The sky was barely beginning to brighten, and the red lanterns hanging beneath the eaves of the Chancellor’s Estate were still lit. Yelü Chi stood before the steps with the Vice-Envoy, waiting.
Liu Erlang walked out quickly to greet them, bowing low. “You two have arrived at the perfect time. His Lordship was planning to head out today, but upon hearing of the Honorable Envoy’s disappearance, he made a special point to wait for you.”
Yelü Chi nodded slightly and translated the words for the Vice-Envoy.
“The fox mourns the hen!” the Vice-Envoy hissed in the Eastern Liao tongue, his teeth gritted. “Does Chancellor Gu intend to play innocent?”
Wu Wei’s disappearance was nothing short of a stinging slap to the face of the Eastern Liao delegation.
Yesterday, they had been riding through the streets, injuring civilians and kidnapping girls for their debauched revelry, causing a public outcry. For them to vanish into thin air the very next morning—who would believe it wasn’t retribution?
But whoever had done the deed had been remarkably clean.
Eastern Liao warriors were stationed both inside and outside the embassy. Sentries had been posted in the corridors and on both sides of the bedchambers, yet not a single soul had heard a sound.
This was no work of common bandits. It was a highly trained unit that had slipped in silently, located their targets with surgical precision, and vanished like ghosts.
The objective was clear, the execution flawless. It was a level of efficiency that sent a chill down one’s spine.
They had left no evidence behind.
And because there was no evidence, even if the delegation knew exactly who the “instigator” was, they couldn’t exactly storm the Chancellor’s Estate to demand his return.
Yelü Chi, however, was in no rush. Composed and calm, he followed Liu Erlang through the long corridors and small pavilions of the estate. He even took the time to admire the rare flowers and exotic plants along the way, as if Wu Wei’s disappearance didn’t affect him in the slightest.
The Vice-Envoy, by contrast, was consumed by anxiety. “If this truly was Chancellor Gu’s doing…”
“Is he trying to humiliate Eastern Liao? How should we respond?”
Yelü Chi’s eyes half-closed. In a voice audible only to the two of them, he said, “If it really was him, isn’t this a heaven-sent opportunity?”
The Vice-Envoy froze. “An opportunity?”
Yelü Chi looked up, his Eastern Liao speech low and slow. “The wolves of the steppe have lived in comfort for too long. They spend their days drinking, gambling, and crawling into women’s arms to sleep sounder than dogs.”
“If their ears aren’t clipped, their manes shorn, and their noses pulled for a few rounds, will they even remember they were born wolves?”
The Vice-Envoy understood his meaning.
This man was one of the few hardline hawks among the younger generation of the Eastern Liao court. Yelü Chi had long grown weary of cowardly compromises and the hypocritical, weak exchanges of Annual Tributes.
If he could use “The Great Chen Chancellor murdering an envoy” as a pretext to incite a conflict, it would be the perfect chance for him to realize his ambitions and swallow Great Chen whole.
All he lacked was a single piece of evidence.
Liu Erlang led the two through three courtyards, only to stop before the final entrance.
It was an unremarkable little courtyard with blue bricks and grey tiles, so plain it bordered on shabby.
The Vice-Envoy frowned, muttering, “This is where the Great Chen Chancellor lives? It’s not even as grand as the house of one of our Captains of a Thousand.”
Yelü Chi caught the scent of damp, warm vapor. His brow twitched, but he offered no reply.
Liu Erlang pushed open the gate. Inside was a spacious bathhouse.
Several bathing tubs were separated by four-paneled screens. Steam rose from the hot water, and the air was thick with the scent of incense. The underfloor heating was roaring, driving away every trace of the morning chill.
“By His Lordship’s command,” Liu Erlang said respectfully. “The Honorable Envoys have traveled a long way and may be carrying the chill of the wind. Please, change and bathe first. Cleanse yourselves with incense before proceeding to the study for a discussion.”
The Vice-Envoy’s face twisted. He turned to Yelü Chi. “What does he mean by this?”
Yelü Chi stepped into the bathhouse and began to unfasten his belt with deliberate slowness. “He says Chancellor Gu has a delicate nose and cannot stand the smell of us Eastern Liao people. We may only see him after we’ve bathed.”
“Presumptuous!”
The Vice-Envoy flew into a rage, his hand flying to his hilt as if to draw his blade. “How can an envoy of Eastern Liao endure such humiliation?”
Yelü Chi had already shed his outer robe, revealing a lean, powerful upper body. The muscle lines, honed by years of riding and archery on the plains, were sharp and defined, gleaming with a honey-like luster in the rising steam.
He nonchalantly unfastened his trousers, his voice steady. “We are here today to ask for a favor.”
The Vice-Envoy’s eyes widened as he watched Yelü Chi calmly step into the tub and actually begin to wash.
Liu Erlang timely offered clean towels. “These are all newly made. Please feel at ease, Honorable Envoys.”
The Vice-Envoy’s face was ashen, but seeing Yelü Chi closing his eyes to rest as if enjoying himself, he bit his tongue. Eventually, he too began to undress.
After the bath, servants had already prepared new robes.
They were the standard official uniforms worn by envoys in the Great Chen court. The hems reached the ankles, and the soft sleeves hung low; every movement in them felt like a display of disciplined submission.
The Vice-Envoy was already simmering with rage. Putting on these clothes felt like being encased in a soft set of stocks, rendering him unable to move freely.
What made his humiliation even harder to bear was that the young maidservants of the estate showed no hesitation. They stepped forward in groups of two or three to dry their hair, clean their faces, and apply fragrant oils.
