YUAN SANSI ambled over to him. "Surprised?"
Cui Buqu was honest: "I was, at first. But now that I think about it, it makes sense."
Yuan Sansi looked somewhat surprised himself. "Why do you say so?"
"Your appearance was too convenient. Just as I returned to Boling, you happened to be transferred there as the new commandery governor. Upon returning to the Cui family, I'd have to address those old affairs. You being the commandery governor in addition to Lady Yu's shixiong would make me lower my guard, and I'd be content to trust in the results of my own investigations. Your background wasn't difficult to trace; you knew the Zuoyue Bureau would eventually find you and ask about the location of the treasure. But if you came to me yourself, you could control the situation, and I'd have less cause to be suspicious."
"I had heard Chief Cui has a heart of steel, but it still softened when you met an old friend of your late mother."
"No need to be so modest," said Cui Buqu coolly. "I wasn't soft-hearted; you were clever."
Seeing Cui Buqu was actually cupping his hands at him, Yuan Sansi couldn't help but laugh. "Chief Cui is truly amazing!"
Right now, Cui Buqu was meat on the chopping block. He knew no martial arts, and this was Yuan Sansi's territory. He was utterly powerless. But Yuan Sansi seemed to hold some fondness for him still—his tone was pleasant, and he'd yet to attack.
But behind Cui Buqu lay that dark and oppressive array. Feng Xiao and the two guards had yet to emerge.
"So it was a fake identity?" asked Cui Buqu.
Yuan Sansi shook his head. "It was real. I really am your mother's shixiong, and the Yu family was very kind to me. Your grandfather accepted me into the Yu residence and took great pains to teach me. When I left them, I felt conflicted and troubled by the burden of my past. I wanted to chart my own path; I didn't want to follow the one your grandfather set out for me: to study, to marry, and to spend the rest of my life just this way. I felt guilt toward Lady Yu, but I had to leave."
He sighed, lost in memory. "I traveled the world. I saw many novel sights and had many novel experiences. It sent me down a completely different path. Had I stayed with the Yu family, I'd have no doubt lived a life of utter mediocrity. I'd never have tasted true success."
"And the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai gave you the chance to exercise your potential?"
Yuan Sansi smiled. "You're wrong, Xianzhi.11 The Thirteen Floors of Yunhai didn't exist back then, and they're not so wicked as you imagine. Anything you want, they can give you."
"I want you dead. Can they give me this?"
Yuan Sansi shrugged. "You're a rare genius. You're not like the unwashed masses, who waste their time on pointless debates. I know you have many questions. Once you receive the answers, perhaps you'll change your mind. It's not impossible."
"Then I shall wait for your silver tongue to work its magic."
Yuan Sansi chuckled at his sarcastic tone. Standing in the light of the candles, he regarded Cui Buqu still shrouded in darkness as one might an ignorant child.
An unarmed child, at that. Even if he had a tongue sharper than the world's swiftest sword, it was a tongue and no more. To Yuan Sansi, Cui Buqu was an infant before a butcher's knife. No matter how many schemes he had up his sleeve, none of them could help him now.
Besides, Yuan Sansi considered himself a prudent man. If he'd been all sparkle and no substance, the Yu family wouldn't have been so fond of him. Lady Yu—a woman as sharp as winter frost—wouldn't have agreed to marry him. But even Lady Yu had failed to grasp the extent of Yuan Sansi's ambition. His sights had always been set higher than the shabby plot of land known as Boling.
"In truth," Yuan Sansi said, "The Thirteen Floors of Yunhai are capable of far more than you could ever dream. But that aside, I have to ask: Did you realize we already met in the capital?"
Cui Buqu's expression shifted. Backlit by the candles' hazy glow, Yuan Sansi raised a hand and mimicked flourishing a sword.
With his perfect memory, the motion alone was enough for Cui Buqu to recall. "The thousand-lantern banquet during the Dragon Boat Festival. Princess Leping's Qingli Garden. Buried lamp oil. A failed assassination and rebellion." As he spoke each word, his voice was deliberate.
Yuan Sansi smiled. "Correct. The person in white who lurked beneath the carriage and fought Feng Xiao—that was me. You didn't realize? I went easy on you that night. Considering my skill, how else could I have failed to kill you?"
When Yuan Sansi had left the Yu family, he truly must have had some unparalleled experiences. The duel that night had proved him to be stronger than Fo'er. He was Feng Xiao's equal, if not his superior.
Many things now made sense.
Yuan Sansi was a martial artist, but he'd pretended to be a lawful citizen and trodden the slow road to becoming a court official. The Yuan clan was an influential surname in the north, and after the collapse of the Wei dynasty, many Yuans had gone on to become officials in succeeding dynasties. Yuan Sansi was but one of them. Dynasties had changed again and again throughout the centuries. Emperors would never reject a talented official just because their clan had once sat upon the imperial throne.
According to regulation, when an official was transferred, the emperor would summon them to the capital for debriefing. Before heading to Boling Commandery, Yuan Sansi had gone through that exact process, and he'd made use of the opportunity. Ostensibly he'd returned to the capital as part of his duties, but he'd secretly been in contact with the rebels. He was known as a rising official; it wasn't hard for him to obtain an invitation to Qingli Garden. No one noticed when a guest slipped away in the middle of the banquet to hide beneath a carriage.
Yuan Sansi was both a brilliantly ambitious man and a peerless martial artist—he maintained two identities and stood at the pinnacle of the jianghu. No wonder he'd thought the plain and ordinary Yu family beneath him.
If he'd gone easy on Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao that night it was only so he could show off. And today, he hadn't exposed himself to Cui Buqu merely to tell him his life was in Yuan Sansi's hands. He meant to impress upon him the sheer power of the Thirteen Floors. A group of rebels the Zuoyue Bureau should have eliminated had freely entered Qingli Garden and made an attempted attack on the guests. Of course they were capable of even more.
"It's been a long time since the collapse of the Wei dynasty," said Cui Buqu slowly. "And the current emperor isn't the one who vanquished Wei. Why take revenge on him?"
Yuan Sansi shook his head. "I'm not out for revenge. Xianzhi, you think too little of me. To the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai, the entire world is a chessboard, and all living beings but pieces upon it. If you join us, you'll learn much more."
The corners of Cui Buqu's mouth curled. "Are they not simply plotting to usurp the throne? Why make it sound so noble? I'm afraid you have no skill in persuasion. Surely your leader is more convincing than you are. Where is he? If he comes, perhaps I'll consider it."
Yuan Sansi smiled. "Why would we require Yi-xiansheng's presence? We have another distinguished guest you haven't seen in some time. He's missed you dearly, so I invited him here so the two of you can reminisce."
He gestured toward the candlelight spilling out from a nearby doorway—an invitation for Cui Buqu to enter.
"My three friends are still in the array," said Cui Buqu. "If your aim is to win me over, shouldn't you release them?"
"Worry not," said Yuan Sansi. "They're all safe and sound. You'll be able to see them later."
It seemed that even Feng Xiao had been captured. Cui Buqu frowned slightly. For the first time in his life, he felt things were spiraling out of control. He suspected he wouldn't be pleased to meet whoever waited in that room.
He straightened and tossed away the bamboo walking stick; he had enough light to see by and no longer needed it. He walked steadily forward, step by step. Once past Yuan Sansi, he could see into the chamber. The room was bright and clean. The night pearls inlaid in the walls glowed faintly—it hadn't been candlelight after all.
A man sat with his back to him, cross-legged on a cattail mat.
He was indeed familiar. So familiar Cui Buqu could no longer maintain his cold, hardened expression; his shock was starkly visible in his eyes.
Yuan Sansi smiled faintly.
The man turned around. His hair was the color of snow, his robes such a clean white they seemed to shine. His face still showed vestiges of the handsomeness of his youth, and his smile was warm and familiar. He waved at Cui Buqu. "Good gracious, how did you torment yourself into this state? Your complexion's even worse than I remember."
His tone was chiding, that of an elder scolding his disciple after the latter's long absence. But Cui Buqu's blood had turned to ice. He stood for a long time, unmoving and silent. The man didn't prompt him but patiently waited for his response.
At last, Cui Buqu walked in and sat on the cattail mat. He got right to the point. "I didn't expect it to be you, Xiansheng."
Fan Yun gave him a kindly smile. "If you'd been able to guess, I wouldn't deserve to be called your xiansheng."
"I remember you told me you hate being bound. That you wish to drift free like the clouds or the wild geese. That even though Liuli Palace recruited you, you only accepted the position of consultant so you could come and go as you pleased."
"Correct," said Fan Yun. "That is indeed what I said."
"You said you're a descendant of the famous prime minister Fan Ju, and your lifelong wish is to abide by the teachings of the Fan clan: to find an enlightened ruler to lead this world, bringing peace and prosperity to all."
"I said that too." Fan Yun smiled. "And that's just what I've been doing."
Cui Buqu laughed, a cold, sneering sound. "I can't see how the Thirteen Floors of Yunhai, a shameless parasite that skulks in the dark, can be more worthy of leading than Yang Jian!"
Fan Yun shook his head. "It's been a long time since our last meeting, but your personality is as sharp as ever. But that can be a double-edged sword. If the blade's too sharp, sometimes when you cut others, you cut yourself too."
Now that his initial shock had passed, Cui Buqu's face had returned to its usual smooth tranquility. Even Fan Yun couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"No wonder," Cui Buqu said. "From the moment I entered this place, I felt it was familiar. The Ursa Major Twin Jade Array was a formation you personally taught me. You told me once that very few could deploy this array, and those capable of escaping it are fewer still. Was the story about the treasure all part of your scheme?"
"No, the treasure is real. Emperor Wei built this place to give his descendants a way to defend themselves if need arose. But we emptied it long ago."
Cui Buqu glanced back at Yuan Sansi with a smile quite unlike a smile. "So he donated the wealth of his entire clan and became a lackey who lurks undercover among his enemies. He spent so long as an official too. Yuan-shibo12 is truly a man of great achievements."
Yuan Sansi was thick-skinned; he merely replied courteously, "You flatter me, Xianzhi."
Seeing them like this, any observer might have thought the three were sitting harmoniously together, happily discussing poetry and essays rather than the fate of empires.