The imperial edict had already been sent to the city of Dongyi, but Dongyi had simply sent back a humble and flattering reply, offering a large sum of gold and silver, refusing to admit any involvement with the incident at the country estate beneath the Cang Mountains. It was an obvious response that even a fool could understand, and it allowed the grandmaster and sole defender of the Dongyi sword to keep his pride. They also didn’t want the people of Dongyi to be set upon by military forces, and so they kept silent.

The situation was tense in the north. It was far beyond any justification the Northern Qi kingdom could come up with about secretly meddling in the politics of the Qing Kingdom. Both sides had amassed troops at the border, and with small skirmishes breaking out in the various vassal states, it seemed as though they were on the brink of war.

Dark clouds floated over the northern Qing Kingdom, but it was midsummer in the capital, and the people wandered around, at ease,