The estate which had been given over to Grand Inquisitor Yoonji was exquisite. The servants, borrowed from one of the local fraternal groups, attended her every need without requiring instruction. Yoonji had plenty of time to sit and think. She ordered dinner and ate in solitude.

She would thoroughly investigate this entire incident. She needed to know where Eri's sect had gone, what Eri had been after, what she was doing, but first she'd follow up on this sect of Morning Mist.

Something about this didn't seem right, that they should be so involved in matters far above their heads. And what had Nai Hong said? They were a sect which had once been destroyed and were reborn now? Yes, Yoonji would look into matters closely indeed.

After eating a meal accompanied by what the Vardin City nobles doubtless considered a fine rice wine, she ordered one of the borrowed servants to bring her the records she had requested earlier in the day. The servant bowed and vanished, reappearing two minutes later carrying a large stack of records. Yoonji had them set on the low table and sipped tea as she flipped through the pages.

Things looked much as she expected. She noted the local investigators' summaries of the situation, which were accurate but incomplete. She reviewed the record of the various sects' departures, noting when the Dowager Pearl and the Court of Gems had packed up and moved on only a few days prior.

Yoonji flipped over a page and stiffened. That was curious. Two of the Young Masters of Morning Mist had departed the town five days ago. But only two? Surely there were more Morning Mist cultivators. She quickly rifled through the records and found no other mention.

Yoonji rang a bell, and a servant popped back in and bowed. "Yes, Mistress?"

"I wish a query sent to whichever cultivation official copied the Dowager Pearl's records. I'd like a list of every sect member of the Morning Mist sect who was involved in the bridal competition."

The servant stiffened. "Of — Morning Mist, Mistress?" His voice had an odd note.

Yoonji frowned. She wasn't used to being questioned by servants. "Yes, of Morning Mist."

The servant bowed. "Of course, Mistress." He straightened up and then said, "Morning Mist saved the city, Mistress."

Yoonji's eyebrows rose. She stared at the man, taking in his features for the first time. He had a device on his collar, a symbol she didn't recognize. She'd never been spoken to by a servant like this before. Standards in Vardin City were worse than she expected. "That is all very well, but I need their names and locations."

"Of course, Mistress," the servant said, then scurried off. Yoonji put the matter out of her mind and focused on the rest of the records, looking for any other discrepancies while she drew up her plan.

An hour or so later, there was a tap on the door. "Yes, what is it?" she asked without looking up.

"The records you wanted, Mistress," called the servant. He entered a moment later, huffing and puffing, looking a bit worried, carrying a stack of pages. Yoonji took them and looked over as the servant shifted his weight back and forth, waiting for her next command.

"Oh, their Grand Master and Head Spouse are still present here in the city. I see they've applied to take place in the Arinat Point Tower cull. I suppose they're waiting for it to really kick off. Excellent." She set the papers down.

"Anything else, Mistress?"

"No," Yoonji said, dismissing the servant who turned and fled.

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It wasn't until an hour or later, when deep in various documents, that Yoonji ran across a name she recalled: Gao Min, listed here as the sister of Gao Yuan-li, governor of the province. It wasn't that uncommon a name, but she looked back in the records. Yes, there it was again: Gao Min, spouse of the Morning Mist sect. Unlikely to be a coincidence. A connection between the governor, under whose watch there had nearly been a fatal tower disaster, and this strange sect should not be overlooked.

Yoonji stood up. Evening was falling, but that didn't matter. A Grand Inquisitor went where she wished, when she wished.

She summoned a servant, and the same man appeared. She was beginning to be irritated by his face. "Do you know where the sect of Morning Mist is headquartered?" she asked, prepared for him to say no, at which point she'd send him to find out.

The man's face went white. "Mistress?"

"You heard me."

"Yes, Mistress." He cast his eyes down. "They, uh, well, as you know, the tower breach caused a great deal of difficulty all through Vardin City, but—"

"Just answer the question," she snapped. "Do not try the patience of an imperial inquisitor, or you will find yourself scrubbing floors in a slaughterhouse."

"Yes, Mistress," the man jumped. "They're staying with the Brotherhood of the Oaken Band. petal 64."

"Thank you," she said coolly, and swept off.

When she arrived at the brotherhood headquarters, everything became clear. The man who opened the gate to her wore the same gray robe and device on his collar as all the servants in the borrowed house. Yoonji's temper flared. So they thought they could play games with an inquisitor. She changed her plan at once. "Take me to your master," she ordered.

The man dropped to his knees, bowing. "Oh, get up," she snarled, and got her will under control. She might need to use it as a bludgeon, but not quite yet. He led her to a set of private rooms, knocked, but she didn't wait. She swept past, pulling the door open and entering. An old man with a younger woman kneeling beside him looked up. The man's face went through a series of expressions: anger, then recognition, and worry. The woman just looked poleaxed. Yoonji's keen eye noted her similarity to Governor Gao.

"You are Eldest Brother Zhang?" she asked.

The old man nodded. "Yes, Inquisitor, and I know who you are. May I ask on what business you have come today?"

"Imperial business," she said, sweeping into the room. The younger woman bowed forward onto her elbows and knees, keeping her face down. "You're Gao Min, aren't you?" Yoonji said, staring down at the woman.

Gao Min looked up, her face placid but with surprising fire behind her eyes. "I am, Your Eminence. How may I serve?"

Yoonji pointed a finger at her. "You, you're the connection. You're the governor's sister, and you set your grandfather's people to watch me while your sect prepares to flee into hiding. The two who worked with Eri have already left. The rest of you must be only days from departure. A clever plan, but you have failed."

Shock covered Gao Min's face. Her mouth dropped open. "Your Eminence, you — we, we had nothing to do with Prism Eri. I swear it. My husband and his allies risked their lives to summon the emperor in time. They were commended for it."

Yoonji held up a hand. "A false commendation, given to a false ally. Was it not, woman?"

Gao Min shook her head. "No, Your Eminence. That is, forgive me for contradicting you, but whoever has told you otherwise is lying."

Yoonji considered. It did seem the most likely possibility, but the young woman's expression seemed genuine. "Then your brother had me spied on by these brotherhood servants for another reason?"

It was Eldest Brother Jiang who spoke now. "Your Eminence, I took on the duty of tending to your needs while in Vardin City so as not to embarrass my grandson. He's been governor only a few weeks and already had a crisis dropped in his lap that could shame our entire province. I could not allow you to think poorly of our city's hospitality, so I begged him to allow me to serve you. I swear on my life and the shades of my dead children, we did not spy."

Yoonji was an experienced investigator, used to ferreting out truth wherever it might be. And both these people spoke as though they were telling the truth. And yet, and yet... "Then where are your Young Masters?" she demanded.

"My husband and his training partner have gone on a quest to seek out the Peak of Spiritual Refinement," Gao Min said calmly. "With the disruptions to this tower and the financial needs of our sect, we thought it wise to split our forces for a time."

It was a plausible story. Yoonji thought about it. "Where's the rest of your sect? Your Grandmaster? Your disciples?"

Min rose, keeping her hands pressed against her sides. She bowed. "Your Eminence, they are training inside the tower. If you wish to speak to them, I would be happy to escort you."

Yoonji had no need of an escort. She could be there faster and quicker without this woman. On the other hand, she had them off balance now, and she wanted to continue that. She nodded. "Take me there at once."

Gao Min shot her grandfather a look, but Yoonji didn't allow them to confer. She ushered the woman from the room, planning out her next line of attack. The enemies of the emperor would be ferreted out, and crushed, and Yoonji would reap the rewards.

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