It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fifteenth day of the eighth month.

The moonlight hung like a silver plate in the night sky. Amidst the chaotic streets, beside the ruined mansions, a tattered beggar sang the Mid-Autumn verses of yesteryear. His hoarse voice gave the surrounding area an eerie feeling. The laughing and bustling crowds around couldn't help but quiet down.

An old man named Zuo Xiuquan listened to the lyrics and tapped his fingers on the table, sighing silently. The poem was from nearly twenty years ago, when the Wu Dynasty was prosperous and the Jiangnan region was filled with singing and dancing.

Today, twenty years later, when reciting the lines "People have sorrow, joy, separation, and reunion; the moon has dimness, brightness, waxing, and waning. This imperfection has always been so. May we all be blessed with longevity, though far apart, we are still able to share the beauty of the moon together," it was hard to tell whether the poem had captured the essence of human existence, or whether human existence had provided commentary on the poem.

He had entered Jiangning City with Yinping, Yue Yun, and others the previous day. Today, feeling sentimental about the Mid-Autumn Festival, he came with them to inspect this old haunt of the "heart demon" after dealing with several important matters. Yinping and Yue Yun had been helped by Ning Yi many years ago, and they had heard many stories about the righteous yet devious demon of the Southwest from their father. They held him in high esteem. However, upon arriving and seeing the dilapidated and foul-smelling ruins, it was difficult for them to feel any enthusiasm.

At this time, many people questioned the beggar's words, but the Zuo family, starting with Zuo Duanyou, had a deep understanding of Ning Yi's many deeds. There was a rumor that Ning Yi had been hit on the head and suffered memory loss, although Qin Siyuan, Kang Xian, and others didn't quite believe it, the information had lingered.

Hearing the beggar's words now, Zuo Xiuquan felt that most of it was true. He had gone to the Southwest twice and felt Ning Yi's ambition to swallow the world, but he had never thought much about it. It turned out that when he was young, he had also had similar experiences of jealousy and involvement in literary comparisons.

The moonlight in the sky was as bright as a silver plate, seemingly hanging on the building at the end of the street. After singing the poem, the beggar on the roadside rambled on about the story of the "heart demon." Zuo Xiuquan took a handful of copper coins and put them in the beggar's hand. After slowly sitting back down, he chatted with Yinping and Yue Yun for a few words.

He waved and called over the stall owner.

"This person really was the young master of Dachuan Fabric Shop?"

"...How did he become like this?"

Zuo Xiuquan asked a few questions. The stall owner was initially hesitant, but as the old man took out more silver, the stall owner told the whole story.

It had happened a few months ago.

When the Fair Party entered Jiangning, there was naturally some initial looting, but they didn't simply rob and kill the wealthy families in Jiangning.

According to the Fair King's regulations, everyone in the world was equal. It was extremely unfair for some wealthy families to accumulate large amounts of land and property, but these people were not all completely evil. Therefore, every time the Fair Party occupied a place, they would first screen and "investigate crimes." Those with many evil deeds were naturally killed and their homes confiscated. For the small number of those who were not so bad, and who even provided medicine and charity on weekdays and had a certain reputation and good deeds, they would preach the Fair Party's ideals, requiring them to voluntarily give up their wealth.

Such "persuasion" was, in practice, a form of coercion. Facing the mighty Fair Movement, anyone who wanted to save their life would naturally choose to give up their wealth to ensure their safety (in fact, He Wen's methods also ensured the differentiation of the enemy before some major battles. Some wealthy families would agree to terms from the beginning, using the dispersal of their wealth or even joining the Fair Party as a bargaining chip, choosing to revolt rather than resist desperately).

The Xue family didn't have any major evil deeds in Jiangning. Besides the fact that the纨绔 (Wankus, spoiled young masters) of that time did indeed smash a man named Ning Yi on the back of the head with a brick, in general, this family was considered benevolent in the Jiangning area. Therefore, the first round of "crime investigation" only required them to take away all their property, which the Xue family had already agreed to.

The handover of property naturally had a certain procedure. During this period, those heinous gentry were naturally dealt with first, while the Xue family needed to count all their property during this period and then, when the Fair Party could free up their hands, voluntarily hand over the property to the public and become model figures who repented and joined the Fair Party.

However, before the first round of killing ended, "King Yama" Zhou Shang's men entered the city.

They conducted a second round of sentencing for the wealthy families who had not been killed in the first round.

It was four and a half months ago that the entire Xue family, dozens of people, were driven out and押 (Ya, escorted) to the square in the city. It was said that someone had reported their crimes, so they had to be questioned for the second time. They had to confront the accusers to prove their innocence – this was "King Yama" Zhou Shang's fixed procedure. After all, he was also a branch of the Fair Party and would not "kill people indiscriminately."

One of the witnesses who proved that the Xue family had committed evil deeds came forward. She was a middle-aged woman dragging a child. She stated to the crowd that she had worked as a maid in the Xue family more than ten years ago, and was subsequently sexually assaulted by the Xue family's old master. She returned home and gave birth to this child, and was then driven out of Jiangning by the Xue family's evil servants. She even had a scar on her forehead from being beaten back then.

The woman spoke with tears in her eyes, every word coming from her heart. The Xue family's old master tried to speak several times, but Zhou Shang's men told him not to interrupt her and to wait until she finished speaking before defending himself.

The Xue family waited to defend themselves. But as the woman finished speaking and collapsed in tears on the stage, stones had already been thrown from the stage below, smashing people and causing them to bleed. The crowd below felt empathy and were filled with righteous indignation. They rushed onto the stage and beat and killed them frantically. More people followed Zhou Shang's troops into the Xue family, conducting a new round of looting and plunder, sweeping everything away before the arrival of the "Fair King's" men who were waiting to receive the Xue family's property.

"That's how 'King Yama's' men do things. Every time they interrogate people, and after the interrogation, there are few survivors."

Under the moonlight, the stall owner who had received the money whispered these things. The flag hanging on his stall belonged to the Reincarnation King, and its momentum had become increasingly powerful with the entry of the Great Brightness Cult leader into the city. He spoke of Zhou Shang's methods with some disdain.

"Is it always like this?" Zuo Xiuquan asked.

"Of course, it can't always be the same means." The stall owner shook his head. "There are many tricks, but the result is the same. In the past two years, almost all the rich people who fell into King Yama's hands have died. As long as you go up there, the people below won't care what crime you've committed, they'll throw stones and beat you to death, and then they'll rob everything. Even if the Fair King comes in person, who can find them? But anyway, none of the rich people are good, I think they deserve this."

"You run a stall here, don't you want to be rich?"

"I want to be rich, but I don't want to be dishonest. Look, I'm busy every day, aren't I?" The stall owner waved his hand and stuffed the money he had received into his pocket. "Old man, you don't have to try to provoke me with your words. The King Yama's faction doesn't follow the rules, and everyone doesn't like them, but you can't stand the fact that they have a lot of people. Do you think that all the people in the square who throw stones halfway through the interrogation are Zhou Shang's men? No, anyone who wants to make a fortune does the same... But, you can say these things here. In the future, when you go to other places, you have to be careful, don't really offend those people."

The stall owner said this, pointing to the Reincarnation King's flag beside him, as a kind-hearted piece of advice.

At this time, in the underground nearby, the beggar's arm trembled as he held the food that everyone had given him, slowly pouring it into a small cloth bag that he carried with him, not knowing who he was taking it back to feed. He hadn't been a beggar for long. He had lived a life of luxury for decades, and now he listened silently as the stall owner talked about his experiences, tears mixed with the ash on his face...

Zuo Xiuquan sighed. After the stall owner left, he tapped his fingers on the table and pondered for a moment.

"Fair King He Wen, wherever he's mentioned, is an amazing figure, but why is Jiangning City like this... Why is that?"

At the table next door, Ning Ji heard the old man's murmur, glanced over, and looked at the group of people again. One of the figures, who seemed to be a woman dressed as a man, also looked at him, and he inconspicuously shifted his attention away.

He knew that these people probably had some background. They were probably like Yan Yunzhi's group, from some great clan. At this moment, he didn't plan to form any animosity with these people. But the old man's question also stirred his heart.

He certainly wasn't a person who was good at thinking and summarizing, but when he was still in the Southwest, he was surrounded by all kinds of characters and had access to the richest information in the world. He also had some insights into the situation in the world. No one took He Wen of the "Fair Party" lightly in any type of analysis. In fact, most people – including his father – regarded him as the enemy with the highest threat value, most likely to create a situation.

However, can he really create a situation with what's in front of him?

He felt a slight confusion...

...

Of course, getting to the bottom of these serious questions wasn't his hobby. Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and he came to Jiangning to participate in this chaotic spectacle and to trace some of the traces of his parents' lives here.

At this time, the moon gradually rose, and fireworks flew into the sky from the dim distance of the city. He didn't know where the Mid-Autumn Festival was being celebrated. Not far away, the beggar begged on the ground for a while without much harvest, but slowly got up. One of his legs was already lame. At this time, he walked through the crowd, limping slowly towards the end of the street.

Ning Ji also paid the bill and followed behind.

The beggar's figure was lonely, passing through the streets, through the dark, dirty alleys, and then walking along the foul-smelling ditch. He had difficulty walking because of his legs. As he walked, he even fell to the ground. He struggled to get up and continued walking, finally reaching a small bridge hole at the bend of the ditch. The smell in the bridge hole was not good, but at least it could block the wind and rain.

Ning Ji saw him enter the bridge hole and then softly wake up a person inside.

He staggered and helped the figure out. The figure's pace seemed unusually weak. The two figures were both helping each other and squeezed together. The two of them slowly climbed up the edge of the ditch and sat on the edge of the ditch, leaning against each other.

"Moon... Moon Maiden, I... I brought food... eat... eat..."

The beggar opened the small cloth bag on his body. The small cloth bag contained the bowl of food that he had been given earlier.

His stuttering problem was probably caused by being hit on the head, and Ning Ji could only see that one of her arms was twisted from behind, as for the rest, it was difficult to tell. She leaned on the beggar and shook slightly.

"Moon... Moon Maiden, to... today is... Mid... Mid-Autumn Festival, I..."

"I just saw... over there... there are fireworks..."

"Just... over there..."

"You eat... eat something... they should... should..."

"They should..."

"Still be setting them off..."

The two figures snuggled together in the night wind above the ditch, the silhouettes in the darkness, so weak that they seemed to be scattered by the wind.