Stifled

Inside the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun looked toward the official seated at the head of the hall, dressed in a silver embroidered robe.

A square kerchief and a feathered guard cap.

A waist saber hung at his side, fastened with white jade.

As the sun climbed higher, light streamed in through the entrance of the government hall.

Grand and upright.

Under the light, there seemed to be nowhere for filth and corruption to hide.

At the same time, the man seated at the head of the hall came into clear view.

He looked to be in his thirties or forties, pale and fat, living a life of privilege.

When he smiled, his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Old Xiang, it is not that I refuse to give you face. Your subordinate dared draw his saber in the hall and defy his superior."

"I am truly afraid that one day, in a moment of hotheadedness, he might send my head moving house."

"Old Xiang, what do you think should be done?" The pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer rose and walked to Old Xiang's side.

He reached out and patted Old Xiang on the shoulder.

A look of surprise appeared on his face.

Old Xiang's right shoulder was completely empty.

But the surprise vanished in a flash. He quickly regained his composure, his gaze instead becoming resolute.

"My lord, this was due to this subordinate's failure to discipline his men. I will bear full responsibility." Old Xiang grew even more respectful. The wrinkles and saber scars on his face piled together, concealing his expression.

Seeing Old Xiang act so tactfully, the pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer instead lost interest.

Bullying an old hand like this gave him no sense of accomplishment.

The young soldier tied up outside was far more interesting.

The pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer waved his hand. "Take him back with you."

"Oh, and take the pensions with you as well. Two hundred taels in total."

"It is all here." As he spoke, the pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer handed over a cloth bag.

Then he let go.

With a thud.

The cloth bag hit the floor.

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer hurriedly picked it up. But the moment he felt the bag, his expression changed drastically.

The bag in his hand weighed perhaps three or four jin at most.

It was nowhere near enough to cover the forty-tael death gratuity for each man.

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer knew the higher-ups would take their share, but they had never taken this much before.

The cloth bag in his hand likely contained only around forty taels. Split evenly, each man would receive less than ten taels.

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer clenched the silver bag, his voice trembling slightly as he looked at the pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer. "My lord, this... is against the rules."

The pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer's eyes widened, and he raised his voice. "Rules?"

"Drawing a saber in the central hall and defying one's superior—according to the internal rules of the Embroidered Guard, the punishment is beheading!"

"You speak to me of rules? Your subordinate does not seem to understand them very well."

Tu Shan Jun sneered from within the Soul Banner.

That dead fat bastard had calculated things well.

Clearly, it was because the death gratuities had been cut by a full eighty percent that Shi Zhu and the others had been enraged.

And seeing that the old Hundred-Household Officer had lost an arm, he was even easier to bully.

So he simply used this matter to apply pressure, intending to suppress the affair and make them swallow this mute grievance.

The scar on Xiang Hundred-Household Officer's face twitched, and veins bulged from the hand gripping the silver bag.

Even with one arm gone, he was still a second-rate expert, his inner qi abundant.

Killing this bloated Thousand-Household Officer would take no more than a single move.

But in the end, he did not act.

He had encountered such things many times before. He simply had not expected that one day it would happen to him as well. It seemed his patron had run into trouble.

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer picked up the silver bag and prepared to leave.

The moment he stepped forward, the pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer called him back.

"Old Xiang, you are old. Staying in that position for too long is no good. You must give the younger generation a chance."

"How about this? In a few days, write a letter and petition the office to retire."

"Not only can I pretend nothing happened and release your subordinate."

"I will even make up the missing death gratuities."

"For the sake of your loyal service and bloodshed for the court, I will personally give you another fifty taels as settlement money."

"What do you think?" The pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer stroked the beard at the corner of his mouth, his eyes narrowing.

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer abruptly turned around, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. "Did something happen to the heir of the Marquis of Jing'an?"

The pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer seemed somewhat surprised. This old country bumpkin actually possessed such keen political instincts.

But even if he had discovered it, it was useless. The matter of the Marquis of Jing'an's heir was practically set in stone.

There was no room to turn things around.

If it dragged on too long, the man himself might not even survive.

The old Hundred-Household Officer let out a long sigh.

Five brothers had fallen along the way, and he had lost an arm.

He had finally returned to Liang Capital, only for the noble behind him to fall as well.

For the mere sum of two hundred taels of silver, he had to hand over the hereditary Principal Sixth Rank Embroidered Guard Hundred-Household Officer position.

What could unwillingness change?

What could it change that he possessed the strength to kill the pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer?

He had to consider the soldiers and brothers who had followed him.

For their sake, and for his own family's sake.

"I understand."

"I am willing to submit the memorial."

In that instant, Xiang Hundred-Household Officer's straight back bent.

In a single moment, he seemed to have aged more than ten years.

He was old.

"Men, release the one tied up outside."

"And bring the prepared death gratuities for Lord Xiang." The pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer called out loudly.

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer walked out of the grand and upright central hall.

The soldiers pinning Shi Zhu down released him, while other soldiers dressed in Embroidered Guard robes carried over chests filled with silver.

Pure silver, full weight.

His brothers hurriedly gathered around, placing the corpses of their fallen brothers onto the flatbed cart before loading the silver onto it as well.

Joy filled everyone's faces.

It seemed that as long as the old Hundred-Household Officer stepped in, there was nothing he could not settle.

Yet Xiang Hundred-Household Officer's expression remained grave.

"Chief, why was that dead fat bastard so generous this time? He did not even withhold the pensions or Attendant payments." The young soldier beamed, though he was also puzzled.

"Of course it is because our chief has methods."

"That is right. When Chief Xiang takes action, there is nothing he cannot resolve." The brothers all chimed in.

They were happy and harmonious, like one great family.

And Xiang Hundred-Household Officer was the head of that family.

Shi Zhu, however, noticed Xiang Hundred-Household Officer's worries. He lowered his head in shame, his face flushed. "Chief, sorry. I acted on impulse..."

Xiang Hundred-Household Officer shook his head. "It is all right. No one could endure that sort of thing."

"Do not take it to heart."

"Once I am gone, you must live carefully. Do not offend your immediate superiors."

The team that had been laughing and talking moments ago fell abruptly silent.

Everyone looked toward the old Hundred-Household Officer in astonishment, as though they had heard something unbelievable.

"Chief, what happened?"

"After this battle, I feel my age more keenly. And with one arm gone, I intend to petition for retirement."

"After I leave, Shi Zhu must not act rashly again. Tie Tou is steady by nature. When trouble arises, you must discuss it among yourselves." The old Hundred-Household Officer quietly arranged matters.

Only seventeen soldiers remained in total.

He knew every one of them better than anyone, and had raised each as if they were younger kin.

Now that he had to leave, he could not bear to part with them.

But this was already what he had agreed to.

Only by agreeing to surrender his position could he ask the pale, fat Thousand-Household Officer to show mercy and make up the death gratuities for his fallen brothers.

"Chief, did that dead fat bastard threaten you?"

"We will fight him. At worst, we die."

"That is right, we will fight them."

"I refuse to believe the court will tolerate them swallowing our pay."

Everyone spoke with righteous indignation, yet risking their lives was their only path.

Truthfully, it was not a good choice at all.

If Xiang Hundred-Household Officer had been thirty years younger, perhaps he would have agreed. But things were different now.

Killing an Embroidered Guard Thousand-Household Officer was no different from rebellion.

It was a crime that would exterminate nine clans.

That would only get more people killed.

Now, by sacrificing a single official position, he could preserve this entire group of brothers.

Though they would be pushed aside in the future, they could at least support their families and retain the means to establish themselves in this world.

Thus, Xiang Hundred-Household Officer decisively gave up his hereditary Principal Sixth Rank Embroidered Guard Hundred-Household Officer position.

"Pathetic."

That was Tu Shan Jun's assessment.

But he said nothing more.

They were not people of the same world.

Their circumstances differed, and so did their sorrows and joys.