My Fair Concubine. Jeannie Lin

      ‘How is your sister, Pearl?’ Cao asked.

      Fei Long kept his expression neutral. ‘She is saddened by our father’s passing, but otherwise she is well.’

      Tong stared back at him, his face a stone wall as he scoured Fei Long for any sign of weakness.

      Cao nodded gravely. ‘Only two months until the journey to Khitan. A tragedy that Old Chang couldn’t see his daughter wed.’

      The senior minister bowed his head and Tong followed his example, but it was only a cursory gesture. Inspector Tong was working deliberately to get Fei Long’s guard up. It was the sort of subtle power struggle that Fei Long had learned early on he had no knack for and one of the reasons he’d opted for the provincial garrison rather than the politics of Changan. His work in the imperial army was honest and straightforward, even if it was without glory.

      ‘I apologise, Inspector Tong. I have been long away from the capital. I’m ignorant of how you knew my father?’

      ‘The apology is mine. I should have introduced myself properly.’ All the words that came from him were cold and correct. ‘I serve in the Censorate.’

      Tong let the silence take over so there could be no mistaking the seriousness of his purpose there. Fei Long should have guessed from the title that the dour-faced Tong was an imperial censor. These officials were responsible for investigating the inner workings of each of the government ministries.