CUI BUQU WAS LIKED by many but hated by more.
Although the Zuoyue Bureau wasn't widely known, they enjoyed Empress Dugu's full support and thus wielded great authority. Countless people had found themselves in his hands, and even more cursed him behind his back. He had a heart hard as steel; he never thought anything of it. Similarly, Feng Xiao's flattery stirred no pleasure in him.
"Deputy Chief Feng, whenever you praise me, a certain phrase comes to my mind."
"When it comes to the great men of the world, only Liu Bei and Cao Cao qualify?"7
"The weasel paying the chicken a New Year's visit."8
Feng Xiao chuckled. "Then that makes me the weasel, and you the chicken. Daoist Master Cui doesn't seem to me like a chicken awaiting the slaughter. You're more like a cunning fox, seizing a win at any cost."
"Is that so?" said Cui Buqu. "For myself, I find Deputy Chief Feng quite like a weasel."
And a very flamboyant weasel at that.
Feng Xiao let such insinuations roll off his back; he'd never lost his temper in all their nonstop bickering. Instead, he tilted his handsome face toward Cui Buqu and said, affectionate, "We joined forces in Liugong City to solve the case of the Khotanese envoy, and now we've dealt with Duan Qihu and Xing Mao. Perhaps we're not bosom companions who'd lay down our lives for each other, but we can still share weal and woe. Why do you insist on pushing me away? You really are from the Cui clan of Boling, aren't you?"
Cui Buqu took out brush and paper and began to write. "Whether I am or not, what's it to you?" he asked without raising his head.
"Judging from your reaction, even if you are, you must have fallen out with them. Otherwise, why would you say you have neither father nor mother, courtesy name nor title?"
Cui Buqu raised an eyebrow, his brush never stopping. "So while I was talking to Xiao Lü yesterday, you were lurking about eavesdropping," he said with the shadow of a smile. "Is Deputy Chief Feng not ashamed of his ungentlemanly behavior?"
The corners of Feng Xiao's lips turned up. "Daoist Master Cui is always thinking how to screw me over. If I don't stay on my toes, I fear one day I'll be left without even a pair of pants to my name." He looked down at the paper Cui Buqu had pushed over to him. Upon it were written the four lines of the letter they'd found on the Duan Qihu. Feng Xiao nodded. "A perfect replica."
"Where's the letter?"
"I lost it."
Cui Buqu stared at him frostily.
"Please, it was stained with blood from a mangled corpse. Even you must find that filthy," Feng Xiao said self-righteously.
Cui Buqu heaved a sigh. Working with Feng Xiao had its advantages. When two men of intelligence conversed, much could be said in a few words. Feng Xiao was also an incredible martial artist; even the foremost expert of the Khaganate, Fo'er, was helpless against him.
But there were downsides as well. Feng Xiao wasn't Cui Buqu's subordinate; Cui Buqu couldn't order him around. The Jiejian Bureau was equal in status to the Zuoyue Bureau—though given Feng Xiao's temperament, the power of the emperor himself might mean nothing to him, let alone his sister agency. He was erratic and reckless, and Cui Buqu never knew when he might be thrown to the wolves. While working with him, Cui Buqu not only had to do his job, he had to match wits with Feng Xiao and remain constantly vigilant for tricks and traps. He was forced to split his focus. It was small wonder his old cough had resurfaced after a two-year absence.
Feng Xiao smiled. "Don't sigh like that; if Qiao Xian overhears, she'll think I'm pushing you around again. I've read the letter, and there's nothing mysterious about the paper itself. Anything useful is contained in those lines of poetry. Didn't you say you had some ideas? Let's hear them."
"Surely someone as clever as Deputy Chief Feng can solve it himself."
"All right, let's write down all our guesses so far and we'll trade notes. That's fair, isn't it?"
"Very well."
Each took a brush and paper and set to work.
After a moment, they showed each other what they'd written.
"The first line was, 'I climb Mount Jieshi in the east to behold the boundless turquoise sea.' I think it's referring to a place," said Feng Xiao. "Mount Jieshi, where Cao Cao wrote this poem, is in Beiping Commandery. But if it were that simple, anyone could guess. When you take just the first and last characters, however, you get Donghai Commandery."
Cui Buqu nodded. "Considering how cryptic the contents are, they must contain information about the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai. I've been thinking—the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai are watertight in their dealings; they refuse to disclose their own identities even to each other. Although this makes it easier to keep secrets, over time, their members are more likely to turn on the organization. Look at Duan Qihu: if he'd known anyone besides Yuheng and Feng Xiaolian, he might have taken the risk and fought for their sake. But he knew only two, one a monk and the other a woman. His doubts grew, and he balked at throwing in his lot with them."
"You're right. But the founder of the Thirteen Floors must have considered this too. To put those like Duan Qihu at ease, what they needed was a chance for everyone to meet. Unfortunately, it appears Duan Qihu perished before he could attend."
"The third line is a poem by Xie Lingyun," said Cui Buqu. "'Before we could enjoy the wonders of spring, we glimpsed the approach of summer. The changing seasons weigh my chest with sighs; hair hangs from my temples, streaked with white.' He wrote this in Nanting after he was demoted and sent to Yongjia County."
Feng Xiao quirked a brow. "There's plenty to dig into here. Yongjia, Nanting, even Xie Lingyun's ancestral home. Any of these could be our answer."
"Yet none of them are. The answer is summer."
"Why do you say so?" asked Feng Xiao.
Cui Buqu smiled. "Because of the next line: 'The river of stars runs clear and shallow.' This is an ancient poem from the Han dynasty, from the anthology of works Crown Prince Zhaoming collected. Here the poet paints a picture of the Milky Way to express their emotions:
'Distant lies the cowherd's star, luminous shines the weaver girl.
She lifts her pale and slender hand, shuttle clacking as she weaves.
Alas her work is never done; her tears pour down like rain.
The river of stars runs clear and shallow; what distance lies between them?
The width of just a single stream, yet their love will never reach.'"
Cui Buqu continued, "Then looking at the previous line again, 'Before we could enjoy the wonders of spring, summer—Zhuming—has already arrived.' Zhuming is another word for summer, just like Jinsu for autumn. When we combine the two, it points to the seventh day of the seventh month, the day of the cowherd and weaver girl's reunion."
When Cui Buqu spoke to Feng Xiao, it was normally with a sneer or a smile that failed to reach his eyes. It was rare for him to reveal an easy smile devoid of mockery, as he did now. For a moment, his brow was smooth and his eyes content. Feng Xiao suddenly realized Cui Buqu wasn't bad-looking at all. Despite his sickly complexion, his eyes were clear and bright. When he looked at others, they shone. He was intimidating when his expression was frosty—but when he smiled, it was like a spring mountain, flowers and trees in radiant bloom. No wonder Bing Xian was drawn to him.
"Daoist Master Cui should really smile more," said Feng Xiao with a smile of his own. "Who knows, perhaps I'll waver and find myself growing soft toward you."
"You should continue being hard on me," Cui Buqu said. "If there comes a day when Deputy Chief Feng is suddenly obedient, I'll suspect you're plotting something."
Feng Xiao sighed. "Why do I even try?"
Cui Buqu had no interest in bickering. "Enough," he said impatiently. "What do you think, Deputy Chief Feng?"
Look at him. His eyes might be alluring, but his temper's awful. He loses it at the slightest thing; small wonder his health never improves. With that attitude, anyone who falls for this invalid will find themselves chased off within three days. Throughout this silent criticism, his genial smile never wavered. "Oh, I agree completely with your analysis."
Cui Buqu frowned. "Don't you have anything to add?"
"We have the date, but the location requires more discussion. My guess is this second line—'To your side I will return if safe; if dead, my love will never fade,'—must relate to the location, and whether it's in Donghai Commandery. But I've got nothing at the moment."
Cui Buqu lowered his head, brow creasing. "With such a convoluted set of clues, even if Duan Qihu thought for an age, he would never have come up with the answer. The Thirteen Floors of Yunhai must have a key for decryption. Unfortunately, this is the only letter we have; otherwise I could decrypt it by comparing them."
Here Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu differed. Cui Buqu was fond of puzzles, but Feng Xiao never deigned to do anything difficult. If he couldn't solve it in a moment, he'd set it aside and let it solve itself. It wasn't as if the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai could run away. Sooner or later, they'd slip up.
Seeing Cui Buqu still immersed in thought, Feng Xiao murmured that he was going for a walk, then stood and left. Cui Buqu held his forehead in silence, ruminating.
Feng Xiao met Jinlian in the hall.
Since they'd arrived in Qiemo, Apa Khagan's lesser khatun had kept a low profile. She wasn't a patient person by nature, but she understood Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu had their own business to attend to and might not be able to protect her at all times. Wary of an ambush from Fo'er, she'd hardly stepped from her room the past ten or fifteen days, and only sent the maid they'd hired from Liugong City out to inquire about the news.
Yet this had also given her an opportunity to watch from the sidelines and see what these two could achieve.
She hadn't expected them to turn the city upside down with a flip of their palms, fomenting a crisis that saw one giant of Qiemo dead while unseating the other. Ultimately, Xing Mao was a smarter man than Duan Qihu. As soon as he understood the hopelessness of his situation, he handed over his wealth in exchange for the lives of his family. The latest gossip reported that the emperor of Sui, in a display of generosity, had already issued a decree appointing Xing Mao the Marquis of Shanshan and granting him a residence in the capital. He was permitted to travel to the capital to greet the emperor, then expected to settle down there with his family.
Jinlian was secretly glad she'd chosen to work with Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu. If these two could destabilize the entire city of Qiemo, surely they could convince Apa Khagan to side with the Sui dynasty. With this, she grew a little more confident.
"Good day to Feng-langjun." Jinlian bowed to Feng Xiao.
She was still disguised as a woman from the Central Plains. Though her accent was a little stiff, she'd learned most of the required etiquette. Feng Xiao found her clever. While the majority of her countrymen's only concern was their nomadic and marauding lifestyles, she'd set her sights on the far-off Central Plains. She chose to pursue an alliance with the powerful Sui dynasty rather than be annexed and ruled by Ishbara.
"Is there anything I can do for Jin-niangzi?" Feng Xiao used the alias she'd assumed for their journey.
"How is Cui-xiansheng?" she asked. "The eight tribes will gather in Suyab very soon. I fear if we delay our departure even a few days, we may not make it in time."
"We can set out tomorrow."
"Wonderful," said Jinlian happily. "I left home so long ago; I can't wait to see the familiar grasslands. And when I return with the two of you, the khagan will surely be pleased."
After the incident with Duan Qihu, Jinlian's attitude toward them had undergone a shift. Where she'd once been distant and polite, she was now open and amiable. But Feng Xiao didn't mention it; he merely smiled. "We still have a generous gift for the khagan. Jin-niangzi will not walk away disappointed after this trip to Suyab."
The statement seemed chock full of implication. Excusing herself to pack her bags, she bade farewell to Feng Xiao and went back to ponder his words.
After a time, Feng Xiao returned to his own room. There was no doubt that Cui Buqu was brilliant; Feng Xiao wouldn't be surprised if he'd already unlocked all the mysteries within those poems. He'd thought to try a trick or two to drag some answers out of him, but when he pushed open the door, he was greeted by the sight of Cui Buqu with his head on the table, fast asleep.
When Feng Xiao had used incense of helplessness on him, long before he knew Cui Buqu's identity, he'd checked this man's pulse. Cui Buqu suffered from a lack of both qi and blood—he'd likely been frail from birth, a condition worsened by the circumstances of his upbringing. Feng Xiao didn't have to be a renowned doctor to tell he was unlikely to live long.
Cui Buqu had spent the past few days exhausting his brain with calculations, then dragged his body through that secret passage. He'd been at his limit for a while. Now he'd hardly woken up and he was back to taxing his mind with poetry. Of course he'd passed out.
The sunlight outside was just right. Warm spring rays spilled down over Cui Buqu's profile, limning it with a dazzling glow.
Feng Xiao stared. He couldn't help reaching toward Cui Buqu's face. His slender fingers brushed over Cui Buqu's cheek, never pausing for a second. They landed right on his nose and pinched.
Cui Buqu was sound asleep. Though he didn't wake, his discomfort was obvious. He frowned in his sleep, then opened his mouth to breathe.
Heh. Feng Xiao smiled mischievously. With his other hand, he covered Cui Buqu's mouth. How will you breathe now, I wonder?
"What are you doing?!" Qiao Xian's angry shout came from the doorway.
He'd been discovered so quickly. Feng Xiao clicked his tongue and regretfully let go.
Cui Buqu had slept through all Feng Xiao's mischief, but Qiao Xian's shout woke him. He rubbed his eyes and pushed himself up; one side of his face bore a red mark left by his arm where he'd slept on it. For a moment, he was completely absent the gravitas of the head of the Zuoyue Bureau.
He knew no martial arts whatsoever but made up for it with decisive and deadly tactics. Together with his exquisite mind, he rarely found himself at a disadvantage. Both Qiao Xian and Feng Xiao were well aware of this; they'd never dare underestimate him. But when they saw his bewilderment on being freshly woken, their hearts softened just a bit.
Feng Xiao glanced sidelong at Cui Buqu, and Qiao Xian quickly stepped forward, standing between Feng Xiao and Cui Buqu like a mother hen protecting her chick, as if Feng Xiao was a man-eating cannibal.
This Qiao woman really was an eyesore. Perhaps Feng Xiao should think of some way to mess with her too. Feng Xiao fluttered his fan, smiling at the thought.