It was dusk.

The twilight was like wine. The evening drums in the capital had just reached the seventy-second beat.

Once eight hundred beats had sounded, the sky would darken, and the nine city gates would be locked. No one could enter or exit without a document from one of the Six Ministries.

Outside the Anding Gate of the capital, the common folk who were about to enter the city to return home stopped at the city gate tunnel.

There were scholars with book bags and porters pulling coal carts. They were rushing back to the city with the drumbeats, but they all gathered at the city gate, looking at the wanted poster affixed to the city wall.

A literate middle-aged scholar slowly read, “The criminal Chen Ji intended to assassinate the Crown Prince, registered in Shuntian Prefecture, aged eighteen…”

Someone exclaimed, “Assassinate the Crown Prince? How audacious!”

The middle-aged scholar frowned, “Without propriety, humans are no different from beasts; without order, a nation will crumble. Allow me to finish reading, you lack manners!”

The porter pulling the coal cart grumbled, “You read, you read…”

The middle-aged scholar continued to read slowly, “…five feet nine inches tall, thin as a crane, with a sesame-sized black mole at the corner of his left eye. A reward of fifty thousand *qian* is offered to anyone who reports this act of treason.”

A thunderous exclamation erupted from the crowd, “Huo, fifty thousand *qian*!”

“With so much reward money, do you think this kid’s life is more valuable, or the ransom for the top courtesan in the Eight Great Hutongs?”

“That should be the courtesan. I heard years ago someone offered eighty thousand *liang* of silver to ransom Liu Xing-shou from Jinling, but they refused…”

“You’re bragging, aren’t you? Eighty thousand *liang* and they refused? Eighty thousand *liang* could buy the Forbidden City!”

“Get lost, you old hag! If you want to die, don’t drag me into it!”

The middle-aged scholar saw these people chattering wildly and was immediately enraged, flicking his sleeves. “Crude barbarians!”

At this moment, the people below the city wall suddenly heard a strange creaking sound of chains and a winch. The middle-aged man abruptly looked up at the tall and majestic city wall.

The *Shenji* siege crossbow, which had been still for a long time, slowly turned on the city wall, pointing towards the official road to the north.

Everyone instinctively looked back at the official road, just as they saw a young man galloping towards them, seemingly rushing with the drumbeats, carrying an unconscious person on his warhorse.

In the cold spring wind, the young man’s warhorse was sweating profusely, and white mist steamed in the wind. When the mist was illuminated by the twilight, it was a faint purple, like a flowing cloud waterfall.

On the city wall, someone shouted, “Halt!”

The young man continued without stopping, and the siege crossbow on the city wall slowly turned with him.

Behind the battlement, someone shouted again, “Halt, or be killed without mercy!”

The young man’s face was solemn. He loudly replied, “Chen Ji of Fuyou Street is bringing Liao Zhong back to the capital for trial. If you dare not use this *Shenji* crossbow, then move it aside!”

His voice was loud and clear, carrying over a hundred *zhang*. The person who shouted on the city wall was stunned, and behind the battlement, someone faintly ordered, “Close the gates and lock them.”

A foot soldier of the Five-City Gendarmerie hesitated, “Your Excellency, you cannot. The eight hundred evening drumbeats have not finished. Closing the gates now will cost us our heads!”

The speaker said in a deep voice, “Close them! Don’t let him have a chance to enter the city tonight!”

The foot soldier whispered, “With such meager pay, do you expect us to risk our heads with you? Whoever wants to close them can. We won’t.”

Rules.

The rules of this capital were the threshold between life and death.

Seeing that the city gates could not be closed, the person on the city wall immediately instructed the commander of Anding Gate beside him, “Stop him. As soon as the evening drums finish, immediately lock him out!”

The next moment, within the city, there was the clatter of armor rubbing as the foot soldiers of the Five-City Gendarmerie ran. A dark mass of foot soldiers ran out of the city gate and formed a battle array.

The foot soldiers held long *ge* spears, forming a wall of spears in front of the city gate.

As the evening drum sounded its four hundred and tenth beat, Chen Ji finally reached the city gate and slowed his horse. He listened to the drumbeats and looked up; archers on the city wall had drawn their bowstrings, and the black iron arrowheads glinted with cold light.

A *pian jiang* (deputy general) in armor stood behind the wall of spears and said in a deep voice, “Surrender immediately. Any grievances can be addressed to the Secret Service Bureau. If you advance further, you will be killed without mercy!”

The Five-City Gendarmerie, clad in spotless armor, stood in the shadow of the city wall.

Chen Ji reined in his horse in the blood-red sunset. The setting sun illuminated his distinct jawline, and his hair was messy and disheveled.

Only then did the city guard foot soldiers see that the young man’s clothes were soaked in blood, the gray cloth bandaging his arm was also stained with blood, and there were splashes of blood on his cheeks.

At this moment, in front of the stern wall of spears, Chen Ji calmly said, “This is not something you can interfere with. Move aside.”

The foot soldiers subconsciously looked back at the *pian jiang* in the city gate tunnel. No one expected Chen Ji to be even calmer than them.

The *pian jiang* said coldly, “You are a wanted criminal on the sea-capture warrant. Do not speak so wildly.”

Chen Ji wiped the dried blood from his face with the back of his hand, saying nonchalantly, “Someone framed me as the mastermind behind the assassination of the Crown Prince. I’ve brought the real culprit back, but you won’t let me take him into the city for trial. Could it be… that you are also an accomplice?”

The *pian jiang*’s expression changed, “Do not make baseless accusations!”

This matter involved the Crown Prince, Prince Fu, and the Chen family of Fuyou Street. Anyone who killed Chen Ji now would be accused of murder to silence a witness… and their own punishment would be light; a slight misstep could lead to the extermination of their entire clan.

The *pian jiang* feigned bravado, “Dismount at once, or be killed without mercy!”

Killed without mercy…

Chen Ji had heard “killed without mercy” so many times these past few days that his ears were calloused. “Do you want to stall until the evening drums end? Let’s see.”

At the seven hundred and fifty-eighth evening drumbeat, Chen Ji pulled the reins and pressed into the city gate tunnel. The foot soldiers, forming a wall of spears, were actually pushed back by him.

The *pian jiang* shouted, “Archers, prepare!”

Behind him, archers drew their bowstrings, the sinew strings of their horn bows creaking loudly, as a deterrent.

But Chen Ji’s horse did not stop, still slowly advancing. He stared coldly at the archers, “If you want your entire clan exterminated, then shoot.”

The archers subconsciously lowered their arrowheads.

At this moment, the eight hundred evening drumbeats ended, and the sound of chains and a winch echoed from the city wall. The city gates slowly closed, as if to lock Chen Ji out.

Chen Ji squeezed his horse’s belly and charged into the city, pushing past the cold gleam of the spears.

The foot soldiers, fearing accidental injury, quickly retracted their *ge* spears and retreated!

The *pian jiang* angrily said, “How dare a criminal trespass in the capital, a vital military area? Those who retreat further will be dealt with by military law…”

It was too late.

The common folk in the city watched as Chen Ji rode his horse into the shadow of the city gate tunnel, forcing the foot soldiers to retreat inside. The city gates slowly closed behind Chen Ji, shutting out the last sliver of twilight.

Chen Ji finally stopped in front of the formation. He remained still, and the Wucheng Gendarmerie also did not move rashly. They could only block the street, preventing Chen Ji from passing.

They stood in a standoff.

Chen Ji looked down at the *pian jiang*, “You can’t make the decision; send someone who can.”

The *pian jiang* remained silent. A middle-aged man in a scholar’s robe walked down from the city tower.

Chen Ji turned to look. It was Chen Xu, the *xing guan* (aide) who was always by Elder Chen’s side.

Chen Xu approached Chen Ji and politely said in a voice only they could hear, “Third Young Master, I came at the Patriarch’s command to ask you, could you spare the Crown Prince?”

Chen Ji smiled. He was merely a sixth-rank *bai hu* (centurion) of the Imperial Guards, yet the other party wanted him to spare the Crown Prince?

Indeed, Elder Chen was the Crown Prince’s tutor, and the Chen family was the Crown Prince’s biggest faction. Now, the Chen family was putting the Crown Prince to death, making a colossal joke of the situation.

Chen Ji calmly said, “When the Crown Prince wanted to kill me, did the Chen family ever ask him to spare me?”

Chen Xu humbly replied, “The Crown Prince did not discuss this with Elder Chen. The family was unaware.”

Chen Ji looked down at Chen Xu, “Then this time, the Chen family should also pretend to be unaware.”

Chen Xu whispered, “Young Master, this is not only the Patriarch’s Chen family, but also your Chen family. The world believes our Chen family is as solid as a rock, as stable as Mount Tai, yet our Chen family has endured a thousand years of storms and never had a day of peace.”

Chen Xu pleaded, “Young Master, the Patriarch said that if you only spare the Crown Prince, in a few decades, you will be the most powerful person in this Ning Dynasty. The Chen family can give you money and power. I hope Young Master will consider the bigger picture.”

Chen Ji let out a long sigh of turbid air, “What if I don’t want either money or power?”

Chen Xu slightly frowned, “Then what does Young Master want?”

Chen Ji turned to see the wine banner fluttering on the street, smiled, and said, “I want strong winds and strong liquor.”

Before Chen Xu could react, he waved to the shopkeeper hiding in the doorway and watching the commotion. “Shopkeeper, I’m thirsty. Bring some wine.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper instinctively retreated a few steps, finding an excuse, “Little… little one’s shop is all out of wine.”

Chen Ji expressed regret, “What a pity.”

The *pian jiang* behind the military formation said coldly, “Young man, you are arrogant.”

Chen Ji turned and stared at him, “What if I am arrogant? What if I am presumptuous?”

Chen Xu lightly sighed, “Young Master, youthful arrogance is a good thing, after all, the future of this world belongs to you… but not yet.”

As soon as his voice fell, someone strode from behind the crowd. “I’ll find you wine!”

Chen Ji looked up. It was Yang Yang of the Wansui Army striding over. He walked into the wine shop facing the street. “What kind of wine do you want to drink? Grape wine, Zhuyeqing…”

Chen Ji burst out laughing, “The strongest!”

“In a large bowl or a small bowl?”

“A large bowl!”

Yang Yang, carrying a wine jar in his left hand and a pottery bowl in his right, strode like an iron tower to the front of the Wucheng Gendarmerie formation. “Move aside!”

The foot soldiers of the Five-City Gendarmerie looked at each other, unsure what to do.

They looked at the *pian jiang*, who also didn’t know what to do, so he could only look back at Chen Xu.

Yang Yang calmly said, “Since when did the Five-City Gendarmerie dare to block the path of a *qian hu* (commander) of my Wansui Army? Get out of the way.”

Chen Xu was silent for a few breaths, then nodded to the *pian jiang*. The foot soldiers immediately opened a narrow path wide enough for one person to pass.

Yang Yang came to Chen Ji’s side and handed him the pottery bowl.

Chen Ji silently took the pottery bowl.

Yang Yang peeled open the mud seal and poured the clear wine into the bowl. “Drink it all!”

Chen Ji raised the bowl and drained it, a fiery line burning into his lungs. “First bowl.”

He then handed the empty bowl back to Yang Yang. “Again.”

Yang Yang grinned. “Your face hasn’t changed a bit, your tolerance for alcohol is decent!”

But this time Chen Ji did not drink. He raised the wine bowl to the north, then slowly poured the wine onto the ground.

Yang Yang whispered, “At this time, we should be finding a way to enter the palace to have an audience with the Emperor. Why drink now? Once the dust settles, I’ll drink with you to your heart’s content.”

Chen Ji softly said, “I’m afraid they can’t wait.”

Yang Yang was startled. Who were “they”?

Chen Ji handed the pottery bowl back to Yang Yang. “Why are you here?”

As Yang Yang poured the wine, he explained, “A… Zhang Xia sent word that Minister Zhang heard someone report to His Majesty in Renshou Palace that Bailong sent a pigeon message back from Changping County, saying you would return to the capital from Changping today, bringing Liao Zhong… You’re a real man, what you did, even I wouldn’t dare. Drink it all!”

Chen Ji drank it all again. “Second bowl.”

Yang Yang muttered, “How many bowls are you planning to drink?”

Chen Ji replied, “Eighty more bowls.”

Yang Yang couldn’t help but laugh. “Aren’t you afraid of bursting your boast?”

Chen Ji also laughed, “It’s alright, I’ll drink slowly, I’ll finish it eventually.”

The sky gradually darkened.

Chen Ji drank bowl after bowl, and Yang Yang poured bowl after bowl.

He silently counted in his heart. When he reached the ninth bowl, his eyes were hazy with drink as he handed the pottery bowl out again.

As Yang Yang poured the wine, he asked, “Are you just going to drink here and not move? The crucial point today is to enter the palace for an audience with the Emperor and clear your name. When will you have time to drink?”

Chen Ji hiccupped. “No rush, just wait a little longer.”

Yang Yang was confused. “Wait for what?”

Chen Ji said nonchalantly, “Wait and see who are enemies and who are friends.”

As his words fell, hoofbeats sounded at the end of Andingmen Street. Everyone turned to look and saw Prince Fu, dressed in a black *gunfu* (ceremonial robe), riding towards them.

The black *gunfu* was embroidered with an emblem, and he wore a golden silk *shanyi* crown with two dragons playing with a pearl. His face was handsome and his figure tall and slender.

Prince Fu dismounted in front of the Five-City Gendarmerie formation and casually pushed aside the foot soldiers in front of him. “Are you blind? The Prince has arrived, why aren’t you moving aside!”

The foot soldiers meekly said, “Greetings, Your Highness.”

Prince Fu passed through the crowd and came before Chen Ji’s horse, scrutinizing Chen Ji with interest. “Today you look a bit like a powerful official… How many injuries did you sustain?”

Chen Ji casually replied, “Four.”

Prince Fu asked again, “How many people did you kill?”

Chen Ji replied, “How can I remember that?”

The next moment, Prince Fu actually took Chen Ji’s warhorse’s reins and turned to walk into the city. “Stop drinking, come, this Prince will take you to see Father Emperor.”

The *pian jiang* of the Five-City Gendarmerie blocked the way. “Your Highness…”

Prince Fu said expressionlessly, “Stand down.”

In the second-story window of the wine shop across the street, many people silently watched the young prince, fully crowned, radiating silent authority.

The *pian jiang*, chilled with fear, retreated, allowing him to lead Chen Ji’s horse through the crowd.

On the bluestone road, Prince Fu suddenly looked back at Chen Ji and teased, “It’s your fortune from several lifetimes that this Prince is leading your horse. Aren’t you going to say thank you?”

Chen Ji, his eyes hazy from drink, looked down at him. “I saved Your Highness’s life; it is only proper.”

Prince Fu was startled, then burst into laughter. “Good, good, ‘only proper’ indeed!”