Liberi Reader

Sir, sir!

It's raining so hard out there. Why not come inside, have a pot of nice, warm tea, and wait out the rain?

No need. This rain won't be stopping anytime soon—I should keep moving.

Haha. Some people want the rain to stop, some hope it carries on.

The umbrella vendor is smiling from ear to ear, but the passersby are downright miserable.

A fascinating thought...

Friend, you should take a moment to rest. I was asked to remind you: the road ahead is rough and uneven. A certain someone worries you might misstep, and get your shoes wet.

Hmm?

Please just follow me, sir. Your friend is already waiting for you inside.

High Minister... it's been a while.

No... These days, you're... the Grand Tutor.

It has been some time indeed, since we bid each other farewell in Yumen.

I expected to meet with the Sui Regulator and the Ministry of War first upon this return to the capital to deliver my report.

That's why I've arranged to meet with you in advance.

His Imperial Majesty... has passed.

When?

Two weeks ago.

I think... if His Majesty had died of natural causes, you would not be coming to see me about it.

Does this mean...?

...!

Sixty years ago, he escaped from that ancient temple and turned himself into one hundred eighty-one black weiqi stones, which scattered across the lands. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

Two weeks ago, the Sui Regulator found this stone in the capital.

What... has he done?

I do not know.

The only thing I'm certain of is that he could not have entered the Forbidden City... someone must have gone out to meet him.

Investigating this person's identity would be... sensitive.

His machinations likely will not involve others.

I shouldn't have come to you today, but when the convict caused all this turmoil before, you were the one who subdued him.

Grandmaster, do you know anything of this?

Not a thing...

I have not seen him, since the incident.

...

Then I believe you, Grandmaster.

Do you need anything from me?

Do not linger here. Return to Yumen at once.

Ursus is in constant turmoil, and there is a changing of the guard in Yumen. We must not allow morale to be shaken.

I will handle the Sui Regulator and the Ministry of War myself. It is precisely because you are not entangled in this affair that I can entrust you with such a crucial task.

Understood.

I will see the Sui Regulator continue to investigate the weiqi matter in secret.

During this crucial time, you should remain out of sight, Grandmaster. We did not meet here today.

Regarding the True Lung... how is His Highness Yan Wu?

At this moment, he should be—

Yan Wu...

Yan Wu was the one who went to His Imperial Majesty... on the night he died.

Your Highness, twenty-eight members of the traitor's family have been imprisoned.

But after we checked the list, we found there was a single individual missing—an infant just under a month old.

The Imperial Guard searched the Grand Preceptor's mansion thoroughly today, but found no traces of the baby.

A newborn could not have run off by herself.

Someone went through the trouble to whisk her away.

Your Highness need not worry. The Imperial Guard will find her.

Hmph...

Earlier today, the Minister of Justice requested a meeting.

He seeks His Highness's advice on this series of cases.

Handle them... according to the Laws of Yan.

I'll tell him.

Where is my elder brother now?

According to our reports, he left the capital just half an hour ago. Some of the Imperial Guard have defected with him.

The soldiers guarding the city did not dare to stop them, without orders to do so.

Indeed... I never ordered them to keep him in Baizao.

He was unwilling to stay and left everyone behind.

How many Imperial Guardsmen went with him?

Eighteen.

Even after committing such an unforgivable crime, my elder brother can still send the Grand Preceptor to die in his place; he can still command the unwavering loyalty of these eighteen deathsworn.

How many courtiers are still devoted to him? How many still hope that he will retake the throne?

Yet it is Your Highness who now sits on the throne, not him. Therefore, it falls upon Your Highness to ensure Yan's eternal prosperity.

All castes of Yan may afford hesitation and uncertainty... save Your Highness.

...

It's been so long since I've left this palace... Grand Commandant, tell me——

Has the spring rain yet ceased, in Baizao?

The rain may stop whenever Your Highness desires.

If Your Highness has changed your mind, you yet have time to stop them.

...

...I'm exhausted.

The Imperial Kitchen has prepared some babao soup and shredded bamboo shoots. If Your Highness desires?

Very well.

...

There... there...

Don't cry. We're on our way home. We're almost there.

Pick up the pace, please... if you could.

It's raining too hard. And I can't see too well. Couldn't go any faster, at this rate...

How much farther to the next stage station?

At least thirty li...

Brother, just how urgent is your business... that you'd bring your whole family along to travel on a night like this?

...

Please... just go faster.

Ahhh! Ahhh!! What the——

*Yanese exclamation* What's somebody doing out here in the wilderness at this hour?

...

We'll have to get out here.

Sir, I'll give you all the money I have. Take your carriage to the next stage station. If anyone asks, do not tell them you carried passengers with a baby tonight.

I beseech you, good sir.

But.... what... huh?!

Where are you going in this weather?

We'll follow the path through the northern woods.

Ahhhh!!!!!

What is it?

The baby...

The baby is gone...

——!

...

It's... it's her.

I did everything you asked.

I know their methods, and I know how to answer them. Don't worry. I won't allow any blood to stain you.

Good sir, I have no way to repay your kindness.

No. You need not thank me. I did not do this for you.

She's done so much for me, yet what I do today will neither clear her name nor even begin to avenge her.

I have no family and no affairs to settle after my death. I ask only one favor of you.

Please, take this girl in.

I...

You need not tell her anything. Just let her grow up and live her life in peace.

You know... if she stays here, it will be risky, with a greater possibility that this old case will be reopened.

But isn't that what you want?

We may be powerless to change the situation right now...

But if one day, be it three or four decades later, the truth is revealed...

All the blood shall not have been shed in vain.

...

Right then. I swear it.