Governing the country, enriching the people, an unparalleled imperial tutor

"Zhou Huaiyuan went to Huai Shu Lane in the south of the city yesterday afternoon and stayed in an old house for an hour." Liu Ruyan's voice was very low and her pace was even. "After he came out, he looked normal, but he stood at the door for a while before leaving, as if he was waiting for someone to confirm that he had left."

Shen Tinglan sat in the darkest corner, dressed in a simple, moon-white dress. Her face looked thinner than a few days ago—she had been tracking Zhao Shoucheng for the past few days, pretending to be a young woman visiting relatives during the day, and changing her clothes at night to stake out the rooftop opposite Zhao Shoucheng's residence. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her voice was calm: "Zhao Shoucheng didn't sleep a wink last night. I was on the rooftop opposite his house, and I saw the light in his study stay on until four in the morning. Just before dawn, he burned a stack of paper and then poured the ashes into the kitchen stove."

Gu Qingci leaned against the stairwell, arms crossed. Today she was wearing an old, bluish-gray dress, her hair tied in a simple bun, making her look like a handyman helping out at the teahouse. She said softly, "Zheng Dehou went out this morning, heading north to the old granary outside the city. He was there for less than a quarter of an hour before returning, and when he came back, he was missing an account book."

When the messages from the four people were gathered on Lin Yanzhou's desk, he read through each one, then picked up the bluish-white jade seal and tapped it lightly on the table—a habit he had developed over the past few days, as if using the cool jade to help him organize his thoughts.

“Zhou Huaiyuan went to Huai Shu Lane,” he said. “Huai Shu Lane is the residence of a retired staff member of Zhang Lin’s former subordinates. Zhao Shoucheng burned paper money all night and poured the ashes into the stove, which means he destroyed something. Zheng Dehou went out of the city to the old granary to get an account book, and when he came back, he looked normal—but looking normal is itself suspicious.”

He looked at Liu Ruyan: "Can you find out who owns that old house in Huai Shu Lane?"

Liu Ruyan said, "We've already investigated. The property deed is registered under the name of someone surnamed Liu, but that Liu died ten years ago. The person actually using this house hasn't shown up yet. When Zhou Huaiyuan went in, someone opened the door for him, but our people didn't see what the person who opened the door looked like."

Lin Yanzhou was silent for a moment: "Keep watching. Pay special attention to the account book that Zheng Dehou brought back from the old warehouse. He can't possibly carry it with him all the time; he must be hiding it. You need to find out where he hid it."

Su Wanqing finally put down her teacup, turned her head slightly, and looked at Lin Yanzhou: "Grand Preceptor, I have a guess—Zhou Huaiyuan, Zhao Shoucheng, and Zheng Dehou may not be on the same side."

Lin Yanzhou looked at her: "What do you mean?"

"Zhou Huaiyuan went to Huai Shu Lane to meet someone. Zhao Shoucheng burned things overnight because he was afraid of being implicated. Zheng Dehou went to the old warehouse to retrieve the account books in order to hide them in a safer place. These three things happened at the same time—which means that all three of them recently received the same message, and someone is urging them to clean up the mess as soon as possible."

How did you know it was the same message?

"Because the timing was too coincidental," Su Wanqing said. "Zhou Huaiyuan left yesterday afternoon, Zhao Shoucheng burned things last night, and Zheng Dehou left the city this morning—these three things happened simultaneously within two days. I've traded goods at the border, so I know what it means to 'receive instructions simultaneously.' If someone wasn't coordinating everything, they wouldn't have been so organized."

A moment of silence fell over the attic. Lin Yanzhou looked into her eyes, then nodded: "Continue the investigation. Find out who's in charge of the unified allocation."

The four women responded and left the attic. Su Wanqing was the last to leave. As she went down the stairs, she turned her head and glanced at Lin Yanzhou's face, as if she wanted to say something but didn't. She just lowered her head slightly and then followed him down.

Lin Yanzhou sat alone for a while, rereading the four slips of paper, and then unfolded another secret letter that had just been sent from Jizhou. The letter was folded very thinly, the ink was dry, and it was signed by Zhou Chongyuan himself.

The letter read: The main construction of the Jizhou Reservoir is complete. Agricultural officials organized local residents to complete the main dam's ramming and the excavation of three branch canals before winter. Two rains last month caused the reservoir to begin storing water, which is now waist-deep. Winter wheat has been planted on the slope east of the city, and after the seeds were sown and irrigated with the canal for the first time, it is growing much better than in previous years. The people have named the reservoir "Guoshi Canal" (National Teacher Canal).

The letter ended with a sentence: The old farmers asked me to tell the Grand Preceptor: The canal is repaired. When will you come back to visit, sir?

Lin Yanzhou finished reading the letter, folded it, and placed it in the inner compartment of the desk, next to the four slips of paper, separated by a thick stack of files. On one side was the silent, ongoing underground project, and on the other, the project already under the sunlight. The two things placed together were like the above-ground and underground parts of a tree.

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the courtyard.

When the door opened, Su Wanqing returned. Her alluring eyes held no trace of their former charm, replaced by a sharp, taut intensity. Her breathing was slightly faster than when she left. "Grand Preceptor," she said, "something has happened. Zheng Dehou changed course halfway back to the city, detouring to the Guandi Temple in the west of the city. He stayed there for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. He met someone there. I didn't see their face clearly, but I saw that person come out, take something from their robes, hand it to Zheng Dehou, and then leave through the back door of the temple."

"Which direction?"

"They headed towards the North Gate."

Lin Yanzhou stood up: "Was that person walking fast?"

"He seemed uneasy. It was as if he was checking to see if anyone was following him."

Lin Yanzhou walked to the window and glanced at the sky outside. The sun was setting, and there was still about an hour before the city gates closed. "He went to the north gate. If he wasn't leaving the city, he was going to meet someone else. Have Gu Qingci go to the north gate and keep an eye on things. See if that person left or entered the city. If he entered, keep an eye on where he went."

Su Wanqing responded and turned to leave, but Lin Yanzhou stopped her: "Also—you four have worked hard these past few days, don't push yourselves too hard tonight. There's still more to investigate."

Su Wanqing paused for a moment, but didn't turn around. She simply replied softly, "I know." Then she quickly walked out, her footsteps fading away down the stairs.

Lin Yanzhou sat back down at his desk. He unfolded the letter from Jizhou and read it again. Next to the last sentence, "When will the master come back to visit?", he lightly scratched a shallow mark with his fingernail, then closed the letter and placed it in the top shelf of the desk. He glanced at the four slips of paper, turned them over, and tucked them into the corner of the desk, as if temporarily putting away two chessboards.

Meanwhile, on a road between the Guandi Temple in the west of the city and the North Gate, a silent surveillance was quietly unfolding in the twilight. Gu Qingci changed into a set of dusty old clothes and, like any ordinary citizen rushing home before the city gates closed, walked with her head down at the edge of the crowd.

Thirty steps ahead of her, a man in a dark coat was walking slowly in the twilight, occasionally glancing back, but his gaze didn't linger on her when it passed over her.

She kept walking with her head down, her pace unchanged.

When the lights of the Imperial Preceptor's residence came on, night had already blanketed the entire capital. Lin Xiaolan and Lin Xiaoyu arrived at Lin Yanzhou's room one after the other. "Imperial Preceptor, the steward instructed us to come and pay our respects to you today. He has prepared wine and dishes; would you like to have a drink? He also... he also said that we should ask you if you would like to serve him in bed..." Lin Xiaolan's voice was almost a whisper by the end.