Zhao Jialang, a house of gold, his bones piled up on the steps, yet he dares not weep.
Liangzhou.
A line of carriages slowly traveled along the official road.
The weather in Liangzhou wasn't as hot as in the capital, but the wind here was stronger, lifting the curtain of the carriage halfway up, as if trying to catch a glimpse of the distinguished guests who had come from afar.
They were stopped more than 20 miles from Liangzhou City.
"How dare you! Do you know who's in the car?" Zhang Cheng stepped forward and warned.
“I know that the imperial envoy is sitting in the carriage,” said a woman who stopped the carriage. She had a hemp headscarf wrapped around her head, wore the most ordinary hemp clothes, and straw sandals on her feet.
The woman held up the petition and knelt down, crying: "I want to sue Zhao Jing, the son of Zhao Deyan, the governor of Liangzhou, for forcibly seizing my family's land and killing my father in the street. Not only did the government not investigate, but they also imprisoned my whole family."
I dare not obstruct official business, but I am at my wit's end. I beg Your Excellency to grant me this favor!
Zhang Cheng stood beside the carriage, somewhat troubled: "Sir, this..."
"Do you know what the punishment is for falsely accusing an official of the imperial court?" A menacing voice came from inside the carriage.
The woman kept kowtowing to the ground, saying, "Everything I have said is true. Please, Your Excellency, investigate thoroughly."
"Zhang Cheng, bring me the complaint."
"Yes, sir."
Zhang Cheng presented the petition held aloft by the woman to Xu Zhiyuan.
Xu Zhiyuan didn't rush to open it; instead, he had someone help the woman up.
He said slowly, "If what you say is true, I will handle it impartially. You may go back now."
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir..." the woman thanked him repeatedly, she hadn't expected things to go so smoothly this time.
After the woman walked away, Xu Zhiyuan opened the petition and was somewhat shocked, never expecting it to be a letter written in blood.
His heart sank a little, and he suppressed his anger and said to Zhang Cheng, "Zhang Cheng, follow her and protect her. Don't make a sound."
"Yes, sir," Zhang Cheng replied without asking any further questions. There must be a reason why the adults told him to do this.
After Zhang Cheng left, Xu Zhiyuan's attendant whispered, "My lord, the brand on this woman's arm is the character '黥', a punishment for serious offenders in the previous dynasty, which has now been abolished—Liangzhou has actually reinstated corporal punishment!"
This attendant was a former jailer who was responsible for the daily management of the county jail, the custody of prisoners, the safekeeping of torture instruments, and also assisted the county magistrate in hearing cases and recording confessions. He was very familiar with all kinds of laws and regulations.
Xu Zhiyuan remained noncommittal. On the surface, this trip to Liangzhou was to conduct a routine assessment of the officials' performance, but in reality, it was because someone in the court had secretly reported that the governor of Liangzhou was corrupt and lawless. However, there was no evidence, so the emperor sent him on this trip.
The carriage continued towards Liangzhou City.
It was already evening when we arrived in Liangzhou.
Xu Zhiyuan and his group rested at the inn closest to the city gate, intending to first investigate the situation in Liangzhou.
The attendants had already parked the carriage in the backyard of the inn.
"My lord, everything has been settled."
"Yes, you've all had a long journey these past few days, so you should get some rest as well."
Xu Zhiyuan told everyone to go back and rest, while he himself began to study the current situation in Liangzhou.
Liangzhou is a major border prefecture. In recent years, the Turks have repeatedly invaded the border. The imperial court attaches great importance to border defense. The troops stationed in Liangzhou need to be prepared for war all year round, and the military pay will not be harsh.
But along the way, the number of soldiers guarding the city was pitifully small, there were very few shift changes, and no soldiers were seen farming or training.
Negligence in military defense is a major taboo.
It's harvest time now, but people spend their days lingering outside the city, not going to their fields to harvest...
Suddenly someone burst through the window, holding a sharp sword pointed directly at Xu Zhiyuan's throat.
There's an assassin!
Xu Zhiyuan reacted quickly, dodging the sword and flipping the table at the man. The table was instantly split in two and scattered on both sides of the ground.
The commotion alerted the servants next door, who immediately came to check the situation.
"Be careful, sir!" The jailer stepped in front of Xu Zhiyuan, sheathed the assassin's sword with his scabbard, and kicked him away.
Seeing that there were many people, the assassin threw the hidden weapon in his sleeve at Xu Zhiyuan and leaped off the windowsill.
The jailer sent someone after him, while he stayed behind to guard Xu Zhiyuan: "Sir, are you injured?"
"It's alright." Xu Zhiyuan waved his hand.
"Sir, I think this matter is inextricably linked to the governor of Liangzhou," the jailer said angrily.
Xu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow, trying to provoke him: "Where's the evidence?"
"Sir, you have just arrived in Liangzhou and have not made any enemies. You have been claiming illness in the capital and have not attended court, so naturally no one knew that you were here."
“I have not concealed my whereabouts. Anyone who wants to investigate will find out.”
Xu Zhiyuan poured himself a cup of tea, looking calm and composed.
"Unless... someone from the capital sent a message to the governor of Liangzhou?" the jailer guessed.
Xu Zhiyuan smiled but remained silent.
It seems someone wants him to die in Liangzhou.
***
The governor's residence.
"My lord, I have failed in my duty." The man dressed in black was the assassin from before.
"Useless!" Governor Zhao Deyan stood up angrily, his face and body trembling with fat.
"Didn't the letter from the capital say that he only brought a guard commander and a few attendants?" Zhao Deyan sat down again, drinking the tea that the servant had poured for him. "The guard commander isn't even with him. You still couldn't get it done."
"That man has many hidden talents around him. Even a lowly follower is no less skilled than me, and perhaps even... better." He was somewhat dejected.
"Hmph, no problem. Once we get to Liangzhou, will he still be in charge?" Zhao Deyan's eyes were full of malice, and his words sent chills down one's spine: "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. I'd like to see how many lives he has!"
"Tomorrow, I will personally go and meet this imperial envoy!"
Zhao Deyan instructed people to prepare the items needed for tomorrow.
After finishing, it seemed as if he had just remembered that there was still someone kneeling on the ground:
"Don't show your face recently, he's already seen you."
*
The next morning, the jailer woke Xu Zhiyuan up outside the door.
"Sir, Governor Zhao and a group of officials were waiting to greet us outside the city gate..." The jailer was furious. "What is that old man up to now? It was clearly last night..."
Outside the city gate?
"Then let's go take a trip."
Xu Zhiyuan said this.
...
Outside the city gate of Liangzhou, Governor Zhao Deyan led a group of officials to welcome them, with banners fluttering and drums and music filling the air.
He was dressed in a dark scarlet official robe, with a gold fish-shaped pouch at his waist swaying with his steps. His plump, white face was full of smiles. From afar, he cupped his hands and called out, "Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy has come from afar. It is truly an honor for Liangzhou!"
Xu Zhiyuan lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at Zhao Deyan's back—six maids holding gilded wine pots, and four Hu women with floral decorations on their foreheads and light veils on their arms, clearly a carefully rehearsed spectacle.
In order not to arouse suspicion from the Liangzhou officials, they left the city by another route, pretending to have just arrived.
He smiled slightly and slowly stepped out of the carriage: "Governor Zhao, you are too kind."
Zhao Deyan smiled and said, "My lord, you must be tired from your journey. I have prepared a banquet at my residence. Please come and dine at my residence."
The banquet was held in the waterside pavilion in the back garden of the governor's mansion.
On the sandalwood table, wine from the Western Regions was served in a glass cup, a whole roasted lamb was covered with gold leaf, and even the food box was inlaid with turquoise.
Zhao Deyan personally poured the wine: "Liangzhou is a bitterly cold place, unlike the capital. Only this wine is rare—it was transported from a thousand miles away by Persian merchants, and a jar is worth ten gold pieces."
Xu Zhiyuan's fingertips caressed the rim of the glass when he suddenly noticed a bruise on a singer's wrist reflected in the wine.
He raised his eyes and smiled, "I've heard that the Turks have recently invaded the border, yet the governor still has the leisure to collect treasures?"
Zhao Deyan's expression froze for a moment, then he burst into laughter: "My lord, you jest! The Liangzhou army is formidable, how dare the barbarians act so presumptuously?" As he spoke, he pushed over a box of pearls, "This is just a small gift to amuse you, my lord."
"I heard that Your Excellency has come here on the Emperor's orders to assess the performance of officials. As for this assessment..." Zhao Deyan leaned closer and whispered, "Liangzhou is far from the Emperor's reach, so Your Excellency can simply write 'favorable weather' as usual."
He pulled a roll of silk from his sleeve. "These are the account books from previous years, and there are absolutely no errors."
Xu Zhiyuan took it, his fingertips touching the thickness of the silver notes tucked inside the silk. Suddenly, he heard a loud crash from behind the screen—a young boy had knocked over a fruit plate and was immediately covered by a servant and dragged away.
Zhao Deyan kicked over the wine table: "You lowly servant! You have disturbed our distinguished guests!"
"It's alright." Xu Zhiyuan pressed his arm, his smile not reaching his eyes. "On my way to Liangzhou, I heard a nursery rhyme, which was quite interesting—"
"The Zhao family's son, a house of gold, yet his bones pile up on the steps, and he dares not weep." I wonder if the governor has ever heard of this?
The room was deathly silent.
...
The banquet ended.
Xu Zhiyuan returned to the inn from the previous day. As soon as he entered, he saw the information that Zhang Cheng had gathered in Liangzhou City during the day.
At midnight, Xu Zhiyuan changed into a short linen outfit and followed the jailer into the slums of the West Market in the dark.
Beside the dilapidated mud wall, several old soldiers were eating bran cakes around a fire. When they saw people coming, they all knelt down and cried, "Honorable sir, spare our lives!"
"Don't be afraid, old man." Xu Zhiyuan squatted down and handed him the wine bag. "I've heard that the military pay in Liangzhou is generous. How come..."
"Pah!" the one-eyed old soldier spat. "The officials are drinking the blood of the soldiers! Last year's winter clothes were all made of catkins!" He suddenly ripped open his shirt, revealing a hideous knife scar on his chest. "The wounds from the Turks, the ten strings of cash the court was supposed to give me, I only got three pieces of scrap copper in the end!"
The jailer suddenly grabbed Xu Zhiyuan: "Sir, be careful!"
A fire suddenly lit up the alleyway, and a squad of constables approached, swords drawn: "Who dares to cause trouble during curfew?!"
Xu Zhiyuan retreated into the shadows and touched the blood-written letter in his pocket—the blood on the back of the paper was clearly the weeping blood of the people of Liangzhou.
***
The study of the Marquis of Zhenyuan's residence.
Wei San placed the letter on the desk: "General, there is news about the second son of the Duke of Wei."
Xiao Zhouyan put down the letter in his hand, looked up at the deepening twilight outside the window, and unconsciously stroked the dark patterns on the edge of the letter with his fingertips.
"Speak." His voice was extremely soft, yet it made the temperature in the study drop sharply.
Wei San knelt on one knee, the crisp sound of his armor striking the blue bricks particularly jarring in the silence: "The Second Young Master led a troop of elite soldiers, but was ambushed on the way to pursue the rebels. To protect the remnants of his troops and cover their retreat, the Second Young Master drew away the Nan Yue crossbowmen before falling into the Nu River..."
"Corpse?"
"We haven't found it yet, but the current is rapid, and there are crocodiles in the river..." Wei San's words came to an abrupt halt.
Xiao Zhouyan's sword had driven half an inch into the pillar beside his ear, and the old bandage wrapped around the hilt had come undone, revealing dark brown bloodstains.
"try to find."
Xiao Zhouyan tore off the gilded fish-shaped talisman from his waist and threw it onto the bloodstained map. "Make all the 'Grey Hawks' of Lingnan Road move—we need to see them alive or dead."
Suddenly, he added menacingly, "Someone dares to throw a cenotaph into the river to fool us..."
A sudden downpour outside the window extinguished a lantern, and the clanging of armor echoed in the darkness.
Wei San knew that this was the Iron Falcon Guard, raised by the Marquis of Zhenyuan's mansion, gathering.
On a snowy night in the northern frontier, the general led this group of mute assassins to slaughter a branch of the Southern Turks. When they returned, their black armor was frozen solid, and seven heads with gold rings were tied to their saddles.
Just as Wei San was about to leave, he heard Xiao Zhouyan say softly, "Don't let the Duke of Wei know about this for now."
*
The day he went to the Duke of Wei's mansion to propose marriage...
As soon as he entered the study, before the Duke of Wei could reprimand him, he knelt down on one knee and clasped his hands in a fist towards Xu Lian: "I hereby request the Duke of Wei to marry his daughter Xu Qingyao to me. I am willing to offer my entire fortune as a dowry and protect the Duke's daughter with my life."
Duke Wei remained silent for a while, then sat down, poured himself a fresh cup of tea, and slowly sipped it.
He drank one cup of tea after another, occasionally flipping through the miscellaneous notes on his desk.
Time passed quietly, and the two in the study maintained this tacit understanding.
Until there was a knock on the study door.
I thought he was going to return empty-handed, but...
Duke Wei finally broke the silence, helped him up, and said, "I have no intention of making things difficult for the general. However, as a parent, I must think about my daughter's happiness. If the general and Qingyao are in love, even if I am reluctant, I will still do my part to help them achieve their happiness."
I hope the General will remember his promise. If one day Qingyao no longer wishes to stay in the Zhenyuan Marquis's residence, I beg the General to let my daughter return home.
The Duke of Wei's words were sincere and heartfelt.
"Now that we are family, I have one more request."
"Please speak, Your Excellency."
“I also have a son who was ordered to quell the rebellion in Nanyue a few months ago. Apart from the news that came in for the first two months, there has been no news since, and it has been more than a month now…”
Duke Wei's Adam's apple bobbed, and he dared not continue speaking.
"Even if our two families are not related by marriage, I still have to ask you for help with this matter."
"Your Excellency need not worry too much. The Second Young Master is a lucky man." Xiao Zhouyan understood this feeling and could only comfort him, "I will do my best to find out."
*
Xiao Zhouyan snapped out of his daze and carefully put the letter away.
Outside the window, the rain stopped and the wind picked up, causing the only remaining lamp in the room to flicker and sway.
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