Huan Wen made no public comment on what had happened in his younger brother's household. He might have said something in private, but none of it reached Liu Cheng's ears. The only certain news was that he had accepted the revised Clan Genealogy and had it transcribed into the family temple authorized by the court.
Having been warned by Luo You, Liu Cheng naturally did not think this meant the matter had passed without a ripple.
Or rather, the absence of ripples was itself a statement.
But he still had no regrets. It was not merely a calculation of interests, of how worthwhile it was to earn the gratitude of Huan Qian, a leading cavalry commander in the Jingzhou army. Morally speaking, Huan Qian was also the sole wholly innocent victim in this rotten business. Liu Acheng had helped him with a clear conscience.
Still, he was destined not to experience the subsequent lack of ripples. After he hinted to Huan Xin that he might have offended Huan Huo's household, the third Huan brother proved loyal enough to his friend: he decided to leave early with Liu Cheng, departing that very month, while his wife remained in Jiangling to slowly pack up her dowry and valuables before coming downstream.
And even those final two days were not entirely uneventful.
At another banquet the day before their departure, Wu Fusheng volunteered that he wanted to accompany Liu Cheng to Huainan.
That was understandable, of course. Previously, he had possessed neither a proper opportunity nor a route into official service, and could only rely on the path available through Huan Wen. Now Liu Cheng had room for more men, while Wu Fusheng's own uncle by marriage, Gao Rou, had become an Administrator. Having entered the halls of government and then received an