Chapter 879

The four city gates of Qingzhou City were sealed within the hour.

Security bureau guards took up positions at every checkpoint, stopping and questioning anyone attempting to pass through. The atmosphere in the city shifted almost immediately — merchants pulled their carts to the side of the road, pedestrians quickened their pace toward shelter, and the usual morning noise of the market district fell to a nervous murmur.

Wang Xuan moved quickly.

Within moments of receiving Di Ying's message, he had dispatched secret guard units to every major thoroughfare leading from the academy district toward the southern gate. If the merchants' council's agent had already begun moving students, they would need at least one of those routes.

"How many students are we talking about?" Wang Xuan asked as he walked, not breaking stride.

"Based on the roster — approximately forty," Di Ying said beside him. His voice was controlled, but the lines around his mouth were tight. "Mostly from families with ties to southern trade guilds. The tofu pudding stall owner had been cultivating relationships with them for months."

"Months." Wang Xuan exhaled through his nose. "And you knew nothing of this."

It was not a question. Di Ying did not treat it as one.

"I knew of the stall owner's true identity for three months," Di Ying said quietly. "I did not report it."

Wang Xuan said nothing. There was nothing useful to say.

They turned onto the main avenue leading toward Bowen Academy. Ahead, the academy's gray-tiled rooftops were visible above the treeline. Ordinarily, this time of morning would see students moving between lecture halls, their voices carrying over the walls.

Today it was silent.

"The gates are still closed," one of the forward scouts reported, jogging back to meet them. "No sign of movement from inside. But one of the side servants' entrances shows signs of recent use — the lock has been tampered with."

Wang Xuan's eyes sharpened. "Which direction does that entrance face?"

"South, Commander."

Of course it did.

"Split into two teams," Wang Xuan said immediately. "First team circles around to the south-facing alley. Second team comes through the main gate with me. Move quietly — if they haven't left yet, I don't want them spooked into a confrontation inside the academy."

The secret guards dispersed without a word.

Di Ying moved to follow the first team, but Wang Xuan stopped him with a look.

"You're with me," Wang Xuan said simply.

Di Ying nodded and fell into step.

The main gate of Bowen Academy opened without resistance. The gatekeeper — an elderly man who had held the post for twenty years — looked at the armed group with wide eyes and said nothing, stepping aside immediately.

Inside, the academy grounds were unnaturally still.

The lecture halls stood with their doors hanging open. Brushes and ink stones had been left on desks mid-use, as though their owners had stepped away expecting to return shortly. A half-eaten breakfast sat abandoned on a courtyard bench.

"They moved quickly," one of the secret guards said under his breath.

Wang Xuan held up a fist — silence.

He listened.

Somewhere toward the southern end of the academy grounds, past the storage buildings and the rear garden, he heard it. The low, urgent sound of many people moving in coordinated quiet — the particular hush of people who knew they were doing something they should not be doing and were trying very hard not to make noise about it.

Wang Xuan lowered his fist and pointed forward.

They moved.

The rear garden of Bowen Academy was a modest space — a few old scholar trees, a stone path, a wall that backed onto the alley beyond.

Forty-three students stood clustered near that wall.

Among them moved three figures in plain merchant clothing, directing the students toward a section of wall where the stones had been loosened and temporarily reset — a prepared exit, clearly the work of careful planning over many weeks.

The tofu pudding stall owner was one of the three.

He was the first to see Wang Xuan's team emerge from between the storage buildings.

For a single moment, he and Wang Xuan looked at each other across the garden.

Then the stall owner turned and ran — not toward the wall, but sideways, into the narrow space between two storage buildings, moving with the practiced speed of a man who had already planned his escape route down to the last step.

"After him!" Wang Xuan snapped.

Two secret guards broke into a sprint.

The students, realizing what was happening, erupted into panicked noise. Several bolted for the loosened wall section. Others froze entirely. A few sat down on the ground as though their legs had simply stopped working.

"Nobody moves!" Di Ying's voice cracked out across the garden like a whip.

It was the voice of a man who had commanded soldiers on battlefields. It cut through the panic like a blade.

Every student stopped.

Di Ying walked forward into the garden, his hand resting on his waist saber, his expression carrying the particular authority of someone who had nothing left to lose and therefore nothing to fear.

"Sit down," he said, more quietly now. "All of you. Sit down and do not make this worse than it already is."

One by one, the students sat.