Chapter 152: Zhen Qian in the Mist

Gao Lishi, whose original name was Feng Yuanyi, was the sixth-generation descendant of Lady Xian, the renowned military and political leader of Lingnan praised by the Premier of the State Council as the "foremost hero among Chinese women." He entered the palace in his childhood and was adopted by Gao Yanfu, thus taking the surname Gao and the given name Lishi, earning the appreciation of the reigning empress Wu Zetian. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, his status reached its pinnacle. Because he had assisted Emperor Xuanzong in suppressing the rebellions of Empress Wei and Princess Taiping, he enjoyed the deep trust and favor of the emperor, eventually rising through the ranks to become General of the Cavalry and being granted the honorary title of "Aide-de-Camp with Equal Status to the Three Ducal Ministers."

Now approaching seventy years of age, Gao Lishi was a year older than Li Longji. Having entered the palace at the age of fourteen in the retinue of Li Qianli following the decline of his family, he had won the favor of Wu Zetian and often attended her side. At the age of twenty-three, he first met Li Longji, who was then the Prince of Linzi. Together, they had weathered several palace coups and political storms, and as the sun and moon traversed the skies, forty-five years had slipped away in a flash.

Whenever memorials and petitions were presented from the four quarters of the realm, they were invariably submitted to Gao Lishi first before being presented to the imperial presence, and minor matters were settled by him at his own discretion.

Emperor Xuanzong often said, "With Lishi attending before me, I can rest in peace." Consequently, Gao Lishi usually remained within the palace precincts and rarely ventured out to his private residence. As a result, countless people sought to curry favor with him, hoping to catch a glimpse of his demeanor and enlist his good word before the sovereign, exhausting all efforts to pledge their loyalty.

As the grand New Year audience approached, Emperor Xuanzong moved back to the Xuanzheng Hall in the Daming Palace. Gao Lishi snatched a moment of leisure to return to his mansion in Xingning Ward, partly to chat with his elderly wife, Lady Lü—since other court officials would enjoy several days of rest after New Year's Day, Gao Lishi, by contrast, had to remain constantly by Li Longji's side in attendance, leaving no time to reunite with his family. Secondly, Gao Lishi was in charge of the Secret Office, the intelligence and espionage agency of the Great Tang, and there were matters that required his personal handling to put his mind at ease. This was precisely one of the reasons why he enjoyed such profound trust from Li Longji; he never abused his power, remained impartial and unyielding in public affairs, won the ruler's favor without becoming arrogant, remained compliant without flattering, and remonstrated without giving offense.

A few days prior, the glazed precious mirror presented by Zhen Qian of Luquan County had placed Gao Lishi in a very passive position. Although he had known beforehand of auspicious omens being offered from various regions, he had long since grown indifferent to the sheer volume of them, never expecting that the glazed mirror presented would bring broad smiles to the Imperial Consort and fill Emperor Xuanzong with such delight that he wished to bestow rewards upon the officials of Luquan County and Zhen Qian.

The rewards had already been finalized, and the imperial decree had been dispatched to the Secretariat. Next, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel would deliberate upon it, and only then would the rewards reach the hands of the recipients. The entire process required the Secretariat to draft the decree, the Chancellery to review and veto, and the Department of State Affairs to carry it out. Such a process took at least seven or eight days. Now, all government offices were busy preparing for the grand New Year audience, and the conferral of rewards would likely have to wait until after the Lantern Festival, meaning it would be the end of January next year at the earliest before it reached Luquan County.

Zhen Qian's sudden emergence caught Gao Lishi off guard. When Emperor Xuanzong asked about this person, Gao Lishi could only respond vaguely, putting himself in a very passive position and leaving him extremely dissatisfied with the efficiency of the Secret Office.

Gao Lishi sat in an armchair in his study, holding a hand warmer in his arms. An oil lamp on the table flickered unevenly, casting shifting expressions across his face as his gaze fixed on a figure kneeling in the shadow of the corner. "Get up. Lately, the intelligence sent by the Secret Office in Hebei has grown scarcer and scarcer. Is it truly because nothing has happened, or are people deliberately slacking off? Investigate—investigate thoroughly. You must get to the bottom of this!"

Gao Lishi's voice was not loud, but the figure kneeling in the corner trembled all the more. The man crawled forward a few steps and kowtowed like pounding garlic. "This subordinate deserves death... ten thousand deaths! I will have people investigate immediately. Please punish me, Your Excellency!"

"Punishment! It is indeed time for punishment..." Gao Lishi seemed to be talking to himself, pressing both hands against the edge of the desk. His lowered gaze swept over the few documents lying there. "It is I who have grown lax. From the moment Zhen Qian presented the treasure in Luquan County to the time it was delivered into the palace, a full seven days have passed. In seven days, not a single piece of news reached me. If someone harbored ill intentions, they could have marched all the way to the capital before we even found out..."

Upon hearing this, the figure in the shadow immediately pressed his forehead against the floor, collapsing into a heap like a puddle of mud, too terrified to utter another word.

"I give you seven days. I want to know everything that has happened to Zhen Qian: whom he associates with, what he has said, what he has done, what his hobbies are, what he ordinarily likes to do... Record every single detail without omission. As for the personnel of the Hebei Secret Office, execute those who are useless and punish those who deserve it. Do not let sentimentality stay your hand. Understand?"

The shadow-shrouded figure acted as though granted a grand pardon. "Thank you, Your Excellency, for sparing my life! This subordinate will go and attend to it at once!"

No sooner had the figure departed than a person emerged from behind the screen behind Gao Lishi. Moving in absolute silence, the entire body was wrapped in black cloth, revealing only a pair of piercing eyes.

"You will personally make a trip to Luquan County at once. I want to know what on earth has happened there."

"Understood, Your Excellency." The man in black asked no questions, his figure flashing and vanishing from the study.

Gao Lishi tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk, reached out to adjust the wick of the oil lamp to burn brighter, and wore a look of unfathomable doubt on his face. He picked up a sheet of paper and glanced over it.

"A glazed precious mirror...!"

Perhaps at this moment, the only person who could answer Gao Lishi's questions was Zhen Qian. Following the incident of the glazed mirror, Gao Lishi had immediately sent men to make inquiries in the Western Market. To his astonishment, the Hu merchants in the Western Market swore on oath: in the extremely distant Da Qin, there truly existed precious mirrors capable of reflecting human figures, yet because they were exceptionally rare, even merchants trading with Da Qin could scarcely ever set eyes upon them.

Years of political career made it difficult for Gao Lishi to believe the words of the Hu merchants, but what could he do if he did not believe them? Could he dispatch men all the way to Da Qin to verify their claims? That was obviously impossible, and herein lay the root of Gao Lishi's suspicions.

Gao Lishi desperately wished to question Zhen Qian face-to-face: Where on earth had the glazed mirror come from? Where was the Hu merchant he spoke of now? And who else had laid eyes on this Hu merchant?

All Hu merchants traveling within the borders of the Great Tang were required to carry travel passes, upon which were meticulously recorded the time they entered the Great Tang, the places they had visited, and detailed official records kept in the government archives.

Two test papers just retrieved from the archives of the Ministry of Rites still lay on the desk. If Zhen Qian were to see them, he probably wouldn't even recognize that these two papers were from the imperial examinations in Mingxuan and Mingjing two years prior. The two papers were conventional and unremarkable, completely devoid of any brilliant flair, barely passing as qualified.

At first, these two papers had not caught Gao Lishi's attention, appearing far too ordinary in his eyes. But when Gao Lishi re-read the *Ode to the Lotus*, he was struck by an unreal feeling. The artistic conception and tonal mastery of this prose-poem were more than sufficient even for the jinshi examination. Why had Zhen Qian originally chosen the Mingjing and mathematics subjects, which required the lowest level of difficulty? Was there something hidden within this that he did not yet know?

The more Gao Lishi pondered, the more nuanced flavors he tasted, and one question after another surfaced: What was his purpose in presenting the glazed mirror? To seek an official post, to flatter and invite favor? That seemed somewhat unreasonable; the Zhen family was considered a prominent clan in Hengzhou, so entering officialdom as an official should not have been a problem. The timing of the presentation was also all wrong. In Gao Lishi's view, it was simply the impulsive action of someone lacking political cunning. Moreover, if he truly desired an official position, presenting the treasure to himself or Yang Guozhong would have been the most appropriate course of action. According to the Tang legal code, both men possessed the direct authority to appoint officials of the sixth rank and below.

What most vexed Gao Lishi was that over the past few years, the intelligence reports from the Luquan County Secret Office had mentioned Zhen Qian fewer than five times.

The first time was when Zhen Qian had just moved to Luquan County, and his name appeared on the roster of powerful gentry and local squires.

The second time was the record of Zhen Qian purchasing a vast amount of farmland in Sendai Village, which was also brushed over with just a few strokes.

The third time was when Zhen Qian opened a tavern in the county seat, introducing a potent liquor called Burning Blade. The report did note an incident involving Sogdians attempting to steal the brewing secret.

The fourth time was the appearance of gold and silver coins in Zhen Qian's pawnshop/bank. This time the record was comparatively detailed, but privately minting gold and silver coins did not count as a major offense; the phenomenon of private copper coin minting was widespread across various regions and had long proven impossible to eradicate. Zhen Qian's behavior could only be considered that of a small fry.

The fifth time mentioned the opening of branch locations of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant under Zhen Qian's name across various places. What sort of matter was this? Was merchants conducting business across various regions forbidden?

From the intelligence provided by the Secret Office, Gao Lishi could not discern what kind of person Zhen Qian was at all, other than possessing a business acumen. Such a person could simply not arouse Gao Lishi's interest, which explained why Gao Lishi was so angry.