Luoyang, the first year of Yongchang in the Tang Dynasty.
Luoyang was bustling, like a giant meat bun fresh from the steamer, piping hot and fragrant. But behind all that prosperity, there was always something filthy lurking in the shadows, quietly festering.
Di Renjie, Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, sat beneath the grape trellis in his backyard, holding a freshly peeled grape. Yet his eyes were fixed on the bamboo steamer in front of him. It was small and ordinary, just like the ones found at any breakfast stall on the street. The only difference was that several constables had chained it shut, as if it held not buns but a tiger ready to bite at any moment.
“My lord,” said his assistant Li Yuanfang, standing nearby with one hand on the Youlan Sword at his waist. His brows were furrowed so tightly they could have crushed a fly. “Is this steamer... really that sinister?”
Di Renjie tossed the grape into his mouth, chewed twice, and mumbled, “Yuanfang, do you know what was originally inside this steamer?”
“The complainant said it held thirty freshly steamed crystal shrimp dumplings,” Li Yuanfang replied truthfully.
“Wrong!” Di Renjie suddenly slapped the table, making the teacups rattle. “Half an hour ago, it really did hold shrimp dumplings. But an hour ago, it held a living person! Wang Ergou, the youngest son of Wang Wanguan, the richest man in Luoyang!”
Li Yuanfang’s eyes widened. “A... a living person? Was he steamed alive?”
