A season of troubles

The Liu father and son left the little courtyard squabbling, heading home for another round of wrangling.

But Yang Ge knew this round would probably be settled soon.

After all, the Liu family had a home and a business in Luting County. Their circumstances were genuinely quite good.

Liu Mang had remained unmarried only because he had spent years roaming the world without settling down.

Now that he had returned to Luting County to open a martial arts school and put down roots, marrying and having children would follow naturally. It could hardly be called forcing him.

Nor could his stubbornness possibly outlast the old innkeeper's rekindled hope of holding a grandchild.

"Plenty to keep me busy from now on!"

Yang Ge shut the courtyard gate, muttering to himself.

From now on, he would be a Banner Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the innkeeper of the Welcome Inn, and an instructor at the Liu family's martial arts school.

Even he felt he was starting to look like a master of time management...

I'll go back to the fishing village tomorrow and see the old man!

He considered the tasks piling up on his hands. Once things get busy, I might not have time to go back!

Three days later.

At the Embroidered Uniform Guard's station in Luting County.

Yang Ge sat beneath the eaves facing the courtyard, sipping fine tea picked before the Qingming Festival as he leafed through case files on investigations and arrests.

Over the past two days, he had read a dozen or so files and drawn plenty of inspiration from them.

From the origins of these cases alone, he had deduced that the Embroidered Uniform Guard's current investigative and arrest procedures relied primarily on cases transferred by the Three Judicial Offices, supplemented by inquiries among the common people.

As for control over certain critical points, such as major transport hubs for pillar industries like salt, iron, and grain, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had planted long-term undercover agents at all of them.

In short: cast a wide net, concentrate surveillance on key points, and strike with precision!

Through these files, Yang Ge had already drawn up a preliminary intelligence-gathering plan for Luting County.

He was in no hurry over this matter. Shen Fa had given him no deadline for taking full control of Luting County.

His own plan was to wait until the men under him had spent a full three months hauling boats along the Bian River, thoroughly wearing away their military bearing, before planting them one by one in each trade and industry to establish surveillance...

"Boss!"

Fang Ke hurried inside, stopping more than ten feet away and calling softly.

"Hmm?"

Yang Ge moved the file away from his face and looked at Fang Ke, who stood below him in a short hemp-cloth outfit. "Finished work this early today?"

Fang Ke cupped his hands. "Word from home!"

At that, Yang Ge swiftly put away the file in his hands and beckoned.

Fang Ke stepped forward and said quietly, "Banner Commander, the Xie Family's crimes have come to light. Their entire household will be executed in a month. Word has reached home that Tartar spies may enter the capital to stir up trouble. We're to watch for the slightest rustle of wind or grass on the streets!"

Holding the files down with one hand, Yang Ge lightly tapped the chair's armrest with the other. After a moment's thought, he nodded. "Understood."

But Fang Ke did not move. Instead, he lowered his voice. "Banner Commander, this won't be easy to handle."

Yang Ge glanced at him. "How so?"

Fang Ke said, "The Xie Family holds one of the twenty-four founding marquisates. Their marriage ties fill the Imperial Court, and their former subordinates are spread throughout the armies. By taking the knife to the Xie Family this time, I fear we've already touched certain people's sore spots!"

Yang Ge frowned. "The Xie Family is already in this state. What sore spots could there possibly be left to touch?"

Fang Ke cautiously reminded him, "Sir, any single one of the filthy things the Xie Family did would warrant the extermination of three clans. If the Three Judicial Offices took it seriously and combined the penalties for all their crimes, there'd be grounds to wipe out their nine clans... Yet now, they've only been sentenced to the execution of their entire household!"

Yang Ge tapped the armrest and asked, "Doesn't that mean those people are protecting themselves?"

Fang Ke's voice reached Yang Ge's ears, faint as a mosquito's buzz. "By moving against the Xie Family, we've already pointed our spears at them. Simply abandoning the Xie Family hardly counts as protecting themselves!"

Yang Ge abruptly raised his head and stared at him. "Is that your interpretation?"

Fang Ke cupped his hands. "It's the Thousand-Household Commander's!"

Yang Ge held out his hand. "Where's the original letter?"

Fang Ke shook his head. "The messenger didn't use our usual correspondence channels. There was only a verbal message, no letter."

Yang Ge asked, "What were the exact words?"

Fang Ke replied, "Proceed cautiously, and act as circumstances require."

Yang Ge racked his brains for a long time before asking, "Based on what you know of Lord Shen, is he fishing, or does he genuinely find this troublesome?"

Fang Ke scratched his head. "I shouldn't speculate about my superior's intentions, but since you've asked, Banner Commander, I can only answer... Based on what I know of the Thousand-Household Commander, it looks like he's fishing. But judging by the current situation, it also looks like he finds it troublesome and wants to wait and see."

Unable to help himself, Yang Ge rolled his eyes at him. "What kind of rubbish are you spouting?"

Fang Ke gave an awkward smile, not daring to respond.

Yang Ge lightly tapped his own head. "All right, get back to work. Let me know immediately if there are any developments!"

Fang Ke cupped his hands, bowed, and withdrew.

Yang Ge opened the files again and glanced through them, but could not take anything in.

After his mind wandered several times, he simply stood up, took the files back into the inner room and secured them, then walked into the courtyard and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard wants us to watch out for Tartar spies entering the capital to stir up trouble.

That part is easy enough to understand. Although the Xie Family is no longer worth winning over or exploiting, paying a thousand gold pieces for a horse's bones is another matter. Trading a batch of spies for an endless stream of traitors willing to serve them really is a deal that can only turn a profit!

But why does everything Shen Fa said, between the lines and otherwise, sound as though someone might rebel-or resort to even more extreme measures-to force the emperor and his people to abandon their reckoning with the civil and military officials who nurtured enemies to bolster their own standing?

Why tell me about something this big?

Oh, right. Luting County is the gateway to the Upper Capital. If someone were moving troops into the capital, they might pass through Luting County.

So our little handful of men has to keep an eye not only on Tartar spies, but on garrisons everywhere as well?

Yang Ge spun around and hurried back to the Grand Master's Chair, dropping heavily into it. Then he grabbed the teapot beside him, tipped back his head, and drained it in one gulp like an ox drinking water.

"This really is a season of troubles!"

He wiped the tea leaves from his mouth, but his mouth and tongue still felt parched.

He did not know whether it was because he had read so many books or because an outsider could see more clearly.

In the messages from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Shen Fa, he seemed to glimpse two camps in the Imperial Court, as sharply divided as the clear Wei River and the muddy Jing River.

On one side were the conservatives and doves: the Meritorious Nobles who nurtured enemies to bolster their own standing, along with those who, seeing the Xie Family fall, felt the chill on their teeth now that their lips were gone and had no choice but to involve themselves.

On the other were the reformers and hawks, represented by Shen Fa—and perhaps even the reigning emperor—who were determined to sweep the demons and monsters from the Imperial Court and restore Great Wei.

And the Xie Family, already doomed to the executioner's block, stood at the center of the two camps' maneuvering and struggle!

Of course, on the surface, the two camps seemed to be fighting only over whether the Xie Family lived or died!

But in essence, what they were fighting over was control of the Imperial Court!