Chapter 37: Old Dreams Stir the Dust
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“That corrupt magistrate threatened me with the lives of the common people! I was unwilling to implicate anyone else, so I intended to kill myself and be done with it!”
Overcome with emotion, Lin Jiangyue gave the donkey an enthusiastic slap on the rump, then turned to Luo Shaofeng.
“At the critical moment, Brother Luo shouted, ‘侠女, wait!’”
Luo Shaofeng smiled gently. “Sister Blade was a woman of great righteousness, unafraid of power. She had saved that girl’s life from the former prefect. How could I stand by and watch such a heroic woman die before the court? So I secretly released the girl and her family.”
Everyone rode back to the Luo residence in the donkey cart. Clearly, Brother Donkey was facing one of the greatest trials of his life; he trudged along, huffing and puffing with every step.
“Afterward, that prefect sent assassins after Brother Luo time and again. They would never have succeeded if I hadn’t been there!” Lin Jiangyue thumped his thigh. “Fortunately, evil deeds bring evil retribution!”
Luo Shaofeng nodded. “The former Prefect of Fengzhou committed countless crimes, too many to enumerate. Fortunately, Imperial Censor Yuan upheld justice and submitted an impeachment memorial. The criminal has now been executed, and his property confiscated. That, at least, is retribution.”
At the mention of the Imperial Censor, Cheng Ruyi instinctively lowered his head. Young Master Han was lying across his legs, fast asleep, so Cheng Ruyi simply buried his face behind Han’s back.
Lin Jiangyue continued, “After that, Brother Luo and I became sworn brother and sister. We never once lost touch in all these seven years!”
Yan Kuang glanced instinctively at Cheng Ruyi. By then, the donkey cart had finally arrived at the Luo residence.
Cheng Ruyi shook Young Master Han awake, and everyone climbed down. The door was opened by a lame maidservant who appeared to be just over twenty. She wore autumn-scent-colored robes and had an ordinary appearance, nothing particularly striking.
Luo Shaofeng introduced her. “This is Miss Frost Spirit, my maidservant.”
The maidservant called Frost Spirit smiled faintly. Two dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth, lending her a touch of warmth. She bent slightly in a formal greeting, then limped away to clear the wildflowers and weeds from the courtyard.
Night had deepened. A few scattered lamps in the courtyard illuminated the entire Luo residence.
The residence of a fifth-rank assistant prefect was astonishingly small. Including the main hall, there were only five or six rooms fit for habitation. It could hardly compare even with the home of an ordinary wealthy landowner.
The furnishings in the courtyard were equally sparse. Most conspicuous was a maple tree on the verge of dying. The weeds around it, however, grew luxuriantly, and everything bore the unmistakable air of careless poverty.
Yan Kuang began surveying the place as soon as he entered. Cheng Ruyi noticed and whispered in his ear, “You needn’t look. I already inspected it just now. They really are poor, and there’s no secret chamber either.”
Seeing the two of them whispering together, Lin Jiangyue said frankly, “I can vouch for Brother Luo’s character! You needn’t suspect him!”
Han Ning yawned and chimed in, “It’s true. There really is a fifth-rank official this poor. It seems Father sometimes… Mmph, mmph!”
Cheng Ruyi hurriedly covered his mouth. Luo Shaofeng was neither angered nor offended. He merely smiled with a hint of embarrassment, his manner still gentle as ever.
With an apologetic expression, Luo Shaofeng said, “My humble home is rather shabby. I’m afraid I’ve inconvenienced you all. As for the Leisure Hall…”
Lin Jiangyue thumped his chest. “Brother Luo and I have been friends for seven years. I guarantee that Brother Luo is beyond reproach, and so is the Leisure Hall!”
“No, everyone… The Leisure Hall may truly have a problem.”
This interrupted Lin Jiangyue’s guarantee. And the person who had spoken was none other than Luo Shaofeng himself.
With that, Luo Shaofeng looked toward the silent Yan Kuang. “You must be Sister Blade’s senior fellow disciple. She told me long ago that you possessed peerless martial skill and an impressive bearing, but that you and Sister Blade had disappeared and been separated many years ago. It is truly gratifying that you have been reunited at last.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Jiangyue burst out laughing. “No, Brother Luo, what I meant was my—”
“Precisely. I am Lu Wangchen. Assistant Prefect Luo, thank you for coming to our aid.”
Yan Kuang interrupted him in time. He knew that the senior fellow disciple Lin Jiangyue referred to was not himself, but Yan Kuang could not yet reveal his identity.
Lin Jiangyue did not understand what was happening, but after fumbling through several incoherent explanations, he finally let the matter drop.
Luo Shaofeng waved his hand. “Brother Lu, you’re too polite. Sister Blade and I are bound by life and death. Her friends are naturally my friends as well. Helping a friend is only right and proper.”
After the customary pleasantries, Yan Kuang went straight to the point. “A moment ago, Assistant Prefect Luo said that the Leisure Hall may indeed have a problem. Since you founded it yourself, may I ask where that problem lies?”
Luo Shaofeng let out a long sigh. “It is a long story. It is truly late tonight, and all of you… especially Brother Lu, who is injured, ought to rest properly.”
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There was truth in that. No matter how “full of energy” Lin Jiangyue and Yan Kuang were, they were bound to be exhausted after so much turmoil. Besides, Cheng Ruyi and Young Master Han were ordinary men with no martial training.
Young Master Han, in particular, was already on the verge of falling asleep on his feet.
Yan Kuang did not refuse. He cupped his hands and said, “Then we shall trouble you.”
There were only three vacant rooms. Lin Jiangyue and Young Master Han each claimed one, while Yan Kuang and Cheng Ruyi tacitly accepted the arrangement of sharing the third.
After closing the doors and windows, Cheng Ruyi burrowed beneath the covers and draped himself over Yan Kuang’s shoulder.
“Lord Yan, let me have a look at your wounds…”
“No need.”
Though Yan Kuang refused verbally, he did not push Cheng Ruyi’s hand away. Only when those cool fingers reached his chest did he seize them firmly.
Yan Kuang said, “Your injuries haven’t healed either. Take off your clothes and let me see.”
“No… No.”
Cheng Ruyi refused repeatedly, wrenching his hand free and turning his back to Yan Kuang. In a muffled voice, he said, “I only worry about you because those two men you dealt with today used such underhanded methods… Don’t be so ungrateful.”
Yan Kuang naturally knew he meant the Prefect of Fengzhou and the chief yamen runner. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Did they mistreat you?”
“Mm-mm… Ah, yes, mm.”
Cheng Ruyi hurriedly mumbled an evasive answer, then simply closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. He had been so exhausted these past few days that he truly fell asleep almost at once.
…
“What new assistant prefect? We’ve never even heard of him!”
Cheng Ruyi suddenly came to himself. The speaker was the disdainful-looking chief yamen runner of Fengzhou standing before him, while the prefect sat calmly in the principal seat, idly turning a teacup in his hand.
“I am Cheng Ruyi, newly appointed Assistant Prefect of Fengzhou, here to pay my respects to Your Excellency. This is my appointment document.”
Cheng Ruyi bowed and presented the document, forcing himself to repeat his identity.
The chief runner sneered. “Oh, Cheng Ruyi? The old scholar He’s protégé, the top candidate in this year’s palace examination? Quite the glory. Why aren’t you serving before the emperor? What brings you all the way here?”
“Raise your head. Let me have a look.”
“Didn’t you hear him? His Excellency the Prefect told you to raise your head!”
Under their contemptuous and amused gazes, Cheng Ruyi slowly lifted his head—only to be met by a cup of scalding tea.
He endured the pain without making a sound. The tea ran down his chin, but his head remained raised, his gaze utterly calm and unmoved, until the prefect’s hand touched the side of his face.
The prefect murmured, “The top scholar is truly—”
Cheng Ruyi immediately turned aside, sickened to his stomach, but someone kicked him hard, sending him crashing to the floor.
More tea poured over his head. He knelt halfway, hunched over, clutching his appointment document protectively to his chest. After an indeterminate length of time, a voice finally came from above.
“Very well. This office accepts your appointment document. But there is one matter…”
“Assistant Prefect Cheng, your clothes are wet. If you leave the yamen like this, it would damage the dignity of an imperial official. Why not accompany me to the rear quarters…”
“No need.”
Cheng Ruyi rose, tore open his belt, and stripped off his soaked garments in a few swift movements, draping them over his arm. He loosened his hair and pulled out his hairpin, and his black hair immediately spilled over his shoulders.
“Today is the anniversary of my birth father’s death. As his son, I must fulfill my filial duty. Had I not been summoned to see Your Excellency, I should have set out this morning in loose hair and mourning clothes. To leave dressed like this now—
“—is entirely proper and exactly what should be done.”
Holding his clothes, he walked out without looking back. His foot caught on something, however, and he fell hard onto the ground. When he raised his eyes again, he found himself in a desolate wilderness, with a carriage racing away before him.
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Someone inside the carriage shouted at him, “Since Assistant Prefect Cheng is so capable, why not find your own way back?”
He had dozens of miles of mountain road ahead of him. Afraid of encountering wolves and wild beasts, he dared not rest along the way. Before sunset, he finally reached the former site of Dawnflower Village, his hands and feet covered in blood.
The villagers came toward him with warm hospitality, but the instant they drew near, their faces transformed into the hideous countenance of Prefect Jia.
“Assistant Prefect Cheng, with that temperament of yours, you’re bound to suffer sooner or later. Otherwise, how would you have been demoted from the capital to a place like this?”
“No matter what, you must change.”
Cheng Ruyi tried to move, only to discover that his body had no strength left. His head grew increasingly heavy, while the figure before him drew closer and closer. A fingertip traced downward from the center of his brow, reaching toward his collar.
“No…”
“Get… get away!”
A sharp, ringing slap landed squarely across Yan Kuang’s face.
Cheng Ruyi: “…”
The blow woke Yan Kuang. After a moment, he said, “Were you having a nightmare?”
Cheng Ruyi was embarrassed. As he slowly withdrew his hand, he said, “Lord Yan, I’m sorry… Why don’t you hit me back? A few more times would be fine… Hey, hey, what are you doing?”
Yan Kuang said nothing. He merely pulled Cheng Ruyi’s hand beneath the covers and clasped it tightly in his own.
Cheng Ruyi’s face flushed at once. His heartbeat, still unsettled from the terror of the nightmare, began racing all over again.
Yan Kuang said, “When I was young, someone once told me that holding hands like this would let two people enter the same dream. Then even nightmares would be nothing to fear.”
He spoke with complete seriousness. By the light of the moon, Cheng Ruyi looked at the Jade-Faced Yama’s rare glimpse of childish innocence, only to hear Yan Kuang continue with absolute certainty:
“Given what little you know of the world, there’s no way you could dream of anything I couldn’t defeat. Go back to sleep.”
At that point, Cheng Ruyi could no longer tell whether he was touched or feeling something else entirely. He tried to pull his hand away, but Yan Kuang held on stubbornly.
This was all very well—but now Cheng Ruyi could not sleep at all, nightmare or no nightmare.
When he raised his eyes, he discovered that Yan Kuang’s two peach-blossom eyes were wide open as well.
And fixed on him.
The instant their gazes met, Cheng Ruyi hurriedly lowered his head and changed the subject. “Lord Yan… actually, perhaps… I’m only saying perhaps, but maybe that Assistant Prefect Luo truly has no problem.”
“Explain.”
Cheng Ruyi recalled, “When I was in Fengzhou, everyone bowed to the powerful and trampled the weak. He alone never made things difficult for me. When I was at my lowest, he even sent people to bring me money and clothes.”
Yan Kuang nodded. “It is easy to add flowers to brocade, but difficult to send charcoal in the snow. The loyalty he showed was indeed beyond what an ordinary official in the bureaucracy could manage.”
Cheng Ruyi smiled. If one were truly speaking of sending charcoal in the snow, surely no one could compare with the Yama before him. After all, Yan Kuang had literally dug him out of his own grave.
“And you?” Cheng Ruyi moved a little closer. “You took such a great risk. What did you manage to learn from the prefect?”
“The two of them were both deeply troubled by guilt. The Leisure Hall must have a problem.”
Yan Kuang continued, “The Pacification Office has a secret chamber containing records of every official’s life and background. Luo Shaofeng is indeed incorruptible and upright. He has never formed a faction, but for that very reason he has never been entrusted with important office.”
Cheng Ruyi nodded slowly. To refrain from forming cliques and pursuing private interests—those words sounded simple enough, but were extraordinarily difficult to live by. He himself had merely chosen the wrong side, yet had ended up in such a state. To some extent, he could understand Luo Shaofeng’s predicament.