Court's Running Dogs?

Magistrate Sun had risen through the Official Examination's regular selection and had served as magistrate of Yong'an County for nearly ten years.

A border city like Luyang Prefecture lay in a remote corner. Being a seventh-rank county magistrate there basically meant being forgotten by the imperial court.

That was also why Magistrate Sun had not been promoted in ten years.

But over the past two years, Luyang Prefecture had grown remarkably prosperous because of border trade.

Even Yong'an County had drawn the notice of certain people.

Black Ice Platform intelligence indicated that two months earlier, someone in the prefectural government had arranged to move Magistrate Sun elsewhere.

He was to be transferred laterally to another place within the prefecture and continue serving as a county magistrate.

In effect, it was a demotion.

After all, one place was territory he had managed for ten years, while the other was completely unfamiliar ground.

Everyone had assumed that Magistrate Sun, the Yong'an County magistrate who had accomplished nothing in ten years, would obediently pack up and move.

No one had expected him to move in this fashion.

By borrowing troops to suppress bandits.

Not only had he wiped out the bandit scourge along more than a hundred li of the Guangji River, he had also persuaded the chief of Gutang Village to accept imperial amnesty, form an escort team, and begin organizing a Guangji River shipping fleet.

He had made bandits do honest business.

He had cleared the commercial waterway stretching a hundred li.

According to Young Master Tao's calculations, the one who had gained the most this time was Sun Ze, magistrate of Yong'an County.

With his achievement in suppressing bandits and clearing the Guangji River of its bandits, Magistrate Sun would likely be promoted by at least one rank.

A lateral transfer would no longer settle the matter.

The prefectural government would have to offer a sufficiently worthy position to accommodate Magistrate Sun.

If merit went unrewarded, then they could wait for the censors' memorials to reach the Emperor's ears directly.

Over the years, Great Qin had accumulated many problems because of foreign enemies and because resources and inheritances were controlled by great families and powerful factions.

Yet the two foundations upon which the state stood had never changed.

Merit must be rewarded.

Military Merit came first.

Magistrate Sun had launched a desperate counterattack and stirred up such enormous waves. The person behind the attempt to force him out had probably lifted a stone only to smash his own foot.

"Those who ride the tides of officialdom are all old foxes." Zhang Yuan folded the paper in his hand and gently shook his head.

When he had met Magistrate Sun by the Guangji River, he truly had not thought the man possessed such methods.

"Wang Qinian's side has found out who is backing the Kong Family of Liaoyang Town."

Young Master Tao took out an invitation and said quietly, "Xiao Renguang, guardian of Yan State's northern border."

The regions where Yan State and Great Qin shared a border were the western frontier and the northern frontier.

Ouyang Shucai guarded the western frontier, while Xiao Renguang guarded the northern frontier.

Five years ago, Xiao Renguang, guardian of the northern frontier, had been beaten back step by step by Great Qin's Northwestern Army and lost five cities.

Ouyang Shucai's Western Suppression Army had seized a county of Great Qin.

After that battle, Ouyang Shucai had been granted a marquisate, while Xiao Renguang—whose cultivation and military strength were not much inferior to Ouyang Shucai's—had received an imperial decree of reprimand from the Yan State Emperor.

Zhang Yuan had not only personally participated in the battle of Fengtian County City, but had later spent over a month in the Crimson Scale Army, where he heard Bai Shaoting and Han Xiao speak of many matters.

Han Xiao was the disciple of Zhou Chang, the current Ministry of War Vice Minister who had commanded that battle. The secrets he knew were beyond what ordinary people could compare to.

Back then, Han Xiao had analyzed the differences between Xiao Renguang and Ouyang Shucai.

Ouyang Shucai's own cultivation was advancing, and the Grandmaster Realm was within sight. He had no interest in expending his energy on war with Great Qin.

Moreover, because of certain other connections, Great Qin was clearly making plans to win Ouyang Shucai over.

Xiao Renguang, on the other hand, was cunning by nature. After his own cultivation had stagnated, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to fostering his family's power and strengthening the Zhenbei Army.

Even the Northern Yan Emperor had quietly begun guarding against him.

According to Han Xiao, turning Xiao Renguang would actually be easier than turning Ouyang Shucai, but he was a wolf that could never be tamed and would inevitably bite back.

When officials plotted military matters, they would have to bear responsibility for victory or defeat afterward. Victory brought rewards; defeat brought punishment.

Whoever turned Xiao Renguang today might be promoted for the merit, but if Xiao Renguang turned traitor again a few years later, it would be a knife in the back.

It seemed the Zhenbei Army had set its sights on Qingshan Village's iron chains and pulleys and wanted to use Kong Baitang to obtain them.

Great Qin and Yan State remained enemies. Only the relationship around Fengtian County City, controlled by the Western Suppression Army, had eased somewhat.

For men of the Zhenbei Army to enter Qin Territory was espionage.

The Kong Family, working for the Zhenbei Army, was guilty of colluding with the enemy.

It seemed the Black Cavalry of Luyang Prefecture could be deployed this time.

Zhang Yuan unfolded the invitation Young Master Tao handed him. It was from Kong Baitang, head of the Kong Family, inviting Young Master Tao and him to a banquet in a few days.

"I hadn't planned on going," Young Master Tao said. "Wang Qinian says Kong Baitang has brought several Buddhist maidens from Liangyuan Region, skilled in the Flying Apsaras Dance."

Liangyuan Region?

If it had nothing to do with the relic, wasn't that too much of a coincidence?

"Then let's go see this Buddhist Flying Apsaras Dance."

Zhang Yuan handed the invitation back and said with a smile.

Young Master Tao looked up at the smile on Zhang Yuan's face and frowned slightly.

"Agreed—show some tenderness toward women. Don't go twisting people's necks at the drop of a hat."

Zhang Yuan merely smiled and said nothing.

When Zhang Yuan left the academy and arrived at the Martial Guard Bureau with a staff in hand, the Martial Guards on duty at the entrance wore strange expressions.

Before he even reached the hall, he saw Feng Cheng and the others hanging their heads while Hu Yang berated them.

"Shameful!"

"You left Chen Wu there alone, and you still have the nerve?"

Seeing Zhang Yuan arrive, Hu Yang kept a stern face and pointed at Feng Cheng and the others. "Er He, you came at just the right time. Tell me, when have people from our Martial Guard Bureau ever come out worse in a brawl?"

A brawl?

Zhang Yuan looked toward Feng Cheng.

Feng Cheng shrank his neck and quietly explained what had happened.

It turned out that the previous night, a group of Martial Guards had arranged to drink together, only to get into a fight with someone at the tavern.

"Those people said that we Black Robe Guards are all the court's running dogs, black-skinned dogs."

"Brother Chen Wu couldn't stand it and stepped forward to reason with them. They struck first."

"That's right. Brother Chen Wu barely needed a few moves before he smashed them all flat."

Several new recruits chimed in.

The court's running dogs.

Black-skinned dogs.

Some commoners did indeed call the Black Robe Guards by those nicknames, but shouting them to their faces was a provocation, a slap across the Martial Guard Bureau's face.

Feng Cheng gave Zhang Yuan a look, tugged his sleeve, and led him aside. He said in a low voice, "Last night, I had my younger sister dress as a man and come with us. I only said she was my younger brother. Others didn't know, but Brother Chen Wu naturally recognized her."

"When the fight broke out, Brother Chen Wu told us to leave first."

In the end, Chen Wu had beaten seven or eight people flat by himself. Then the yamen runners from the prefectural office arrived and took Chen Wu and those men to the yamen.

According to Feng Cheng, those people should have been descendants of some family within the city.

Zhang Yuan knew that Chen Wu had a fairly steady temperament and generally would not cause trouble.

But with the girl he liked standing nearby, it was only natural that he would show off a little heroism.

They were at the age when their blood ran hot. It was no great matter.

"I'll make a trip to the prefectural office and bring Chen Wu back."

Zhang Yuan looked at Hu Yang and said with a smile, "Chen Wu isn't getting any younger. It's time he started a family and found someone to keep him in line."

Hu Yang waved him off. As he watched Zhang Yuan turn away, he muttered, "Listen to you talking like some old man. Aren't you a kid yourself?"

The prefectural office was not far from the Martial Guard Bureau. When Zhang Yuan arrived, he did not go straight to the cells but headed inside the yamen to see Qian Mu, the military clerk.

The military clerk was in charge of the Martial Guard Bureau, so matters concerning the yamen's Martial Guards naturally had to go through him.

"You're here because of Chen Wu, aren't you? If not for that, you wouldn't come to see me." The military clerk greeted Zhang Yuan with those words.

Zhang Yuan smiled but said nothing.

"He beat up people from the Tang Family—the Tang Family of Anle District in the south of the city." Helplessness appeared on the military clerk's face.

"The Tang Family..." A sharp gleam flashed through Zhang Yuan's eyes.