"Here's a secret letter for you, Sire."

Yuwen Tong jerked out of his trance and put away all the letters. "Bring it in here."

Miao Shisan walked into the imperial bedchamber with a letter that had just been delivered to him by a secret bodyguard of Yuwen Tong's, a grave look on his face. "It's from the Wan Kingdom," he said.

Yuwen Tong inclined his head, took the letter, opened it with a special method and then read it.

Shan Congyi and Mu Rongfeng had dared to make trouble in the Great Wen. How could he not return the compliment? The Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom didn't really trust each other very much. He needed to lay the trap step by step, and when it was done, it would take only the right opportunity to lure his prey into it.

After reading the letter, Yuwen Tong wrote a letter in reply, sealed it with a particular method and then had Miao Shisan deliver it to an undercover agent from the Wan Kingdom.

What with this matter, Yuwen Tong once again stayed up late making arrangements. Meanwhile, Ling Zhang in a faraway county in Cangzhou was also still awake.

The journey had indeed been quite weary, and this day had been hectic too, but due to the strange room and his longing to see Yuwen Tong, Ling Zhang still had a hard job getting to sleep.

...

Ling Zhang, who got to sleep pretty late the night before, woke up very early in the morning. He had to pay a visit to Xiaofeng Village this day, so he needed to get prepared.

Yao Yi and some others had made breakfast already. After Ling Zhang washed his face and dressed, Yao Yi walked inside and disguised him. On the two sides of this residence were another two residences. In front of it was an fairly broad alley. Though it was early in the morning, they could hear the voices of their neighbors and passers-by. Residents of small counties always got up pretty early.

Even when in Tanyang, Ling Zhang, apart from anything else, had been the First Young Master of the Ling family. His grandfather used to be the Assistant Minister of Rites, so the Ling family had been a fairly wealthy family. Afterward, Ling Zhaowen had been promoted to the Right Tongzhi, and the Ling family's status in Tanyang had become even higher. As a result, Ling Zhang had never experienced a morning with such a strong flavor of common people's life when he'd been in Tanyang. What impressed him the most was the fight going on in the residence on the left side. It seemed that the man of that family was dressing down his wife who'd accidentally broken something. In the house on the right side, a woman with a loud voice was scolding her son, saying that he was lazy and shouldn't have still been in bed when the sun was up, that he needed to go to school right away. "Your father and I work so hard to pay for your school, but you have no appreciation of it whatsoever. You ungrateful creature!" bawled the woman. The boy apologized to his mother in a high-pitched voice. And then Ling Zhang heard a commotion from the house, followed by the footsteps of the boy who seemed to be streaking out of the house, yelling along the way. The woman shouted in the doorway, enjoining the boy to get back home immediately after school and not to mess around.

All those walking past the front gates were carrying things on shoulder poles or pushing handcarts. Their footsteps were different. The wheels of the handcarts were rolling forward with a rumble. Some of them met their acquaintances and they greeted each other. Almost all of them were complaining that business was bad lately, that what with the matter of Jiangzhou, the whole prefecture was in panic. Everybody was worried that the imperial court's army might not be able to hold the rebel forces from Jiangzhou at bay. Some said that they'd suffered long enough before the rebel forces in Cangzhou had been handled, and the new emperor had exempted them from the next three years' tax, giving them hope of restoring their lives, but those people in Jiangzhou still wanted to make trouble. They wondered what the rebel forces in Jiangzhou were thinking...

These were all opinions of common people. Ling Zhang listened quietly as Yao Yi disguised him. He suddenly came to a quite distinct realization that a peaceful life meant everything to common people, that what people in high positions like him should do was try to give the common folk security and stability.

As long as the matter of Jiangzhou stayed unsettled, the people of Cangzhou would never had complete peace of mind. They had just undergone the ordeal of an armed uprising, and none of them wanted to see anything like that happen in their hometown once again.

...

"Childe Ling, I found a suitable spot."

While they were having breakfast, Jiang Yu's bodyguard returned and told Ling Zhang that he'd found a place where they could get out of the county without anybody noticing.

"Thank you," said Ling Zhang with a nod. "I need you to lead us there after we finish breakfast."

Felt overwhelmingly flattered, the bodyguard hurriedly said, "It's my honor."

Jiang Yu said, "You still need to be extra careful, Childe Ling. Right now residents of this county are pretty wary of strangers. It's very likely there would be needless misunderstandings if any of them finds out, and they might even attack if things get hot, so please be cautious."

Ling Zhang inclined his head. "I will."

After breakfast, Ling Zhang and Yao Yi followed the bodyguard out of the residence. The bodyguard was a native of this county. With him accompanying them, nobody suspected anything.

The spot that the bodyguard had found was off the beaten track. It took Ling Zhang and Yao Yi some time to get there.

"I've checked that this place would be unguarded for a Joss-stick (a unit of time used in feudal China; how long it takes for a joss stick to burn itself out) when the yamen patrol change the shift, and that's your chance to get out. You may return in four hours, when the next shift change is due."

Ling Zhang and Yao Yi lodged this information in their minds. The two of them waited for a while and the yamen patrol left. Before the next patrol relief came on duty, Ling Zhang and Yao Yi took advantage of the opportunity and exited the county.

And then the two of them went in the direction the bodyguard had told them, heading for Xiaofeng Village.

They hadn't got the map from the county yamen yet, so for the moment they could only try to locate Xiaofeng Village with the help of the bodyguard's description. Fortunately Yao Yi was quite experienced. He led Ling Zhang squarely towards Xiaofeng Village without going astray.

They traveled fast. It took them only an hour to finish the trip which would normally take a common person two hours.

Xiaofeng Village was a relatively large village. Maybe because many itinerant traders traveled along the national road, there was an inn near an entrance of this village. A lot of people dwelt in this place, but right now all of them were on full alert, and all entrances were guarded by villagers. At ordinary times residents of this village seldom crossed the village boundary.

Ling Zhang and Yao Yi didn't enter the village. Given that the two of them were strangers to this village, they would no doubt rouse everybody's suspicions if they went into the village at this point in time.

The two of them made a detour around Xiaofeng Village and directly walked into the wood.

After progressing in the wood for a short while, the two of them halted.

There were sentries hiding in the wood, a lot of them. This area was not far away from the encampment of the imperial court's army. They would definitely be spotted if they kept going forward.

"Please wait here for a moment, Childe Ling. I'll go and check out the lay of the land," said Yao Yi.

Ling Zhang inclined his head, found a secluded spot and hid himself there, while Yao Yi soundlessly went into the depths of the wood.

After Yao Yi disappeared from view, Ling Zhang looked around him, took a flying leap, landed onto a bough of a giant tree beside him and hid himself in its dense foliage, holding his breath, straining his ears to listen to the movements nearby. His internal energy had grown yet again, and his five senses were even sharper than before, so he could hear over an even wider range now. Ears cocked, he heard the faint sound of breathing of a lot of people as well as their hushed conversations, which presumably issued from hidden guard posts. He could also vaguely hear some sounds from the military encampment.

After listening for a while, Ling Zhang suddenly looked in the direction of the national road not far away as though he heard someone heading his way.

He slowed down his breathing as much as he could, crouching quietly on the bough, as motionless as if he'd become a part of the tree.

Predictably, a person showed up after a short while. It was a man dressed like a peasant. However, his footsteps were very light, and his whole body was tense, a highly watchful expression in his eyes. It was only too evident that his behavior was abnormal. Unsurprisingly, after getting close to this place, the man also suddenly halted. Clearly he'd also perceived that there were sentries hiding in the area ahead. However, unlike Ling Zhang who'd hidden himself in a secluded spot, this man started gingerly observing the surroundings and putting out feelers, and he was also changing his position constantly.

Ling Zhang could tell at a glance that this man was a scout. On top of that, when he approached, Ling Zhang noticed that there was something out of the ordinary about him. This man's features were sharper than those of common people in the Great Wen, and judging from his conduct, it was very likely he was from the Wan Kingdom. Previously Shan Congwen had visited the capital city, and not long ago Shan Congyi had also done the same thing. The bodyguards of both of them were all from the Wan Kingdom. These people's kung fu styles were somewhat different from those of people in the Great Wen. Apart from their fighting styles, their footwork and patterns of breathing were also fairly special.

The look in Ling Zhang's eyes instantly became alert. Unless he was much mistaken, this man was a secret agent from the Wan Kingdom, who had disguised himself as a commoner of the Great Wen. It seemed that Shan Congyi had indeed arrived in this area and was now monitoring every move of the army stationed here by the imperial court of the Great Wen.

Ling Zhang wondered whether or not he'd be able to locate Shan Congyi's hideout if he tailed this man.

Ling Zhang was tempted by this idea, but before he left the capital city, Yuwen Tong had cautioned him that he was not to act alone or get out of the sight of any of his bodyguards, and he'd given Yuwen Tong his word on that. Wouldn't he be breaking his promise if he flew solo at this point in time?

With an intense struggle going on within his breast, Ling Zhang's palms were on the verge of sweating, but eventually he still slowly unclenched his fists, trying hard to calm himself down.

Now that a secret agent from the Wan Kingdom had shown up in this place, there was no doubt Shan Congyi was nearby. It would take only a search of this area for him to locate Shan Congyi. Right now he should just... he should just wait for Yao Yi to come back.

In the final analysis, he was not strong enough. Had he reached the next layer of his method of cultivating internal energy or acquired the same ability to deploy formations as his maternal grandfather's, he wouldn't have been hemmed in by this kind of misgivings.

Ling Zhang exercised all his self-restraint and stayed put. When that secret agent quickly retreated after sensing a yamen patrol approaching, he felt the almost overwhelming urge to shadow the man, but eventually he still forbore from doing that.

'No. I can't do that. I must honor my promise.'

Ling Zhang took a deep breath, kept from looking in the direction that the secret agent had gone, and focused on hiding himself from the yamen patrol which were walking past the tree he was crouching on.

It was almost two hours before Yao Yi returned.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Childe Ling. Did anything happen here?" said Yao Yi anxiously.

"Nothing. Just now a secret agent from the Wan Kingdom showed up. Shan Congyi is probably hiding somewhere nearby," said Ling Zhang.

Yao Yi's face instantly became grave at these words. "You didn't let that secret agent see you, I suppose?"

"No. He didn't spot me," replied Ling Zhang.

Relieved, Yao Yi observed, "That's a relief."

"How did it go? Has the General Zhongwu arrived at the encampment?" inquired Ling Zhang.

Yao Yi responded with a nod, "He got to the encampment at dusk the day before yesterday. I've met him already. Originally he wanted to come here personally to pay his respects to you, but considering his departure from the encampment might draw needless attention to him, we figured it'd be best if you go to the right side of this wood and enter the encampment. The soldiers on sentry duty there are his trusted men. We may directly go there."

Ling Zhang gave a nod of agreement. "Okay. Let's go there right away. We should tell him about the matter of Shan Congyi for good measure. Given that a secret agent from the Wan Kingdom has infiltrated into this county, there's no doubt they harbor evil intentions."

"Please follow me, Childe Ling."

"Young Master, are we to continue making inquiries in the county seat today?" asked Jiang Yu's bodyguard.

The county seat was not large, and the bodyguard had some friends and relatives living in this place, so it was not difficult for him to get some information from local scoundrels about suspicious out-of-towners that had come to this county lately. Two days ago, there were indeed some strangers showing up in the county seat, but it was said that those people didn't go through the county gates facing in the direction of Xiaofeng Village, that they, after seeing the gates were heavily guarded by soldiers of the imperial court, doubled back, exited through the gates they'd entered, and then disappeared without a trace.

Judging from the collected information about those people's manner, they bore little similarity to natives of the Great Wen. On top of that, they'd acted somewhat sneakingly and accosted a lot of locals, fishing for information. They'd come here neither to look up relatives nor to do business. Instead, they'd seemed to specially come here to gather intelligence. Local residents, who were quite wary of out-of-towners these days, had kept a weather eye on those people since their arrival. Maybe because those people had also perceived that they'd attracted local townsfolk's attention, they'd soon left.

"Strangers who acted and spoke differently from natives of the Great Wen, did nothing but fish for information, left at the sight of the tight security at the southern county gates... Those people are very suspicious, even if they don't work for Shan Congyi."

Jiang Yu combed through the pieces of intelligence collected by his bodyguard and filtered out those insignificant ones. Since Ling Zhang had assigned to him the task of locating Shan Congyi, he must find Shan Congyi. Otherwise his insisting on accompanying Ling Zhang to Cangzhou would've been pointless, and it would also affect Ling Zhang's impression of him in a negative way.

"Today you're to continue making inquiries in the county seat. I'll go out of town and see if I can find any useful information."

The bodyguard said, "It's not safe for you to act alone, Young Master."

"Just do what I say. I'll have someone else go out of the county seat to collect intelligence," said Jiang Yu.

After hearing this, the bodyguard asked no more questions, accepted the order and took his leave.

Jiang Yu disguised himself before going out to hit the streets, for he and Shan Congyi had seen each other before. While walking on the street, he also arrested a lot of people's attention. After all, Jiang Yu's face was unfamiliar to residents of this small county, but as he was dressed decently and conducted himself properly, nobody made any particular speculations about him.

Jiang Yu walked once around the county seat and then entered a cloth store.

At the sight of him walking inside, a sales clerk stepped up and welcomed him. "May I ask what kind of material you're looking for, my dear guest? We have literally all kinds of cloth here."

"All kinds? Are you sure you're not exaggerating?" said Jiang Yu in a mild tone of voice.

The sales clerk smiled, "We have not only materials from the south but also materials from the north, and they're very stylish. If you don't believe me, you may follow me to see for yourself."

Jiang Yu didn't decline the offer, so the sales clerk happily started showing him around the store, telling him about the materials for sale. He gave Jiang Yu an extravagantly colorful description of each and every single product, as though Jiang Yu would bitterly regret it if he didn't buy some. Such was his eloquence that Jiang Yu couldn't help but think it was little wonder this man had become a sales clerk. However, though this store was large, this man was the only clerk. In addition, it'd been quite some time since Jiang Yu's arrival, but there still hadn't been any other customers.

All the fabrics seemed to take Jiang Yu's fancy, so the sales clerk's enthusiasm built up continuously. Jiang Yu listened patiently for a while and then said, "Your products are indeed pretty good. Why are there so few customers in this store?"

The sales clerk immediately replied, "Oh, you're so discerning, my dear guest. Our products are all top-of-the-line. Many premium ones are from the capital city. None of the cloth stores in this county and neighboring counties and towns can compare with our store in terms of product quality. As for why there are not many customers..."

The sales clerk's face crumpled up as he paused. "You've just come into town, I suppose, my dear guest? As you can see, the security in the county seat is quite tight, because the situation out there is dire. We'd suffered a lot before the rebel forces of this prefecture were disbanded, and the business had just begun to pick up when..." The sales clerk finished speaking with a long sigh.

"What was it? Something serious happened out of this county?" asked Jiang Yu.

The sales clerk flicked him an appraising glance. Judging from Jiang Yu's mien and manner, he believed that Jiang Yu had no ulterior motives, so he lowered his guard considerably and responded, "This county is very close to Jiangzhou, and a national road goes through this place before turning towards Jiangzhou. Previously, before the uprising, a lot of itinerant traders traveled past this place on a daily basis, and the whole county seat was uproarious, but after the revolt broke out, everything changed. There's no telling how much longer the rebellion could've lasted had a new emperor not been enthroned. Still, although we have a new emperor now, our neighbor Jiangzhou..."