Chapter 35 — The Wei Inquiry

CHAPTER 35

The Wei Inquiry

The capital walls rose above the river plain before noon.

At the outer fork where the cloth road branched toward the northern looms, Lin Shuang tapped her spear haft against the third cart’s rail in farewell. “If the southern gate looks crowded, try the water-gate,” she told Shi Feng. “And if you’re still in the city next month, the brocade yard is behind West Market.”

“Travel safe,” Shi Feng said.

Pei Rong’s three carts rolled on into the southern gate queue. Great Liang’s capital spread along the water with high watchtowers and enough wagons outside the arch to swallow Yunze Town’s whole market. Shi Feng stepped down to walk beside the third cart with his sheathed sword at his waist and his departure permit in hand.

At the entry table under the stone arch, a Bone Refinement gate officer named Cheng Mao was checking permits while two spear guards stood beside a freshly pasted wooden board. Waiting right behind the officer’s shoulder stood a rider in a dust-streaked Wei household robe—Wei Min—his lathered horse tied to the guard rail.

When Shi Feng placed his Yunze permit on the table, Cheng Mao’s ink-stained finger stopped on the name.

“Shi Feng. Qingshi Town. Came through Yunze,” Cheng Mao read aloud. He glanced sideways at the stamped inquiry slip pinned to the board, then signaled the two spear guards to step across the archway.

Their iron spear butts came down on the flagstones, blocking the path into the city.

“Hold your pack right there,” Cheng Mao said, resting a hand over the permit. “A provisional inquiry notice was entered at this gate an hour ago by the Wei household of Yunze, endorsed by Clerk Wei in the Southern Ward office.”

Wei Min stepped forward at once, his Qi Condensation aura flaring thinly as he fixed his eyes on Shi Feng. “Master Wei Renshan and Young Master Wei Kuo died outside Yunze Town,” Wei Min said sharply. “A household witness saw what happened by the western quarry. Officer Cheng, hold him in the gatehouse until our capital elders arrive to take him back!”

The travelers in line behind them backed away hastily, and Bu Tie froze beside the lead mule’s bridle.

Two versions of the quarry had reached the gate before the Wei rider did. A carter off the west road swore a flying sword had dropped behind the cutting and never come up, and that the Wei household’s man had told him the master slipped on wet stone. A porter who had drunk at the Wei gate swore the household was saying the cripple walked out alone.

The household’s rider had said his piece at the table, and the queue stayed quiet to hear which version the capital would be given. Either way, both stories would leave through the arch by evening.

Shi Feng didn’t reach for his hilt, and his breathing didn’t change. “Is that a royal arrest warrant, Officer, or a private household complaint?” Shi Feng asked calmly.

Cheng Mao frowned at the paper in his hand. “It’s a provisional gate summons for questioning. Without a magistrate’s arrest seal I don’t put chains on you for a border-town feud—but nobody under an active gate inquiry enters the capital unless a registered capital house signs surety for his residence and appearance.”

Wei Min sneered. “Who in the capital is going to sign surety for a crippled country wanderer? Lock him in the watch room!”

Behind the third cart, Pei Rong stood with both hands in his plum sleeves. At the words Master Wei Renshan died outside Yunze Town, the merchant’s fingers went completely still around his jade rings.

Locked inside the narrow wooden case under the third cart’s canvas sat a Foundation Establishment flying sword with the Wei family’s private workshop stamp beneath its guard—a sword this bandaged youth had sold him at Shuanghe Ferry for eight hundred stones.

Pei Rong looked at the calm back of the young man standing before two crossed spears. Turning a customer over to the Wei family would mean surrendering an eight-hundred-stone artifact as stolen evidence—whereas keeping the secret gave Jade Scale Trading House a very tight hold on a remarkably dangerous young man.

“Officer Cheng!” Pei Rong stepped smoothly to the table, his pointed beard lifting in an amiable smile. “Naturally, naturally, we must respect the gate office’s procedures! This young man traveled in my Jade Scale convoy from Shuanghe Ferry. Our trading house has been registered in the Southern Ward for twenty years.”

Wei Min’s face darkened. “Pei Rong! This is a blood matter of the Wei clan—do you know what you’re stepping into?”

“I’m stepping into my afternoon unloading schedule,” Pei Rong replied mildly, sliding Jade Scale Trading House’s brass bond tally across the desk so Cheng Mao could press it against the register. “If the Wei family obtains a magistrate’s trial warrant, your clerks know where my counting house sits. Until then, my passenger enters on my bond.”

Cheng Mao checked the brass tally, ignored Wei Min’s glare, and stamped Shi Feng’s permit with a heavy thud. “Report any change of lodging within ten days. Next!”

The two guards lifted their spears. Wei Min’s hand trembled on his reins. “The witness saw your face at the quarry, Shi Feng,” Wei Min hissed as Shi Feng walked past him through the arch. “A merchant’s bond won’t cover you once our elder petitions the ward court!”

Shi Feng didn’t bother answering a messenger.

Inside the inner arch, where the carts pulled aside to clear the thoroughfare, Pei Rong handed Shi Feng back his stamped permit and kept two fingers resting lightly on the corner of the paper.

“A messy business at the gate, young friend,” Pei Rong said softly. “Standing bond on a capital inquiry costs my house a forty-stone surety deposit with the ward office—and, naturally, a little risk to my peaceful reputation.”

Neither of them mentioned the flying sword locked in the third cart, and Shi Feng said nothing about the maker’s mark beneath its guard.

Shi Feng counted forty spirit stones from his pouch and placed them into Pei Rong’s palm. “For the deposit.”

“Naturally, naturally!” Pei Rong’s fingers closed around the stones, his smile deepening as he tucked the bond receipt into his own sleeve rather than handing it over. “And when a capable young friend has more rare business in the capital—or needs a quiet buyer who knows how to keep his ledger shut—you’ll come to Jade Scale Trading House first, won’t you?”

“You’ll know where I’m staying,” Shi Feng said evenly.

“Send the street name to our Southern Ward store before sunset so my clerk can log the bond,” Pei Rong said pleasantly. “Enjoy the capital, Young Master Shi.”

Shi Feng shouldered his pack and turned down the side avenue toward the workshop lanes. Before the Wei family’s capital elders turned that household notice into a magistrate’s warrant, he needed a roof with a strong lock—and a much faster road to strength.