After wasting the whole morning at the West Market, he rode up to the dismount stele outside the Imperial College with the sun already high.
Old Xiao, who had been waiting by the stele a long while, chuckled happily. "How'd it go, young Heir? Win that silly girl's heart?"
Xu Buling sighed. "Zhu Manzhi's a bit of a simpleton. Can't we swap her for someone else?"
Old Xiao shook his head. "The Records Vault holds the secret files of every princely house and great clan. Walking in there uninvited is treason. Anyone with real brains would never take that risk."
Xu Buling nodded and said no more, going straight into the Imperial College. By the rules, skipping class was punished with a day of ringing the bell, and he had no wish to sit with that pack of brats from Wenqu Court, so he went of his own accord to the Bell and Drum Tower.
Below the tower was a room set aside for students doing penance facing the wall. It held only a bed and a desk, neat and spotless. Xu Buling sat down at the desk, picked up the brush and ink laid out there, and began copying the Record of Learning.
He had just finished a hundred-odd characters when a graceful figure drifted past the window in front of him, head tilted up, cautiously peering at the floor above. Her steps were light as though she feared being spotted, her hands folded at her waist; she took a few steps, doubled back, then went on climbing.
Xu Buling frowned slightly, set down his brush, thought for a moment, shook his head, and pretended he had seen nothing.
Thump, thump, thump—
Footsteps climbed the stairs, circled around up above, and a voice murmured, "Huh? I could have sworn he came this way..." Then down the tower again—thump, thump, thump—until she stood just outside the window.
Xu Buling's brows knit hard. He rose, reached up, took down the window prop, and shut the window.
Hearing the sound, Song Yufu turned, her hair swinging in a circle, delight flickering in her eyes. Before she could speak there was a soft thud—and the window was closed.
Song Yufu blinked, thought it over, walked to the door of the room, and knocked lightly.
Knock, knock—
"No one's here."
"My lord Heir, may I... may I come in?"
"...Well, I'm coming in, then."
Creeeak—
The door swung open.
Song Yufu stepped inside, composed and courteous, and came to the desk with a slightly embarrassed smile, dipping a small curtsy:
"Heir Xu, last time..."
"Close the door behind you."
"Hm?"
Song Yufu blinked. Seeing that Xu Buling was copying away without raising his eyes, she smiled softly and turned back to shut the door properly.
But when she turned around again, Xu Buling was suddenly right behind her, one hand braced against the door, very close, penning her against it.
Kabedon.
"Ah—!"
Song Yufu was badly startled. Hands curled to her chest, back pressed to the door boards, she gazed up at the frowning Xu Buling, her voice trembling:
"Heir Xu, what are you doing?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
Xu Buling looked down at the uninvited Song Yufu, a faint sweet fragrance reaching him, and leaned a little closer:
"A girl, all alone, running to a man—hoping to be a princess consort?"
"I—"
Song Yufu pressed her lips together, a spark of anger in her eyes, and said quietly, "How can you say such things, Heir Xu... I... I came to apologize. Last time you beat Xiao Ting—I misjudged you."
At that, Xu Buling's brows drew together slightly:
"Misjudged what?"
Song Yufu was utterly earnest. "I used to think you were a violent-tempered brute, but I never imagined you were a true gentleman who cares nothing for empty fame. Last time you struck Xiao Ting only because his eyes were rude, and before that, when you broke the private-salt case..."
Xu Buling's face darkened. If Aunt Lu got wind of this, she would nag him again for not even knowing how to hide his talents and foul his name.
"That's not why. I hit Xiao Ting purely because I was drunk."
There was no convincing her. "Exactly—you're plainly a gentleman, Heir Xu, so why suffer an unjust reputation? I'll go to my father in a bit and clear your name, so the whole Imperial College knows your temper isn't bad at all. You're simply mature beyond your years, indifferent to fame, and above explaining yourself..."
Xu Buling drew a deep breath. "Miss Song, don't let your imagination run away with you."
Song Yufu's expression turned stern. "How could I stand by while a gentleman is wronged and a petty man gets his way?"
Seeing that reason was getting him nowhere, Xu Buling put on a fierce look. "An apology needs sincerity. Copy out the Record of Learning three times and we'll call it even."
Song Yufu's fine brows knitted; she shook her head firmly.
"I can't copy things for you anymore. I already did it once last time. And besides, even if Xiao Ting behaved beneath a gentleman, you shouldn't brawl with a petty man—doesn't that make you a boor as well? So hitting people was still wrong. But I'll still thank you..."
On and on she nattered.
Xu Buling kept his hand braced on the door, leaning a little closer, his manner cocky. "Talk all you like—it won't help. Copy it today, or you don't leave this room."
Song Yufu leaned back, about to shove him away, then decided that wouldn't be proper and pulled her hand back, saying earnestly:
"I'm not copying for you. Worst case, I just won't go out."
Xu Buling nodded and stared at her coldly.
Song Yufu lifted her chin and puffed out her chest with great backbone, utterly unafraid—looking for all the world like You're a gentleman, so you won't hit me.
And so the standoff held.
The sun wheeled across the sky, and in a blink it went from noon to dusk.
Song Yufu was a frail thing; standing stiff for hours on end was wearing her down. She shifted her weight from leg to leg without being obvious about it, still glaring at him stubbornly.
Xu Buling was in no hurry at all.
Grrr—
Her stomach growled, the sound barely audible.
Song Yufu's face went scarlet at once, her eyes misting over. She turned to open the door, but it wouldn't budge.
Xu Buling gave a soft hum. "You thought I was joking?"
Song Yufu stamped one embroidered shoe, growing flustered. "Heir Xu, I can't copy it for you."
"Then don't go out."
"Fine, I won't. One day without food won't kill me."
Xu Buling gave another soft hum, hooked a hand into the back of Song Yufu's collar, opened the door, and headed up the Bell and Drum Tower.
By the look of it, he was about to play another round of bungee jumping off the tower.
Alarm filled Song Yufu's face. Dangling and swaying in the air, she struggled twice, which only made the collar dig into her own throat, and cried out in a fluster, "Heir Xu, how can you do this? Put me down!"
"Are you copying it?"
Song Yufu pressed her lips together and hesitated a long while. "...This is the last time."
"Not a chance. From now on, all the copying is yours."
Song Yufu promptly objected, a wounded look in her eyes. "Why should it be?"
Xu Buling hauled her back into the room and said flatly,
"Because you copy for me, and I keep your secret."
Song Yufu pressed her lips together and held it in a long while before muttering,
"You're unreasonable."
"Good that you know it. I'm no gentleman."
Xu Buling sat down on the edge of the bed, back straight and proper, and fixed her with a stare.
Song Yufu had no choice. She went to the desk, picked up the brush, and most reluctantly went on writing out the Record of Learning on the xuan paper...
At the Investigation Bureau office outside the imperial city, sword-bearing Wolf Guards came and went in squads of three, each taking orders and departing for the far corners of Great Yue to pursue one major case or another.
At dusk, Zhu Manzhi trudged listlessly back to the office.
As the Son of Heaven's eyes and ears, the Investigation Bureau held enormous power. Ten years ago the court had swept the realm clean, cutting down jianghu men until the very name of it made them quail—an age the histories called the Iron Eagle Deer Hunt. The Bureau had risen on that tide: it reached the emperor's ear above and cowed the greenwood below, there was nothing it could not stick its nose into, and even capital officials went out of their way to avoid it. But that honor belonged only to the Heaven-grade Wolf Guards.
The Earth-grade was only a notch above an ordinary constable, and squads like the Earth Dog Camp—dead last among the seventy-two Earthly Fiends—counted for nothing at all in the Bureau. It was either where the new hires went, or where men were parked to see out their years.
In the courtyard of the City Patrol Office the men were mostly old-timers or greenhorns. Wang Dazhuang and Liu Hou'er had long since returned and were squatting in the yard, chatting with a few colleagues. Spotting Zhu Manzhi come in, Liu Hou'er spoke with a grin:
"Manzhi, why the long face?"
"Nothing to do on patrol. It's boring."
Zhu Manzhi unwound the black cloth wrapped around her head, pinned her hair up, took a thorn-wood hairpin from her bosom and stuck it in, then ran to the water vat brimming with rainwater and used it as a mirror. Quietly, she asked,
"Any big cases at the office lately?"
Liu Hou'er thought about it. "Big cases? Plenty, but they belong to the Arrest Office—our City Patrol can't touch them... Hmm... A while back something happened over in the east of the city. Someone slipped into the private residence of our Commander Zhang, a hidden sentry caught him, and they went at it. The Tianwei Camp sent twelve men and only eight came back. The thief got away, and the commander told us to keep our eyes peeled and fire a signal flare the moment we hear anything."
Zhu Manzhi was startled. The Tianwei Camp ranked eighth among the Heaven-grade camps, and any single one of its thirty Wolf Guards could swagger through the jianghu unchallenged; four squads of twelve could wipe out an ordinary jianghu faction. Only eight had come back, and the man was still free—just how fearsome a thief was this?
Zhu Manzhi blinked. "If I catch him, can I get into the Heaven Camp?"
Wang Dazhuang cracked melon seeds. "You'd get in, sure. But right now the Heaven Camp is bracing as if an army were at the gates. Mind you don't throw your life away. Find yourself some steady work and stop dreaming."
Zhu Manzhi nodded slightly, then asked, "Do you two know who owns White Horse Manor outside the city?"
Liu Hou'er considered. "White Horse Manor? Seems to be a place where rich young gentlemen go to play. Ordinary folk aren't allowed in, and it's probably tied to some grandee or other. Why are you asking?"
Zhu Manzhi remembered that line about selling her off to a brothel, and her brows slowly drew together. She let out a bitter sigh. "Just asking..." She wrapped the black cloth back around her head and slouched out...