The King of Black Fog

"Master, I will certainly..."

"I didn't ask you to deal with him, I asked you to answer the Guanyin's question, how much have you embezzled?"

"How could I... I'm not sure, probably a thousand—" the Attorney General clamped his mouth shut, a cold sweat forming on his forehead.

"A thousand pieces?" Li Changzhou asked.

The Attorney General dared not answer.

"Then it must be at least ten million." Li Changzhou's gaze moved to the others.

The Transportation Secretary's lips quivered nonstop;

The Finance Secretary wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his long robe;

The Industry and Commerce Secretary's face was ashen, like a corpse lying in a coffin;

The Agriculture and Forestry Secretary and the Chief of Police seemed similar, their legs shaking uncontrollably as they pressed down with their hands to no avail.

"Forget it." Li Changzhou said, "As long as you all work well for me from now on, I'll overlook your past mistakes and consider them your legitimate income, but—"

"Master, rest assured!"

"From now on, your words will be the Holy Decree!"

All the Secretaries stood up swiftly, with the Agriculture and Forestry Secretary nearly losing his balance, fortunately, the Chief of Police steadied him.

"People are cunning; now they fear you, but their first thought once they're back will be to abscond with the money. Make them deposit all their money in the Workers' Bank now."

"Liu De, call the accountant and send a few more cars to help the secretaries transport their money."

"Yes!"

After Liu De left, Li Changzhou scanned the Secretaries in front of him, promising not to be double-hearted, and said:

"Gentlemen, no need to worry. Keeping promises is one of my virtues. If I say that money is legitimate, then it is legitimate. As long as you work well for me, not a penny will be missing."

Without waiting for these men to react, he stood up.

"You will stay here today until all the money is transferred. Only then can you leave."

Li Changzhou left the living room with Yang Qinglan, heading to the back courtyard.

"Is this what they call 'Granting peace by offering wine'?" Li Changzhou laughed.

"It's still too simple." Yang Qinglan was slightly unsatisfied, "relying on power and skill."

"We don't have much time, and even if we did, we couldn't waste it on this. It's already pretty good."

Yang Qinglan nodded, then added, "It's easy to know but hard to do. Setting strategy is simple; the harder part is executing it. We must keep a close eye on them."

"Hmm." Li Changzhou nodded.

Turning a corner, they returned to the back yard where the servants had changed from errand boys to maids and old nannies.

Corridors, rock gardens, small bamboo groves, peonies, and it's said the Luoyang peonies grown with milk, one Moon Gate leading to another in a connected courtyard.

"The Chun Emperor looks as pretty as me, what are your thoughts?" Yang Qinglan suddenly asked.

"Thoughts?" Li Changzhou was taken aback, "No, how could she be as pretty as you? She's only a fraction of you."

"A fraction of me?"

"Yes, no, no, not even a fraction!" Li Changzhou felt his emotional intelligence explode in that moment, "In my heart, you are a Heavenly Immortal, everyone else is just common people."

Yang Qinglan sighed softly.

"What's wrong?" Li Changzhou turned to look at her, "Did I say something wrong?"

Yang Qinglan shook her head gently, standing in front of a cluster of sea-like peonies.

"Many poets' lovers say, he doesn't love me, but the me he imagines in his poet's heart—I sigh because I might not be as good as you imagine. What you like, what you think is good, is the me in your imagination."

"Is there any difference between how you really are and how you are with me? Except for liking to kick your sandals around barefoot, which I already know." Li Changzhou said.

Yang Qinglan laughed slightly, deliberately pondering deeply for a moment: "Then there should be no more."

"Isn't that just fine?" Li Changzhou started to laugh, "I think, as long as there's no serious mismatch in values, the rest aren't problems. I can listen to everything you say."

"I don't like that." Yang Qinglan replied.

"Don't like what?"

"The way you put it makes me sound wilful," Yang Qinglan turned around, facing him, "Sometimes I can listen to you too."

"I..." Li Changzhou wasn't sure what to say.

He held his right hand in a loose fist, resting it on his mouth to suppress the smile.

Yang Qinglan laughed as well, her laughter outshining the peonies filling the courtyard.

"Ahem." Li Changzhou cleared his throat, "Miss Yang, I have something now that I need you to listen to me about."

"What is it, let me hear it first."

"Does it still need approval?"

"What did you think?"

"...Well, it's like this." Li Changzhou restrained his rapidly beating heart, "Didn't we say before, about having the Peony Ball?"

"Mhmm."

"That, now..." Li Changzhou looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby.

Yang Qinglan's heartbeat also began to quicken, perhaps because there were too many flowers around, making it too crowded, and with the weather entering May, her face felt a bit hot.

Having confirmed that they were alone, Li Changzhou looked back.

"We," his voice surprisingly hoarse, he couldn't help but pause, "shall we dance now, is that okay?"

"We have the peonies, but how can we dance without music?" Yang Qinglan's voice was also somewhat hoarse, her refusal not very firm.

"I can sing!" Li Changzhou blurted out immediately, his Adam's apple bobbing, but his mouth was so dry it had not a trace of saliva.

Yang Qinglan looked at the peonies beside her without speaking.

Li Changzhou was anxious, his gaze flitting between her and the peonies.

Yang Qinglan was elegant, noble, beautiful, and pure, like a snowy lotus.

Deep red, pinkish-red, silver-white, and blossoms of peonies as large as plates were very beautiful among the green leaves.

Li Changzhou thought, if a breeze comes now, I'll immediately wrap my arms around her waist.

But there was no breeze.

He thought again, if a flower petal were to fall now, I'd immediately take her hand.

No petals fell either.

He thought once more, if there's no wind and no petals falling, I will just wrap my arms around her waist and take her hand!

There was no wind, nor did any petals fall.

Li Changzhou slowly clenched his fist to check that his hand was still alive and obedient, then stretched it out and gently placed it on Yang Qinglan's slender waist.

The sky-blue cheongsam outlined her beautiful figure, conveying an endearing sensation.

Li Changzhou's mind was blown.

He even forgot the next step of holding hands.

Yang Qinglan's body trembled slightly, she turned around, extended her hand, and they held onto each other.

Then she took a small step forward, her head almost resting on Li Changzhou's shoulder, keeping him from seeing her face.

The two of them could hear each other's hearts thumping, feeling the heat from each other's cheeks, as well as the slight trembling of their hands and breath.

Li Changzhou, with some difficulty, recalled the dance steps he had just recently learned, holding Yang Qinglan's hand and embracing her waist, they stepped lightly through the peony blossoms.

Yang Qinglan only saw peonies flickering before her eyes, her body moving with his rhythm.

"...Where's the song?" she gradually came back to her senses.

"Oh right, what should I sing?" asked Li Changzhou.

Hearing his nervousness, Yang Qinglan couldn't help but laugh; just then a breeze came, and the tension disappeared suddenly.

Feeling the satisfaction and comfort in her heart, she laughed and said, "How would I know a song from 1928?"

"I don't know any either," Li Changzhou said in a disheartened voice.

"No way, if there's no song, I won't dance," Yang Qinglan gently stopped moving.

Fearing her reluctance, Li Changzhou didn't dare to force her and stopped as well.

"Let me think, don't rush me; let me think!" Li Changzhou frantically tried to recall any song he had heard since arriving in 1928.

With his memory, he could have recalled something, but everything depends on the situation, and his current state, had been completely overwhelmed by Yang Qinglan's waist, touch, and the cool moonlike fragrance.

Forget songs, he couldn't even remember his own name.

No choice, in critical times one has to rely on instinct.

Just as Yang Qinglan was about to let him off the hook, suggesting a song from a hundred years later would also be okay, she heard him begin to sing nervously into her ear.

"The waves rush and the currents flow, thousands of miles of relentless river water!"

"Hahaha." Yang Qinglan laughed, collapsing onto his shoulder, "That's a song from 1980, that's 50 years later!"

"Can it be, off by 50 years? Not from this time?" Amidst her melodious laughter, Li Changzhou's mood relaxed and he couldn't help but laugh as well.

"No, it's not," said Yang Qinglan, holding back her laughter.

Li Changzhou released her hand, wrapping both arms around her waist.

Yang Qinglan gave him a light punch and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Qing Lan."

"Mhmm."

"No matter when you ask me, my answer will always be you, only you, never changing."