The arrival of the Six Fan Gate was not subtle.
They didn't knock. The heavy oak doors of the Hundred Flowers Manor were simply pushed open by a force of pure, disciplined Qi.
Two rows of constables in black-and-red uniforms marched in, their movements synchronized, their expressions grim. They lined the hallway, creating a path for one person.
Xiahou Di.
She was tall, encased in fitted crimson armor that gleamed like fresh blood. She wore no helmet, revealing sharp, striking features that were beautiful but terrifyingly stern. Her hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail. She didn't walk; she marched, her boots striking the stone floor with the rhythm of a war drum.
Xue Mu sat in the main hall, sipping tea. He didn't rise.
"Chief Constable Xiahou," Xue Mu smiled, gesturing to the empty seat opposite him. "You're just in time. The tea is fresh."
Xiahou Di stopped three paces from him. She didn't sit. She radiated heat—a scorching, oppressive energy that smelled of iron and justice.
"Xue Mu," she said, her voice a cold alto. "A man with no cultivation, yet you stir the winds and clouds of the capital with a mere brush."
She threw a crumpled copy of the Capital Morning Post onto the table.
"Inciting unrest. Slandering the Righteous Sects. Distributing unauthorized literature. Any one of these is enough to throw you into the Sky Prison."
"Is it?" Xue Mu picked up the paper, smoothing it out. "I thought the Great Zhou Dynasty valued culture. Since when is writing a crime?"
"When writing becomes a weapon," Xiahou Di snapped. "Your 'story' paints the Wudang Sect as hypocrites. You are turning the populace against the pillars of the Empire. Do you deny it?"
"I deny nothing," Xue Mu said calmly. "But tell me, Constable. Is the Wudang Sect the Empire? Or is the Law the Empire?"
Xiahou Di narrowed her eyes. "Explain."
"The Righteous Sects claim to uphold justice," Xue Mu said, standing up to face her. "But they operate outside the law. They kill based on their own codes. They feud in the streets. They are powerful warlords."
He pointed a finger at her chest—a bold move that made her guards tense up.
"You, Xiahou Di, represent the Law. You want order. But you can't control them because they have the reputation. The people love them."
He leaned in closer. "I am destroying that reputation. I am taking away their halo. When the people stop worshipping them, you become the only authority left. I am not your enemy, Constable. I am your most effective weapon."
Xiahou Di stared at him. The heat radiating from her armor wavered slightly.
She had come here to arrest a troublemaker. Instead, she found a political strategist.
"You speak a dangerous tongue," she murmured. "But you are a member of the Star-Moon Sect. A demonic sect. Why should I trust a demon to help the Law?"
Xue Mu laughed. "Because demons are honest about their greed. The righteous lie about their virtue. Which one is easier to control?"