“Within the past eight months, a little over two hundred households have newly moved into Heishui City. Most of them are refugees who fled from the northwest, while some came in from outside the state.” On the northwestern front, Dong Haoming’s rebel army and the Yuan forces were locked in fierce battle. Ordinary civilians who did not want to be caught in the crossfire had no choice but to abandon their homes. “The conditions you gave me were: foreigners, a group of at least seven or eight people, bought a residence locally but never registered as residents, seemed to have nothing much to do, yet clearly weren’t short of money.”

The criteria He Lingchuan had given were already highly specific.

“And?”

“There really is one group that fits almost perfectly.” Situ Han popped a wonton into his mouth. “There are a dozen or so of them. Sure enough, they arrived...