helian court is launching a full-scale southern raid!”
“Old Gou passed the word—it’s solid! He Minghu is plotting an uprising inside the city. Since they couldn’t get the batch of fine iron armor from White Wolf Valley, Chen Changfeng is going to flip the table and smash the whole game!”
Li Sheng panted heavily, pressing urgently.
“How do we spring the trap? What’s the troop deployment? Should we surround the Deputy General’s mansion first and behead that old bastard He Minghu as a war sacrifice?”
Xu Qinghuan set down the iron file, picked up a coarse cotton cloth from the desk, and wiped the grease off her hands.
She pulled a large sheet of rice paper from the drawer under the desk and slapped it down in front of Li Sheng.
“What’s the rush?”
Li Sheng looked down.
The paper was covered in dense red and black lines.
Black lines traced from Yinshan Mountain all the way south, clearly marking every possible route the Helian cavalry might take. Even the water sources and suitable camping meadows along the way were circled.
Red lines formed a tight ring around the Deputy General’s mansion, pinpointing the residences of He Minghu’s closest confidants. Even the route He Minghu took to the latrine at night was mapped out.
Li Sheng stood frozen.
When had the Miss dug up even the location of their ancestors’ graves?
Xu Qinghuan picked up the cold tea from the desk and took a sip to moisten her throat.
“Chen Changfeng went to the capital. He probably got some advice, or maybe he figured something out on his own.”
“In the middle of summer, before the horses have even fattened up for autumn, he’s pushing the Helian Great Khan to launch a southward campaign.”
Xu Qinghuan let out a soft laugh, tapping her fingers on the crossbow’s lock case.
“What does that tell you?”
Li Sheng scratched his head, finally forcing out, “That he’s lost his mind?”
Xu Qinghuan ignored the crude remark, cutting straight to the point.
“It tells you he’s scared.”
“Those few thunderclaps in White Wolf Valley blew his arrogant superiority to smithereens. His invincible prairie cavalry couldn’t even get a single shot off before being wiped out by the explosive jars.”
"He won't even give the warhorses enough time to eat their fill, afraid that if he delays any longer, our firearms will be mass-produced enough to level the Yin Mountains."
Xu Qinghuan picked up an oil-soaked rag and leisurely wiped the crossbow string of a repeating crossbow.
If the steppe’s warhorses don’t fatten up for autumn and are forced to march, they’ll lose half their strength by the time they reach the gates of Zhenbei Pass. This isn’t a battle—this is throwing lives into a fire pit.
Xu Qinghuan tossed the rag onto the table, her tone dripping with mockery.
"And He Minghu? He's just pathetic. A fool being used as a pawn, actually believing he'll claim the top credit.
"If Chen Changfeng and the First Prince truly valued his little 'inside collaboration' skills, they wouldn't have forced the Helan people to launch their attack at this time."
"In their eyes, He Minghu is no different from a brick in the wall of Zhenbei City. When the city falls, it’ll all come crashing down—imperial envoy and deputy generals alike."
Li Sheng felt a chill crawl up his scalp.
He had thought this was a life-or-death crisis of epic proportions.
But listening to his master talk, these people were nothing more than a pack of monkeys running naked through the streets, their every secret stripped bare.
Over there, He Minghu was still dreaming of promotion and riches, unaware he didn’t even qualify to sit at the table as a bargaining chip.
Li Sheng swallowed hard and pointed at the deployment map on the table.
"So… what do we do now? We can't just sit here and wait for the Helan people to come crashing in, can we?"
Xu Qinghuan grabbed the fully assembled repeating crossbow.
She gripped the bowstring and pulled it back with force.
Then she leveled the crossbow, aiming its muzzle at the empty air.
"To the General’s mansion."
Li Sheng snapped to attention.
"To wake up Great Marshal Iron," Xu Qinghuan said, tilting her head and looking past the crossbow’s sights at Li Sheng. "Tell him someone’s holding a knife to Zhenbei Army’s throat."
"Ask him if he still wants to keep playing this act."
