After Jiang Wang left, the wall behind Fang Zehou suddenly slid open to reveal a hidden door, and Fang Heling was pushed out — bound fast to a chair, in an attitude of the most abject humiliation.
The Wangyue Tower had always been a business of the Fang clan, which was precisely why Fang Pengju had once chosen to plot against Jiang Wang here.
Fang Zehou raised a hand, and the clan steward who had been pushing Fang Heling released the seal upon his speech, then untied the ropes as well.
But Fang Heling did not move. Like a lump of mud he lay slumped, limp in the chair.
It turned out that all along he had sat listening to the conversation in the private chamber, under the steward's watch — unable to speak, unable to move.
"As you have seen." Fang Zehou said: "He defeated you through genuine strength, with no trickery or artifice. Between you and Jiang Wang, there is a naked gulf you had never noticed."
Fang Heling said nothing, but as he looked at his father, his eyes carried almost a plea — saying, I beg you, say no more!
"As you have seen, your father, because of you, has lost all face." Fang Zehou went on.
Fang Heling's eyes drooped, their light scattering.
Fang Zehou walked up to him, reached out, and gripped his face, forcing him to meet his eyes.
"As you have seen, our Fang clan, because of you, is looked down upon!" Fang Zehou said.
Fang Heling's tears came rolling down. He raised a hand to hold them back, even tried to push the tears back in, but such resistance was utterly futile. He could not stop himself from being as weak as a beaten dog.
And Fang Zehou's voice went on: "For your sake, I withheld resources from your cousin. For your sake, I yielded up many advantages, all to win you a chance to enter the Inner Court of the Dao Academy. For your sake, I have swallowed every wrong. And you?! Under the eyes of all, you became the laughingstock of the entire Fenglin City — and now you cast yourself aside, useless as trash, dragging Fang Zehou down with you into a jest!"
"I didn't want this, either, I didn't want this..." Fang Heling shook his head, and stammered, and wept, and at last burst out shouting: "I never wanted this to happen!"
"Then prove it to me!" Fang Zehou roared.
This middle-aged man, this man who already held the great power of the Fang clan, let the pressure in his grip ease.
He changed his hold, cupping Fang Heling's face in both hands, and said in a low voice: "Then prove it to me... my son."
...
Walking out of the Wangyue Tower, Jiang Wang's steps were not heavy.
Frankly, ever since he entered the Inner Court, he had stopped worrying that the Fang clan might do anything to him. The so-called Fang clan of Fenglin City — wealthy and powerful as it was — what was it next to a Dao Academy?
So long as Jiang Wang pressed forward fiercely in his cultivation, in time he would surely find some post in the Zhuang Kingdom, perhaps even serve in the capital at Xin'an. The squires and great families of this Fenglin City had no need to concern him overmuch.
Only today's remark from Fang Zehou, dragging in Jiang An'an, had truly stirred Jiang Wang's killing intent. Even if the Fang clan did nothing else, merely setting a few of their clansmen's children to bully An'an in the schoolhouse — that alone was something Jiang Wang could not endure.
Some grievances he could bear; but An'an could not bear them. Their father was dead, their aunt-mother had remarried; Jiang An'an had only him.
"Have you eaten your fill... Hey! Stop wiping on my clothes!" Jiang Wang reached out and pulled Jiang An'an's little head away.
She had been cradled in his arms all the while, secretly rubbing her oil-stained mouth against Jiang Wang's shoulder.
Jiang An'an blinked her big eyes — her little mouth was quite clean now — but pressed it out in a very aggrieved pout: "You wouldn't wipe my hands for me!"
Jiang Wang surrendered at once, his voice full of helplessness: "Look at what part of me is still clean... fine, do as you like."
He had given up all hope.
Jiang An'an's busy little hands wiped and wiped, when suddenly something seemed to occur to her. "What did you just say?"
"I asked you... ugh!" Jiang Wang let out a sigh and asked outright: "The Cai Family Mutton Shop?"
"Mhm mhm." Jiang An'an nodded frantically. She reached out her little hands, cupped her brother's face, and wrenched it to the left. "This way!"
Jiang Wang leaned back, offended. "I know the way!"
Jiang An'an had already grown lively. "Giddy-up~!"
So Jiang Wang carried Jiang An'an and turned toward the mutton restaurant.
"Oh, right, the master asked you to come by the schoolhouse tomorrow." This time Jiang An'an genuinely remembered something.
Jiang Wang frowned. "Did your master say what it was about?"
Little An'an thought for a while, then buried her head into Jiang Wang's chest and said in a muffled voice: "I don't know."
Jiang Wang was at once filled with worry.
...
Meanwhile, in the City Lord's Mansion, a conversation between only Dong A and Wei Quji was also underway.
"...If it truly is as I suspect, with this bait in hand, we need not fear they will not take the hook. Let those heretics leap out, and we net them in one sweep, kill them all to the last!" Wei Quji clenched his fist and swung it. "That is the whole plan."
"The plan is airtight." Dong A nodded, his expression still undisturbed. "But I think it is of little use."
"Why?"
"Do you think..." Dong A looked at him with a hint of mockery in his eyes: "—that the ones who made the massacre at Little Grove Town still have need to appear in Fenglin City?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know nothing of this 'White Bone Path' you speak of, nor do I grasp the appeal of that thing you went to such pains to obtain. But with the Three-City Dao Debate such a grand affair, Fenglin City is under the strictest guard. Is that thing really worth their running so great a risk? A fool could not have led us around by the nose, sacrificing Little Grove Town before our very eyes! Moreover, you are not even certain they are of the White Bone Path — are you?"
"Then we can only try it this way, Dong A! The affair of Little Grove Town has been quiet too long. This estate must give some account!"
"But how much certainty do you have? Would you stake the safety of the whole city's people on your confidence?"
"Fenglin City is this estate's city, and this estate's mind is made up!"
Dong A slammed the table and rose: "Fenglin City is the Zhuang Kingdom's Fenglin City!"
"Dong A, think." Wei Quji was forced to soften his tone a little. "In the Qin Kingdom, in the Jing Kingdom, even in our neighboring Yong Kingdom — could they have done such a thing? Sacrificing an entire town! Thousands upon thousands of people, the souls of generations that should have been laid to rest!
The Clear River Water Estate need only stir, and the armies of the entire Qinghe Commandery must redeploy. A single Swallow-Heart Human Demon appears, and the entire Office of Inquiry of Qinghe Commandery swarms after it. The enemy knows us thoroughly, while we know nothing of them!
This is the sort of thing — do you want to see it again? The time has come; we must find out what lies beneath!"
Wei Quji slumped back into his seat. "Yes, we both bear responsibility. Of those who died unjustly, the names they cursed in hate before death should include you, and should include me."
His voice was weary. "Then let us follow your plan. The Dao Academy will cooperate. If those heretics truly do appear again, let me also see... whether good and evil are each requited!"
"If those men truly are of the White Bone Path, then the Nether Candle should matter greatly to them. After all, it is a thing... taken out from that place."
"Whatever the case, this time I will cooperate with you fully. Let us hope this Three-City Dao Debate does not become a jest for the whole Qinghe Commandery."
"They may come, or they may not. But this estate can only make the attempt." Wei Quji muttered to himself, then turned and asked: "That Zhu Weiwo — truly cannot return in time? Nothing has befallen him, I trust?"
"His battlefield is not here." Dong A turned his head aside, as if gazing through the window at some place in the far sky. "He is a man fated to shine at the National Dao Academy. To give him a quota would only be a waste. That quota of the Three-City Dao Debate — I hope to see Zhang Linchuan win it."
"This way, Fenglin City will have two talents for the National Dao Academy. You have schemed it admirably."
"I will guide them with all my strength. Count it as but my own... paltry redemption."
Within the dark chamber, an indistinct sigh was heard.
The seat sat empty.