Chapter 1110 — Where Is He

CHAPTER 1110

Where Is He

In Tianjing, the motion was heard in the Hall of Clear Rule, and every place in the hall was taken.

Sixty officials stood in their ranks on the black stone floor. The princes sat along the east wall in order of birth. The throne stood empty behind its yellow screen, as it did at most hearings, and the Grand Secretary read the motion out in a dry voice.

When he finished, Censor Situ Kerang stepped out of the ranks with his tablet raised.

“Your Highnesses, my lords,” Situ Kerang said, bowing very correctly. “This servant asks for nothing improper. Her Highness the Fourth Princess holds a contract with a Pavilion guest elder under the Long household seal. Its terms require the guest to answer to her house. For forty days he hasn’t been seen at any Pavilion tower. A guest missing in the wilds has broken those terms. This servant asks only that the contract be ruled lapsed, and that the surety Her Highness gave at Shuoyang be reviewed.”

He said it gently, as if he regretted it. Several officials nodded. It was a clean motion. It didn’t accuse anyone of anything. It only asked the court to let go of a man nobody could find.

Long Caili rose from her seat on the east wall. She was veiled, as always, and she carried two papers. She was angry, but her steps stayed unhurried.

She didn’t answer the Censor. She walked to the clerks’ table and laid the papers down side by side.

“The first is the Sky Pavilion’s report, under Guardian Qin Wuyan’s own seal,” Long Caili said in her flat voice. “My guest wasn’t missing. He was ambushed in Weeping Pine Basin by bandits who could raise a hundred-li array, and a Pavilion guardian at Profound Heaven stood beside him.” She moved one finger to the second paper. “The second is the record of the Pinefall magistrate, dated eight days ago. My guest killed a bandit captain in Pinefall market at noon, in front of four hundred people. A missing man doesn’t do that.”

The hall murmured.

“Bandits with a hundred-li array?”

“Since when do bandits have arrays like that?”

“Hush. In the north, everything is bandits.”

Situ Kerang was alarmed. His face stayed calm, but his fingers tightened on his tablet.

“The north is lawless, Your Highness,” Situ Kerang said. “This servant only meant that the court can’t protect a guest it can’t reach. If he’s alive, so much the better. Then he can come south and report to his house, as the contract asks.”

The First Prince, Long Jingtian, hadn’t risen. He sat with one hand on his knee, the way he always sat at hearings. He was late Profound Heaven, and he had never once needed to raise his voice in this hall.

“Then the Censorate can help me with something,” Long Jingtian said, without moving his hand. “Three days after those bandits, a genius of the Myriad Marrow Sect came to Pinefall. Mu Hanzhi, tenth on the Tianxing. He carried a letter of introduction from a Situ house elder, and he asked my sister’s wounded guest for an exchange of pointers.” He looked at the Censor. “So tell me, Censor. Which bandits does a Situ letter of introduction serve?”

The hall went silent.

“Your Highness…” Situ Kerang said, bowing lower. “An exchange of pointers is an old courtesy between young geniuses. The Situ house writes a hundred such letters a year.”

“Then you’ll have no trouble finding the copy of this one,” Long Jingtian said.

Situ Kerang said nothing.

An old official in the third rank muttered to the man beside him. “There’s no wall the wind can’t get through.”

“Keep your voice down,” the other man muttered back, and looked at the Censor.

The Third Prince sighed softly. He sat three places down the east wall from Long Caili in a pale robe without a single ornament, and when he spoke, the whole hall turned to listen.

“Elder Brother, Fourth Sister,” the Third Prince said gently. “It’s sad, isn’t it? A loyal guest of our sister is hunted across the north by bandits, and here we are in a warm hall, quarrelling over a contract.” He spread his hands. “I ask for nothing. Let the Censorate decide what’s right.”

He asked for nothing, so there was nothing to refuse him. Long Caili didn’t turn her head toward him.

The Grand Secretary coughed. “Then the motion is held over, for the Censorate to reconsider in light of the Pavilion’s report. Is there anything else bef—”

“Where is he?” Long Zhenlei shouted.

It was loud enough to make the clerks jump.

The Fifth Prince, Long Zhenlei, sat at the far end of the east wall with his legs stretched out and his arms folded. He’d been yawning since the hearing began. Now he sat up, and a thread of thunder crawled along his sleeve and crackled.

“Everyone’s talked about his contract for an hour,” Long Zhenlei said loudly. “Nobody’s said where he is. So where is he?”

“Pinefall,” Long Caili said, without looking round. “North of the Wanyan lands.”

“And Mu Hanzhi?” Long Zhenlei asked. “Big Brother said Mu Hanzhi went to him. Did they fight?”

“They fought,” Long Caili said evenly, though she was proud of him. “My guest had cracked ribs and one arm. Mu Hanzhi conceded and paid.”

Long Zhenlei stared at her. Then he threw back his head and laughed, a huge, delighted laugh that rang off the black stone and made the front rank flinch.

“Mu Hanzhi! On cracked ribs! With one arm!” Long Zhenlei slapped his knee, and thunder jumped from his palm to the floor. “Good! Good! Then when his ribs heal, our rematch will be worth the wait!”

“Fifth Brother,” Long Jingtian said mildly. “This is a hearing.”

“I know,” Long Zhenlei said, still grinning. “It’s the best one I’ve ever been to.”

The Grand Secretary closed the hearing in a hurry. The officials filed out talking in low voices, and by evening half the capital had heard the First Prince’s question about Situ letters and bandits. The other half had heard the Fifth Prince laughing.

Far to the north, Shi Feng knew nothing of it.

Qin Wuyan carried him back up to Cold Pine Abode on the second night, with Lin Langtian walking behind them and complaining about the weight. When Shi Feng next opened his eyes, he was lying beside the old furnace with his left arm strapped to his chest, and the two of them were talking about him.