Volume One: The King's Command Chapter Nineteen: Green Tiles Conceal a Lonely Lamp

The shouts and clashes from the front courtyard, after traveling through the long corridors, reached Shen Xu’s ears as only scattered echoes. Inside the sealed chamber, the single candle cast a flickering, somber shadow on the whitewashed walls. The fighting outside gripped her heart with anxiety; it was all the fault of this ill-fated Night-Illuminating Pegasus statue standing nearby. She wished she could smash it to pieces.

Ever since her father listened to the gluttonous Steward Wang, he had been obsessed day and night with this treasure. He kept insisting that the Fourth Prince would surely be delighted with it, and that this would be their family’s ticket back to the capital. They were a branch of the Shen clan who had once lived in the capital, but circumstances had forced them to leave with their entire household and settle here, working hard to rebuild their lives.

Over the years, they had made some progress. Shen Desan’s greatest wish was to return to the family during his lifetime and restore honor to their ancestors. For those who’d been cast out like them, even death would not allow entry into the ancestral shrine, nor the protection of their forebears.

The Night-Illuminating Pegasus, giving off a faint azure glow, would have to be stained with the blood of many before it could reach the capital.

As for her foolish younger brother—he had vanished, and Shen Xu worried he might recklessly do something foolish.

Suddenly, a breeze brushed her ear and stirred her hair; in the sealed chamber, there should have been no airflow.

“Who’s there?” She gripped her dagger and stabbed into the shadows, though she was clumsy and barely knew any martial arts.

Her wrist was caught in an icy grip, and Shen Xu's heart seized—this was it, she was done for. There’d been no sound of the secret door opening—how had the assassin gotten in?

A crisp laugh sounded by her ear. “Hee hee hee, you look terrified.” Her wrist was tugged gently, and Shen Xu turned her head just in time to meet the intruder’s gaze.

“Qingqing! You nearly scared me to death!”

The newcomer was a young girl clad in dark nightwear, her long ponytail swinging, her crescent eyes narrowed with mischief as she fixed them on Shen Xu.

“It’s chaos out there! If it weren't for you, I’d be out there showing off a little,” He Qingqing replied.

The two had grown up together like sisters—one devoted to zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting; the other fond of climbing rooftops and leaping walls. A few years back, He Qingqing had taken on a rather unorthodox master and was now infamous in Changle City as a master thief.

Since then, Shen Xu had been endlessly spending money at the magistrate’s office to bail her out. Although He Qingqing never actually stole anything—her nighttime escapades were just playful tricks on the city guards—eventually, even the most tolerant would lose patience.

The He family had come up with a solution: after greasing some palms, they got her a post as a constable. In just three months, she racked up countless feats and earned herself a place at the top of Changle’s underworld blacklist.

Blocking the thieves’ livelihood, many had tried to catch and thrash her, but all failed miserably—those who tried were invariably found strung up unconscious on the city walls the next day.

He Qingqing spun around and landed on the long bench opposite the table. There was a small pit in the dirt at her feet—she had tunneled in from the outside.

“So this is what brought trouble to your family? Doesn’t even look like much,” she remarked, eyeing the statue.

“How are things outside? Is my father safe?” Shen Xu had no mind for jokes; the sounds of fighting outside suggested a crowd.

He Qingqing leapt to the stone statue and patted it. “There are plenty of people, but no real experts. Uncle Zhong and your father are more than enough to deal with them.”

“Since you’re here, the authorities must know about this by now?”

“Oh, don’t even mention them. The rumor did come from Bladefront Tower, but no one’s willing to come help. The prefect gave strict orders: whatever happens tonight, Bladefront Tower is not to get involved.”

She herself had snuck over the back wall after hearing the news. The Shen family was in grave danger, and she couldn’t help but worry for Shen Xu’s safety.

The mood in Bladefront Tower was oppressive; a few close friends among the constables knew where He Qingqing had gone, but all kept silent.

“Old Xu, you’re in charge of that girl. If Commander Li gets angry, it’s all on your head.”

The soldiers loved their tobacco; the air in Bladefront Tower was thick with blue-gray smoke.

Hundreds from the magistrate’s staff lived in the inner courtyard on the first floor, anxiously awaiting daybreak.

After the prefect’s order forbidding them to step outside even a single step tonight, the more perceptive among them sensed something was wrong.

The nine-story wooden tower was surrounded by eight courtyards, making up the entirety of Changle City’s defensive strength.

The upper eight floors housed archers and spearmen; the first floor was for the signal corps, with easy access in and out.

Of the eight courtyards, one housed the magistrate’s staff, one was for the commander’s investigations, and the other six housed thirty thousand shield-bearers.

At this moment, all were locked in from the outside by a giant bronze lock. The patrolling soldiers tossed and turned restlessly in their beds.

Who could sleep? No one knew what was happening in the city, and everyone had family and friends living within the walls. Those living on the higher floors shouted down that they could see flames in the city and faint cries of battle.

At last, someone knocked on the gates of the Commander’s Residence. A few of the more trusted soldiers placed their helmets side by side on the stone slabs before the door and knelt in unison.

“Commander Li, we beg you to tell us what’s going on! Our families are in the city, and with all this chaos, none of us can sleep!”

Li Qing, fully armored, his hair neatly tied, paced back and forth in his room, the clatter of armor echoing with each step.

“How should I know? The prefect gave a strict order—no matter what happens tonight, none of you is to leave.”

Song Shuzai had come and warned him three times: if anyone stepped out of Bladefront Tower tonight, the consequences would be dire.

Seeing the gravity on the prefect’s face, Li Qing dared not act rashly. The two had worked together for some time, and he knew Song Shuzai to be exceedingly cautious. For such a timid man to look so grim, the matter was surely grave.

“But... Commander! Our families are in danger—we can’t just sit by and do nothing!” These were veteran soldiers, who had followed Li Qing from the border, and were his closest confidants.

They spoke for all the soldiers in Bladefront Tower, bowing their heads heavily to the stone slabs. “Let us out, even if it’s just a small squad!”

As they spoke, more booming sounds echoed outside Bladefront Tower, making Li Qing uneasy.

What could be so serious that Song Shuzai would keep him in the dark and lock up fifty thousand troops?

Even the twenty thousand infantry garrisoned near the outer city walls hadn’t rotated into the city for their watch. By rights, Bladefront Tower should be bustling at this hour.

“Wait here. I’ll go to the prefect and demand an explanation.”

“We’ll go with you, Commander!” Seeing Li Qing seize his iron spear and mount his horse for the prefect’s compound, the old soldiers followed at once.

Night had fully fallen; as the hour of the Dog arrived, the prefect’s compound was eerily still. Normally, the clerks would just be leaving for the day, but tonight, the gates were tightly shut.

Li Qing rode to the gate and was about to dismount and knock when, suddenly, the main doors and the side doors of the east and west wings swung open at once—and three companies of Blue Plume Guards surged out!