The crimson color reflected on the night sky, followed by shouts and cries of people, leaves from the trees danced in the heatwave, and the wind howled.

The wind was unexpectedly strong that night, and the raging flames successively engulfed several long streets in Yunzhong Prefecture, spreading in an even wider direction. As the fire intensified, the rampage of the bandits in Yunzhong Prefecture reached its peak.

Upon learning about Shi Yuanji's identity, Xiao Shuqing, Long Jiuyuan, and other desperadoes immediately understood that they had no path to surrender. Years of licking blood from their blades had also made it clear what their fate would be if captured – a fate worse than death. The only path forward was now set.

As the city descended into chaos at night, some of the Yunzhong Prefecture's nobles were surprised, while a few others revealed expressions of understanding upon hearing the news. The fact that a group of people was targeting the Qi family was not surprising, sooner or later. Some with keen senses were even considering whether to join in the fray tonight. Only the subsequent information made people feel fear and trepidation.

At Xi Yin's residence, the first thing Wanyan Youyi did upon hearing of the chaos was admire his mother's sharp insight into the matter. Then, as the fire spread and became unstoppable, the atmosphere at home tensed up. The guards gathered, and his mother came and knocked on his door. Wanyan Youyi came out to see his mother wearing a long cloak, already ready to leave. His elder brother, Dezong, was also beside her.

"The Qi family is in trouble, Shi Yuanji is dead, and a group of bandits led by Xiao Shuqing are rampaging and setting fires in the city. The wind is strong tonight, and the fire is difficult to control. The number of water dragons in the city is insufficient. We have twenty in our house. Dezong, you and Youyi lead them and first ask Shi Shibo for instructions, saying that the guards and water dragon team in my house are all under his command."

Chen Wenjun was nearly fifty years old. She usually lived a life of luxury, and her hair was already white. However, when giving orders at this time, she was as decisive and capable as any man, commanding respect.

"Shi Shibo will not use the guards from our mansion, but he will accept the water dragon team. You send people over there and then come back and stay. Your father has gone out, so you are the pillars of the family. However, it is not appropriate to intervene too much at this time. If the two of you perform cleanly and beautifully, others will remember it."

As she spoke, she tidied Wanyan Youyi's shoulders and cuffs, and finally said solemnly, "Remember, the situation is chaotic, and the bandits know they have no hope, so they will fight like trapped beasts. Each of you should bring twenty personal guards and pay attention to safety. If there is nothing else, go early and return early."

The brothers Wanyan Dezong and Wanyan Youyi accepted the order and left. Outside the city, the city defense army was already being mobilized on a large scale, blocking all exits from the city. A city defense army commander from a noble background was stripped of his military power at the first moment.

Shi Liai had made his move.

Throughout the night, flames and chaos continued in the city for a long time, and many small undercurrents were quietly happening in places unseen. Inside the Da Zao Institute, the Black Banner destroyed and burned half a warehouse of blueprints. Several rebellious Wu Dynasty craftsmen were exposed and killed after carrying out the sabotage. Meanwhile, outside the city at Xin Village, during the chaotic period when Shi Liai's eldest grandson was killed and the city defense army commander was stripped of power and the focus shifted, the Black Banner forces that had been arranged long ago rescued more than a dozen Black Banner soldiers who had been escorted to Xin Village. Of course, on the night of the fifth day of the month, few people in Yunzhong Prefecture knew of such news.

Tang Minjie walked through the streets and alleys, feeling the area of chaos within the city being compressed smaller and smaller. When he entered the simple courtyard where he was temporarily residing, he felt that something was wrong.

A blade was handed over from the side, someone closed the door, and in the dark room ahead, someone was waiting for him.

The blade was held against his neck. Tang Minjie raised his hands and was pushed into the room. The chaos outside still echoed, and the firelight reflected on the sky and then onto the windows, outlining the vague contours of the objects in the room. Someone sat in the seat opposite him.

"Is it people like you in the Huaxia Army?"

"Wh-wh-wh-what... Everyone, Your Majesties..."

"Don't play the fool. I know who you are. To think Ning Yi's disciple is such trash! What a disappointment!"

"Hehe... did I act well? Madam Wanyan, nice to meet you. Is this really... necessary?"

Tang Minjie gestured at the knife on his neck, but the knife didn't move. Chen Wenjun slowly stood up from the other side.

"Listen to the sounds outside. Feeling proud, are we? What's your alias? The Clown?" The woman shook her head in the darkness, suppressing her voice. "Do you know what you've done!?"

"Uh... things that make bad people unhappy?" Tang Minjie thought for a moment. "Of course, I'm not saying that Madam is a bad person. You're definitely very happy, and I'm very happy, so I'm a good person. You're a good person, so you're also very happy... although it sounds like you're a little, uh... is there something that's making you unhappy?"

"Proud? Hmph, yes, someone like you would feel proud." Chen Wenjun's voice was low. "You dealt with the Qi family, assassinated Shi Liai's grandson, and even killed a dozen or so useless children, blew up a pile of waste paper at the Da Zao Institute, and implicated those poor people who were bewitched by you. Maybe you even saved the lives of a dozen Black Banner heroes outside the city. Do you know what will happen next?"

"The Jurchen court will be furious because of this! Those fighting on the front lines will kill with all their might! Every time they conquer a city, they will intensify their slaughter of the people! No one will be able to stop them! But what about this side? You killed a dozen or so useless children. Besides venting your anger, what impact do you think you had on the Jurchens? You madman! Lu Mingfang worked so hard in Yunzhong for so many years, and you used it to blow up a pile of waste paper! And you saved a dozen people! From tomorrow on, the entire Jin Dynasty will conduct a massive purge of Han slaves. Tens of thousands of people will die, and those poor craftsmen in the Da Zao Institute will die in droves. As long as they are suspected, they won't survive! Lu Mingfang's entire operation in Yunzhong Prefecture is finished! Do you know that!?"

"Uh..." Tang Minjie thought for a moment, "I know."

"You..."

"But isn't war a matter of life and death? Madam Wanyan... Madam Chen... ah, we usually call you 'that madam,' so I'm not sure whether it's better to call you Madam Wanyan or Madam Chen, but... the Jurchens' massacres in the south are a good thing. Their massacres will let the people of the Wu Dynasty know that surrender is a delusion. The more cities they massacre, the more people will find the backbone to fight the Jurchens to the end. The Qi family's death will tell others that there's no good end for traitors. And... the Qi family wasn't killed by me, they were killed by the Jurchens. As for the Da Zao Institute, Madam Wanyan, in our line of work, there are successful operations and failed operations. People die in both successful and failed operations. I don't want them to die either. I... I'm actually very sad, I..."

Tang Minjie, in the darkness, said with a sob in his voice. Chen Wenjun's chest rose and fell as she stared blankly for a moment. "I think I should kill you."

The blade on his neck tightened. Tang Minjie swallowed back his sobs. "Wait, okay, okay, I forgot that only bad people cry today... wait, wait, Madam Wanyan, and this person next to you, as my teacher often says, let's be a little more mature, don't scare each other back and forth. Although this is our first meeting, I think tonight's performance was pretty good. When you say it like that, I feel very wronged. My teacher used to praise me..."

"That's because your teacher is also a madman! Seeing you, I now understand what kind of madman he is!" Chen Wenjun pointed to the vague commotion and light outside the window. "Look at this fire. Even if those nobles deserved to die, even if you did well to vent your anger, do you know how many people will die in this fire today! There are Jurchens, Khitans, and Han people among them, old people and children! Is this how you do things! Do you have any humanity!"

"The wind is too strong." Tang Minjie widened his eyes. "The wind, the wind is too strong..."

Chen Wenjun looked at him in the darkness, almost suffocating with anger. Tang Minjie was silent for a moment, then sat down on the stool behind him. After a while, his voice came out.

"Although... although Madam Wanyan, you have a lot of prejudice against me, I want to remind you of something. The situation tonight is a bit tense. A chief constable has been investigating my whereabouts. I estimate he will track me down here. If he sees you with me... wouldn't what I did tonight suddenly be very effective? Wouldn't you suddenly admire me very much? You see, such a big thing, and in the end it's discovered... hehehehehe..."

He laughed in the darkness. Chen Wenjun and the others in the room suddenly narrowed their eyes, and someone on the roof outside the room also took action. Just as the blade was about to strike, Tang Minjie waved his hands. "Just kidding, just kidding, it's all a joke. My teacher told me that joking when things are dangerous can be very effective. It makes you seem humorous, able to tell jokes, and not so afraid of death... Madam Wanyan, how many years have you been with Xi Yin?"

Chen Wenjun didn't answer. Tang Minjie's words continued. "I respect you very much, and I admire you very much. My teacher said – uh, you misunderstood my teacher, he's a good man – he said that if possible, when we go to the enemy's place to do things, we should try to follow morality unless absolutely necessary. But I... uh, I could understand that sentence before I came here, but after I came here, I can't understand it anymore..."

"I've seen so much... evil, countless tragedies in this world, I've seen... the Han people here, suffering like this. Is the life they live a life that people should live? No, even dogs don't live like this... Madam Wanyan, have you seen people with their hands and feet chopped off? Have you seen those Han slaves who have had their pipa bones pierced? Have you seen the mad prostitutes in the brothels? Have you seen... uh, you've seen it all, hehe, Madam Wanyan... I admire you very much. You know what will happen if your identity is exposed, but you still did what you should do. I'm not as good as you. I... hehe... I feel like I'm living in hell..."

"I came from the Wu Dynasty. I've seen people suffer. I've been to the Northwest and seen people die in droves. But only when I came here did I wake up every day thinking about setting fire to everyone around me, just on this street. Two courtyards over, that Jurchen raised a Han slave. That Han slave had one leg crippled and his right hand chopped off. A chain held him, and even his tongue was cut off and his teeth knocked out... He used to be a soldier, hehehe, now he doesn't even have clothes to wear, he's skin and bones like a dog. Do you know how he cries? I'll imitate it for you. I imitate it the best. He... uh uh uh err err err, ah ah ah ah ah ah..."

Tang Minjie's imitation of the crying sounded eerie in the darkness, then turned into uncontrollable low laughter. "Hehehe hahaha... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I scared you. I burned a lot of people to death, ah, it's too cruel, but..."

His head shook for a long time. "Uh, that's all... that's all the wind's fault. That's... uh..."

The room fell silent again. Sensing the other party's anger, Tang Minjie sat there with his legs together, no longer quibbling, looking like a good boy. Chen Wenjun took a few deep breaths, still realizing that it was impossible to communicate with this madman, and turned to walk out the door.

"I'll talk to Lu Mingfang about this. Before that, if you mess around like this again, I'll kill you."

After throwing down those words, she and the people who followed her walked out of the room. Just as she left the doorway, a voice suddenly came from behind, no longer with the slippery, joking tone just now, but with a steady and firm voice.

"Madam Wanyan, war is a matter of life and death, one race dies and one race lives. Have you ever thought about where you will go back to one day if the Han people defeat the Jurchens and Yanyin is pacified?"

Chen Wenjun paused in her footsteps. Before she could speak, the other party's suddenly cheerful voice came from behind again.

"Hehe, the Huaxia Army welcomes you!"

Chen Wenjun clenched her teeth, drew the dagger from her side, and swung it out in a turn, the dagger flew into the darkness of the room, and there was no sound. She took two deep breaths, finally suppressed her anger, and strode away.

In the darkness of the room, Tang Minjie covered his face, not moving at all. Only when Chen Wenjun and the others had completely left did he lower his hand, a knife mark on his face, his hand covered in blood. He curled his lips, "Married to a Jurchen, not gentle at all..."

The night burned, and then gradually calmed down. The next day and the third day, the city was still under martial law, and the investigation of the entire situation continued, and more things were brewing silently. On the fourth day, a large number of Han slaves and even Khitans were dragged out, either imprisoned or beheaded. The killings inside and outside Yunzhong Prefecture were bloody. The initial conclusion had been reached: the conspiracy of the Black Banner Army and the Wu Dynasty people caused this tragic and inhumane case.

But internally, there were naturally different views.

The developmental clues of the entire Yunzhong tragedy were quickly cleared up by the cruel officials who participated in the investigation. It was Wanyan Wenqin, a noble son who was not very successful in Yunzhong Prefecture, who first colluded and initiated the whole thing. Although most of the leaders of the rebellion, such as Xiao Shuqing and Long Jiuyuan, stubbornly resisted to the end and eventually died in the chaos, some of the captured minions remained. Another city defense army commander, Wanyan Fang, who participated in the collusion, also revealed under Shi Liai's pressure that Wanyan Wenqin colluded and incited everyone to participate.

Such a truth about the incident could not be made public. Regardless of whether the whole thing seemed short-sighted and stupid, the Wu Dynasty and the Black Banner must bear the blame. On the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, all members of Wanyan Wenqin's Duke's mansion were imprisoned and entered the trial process. On the afternoon of the seventh day, a new clue was cleared up, concerning the situation of Dai Mo, the Han slave next to Wanyan Wenqin, which became the new source of the entire incident—after all, this matter was not difficult to investigate.

The officials who tried the case focused their attention on the already dead Dai Mo. They investigated some of the books left by Dai Mo, compared them with some of the manuscripts in Wanyan Wenqin's study, and confirmed the fraud of the so-called Ghost Valley and Vertical and Horizontal studies. On the ninth day of the seventh lunar month, the constables conducted a second search of the room where Dai Mo lived before his death. On the night of the ninth day of the seventh lunar month, Chief Constable Mandu Dalu was sitting in Wanyan Wenqin's mansion, and his subordinates found something.

Dai Mo had a daughter who had been captured and brought to the Jin Kingdom. According to the confessions of some of the servants in Wanyan Wenqin's mansion, this daughter went missing and was never found. However, Dai Mo recorded his daughter's whereabouts in a hidden manuscript.

The moment he saw that manuscript, Mandu Dalu closed his eyes and his heart contracted.

After being captured to the Jin Kingdom, Dai Xiao'e was assigned to Wanyan Zongfu as a slave, and arrived at the knitting workshop in Yunzhong Prefecture as a female worker a year and a half ago. During this period, Wanyan Zongfu's family slave led Dai Xiao'e and let Dai Mo take a look at her from afar...

"...Death spy..."

At this moment, Dai Mo's manuscript was like a poison, burning his palm. If possible, Mandu Dalu just wanted to throw it away, tear it up, and burn it immediately, but this evening, a group of constables were watching him around him. He had to hand over the manuscript to Shi Liai...

The sun was setting.

Tang Minjie walked on the streets of Yunzhong Prefecture, his nose filled with the smell of blood. He looked at everything around him, his expression humble, cautious, and as usual.

War is a game of life and death.

If possible, I just want to implicate myself...