A thorny problem

After Fang Ke left...

Yang Ge sat alone in the room for a long time, yet still could not calm his troubled heart.

He remembered a passage:

History books were vast enough to hold five thousand years of Huaxia.

Yet history books were too thin to hold the magnificent, tumultuous life of a single person.

A page casually turned in a history book, a passage marked with a pen, might encompass the lives of countless thousands...

To Yang Ge, a "trivial matter" like the current rise in grain prices might not even qualify for a place in the historical record.

Or perhaps, only after searching every history book could later generations dig a single sentence out of that ocean of words: In the twelfth year of Xiping in Great Wei, a great famine struck.

But the anguish of Zhang Erniu and the others was real, vivid, and alive.

Unable to afford grain, they really would have to sell their houses and fields, their sons and daughters...

Perhaps they had long since grown used to such a world, like oxen beaten with hammers, meekly lowering their eyes and submitting to the exploitation and oppression of the powerful.

At most, they might secretly mutter a curse: "May your sons be born without assholes..."

But Yang Ge was not used to it yet.

Nor did he intend to get used to it.

Confronted so suddenly with the cruelty and darkness of the world, he felt as though he stood alone amid ice and snow. Even wrapped in thick, warm cotton clothing, he would still feel cold... a cold that pierced the bone.

He was no martyr. He could not shout stirring slogans like, "Where the Way leads, I shall go, though ten million stand against me."

But if this man-eating world thought it could rape his will with ease and comfort, then expect him to play along and cry, "That feels good"... it was dreaming in broad daylight!

Beneath the lonely moon...

Yang Ge carried his blade slowly into the courtyard.

He leaped, and a single stroke swept snow across the sky.

From that moment on, the Frost-Defying Blade entered the Way.

Four days later, at the Northern Pacification Office in Luoyang.

Shen Fa sat in the hall, dressed in a black-ground embroidered qilin robe and a black gauze martial cap. Fang Ke stood below him, his face weather-beaten, and reported every detail of how the Three Great Grain Merchants had driven up grain prices and bribed the Embroidered Uniform Guard in Road Pavilion.

Crack!

Shen Fa smashed the sandalwood armrest with his palm and barked in mingled shock and fury, "Bastards! Corrupt officials, fat rats gnawing at the nation! How dare they!"

Fang Ke cupped his fist and bowed, not daring to say more.

Beside himself with anger, Shen Fa rose and paced back and forth across the hall with his hands behind his back, clenching and unclenching his fists several times.

After a long while, he suddenly heaved a heavy sigh and said slowly, all enthusiasm drained from him, "Did Yang Ge send you?"

Fang Ke replied, "My lord, it was indeed Banner Commander Yang who dispatched this subordinate to the capital to report."

Shen Fa sank heavily back into his grand armchair and shook his head with a bitter smile. "Yang Ge, oh, Yang Ge. You really have handed me a thorny problem!"

Fang Ke hurriedly said, "My lord, Banner Commander Yang acted only for the public good, to plead for the people. He had no other intentions."

"No need to say more," Shen Fa said wearily. "I understand that fellow better than you do. If he had selfish motives, that would actually be a good thing. But this matter... ah!"

He had indeed only just learned of it.

But he also knew that the reigning emperor must have learned of it long ago.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was the emperor's eyes and ears, true, but it was not his only set of eyes and ears.

Since His Majesty had neither mentioned nor asked about this matter thus far, that meant he had tacitly approved it.

Everything was an exchange of interests.

Everything was for next year's northern campaign against the Tartars...

Yet now that Shen Fa knew, he could not fail to report it.

But even if he reported it, the outcome certainly would not be satisfactory.

Court affairs were like pastries stuffed with shit. Either you did not eat them, or you had to swallow the shit along with them.

Even the emperor could not break free of the court's rule that "the Son of Heaven governs the realm together with the scholar-officials" and rule with a free hand. How much less could a mere Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard like him?

Hearing Shen Fa sigh, Fang Ke struggled inwardly for a few moments before finally mustering the courage to say, "This subordinate dares to ask my lord to protect Banner Commander Yang. Someone as sincere as him should not die over such filthy business!"

Shen Fa waved a hand. "Even a dead snake like him is willing to stick his neck out for the nation and its people. How could I let him down? It is only that the outcome of this matter will likely disappoint him!"

Fang Ke hastily replied, "On Banner Commander Yang's behalf, this subordinate thanks my lord for the grace of granting him a new lease on life!"

"Heh!"

Shen Fa gave an intrigued chuckle at that and looked at him. "It seems the two of you get along quite well?"

Fang Ke hesitated briefly, then answered honestly, "My lord, though Banner Commander Yang is somewhat too... simple and honest as an official, his devotion to the public good, hatred of evil, and gentlemanly loyalty to bonds and obligations are qualities this subordinate has seen in only two men in his lifetime: him and you. Serving under Banner Commander Yang, this subordinate need only watch for the enemy's spears in the open, not hidden arrows from behind. Nor are there the distractions of social maneuvering and petty scheming. It truly suits me perfectly, like a fish in water."

Clap, clap, clap!

Shen Fa clapped with a smile. "It seems I truly do have an eye for pearls and know how to put the right men in the right positions!"

Fang Ke hurriedly offered some flattery. "My lord's discerning eyes blaze like torches and miss not the finest autumn hair. This subordinate's admiration for you is like..."

"Stop!"

Shen Fa said, "The same few lines over and over. Even if you are not tired of saying them, I am tired of hearing them!"

Fang Ke shut his mouth with a sheepish smile, concealing his accomplishments and fame.

Shen Fa considered for a moment, then opened the cast-iron box on his desk, rummaged out a silver-plated token, and tossed it across to Fang Ke.

Fang Ke hurriedly caught the token in both hands. Taking a closer look, his eyes immediately widened: a waist token for a Probationary Hundred-Household Commander!

He looked at Shen Fa, bewilderment mingled with delighted surprise. "My lord, this..."

Shen Fa saluted in the direction of the imperial palace. "For my meritorious supervision of the case concerning the Xie Clan of Marquis Zhaowu's secret collusion with enemy raiders, I have earned His Majesty's favor. I will shortly be promoted to Pacification Commissioner of the Northern Pacification Office. The promotion of every officer below Thousand-Household Commander in the office will be mine to decide!"

"First take this token back to Road Pavilion and give it to Yang Ge. Tell him it is the office's reward for his service in reporting the Three Great Grain Merchants' hoarding and profiteering. All the relevant seals and official robes will be delivered to Road Pavilion afterward."

"As for you, take over your Hundred-Household Commander Yang's current post and serve as Road Pavilion's Banner Commander."

Wild with joy, Fang Ke held the token in both hands, lowered his head, and bowed. "This subordinate thanks my lord for nurturing him! On Hundred-Household Commander Yang's behalf, this subordinate thanks my lord for advancing him!"

Shen Fa said, "Do not thank me for him. Pass this message to him: I am waiting for him to treat me to a promotion banquet... As for the Three Great Grain Merchants' hoarding and profiteering, I will handle it myself. Tell him not to interfere any further, but to wait patiently."

Fang Ke cupped his fist. "This subordinate will relay my lord's instructions to Hundred-Household Commander Yang without changing a single word."

Shen Fa waved a hand. "Go get some rest. Once you have rested enough, return to Road Pavilion as soon as you can, lest that stubborn donkey lose patience. A little impatience can ruin a great plan."

Fang Ke replied, "Yes. This subordinate takes his leave!"

He bowed and backed toward the exit, but had barely taken a few steps when another voice came from above.

"Right, I will prepare some New Year's provisions later. Take them to your Hundred-Household Commander Yang for me. Consider them my gift to congratulate him on his promotion to Probationary Hundred-Household Commander!"

Fang Ke was numb. He acknowledged the order, unsure whether to leave or stay.

Shen Fa pondered to himself for a moment, then looked up and saw Fang Ke still planted in the hall. Puzzled, he asked, "What? Do you not know the way to the dining hall?"

Fang Ke: ...

After Fang Ke withdrew, Shen Fa picked up the saber in the hall and hung it at his waist, then called out, "Attend me! Prepare a horse. I am going to the palace for an audience with His Majesty."