The moment Xu Qi'an set foot in the county yamen, a tearful voice reached him: "Big brother..." It was Xu Lingyue, graceful in a pale green gown, tear tracks streaking her face, eyes red and swollen. Her sister Xu Lingyin was kept in the side hall. Magistrate Zhu, already informed, was at his desk when the constables filed in with a group under escort. At the sight of the brocade-clad young master, his face livid with fury, Old Zhu hurriedly rose to greet him.
"Ah, if it isn't Young Master Zhou. And how fares Vice Minister Zhou?"
The young master swept his sleeve violently, shoving the magistrate aside, and jabbed a finger at Xu Qi'an. "This man committed violence in the street and tried to kill me. Arrest him at once."
"Please, you exaggerate, you exaggerate..." Magistrate Zhu plastered on a smile, then barked with a furious face: "Xu Qi'an, you rascal of a runner, get over here!"
Xu Qi'an screwed up his courage and came forward. "You worthless piece of trash, you'd dare lay a hand on the son of Vice Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Revenue?" The magistrate kicked him, then whipped around: "Young Master Zhou, the flood washing over the Dragon King's temple — we're all family here. The gentleman forgives the small man's faults. Don't hold a grudge against a nobody like him."
The son of the Vice Minister of Revenue... Xu Qi'an felt his heart sink.
In the officialdom of Da Feng, an official's power wasn't measured by rank but by background. Only a handful truly stood at the pinnacle — the ministers and vice ministers of the Six Ministries among them. Having struck the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue, this had blown up into something serious.
"Cut the crap. You won't arrest him? Fine, I'll take care of it myself." Young Master Zhou waved at his retainers. "Seize this bastard."
Magistrate Zhu barked: "Anyone who dares raise his hand within the yamen will be cut down without mercy!" The constables charged out, broadswords pressed to the retainers' necks; the civilian constables gripped their staffs.
"Zhu, you dare lay a finger on my men?" the young master cursed. "Please don't misunderstand, Young Master Zhou. Your humble official is a servant of the court and merely acts by the rules." Magistrate Zhu wiped a fleck of spittle from his face. "I have here a written accusation, charging you with riding to commit violence and bullying a law-abiding young lady. The plaintiff is Xu Lingyue." A trick prepared in advance — had the offender been some common dandy, Zhu would have smoothed it over. But he'd never imagined the party would be the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue.
Young Master Zhou snorted. "Rode my horse to commit violence? Who exactly did I hurt? Go ask around the street, Zhu. Did I lay a single finger on that woman?" "Perhaps the young lady mistook you for someone else." Magistrate Zhu tittered and tucked the accusation back into his sleeve.
Damn. The magistrate can't handle this. I've got to save myself — worst case, I run, but that would implicate Second Uncle's family. In this era, only an official second-generation could take on an official second-generation, and his own standing was far too low. Even Second Uncle, a Hundred-Commander of the Imperial Blade Guard, was nothing before the Vice Minister of Revenue. As for regret, there was none — with a blade at your neck, you don't just lie down and take it.
As one of the young master's retainers slipped out of the yamen, the magistrate making no move, Xu Qi'an's heart dropped a few more degrees. He walked over to Warden Wang. "Chief, I'm doomed today. There's something I need to ask of you."
Warden Wang fell silent a moment, then murmured: "Speak."
Over the past month, his bond with Xu Qi'an had deepened by leaps and bounds — the two hit the pleasure quarters daily, knocking back flower wine, and forged a friendship of no small substance.
"Lend me a tael of silver first." Warden Wang felt around his chest and brought out a handful of loose silver — less than a tael. Xu Qi'an took it and tucked it into his pocket, then spoke: "Ride fast to my house. On the cabinet beside my bed there's a blue-leather book — make sure you grab the right one." The diary had a pale-yellow cover. "Once you have it, go to the Directorate of Celestials. Find a young lady named Caiwei and say: Xu Qi'an is in trouble, come quickly."
The Directorate of Celestials?! Warden Wang looked torn. "That's not a place a man like me can set foot in." To enter it, to him, was like entering the forbidden palace — he didn't even have the nerve to get close.
Xu Qi'an had expected this. "If I come to harm, there'll be no one left to pay you back this silver." Warden Wang's eyes went wide. "Do this one thing for me, and next month's salary is all yours, Chief."
"Xu Qi'an, you son of a bitch." Warden Wang cursed and charged out of the yamen.
...
Xu Pingzhi got word, borrowed a horse, and spurred it galloping toward Changle County. Stepping over the threshold, the first thing he saw was his daughter sobbing uncontrollably, next the constables and retainers squared off in bristling tension.
He went to her, face grave: "What happened?" Xu Lingyue, as if seeing her savior, sobbed harder and hiccuped through the tale. When he heard the young master's horse had raised its hooves to trample a small child, the corners of his eyes twitched. "If not for Cousin Qi'an, Lingyin would be gone. Wuwu..."
Ningyan... Xu Pingzhi looked at his nephew, closed his eyes a few beats, and said low: "Go to the side hall and keep an eye on Lingyin. Don't come out."
Watching his daughter run off, Xu Pingzhi stepped forward in silence, fixing his gaze on the brocade-clad young master: "Young Master Zhou, can this matter be settled?"
The young master met his eyes and felt a killing intent as solid as substance; the boastful words stuck in his throat.
"Commander Xu, what an impressive display of authority. If my young master doesn't let this go, do you mean to shed blood here?" An old man entered through the gate — a long blue coat with gold piping, a jade pendant at his waist, hair more white than black, a gaunt face, eyes so sharp they seemed to hide needles. When he first spoke he was still at the door; by the time he finished, he stood in the courtroom.
"Uncle Chen!" The young man in brocade was overjoyed.
"How did you come to be wounded like this, young master? Which accursed beast raised a hand against you?" He eyed the scabbed earlobe of the young master, pained and furious. "Several times I urged the master to assign you a Qi Refining expert as a guard, but he always refused, saying you liked to stir up trouble. And what if you do? Better others suffer loss than my young master."
Feeling himself pinned by an aura, Xu Pingzhi felt plunged into an ice cellar, a serpent crawling down his spine — hovering on the edge of life and death, a sensation he'd often known in the thick of battle. This old man was an expert of the Spirit Refining realm.
Magistrate Zhu coughed. "You are..."
"Don't honor me so!" The old man cut him off. "I am merely an old servant of the Zhou household. I'm unworthy of Magistrate Zhu's 'honor.'"
"The elder is too courteous." Before the prime minister's gate, even the gatekeeper holds seventh-rank sway. "All a misunderstanding. With the Capital Evaluation at hand, we should all seek harmony. What do you think, elder?"
The old man laughed coldly. "A few nobodies can't affect the master's Capital Evaluation. The Zhou household governs by virtue, strictly according to the court's rules." The crowd didn't understand at first — until, a while later, a clamorous tread echoed from outside the gate. A company of armored escorts surged in, bearing arms. At their head walked an official in a blue robe embroidered with a silver pheasant. "The Ministry of Justice arrests a prisoner. All idlers stand clear. Anyone who interferes will be punished as an accomplice." He paused, then forced a smile at Young Master Zhou. "Begging your indulgence, young master — might I ask where the prisoner is?"
Young Master Zhou leveled a finger at Xu Qi'an: "Shackle this dog." The official waved a hand: "Seize him." The armored escorts charged forward and locked Xu Qi'an in irons.
"Your Excellency, what crime has my nephew committed?!" Xu Pingzhi cried in alarm. "Whether he's guilty or not, I will determine that. As a Director of the Ministry of Justice, I am invariably impartial." Zhu seized Xu Pingzhi and held him fast.
"Take him away!"