SF 14

Ling Xun stood alone at the mouth of the empty alley. The setting sun dyed the stone road golden, casting a solitary, desolate shadow behind him.

“Master Feng, is something wrong?” the servant from the Ministry of Civil Affairs asked cautiously. After Ling Xun’s sudden change of demeanor earlier, he no longer dared to be careless.

Ling Xun continued gazing at the spot where that figure had disappeared. After a long pause, he finally said, “Nothing. I just thought I saw someone familiar. I must have been mistaken.”

“If you’ve mistaken the person, then please return to the carriage, sir,” the servant said with a forced smile.

Ling Xun turned and climbed back into the carriage. In his shadow, he glimpsed something pathetic, even a little laughable.

How could it possibly have been him?

It had been so many years, and he no longer even remembered what that person looked like. Just a gray-clothed back, and he convinced himself it was him? Ridiculous.

He quickly recovered, burying that brief moment of softness and putting his mask back on, the slick, smooth-talking merchant in all his glory.

By the time the carriage reached the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Minister Liu was already waiting at the gate.

“Master Feng!” Minister Liu greeted him with a broad smile. “I’ve finally welcomed you at last.”

Minister Liu’s hair and beard were white, his frame thin, though his complexion looked rather healthy. He had a pair of bulging eyes that always looked ready to argue his case. Though he was the last of the Three Ministers still standing, it was obvious that behind his façade of upright temper lay a mind sharpened by decades of political maneuvering.

“Your humble servant pays respects to Minister Liu.” Ling Xun, still feigning weakness, made to bow.

Minister Liu hurried to help him up. One look at Ling Xun’s bewitching face and he nearly threw out his back.

“No need for formalities, Master Feng. Too many prying eyes here. Let’s speak inside.”

Inside the residence, Ling Xun was treated as a most honored guest. Minister Liu had a physician see to his injuries and arranged a lavish banquet, calling it a welcome feast. However, Minister Liu was not the only one in attendance.

Ling Xun glanced at the gathered court officials and realized that every one of those who had sent him a calling card was here. A nighttime banquet like this, under the guise of hospitality, was clearly hiding something.

Throughout the banquet, official after official praised Ling Xun as a righteous hero, unmatched in loyalty and courage, and fearless in the face of tyranny. In all his twenty years of life, he had never heard this many compliments in one sitting.

Midway through the feast, after the wine had flowed freely, Minister Liu suddenly stood and invited Ling Xun to accompany him to freshen up.

If even relieving oneself required company, then clearly someone was either plotting or scheming something behind the scenes.

Seeing that Minister Liu had ulterior motive written all over his face, Ling Xun decided to play along and followed him out.

The old man didn’t lead him to the latrine. Instead, he took him straight into a private room, dismissed the attendants, and carefully shut the door. Then, unexpectedly, he turned around and knelt before Ling Xun.

“Minister Liu, what are you doing?” Ling Xun was stunned and quickly knelt with him, trying to stop him from kowtowing.

But when Minister Liu rose, his eyes were brimming with tears. He clutched Ling Xun’s hands tightly, like a drowning man grabbing at the last straw.

“Please, Master Feng, have mercy on the people of Jiuzhou. Save the Xia dynasty!”

If the earlier praises had been high as a rooftop, this was a pagoda with eighty-one tiers crashing down on his head. Ling Xun had a hard enough skull to survive the blow, but his neck almost couldn’t bear the weight.

“Minister Liu, that is far too much. I dare not accept such praise.”

“You scolded the traitor in open court. That alone shows you walk the righteous path and refuse to grovel before power. Such integrity, is it possible that you could sit by and watch the young emperor suffer? Watch the people bleed?”

He’s clinging to me now…

Ling Xun found it almost funny. Still, he kept a straight face and replied, “What does Minister Liu wish me to do?”

Seeing the mood had been sufficiently stirred, Minister Liu hastily wiped his old tears with a sleeve and shakily took out a dagger from his robe. “This blade is a family heirloom. I offer it to you, that you might use it to slay the eunuch traitor.”

So this was the moment they tried to rope him in. If his mind had been even slightly slower, he might have been tricked by this old fox.

“You wish for me to assassinate the Chief Eunuch?”

Minister Liu had not expected him to deviate from the script. Instead of accepting the dagger and pledging with solemnity, Ling Xun posed the question directly. Minister Liu’s expression shifted. “That is exactly it. Kill the traitor.”

Ling Xun lowered his eyes to examine the dagger. Its hilt was inlaid with a crimson gem the size of a coin, glimmering like blood crystal. Gold engraving formed a motif of pines and bamboo. The blade itself was thin as a strand of hair, gleaming coldly, radiating a chill the closer one got.

It was indeed a fine piece.

Noticing the flicker of admiration in Ling Xun’s gaze, Minister Liu pressed his advantage. “This dagger has a name. If you are willing to rid us of the eunuch, I shall gift you this heirloom.”

Ling Xun finally accepted the dagger.

Minister Liu was overjoyed and prepared to continue, expecting Ling Xun to ask the dagger’s name and offering him a few more persuasive words. But unexpectedly, Ling Xun looked up and gave him a half-smile. “Minister Liu, do you truly believe that killing Qin Chao will save the empire?”

Minister Liu froze. “What do you mean by that, Master Feng?”

Ling Xun did not answer. Instead, he returned the dagger.

Minister Liu could no longer maintain his smile. His dragon-like eyes narrowed. His dry lips pulled into a cold sneer. “So, you intend to reject my request?”

Ling Xun asked calmly, “If I refuse, what would you do, Minister Liu?”

“Hmph. Surely you know how the laws of Great Xia treat formation masters.”

Ling Xun raised a brow. He looked at the old man, who turned hostile faster than flipping a page, without a hint of anger, and even chuckled. “Since Minister Liu already knows I am a formation master, why would you think I would want to save an empire that never treated formation masters as human in the first place?”

“You… What did you just say?”

Minister Liu’s face flushed red, then turned pale. It was as if Ling Xun’s eyes had become blades, slicing through his skin and peeling back the last layer of hypocrisy. He instinctively recoiled.

Ling Xun leaned forward and grabbed the hand still holding the dagger. His eyes locked directly onto the minister’s, which had turned somewhat clouded with age.

“Minister Liu, why would you assume that I, a man of supposed principle who cannot bear the devastation wrought by the eunuch faction, would have no trouble stomaching the fate of my fellow formation masters? That I would quietly accept the slaughter of our forebears, the infants drowned in their swaddling cloth just for being born with the talent, or the countless others who were thrown into prison simply for revealing a trace of their skill?”

“You… what are you trying to do…”

Perhaps sensing the dangerous shift in Ling Xun’s energy, Minister Liu’s pupils contracted. He opened his mouth to call for help, but before he could utter a sound, something cold had already pressed across his throat. At some point, the dagger had been taken from his own hands.

Minister Liu understood at once that his life was now at another’s mercy. He shut his eyes tight, neither resisting nor begging for mercy. He simply straightened his neck and waited to die.

But then came a sudden burst of laughter.

Ling Xun threw his head back and laughed heartily, withdrawing the blade from the minister’s neck.

“How about it, Minister Liu? What do you think of my skills?”

“You… you…”

Minister Liu’s underclothes were already soaked with sweat. He looked again at the beautiful young man lounging casually before him, peach blossom eyes curved in amusement, and a chill ran through his bones. He could no longer grasp his depths, nor guess at his intentions.

Apologies for the offense, Minister Liu,” Ling Xun said politely, though he showed no shame at all as he slipped the dagger into his robe. “But assassinating a chief eunuch comes with no shortage of risks. I’m no strategist. I would ask that Minister Liu bestow upon me some sound advice.”